Crossing the Axis - The Commercial Side of Film Production

Is it time for your production company to partner with a sales rep? The right sales representative can provide industry insights, valuable relationships, and a network of contacts to secure lucrative opportunities. But making this decision hinges on factors like your company's goals, size, and resources. Join us as we explore this critical topic with Doug Stephen, a leading Midwest rep and seasoned professional with over two decades in commercial film production. Together, we dive into the world of sales representatives and their pivotal role in shaping the success of production companies.

In a client-driven business, developing and maintaining relationships is essential for growth. Join my conversation with Steve Holm, CEO of Copper, to learn why a Client Relationship Management (CRM) system is critical for your sales strategy, and how it can revolutionize client relationships, streamline processes, and boost profitability. Steve is a career product designer on a mission to develop the ultimate CRM system tailored for agency owners. Hear insider tips for building strong sales pipelines, guiding clients through stages, and seamlessly integrating a CRM into your workflow. Warning, by listening to this episode, you may begin to enjoy doing sales work.

Explore the transformative power of diversity in the advertising industry with Tony Fulgham, owner of the commercial film studio All is Well, as he unveils a behind the scenes story of launching a year-long BIPOC internship program. Discover the motivations behind this initiative, the challenges and hurdles to overcome, and the unexpected rewards it offered. From inception to execution, learn how All is Well navigated finding and hiring talent, developed a meaningful curriculum, and built community partnerships to overcome the blindspots of privilege. This episode goes beyond success stories, offering a practical guide and reflections for those ready to embark on a similar journey. Join us for an inspiring discussion on making diversity and inclusion a reality in the creative world.

Prepare to be enlightened in this must-listen episode featuring the insightful Anne Milan Alo, a luminary in the world of marketing and business development. Anne, with her extensive experience, delves deep into the art of attracting clients. She opens up about the dos and don'ts for agencies seeking to catch her eye, offering an invaluable perspective from the client's side. Discover Anne's preferred communication strategies, from crafting compelling emails to engaging LinkedIn messages, and learn why paid advertising might not be the golden ticket to acquiring clients like her. With years of expertise in marketing across agencies and brands, Anne's advice is not just theory, but a proven blueprint for business development success. Tune in to gain actionable strategies and insights from a seasoned marketing maven.

Ever wondered about the perks and challenges of becoming a union signatory? Dive into our latest episode where Melissa Purcell, a Business Agent for IATSE 488, sheds light on the myriad advantages, from tapping into a reservoir of top-tier talent to landing projects that demand union involvement. But with great benefits come responsibilities. Discover the intricacies of union regulations, the commitment to fair pay, and the reasons why going signatory could be the best move for your business.

Paul Killebrew boasts experience as both a seller and buyer within the production industry. His tenure in sales cultivated his fondness for smaller boutique production firms over larger ones. Now, with nearly a decade on the buying side, Paul has honed distinct views on what captures his attention and fosters enduring partnerships. Tune in to glean insights and best practices for collaborating with clients who genuinely root for your success.

In the business of commercial film production, making brand case-studies are often seen as just a step above an infomercial. But that's when they are done poorly. When executed well, they can transcend advertising and become content that not only provides information but also entertains and delights. That's the value proposition SHEP Films offers their clients. Listen to hear Brice Budke talk about how the team at SHEP Films utilizes their sci-fi world building muscles to treat case studies as an art form unto themselves, and why that's good for their client's business and their own.

Get to know Nicholas Incorvaia and hear his take on what motivates him to hire production companies, and what doesn't. Nicholas is a leader in producing corporate marketing content for almost two decades with brands like T-Mobile and Amazon, where he currently serves as Head of Creative Operations. Nicholas is a laser-focused client-type whose commitment to reaching marketing goals is only matched by his empathetic kindness and thirst for creativity. Learn about what keeps Nicholas inspired and get his take on how production companies can thrive working directly with brands.

Whether you realize it or not, your production company has a culture. It is shaped by the owners, the employees, partners and your clients. But, should it be more than just the sum of the parts? Should it be curated and developed to such a degree that it is a specialty or has a particular affinity - potentially turning away some folks but drawing in others? In this episode, we talk to Sam Kelly from the production company and creative studio "Invisible Collective" about their approach to culture, how they build it, and why?

This must-listen episode welcomes Nate Barr to help you navigate the very difficult path of using your own original narrative content to attract client work. Nate knows what he's talking about too, with over 20 years of experience in all aspects of content making from producing narrative films, to operating his own creative agency, to leading the client side of many marketing initiatives for brands. The insights and tips Nate generously shares are critical for any production company owner balancing the desire to make work for clients and for themselves.

Meet Thig Gishuru, a creative director with over 10 years of experience in both the agency-side and client-side of advertising; primarily creating, producing, and marketing content in fashion. In this episode, Thig candidly shares his story, needs, and tips about what he wishes he heard more often when being solicited for projects.

