Produced By - #15 - Kelsie Springall: Successful Running of a Production Company Started at University

Starting point is 00:00:02 Kelsey Springle is managing director and a producer at Feverday's productions with five years of experience working within the commercial and social video sector, having managed and edited video projects for Arts Council England, Barnett Council, Middlesex University and more. She is also a BA film graduate with a specialization in production management. Her passion for film was ignited after participating in the BFI documentary program, which was the catalyst that fueled her enthusiasm to pursue film at university. Along with her friend, she co-founded a video production company, whereby she manages the post-production aspects. On top of creating content for their clients, they also give back to local communities by teaching others with their educational workshops.

Starting point is 00:00:49 The censor this episode, to get inspired by how Kelsey co-founded her production company amid the COVID pandemic, get detailed inside into what is it like to run such a company. like to run such a company and here's some useful tips for your time at university as well as aspirations to start your own business. Enjoy. Hello Kelsey, welcome to the show and thank you for joining us today. Thank you for having me. My pleasure. Can you please introduce yourself? Yeah, so obviously my name is Kelsey. I'm 22 at the moment. I'm a BA film graduate from middle sex university and I currently run my own video production company which is called Fever Day Productions. My role in that is mainly to sort of oversee the production so I do a lot of

Starting point is 00:01:38 project management but I also do a lot of the editing for the projects as well so although I take on a lot of the producer role within the company I'll also do a lot of video editing as well and that's it really I've been running that for the past two years and it's been something that I've been able to sort of make a little bit of a career out of and so that's what I've turned up to recently really. Oh that's exciting. I didn't know that she started her own company. Have you started after you graduated or did you continue like with the company that you started for her productions while being at university? So before I came to university I did a lot of freelancing work and that was just sort of on my own accord, it was nothing special. It was just something to fill my time and do something

Starting point is 00:02:25 creative. And then when I came to university, I was still freelancing, but I kind of wanted to create more of an entity around it. I wanted it to become a little bit bigger than just myself. And although, you know, I enjoy video editing and that's what I sort of specialise in, from the camera operating side of things, I wasn't the best. So my coursemate at the time was really heavily into like camera operating and DOPing so we sort of joined forces together and started the video production company in the second year of university which is when the lockdown hit so we spent a lot of time together because we lived together at the time and we sort of built this brand from scratch and then from there on in all of that freelance work that I was doing before

Starting point is 00:03:12 that's part of like a team and it has a bit more of a brand around it now if that makes sense Mm-hmm. Well, did you still manage to keep it working during the COVID? Yeah, so when we first started, the first sort of few months, it was mainly just sort of getting our name out there. So we specifically do like digital first content and social media content. So we were still able to do that whilst working from home because a lot of the videos that we were doing were animation based or they were motion graphics. so that was easy enough to do within COVID restrictions and then when the government eased

Starting point is 00:03:54 the restrictions a little bit we were able to go out of the film obviously from my point of view having to sort of deal with all of the logistics there was a bit of a nightmare to sort out but we were still able to sort of work on projects and get out and fill but just obviously in a bit more of a controlled way yeah

Starting point is 00:04:10 wow sounds very cool how many in place are there now or how many people are in the company Yeah, so it's just me and the other founder, Emily, but we do sometimes outsource some of the work to freelancers. So obviously, we're not at the point yet where we're ready to employ anyone part-time or full-time, but sometimes some of the projects that we work on, they're a bit too big for just us too. So we've had it on times where we've got, you know, two different shoots on the same day. So we'll hire freelancers to help us sort of fulfill the roles and get everything that we need to capture. And do you have enough or a lot of work now or how does it work? What is it like? So when we first

Starting point is 00:04:53 finished university, we mainly used the third year to sort of propel us for life after uni. So in our third year of uni, we did so much work trying to get ourselves known and sort of network as much as we could. And then after we finished uni, we had a lot of client work to fulfill. So we were just steamrolling that for a good few months. And then after that, obviously it all happened quite quickly. We were working on a lot of different projects and we sort of got a bit burnt out because we were trying to do so much and obviously there's just two of us and when we first started this, we didn't have the sort of the resources or the capabilities to really outsource or, you know, we didn't have that understanding of how to like properly sort of do everything from like a business

Starting point is 00:05:43 point of view. So from that, we kind of took a step back and, you know, took projects on one by one, so to speak. So we didn't necessarily just try and pick up as much work as we could. We just did it sort of as we could. So at the moment, we have a few projects on. We're currently working on two different projects and we're just trying to get our way through it and not sort of get ahead of ourselves. Yeah, not to overwork yourself. Yeah, definitely. As a workaholic, everything I love, I love getting into projects and just working sea behind, but, you know, that's not sustainable, really. I kind of like tame myself a bit.

Starting point is 00:06:22 And you need to keep enjoying the work so that, you know, if it's too much, you may not like it anymore. But I cannot imagine how are you able to juggle this work alongside doing third year at university? Did you still have time, energy and passion to do that? Yeah, so I sort of, we had the university to do. But it was just a case of just sort of organising ourselves. As we were doing the video production company, obviously being third-year university students, there was a lot of work to manage. And the way we sort of overcome that is luckily there was two of us.

