Creatives Grab Coffee - From Hobby to Career (Ft. Territory 6) | Creatives Grab Coffee 66

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

Welcome to another episode of Creatives Grab Coffee, hosted by Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov from Lapse Productions. In this episode, we chat with Chris Leclerc, the director, and founder of Territory 6, about his journey from a teenage hobbyist photographer to a seasoned video production professional. Timestamps: 00:05 - Introduction and Sponsors 02:18 - Guest Introduction 03:05 - Chris Leclerc's Background 06:01 - Building a Production Company 09:10 - Moving to LA and Building a Network 21:17 - Life as a Digital Nomad 31:14 - Current Projects and Future Goals 32:30 - The Role of AI in Video Production 38:59 - The Value of Authentic Storytelling 48:02 - Passion Projects and Micro Shorts SPONSORS: Canada Film Equipment: www.CanadaFilmEquipment.com Audio Process: www.Audioprocess.ca Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2vHd8BdbkMQITFZmDJ0bo9 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/creatives-grab-coffee/id1530864140 Produced by LAPSE PRODUCTIONS – https://www.lapseproductions.com To learn more about the show, visit: https://www.creativesgrabcoffee.com/

Welcome to Creative Scrap Coffee, the podcast on the business of video production. Creative Scrap Coffee is hosted by Dario Nuri and Kirill Lazerov from Labs Productions. Our goal is to share knowledge and experiences from video production professionals around the world. Whether you're a freelancer looking to start your own business or a seasoned business owner aiming to scale your company, this is the show for you. Join us as we develop a community of like-minded creatives looking to learn and help each other grow. Welcome to the business of video production. Welcome to Creatives Grab Coffee. Before we get started with the show, let's go over today's sponsors. Do you have a shoot in Toronto?

Do you need crew or a strong production partner to help you with your project? Laps Productions is one of the top production companies in Toronto and your go-to video partner. With our strong creative skills and extensive network, we can help you achieve your goal. Laps Productions is able to offer you production services, white label services, or finder fees for project handoffs.

Reach out to us on our website at LAPSProductions.com to learn more. My name is Mehran, welcome to Canada Film Equipment. We are a boutique rental house based in Toronto. We are here to help you guys out with all production sizes. Feel free to contact us to get a quote if you're a production house and you're looking for lighting, camera packages or lighting and group plan packages. You can see our contact information in the link below. We are more than happy to help you guys out.

Make sure you follow and subscribe to creativescrapcoffee.com. Thank you. Hey, what's up everybody? I'm Matt. Welcome to Audio Process. We are a boutique audio company doing location sound, sound design, post sound, ADR, Foley. We service equipment. We do all your audio needs here in Toronto. We got you covered. Come on down. AudioProcess.ca. Don't forget to like, follow, subscribe, and all of the other internet things to creativesgrabcoffee.com. They'll be waiting for you, I'll be waiting for you,

and we're all gonna have a real good time. And now, let's begin the show. Three, two, one, and we're live. Welcome everybody to the latest episode of Creatives Grab Coffee. Today we have Chris LeClair from Territory 6. Chris, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me guys.

I'm excited to be here. Is this your first podcast or is it like you're an expert at this? I've done like one other one, but you know what? It's just conversations. So I'm excited to just chat it out today. He saved the best one for last. Yeah Oh you're saying this is the this is the last You can't you won't be able to top this one What does that mean? You just retire after this one. Yeah

It's all going downhill this one. Yeah it's all going downhill. It's good. Before we dive in Chris tell us a little bit about yourself and like where you guys are based out of. Yeah so I direct and shoot and I have a small production company called Territory Six and we do commercials and doc stuff and then on the other side I also freelance as well so mostly and I've been doing this for yeah I'd say since I've been like 13 years old so it's all I know this film so I kind mostly, and I've been doing this for, let's say since I've been like 13 years old. So it's all I know is film. So I kind of live and breathe it in every aspect of my life. And so if you want to get into the whole backstory,

I don't know if I want to jump into that now, but it started when I was 13, I picked up a camera and started taking macro photos in my parents backyard. And I would take the lens and I would reverse it, and I would just go out every morning and I would take dew photo, like drops of dew on flowers. And that kind of got me excited about visuals when I was like 12, 13.

And then there was a photo contest in the county. I grew up in Wisconsin, and every year, it it's this classic like right out of a movie is like out of the newspaper It's like $500 grand prize for the winning photo and so I'm 13 14 years old something like that I started entering these entering the photo contest and then I I won like three years in a row Four years in a row. I think I won. Whoa, and won. And as a kid you're like, oh, this is cool. I got 500 bucks. Big deal, yeah. Back then too when I was actually worth a lot more.

Yeah, it wasn't like it is now, like photos and stuff, like I was taking film photos, you know? And then I slowly got into digital stuff. But it turns out that the person that was putting on the photo contest was Kohler Company back in Sheboygan. So they make like toilets and sinks and stuff. And it was for their, it was for their like company Christmas card.

And the owner, her pullers hand selected my photos for like four years in a row. And then I finally got an email from like the, the guy choosing the photos and he's like, hey, who are you? Like, you know, you've been hand selected out of like 50 people every year, and you're winning. Like, we should grab a coffee.

And he thinks I'm like 40 year old man like working in their factory. And I turned out to be like this 15 year old kid. And he goes, oh, this is crazy. What are you guys doing? And at the time, my brother and I were like, on the side of the film's photo stuff, my brother and I were just, on the side of the film, photo stuff, my brother and I were just making movies in our backyard.

So we were making movies with our friends. We made a movie every summer. And we entered into this Christian Film Festival in Texas. And that kind of like kickstarted our career. We started, that was like our experimental years. And as a result of that, we were able to really just practice and figure out filmmaking. That was kind of like our college in a sense,

our beginning college years. And then one thing led to another, that guy who emailed me, his name's Trigg, he ended up owning like the largest agency in Wisconsin that he had just sold. And he's like, I'm kind of done and you guys are awesome. I'd love to like give you guys an office and like introduce you to all my contacts.

And then he basically became our rep and we got an office and then he put us in front of like all the multi-billion dollar companies in the county and Started to promote our company basically became a rep and like pushed us around and like believed in us and Our brother and I started our production company we did that for like eight years and we were just grinding on these corporate like cinematic corporate films and It was pretty cool because he became like our business mentor and like, you know he became like the the person that people trusted trig, but we're the kids and trig trusted us and That's how we got off the ground. So have you ever played the lottery?

