Creatives Grab Coffee - Running a Woman-Owned Video Production Business (ft. Digital Moxie Studio) | Creatives Grab Coffee 82

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

In this episode of Creatives Grab Coffee, Margaux Towne, founder of Digital Moxie Studio, shares her journey from acting to filmmaking, building a woman-owned production company, and thriving in a male-dominated industry. We discuss storytelling, scaling a business, landing clients, and the impact of AI on editing. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Intro & guest introduction (Margaux Towne, Digital Moxie Studio) 01:00 – Margaux’s background: From acting to video production 05:15 – Starting Digital Moxie Studio & building a business 09:30 – Challenges of running a woman-owned video production company 14:20 – Storytelling in video production: Why it matters 19:10 – Sales & networking tips for landing clients 25:05 – Freelancers vs. full-time employees: Scaling a production business 30:40 – How to effectively manage & communicate with editors 37:20 – Industry evolution: The lower barrier to entry in filmmaking 42:10 – The role of AI in editing & production workflows 47:30 – Overcoming on-camera anxiety: Tips for clients & filmmakers 53:00 – Final thoughts & where to find MargauxSPONSORS:Canada Film Equipment: www.CanadaFilmEquipment.comAudio 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.comTo 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?

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Okay, hi everyone. Today we have Marco from Digital Moxie Studio. So, Marco, before we kick off We'll just get a little bit of a background from you, and then I guess we'll dive into some specific topics Okay, I'm Margo, and I have digital moxie studio in Omaha, Nebraska we're a film and video production company And I think I'm the only woman-owned video production company in the city. That's incredible. We've actually haven't had

that many female production company owners come on. I think I can count on one hand, right, Kirill? Like what, I think three or four? Yeah, so far. I think including you it's three or four. It's not the most common, it's not very common in the industry to have someone who's female that owns a production company. What has that been kind of like for you in terms of your journey? Well, it's definitely a male dominated industry and I know there's some women that do wedding video production and I know that there's a couple other husband-wife teams. So for me it's been it's been pretty fine though really the only time that I mean well you know working in this industry there's a lot of marketing people and

they're women or tend to be women and then we work a lot with nonprofits they tend to be more women than men so I just assumed that women would enjoy working with women. And so the only time really that I had an obvious, you know, that somebody had a little bit of a different thing that I was a woman was when we did a little gig with Bill Murray. And it was me and like five men that were crew. And we had like a little huddle and we're talking. And he just completely overlooked me. It was like there was no way that I was in charge of these guys, it was kind of funny.

But he's from the old school mentality of how things and stuff but it was funny. But in general it's been really good. I had one guy from Arkansas call me up and say, hey, we're doing some construction and we want a time lapse video, can you you you know you interested in helping us and I said sure and then after we got to know I'm

going chatting some more and probably like you guys do I'm like how did you find us and he said Google and I saw that it was a woman-owned company and I knew if I hired a woman it would be done right and so I was like can I quote you on that one he goes for sure so so so so far I mean I don't, can I quote you on that one? He goes, for sure. So, so, so far, I mean, I don't know why. I don't know why. I mean, maybe the technical part of it, the cameras, most people get into it from the cameras and then branch on to from there.

I'm not sure why. Yeah, it was interesting. You mentioned how like a lot of women owned production companies tend to be usually kind of more in the wedding scene. I think it might just come down to like what type of content that people- But on the photo side, on the photo side, Carol, not even on the video, because we've been-

Yeah. I don't think I've seen, in 10 years, I've seen maybe two female videographers in the wedding space. I know they're out there, but I've only seen two of them. We have a lot more in Omaha. Yeah, there's a bunch of women doing wedding video in Omaha, so yeah. Oh yeah, we're talking from the Toronto perspective,

because that's where we're based out of. So it's always interesting to hear what the different industries are, what kind of companies are dominating in different parts of the US. And today we're kind of diving a little more into Omaha, of course. Yeah, it really is. Like, you know, the different processes and what gear is really popular with the people

around you and stuff like that. It's kind of cool to see. How did you get into like the video production space? So I, I'm from Orlando. I grew up in Florida. And after college, I went back to Orlando. And I was an actor. That's what I did as a profession.

