Storytelling Study
From Process to Proof:
The Story of a
Business System
Built for Anything
For Cepheid, the Danaher Business System wasn't just a framework — it was the foundation that carried the company from acquisition through its most defining chapter.
Illustrating the effectiveness of DBS through the executives who relied on it and the company that proved it works.
For this story, we drew on over a decade of shared history with Cepheid — a partnership that gave us something no outside production company could bring to the table: firsthand knowledge of Cepheid, its people, and years of carefully maintained production archives and moments.
Internal Communications brought together key executive stakeholders from Danaher and Cepheid to align on the most impactful moments of DBS in action across Cepheid's commercial and manufacturing operations. The story would arc across five chapters — from acquisition through COVID and into the future — tracing how DBS set strategic focus, guided the company through disruption, and established a path of continuous improvement for what lies ahead.
A story of DBS in action — how Cepheid navigated its most extraordinary chapter.
An excerpt from the full 14-minute documentary.
From Script to Screen
Distilling almost a decade of executive insight into one compelling story.
Pre-production
Pre-production for this project unfolded over six weeks, bringing together stakeholders from Danaher and Cepheid's Internal Communications team to align on story direction, chapter structure, and the executive participants who would bring it to life on camera.
The real work of pre-production was interpretive. Dense executive notes, conversations, and talking points — rich with substance but shaped by boardroom language — had to be distilled into a narrative framework that would guide ten interviews across five chapters. The challenge was identifying not just what each participant would say, but where their story fit within the larger arc and how their voice would connect to the voices around them.
Before the cameras rolled, every interview had a purpose, every chapter had a through line, and the story had a shape.
Four Days at Cepheid Headquarters
A precise interview schedule built around executive availability — without disrupting a full week of leadership training.
Crew staged the set the day prior, ensuring the team was fully prepared and ready for an early first interview. The chosen space brought exactly the right presence to the screen: large windows, views of Silicon Valley, and an open layout that conveyed the scale and confidence of the story being told. Having worked in the space on previous productions, our team arrived with a clear vision and significantly reduced the unknowns before a single interview began.
Ten interviews were conducted across four days, scheduled in morning and afternoon blocks to accommodate the executive participants attending concurrent leadership training. One to two interviews per session kept the pace deliberate and gave each participant the time and space to tell their part of the story without feeling rushed.
Two setups were used throughout the week — varied angles drawing on the same background — providing visual consistency while allowing for some variety across ten interviews.
Our team conducted the majority of interviews directly, guiding each conversation to cover each chapter objective while drawing out responses that felt more like a natural conversation and less of a boardroom presentation.
Post-production
With over six hours of interview footage and a vast archive of media maintained by our team, post-production was a significant undertaking, executed with clarity because the structure, the storylines, and the chapter objectives had been carefully defined before the edit began. Our archives, dating back to 2013, predated Danaher's acquisition of Cepheid in late 2016, giving the film authentic visuals of Cepheid before and after acquisition. Our institutional knowledge of Cepheid's history and the media we have maintained over the years informed decisions to incorporate relevant visuals from our archives, including broadcast footage from Cepheid's NASDAQ Opening Bell ceremony and a variety of moments capturing the company and its leadership in action.
The editorial approach was deliberate and collaborative. Five chapter segments were cut and delivered individually, allowing key stakeholders from Danaher and Cepheid to review each segment on its own terms, ensuring every chapter held up as a standalone story while serving the larger arc.
Post-production was completed in approximately four weeks, expedited to ensure delivery approximately one week prior to the screening at the Danaher Leadership for Presidents Conference. When possible, we prioritize early delivery, giving clients one less thing to manage for a large-scale event.
Constell guided the visual storytelling strategy for DBS concepts, recommending where graphics would give abstract ideas more meaning and tangibility, while animating assets developed by Cepheid's Corporate Communications & Brand team. Music was carefully sourced to support the tone and momentum of each chapter, serving as a final layer of polish across all five segments.
Post-production
With over six hours of interview footage and a vast archive of media maintained by our team, post-production was a significant undertaking, executed with clarity because the structure, the storylines, and the chapter objectives had been carefully defined before the edit began. Our archives, dating back to 2013, predated Danaher's acquisition of Cepheid in late 2016, giving the film authentic visuals of Cepheid before and after acquisition. Our institutional knowledge of Cepheid's history and the media we have maintained over the years informed decisions to incorporate relevant visuals from our archives, including broadcast footage from Cepheid's NASDAQ Opening Bell ceremony and a variety of moments capturing the company and its leadership in action.
The editorial approach was deliberate and collaborative. Five chapter segments were cut and delivered individually, allowing key stakeholders from Danaher and Cepheid to review each segment on its own terms, ensuring every chapter held up as a standalone story while serving the larger arc.
Post-production was completed in approximately four weeks, expedited to ensure delivery approximately one week prior to the screening at the Danaher Leadership for Presidents Conference. When possible, we prioritize early delivery, giving clients one less thing to manage for a large-scale event.
Constell guided the visual storytelling strategy for DBS concepts, recommending where graphics would give abstract ideas more meaning and tangibility, while animating assets developed by Cepheid's Corporate Communications & Brand team. Music was carefully sourced to support the tone and momentum of each chapter, serving as a final layer of polish across all five segments.
Stories
Crafted
for
Success