
Grow Your Video Business
đŹ The podcast for ambitious filmmakers who want to build a thriving businessâwithout burning out.
Hosted by Ryan Koral, a 20+ year video production vet and coach, this weekly show is your behind-the-scenes pass to what actually works in the world of commercial video.
Every episode is packed with real talk, tactical strategies, and candid conversations to help you:
+ Book better clients (at better rates)
+ Build systems that donât rely 100% on you
+ Charge what you're worthâwith confidence
+ Create videos that make an impact and grow your bottom line
If you're ready to stop winging it and start running your business like a proâyouâre in the right place.
đď¸ New episodes drop every week.
đ Learn more at https://studiosherpas.com
Latest episodes

Mar 12, 2017 ⢠50min
SSP 014: Passive Income For Video Producers w/ Pat McGowan of BlackBox
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com Unless youâve been living under a rock for the past⌠well, ever... Youâve probably realized that our industry is going through some pretty major changes. A lot of these changes are scary to us as filmmakers and video producers. Budgets seem to be getting smaller, and it gets harder and harder for us to stand out from the hordes of insanely talented filmmakers that we often find ourselves competing for jobs with. Pat McGowan is a filmmaker with over thirty years of experience in the industry and has watched these shifts take place over time and adapted to them along the way. Heâs the owner of inMotion, a film house based in Ottawa, Canada, as well as his new service BlackBox. Heâs watched what he calls the commoditization of video content take place, with giant companies taking a major stake in content production and consignment. Pat realized that there had to be a way for the average video producer to capitalize on the ownership of the content sitting on their archived drives, and earn some passive income in the process. He created BlackBox as a way to help video content owners streamline the process of contributing to stock footage companies, taking care of the entire backend process, and allowing content creators to do what they do best: Create. Great. Content.

Mar 3, 2017 ⢠51min
SSP 013: Growing Your Video Business While Maintaining A Creative Culture w/ 31 Films
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com Ok, confession time. There was a time in my filmmaking and creative business journey where I almost let the business take over my life. I let the work that I was doing take over more and more of the energy and attention that I should have been focusing on my family, and I learned some really hard lessons from it. Joey and Aaron of 31 Films and Film Lab Creative were getting established in this business around the same time as I was, Iâd Iâve been watching and admiring their work for a number of years. Right from the beginning, the thing that set founder Joeyâs companies apart in my mind was the culture he established. Heâs been able to take his companies from a one-man operation to bringing in Aaron, to now having seven full-time editors on staff! Of course, it wasnât easy for them, and they too have learned many hard lessons along the way (donât we all?). Itâs never easy, knowing when itâs time to bring in someone else to help grow your business, but Joey has some great insights into whatâs worked for him. Not only has he grow his companies, but he's maintained a healthy work-life balance and focus on family for both his employees and himself.

Feb 26, 2017 ⢠38min
SSP 012: Redefining Success In Your Filmmaking Process w/ Rob Hardy
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com If youâre like me, at some point in your life youâve probably aspired to making it big and breaking into Hollywood as a director, producer, DP, editor, etc. But where did this idea of success come from? Rob Hardy was an indie filmmaker working 18 hours days on projects he wasnât passionate about, with people he didnât click with, burning himself trying to achieve that goal. He was at the point of asking himself if he even wanted to be a filmmaker before realizing that there were many paths to a successful film career, most of which donât lead to Hollywood. Rob now runs The Filmmakerâs Process, a blog and growing community of indie filmmakers where he guides readers on how to redefine success for themselves, according to their own circumstances, talents, and values. He's also passionate about building a worldwide directory of film professionals to make it easier to connect with partners for our creative projects. Few if any of us will realize the dream of consistently working on Hollywood films, but that doesnât mean that we canât create fulfilling and successful film careers on our own. It just means we need to think hard about what success means to us and take one small step at a time to get us there.

Feb 22, 2017 ⢠40min
SSP 011: Finding Inspiration In Difficult Times w/ Ron Dawson
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com âYou get to a point where thereâs always going to be something that could hold you back, and you have to decide, âOk, at which point am I not going to let that something be a hindrance to me starting to check things off of that bucket list that so many people have but they never actually get through.â [33:57] Iâve been a friend and admirer of Ron Dawson for over a decade now, and he seems to have a way of making everything he touches turn to gold. Ron is currently the host of Radio Film School, a podcast that many call âThis American Life for filmmakersâ. Before RFS though, Ron had started 2 more uber-popular podcasts geared towards the film and photography industry. Ron is now in the process of filming his first feature documentary, as well as transitioning his business and family into becoming global digital nomads. As with all successful people, Ronâs story has not been without struggle. In this episode, he shares how some of the hard times have inspired his life and business and forced him to focus only on the most high-value pursuits.

Feb 15, 2017 ⢠47min
SSP 010: The Future Of File Delivery w/ Michael Guastamacchio of MediaZilla
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com Ok, I hate to be the one to bring back these horrible memories, but do you remember how painful it was when every project delivery was done through DVD? Yeah, I hear ya, dealing with the whole DVD process was the first thing I offloaded when I hired my first employee, and I could not have been happier to never have to deal with it again. Weâve largely moved on from physical deliverables these days, but Dropbox and USB stick deliveries, while easier definitely lack the experience that DVDs and Blu-Rays gave. In this episode weâre talking with Michael Guastamacchio, co-founder of MediaZilla a content delivery service that delivers the best of both worlds. Michael and his team work to provide an immersive viewing experience for your clients, while saving you from the tedium of physical deliverables.