I worked at Universal Studios as an actor in one of their live shows. I did industrials. I did training stuff. I was on a few Nickelodeon episodes. America's Most Wanted is my mom's favorite that I was America's Most Wanted. So I got to be in my 30s and I realized

I was never gonna run away to California or New York to be an actor. I just, you know, just wasn't passionate enough. Actually, I wasn't that good of an actor to make it there. So I'm like, well, what am I gonna do next? And I had a friend that worked at a TV station in Orlando and he said, we are looking for a living segments reporter. Do you want an introduction? And I'm like, sure, I'll just act like a reporter,

right? And so I ended up getting the job and they hired me to do the living segment reporting and they said, we need you to produce too. So they gave me a certain amount of a production that I was in charge of. So then at that point I had to figure out who the talent was going to be, what the music was going to be, what's the basis of the story, and I'm like, oh you have so much more input and control and I love telling a good story and it was like on that side of it, it was totally different than just being the talent and I love telling a good story and it was like on that side of it, it was totally different than just being the talent and I loved it more. So after that, after I got a taste of being on the other side of the camera, I never went

back. So you were still in Orlando at the time when you were doing that? Yes, yes, yes. And I moved here to Omaha quite a bit ago. I came for love, which of course is now just an ex because that's how life goes. And then found myself needing a job and kind of put some fillers out

and a friend owned a big international medical supply company. And they said, we've been talking about years about doing video for our products and stuff. Why don't you come, you know, start a video department? And it ended up being a department of one, me. And then I did that for about three years and got my legs back under me,

learned all the new technology and everything, then made every video we could possibly think of for the company and then it was time to move on. I worked for another small company and then ended up starting Digital Moxie Studio. What made you go from working within different company departments like being an employee? What was the decision? What was the reason why you decided to start your own shop basically? Well, I had worked with another small video production company much like like Digital Moxie Studio is, and things were sailing along pretty good. I

was pretty much running everything. I just wasn't doing sales, but we were doing all the production, all the shoots, dealing with clients, editing, all that kind of stuff. And then that opportunity just kind of came to an end, and I found myself needing a job. And I'm like,'m like oh well I love doing this. I wake up in the morning and I'm excited so I really would like to continue doing this. So I sat down to... I'm pretty connected. I feel like in Omaha and I think it's much easier to get a warm introduction to somebody than to just try and send your resume in cold. So I sat down and I started researching, okay, who do I know that does good video?

Who has a bad reputation? And started trying to take notes and stuff. And everywhere I looked, it was men, men, men, men, men, men, men, men. And I was like, I can't believe there are no women doing this. And then I thought about it and mulled it over and decided that Omaha would support a woman

owned a video production company. So I started Digital Moxie Studio. I knew I made the right decision because the next morning I woke up and felt more alive than I had felt in years and was determined and ready to go. So nice. When you started it, you obviously had to now,

you knew all the management, the producing and technical creative stuff, but with regards to sales, how did you find yourself tackling that aspect of running a business? I was scared of sales because in my mind sales people are sales people, you know. It turns out that when I talk to somebody about video production, it's like when my dad talks to people about the Red Sox. It's just passion. It seems like a natural flowing conversation. And it didn't feel like sales at all. So I was pretty confident that what I was doing was good stuff and that I'm good with people. But I'm like, well,

nobody's going to come knock on your door while you're sitting on the couch Margo and ask you to do video You're gonna have to put yourself out there. So I just went to any not networking opportunity I could find That you know ask for introductions from some other clients that had worked with I didn't want to try to steal any clients But I asked for other introductions and you know stuff like that and just slowly built it up. It seems like you're a very extroverted person to be able to do that because I find that myself included and I think a lot of other production company owners face the same thing. It's kind of hard to sell your services, right? Or you kind of go, how do I approach someone that is not looking for video content

and just try to sell them on it, right? Well, that's the thing, Dario. I don't look for people that aren't looking for video content. I look for people that want video and just convince them I'm the one to do it. Which has changed. We just celebrated our eight year anniversary.