Starting point is 00:06:58 So we did sort of delegate the responsibilities between us both. So that was evenly spread out. But obviously during the daytime, we would typically do the university work that we had to do, whether that's like attend classes, go for like meetings or, go for shoots or that sort of thing. But we'd always make sure that we'd have like an hour or so in the evening just to sort of work on the production company and see how we can scale it and see how we can move forward. And how did you go about getting work in the first stages of the production company since maybe you didn't have, you know, such a name yet? So how was it

Starting point is 00:07:37 to getting clients at work? The main source of clients at the beginning, was mainly just from people that we knew and that we'd networked with. So from going to university, I had a lot of different people that I'd previously done maybe video projects with who knew someone that needed video work doing. You know, as generic as it sounds, it was just the case of networking and finding those clients. Luckily, the other founder, Emily, her parents run both businesses.

Starting point is 00:08:07 So they knew a lot of other local businesses in the area that we could reach out to and do, free work for initially. And then obviously once we did a bit of free work and we got some sort of portfolio together, then we were able to start charging and then sort of move up from there. But in the first instance, clients mainly just come from us being on the front foot and just sending like cold emails and just trying to network and just get into know people. And now are you in a position, I know you mentioned before that you don't want to overwork yourself, but are you in a position when you can be selective or when you even refuse to do some work because it's too much?

Starting point is 00:08:46 I don't think we've never specifically said no to a project. I mean, a lot of the project, you know, have come to us that we think we're not able to do, we'll negotiate with the client to see if there's some sort of solution. So, for example, you know, sometimes there's clients who don't have a really big budget. And so even though they don't have a big budget, they expect, you know, a lot of high quality, you know, productions and they want this, that, the other. But within their budget, it's not capable of doing. So it is just the case of having those negotiations and sort of being with the client, collaborating with them and saying, you know,

Starting point is 00:09:26 we can do this, but we aren't able to do this. And if you want this, then, you know, we need to work around this sort of thing. So we've never specifically turned a project down. We've just tried to find a way to make it work for us and for the client as well. Yeah. And when there is a scenario like this, when you're trying to explain that it's what possible with the budget they have, is client usually understanding or what is it like to deal with? Let's say maybe client doesn't know what it's like, so it's harder for them to understand that the budget is low. It's definitely an obstacle. I think the main obstacle I've had run in this video production company has specifically been with dealing with clients who have low budgets because they're always the trickiest to sort of. navigate through. Although they have low budgets, they have extremely high expectations. And sometimes I think not many people understand the work that goes into video production and all of the behind the scenes work, you know, with the shooters, the locations, if you have to get actors,

Starting point is 00:10:26 all of the equipment is expensive. And I feel like sometimes clients don't know all the behind scenes that goes into it. So again, it's just having that open communication of saying, you know, this is the work that has to go on. This is what you need to be mindful of and how can we work together to achieve that. I mean, it's definitely difficult and I'll definitely deal with the fair share of clients who have been quite difficult to work with in that sense.

Starting point is 00:10:51 But yeah, it's just being open and honest, really, and just trying to work with them. And are they usually understanding or do they leave? I hope that someone else will do the job for a lower price? Normally, what you've explained, all of the work that goes into it and the value that the video can produce for them. Normally they are happy to go ahead with it.

Starting point is 00:11:13 You know, I've not had a client walk away because a lot of the time I think clients are not willing to pay the price because they don't know the value that they're going to get back from that. I see video as a bit of an investment. So I think making, you know, that clear to the clients that they can have these results and just making it clear to them, you know, how this could benefit them is helpful in making them

Starting point is 00:11:37 stay and sort of getting that sale. And do deal with them in person or is it online over the Zoom? So mainly all the meters I have are through Zoom at the moment. I do meet up with some clients in person, but that's normally when we're sort of halfway through the project and we'll be going over paperwork and that sort of thing. But in the initial sort of stages where we're talking about the project, going over the briefs, it's normally through Zoom.

Starting point is 00:12:04 And what do you prefer? I think in the beginning it's nice to do it through Zoom because obviously there's some comments who are a bit difficult so I feel like dealing through the screen is a lot easier but obviously once you meet up in person it's a lot better because you get to the bounce off of them and you kind of get a sense of their vibe and it's a lot easier to sort of work with them and collaborate in person because I feel like the idea is just a bit better

Starting point is 00:12:30 yeah can you say some examples not specifically companies, but what are the clients? Like, for example, what kind of industry or what kind of business? Yeah, so as mentioned previously, we mainly do digital first content or social media content. So we make a lot of videos that are specifically designed for online platforms. So with that in mind, we do a lot of advertisements. We do a lot of like video campaigns, website videos, ads in general promo videos, that sort of thing. And we've worked with a variety of different clients, we don't specifically have a niche as of yet.

Starting point is 00:13:12 We're just trying to get as much experience as possible than if we find that one sort of niche is more successful than the other for us, then we'll probably go through that. But at the moment, you know, we've mainly been dealing with many quite a lot of e-commerce businesses and we've also dealt with a lot of charity businesses as well and like social organisations they've always been quite fun to work with. And you said about niche businesses, do you have already something in mind or you will see

Starting point is 00:13:42 after time based on what works or what would work the most? So we don't specifically have a niche in mind of where we want the business to go. We're currently still trying to get as much experience as we can and then seeing what we enjoy doing and what we want to continue. you. But at the moment, I think we really like doing a lot of work with like social organization groups. So like charities and sort of community groups that are looking to make changes. They're always the most rewarding because they're doing it for a purpose. So that's something that we've been enjoying personally that that might change. We're just trying to get as much experience as possible.

