Ever since I got my hands on my first video camera and made a little short film called “Lady Woman Knife” with some action figures, I’ve always had a fascination with film and video production. Film and video can sway minds, entertain, share stories with the masses, and inform.
After working many years and being disappointed for other companies, I tried to branch out on my own and go full time with my own video production company, Sean Corcoran Video. As you can see on the website, I have since mostly given up on that venture….for now.
Forcing myself into running my own film and video business at that time was a great and bad decision. I wasn’t ready for it like I thought I was, but I believe everyone should run their own business early on in life so one can appreciate what running a business is like.
You Don’t Need School for Film and Video
If you’ve thought about going to school for film and video production, do not make the same mistake I did. I wasted tens of thousands of dollars and almost 3 years of my life in film school.
It turns out we don’t live in the 1900’s anymore. All the information you need for film and video is on the internet.
Why pay $90,000 in just tuition alone to go to school to work at other people’s paces? You can get the same information on YouTube. If you want to spend a little money, like $20, sites like Udemy or Skillshare can teach you what you want to know without having to study all sorts of things you aren’t interested in.
You go to 13 years of school learning things you don’t want to learn. Then, they expect you to pay for 4 more years of learning some of what you want to learn?
Experience is the mother of all teachers. This is very true for film and video production!
Tips for Starting a Film and Video Production Business
- Don’t Work for Free. If you’re considering starting a film and video production business, you should already have quite a bit of experience under your belt. You should be passed doing favors for people unless it is a passion project for you.
- It’s Stressful. Not just a video production business, but any type of business. I had done some freelance work in video, but when it became full time and being an official business, dealing with taxes, finding new clients, and not knowing when the next paycheck would come in is quite stressful
- Meeting Expectations. Here in Vegas, expectations for video production is quite high. You don’t need the absolute best equipment, but make sure you’re able to invest in semi-pro to professional equipment.
- Don’t Underestimate Yourself. I am a one man band. Sometimes it’s hard for clients to understand why I charged what I charged when working both audio and video. I made the mistake of lowering my price a few times.
- Invest In the Right Equipment. I have purchased a lot of equipment that I thought I would use, but really haven’t. I also should have invested more into a computer. One of the major things that is holding me back from taking video work right now is my computer getting a little old. Not to brag :), but I am a decent editor, but editing a lot of 4k footage, using fancy transitions, fixing mistakes in videos, editing longer videos, etc. does add on to editing time. I worked on a video that was 8 minutes long, but would take about 50 minutes to export!
- Get a Crew. If you really want to start of running, get a crew together. As I have said, I was pretty much a one man band, but having other people around would’ve made everything SO much easier. The downside is that you’ll have to charge more.
- Charge for Revisions. At the beginning, I didn’t mind doing revisions. I wanted the client to be happy. After some time, revisions from clients became a pain. When I go full time again, I’ll definitely be doing some type of “1st revision free, each revision after is $500” type of thing.
Best Tip of All for Film and Video Production
Go live! Streaming live video is way more stressful. However, once that “Stop” button is pressed, all you need to do is pack up! Trust me, after years of editing and editing, it’s nice to be able to just stop recording and be finished with a production.
You don’t need a lot to go live, especially if you are just doing a single camera setup. I’ve been a one man band going live. It’s possible, but it’s stressful.
You can even do it with free software, like OBS, if you don’t need anything too fancy. You can even still put graphics and videos over your live stream there too.
This is something you definitely should try out before you go full in on it.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
I still really enjoy producing videos, and I have many outlets on my own YouTube channels to satisfy my creation needs. YouTube, Facebook, and many other sites offer homes for your video work. I learn so many new editing techniques by just working on my own videos.
If you are going to do work for free, make sure you have a deep passion for the subject, like I did for pro wrestling.
Working on your own videos allows you complete creative freedom, which is an amazing thing to have!
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Looking for someone to do some media work for you? I suggest Joshua Sjoen. Not only is he great with musical compositions, but he can do other audio and video work for you! Visit his site to contact him!
Find My Film and Video Work on the Web
Even though I’m drawing way back on my film and video production work, I’ll still update my social media, website, and post blogs on anything I do or find interesting enough to share! Check them out below!
Webiste: https://seancorcoranvideo.wixsite.com/seancorcoranvideo
Facebook: www.facebook.com/seancorcoranvideo
Twitter: www.twitter.com/seancorcoranvid
You can sign up for my blog below. I post on pro wrestling, anti-war, video production, movies, and other things!