And eight years ago, people were were like do I need video? Now everybody wants video, you know, so now it's just about pick me kind of thing To Dario's point, you know Like you have that infectious energy as you're kind of like talking about it that when you're starting to talk to new leads or just People you don't even realize might actually need video They might be like oh oh, this person knows what they're talking about and they seem fun, let's work with them.

And I think that's something that is like almost a lost art in this industry. It's a lot of seclusion, like with everyone in their own bubbles and it's hard to kind of break out of that sometimes and it's just trying to be actively more engaging with other people. That's one thing that's definitely missing in this industry.

You think so? Because I mean, I love telling a good story. I'm passionate about it. I mean, I grew up in an Italian family and good stories go a long way and you know, family life. But really, my favorite part of my job is the people. The people we get to meet, the people we get, you know, during our adventures, the things we get to learn. I meet, the people we get during our adventures, the

things we get to learn. I've learned so many things about how the law works to how robotic milking works with the cows and stuff. I love getting to meet the people and learning this stuff. That's definitely the best part of our job. Sorry, girl, go ahead. Yeah, I was going to say that definitely is one best part of our job. Sorry, go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, I was I was going to say like that that definitely is like one one great part about it. Our job is like seeing all these different industries and like behind the scenes of how how things work, you know, like how industry works even sometimes.

I'm actually curious, like what what is like one of the most like what is like something that comes to mind that's like a memorable thing that you've learned while doing this job you know in terms of like industry or people that you've worked with? Well I have to go back to the robotic milking of the cows so I had no idea you know and it's just so funny because so we were up in Wisconsin and doing this story and these cows have a really good life I mean they have these really nice buildings where they just kind of hang out and talk to their friends. And then when they feel full,

like they're ready to be milked, they go up to this machine. They have like a electronic collar that says, who this cow is. They go in and the machine has learned about their bodies and how to shape the things to them and how much normally they produce. And they hang out and get milked

and then they get a little treat and they go on. And they're just super happy. It's so funny, because I had no idea that that's kind of how this worked. And they had one cow that liked doing it so much, she just kept going through. And then she went through. And then they had.

Sounds like a spa for cows, the way you're describing it. It really is. And then there's another one that does, it's not quite as spa-like as that one is, but they go on a carousel. Did you know that there's? No.

No, so cows get loaded onto a carousel and they spin around and then like another one goes in, another one goes in, and they spin around and then like another one goes in, another one goes in and they spin around till they're done milking and then the gate opens up and they go out the other way. It's like, it's really kind of fascinating. I never knew that. I always thought it was like, I guess PETA infected like my view on that because they always show that, oh, they're in hell and everything. I didn't know it was like a spa like treatment.

I mean, that's, that's what I mean. It sounds like such a contrast. Like is it is it something that's like more common that you found doing this story? Did you did they let you know that it's more common to that they do it like that? Or is it kind of like something that they're trying to do against the system? I think that the mentality has shifted and they pretty much have figured out happy cows make more better milk and The the people that would have thought me. Yeah The cheese makers and all that the people in the industry that want the milk what the more better milk And so it I mean But I have found like that's what's so cool is why I was talking about the people is when you get to know

the the farmers and you're telling the stories is that they're they're really they're really great people and getting to know them and because I'm you know, I kind of thought you know, like you said like oh cows were just Manipulating I'm in using all and you know throw them out to pasture and stuff like that But they what I learned was the farmers Really loved their cows and they really do their best to keep the cows happy and healthy. We had an interesting project last year

for this garage door company. And I didn't know before doing that project, but there's only two companies that really do garage doors. And the one we were doing the work for is over 100 years old. I was like, how they had garage doors a hundred years ago. Like what? Right? Yeah. That's funny. It probably looked a little different though. Oh yeah. It's just like-

It was for the cows, right? You keep the cows in the garage door. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They did the garage doors for the farmers, you know? Yeah, seeing like how like certain industries, like you would think that there would be so many different companies working in certain areas and then you find out like Dario mentioned, it's like, oh, there's really only two big players and then that's it. Otherwise no one else can jump into it.