You know, I played the lottery once last like two weeks ago. Let me guess you won. I won $2 Still one, you know Lucky streak man. It's like one thing just led to another led to another wild story when it comes to like and then we started There was one project that was like very successful and it's it is that so so much the way in films Like you got to kind of make the one thing that stands out And so as kids we made this And it was pretty much from trade his idea was like I want to get you in front of all the all these CEOs So that they can see your work and it was at the time. I didn't even know what that meant I was like cool great. You know, it's just their work

Yeah, and he he knew how the industry work he knew our advertising work He's like you got to introduce the work and then they'll like slowly work with you. So we made this, we made this like tourism video for the county and we spent six months filming it. So I would go out like every morning, shoot like the most beautiful parts of the county. I use my siblings as actors and we would just like

make the county look like insanely beautiful. We're right on the lake. So we put it, and we interviewed all the CEOs of these multiple multi-billion dollar corporations. So we put their faces in talking about, hey, come to the county and work and build your business here. And then that, we had a big premiere

and everyone in the county, all the businesses saw our film and they all wanted to work with us after that. And that we couldn't even handle the amount of work coming through because they're like, we just want that. We want this, we want this. And I was like, cool, we just kind of like created this, this model of what like a cinematic corporate film would look like. And it just kind of blew up and we kind of blew up as a result of that. And

then other agencies started seeing our work. And then we started traveling more. And then it's kind of the kickstart. And then I was like 25. I was like, well, I'm kind of done with this corporate thing. I want to like try to push myself harder. So my brother and I ended up splitting up. He ended up doing more content creation and then I ended up doing more commercial stuff. So I started shooting a lot,

working with different directors, really all over the United States. And then I was like, I don't even really want to shoot because I've always just been this like entrepreneur. Like I'll just shoot direct. We'll like figure this out. So I was like, I want to direct. So I always just been this like entrepreneur like I'll just shoot direct we'll like figure this out so it's like I want to direct so I just started making my own work and one thing led the next I moved to LA started to build my career started my production company and now I'm here so

and then now it's pretty much all directed so what I'll shoot too but it's more of like it's probably like 70 40 or or 73. It's not math, it's 70, 30. What made you go from LA to, to Denver? Yeah, I think, you know, there's, there, I'm just like a Midwestern boy at heart. And I think that the, I saw the future in LA and I was like, I don't know if I want to build for the rest of my life here.

This is, I think, and I was traveling so much for work. I was flying around and I was like, I don't know if I want to build for the rest of my life here. This is, I think, and I was traveling so much for work. I was flying around and I was like, I don't see myself. Like I can, I'm fine. I don't need this. I can, I had connections there. And I was talking about LA connections this morning. Like I found that where I found myself in my career, no one cared where I lived.

And it is an advantage to live in LA. But I was not even really working. I was doing like one, two jobs a year there. And I'm like, you know what, let me, let me do the exit. It was the whole like COVID, everyone was moving, everyone's like, screw the city, and I was working. And I was like, I'm not going to be, I'm not going to like ride this full wave and come out the other end. I'm like, I think now is the time to make the change. And so I moved to Austin for a year, trial at Austin wasn't for me. And then now I'm settled in Denver. So. So I moved to Austin for a year, tried out Austin, it wasn't for me, and then now I'm settled in Denver.

So. What was the scene in LA like? Scene in LA, it's all film, you know, it's just like everyone's hustling, everyone's trying to get their projects off the ground, everyone's trying to get the work. But honestly, the best part about life for me was network part, like I was able to really build a really top tier team of artists and creatives that are still part of my team now. That is invaluable.

I feel like the reason why my work is what it is is because of my network in LA and networking with really talented people that are really now just my friends. And these are people that you freelance with. It's like in terms of like your business. It's just you as the core Yeah, it's me as a scale up. Yeah And I found it to be the most effective way to kind of keep a lean overhead

I I had a couple employees at one time and it was going great We did that for like three years, but it was also just stressful to like They would be like, okay, where's my like my EP? Like where's the next job coming from?? And be like, I don't know. Like, I know I gotta pay you and we gotta go. But yeah, I've kind of now just played the EP role. So every time a project comes in, I'll hit up my producers, trust the producers,

and then we'll just scale up from there. And you know, it limits you to certain sizes of jobs that you can take on, but that's fine. But I think on the freelance side, where can get in larger opportunities where I'm not necessarily producing, I'm just directing. So it's that yin and yang. It's pretty nice. So yeah.

Trying to stay lean and not have too many overhead costs as a video production company owner. Dude, yeah, it's hard. Yeah, you have to. It's like you don't know. You might have a couple months where you're like we're just kind of trickling in some income and then the next month you're doing great um but like with a huge overhead I don't get how people do it it's what I'm struggling constantly

it's like one thing that surprised me so much is that doing this podcast we've met so many companies that are way bigger than us and they still have that uncertainty about where the money's gonna come from that to me was shocking So many companies that are way bigger than us and they still have that uncertainty About where the money is gonna come from that that to me was shocking as I'm like man at that level I I would have hoped to never run into those issues, but they're still like, I don't know like sometimes We have a busy month. I slow months. I'm like, oh, all right Yeah, and I just and there's more lean companies like ours Where teams of like one, two at max three, where they're not looking to scale any higher than that.

Because like Darren and I have talked in the past about like the most ideal and max team size we'll probably ever like get to depending on obviously how much work we get is like four or five like solid people that, you know, that are kind of like Swiss army knives of like what we need to do, but everyone has also certain roles and responsibilities. So it's not like any of us are thinking about expanding to like 10, 20, 30 person companies. Like we know we've had guests where some of them are like that and they broke down for us the logistics

of what it takes to kind of balance out those kinds of sizes of teams. And it's just, it's crazy. And you have to have really good inbound sales or inbound leads coming through. That is the biggest thing. I was just talking to my rep this morning and she's just like, if you're not leaned,

you're dead pretty much. If you're not running on a lead, even lifestyle wise for her directors, and she's always like, directors, you have to stay lean because we don't know where this is going, like I can't guarantee you work. And I'm like, this is not the, this is, this is a business of passion versus like a business of like, ooh, here's a great business opportunity.

Let's start a production company. You're like, nope, this is because you love it. Not because you're in it for the cash. And the money can be good, but like you're not building a real estate empire. We've mentioned this before. like the tricky part is that we're not selling products we're selling skilled labor essentially when you break it down skilled services it's services right so the problem with that is you can't scale it that easily right because it's not basic services either it's like

very skilled and yeah it's hard to find those people to begin with and then you do find them. Like there's only so much work that you could do before, you know, you gotta grow your team, but it's like very, it's very hard to do that. Yeah, and I see the people that are, that do have a larger team and they're, they seem, it's either or it's either they're like,

they're so big that they're taking on the 1% jobs and they're just like doing these huge productions, have million, $5 million jobs, like top tier commercial world. And you've got to have a huge team kind of ready to rock and roll. Or you're taking on like the bottom end of all the work and you have to say yes to it all. And I had a friend in Chicago, he had, I think it was 30 employees at one time and he was just, he was stressed out of his mind. He had like three full-time directors, like DPs, producers, a whole deal of editors and he had to take on, he had to say, he's like, I have to say yes to everything and we're just producing crap as a result of producing work.

That's like, it's not good. So a couple of years ago, he pretty much started, crashed the company, laid off everybody and started his own thing now it's just like him and his wife and he's producing ten times better work he's loving his life a lot better and he's making just as good of money yeah so it's hard it's hard yeah that's like Carol and I have always a couple years back we're like oh we should try to grow a team get these people on board and then now we're still we're a little more hesitant to do so.

