Amd_0001_Questions and Answers.pdf

Oral History Project – CHYO Questions and Answers listed below:

QUESTIONS:

1) How do we account for travel costs for the various shoots?

Travel budget needs to be robust to account for interview subjects being geographically spread out. Proposer may consider focusing one just a few urban areas to find interview subjects to limit costs.

2) Do the interview subjects have to be approved in advance by the Client?

Yes.

3) Is there a budget or budget range for this project?

The contract vehicle that this award will be made is a firm-fixed priced contract. We cannot disclose the budget constraints, as this is for official government use only, but we encourage the contractor/vendor to give us their best and final offer, considering/including all items outlined in the bid schedule (ie: personnel services, supplies and services, and travel costs).

4) Is this an LPTA contract?

Please reference the Evaluation Criteria provided on FedConnect

Offers will be evaluated for technical approach, past performance, and price. The technical factors and past performance, when combined, are more important than cost or price. Award will be made on the basis of Best Value to the Government.

5) Since many of the interview subjects are elderly and may be unable to travel, is it also anticipated that we might be doing interviews in an assisted living facility or the subject's home?

6) Will it also be necessary to scan photos, letters and other related artifacts for each interview?

Yes, if offered and available from the interview subjects.

7) Are travel related costs to be included in the initial proposal, or will those expenses be determined after the post-award conference?

Travel costs are to be included in the proposal.

8) Is there a budget ballpark that you and your team is trying keep the video within?

The contract vehicle that this award will be made is a firm-fixed priced contract. We cannot disclose the budget constraints, as this is for official government use only, but we encourage the contractor/vendor to give us their best and final offer, considering/including all items outlined in the bid schedule (ie: personnel services, supplies and

9) Do you need the studio to be in Ohio?

No.

10) Does the National Park Service have a list of the individuals to be interviewed?

No. We do not have any of these individuals identified, which is why we provided the organizations who could potentially assist with this process. Also, we have taken into account that this process could take some time to get them identified, as this has been reflected in the period of performance being 18 months.

11) What are the topics that each of these individuals are to speak about?

Their personal experiences while serving in the military. Focus should be on topics related to segregation and integration. For example, if some one served in a segregated unit describe those experiences, and once the unit was integrated, compare/contrast those experiences.

12) Are we able to set up a call with people involved for questions we have?

No. Please consult the scope of work.

13) Could you please let me know just a little more about the intended use of the video, desired estimated length of the video, and format of the finished video? By format, I just need to know whether or not the site would prefer the video to be in an interview-based documentary-style piece, a voice-over driven video with images and motion graphics only, or a video of a historian telling the story in an on-camera presentation style with some supporting imagery edited in?

Use and length of interviews are specified in the scope of work. Format would be interview-based documentary-style with an interviewer who does not out-shine the interviewee.

14) Would MABO/Charles Young program team consider our company as a potential Prime, or is it essential that the Prime be a video production vendor?

Yes. The Prime may use a subcontractor video production vendor on the basis of qualifying experience.

15) Does MABO/Charles Young have a preferred small business video production vendor that we could reach out to about partnering on this opportunity?

16) How will travel expenses be reimbursed?

Travel expenses may be invoiced as they occur.

17) Can you provide the overall budget available for this project? There are so many variables around identifying and traveling to selected interviewees.

The contract vehicle that this award will be made is a firm-fixed priced contract. We cannot disclose the budget constraints, as this is for official government use only, but we encourage the contractor/vendor to give us their best and final offer, considering/including all items outlined in the bid schedule (ie: personnel services, supplies and

18) Are we to assume each interview will take place in its own location – meaning there could be between 70 and 120 locations to be visited?

There could be up to 90 locations (revised figure), but those that are able to go to a central location should be encouraged to do so.

19) Since each interviewee will be seated and the use of a wireless microphone system is not necessary, is the 4-person an absolute requirement?

If your proposal can justify using a smaller team, please provide that justification in your proposal.

20) Have the veterans who are to be interviewed been selected?

21) If they have been selected, please provide a list of cities/towns where the veterans to be interviewed are located, and the number of veterans living in each city/town.

They have not been selected.

22) If they have not been selected what process will be used to identify and interviewees and who will make the selection of the interviewees?

Utilize the list of veterans’ organizations provided to identify potential interviews, contact them to determine their willingness to participate, and if so, add them to the list of interview candidates.

23) If the veterans have not been selected, will they be selected by the National Parks Service before or after the Aug. 3 start date?

No. It is the responsibility of the contractor, working with veterans’ groups, to identify and select the interviewees.

24) Will the National Park Services provide phone numbers and addresses of veterans, as well as caretakers or family members?

25) Has the National Park Services assessed any of the veterans of their capacity to answer questions about their World War II or Korean War experiences?

26) -Will there be an official online posting for Q&A related to this RFP?