It's like, okay, that's a new perspective. Or like in 2022, we've mentioned before, like it was a year where we were doing a lot of manufacturing companies. Like, and that's, I perspective. Or like in 2022, we've mentioned before, like it was a year where we were doing a lot of manufacturing companies. Like, and that's, I think that was actually the year where we were doing that. And it's like, oh, there's like a huge cable company that works in Canada that does like the cabling for,

for like NASA. And we were like, oh, right here, just in what Mississauga they do this. Yeah. Like it's crazy to think about sometimes. We do a fair amount of our work is with nonprofits and it's always so great to go in and work with the nonprofits and tell their story because gosh there's good people doing good stuff and I like to be reminded of

that that there's good people doing good stuff and so like to be reminded of that, that there's good people doing good stuff. And so I love going in and telling those stories and people tell us about how the organization helped them, made their life different and stuff. It's really, really important to me as well. I'm noticing that in the states we've been reaching out to, like I guess in like the Midwest or whatnot, so like Nebraska, I'm just looking at my list over there, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, there's a lot of nonprofit work. Yeah, well we have Warren Buffett,

and he has just set the tone that Omaha is an incredibly philanthropic community. I mean, our wealthy people support our community, so it's good for us. It's interesting. Yeah, here it's a bit more diversified, I found, compared to those areas. But-

What do you mean? Well, I guess, I mean, we're in Toronto, so it's like, there's every type of industry you can imagine here. So we don't, I haven't noticed that it's particularly leaning on like one or the other. It's just like whatever in the type of industry you want, you can find here.

I guess we're a little bit blessed in that regard. Yeah, I mean, and also nonprofits are not traditionally like a huge dominant kind of clientele for people in the industry. Like if any production company does work with a nonprofit, it's usually like a few one-offs every now and then, because we find that budgets are very restricted for nonprofits here.

Like I'm sure they are in the US as well, but if there is a lot more of a philanthropic push there, there's probably more resources to kind of like push towards working with nonprofits. So that's why we were just a little curious. Like you mentioned, like a lot of your work is with nonprofits. Like how do you go about like working with nonprofits versus like say a corporate client? Like what's that relationship like? Well, I mean, in some ways it's more fulfilling. Don't tell my corporate clients I said that.

But, I mean, you know, we've done TV commercials for a local law firm for a few years. I mean, it's different. I mean, it's got a different vibe, you know? But the non-profits is just, I don't know, it's really fulfilling. I mean, and there it's really fulfilling. And there's some serious budgets.

We worked with... I mentioned the Bill Murray one a few years ago. That was for teammates mentoring, and they raised over a million dollars at that event. So like you said, there's a lot of money supported here and stuff. Let's jump back a bit into when you started your company, what would you say were the biggest hurdles you faced early on? It's funny because in some ways things change, in some ways they don't. The nature of our industry is project driven. So somebody has a project, you know, you work on it and then it's done, right? And then

you may not see them again for a couple of years or, you know, till they need some other kind of video. So the hardest part is what's next, you know, you can't really plan, you don't know like this month is packed and looking great, but you know two months from now what's going to happen, you know. So that was the hardest part is just getting clients and kind of keeping the momentum moving and then again it's still kind of the same thing. It felt really good this year. We started 2025 and we had things booked out.

I was like yes, this is exciting. I had a friend that was like, she worked for the IRS and she was like, I can't believe you don't know how much money you're gonna make next month. I mean, how do you live like that? And I was like, it's just the nature of the business. You just kind of have to keep doing it and keep plugging and trust that things are gonna come

and you don't know exactly how much you're going to make, but as long as you make enough to pay the bills, right? Yeah, I think that's something that a lot of people get puzzled when they hear that about us because for us it's almost like it's in the back of our minds, I guess, but we don't really think about it. But for someone else, they wouldn't be able to live like that. And even us, sometimes I go like, I don't know what's going to come in this month. But something always just comes in last minute that does save your butt.