Actually, we did we did speak with a friend of ours recently, and he brought up the fact that he uses. He has like almost like a secretary or like the VA, I think he refers to it. And so virtual system, but it's actually it's not like an AI. It's like an actual person out of like the Philippines and and he's been using her for a couple years I cost him like six bucks six USD an hour to hire like to pay her and everything and he was like just going on and on about how great it was and how it's helping him just take care of all like the

excess like work that you know, like like work that you know like it takes a bunch of time right so as soon as I got off the phone with him I called Carol up and I was like you know I think we should test it out and then see how it is because yeah I've been noticing lately how much admin work we're doing that it's just unnecessary it's just BS like it's like I'd rather work on something else, you know Well, I think it's it takes Maturity and leadership and understanding how you work to to be like, how can I delegate these things when you're so used to? Yeah, I've always done this. It's like obviously it's like, okay, I'm putting all the stuff together

But it's like how can I figure out a system so someone else can do it? It's not always easy to figure that out, especially as a creative, and then you're like, I don't wanna scale too much, so I don't wanna give away everything. And that's one thing I found in the past where I was like, when I had my producer going full-time, I found myself, I would give him the work,

then I would be like, well, what am I doing now? Mm. Mm. You're giving him all the creative all the creative control It was just like okay, I guess I'm more free now. It's cool. Yeah Well, then that's when you can sit down and then just go like okay He's taking care of all the creative stuff I have to grow the business so then you can focus on like more sales related stuff

I'm just like my thing is I'm always like okay Let me just get on the phone if I could just talk to people all day, that's usually how it works. Yeah. If you just make some phone calls, set up some Zooms, get some coffees. Yeah. So, yeah. I think more of that is needed in the industry of this. I think connecting with people in person is a good aspect.

I've noticed with some people that I'm like reaching out to and talking with them like, if it's easier for you, we could do it over Zoom. And then just this morning, one guy I was reaching out to, he said, no, no, let's do a coffee. I need a reason to get out of my place. Well, it's a result of like in our post COVID world,

like we've just become little digital networkers now, which is great on one end, but it's not as memorable. Right, like. Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. I've always said, like, businesses made, but like especially deals, are made by shaking hands. You gotta go like, fly in, let's have a coffee. And 90% of the time, that is,

those are the connections that actually are built for, worth something for me, is when I go meet somebody, shake their hand, have coffee with them, build a little bit of rapport, and then I get thrown off her stuff. Versus like a digital Zoom is not as great. I mean, now it's kind of because I feel like doing it in person is another subtle way of showing

that you give a shit as well, where it's like, I'm willing to take the time out of my day to meet with you, to discuss certain things about so, so, and so, rather than just scheduling like a quick Zoom call, because a quick Zoom call is little, that's literally what it is. Like I only have time for you just for like a quick thing

here and there, and that's it, right? So it could be, it could maybe start becoming like, a bigger message of like, I'm willing to meet with you in person, that that's another way of like showing your intention. So definitely COVID has like flipped that. For sure. And I will, you know,

I'll go fly across the United States for a coffee meeting. Really? Oh really? Flights must be cheap over there. Oh yeah. I mean, not really, but I just know the value of it. Whereas like, like last year I'm like, okay, there's a coffee meeting in New York.

I should just fly in for it. And then I go, I fly in, then I'm like, okay, there's a coffee meeting in New York. I should just fly in for it. And then I go, I fly in, then I'm like, wait, who else do I know here? And then I like, all of a sudden I have five meetings set up in two days because I'm just like, hey, I'm in town, we should grab a coffee. And people are like, oh, you're in town? That's great, let's grab a coffee.

And I found that to be a, it's like whenever I fly into LA, it's usually for like one thing, then I hit up like five other people. Then all of a sudden it becomes like an awesome trip because I just got coffee with 10 people. And, but you gotta make, you know, you gotta put the money in, but that's development work. It's like, well, I gotta go shake hands

and figure out a good deal. So not a lot of people are willing to do that, but. If you get at least one or two calls for work from a work trip like that, then it's worth it. Because when you think about it, it's like, OK, say it costs like a return flight of like 500 bucks one night stay at a hotel for like 200, that's 700. Yeah. Everything else, like say all in all, you're putting like a thousand bucks. But if you get like two bookings at like 10 grand each, that's pretty good.

You know, that's you know, when you start breaking it down with numbers. Totally. And it, yeah, totally. And I've found that it's a long game on that stuff, where I never expect, it's more of just like, and it's worked out great. Your internet connection's a little choppy there, Chief. Oh, mine? There we go, you're back.

Yeah, you're fine on our end. Okay, great. Sometimes it'll drop in quality, but it's still fine. It's still recording. Yeah, it's recording like the high quality stuff. I see. Perfect.

No, but I found that it's more of the long game. Just like today, I flew in for an agency pitch last summer for this agency in Manhattan Beach, and I just got a call today for, they're like, hey, I think we've got the gig. It's like a year later, or not, we don't know if it's, if we have it, but like they're putting me up for it. But I'm just saying, it's like, it's a long game. Then I like met with the creative director,

then my rep's like, hey, do you remember Chris? Like, he would be great for this. And they're like, oh yeah, we remember Chris. So it's like, it's totally the long game. And then if we can get the gig, then it's like, oh, this is one touch point. Now hopefully we can work together again, you know? So, but it's the willingness to like just jump on a plane and be like, sure, I'll be there.

We got an HCPitch. You want me to talk? The first time I heard of someone being so willing to jump on a plane for a coffee. I love it. Well, I think it's also I've tried to be a little location agnostic in a sense from my career, where I don't't really want to I really want now that I'm in Denver I really want to start working more local but over the years it's been like all the all the good projects are coming from Everywhere. They're not like just in one spot, you know

Look at the end. I Used to be a full nomad. I was living in my van for about a year and a half I built a camera and I was just traveling around and I was living in my van for about a year and a half. I built a camper and I was just traveling around. I was living in a van in Austin for that. Anyway, so yeah, I used to be full. I'm like now and the opposite of that, like, please, I don't want to be a nomad anymore. I was a nomad. So yeah, wait, you were living in a van. Like, was that the like your hippie phase or like, yeah up with that? That's my whole phase, it's my whole phase. Yeah, so in 2021, when like 2020, 2021,

when everything was shut down in LA, on state parks were shut down and everything was Zoom meetings. And I was like, the life, I'm like, this is the life. I could write treatments on the ocean. I was like, I need to build out a van. I was like, I can get Starlink and I can just drive up to the Malibu

and drive it to the beach, open up the doors, pull out my laptop and start working. I was like, this is, I need to do this. So I bought a Sprinter in like 2021, end of 2020 I think it was. And then I spent six months. And this was when it was like, everything was kind of slow. I was picking up gigs here and there,

but it was like just enough to keep me going. And so I rented a separate apartment in LA with a little backyard that I could park my van. I built a little shop in the backyard. And I took six months to build this off-grid. And then I threw everything that I owned in the van that I moved to Austin through a storage unit and just lived in it.

