Occidental Petroleum Recruiting Video
Employee interviews and field production for Occidental Petroleum, filmed in Long Beach Harbor and Bakersfield, including an oil-derrick setup 40 feet above ground.
Recruiting Through Employee Experience
Capitola Media produced recruiting and onboarding video content for Occidental Petroleum, combining employee interviews with location filming at the company’s California operations. The assignment brought the people and working environments behind an energy business into the story, rather than presenting career opportunities only through corporate statements.
Filming included an oil rig on an Oxy-managed island in Long Beach Harbor and an oil field near Bakersfield. Those contrasting settings gave the production a direct connection to energy work while creating different practical demands for the crew.
Filming 40 Feet Above Ground on a Long Beach Harbor Island
One of the production’s most distinctive shots was filmed on an oil derrick on the island. Both crew members and employee talent were suspended approximately 40 feet above the ground to capture a shot used in the opening of the finished recruiting video.
The elevated setup made the working location part of the visual story. Instead of separating the employee from the operation, the shot placed the person within the environment. Height, equipment handling, access and coordination with the site were integral to the production, not details that could be treated separately from the camera plan.
Employee Interviews in an Operational Setting
The featured film includes drilling engineer George Manthos, giving the recruiting story an identifiable employee perspective. An employee can explain a role in personal terms, while footage of the workplace helps viewers understand the setting in which that work happens.
This is the connection our interview video production brings to a recruiting assignment: the speaker supplies experience and context, and the surrounding images make the subject more tangible. For Occidental, the operational locations provided a meaningful alternative to an interview filmed against an unrelated office background.
Bakersfield Field Production in 105-Degree Heat
The assignment also took the crew to an oil field near Bakersfield, where temperatures reached 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Hard hats and steel-toed boots were required on site. The contrast with the elevated Long Beach setup illustrates how one production can involve several distinct working environments.
Filming in this setting placed crew welfare, equipment protection and movement around active operations at the center of production planning. Heat, dust, industrial noise and access restrictions are practical considerations for energy-industry video production. The production approach needs to respect the workplace while capturing the people and details that make the story understandable.
Recruiting Content Grounded in the Actual Work
The broader assignment supported corporate recruiting and onboarding through video. Employee perspectives and location footage connected those communications to recognizable people and operations. The purpose was to give candidates and new employees a more concrete picture of the organization, rather than rely only on generalized statements about company culture.
Long Beach Harbor also makes this project a specific example of Capitola Media’s Los Angeles and Southern California production experience. The film combines interview-led storytelling with the practical demands of filming at an industrial location, from ground-level field coverage to an elevated derrick setup.
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