Another look into how we do things at JECP These days we're rocking some pretty nice gear, have a solid team, and stretching our creativity further than I ever imagined. None of this is our selling point, though. I remember early on being questioned on what camera and resolution we would film in or elaborating on what lighting we would rent. I still love gear and find it essential in executing our creative treatments, but I also know it doesn't communicate our value. Our valu

Realizing there's more to great clients than great budgets. We've spoken on countless subjects from trust, planning, and relationship, which all work their way into client alignment. When we set out as a business, we just wanted to see artists thrive and make a name for ourselves, but we've realized we aren't everything for everyone, and that's ok over the years. In the beginning, you say yes to just about everything, and some projects turn into pivotal moments in your career

Thinking about your music video with messaging in mind I'll be the first to admit that performance videos aren't the first to light me up creatively. As a cinematographer, the cool factor comes from the b-roll or story mostly that we utilize to make our social feeds and demo reel look "fire." but I believe there is an art to the performance video. I see it's of significant importance for brand building and crucial to growing artists. Most artists write songs with meaning, as

Our production with ZoneZero If you've been along for the ride with JECP for any amount of time, you've heard us preach the importance of relationships (Impact of Relationships Blog HERE). This isn't just some random buzzword focus for our marketing. It's a huge core value and stems back from our origination as a brand. We are a people-focused company internally and externally, understanding that the best relationships allow for more trust and long-term quality building. This

A look at the Softspoken Campaign We're going to dive into the Softspoken campaign we produced in 2020 and the obstacles and rewards we found in the project. Producing music videos are a lot of fun and a ton of hard work, and over time we start feeling pretty drain. Being on the grind, sometimes with tight budgets and big ideas, you realize it can be difficult to bear. Inevitably you hit walls and start burning out for one reason or another. Leading up to the Softspoken proje

A never stop improving mentality We passed a new milestone. It's been five years of being an official business on the books. While we've been at this for just under a decade, it was only five years ago we saw an opportunity to make this thing the real deal and a business instead of only a passion. A lot of good and bad has happened over the years. I'd say the most significant thing that's been here is consistency, drive, and direction. Any business owner or creative will tell

Properly diagnosing for smarter prescriptions entry no. 33 Pitching a great project is an art in itself, and the creative process is tricky. There are several ways to approach this, but we believe a system helps create a consistent experience for clients and better manage time. Our strategy for proposals is with our client's vision in mind, within creative boundaries, and establishing rules that make the project a success. We're going to breakdown how we arrive at the pitchin

Being grateful, finding ourselves and highlighting our year entry no. 31 As I'm sure this year has been a whirlwind for many, we're most grateful we survived, and sometimes that's enough. This isn't the first, or the last time we'll face hardship, but what helps us push forward is ingesting the information and deciding what to do with it. 2020 had plenty of small to large setbacks, but we were lucky enough to still grow along the way. Being a creative is so much more than jus

why the LMTF project was so rewarding for us entry no. 29 We get asked a lot why we don't work with labels all that often. There are many reasons, but the most prominent is that the alignment of values rarely exists. We value personal relationships, and for some reason, this never seems to be prioritized with labels. Truthfully it feels like a race to the bottom with money as the primary focus. We get it, you're a business, but for us, it's crucial to create work that feels e

a strong client relationship turns to alignment entry no. 27 I think all of us creatives who offer a service find ourselves thinking about financial opportunities and how that impacts creativity. Still, looking back over the years, we've realized what impacts creative outcomes are how aligned we are with our clients. In short, this approach is valuing the relationship we build together more than the ticket value of a project. Not to neglect how much money is available, but we

nothing beats being prepared for a project entry no. 26 For many years I dreamed about having $10k, $50k, or even $100k project budgets. It's exciting to think about the creative things we could do with bigger budgets. Money grants us the ability to solve a lot of problems, but it also increases the stakes. What if, when I get one of those opportunities, I'm not prepared to handle it or worse, I get one, and it doesn't look any different than what I've already done. Maybe th

providing clarity to an unseen stage of projects entry no. 23 It's easy to look at a final project and see it as great, but how did it get there? As video producers, we understand how easy it is for our clients to get excited about and value our work on set. Clients get excited about this stage because they physically see the work and can validate the money they are investing in us. I think we need to be working to show more work in other aspects of projects like pre-producti

building a repeatable process to earn trust entry no. 21 THE PROBLEM As creatives, I think we've all felt anxiety or burned attempting collecting payments from clients. It's easy to complain and blame the client, but what if we're in our own way? Prepare for a very dry, non-creative discussion, but I think it contains tons of value. It's time collecting payments works for us instead of against us. The reality is most creatives are wired to create, and collecting payment is fa

a how-to in the lighting department entry no. 20 Music videos come in many shapes and forms. Honestly, it’s one of the most creative and unlimited formats of film. You typically have a few minutes to communicate some sort of idea, feeling and establish character. This allows them to be less linear, highlight the best visual aspects and often times be more effective with limited budgets. NYA was directed our way by a past client and friend. She did her research before even con

what we learned and where we're going in 2020 entry no. 18 In wrapping up the decade and leading into 2020, we wanted to take some time a reflect on what this year has been for us. This year has been full of learning, transitions, and focusing ideas for who we are and what we aspire to accomplish in the future. Our work didn’t drastically change, but its purpose became clear and focused this year. ​ In short, we are here to create the best experiences possible for our artists