My journey of starting a video production company

webhosting · May 14, 2014

This topic may be of little interest to this forum but I've been a member here for years and thought I would post my journey with starting a video production company. My goal is to shoot, produce, and edit video. This would include documentaries to commercials to weddings. I've done this off and on for the last 10 years, even winning a couple of awards along the way. I most recently filmed some commercials for a political candidate that aired on TV in the past week and was hired to shoot a wedding last week.

My approach will mainly be offline and local. I'll be targeting newspapers, local magazines, and some online ads.

Any suggestions with offline marketing would be appreciated!

Thank you all! I will keep you updated on progress and with what types of offline marketing that are working.

innozemec · May 14, 2014

Interesting journey, best of luck with it!

btw I think you should have posted this thread in the Journeys section..

the-dream · May 14, 2014

Looking forward to seeing how you do. Will it be you shooting and editing the videos or someone that you employ? What country do you live in?

webhosting · May 14, 2014

the-dream said:
Looking forward to seeing how you do. Will it be you shooting and editing the videos or someone that you employ? What country do you live in?

I'll be shooting the video and editing myself until I get enough clients to hire another camera operator. I'm in the US. I shoot everything on a Canon 5D Mark III with audio recorders and a stedicam.

mysterysolver · May 14, 2014

Could you share with us one of your videos ?

webhosting · May 14, 2014

This is a commercial that recently aired on an NBC affiliate in West Virginia. For those wondering, this guy was elected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNa874zmfQk

webhosting · May 16, 2014

Progress Update:

I was contacted to shoot video for a graduation! No advertising, just simple word of mouth.

ravid32 · May 16, 2014

Hi, good luck man. I am also trying to start my own production company in Texas. I am using cannon T3i. I am going store to store asking if they are interested in free video ad. I'm trying to gain experience and have something in my portfolio.

Panther28 · May 16, 2014

Why not just start a sales thread here? many people would like videos produced.

webhosting · May 17, 2014

Panther28 said:
Why not just start a sales thread here? many people would like videos produced.

I've considered that actually. A lot of the commercials that I've produced are on-location shoots. Not sure if members here would want professional videos produced unless they were animation type videos. Thanks for the idea though, I'll definitely consider that!

webhosting · May 17, 2014

ravid32 said:
Hi, good luck man. I am also trying to start my own production company in Texas. I am using cannon T3i. I am going store to store asking if they are interested in free video ad. I'm trying to gain experience and have something in my portfolio.

Thanks! That's a great way to get things moving. It also helps to have a website and card and even a DVD for them to look through that includes your past works. That's helped me here in the last couple of weeks.

webhosting · May 17, 2014

I might as well post an update too:

I contracted a wedding shoot in July this past week in Washington, DC! Things are going well so far. Will keep updating as thing progress.

VinceC · May 17, 2014

You might need post production for your video biz

Good luck pal at last a unique journey thread.

webhosting · May 17, 2014

VinceC said:
You might need post production for your video biz
Good luck pal at last a unique journey thread.

Thanks for your kind post! I'll definitely consider your services. I've been working with Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro, and Sony Vegas over the years. Always looking to improve though!

Panther28 · May 17, 2014

What is the main difference between after effects / premiere ? I know one is composition, and one is video editing, but which one would be best to allow me to import videos, and create effects, use a timeline, green screen, titles, etc and output back to video?

Cheers

webhosting · May 17, 2014

Panther28 said:
What is the main difference between after effects / premiere ? I know one is composition, and one is video editing, but which one would be best to allow me to import videos, and create effects, use a timeline, green screen, titles, etc and output back to video?

Cheers

I would stick to Premiere Pro. It's capable of everything that you will need for titles, chroma keying (green screen), and keyframed effects. After Effects is better suited for intensive composition/graphics.

Hope this helps you a little! Good luck! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me anytime.

albimorkal · May 17, 2014

interesting. You are going to need some really good marketing and some cash for camera equipment/crew etc (unless the scale of your business isn't this big). Do you have a lot of experience in this

webhosting · May 17, 2014

albimorkal said:
interesting. You are going to need some really good marketing and some cash for camera equipment/crew etc (unless the scale of your business isn't this big). Do you have a lot of experience in this

I've been doing this type of work for over 10 years. Spent time working with History, Comedy Central, MTV, and various other networks. I've invested a lot of time and money in equipment over the years as I do a lot freelance work and personal scripted documentaries/movies. It's more than just making money, it's a passion I've had all my life.

ravid32 · May 17, 2014

webhosting said:
I've been doing this type of work for over 10 years. Spent time working with History, Comedy Central, MTV, and various other networks. I've invested a lot of time and money in equipment over the years as I do a lot freelance work and personal scripted documentaries/movies. It's more than just making money, it's a passion I've had all my life.

Did you have prior education or experience before doing work with these channels?

webhosting · May 17, 2014

ravid32 said:
Did you have prior education or experience before doing work with these channels?

I was in college at the time I worked for them, so yes and no. I had a lot of freelance work under my belt which helped me get those jobs.

My journey of starting a video production company

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