What you’re saying and what it actually means are two different things. In your mind “we just need a quick video” is referring to the length or runtime of the finished product. In almost zero cases does a 30 second video take only 30 seconds to produce. If you’re hiring a video professional to produce a result, even if it’s filmed on an iPhone, there is still some level of planning and strategizing that goes into assuring that your message is conveyed flawlessly in a short amount of time. All that to say, a quick video isn’t always less expensive to produce.

Ultimately, discovery calls and just conversation in general assures that we are all on the same page before starting a project so there are no surprises once the invoice or pay link is sent.

This question alone isn’t a bad question. Even people who understand value want to know how much the investment will be. That’s totally fine. However, this question DOES set everyone up for unnecessary friction later on. Allow me to elaborate.

You ask how much something is and we, out of fear that we will lose your vote if we don’t answer right away, throw out a random number that is solely based on the minimal information we’ve gathered in the first 3 seconds of the interaction. That number sounds reasonable and the conversation continues. We never revisit budget or investment until the project is done, meanwhile you’ve associated that first speculated number with the project no matter how vast the scope becomes. When I invoice for something different than the random number that I should have never blurted out, you feel betrayed or gaslit even, assuming that I told you something low to get you to work with me just to pull the rug out from under you once we were too far into the project to bail out.

For this reason, I only respond to this question with a realistic range of what I’ve seen it cost, and how much it would be to get me to commit to it.

This is an excellent question and also an obvious one. When you are investing hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars into a production, an estimated delivery time is always going to come up.

Long vague answer is, it always varies. With a product or lifestyle product shoot, turnaround time can be as quick as a week. With a full length documentary or feature film, post production can sometimes take months or even years depending on how involved it is, how big the crew is etc.

In any case, we understand and are sensitive to your deadlines and will work with you to make sure those needs are met. Be sure to clearly communicate any hard deadlines on your discovery call so we can make note of that.

Good lighting sets the camera sensor up for success. It reduces digital noise that makes footage look amateur, controls the mood, and shapes the subject. There are many different lighting styles and techniques that deliver different results. In any given scenario, we will choose the lighting style that works best for your project.

In some scenarios, using natural light is the only choice due to time restraints or the structure of a day (ie. wedding films where video isn’t the emphasis).

In other cases, natural light is a stylistic choice as it leans into realism and is sometimes just a vibe. There is so much that can be achieved with natural light, so much so that even experienced directors sometimes choose to use natural light for the entirety of their production. It’s all about knowing how to shape it and use it to your advantage.

Respectfully, absolutely not. While I still enjoy participating in the DJ world, and I respect that YOU enjoy my taste in music, in most cases the answer is going to be no. Again, respectfully of course.