Starting point is 00:14:23 Yeah, that may sound. And is there like a specific client or specific of business that you would want to work with, maybe something that is interesting or exciting or challenging for you? Well, that's a good question. I'm not sure of. I guess it would be some well-known company, you know, like Edward for Nike or something, but I'm not saying it's not possible, but for now, more realistic. Definitely, yeah.

Starting point is 00:14:51 I think a type of client that I haven't necessarily worked with before that I'd be really interested in working with would probably be amongst the technology niche as sort of like a person who specifically, you know, enjoys video editing of a bit of a digital nerd. So the idea of working with a tech company that's using AI to power some editing tool or, you know, Adobe, for example, I would like love to work with a company who uses creative technology and maybe do some work with them because I think that'd be super cool really. Yeah, I agree. That sounds good. If you can try to get an idea about the project that you've got,

Starting point is 00:15:32 like what is the timescale of, let's say, client gives you project to work on? So how long does it take, you know, the whole pre-production, production, production, post-production, to come up with the idea and this stuff? There's no set timescale that we specifically work with. Some projects take longer than others. So, for example, we did like a product promo

Starting point is 00:15:54 and we did it in like a makeshift office space that we have. And that took probably about two weeks to complete. But then we also worked on a project where we had to live stream a six-hour festival in Fabric Nightclub in London. So obviously that was months in preparation, whereas the product promo that we filmed in the office took about two weeks, whereas there was like six months of, you know, pre-production, post-production for that festival.

Starting point is 00:16:24 So it really depends on the project that we're working on as to the timeline. And we also have to think about the client's timeline as well, because a lot of the clients want the video project done by a certain date. So obviously, you have to factor that in as well. So, yeah, it varies from project to project. Yeah, I understand. And is it the production or like working on a project as you are? Can you compare it to working on projects or on films at university?

Starting point is 00:16:53 Is it, you know, similar or is it in real life completely different? What are some similarities or maybe it's not similar at all? I think there are a few similarities in the sense that obviously at university, you're typically working within a big group and, you know, people in your group will have different sort of opinions and they'll have different creative takes on things. So that's much like doing client work because you're normally working within a big team and, you know, someone on the client team might have a different opinion to you,

Starting point is 00:17:27 so it's all about sort of teamwork and collaborating together. I think the main difference between sort of university and client work is probably the responsibility. I think with university work, sometimes you can get away with not being as professional, but I feel like with comment work, everything you do is watched and is taking note of. So you just have to make sure that you're being professional all of the time and just making sure that you do well for your reputation at the end of the day because although it might just be a project for one time,

Starting point is 00:18:02 it could go on for the future as well. Yeah, and I guess you can get recommendations from this client to other clients, so need to stay professional, I guess. Yeah, definitely. And most of the time, like nowadays, most of our video work comes from referrals. you know, it's always a case of, oh, you know, this person needs a video doing, I work with these people before we can recommend them. So most of the clients we work with now are mainly from like referrals. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:18:31 And for example, as you mentioned before, that you worked on this project for two weeks, the one you shot in office. Does it mean that you work like those two weeks only on this project? Or is it, for example, this project and you during certain hours work on a different one? or how does it work? So it depends on how much work we have going on at a certain time. But mainly if I'm working on a project, I'll try and put my main focus into that, but we'll always have other little projects going on in the background.

Starting point is 00:19:03 So when I mean, you know, it takes two weeks to do a project, we do sort of multitask because working on the same project can sometimes get a little bit of boring and say if you've got creative block for one project, like for a product promo, if you move over to do something different, then you might get ideas. So, for example, we could be doing a day shoot and then in the evening we could do a bit of admin work or logistical work for like another project. So yeah, it just depends really. And do you work eight hours a day or do you work the whole day or how long do you work actually?

Starting point is 00:19:43 I would love to sit here and say I work seven hours a day but I'd have a thing I probably work an unhealthy amount no yeah that's what I was expecting yeah I tried to do as much as I can within seven hours a day but obviously there's going to be times where you know something really important needs to be done

Starting point is 00:20:04 so I'm happy to sort of do overtime to try and get that done but obviously at the end of the day sometimes you've been paid like a day rate. So you have to try to stick within those hours. Although the workaholic in me likes to power on and try and do a little bit more just to get a head start. And do you work weekends as well or do take off weekend? Or it depends. I try to take weekends off. But I'm always sitting there thinking with a little book near, just thinking of ideas. So as much as I try to take it off, I feel like the button in my head is always on. Yeah, I can imagine. And I wonder,

Starting point is 00:20:43 how does it work with the creativity? Because you've got, you know, clients constantly need to come up with ideas for projects, for AdWords and stuff. Do you still have ideas or where do you get, you know, constantly ideas so that the client likes it and it works? Most of the video work that we produce is videos that I consume personally. So a lot of the ideas come from things that I consume myself, but most of the video work that we do, the client already has like a very specific idea of what they want.