Isn't it funny how it doesn't? You're you're I mean, you just kind of have to trust it kind of like. Yeah, I really evidently were the kind of people that don't have to dwell on things like that. Cause if you did dwell on it, it'd probably make you nervous and freak you out. Yeah, you can't, but you just can't think about it. And when you're early on in the industry, like at least for us,

the fact that we weren't making a lot in the beginning was due to our, you know, young single naivety as well. It's like, oh, we didn't really realize how little we were making back in the day. And then finally, when it got to the point where we were able to live off of like what we were bringing in, it's like, oh, wow. We it is tricky when it gets from month to month. But then, like you said, sometimes there are years where you do really well and then you mention that to people and they think, oh, my God, that's a lot. It's like, no, it's not.

A lot of that goes to the expenses, the crews and everything. At the end of the day, there's only so much that's left over. Right. So it's like that's why you have to really push as much as you can. Right. Like just because you make 10 K in one month does not mean that's 10 K pure profit for your business. Right. It's like the gross and the net. The gross and the net. Yeah. Oh, yeah. The difference. Yeah.

For us, the biggest change came from when we we started paying ourselves consistently like month to month, that's when we noticed like the biggest change in terms of like Where the company was going and how much we needed to bring in Because before we weren't really factoring that in to like the free labor. You guys are free labor. Yeah, we were free labor, right? Just withdrawing whenever there was a healthy balance in the bank account, you know It was not sustainable for for a long term. I think in a way though. I think that that's probably one of the Things that attracts people to this business is because the barrier to entry in this business now is so different than it used to be Yeah, you know really anybody could get started with a decent DSLR, right?

So, you know, and a computer, and you could get started. Of course, all of us have progressed past that. So I think that's kind of exciting is that you can do it and then just get better and better equipment and better product and better stuff as you go. So, yeah, if you like, think about all the stuff that you guys have now and all the equipment and all this stuff you have invested. If you had to do that at the beginning,

could you have done it? No, no, no. Like we were lucky though. We started at a time where the barriers to entry like with regards to equipment were low. Um, cause we've heard stories of people that started 20 plus years ago and they talked about how they had to get a loan to just get an editing system, right? Yeah, so I guess big events and stuff, yeah. Yeah, so the difference went from barriers to entry being equipment costs to now barriers to entry just being getting yourself in front of clients, right?

That's the transition in the industry. Yeah, these kind of jobs didn't exist when I was in college. You know, it was more like an advertising agency, you know, the TV stations, and how much were those cameras? I mean, like there might've been three in town, and you had to figure out how to use them, or rent them, or whatever, yeah.

So it's completely changed, which is- I was talking with this one young kid who, he's like 18, 19 years old, who's just kind of starting in the video industry. I spoke with him like a week ago and he was like asking me for advice and things like that. And I was asking him like how long he's been in it and he said, I pretty much like decided

to go full freelance in September. And then I'm seeing like all the stuff that he's been doing. I'm like, oh my God, like there's so much like possibilities now for a lot of people jumping in the industry in terms of what kind of content you can create with just like, just getting a quality setup is so easy now. Like when, even when Dario and I jumped in, it was technically low barrier to entry, but it was like, but still the cameras were not as capable back then as well,

which was like around the 2013, around 2013. That's when we started. And also the standard wasn't that crazy high either. That's true too. Right. So I guess it's always like is relative to like what the standard is at the time. But I was telling the guy, it's like, listen,

you have so many resources in your hand, like go and learn. Cause he was asking me like, how did you learn and everything? Like I, there weren't as many like video resources out there to teach people things in 2013, 2014, 2015. You had to learn a lot by doing and then studying studying the big people and then seeing how you could apply it to your world,

which was so small. Whereas now there's 50,000 YouTube channels that tell you how you can create a promo video with one camera and one light. It's like a step by step. Right, even with our phones nowadays, yeah, even with our phones nowadays, you can just get a good microphone that clips in

and you can do some pretty impressive stuff. That's funny you mentioned YouTube. I had a client that was like a health and nutrition kind of client. And at the end of the video, the guy goes, veins, you know, flaxes, veins. And they wanted him to turn green and veins to pop out. Like the hawk.