That's crazy. Wow. No longer, I did that and I'm not doing that again. I've seen like TikToks of people doing that and in my mind I'm always like I have I wouldn't be able to just choose like two pairs of shoes to bring with me. Like honestly, I wouldn't have space in the camper. That's actually one thing I kind of loved about it is When you have a house you can just tend to just buy stuff on Amazon It just comes there's constantly just like buying stuff Yeah, not constantly buying stuff, but like you tend to be like oh sure it would be great another pair of shoes Or blow the van you're like okay. I have like four shirts. They're nice, and I'd like one pair of shoes

And it keeps you super minimal it like it shows you that like you only need a few things to be happy question Okay, so you do that with the clothing. What about the camera gear? What did you do near right? So I I just kept my package really small and a lot of the times I'm like, I'm not all my jobs are bringing on my package I'm like maybe working with a DP that has his package or working with a rental house. So I've purposefully not gotten into the full blown gear game for that reason. I'm like, this stuff just goes out of style. I do have like five cameras still,

so it's like I'm not in the camera game, but I don't own the Alexa packages and the lenses and all this stuff, because all my friends, I'm like, you guys deal with that, let me go build creative and really kind of stay in the more creative end, conceptual end, and not worry about gear.

Because I honestly don't love it when like little parts break. I'm like, this is constantly pouring money into like, oh, the screw doesn't work. Oh, great, now the camera doesn't work because the screw's gone. Great. I still want to deal with it.

Can you imagine who's trying to choose between charging the battery for the shoot or being able to use the stove and the camera? Oh my God. And I would, I mean, like solar, I'd be like charging batteries and prepping for a job like out of the van. That is...

The funniest thing about these van life stories is, cause out of curiosity during the pandemic, I was like, all right, if I, if we really had to, if we were really going down and we had to get ourselves in a van, how would this whole logistical thing work? So I was looking at YouTube videos of like how people set up their vans and everything like that. But the funniest thing that I had ever, I was just curious Dario, but the funniest thing I saw was when they were talking about how they how they had their bathroom situation sorted

Because I was very curious about that right? This one van showed how they had this like toilet seat attachment Which they literally had like a toilet seat that they put on the end of the end of the van They would just sit on the back of the van. It doesn't go anywhere. It just goes on the floor. Yeah toilet seat back of the van it doesn't go anywhere just goes on the floor toilet seat and I'm like okay I saw that I saw that on top gear when they went to like some place up north yeah so is that what you had Chris no well honestly my thing was it's like I refuse to have a toilet in the van because I'm like I am NOT about to drive my crap around and I was like oh so you did have a toilet in the van because I'm like, I am not allowed to drive my crap around the van.

I was like, I'm not allowed to drive. So you did have the toilet attachment then? No, I didn't. I was like, I'm gonna stop at a gas station. And then I was working out at a co-working space. So I had a pretty good pace where I was still working. So I would park and then I had my gym. So I had a little routine going where I'm like,

okay, I got my co-working space, grind out, take my meetings. And then the van was, I loved it at the time, but now I'm like, it's so nice. That was a season. That was my hippie season. That's great. I would never be able to do that. Did you spend any time in, did you spend any time in Pacifica when you were in the van?

Pacifica? Where's that at? That's a south of like San Francisco. Oh, I, I, I'd spent a lot of time on the coast. So it was like, if anything, coast... We probably reached out over there. Because I went down there and I met a whole van life community with my fiance there. And it was just like a group of like three or four fans that would just hang out there all the time.

And like we became friends with them and everything. But I figured like that would be like the place for you to go as well So the thing is so I I found that like I I can't really just hang out in the van Like I can't I'm not just like I'm just gonna hang out with the van community for me It was like a lifestyle thing where I'm like I have to work still I have to like find a co-working space and work I think but I would like there are moments like bring out Starlink and like work all day in the van But I found I was not as productive and that's what I was like I this is costing me more money to live in the van then I was like, oh, it's cheap to live in it

Like yes, it's cheap. But then also the opportunity where you're not working. You're like Yes, I was like screw this it takes so much work to like get everything to live life in the thing takes twice as much Work very pretty much and I'm like This is taking way too much time. I need a house and the vans gonna retire So and here you are actually I should send you the van. It's actually kind of cool. You guys want to see it? Yeah, yeah Can we do sure you could send it to us after actually? Yeah, do you want to do a little search screen? Yeah, that's it It's actually pretty cool. I can see our listeners. You'll have to watch the episode

The both describe it has 20 wheels. It has four wheels. It's long toilet seat on the bag I got so much more than that. I promise it's so much more than that Let's see here van build. Can I share my screen? I think so. Can you can we yeah? Window what if you put it in the chat? Maybe I can so this is just oh, yeah, okay there we go, so this is the This is the build well. I love Riverside. They keep adding like new features before you can yeah So I did like this art build you know it's like oh, okay like that So this is like open up the doors. We have a laptop out there just for this is nice. This is a nice I stole it in look

This is like a nice thing to have if you're gonna go away for the weekend to keep a camp or something That's what these vans are good for you know not to actually live live for long periods of time I would think that would be cool for that. You know, but it's almost like an RV It's almost like the RV. I'm a way too high maintenance to be able to be able to do that I will say though like it made me I Was it turned me into this little bit of crazy. I feel like what I was like, I'm just too wild now I'm just like living on the road Let me ask you a question, okay?

Very important question. When you grow out your beard and the hair, you're committed to it. I had committed to the lumber, Jack. I feel like it's a fine line when you go to a camper van where it's like, you're still sane or you become a bum. It's like a fine line you gotta like tread. Trust me, I was like, okay, this has gone too far.

I think I need to stop this lifestyle. Once the beard is past three inches then you've got to And then I like then I kept my shaved my head, and I was like okay. This is like like what just happened to me Yep And cast away and then he's back Did you have a did you have a beach volleyball there called Wilson as well? Exactly, yeah. Alright, let's bring it back to video production. Let's bring it back to film where people actually care about it.

So right now, like, you know it's funny at the beginning of this, you're like, I have a small company now, and you guys do like a crazy amount of work. As soon as he said small, I'm like, Jesus, if he's small, what are we then? Yeah. Well, I guess it's, you know, it's cause I've been in this industry for so long now. How many years?

That, I mean, since I was like 18 and 34, so like whatever, I thought 15 years, 14 years. 15 years, 16 years, yeah, well. Yeah. And so it's just like networking with people. I worked in this job with that person and then, oh, they brought me another thing and then one thing leads to the next.

So I feel like it's just the longevity is that I've been able to like network and get in touch with people that know my work. So yeah, and this year has been great. Like I've been entering into the more of the long form space. So I'm working on two shows right now. And that's been a challenge and also really good stretching to like not just be in the commercial game

where everything's at 60 second world or 92nd world. So that's gonna be- Like TV shows or maybe more, what were we talking about last episode? So it's gonna be branded content or which one? Like doc documentaries? Proper, yeah, two docs. One's like proper doc and the other one is,

we'll call it like, what would you call it? Improper doc? Docudrama. So like we're doing interviews. And then we're doing like recreation moments, like narrative stuff on top of that. So it's kind of the best of both worlds. Is it a crime one?