Starting point is 00:21:18 So it's just a case of sort of taking that on and then sort of trying to adapt it to make it a little bit more engaging and making sure that it works as best it could. But most of the time the client will have ideas and it's just about trying to flesh it together into some sort of narrative that flows and has pace to it. and if I am struggling from ideas, I'll go back to, you know, what I typically consume. So if it's like a documentary that we're working on, I will consume lots of documentaries just to get an idea of what are they doing, how can we take that on board and do that a little bit differently. So yeah, just trying to consume a lot of it and just keep up to date with

Starting point is 00:22:01 what's going on. And are you the person who is like a creative in your team or is it both you and your colleague or do you have some kind of split? We're both creative in the sense that we try to come up with ideas as much as the other person. So if a client's given us a brief, we'll sit together, maybe storyboard it, try to find a way for this to work. So it's a partnership really between me and Emily, the other founder where we sit and we sort of hash ideas out and try to get inspiration from each other because sometimes working on your own

Starting point is 00:22:38 can not only be a little bit lonely but you get stuck for ideas so having that other person there to sort of be like oh that's good well that's rubbish it sort of helps when you try to plant things out and does that happen or did that happen that you didn't come up with anything or just need to wait and something comes up after time

Starting point is 00:22:58 there's not been an instance where we've not been able to come up with some sort of creative idea normally if we're really struggling with something, normally it's mainly the edit, so we'll sit on the edit for a few days, something's not quite clicking. But it is just a case of playing around with things and just being a bit patient, trying to do different things. If it's not working, try something else. Like we've had it in the past where we did a documentary that was supposed to be 10 minutes, and the client wanted it to be 10 minutes, but it felt so long, and the pacing was off and it didn't feel quite right. and we were watching it again and again and we were sort of running out of ideas

Starting point is 00:23:36 because it wasn't as engaging as we'd hope so we sort of just kept revisiting the edit just again and again try to be patient with the process and then ultimately get something that we're happy with was it good in the end we're happy yeah we were happy yeah the client was happy as well it was funny because they initially wanted something a lot longer

Starting point is 00:23:58 and then after we worked together they thought no it's best to be be sure. So it was only around five minutes, but it's fulfilled their brief and we were happy with it, so all as well. And how do you make sure that the client will be happy with your idea? Do you like during the process, do you share the progress with the client to make sure that they like it? The main thing that we do is to make sure that we carry the client throughout every single process because I would hate to get to the end of it and the client to absolutely you hate it. So, you know, in pre-production, when we do, say, like a shot list or a storyboard,

Starting point is 00:24:36 we'll send that to them and be like, this is what we're working with, this is what we're thinking of, do you have any ideas, you know, how is this for you? And then we can get their feedback from that. And then when we're filming, say if the client is there on the shoot with us, we'll show them a few clips just so they can see what we're capturing. So they can give us some sort of feedback, you know, this is what they like and what they don't like. And then post-production as well, we mainly do all of the edits. So then we'll send it to them to get feedback from them. And then we typically do around two re- edits or revisits,

Starting point is 00:25:12 just to make sure we get the project as they like it. And then that's normally it. But we always try to bring the clients throughout everything. Yeah. And do you prefer if clients give you, like I said, the guidelines, Or do you prefer when it's, you've got more creative freedom for the projects? I prefer it when the client gives us a brief to work with, because then it doesn't feel like we're completely started from scratch.

Starting point is 00:25:39 You have like an idea of what they want, and then we can do our job of thinking, right, how can we make the best video possible, how can it engage their audience? So I like having the pieces of the puzzle, and then we try to put it all together and make it make sense. I feel like the clients that have come to us and they've not had any idea of what they want, they've always been quite difficult because it feels like we're trying to get them to understand what they want.

Starting point is 00:26:07 So it's kind of like pulling teeth sometimes. But yeah, I prefer it when clients have an idea of what they want and then we can sort of expand on that and then go from that. Just a quick one. If you enjoy our podcast, please give us a review on your favorite podcast app, subscribe or share it with your friends. For more information, visit the show notes. Thank you and back to the show. I was going to ask you, can you share some examples of your work? Like, can you say some maybe projects you enjoyed, some you found challenging or something that was maybe unexpected or is worth sharing for some reason?

Starting point is 00:26:43 Yep. So some of the projects that we've worked on, just trying to think which ones to mention, which would be the most interesting to mention? I mean you must have plenty of projects behind you since you started in a second year so how many years have you been around in the company? I'm just trying to think there's one that stands out but I'm just thinking is there any there's a few examples of some of the video work that we've done obviously on our website fever day productions.com get on it and don't worry I will put it into show notes thank you yeah so there's been lots of different video projects that have worked on

Starting point is 00:27:21 One specifically that stands out to me is probably being the most challenging. I think I've already mentioned it would be the festival that we live streamed. That's probably one of my favourite projects we've worked on, mainly because of how ambitious that was. Previously, I've not had all that much experience with live streaming. So I've done it a bit as passion projects

Starting point is 00:27:42 and then I've done a bit of it at uni, but nothing at the scale that we did. So we got hired by a client to film a six-hour festival in Fabric Nightclub in London. We were using three different camera setups to get different shots. And then we also had a roaming camera as well that was going through and capturing different angles of the crowd and the performers. And from a logistical standpoint,

Starting point is 00:28:07 that project was really challenging because, you know, not only was there so many people crew-wise, but there was a hell of a lot of equipment to make sure that this was all running smoothly. in terms of the venue itself, they didn't have great Wi-Fi connections. So making sure that the network was powerful enough to actually do the live stream, it was a challenge as well.

Starting point is 00:28:27 So that project was quite memorable because of how difficult it was and how out of our comfort zone it was for us, but it was definitely a learning curve and something that I really enjoyed. Other projects that we've worked on, how was it in the end? Was it good?

Starting point is 00:28:46 Yeah, no, it was really good, yeah, it was fun. They had, I think it was like over 15,000 people view the festival just on Facebook alone. So that was good. But then obviously you had all of the people that were there as well in the crowd. So yeah, they were really happy with how it went. And they worked with a lot of sponsors as well. And the sponsors were happy. So, yeah.

