Filmmaker and tech founder Drew Schettler shares how he went from a strictly ministerial college path and church media work to running a production company and building Atlas, a modern all‑in‑one workspace for filmmakers. He talks about learning business the hard way as a creative, navigating burnout and feast‑or‑famine freelance cycles, and then spending seven months using AI and no‑code tools to ship a real SaaS product for his own industry.

On this episode we talk about:

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    Growing up in a ministry “bubble” and how Drew slowly leaned into photography and filmmaking

  
  


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    Building a freelance video business serving churches, nonprofits, and commercial clients

  
  


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    Discovering AI/no‑code app tools and deciding to build Atlas for filmmakers

  
  


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    Product–market fit, MVPs, and iterating based on user feedback instead of over‑polishing

  
  


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    Why creators need to think like entrepreneurs and how to escape the freelance hamster wheel

  
  

Top 3 Takeaways

1.  Creatives who want to go full‑time have to think in systems, margins, and client outcomes—not just in terms of making beautiful work.
2.  You do not need a massive dev team to validate a software idea; a scrappy, AI‑assisted MVP is enough to start selling and get real feedback.
3.  The most sustainable path is often using your high‑ticket services as a cash‑flow engine while you build scalable products that can eventually overtake client work.

Notable Quotes

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    "You have to lead with how you’re solving the client’s problem, not just how good your video looks."

  
  


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    "If everyone has the cheat codes with AI, it stops being cheating—it’s just who executes better and faster."

  
  


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    "Most creatives are trying to impress other creatives instead of building something that actually moves the needle for a client."

  
  

Connect with Drew Schettler:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drew.schettler/
  


•  https://atlasfilm.io/

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