I was just thinking crime. It's always crime ones that are recreated, you know? And they just like some blurry shot of like a- FBI files. It's usually like an interview and then like a blurry shot of like a prison cell. And it's like, this is the docu-drama stock footage approach, you know?

It's just blurry shots of certain buildings. I went on a FBI files binge because they're so well done. And every episode I just kept thinking, man, the company that got this contract. Well, now with this new AI stuff, I'm like, this is so interesting from a docu perspective, because you can go shoot an interview,

get that authentic story. And then if you want to go do the recreation, just do an AI. And then it can be like the world that you create. That's at least I think I'm like, oh, this is cool That actually yeah, right? Yeah, no, it's not there but like obviously it'll like yesterday did you see that um Who just launched yesterday? Did you see the new AI company launched? Let's see here It's called because there's always an AI company launch? Let's see here.

It's called. It's funny because there's always an AI company being launched daily. Luma Labs, they've been around. Oh, okay. So they just released their Snora competitor and you can actually use it. Snora? Snora, I think it's Snora.

I thought you were making fun of it for a second, Snora. Snora, Snora. Like these AI names are like chat GPT. Why did we create this name? Snorah, Sora, Sora? Sora. Sora, he can't get Snorah out of his head. Bro, I thought he was making fun of it for a second.

No, but I'm looking at the footage. I'm like, oh, this is gonna be a tool in the future for sure. And we have to adapt as creatives. Like, you know, it's gonna take out a bunch of work But also I'm like, how can I we have to figure out how we can integrate it, you know It's not gonna take out everything but it's gonna take out a lot and I think I got a good chunk, but yeah Yeah, it's just kind of sad to be like this is so sad. This is what the internet does just like drives us to the bottom better. There's a lot of jobs that are gonna be at risk, especially once it's so much Yeah, once that if the bit because it's always a tech side

Advances before like the text to video side, right? Text to video is always gonna be behind because there's more Complexity involved right so because there's more complexity involved, right? So, once it does get to that stage, I think I'm curious to see what's gonna happen, because it's gonna be- Well, and it's gonna open up new directing opportunities, I feel like. You saw the Wes Walker spot with Under Armour.

It was like, hit the industry a month or two ago. Did you see that whole blow up on that? No, no, I haven't. So basically what happened was, I think it was Sunning in 72, one of the big agencies, they had previously had this Under Armour spot and they trained AI on like a spot that was made like three years ago.

They trained AI in all the footage and then they made this new spot. The spot's absolutely insane, but like a new director directed the spot. And so it was like using this other director's footage. And it was this whole blown up because it was like who owns this stuff and how can we, you know,

we're just like driving creatives out of a job basically. But I looked at it as I was like, well, you know what? Stop being so sensitive because that director worked as a work for hire and all the creatives worked as a work for hire and all the creatives worked as a work for hire. They don't own anything on that project. Even though they're the top 1% directors,

they don't own it. The freaking client owns it. The agency obviously doesn't even own it. And so I'm like, they can do whatever they want with it. Why are you guys complaining? Like you shot this spot and you're like, I don't care what they do with it. I made my money, I'm moving on.

And now the thing is like training AI on these like old footage so that, and this new Luma Labs thing, you can drop in an image that either someone else's image or your image as a reference and it'll build off of that. And, but I'm like, you know, this is work for hire world. If you don't want it to be work for hire, go make feature films, you know?

Yeah, and the crazy thing is that like people are like I understand why? Just like anytime you put it on a platform like YouTube for example YouTube will technically own the rights to maybe train their AI. I mean for sure they're gonna train their AI But there's really nothing else you can do other than just host it on your own platform Yep, which no one's gonna do because because it's going to get no eyeballs, right? But I mean, it's once it does get to that point where it can fully replace jobs, like, I wonder what's going to happen. Like, I think everyone's going to be in trouble by then.

Yeah, I mean, it's the it's the future. Unfortunately, you know, even like, you see, what's Austin, could, or someone, who's, and I forget, I just saw it on Instagram last night, but basically you're saying like, you can have ChatGPT or whatever AI program, write a script, feed it to the program, a video generator, and it'll like make your movie. And there's gonna be so much content in the future, they're trying to give me eyeballs for it.

And so it's gonna be like, the value is gonna be like, who has the audience that's gonna be so much content in the future that's not gonna give me enough eyeballs for it. And so it's gonna be like, the value is gonna be like, who has the audience that's gonna be able to like view your stuff? It's not gonna be like, oh, you just made something cool, that's great. Anybody can make something cool by literally just dropping in.

It's like, can you make something that's seen? You know? I mean, a good example of this is like when there was the DSLR revolution, right? Like it was gate- It was gate-keep the content creation world for so long. And then when that came in, that disrupted everything because a lot more people can jump into it.

And now this is just another version of that where more everyday people can maybe even potentially jump right into it. And who knows where it's going to go? Like just the first few weeks or months of like seeing it, it's like, okay, it's not there yet, but you know that they're gonna improve on it and it's gonna get better and there's gonna get a lot of good use cases out of it.

I mean, they're even- You know, Carol, the thing is that the value and what we did, the difference is that you still need to know how to use it. Like when we went from- That's the thing, yeah. You know, Camp Corps, DSLR, or like, you know how to use it. Like when we went from- That's the thing, yeah. You know, Camp Course, DSLR, or like, you know, film to digital.

But here's the thing. It's like, you look at the comments on like, I'll say a brand's like promoting like an AI image, you'll see it every once in a while. The comments are just ripping the brand apart. It's so interesting because I'm like, this is gonna be so interesting in the future where brands are gonna be like,

hey, look, we can just try AI and they try an AI campaign and their customers are like, screw you guys because we want authentic stuff. Anybody can do this, right? Now the cost of entry is so low, so brands that wanna stand out, they have to over-invest in authentic, real storytelling

versus just glossy AI images. You know what's really ironic? Until their bottom line is threatened. You know what's really ironic about what you just said? You said, oh, it's not real people, whatever, right? The people that were complaining in the comments. Everything that's out there is all Photoshopped to hell, so that person doesn't even look like that anyways, right? No.

Look at all the filters. But I see where they're coming from. I see where they're coming from, because it's kind of like, we know like every average person now knows that like you can just type in an image and get it. And so there's no sense of like thoughtfulness as thoughtful behind it. It's not like you're creating this campaign

to be like, we're going after this specific audience. And this is how we're gonna reach them. This is how we're gonna tell a story. It's just, so I think that that's where, I don't think film's gonna go anywhere for certain brands because it's gonna take out the bottom end for sure Where they're just like we just got blasted out there. We just need content. We gotta like get images in front of people But like brands that actually are trying to position themselves in a really specific niche way with like true authentic storytelling

It's not gonna go anywhere people. Here's the thing people notice care and they notice like when you my example is like when you get a new iPhone and like you take out the box and you're like, how beautiful, this is so nice, right? Same thing with like film world. You see a movie and you're like, oh, it looks cheap, the animation's bad. And our eyes can tell the difference between like,

oh, that's animated, that's not. And I don't know if we're gonna ever be able to cross that boundary of real, I don't know if the animation and AI will ever be able to cross the authenticity boundary because our human ability to see real is so, I don't even know what to, yeah, it's just so dialed. Like we can tell what's real and what's not. They're like, wait, that's fake.