Feb 9, 2017 ⢠51min
SSP 009: Double Your Freelancing w/ Brennan Dunn
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com Are you one of those classic creatives who loves what they do, and is really great at it, but struggles with taking control of their business and capitalizing on their talent. I know I am, but if thereâs one thing Iâve learned, itâs that just because youâre a creative type person, doesnât mean you canât master the business skills as well. Brennan Dunn is the founder of Double Your Freelancing, a blog, podcast and online platform dedicated to helping creative freelancers such as videographers, photographers, software developers and more make the most of their talents and grow their businesses. Whether youâre just starting out in your freelancing career, or have been doing it a while but want to take it to the next level, there are a ton of practices you can implement to your business and client relationships that will help you grow your business fast, and Brennan is here to share some of them with us today. Iâve been doing this kind of creative work for over a decade, but after signing up to Brennanâs email list a couple of months ago and going through one of his free courses, I picked up so much useful information that Iâve already begun applying to my own business.

Feb 1, 2017 ⢠34min
SSP 008: An In Depth Look At The Next Gen ShootQ w/ CEO Adam Fried
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com You know what one of my favorite emails that I get every single week is? Itâs the email telling me that a client has just booked with me and my team. Then a few minutes later I get a second email with their retainer payment, then another that theyâve signed the contract. The best part about these emails is that I can be off spending time with my kids, or my wife, or working on other parts of my business while an automated system takes care of my new leads and clients. Adam Fried is the owner of ShootQ, having acquired the software company within the past year. In this episode, he shares his vision for how he and his team are revamping ShootQ to make it the very best studio management software on the market. My teams and I have been using ShootQ to manage our clients and workflows for the past ten years and I absolutely love it. This is one of those rare pieces of software that actually frees me up entirely to focus on the things I want to, like creating amazing films for my clients. That said, as much as I love the software, there were certainly more than a few pain points and complexities in the program. Adam basically checked off each of my concerns one by one, and it seems like pretty much every gripe I had has been addressed, and improved upon. While weâll have to wait until the end of Q1 2017 to get our hands on it, I have a feeling that this new version of ShootQ might just be one of my favorite tools that helps me run my businesses successfully.

Jan 27, 2017 ⢠36min
SSP 007: Take Action & Care For Your People w/ Ben Hartley
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com âA lot of really smart people donât get around to doing nothinâ. They like to think about it, they like to read about it, and then they go to the next book and they listen to the next podcast, and they attend the next workshop, and they talk and they talk about what theyâre going to do. But then they donât ever get around to doing nothinâ.â [19:10] As creatives, a lot of us struggle to move into the launch or action phase of our pursuits. Like Ben Hartley, todayâs guest says, we think and talk and plan but often fail to pull the trigger. Well, if you need some motivation, Ben might just be your guy. Ben is the founder of Style and Story Creative, an award winning wedding photography and commercial videography agency that has been featured on Creative Live, The Today Show, The Huffington Post and more. He also runs the Six Figure Photography Podcast and blog aimed at helping photographers achieve success in their business, but in a way that complements their ideal lifestyle. Before all this success however, Ben was a restaurant server with a degree in oil painting who just happened to hear about a job opening at a local video production studio. With no experience in video, through determination and action, Ben found a way to get that job, ultimately leading to a long and successful career in video and photography. After hearing Benâs story, youâll be hard pressed to come up with excuses about why the time isnât right to pursue this project, or why you canât achieve that goal.

Nov 22, 2016 ⢠41min
SSP 006: How Using Templates And Stock Content Can Grow Your Business Fast w/ Motion Array
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com I know, I know, Iâve been there. As creators it often feels like cheating to use templates or have anyone else do work on our projects for us. To be honest though, sometimes thatâs exactly whatâs needed to finish a project on time, or to be able to spend any time whatsoever with our families and loved ones. Thatâs exactly why Eri Levin and Tyler Williams, co-founded Motion Array, a creative marketplace with a variety of digital assets that include Premiere Pro templates, After Effects templates, stock music and stock video. Their goal is not to reduce the creativity of video producers and editors, but rather allow them to save time on their projects and focus their creative energies where it really matters. Their content is all highly curated, meaning that everything they offer is the highest quality possible.

Sep 29, 2016 ⢠49min
SSP 005: Setting Up Systems So You Can Focus On What You Love w/ John Goolsby
Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com âThe ultimate goal is to be old and in love.â Thatâs what our guest today, John Goolsby says he always tells his kids, and it applies as much to your business and what you fill your time with as it does to your relationships with the people around you. John has been making films professionally for 30 years, and although heâs had to make a ton of changes to stay current with emerging trends and styles, heâs found a way to remain deeply in love with what he does, even after all that time. Johnâs company, Godfather Films has filmed over 3000 weddings, and currently takes on over 300 projects a year. Aside from wedding films, John takes on a lot of corporate projects and is currently even working on a reality show for A&E! In this episode John takes a look back over his career in the film industry, covering everything from winning a national award for his film on floor mopping for a grocery store client, to now speaking at numerous industry events, and structuring his company in a way that allows it to continue to function without his constant involvement.