EXPERIENCE COUNTS
My career story resides in our name. At Outpost Worldwide I have had the opportunity to work throughout the world and the USA on a vast variety of projects. In our marketing we use the phrase “Experience Counts”. It is not a cliche, it is fact. Our journey has included spanish- language TV game shows and soap operas (novellas) as well as Indy movies, PBS docu-series content, national TV spots and a vast array of corporate communications and local and regional spot production. We have produced throughout the USA, and on 6 continents in over 30 countries. Kansas City is our home.
THE WORLD OF VIDEO PRODUCTION
Over the years we have scratched our heads and thought, ”Who do we want to be when we grow up?” What IS our niche? What IS our specialty? We have done so many different things over the years…BIG and small things! Where do we focus? The answer is, where the job takes us! We like to use the analogy of being highly qualified general contractors. We can build to almost any scale many different types of video production whether a two day, two month or a two year project. It’s all a balance of the right people, right tools, good ideas, passion, energy and solid production management.
As a producer, director, business owner and DP I have often made the statement that the video camera is agnostic. It does not know where it is being pointed or what you are filming. It does not matter if it’s a documentary, a corporate video or a TV game show. What is essential to a quality outcome is EXPERIENCE. Since we spent more years saying “YES” and then figuring out how to get it done, we have grown from a very diverse base of experience! But one thing for sure, we must always deliver what we promise. The way to do that is through a healthy combination of fear and determination to never let the client down! We look at every new project as a new challenge and opportunity! Over the years we have built a solid foundation of A-list professional relationships and many, many friends in the video production industry.
HOW TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS
Years ago I bought a little black hard cover book about marketing success. I believe it was called, “The Little Black Book of Marketing”. On the first page of that book there was a single statement that read’ “Everything being equal, people want to do business with their friends.”
Then on the second page it stated, “With everything not being equal, people still want to do business with their friends.” And then on the third page it declared, “Spend more time making friends and less time making contacts!” That’s all I had to read. It has been somewhat of a personal mantra ever since. The best way to grow a small business is to make lots of friends, work really hard for those business friends, celebrate, and do it all again, over and over. There is so much truth to the philosophy. You don’t want to let friends down, so you get your act together, put together the right team and right gear, brainstorm on the best creative approach and roll cameras! Seriously though, it’s almost that simple. The key is to care about the outcome and do everything you can to deliver.
Successful video projects in this industry really boils down to what inspired this short blog…”Experience Counts.” There’s only one way to gain experience, that’s to do something over and over, year after year, big or small. Over thirty-plus years I have produced a lifetime of memories, travelled many thousands of miles, and made many happy clients and lifelong friends along the way. Nike had it right with their slogan, “JUST DO IT!” That’s half the challenge! Let fear drive preparation. Let financial need drive motivation. Let working for new friends drive new projects and new experiences! As humans it is very easy to talk ourselves out of things for all kinds of reasons. Not everyday are we making a movie, or a game show or national TV spot. But every time we point the camera regardless of the scale of the project, someone is depending on us. We must take our collective experience and strive to make every production a great experience for everyone involved.
MAKING YOUR LUCK: MOST ENERGY WINS
I feel there is another key ingredient that when combined with passion and experience makes it hard to fail. That’s ENERGY! You have probably heard the quote, “The most energy WINS!” There’s so much truth to that. Years ago we were honored with making a long form documentary about Henry Bloch the co-founder of H&R Block. Henry stated during one of our filming sessions that he was a big believer in LUCK and that the harder he worked the luckier he was! He expressed for years in the early days of building the company that they could barely make payroll and were fearful of failure. Henry stated, “ Everyday I would get up, put my shoes on, and keep working!” Decades later they had built a multi-billion dollar company!
FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS: OPTICALLY AND MENTALLY
While working on a Spanish drama series we had a Colombian director Carlos Gavaria. Novellas are shot multi-camera almost live to tape. Other words, you would shoot as if live and not stop unless there was a significant mistake. The reality was you had to produce more than 30 minutes of high quality drama a day. Those in the industry realize that’s a lot of drama and a lot of work! During rehearsals when directing via headsets to a team of camera ops Carlos would often shout, “FOCO, FOCO, FOCO!” Focus, focus, focus. Yes he was referring to the sharpness of the camera work, but it stuck with me as another mantra to success in the crazy and wonderful production business! FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS. Keep your eyes and your mind sharp, on the job at hand and concentrate on delivering the goods! Then one day you will wake up, put on your shoes, and realize EXPERIENCE did count!
We can all use more friends, and probably more focus. I hope to get to know you on location someday!
Stay tuned for short stories from long shoots! (Better than long stories from short shoots!)
Michael Wunsch, Co-founder and producer OUTPOST WORLDWIDE