We've mentioned it before how- It's like reading people not. Yeah, they're like wait, that's fake You know, we've mentioned it like reading people We mentioned it before how like even with like the new versions that come out like new like GPT-4-0 and everything or even with mid-journey when they got the new version versions that came out and everything it looks Great for like the first 48 hours and then right away once you start seeing more of it You can start to pick it out and say oh that doesn't look real or anything you know well and I'll like I'll use AI a lot my deck building and yeah it's fine it's fantastic for deck building agencies and clients love it because you're setting a visual visual image um but what I was talking to the creative director friend

about this what he's realizing, he goes, we'll create these AI images for clients in a deck, like this is what we're going to shoot. But he goes, it's almost impossible to get it as good as AI like in person. So like to recreate a shoot that looks as good as an AI image costs a ton of money. Right? Right? So you're like, you're setting, you're setting high expectations.

Setting these high expectations. you're like, you're setting, you're setting high expectations. Setting these high expectations. You're like, shoot. And I've even found myself, I'm like, I don't know, I'm just going to put this in the deck, but we cannot shoot it. Like this is a vibe, but like, there's nowhere to go. You gotta say it's inspiration, not what we're actually going to do. Or you have to go to Chad GVT or whatever, say, make it look less profession. Let me get a little more amateur so I look better. or chat juby or whatever say make it look less profession

It's like you can kind of create anything and show like oh we want to do it like this and then you're like It's the whole like meme of like client budget versus reality, you know The horse drawing. Yeah, what do you use use mid-journey? Oh Yeah, just mid-journey stuff which Which is, I love it, but again, it's just for deck building for me right now, image creation. But I'm also trying to like use it, I use it when I'm like dreaming up something that I can't find a reference for,

I'm trying to get really specific with something, if it's a wardrobe, it's like a vibe that I can't find an image for, then I'm like, I need to use an AI thing. And that's when it helps a ton because I'm like looking at the slide, I'm like, I need something that like punches this up a little bit.

And when I can type in exactly what I want and the vibe for that image and actually throw it in the deck, it just helps so much. Nice. Yeah, they've really improved. I remember when I was trying it out, I was just trying to get like a basic image, like a guy holding a camera,

and it would do like three lenses. Exactly, exactly. Exactly. But they've come along. Where the hands have like 50 fingers. Did they fix the hand issue yet, or is still? I have no idea. Yeah, it's first dialed in.

First dialed in now? Okay. Yeah, there might be a moment, but I'm like, I don't know, just Photoshop it out. It's like this, and then it's first dialed in. First dialed in now? Okay. Yeah. There might be a moment, but I'm like, I don't know, just Photoshop it out. It's like this, and then there's like a third hand. Well, even with Photoshop stuff, it's so great. Like gendered fill now, it's just like, do whatever you want. Nuts.

They're adding it to the new iOS 18 as well, so if you take a picture and there's people in the background, you can just like... Which is is funny because Google's had that for like years. Yeah, and Samsung there's like dude What are you guys and then when Apple comes out with it like oh, it's new Every Samsung user Google pixel user has been like oh dude, we've had this for forever You know, it's funny. I've been with Apple since 2020. So I had no idea anyone else had it You know, it's funny. I've been with Apple since 2020. So I had no idea anyone else had it. So it was brand new for me. I've seen the ads where they've like promoted it like very specifically like, yeah, you can do this. You can increase the size of the person in the image. You can do whatever.

But yeah, like Dario said, like since like 2021, I jumped on board as well. And then you don't know. I don't know what else has been going on with it. I'm with you. Yeah. What's the scene in Denver like? So, you know, I just moved here about eight months ago, eight months or so. So I'm so and I've been working here over the years. And that's part of the reason why I moved here is like I had a pretty good base crew here

and connections. But I think the best thing about this- Did you mean, sorry, sorry, no, no, like connections like clients or connections as in crew? Crew connections, film people versus client connections. I had a couple clients here with gears, but they've kind of done their own thing now and moved on.

So, but what I love about it compared to especially LA is there's just like this family mindset that if you're in the industry, everyone kind of knows each other, like one or two connections away. And it's, it's kind of, it's great because you know, it's more of a family city than it is like one up in each other, like LA, like how can I get in with you? So I think it's just way more authentic than people wanna be here because they love the lifestyle versus like I'm chasing my career in LA, I wanna like go after the 1% jobs

and like try to be the 1%. Like here it's like, no, I just enjoy what I do and I wanna go shoot in the mountains and go film skiing and lifestyle. So collaborative. I'm just curious about something. So I mean the US is big like how did you like? Choosing like something specific like you know Denver or another say like how do you make that decision? I mean you guys got like what 50 states right? Well, yeah, I know you Canadians don't quite

It's 50 states Rocket science I don't know. It's 50 states there. It's not rocket science. I don't know. I'm not American, bro. I just find the Canadians, I'm like, you guys are basically Americans. Like, you're just like, speak English. I think the way things are going here, if you guys absorb us, I think we'd all be fine with it. As long as we get that reserve currency, it would be good. Oh my gosh. No, I guess I'm just like an outdoors guy

I just love the outdoors of camping hiking skiing and You start looking around you're like where else would I live like not gonna live in Pacific Northwest too rainy You live in Utah too many Mormons and then there's like Sorry, nothing gets Mormons, but I Don't even know what they are. That must mean that it's like a city focused on that. They're like a tight knit community, it's hard to get in with them.

But all this to say is, when you look at larger cities within the West, there's not a ton of options. So you went for the lifestyle approach, because I was thinking like for a business, like if you're going for like a business approach, like how you would make that decision, that's what I was curious about. Yeah, I feel like it's just lifestyle is important to me. So you went with the, yeah. Because I'm like, I've made it work in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

I can make it work in Denver. Oh, I see. Yeah. Sheboygan, how do you even pronounce that? Sheboygan. Sheboygan. Sheboygan. It's like, it's a boy again. It's a boy again. It's a boy again. That's good. So at least that's my mindset. I'm like, I think my work can kind of transcend like borders, like, like local work. I'm trying to like where I can kind of work anywhere and hopefully I'm kind of can cut through here in Denver and start to pick up some more. I would love

to do more local stuff just from not having to travel all the time, jump on a plane to make money. I've done that for ever. So, and I'll continue to do that. It's just, hopefully I can start building some more local stuff. Like this week, I just shot a passion project on Monday and Tuesday, and it's awesome. We rented this ranch, a 2,700 acre ranch, like up in the mountains with horses and actors. And then I rented this plane and this private airstrip. It's grass-air, it was so fun.