You know, like the hawk, exactly. So you know what? I went to YouTube and there was a tutorial about how to make veins pop out. So I just followed it step by step. It was crazy. Yeah. I'm so glad that there are smart people out there that have figured all that stuff and are willing to share.

Thank God for that. Oh my God. That saved me like on creating the website and so many different things. Yes God for that. Oh my God, that saved me on creating the website and so many different things. Yes, for sure. It definitely helps in getting the basic stuff started for you and then you can evolve it from there. But there's so many, if a client needs some kind of effect, like you mentioned, it's crazy to think that there's like a library

of people out there that are ready to kind of like just show you a step by step of how to do it. It's wild. Yeah, it's very helpful. We appreciate it. So YouTubers keep doing that. What about your team? How big is your team?

My team, we have like five core people. Everybody, we're kind of structured like a film production company. Everybody is contractors. So we have a core of about five people that we use regularly. Sometimes we're just at the head. It's just you, right? Like full time.

Yes. Yeah, the company is just me. But my camera people probably wouldn't say that as much as I have them out in the field working, especially their wives. They would say, tell Margot no for a minute. So, but yeah, so it's kind of cool. Going back to when you started the company was great because if I didn't have work,

I didn't have to pay anybody, right? So that helped, you know, you know. But now it would be way more economical if they were employees and I wasn't paying them as contractors because, you know, I pay them. Like you use them so often to this point. I use them so often, yeah, yeah. Why haven't you made that leap then

if you feel like it's gonna be more economically viable? Well, for a few reasons. Paperwork, taxes, the employee kind of thing, that really is my least favorite part of the job. And I think it's, I mean, they've been with me all this time and I think it's okay to reward them that they're making, I'm making money, they're making money. I think that that's okay. So, yeah. money, I think that that's okay. So yeah, with what our industry oftentimes is just better just

to keep them as freelancers. And then that way you don't add that added overhead risk to yourself. Because like you mentioned earlier on in this conversation, we really are just project to project. So you don't know, like you might like luckily for you you you got your 2025 set up, but Next year, you don't know how it might be right right? Yeah, you don't know I think that they like it too they you know They can do different things on you know on their own to yeah You know if there's a project they want to do or something then which I'm all for because I figure you know in this industry for because I figure, you know, in this industry, experience is really the best teacher and the more experience you get, the better you get and then the better you get, you better

are for me, right? So yeah, and because when they go and work for other people, they're also learning from them, right? Exactly. And networking and networking too. That's a big thing because then if ever you're in a tight spot where one of your main people is not available, then they could be like, Oh, I worked with so and so who was great. It's like another me. You have to hire them. It's like okay perfect you know and now you don't have to worry as a result

too. And then you might learn something from the person they recommended right? That's what I've noticed. 100%. Yeah that's how we network in the industry is just recommending each other to different people that we've worked with because like how else are you going to like really grow? Like it's hard to work with people unless you have a recommendation from someone or you've worked directly with them, right? Cause it's like anytime you're hiring for a project, you want to hire people that you know will be able to deliver. It's really hard to bring on people that you know will be able to deliver. It's really hard to bring on people

that you haven't been able to test out before, right? Like anytime when we're trying to find editors, for example, it's like, okay, like how can we potentially integrate them into our workflow, you know? It's such a whole process for onboarding. It's a different kind of onboarding when you think about it, right? It's like more onboarding and less full time, right?