Not clear as to what this is referring to, but Q&A is listed here and must be posted to the public – ALL questions and ALL answers must be provided

-Does this project require a subject matter expert?

No, but sufficient research is to be conducted in order to understand this era in required (Section 2.3, b and c).

-Is there any more information as to how and where interview subjects will be identified?

No.

-A fairly wide range of total interviews has been proposed. Which makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly how much time will be required for the total filming. Are you looking for a per interview filming cost, a per day filming cost, a total production cost for all interviews based on the highest possible number of interviews or a combination of all?

Combination of all.

-How should travel costs be included? Is there a set government standard that should be used for calculations; as exact locations of interviews is not yet known?

The contract vehicle that this award will be made is a firm-fixed priced contract. We cannot disclose the budget constraints, as this is for official government use only, but we encourage the contractor/vendor to give us their best and final offer, considering/including all items outlined in the bid schedule (ie: personnel services, supplies and

27) Considering many of these veterans are well over 85- and may be in nursing homes, the requirements of a 3 person team at each shoot may not be possible in the Covid-19 era.

We may not even be able to get 2 people into a nursing home.

We could, set up a camera that we can control remotely- and an iPad- to show the interviewer- to do the recordings after we've set up.

Is this a possibility?

With the uncertainties of Covid-19, that is a possibility.

28) While all the resources that you list are great, we believe we may actually have to build a site- and promote it, in order to find veterans to interview. You don't have that in the budget.

Building a site is not necessary or required.

Since, many of these may be more susceptible to Covid, we also may have to drive instead of fly- in order to keep our team isolated and Covid free. Since costs of safely traveling will increase- is there room for these precautions?

Flexibility is available in the range of interview candidates. The minimum acceptable number is 70. Three of the cities in the northeast are in close proximity to one another.

29) We have multiple assets in place across the country- to cut down on travel, is it OK if we have different interviewers/videographers- or does it all have to be the same team? (and if we do the interviewer via remote- is that acceptable?)

Yes, different interviewers/videographers are acceptable as long as they are qualified. Interviewer via remote is acceptable.

30) Answering these questions will make it easier to provide a bid- however, since you say 70-120 videos, how do we budget? Are you willing to say a maximum of 70 locations? We imagine that many of these interviews will have to be at Nursing homes, Soldiers homes, and actual veterans homes.

The contract vehicle that this award will be made is a firm-fixed priced contract. We cannot disclose the budget constraints, as this is for official government use only, but we encourage the contractor/vendor to give us their best and final offer, considering/including all items outlined in the bid schedule (ie: personnel services, supplies and services, and travel costs). The range is now 70 up to 90 and grouping of interviews is encouraged.

31) Does the NPS intend to award this contract using simplified acquisition?

Yes – also, the contract vehicle that this award will be made is a firm-fixed priced contract.

32) Can the DP/Cinematographer also serve as the Project Manager?

33) Can the contractor utilize local support for the Sound Recordist and Camera Assistant roles?

34) Can one person perform roles as Sound Recordist and Camera Assistant?

Yes, if qualified to perform those roles.

35) Can one person perform all Project Manager/DP/Sound/Camera assistant roles?

Yes, if qualified to perform those roles.

36) Can the $100 interview subject compensation be listed as a cost-reimbursement line item within the contract?

From a contracting position, my firm feels that this would be most advantageous to the government as it allows the contractor to only invoice the incurred expense amount, resulting in a $5,000 potential cost savings to the government.

This is a firm-fixed price contract and the contractor will need to account for this cost in their final pricing, as this will be the evaluated price when we go to award.

The range for interviews has been decreased FROM 70-120 interviews TO 70-90 interviews

37) All of the proposed interviewees are in a very compromised health cohort under the current pandemic situation.

We are very concerned about how to conduct the currently required in-person oral histories without putting people (including the film crew and oral historians) at risk. Furthermore, since many of these people may be in nursing homes or other kinds of care facilities, we might not be allowed access at all. There are many unknowns here. Has NPS thought through what some alternatives might be to accomplishing the goals of this RFQ?

There are uncertainties associated with covid-19 and some interviewees may not be able to participate so it would be advisable to have a larger pool of candidates available in case he/she cannot participate for whatever reason.

38) Vendor is listed under many NAICS codes in SAM but not this one. We are hoping to team with a film company that would, of course, be listed under that NAICS. Would vendor still need to update SAM to reflect this NAICS for ourselves? We’ve worked on many documentaries with other companies but have not had to use this NAICS before.

The vendor who is awarded the contract must be considered a small business under the NAICS code selected for this requirement

The vendor can easily contact SAM helpdesk, or SAM itself and ensure that their NAICS code listings are current and updated accordingly

This is a fairly easy thing to do, and I highly encourage all vendors to ensure they are listed as a small business under this NAICS code