So that's coming out, hopefully soon. But I was like, this is my home to Colorado. Because I'm gonna shoot. What is it, a commercial or like a spec spot? I'm always trying to push myself as creative and I'm like, okay, I've done the like big epic stuff, visual epic. I want to like, I need something a little more lighter,

a little bit more lifestyle forward. So I wrote like a little romantic short and it's like cowboy, city girl meets cowboy. And it's going to be this like Terrence Malachy, like 60 second lifestyle short film kind of vibe thing. And, yeah. So it's, you could call it a spec, but I'm trying to keep it out of the spec world

where I'm trying to like, kind of keep it in that, like I call it micro short. I'm like, people don't watch short films unless they're like super good. Or I'm like, I can make like a little micro short and it people don't watch short films unless like super good or like I can make like a little Micro short and it kind of adds to my commercial reel then also adds to like my narrative narrative reel. So Oh, that's a that's a good approach Like a lot of people when they want to do passion projects are kind of like their own smaller projects to kind of like create

To kind of like improve their skill and their portfolio. They usually tend to lean a lot, either, like you said, in longer form short films or something like that, or a lot of the time, spec ads, where they pick a brand and then they do like an ad for that. But you're going with the micro short approach, which is great because you're also focusing on a storytelling aspect.

And then that can always be something that you can do in the future where you can slap a brand at the end and then that's a branded ad right there. Totally. And who knows, once I get into the edit of it, I might be like, no, we should just put a logo at the end for this vibe thing. But I really want to keep it in that short world. And the tough thing is, is when the spec ad,

I think the advantage of it is like, you just throw that like big brand logo on it and like, oh, well, you have it on your website, but I don't know, like, I just wanna create authentic stories and, you know, spec world, like, can I get it? I'm trying to push into that like 90 second film world or like, how can I tell really impactful stories

in 90 seconds? And it's just full storytelling versus like, oh, it has to be with this brand. I'm like, well, this thing we just shot, it could be for a lot of different things. It's like lifestyle for it. It could be fashion, it could be cologne thing. It could be like, yeah.

So that's why I kinda wanna keep it agnostic where like a creative can watch it and be like, oh, this was just his own work. Like they see it as like a director making his own work and they're expressing himself Versus like oh just made this for like a brand or like this, you know, it's like not as impactful I feel like I have like full creative freedom on it, you know Yeah and you could also always when you when you want to pitch an idea with a future client or something like that you could show

That micro short and it can transcend industries, which is good, like you said. Totally, totally. It's like the first thing we've heard of someone like going with that approach with just the micro short approach. So that's pretty interesting. Yeah, I feel like it's 100 notes. I've done it a couple of times before.

I made this little short, I don't know if you saw it's called Voices film. It's like 80 seconds or something. And again, it was that micro short. I was like, I could have slapped a logo at the end of it to make it a spec ad, but I wanted to like keep the art form a little higher than just like a commercial. And now that I'm able to say it's like a passion project

like micro short and people it's punchy, tells a story. I feel like for me, it's not as disposable where it's like oh it's just a commercial when I can show my work and be like oh this is something that I dreamed up and executed on. I think that any client seeing that is going to be like oh wow. We actually have a director that's trying to figure out what how to say things and how to express his creativity versus just like oh anybody can go make a commercial and like oh, we're just getting this this thing

But how can you? Write an idea and go execute on it and that's as a personal project and try to say something That's tough part and that's something that I've really tried to push myself in the last As a bird in the last five years is like, how can I make work that speaks from my heart? And it's not easy and I don't always get the opportunity to do it. And I think this little piece for me was more painterly and trying to like say something, I guess you could say, say something that's personal, make something that's a little more

impactful. So. something that's personal, make something that's a little more impactful. So, trying to- No, that's great, but one thing I'm also actually curious about with, because this sounded like it wasn't something very inexpensive to do, because you had to rent out a large ranch, you had to rent out a plane. Like, how did you go about funding it from a business standpoint?

Like, did you just go all in yourself, or did you get people to help you with that? Yeah, no, it's a good question. So I wrote, I've written this, this little call it the micro short last year at one point. And I was like, okay, I need to go. Usually how it works is I'll have done a bunch of jobs, made some money. Then I'm like, okay, now it's my turn. I'm like, I gave all my time to the clients.

So like made money. Now I need to go make something for me. And so I wrote this thing and I was gonna shoot in Texas and then I started running the numbers on it. It was gonna cost me like 25 brand. And I was like, I wanna spend $25,000 on my own thing right now. Let me just table this and maybe I'll never make it.

I'll just leave it in the treatment world. Like I have a whole box of just ideas. Once I'll get after a job and I'm like, my turn, I'll write down my next idea. And then if I get to make it get after a job. I'm like, my turn, I'll write down my next idea. And then if I get to make it great, if not, I'm like, oh, maybe I'll pull that for a future client project. I'll be like, hey, would you like just wanna do something like this?

So one of my collaborators, Andrew, he got a lead the other day that they were like, hey, we're trying to build film supply libraries. Do you have any directors that would be down to collaborate with us? And so I just sent him over the treatment that I had. Film supply library?

Yeah, film supply. You're familiar with film supply? Oh, the website, right? Like for stock footage and whatnot, right? And so basically he's like, we have, decent budget we can put behind this. And then they own the footage and I can go make my own project. So they, they funded the whole thing and then I got to make my own thing. Oh, interesting.

I mean, that doesn't happen every day. I don't do that again in a few weeks. We're doing like an Olympic thing, but that'll be more like spec world, more like personal project. Um, but yeah, I think it's like just having the right network. It's also they trust me because I've my work I have a real you know, it's like pretty extensive and so they're not just like chucking money at the you know at something They're like he's a track record. So Right, right. Yeah, so but that's not always the case

I mean, I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, literally hundreds of thousand dollars in my own stuff. Like people are like, how do you get into the industry? I'm like, you have to full send or otherwise, you know. You've actually spent like- It depends what you're trying to do though. It's like, I'm trying to like create like very dialed in commercial, highly visual work. I've tried to stay super specific in a lane.

I'm not just trying to like say yes to everything that moves. And in order to do that, you have to like create your own work and create your own, like how do you see the world to say, like you get paid for how you see the world, you know? Like, so. You're very creative.

I can, like I can tell you have like a very creative side to you, I'm just wondering how you like merge it with like the business side because usually they don't go hand-in-hand, right? Yeah, no, totally and I think a part of that is like my entrepreneur side is Yeah, I guess I enjoy business I enjoy deals I enjoy networking like I think that that's maybe the blend that I'm not a lot Of guys get it's like hey, I'm super creative, but I'm like not good with people or like I'm not good with producing. And I've always, I've just had to like kind of push myself in that way, because it's like a means to the end where it's like,

I have to get good at that in order to like survive in this industry. I can't just like have one skill set, you know? So I don't know, it's just always been kind of part of my soul, I I guess you could say the business side and the networking side and the deal making side and Really? Like how can you play in sandbox? This is my thing. I like to say it's like How can you create work high quality work within like a scope and a scale, you know

It's like everyone wants everyone thinks they oh, we're gonna create a five million dollar movie I'm like, did you're not gonna get the five million dollar movie like you gotta make your million dollar movie. Hi So gotta make that micro short first, right? So I can be willing to spend five ten grand of your own money first before you can do anything else like that You know when I was like kind of first starting out as my directing career You know I think I made like four three projects that like did not turn out. And there, I just chucked cash at them because I was like, I have to go make

stuff in order for me to like get work. And that was kind of more of the young and dumb where I was like, I'm in this, I'm taking every dollar and throwing it back into believing in myself. And, but as a result of that, I was able to, yeah, obviously become a better creative because I was like, well, I failed on that one. I failed on this one and that one, but I was able to experiment and at a higher level, but it was all taking on the risk myself and I attribute that a lot to my success is that just taking that risk, jumping off the cliff and being like,

I'm just going to do it. Like I'm not going to let anyone else stop me. You're like, let's go. And as a result of it, I have a lot of projects sitting on a hard drive that no one will see The backlog of Passion projects and like you say ideas that are just also just living on the computer Yeah, yeah Well when the AI gets good you can always feed it to Sora and ask it to fix it up for you.