Starting point is 00:29:07 And must have been a long pre-production for that? Or like a preparation, wasn't it? Yeah. The main trouble, there's a lot of pre-production that went into that project. So a lot of it was specifically equipment-wise. We had to make sure that equipment was correct and just work with the client to sort of go through the scheduling as well because, you know, live streaming from six hours straight is quite a technical nightmare.

Starting point is 00:29:34 So we had to work with the client to make sure that we had all of the scheduling set up. We knew what acts were going to be on when. And they also had pre-recorded videos that they wanted to be live-streamed as well. So it was just a case of getting. and organized, making sure that we knew the running and then follow that and execute it as best we could. Obviously, when we were actually filming on that day, it was just pure adrenaline. These non-stop, like, just trying to get it done. But it was super rewarding afterwards when everyone was happy. And then everyone was commenting and saying how much they liked it. So it was good.

Starting point is 00:30:09 Yeah, I can imagine challenging, but a great experience in there. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, definitely was. Sorry, I interrupted you before. No, I was just going to mention another project that we did. It was quite an unexpected project because this client initially came to us through a referral. So Emily knew someone who worked at university who knew someone that was working on a video campaign. And so they sent us a message and we got in touch with them and had a meeting. And that video project was to create a short documentary about an initiative.

Starting point is 00:30:45 that a company were doing in the organisation. And it was mainly an initiative where they paired vulnerable adults who were sort of like a victim of loneliness throughout the pandemic and paired them with a companion who they could sort of do things together. And that was a community-based scheme that was going around in London and they wanted a video to sort of promote that scheme and sort of document the process of it. So that was quite unexpected because

Starting point is 00:31:14 you know we hadn't reached out to the client prior they sort of came to us and we worked on it for a few months and that was quite rewarding because we were part of something that was really making a difference in the community so that was like an unexpected project that I really enjoyed and how long was the documentary it was 10 minutes yeah and when there is scenario like this that client approaches you with this type of project that you haven't worked on before do you like immediately accept and then just figure it out or are you like hesitant that you may not make it or just not your type of work I'm a massive yes man I love doing as many opportunities as I can and sort of learning from that so I will try and work on pretty much any video project that comes our way obviously there are times where sometimes I don't specifically engage with the video

Starting point is 00:32:13 work as much as I would hope. But most of the time we work on video projects that we absolutely love to work on. So yeah, it's been good. Is there the type of content that you would want to try and you maybe haven't tried yet? There's not necessarily a type of content that I'm looking to sort of work on. I feel like we've sort of covered the basics from, you know, the fact that we've worked on ads, documentaries, we've done a few music videos, we've done a few campaign videos. We've done a few campaign videos. So I feel like we've covered the basics of different types of content. I think it's just a case of there's a lot of different types of clients that would still like to work with. For example, we haven't worked with like, say, a fitness brand and like tech brands.

Starting point is 00:32:58 And so there's sort of different niches that we'd like to work with to see if that's something that we enjoy doing and something that's rewarding and if we've wanted to sort of just do in future. So, you know, we've worked on different content and we've worked on. And we've worked of different clients but there's never going to be a point I don't think where we're going to want to stop learning and exploring different routes. Yeah, one never knows. I guess in London there so many opportunities that I'm sure it will happen sooner or later. Yeah. And as you mentioned before it, you are filming in your office. So do you have actually like physical office for your company where you are working from? At the moment, we don't specifically have an official office

Starting point is 00:33:42 where we work from, but we do have like a designated sort of set up office room where we have all of our sort of computers set out and laid up. We also have all of our filming equipment up. So although it's not like an actual office on like an industrial state, it is sort of like a home office that is fit for purpose and does what we need to do. And it sort of acts as like a creative space as well for us that we can sort of go in in work mode and just sort of experiment and just be creative. And how does it work with the equipment? Have you got your own or do you rent it?

Starting point is 00:34:17 Or what is it like? We have our own in-house equipment. We have a few Sony alpha cameras. And we have like mics. We have a gimbal, different lights and things like that. Sometimes we have to outsource equipment. So if a client wants drone shots, for example, we'll either hire an official sort of drone pilot

Starting point is 00:34:39 or we'll go and rent one. But most of the time we use the equipment that we have in-house. For example, with the live streaming festival, obviously we had to have different camera setups. So there was another gentleman that was working on the video project with us, and he had his own equipment. So we brought ours, he brought his, so yeah, we just sort of worked together on that.

Starting point is 00:35:01 But normally we use our own, but if the client needs it, we'll outsource it. And how did you start with this in the first place? Because, you know, equipment is expensive. You as students, how did you start basically growing up the business? So throughout my teenage years, I'd already done a bit of freelancing. So I'd mainly got all of like my starter video cameras and budget mics from like family members when it was like my birthday and Christmas. So I already had a bit of equipment then.

Starting point is 00:35:35 And then when it came to uni and we wanted to sort of build it up again from scratch, we sold all of the equipment that we had and tried to invest in something that was a little bit more professional. And then obviously as we work on different projects and we get a little bit more money, then we invest that back into the business to try and get some better equipment. But it's hard to keep up because there's so many cool pieces of kick come out on the base. It's so bad. Yeah, I can imagine. Yeah, and when did you actually get the idea to start the business?

Starting point is 00:36:10 Is it something you always wanted to do or get the idea directly? So I've always been a freelancer. I've always been creative on like passion projects and different sort of internships that I've done and things like that. So I wanted to turn that freelancing side that I had going on into a fully fleshed business. So it's always been something that I've wanted to do. But being the type of person I am, I think I've always needed to do it with someone.