Meet Justin Hooper and Steve Williams, partners at Undnyable, an advertising agency with a reputation of turning heads with their funny, creative and sometimes outrageous client campaigns. In this episode we hear about their creative approach to client work, their criteria for choosing production partners, and how production companies should sell to agencies.

Max introduces James Keblas as the future host of Crossing the Axis. Get to know James and how he plans to lead the show moving forward. Max shares his thoughts and observations on the video production business after three years building the Pipeline tech-tool for video production companies and running his own video production company for over 15 years.

This week we interview Alan Nay of the Seattle powerhouse World Famous [http://www.worldfamousinc.com/]. World Famous  works as a full-service agency with Nike, Wendy's, T-Mobile, Microsoft - you name it. But! World Famous started out as a production company - just like you. Today, we talk to World Famous founder Alan Nay about the choice to go from production company to agency. What's worked, what's been tougher than expected, and how in the heck you deal with your current agency clients when you've decided to become an agency! If you've ever thought you might like to take your production company to the next level, Alan has some great insight for you about this big move.

I sit down and talk to Chris Donaldson and Julien Scherliss of Moment.film (www.moment.film) about what it takes to regularly put out great, personal creative work outside of the daily grind of our production lives. Moment.film, during their first 2 years in business has put out a ton of commercial work for Seattle agencies and beyond but at the same time they've also produced a 10 minute and 20 minute pair of short films and a 10 minute documentary.  AND they've paid for it all with profits from their commercial work. We touch on -  * Being sure to have profit in your company to pay for these creative endeavors * Why keeping it "lean and mean" can help set you up to be able to pursue outside creative * What you do and don't get out of these creative forays * How the creative you do on the side often defines who you are as a company

Channel Your Passion into Client Success Max talks to Caleb Young, creative director at world-class video production company, Hand Crank Films of the Pacific Northwest.  Learn how Caleb went from someone who thought doing corporate video was "selling out" to someone who learned to love the process of turning his passion for film into beautiful videos for his clients that are anything but typical "corporate".  Caleb creates over a million dollars of revenue a year for the agency that owns Hand Crank AND stays true to his soul and vision - listen in to find out how. Also included:  * Talking deal making and how to win the game of "Budget-Chicken" Disclaimer: Hand Crank Films was the company Max started nearly 20 years ago, and sold 3 years ago.

You seriously need to take budgeting seriously. Basically, budgeting is the activity that makes or breaks your operation. How you handle it makes all the difference whether you're just getting started, or you've been at it for a long time. Take a moment to listen to Max & Jake's tips for making this process fast, efficient and productive.  You won't regret it. In this podcast we breakdown how great budgeting will: * Get you more work * Get you BIGGER budgets * Get you in the door with agencies * Get you off the hamster wheel of making the same financial mistakes again and again that are holding you up

Today Jake and I got to sit down with Ryan Koral, the head of Studio Sherpas. Studio Sherpas is advertised as "Everything You Need to Grow Your Video Business" and they are not kidding. Ryan has dedicated a sizeable chunk of his career to helping video production folk become more successful and happy in running their companies. Ryan hosts a podcast which has over 420,000 downloads!   In addition to just kicking back and telling us how he got started, and what Studio Sherpas is all about, Ryan shares a number of quick grab gems of useful information that make it easy to understand why the Sherpas are so popular. For instance, here are just a few things you may not have thought of: * How making a personal video to go along with a pitch can help seal the deal  * How you can actually charge your clients to just put together their production plan (no shooting necessary, and yes, this works!) * Assorted ways to add value to get those jobs you REALLY want with out shortchanging yourself or cutting your budget Tune in, you owe to yourself!

John Sherman is the CEO of StoryFarm out of Baltimore, Maryland. John and his team have been (very) successful creating a host of different types of videos for clients like Dell, McDonalds, ExxonMobile - you name it. The unique thing about StoryFarm? In this age of decentralized, on-demand video work, they've decided to stick to the old ways of doing things and keep all of their employees salaried, and in-house. In this episode, we talk with John about why this seemingly old-fashioned approach to business management actually yields some surprising advantages in market, and how it has helped them grow to over $2.5M in revenue.  We discuss how they are better able to serve their clients, how their potential clients love knowing their work is going to be all in-house, and how sometimes it's more about journey than the destination when it comes to video production work.

Imagine bringing in revenue of $3.5M one year only to find that you're actually $1M in debt? That's where Guy Bauer found himself at the end of 2018. His production company (Umault) was more successful than ever, however, due to poor financial management, and lack of direction, Guy was only months from bankruptcy.  Listen in as Guy shares candidly with us how he successfully relaunched his company, slimmed staff from 32 to 4, moved the focus from "the gear" to the creative, became highly profitable, and most of all, started enjoying his job again.  Guy and his team have officially killed the corporate video - and it has paid off in spades.