Boom you're done. There you go. Totally. And now we've come full circle. Okay. Well I guess we're at the one hour mark so that's a pretty good time to end it. Cool. Kuro, you want to touch on anything else? Yeah I was actually, I mean like we don't ask this question to move too often anymore But like how did you come up with the name territory six for your company name? There's all story

so I always like to say filmmaking evokes like this we have like our five senses and then I think that storytelling is evokes like a sixth sense where it's like all of them come together and you feel this emotion from stories and So I was like say you like it enters into a new territory and that territory is territory six so it's just like as Good stories evoke like all five senses to a certain degree but it's like the sixth sense of like what a good story can evoke an emotion that can evoke and

It's outside of like our five senses, right? It's into this different universe, into a different territory, territory six. The Spidey sense. Yeah, there you go. No, that's a great story, I like it. I like the idea. It's just trying to get a little background to it. And now I'm just calling it T6,

it's kind of like I've rebranded it a little bit and just call it T6 and it's a little punchy. It's like a Resident Evil evil virus the t6 virus or a new terminator movie i look at brands like you know all these brands like g what they just call it g but it's general electric right so i'm like i'm

gonna just call it t6 and if it's territory six but nice but can you get t6.com That's the real question I need to check because some reply buy it after this podcast Unfortunately, I feel like that probably has already taken anything with like two letters or three letters is likely taken We heard they're holding it hostage for like funny grand funny story I won't I won't mention the client name just a confidentiality but we had a client and they rebranded their name and it was this

You know five letter word six letter word, but missing one of the vowels in it, right? Near the end and they apparently found the guy that owned it and it was this guy's first first part of his middle name, sorry first part of his first name, sorry, first part of his first name, so like short form, his initial for his middle initial and then his last name, right? And it's this guy in Australia, apparently, and then they're like, okay, can we get it? And he's like, oh yeah, sure, I just need like five Gs and like a case of beer or something,

apparently the ask was. And they're like, this guy didn't know that they had like up to 50k No questions asked like ready to go ready to go which means that they probably had double that amount Yeah, in business I've learned is like when you're asking a client about a budget Hey, what do you have to spend let them talk because they they may triple what you thought they had Yeah, I've gotten in trouble over the years. They're like, how much do you think this costs?

I'm like, what do you have to spend? That's what I always ask too. I'm like, before we even get to that part, I'm like, all right, so you guys want this? And then I'm like, what are we working with? Yeah. I let the man say, I let her answer, you tell me. Like I had one last year, I was like,

I thought they were gonna say like 50 grand and they're like, oh, oh we have like 250 I'm like Oh Glad you spoke and I didn't because I was saying you this a totally different thing With one arm behind your back Running gun, but you guys are like making this a thing, you know It's funny You might have talked if you actually said 50 if you quoted 50 you might have talked yourself out of that deal too

Cuz then they would have gone totally that that's way less than whatever else is asking. Yeah red flag It's understanding the creative and be like what is this actually gonna take to get off the ground? But yeah, it's a funny when they when it comes to but and I just found out that casino owns t6.com funny What the heck casino? Yeah, I've seen oh Yeah, I see no 12 to t6. What's that? Who knows I gotta buy all these there's so many odd like online casino names and like Very random ones. There's like one that's like four sevens, and that's the that's the name of the casino It's like seven seven seven seven dot-com

What do you you get in Eastern Europe there you see the ads there, you know? It's like 7777.com I didn't know this stuff You gambler? It's in Eastern Europe, you see the ads there Oh okay I was gonna say, this guy barely shows up to poker night Every Monday and now he knows about casinos and this This is so funny And how he's been betting last couple weeks, I don't know man I wouldn't go on those websites

Funny guy So good Okay well guys this has been fun. Thanks for chatting this out. Yeah, thank you Chris. So guys, if you wanna hire Chris or you know, reach out to him or check his website out.

Invite him for coffee in Alaska. You know, he'll fly to you. So if you wanna invite him for coffee, he'll come to you, don't worry. If there's a Saudi prince. The thing is, I never tell people that I'm flying in for a coffee. I just say I'm in town. That's the difference worry if there's a Saudi thing is I never tell people that I'm flying over a coffee I just say I'm in town that's the difference if there's a Saudi prince I want to invite someone from Denver then

yeah reach out to them so anyways yeah territory six with the sick I'm just trying to pull up your website it's territory the number six is a number six calm what are your socials Chris Chris LeClair and territory six, territory under sports six. You'll be able to find me if you just search Chris LeClair on Instagram. I post my stuff on Instagram. Yeah, it's a kind of a dual brand.

It's like my personal brand, the company attached. Nice. Yeah. So yeah, he's willing to fly out to meet you even if it's just for coffee. But I won't tell you, the thing is I won't tell you that I'm flying out to meet you. I'm's just for a coffee. But I won't tell you, the thing is I won't tell you that I'm flying out to meet you. I'm flying out, oh I'm just in town.

I'm here for other reasons. Exactly. It makes sense, yeah. Because I'm like, wait, I need to get in town because there's like four other people that have said they want to grab a coffee with me, so I might as well just make this the thing and then go. It's not working, you know? That's how the industry works.

Nice. That short, when is it going to release? So I might as well just make this the thing and then go. It's not working, you know? That's how the industry works. That short, when is it gonna release? So I have, I just have a backlog of work right now. I'm working on the show and so that's shooting. So it's just in the background right now. We literally just wrapped yesterday. But it's gonna be really cool. I got an FPV on the Komodo

just chasing planes in the mountains. So we have this epic plane sequence and it's gonna be really cool. We've got an FPV, the Komodo just chasing planes in the mountains. So we have this epic plane sequence and it's gonna be great. I'm pumped. So guys, send it over to us. If you wanna see when it's ready. Follow him on social so that you can see when it's released.

Then yeah, I guess that's it. All right, thank you Chris. Thanks guys, we'll check soon. Go again. Thanks, bye. Thanks for listening to this episode soon. Go, go. Bye. Thanks for listening to this episode of Creative Scrap Coffee. Please make sure to follow and engage with us on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and your favorite podcast app. Creative Scrap Coffee is created by Laps Productions, a video production company based in Toronto, Canada. Creative Scrap Coffee is also sponsored by...

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