Starting point is 00:36:40 So when it came to uni and I met Emily, we sort of work quite well together in the sense that she excels in things that I maybe don't and I excel in things that she maybe doesn't. So our strengths and weaknesses play out together. So for example, she's, you know, better a camera operating. I'm probably better at editing. So we work well in that partnership together. And if you got set roles, or you help each other, or it depends based on a project? We do have set roles in the sense that I mainly manage all of the pre-production side of the business.

Starting point is 00:37:19 So all of the contracts, invoices, that sort of stuff, I'll deal with. But then when it actually comes to filming and the production side of it, she will sort of direct it, she'll deal with the clients and any sort of freelancers that we hire. And she'll probably camera operate as well. And then when it comes to post-production, I will oversee the edit. I will mainly do the edit, but if, you know, requires a lot of work, then I'll deal with freelancers and manage them as well. So, yeah, we do have set roles, but sometimes we help each other out

Starting point is 00:37:50 because, you know, sometimes it requires that extra help in hand. Yeah. So there isn't, like, one of you that would be the boss? You are on the same level? Yeah, I'd like to stay on the same level. But if you're going to ask me, I'd like to think, income the box. I really are pretty much the same.

Starting point is 00:38:08 And you mentioned before that you lived together, right? And then you started the company. So isn't it difficult to live together, work together, study together? Is it positive when it comes to the relationship? Or is it negative? I would be afraid that it may be too much. No, definitely. I think we started the company back in lockdown.

Starting point is 00:38:31 So inevitably, as we were living together, we were already going to spend a lot of time together. And I think that made us develop a better working relationship with each other because we could call each other out a little bit more and we could sort of, you know, communicate more openly because, you know, there's some people that aren't necessarily that close who I probably wouldn't be able to sort of, you know, express opinions to as freely as I can with Emily.

Starting point is 00:38:59 So although we, you know, work together and live together, you know, with been able to set boundaries where we say, you know, enough's enough. Now we're not going to talk about work. Let's talk about something else. Yeah. And would you still start a company even if there wasn't lockdown or it didn't make any different? I think I was always destined to sort of start my own business as I've always been that way inclined. But I think lockdown just gave me that time and that opportunity to really sit down, reflect and sort of start something from scratch. And in terms of, you know, working on a website and just having that free time to work on different projects and sort of

Starting point is 00:39:40 just be creative really you know there was nothing else better to do so i thought i may as well use my time wisely and sort of do something that's productive and creative yeah i mean it sounds like you took good advantage of such unfortunate situation because quite often people i do want to say complain but you know lockdown was unfortunate for everyone but It's a great example that you kind of benefited from that. So I would say it's were inspiring to hear such a story. That's good. I think for me personally, like, I always like to be busy and be on the go.

Starting point is 00:40:17 So I think the idea of simply doing nothing throughout lockdown was like not an option for me. I had to do something to sort of preoccupy my mind and keep busy. So, you know, it was just a case of trying to build something to just keep my mind occupied. Yeah. And what are the plans for the future with the company? Have you got some kind of goal? My main goal for the video production company in the future would probably be to get a specific working office that we can use, which is separate to where we live. That's probably a goal would be to open that up and have like a designated work office. Aside from that, we're also looking to develop on our video projects that we currently work on. So at the moment, we're working on a few different video projects,

Starting point is 00:41:06 one in particular with a school, which is quite ambitious. So we're just looking to work on as many video projects as we can, and then also expand on the educational side of the business as well. Something that we've started to do over the past year is conduct workshops within the local community to teach younger creatives film. And we also worked with a global training provider. I'm not sure I'm able to name them, but we wrote a course syllabus for them. And so through writing that course and from doing the workshops within the community,

Starting point is 00:41:40 we definitely want to expand on the educational side of the business and maybe do a few more workshops or try to sort of not only educate people about video production, but try to sort of inspire the next generation of young creatives to pursue what they love for a living. I mean, that sounds great. Have you got some kind of, or is there like a person or a company or artist who is such inspiration for you? Or do you have such a drive inside of you or is there someone you're like, oh, I want to be like him or I want to follow his steps? Yeah. I'm trying to think there must be, I don't know, I'm trying to think, no, is there anyone in Petitla?

Starting point is 00:42:25 Or maybe like a company that, you know, production company, that you like their content and, I don't want to say follow that or copy them, but get inspired. I know there must be, but I'm going blank at the moment. But I know, I feel like there is definitely so long. So I'm trying to pinpoint it. I'm trying to think. No, I mean, it's okay if you cannot think of anything. No, not at the moment.

Starting point is 00:42:47 Sorry, I'm sure there is, and I'm going to pinch myself out to this, because I'm going to think of someone. But mainly I just take inspiration from other people around me. There's not sort of one person that I follow or one business that I look up to in particular. I'm just trying to follow my own sort of path. Or do you maybe see inspiration in some specific, let's say, film director? Because as someone who studied film, I'm sure you've got, you know, favorite artist, director, so maybe there's someone's style that you like.

