How I Started My Video Production Business

[freelancingthestone]

Oyster Fishing at Whitstable, England (c.1909)

Connecting the strands of my two last posts, here's a documentary from 1909 hosted by the British Film Institute* on Youtube. The film shows fishermen heading out to dredge for oysters off the English coast, then follows their catch as the shellfish make their way to a fancy restaurant in London. Even the best local farm-to-table supply chain has nothing on these guys. And as you can see from the thumbnail - their dinghies have lapstrake hulls!

It's fascinating to see that in over a hundred years of documentary filmmaking, so much has stayed the same. Of course there's no voiceover here, no interviews with lower-third titles, no Ken Burns effect on still photos, but the idea of finding a worthy subject and following them with a camera is more or less the same. If they could do this in 1909 there's no reason not to get out there and make something similar today.

* The BFI has uploaded thousands of old documentaries and bits of archival footage, all labeled and organized for easy browsing. I highly recommend getting lost in one of their playlists, like The Cabinet of Curiosities or For Your Safety.

[freelancingthestone]

Wherein I Name a Business

"Michael always says 'K-I-S-S. Keep it simple, stupid.' Great advice. Hurts my feelings every time." Dwight Schrute, Northeastern Pennsylvania Salesman of the Year 2006

I've got a couple ideas in my head for what to call my business. I'll list them here in order of simplicity, and try to hash out how I'm feeling about each one.

Bay Ridge Video - Memorable, accurate (assuming the lease signing goes OK tomorrow), descriptive, and there's a URL available now. 

J. Hermann Productions - more personal, and I already own the domain, but it's tough to remember whether my last name has one R and two Ns, or two Rs and one N, or two of each or neither. 

Cachalot Productions - the French word for "sperm whale," my favorite animal. Good for logos and graphic design and visual identity purposes (though there's nothing preventing me from combining whale imagery with an unrelated name). Con: there's a "Cachalot Films" on Vimeo, but they haven't posted anything in 4 years and they're in France, so I'm probably fine.

Physeter Films - from the Latin name for sperm whale. Same as above, but "physeter" is even tougher to spell than "cachalot," plus the pronunciation is a little weird.

Some other nautical term - Growing up with both of my parents and half my extended family working at a maritime history museum, I have a somewhat legit claim on the Sailor Jerry type stuff that has been more-or-less appropriated by tattooed transplants in Williamsburg. Most of the good ones are taken. Ideas: Absolute Bearing, Azimuth, Bowchaser, Hard Chine, Lapstrake... wait a minute.

Lapstrake Films. Lapstrake is a term for boats whose hulls are built with overlapping planks. I feel an emotional connection to the term because my dad's small boat growing up had a lapstrake hull. And there are no competitors showing up in the Google results for "lapstrake films" or "lapstrake productions," so I'm pretty sure I'm first to come up with it. I can even see a logo design - Lapstrake on one line, Films centered below, with notched curves leading up from either side. Wow!

So should I go with "Bay Ridge Video"? Or "Lapstrake Films"? Or something in between?

Really it comes down to what I hope to gain from this. Bay Ridge Video is the number you call when you need someone to showcase your daughter's bat mitzvah or your real estate agency's new office space. Lapstrake Films is more of a wedding videography / indie film type of name.

Why not both? Maybe that makes the most sense. Lapstrake Films when I want to be artsy, Bay Ridge Video when I want to be ruthlessly practical. Or is that crazy? I've read a lot about defining your target audience, figuring out exactly what it is that you do better than anyone else, narrowing your work down until you can speak directly to your ideal customer in all of your copy. When it comes to that, Lapstrake feels more honest to me. More individual, more specific. Plus I've only been to Bay Ridge a handful of times, and putting that in my business name makes me sound like an expert on the area.

So there it is. Lapstrake Films. Simple, memorable (hopefully), and it will connect with fans of boats and boatbuilding, with whom I know I'll get along.

Lapstrake Films. Simple. Good.

OK. Let's do this.

[freelancingthestone]

1. A still from the upcoming film by Mike Leigh Mr. Turner 2. Whitstable Oyster Beds, J. M. W. Turner, 1824

Idealism on Screen and Behind the Scenes - A. O. Scott / New York Times

Scott gives a great overview of the highlights from the Telluride Film Festival. I'm particularly excited for the adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's Wild and Gael García Bernal's performance in Rosewater. Hopefully I can make it to a few screenings at the New York Film Festival this October.

[freelancingthestone]

Hey folks, Jamison here. Starting today, I'm setting out to make a life for myself as a freelance video producer. This Tumblr will be a collection of stories, links, resources, photos and videos that documents my journey. I got my start in corporate video production, and now I want to start making videos that I care about, videos that mean something to people like me.

First up is a video for my friends at Fair Folks, a cool SoHo café/gallery that just opened a second location in the East Village. We're shooting later this week - hopefully I'll have it finished by next Monday.

Anthony at FF sent me this video as a reference, from a clothing and accessories label called 18 Waits out of Toronto. Hopefully we'll be able to hit the sweet spot of beautiful imagery, seamless product integration, and distinctive personality that the guys at 18 Waits captured so perfectly.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!