Starting point is 00:43:19 So a little fun fact about myself is that growing up and still to this day, I've never been the biggest film fan. And when I went to film school, every time I said this, people were always so surprised and so shocked, but surprisingly, you know, I've never watched all of the Harry Potter series, you know, I've never watched Star Wars or Star Trek all of those like cult film classics. I've never really watched them. So, you know, growing up I was mainly interested in like videos, like YouTube videos, adverts and like documentaries. So my main inspiration for getting into video production itself was mainly from YouTubers

Starting point is 00:43:57 or people who created documentaries. So obviously there are some people that growing up and still to this day that I've kind of took inspiration from, I'm sure a lot of other people can probably relate, but there's YouTubers that have Casey Nistat. Who else? There must be some more. Casey Nistice is quite influential because I feel like I heard it recently from someone else

Starting point is 00:44:20 who mentioned Casey Nistad as well. Yeah. I think Casey Nistat is quite a big inspiration to a lot of people because he makes the mundane interesting. So it's like trying to find something out of nothing. And I always find that super interesting. But obviously because we do a lot of like digital first and social media content, a lot of the inspiration comes from people such as like Casey Nistat.

Starting point is 00:44:44 And I'm not sure if you heard of him, but like Gary the... Yeah, Gary Vaynerchuk. He's everywhere these days and people like that. Yeah, I like him as a kind of motivation or inspiration person, so yeah. It's interesting what he has to say, because obviously he's running his media production company, so it's interesting to see what he has to say about social media and that sort of thing. Yeah, I agree. And I think you mentioned before,

Starting point is 00:45:10 did you also do animation or motion graphics, right? So is it something that, you know, you learned by yourself to be able to provide this service as well? Yep. So from a young age, I've always been really interested in video editing. So when I first learned how to sort of work with Premiere and do like video editing, I always wanted to try and upskill and do something a little bit more advanced. So I made the switch obviously from working on Premiere to try to learn after effects. And so that's how I got into motion graphics and sort of animation. I mainly learned animation and motion graphics all from scratch from like YouTube tutorials.

Starting point is 00:45:53 So it's all sort of self-taught. when I was at university, I specialised in producing. So I never got to do any of the editing classes or anything like that. So my interest for video editing and animation and that sort of thing all came from me fulfilling things outside of the classroom and working on passion projects. So it was just a case of just playing around with the software and just working on it bit by bit and then being able to feel confident enough

Starting point is 00:46:24 to use that on different projects but we mainly use like motion graphics and animations for like explainer videos and e-commerce videos so we do bits of it but that's not entirely everything we do yeah and what software do you use either for editing or for that animation in terms of editing we primarily edit on adobe premiere pro we color grade in da vinci resolve and then any the visual effects or special effects will be done through after effects. We don't use avid or anything like that. We just mainly stick to the Adobe suite. I have been using a few different AI tools recently

Starting point is 00:47:05 to do a bit of take off some of the work. Also been using some AI tools recently to try to sort of develop the Polish production side of things and sort of been using those tools to see how we can better develop our workflow. But I'm Adobe fan girl here. So is it because you prefer Adolfo's? or because those AI tools didn't do what you wanted? I mainly prefer Adobe because that's what I've grown up learning, and so I've just become really familiar with the workflow.

Starting point is 00:47:36 And I also like how integrated it is, so you can do sequences on Alpha Effects and it works within Premiere. It all sort of matches up. So it just works well together. So I think that's one of the reasons why I primarily use Adobe. So is that something you'll recommend? and, you know, to learn to someone if they wanted to do kind of similar work as you do? Yeah, I definitely recommend using Adobe because you have so many different apps that you can learn from.

Starting point is 00:48:05 There's just so much that you can do with it. And that if people are just probably starting out, I would recommend probably using like a free editing software and apps. So, for example, when I first started out, obviously you've got the classic Windows Movie Maker. Nowadays, you've got so many different options. I know a really good popular one at the moment is Shotcut. You've also got CapCut. A lot of people are using VN as well.

Starting point is 00:48:32 So just use free editing software, try to sort of get as much experience with that as possible. And then after that, you can always sort of migrate over to Adobe because most of the time, the apps sort of work the same. It's just in different functions and features. Yeah, I was going to ask you if you used Adobe. be our Premier Pro before

Starting point is 00:48:54 uni or you started during uni because it was taught at uni. So because I did a bit of freelance work already before I went to university, I already had a bit of background knowledge of the Adobe Creative Cloud. So when I did go to university, I decided to not go on like the craft fruit.

Starting point is 00:49:15 I decided to go down the producer route just so I could get a better experience of like project management and production management because I think those skills are not only a lot more transferable but a lot more sort of hireable so if this video production thing doesn't work out

Starting point is 00:49:32 at least I could sort of go into another role that requires like project management skills but I did use Adobe before I went to uni Yeah and actually why did you go to uni in the first place since you already did some freelancing you had projects and you could start I mean, I guess you didn't know back then that you would start the company, but why did you decide for any? I decided to go to university for a few reasons. I think the main one is the fact that I'm from quite a small town in Norfolk in England.

Starting point is 00:50:08 So, you know, everyone sort of knows each other within the town. I really just wanted to get out of that small town and get a feel of what it's like, not only living in a big city, but working in a big city. So I chose to go to university in London because there's so many different opportunities that you can get in London that you wouldn't have from back where I'm from. So London was always at the first point of call because of how diverse and how many opportunities there are, especially for like video and film. I have to say that it's something I can relate to because usually people come from big cities or other capitals, but I'm actually someone who comes from a little town as well.

Starting point is 00:50:49 where everyone knows everyone so I'm glad to hear it from someone Lasas vlog It sounds silly but the main reason that I went to film school is not necessarily for the studies but it was just to meet different people you know experience different culture live on my own

Starting point is 00:51:04 it was all of the sort of outside you know aspects of it obviously the course itself that I studied was super invaluable but living in a big city like London like completely changes you I suppose it is just just like it's a whole different experience that you wouldn't get if you just stayed in your

Starting point is 00:51:23 full town yeah i completely agree can you share some tips and advice for someone who wanted to start company like you did any advice don't do it not you can never be stressed no or what would you do differently if you were starting again i think my main advice to people who are first starting out in the world of video and film would to sort of be to create your own opportunities I think nowadays a lot of people had the expectation

Starting point is 00:51:58 that the perfect opportunity is going to come to them but if you have that sort of mentality you never really get a sort of land a job and with how competitive the industry is I think freelancers and you know

Starting point is 00:52:12 videographers and filmmakers I feel like they always need to be on the front foot and tried to create their own opportunities, whether that's through like many passion projects or whether that's trying to find a different path within work experience. I think, you know, there's definitely some ways that you can create your own opportunities and get yourself out there. I mean, with the rise of like social media nowadays, even if you put your work out there, it can get seen by absolutely anyone. So trying to create your opportunities and practice your craft is

Starting point is 00:52:44 probably the best advice that I have really. And some advice when it comes to university? My advice for anyone who's going to university to study a creative subject would be to make the most of the resources. So obviously, both we were at university, we had the opportunity to work with lots of different equipment that we could hire out and use. So I definitely recommend for anyone who's going to university

Starting point is 00:53:09 to hire out as much as equipment as possible and just tried to get to grips with. it and practice with it because then you'll get a feel of you know what sort of role that you want to go into and whatnot but yeah i think another piece advice i have for anyone who's going to university is to make the most of the people that you're going to surcharge yourself with because you never know who you're going to meet and what they can do for you in the future so just keep networking meet as many people as you can and collaborate as much as possible yeah it is something like I heard many times, so there must be some truth to it. Yeah. I don't want to really open any new topics. I was just wondering, is there something you would like to mention or something I maybe forgot to ask you? I think that's more advice.

Starting point is 00:53:58 I'm just trying to think of how best to word it. You can speak as someone who actually started business, who's running business. Who knows what it's like, knows also the negative things. You know, because maybe probably people think, you know, I'm my own boss. I've got my own company. it's going to be good, but I'm sure it's not that easy. Definitely. I think something that I wish I knew when I first started out

Starting point is 00:54:22 within my video production business is that I sort of wish I learn how to sell myself sooner. I think, you know, you could be the best videographer, filmmaker or sound designer in the world, but if you don't know how to sort of like, you know, sell your services and to sell yourself, then you're not necessarily going to be able to land clients. So it is that idea of like there's this saying that you know hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.

Starting point is 00:54:50 So it is that idea of just working hard at your craft and trying to learn how you can sell that. I think that's super valuable because there's so many people that come out of university who have really great skills but they're not able to sort of sell that to employees or clients. So I think learning the business side of Phil, or like how to pitch your services, how to sort of develop a portfolio, you know, all of the logistical side of things is super important just as much as upskilling yourself and sort of practicing your crafters as well. So would that be like, for example, developing your portfolio, working on your social media, CV, cover letter and stuff like that?

Starting point is 00:55:36 Yeah, I think it would be that. And I think it would also be putting yourself in situations where you probably know you're going to fail as well. So, for example, you know, getting conversations with people that are in the industry or where you want to be, learning from them. I just, you know, like I said previously, just creating your own opportunities to sort of fail and then learn from that. Yeah, there was this module at third year. I don't know if you had it film entrepreneurship.

Starting point is 00:56:06 Although people complain about it, I found it really helpful because it made me to properly develop, you know, LinkedIn, website and social media present. And yeah, for only it's really helpful. Did you have that module as well? Yeah, we also had that module. That was one of my favorite modules, mainly because you see the business side of everything and you see like the employability side of everything. And that's mainly what's going to make you money and how that's going to land your clients. So that was super valuable. And I wish that module was expanded on as well because it was so valuable to sort of learn from people that were in the industry, the business side of things. Like how much should we charge? You know, what should the contract look like? There's so many

Starting point is 00:56:50 things that creators, you know, look over sometimes, which is so important. Yeah, I completely agree. And it also forced me to actually work on even LinkedIn or something. I'm not saying that I wouldn't work on it, but I wouldn't work on it as much as if it wasn't required for the modules. So I phone, definitely very helpful. Yeah. Kelsey, I would finish for today and I would be happy to do part two sometime in the future because it was a great chat and I didn't know that you run the company so I find it really cool and very informative for me. So thank you very much. Well, thank you for having me. It's been fun. It's interesting because although I do this day to day, I don't necessarily

Starting point is 00:57:32 talk about it. So it's been quite difficult, I think, to put it into words that try to be specific. So hopefully it's helpful and you got some good sentences out of mentor. No, it was. I'm quite a curious person and I would still have a question, but we can agree and some point in part two in the future. Thank you, Kelsey. And good luck with your company and in your career. And gee, thank you. Keep in touch, okay.

Starting point is 00:57:58 We'll do. Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thank you for listening to Produce Bye. Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast app, leave a review or send us your feedback. For more information about the host, links from the episode and ways to connect with us, visit the show notes.

Starting point is 00:58:15 If you know someone who would be an ideal guest for our podcast, please get in touch. Thank you and see you soon.

Produced By - #15 - Kelsie Springall: Successful Running of a Production Company Started at University

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