Right, totally. Like, so when you're out on the set and you bring somebody with you, it's great because you're kind of there and you can see them and you know how they do, how they blend in with you. We have really good mojo on set and our clients really enjoy working with us. So super important to me that you have to have like a positive attitude and be helpful. So that that's a great thing because then we'll bring somebody out and if they're a good fit we hire them again. If they're not we just don't ever hire them again. So but editing is different as you've

mentioned because it's like you're not sitting there with them overseeing them. So you kind of. So we went through a growth spurt over the past couple of years that we were doing so much filming that we couldn't do all the editing. So we really had to bring on some more editors and it was kind of experimenting, you know, here's this kind of project and then it was learning a new skill for me, is how do I tell them what I think the story should be

and how much should I tell them and how much should I tell them and how much should I let them have free reign? And then, you know, kind of finding that way to work back. And then, you know when it comes to editing, you put a story together and you're like, ah, it's not quite right. And so you put this here and that here and that here. No, that's still not right.

But then you put that here and that here and there and there and then you're like, oh, that's it. So when I have found that I was trying to give feedback to editors, it's like, well, how do you tell them, try this? But then they're like, well, I'm like, oh no, that still doesn't work. And they're like, well, that's what you told me to do. You know, it's like, I was wrong, you know, so we have to try something else and stuff.

So I've been learning a new skill set to trying to communicate, you know, the things that I think, you know, because bottom line, whether the client likes it or is thrilled or not comes back to you, right? So, yeah. So, how did you develop the, like your process for communicating better with your freelancers then? Well, that's, that's a great question, Dory. I'm still figuring that out. So, I, we have one woman on our team that just is brilliant. She just gets it and I love her.

And she's expensive though. So, but it's just, I don't know. And then I have another couple of people, like one guy will do a story edit first and say without any of the B-roll and stuff, you know, did I get what you wanted? So then we kind of take it slower. But Amber, I just throw stuff at her

and she's fine with it. So another guy that I've worked with who we've really figured out the feedback has been he'll put something together. And I'm like, I like this, I like this, I like this. I think we need more of this and more of this. So I don't really say cut here and move this part here like I thought I would have to do. It's more like I give the ideas and the feedback that way.

And then he understands from there what I'm trying to say and go. So that's been really nice. So in a way you're just providing a little more like guidance, but you're not like micromanaging or directing too much, right? You're just letting the creative be creative, but just kind of steering them in kind of the right direction, right? Yes. And I liked how you said that. I might write that down and say, this is the kind of boss I have. Yeah. You want to essentially be able to work with editors that you can give them like almost like bullet points of like, or like a skeleton and then let them creatively kind of go with it a little bit.

That's what I found always yielded the best results and with people who obviously are able to do it, that's the key thing. You have to find editors who are able to kind of think for themselves a little bit on how to make something work better because sometimes they, because a lot of the time they will bring something to you in your, in your story that you don't even notice at first, right? Because you're also, you've been so close to it for so long, maybe they see a different perspective. So you want it to be a little bit collaborative in the beginning as well, especially like as you said, like in the story cut stage, right?

It all depends obviously on what kind of content you're creating at the end of the day, too. But there are some editors like you that need to be able, editors need to be able to do that. And as you said, it may cost more money sometimes, but at the end of the day, it will save a lot more time and effort that could be spent on working on other projects at the end of the day, right? You want to be able to work with an editor that delivers two killer drafts that is delivered and the client is happy with them, send you like several different drafts that you're like, Oh no, it's not quite right.

You got to go back and do this. And then it becomes too much back and forth on something that will frustrate you after a little while. Cause we've had that happen many times. And then those certain situations, they're like, I think to myself, oh, Matt, just give me the thing. I wanna, I'm just gonna do it right now. I'll just fix it. Right?

And cause you're having trouble with that communication, but it's also a learning experience, right? Like with every freelancer you work with, you develop new skills on how to better communicate your vision. Cause that's a skill in and of itself and in what we do. Right. Right. Yeah.

And finding the right one. I mean, at the same time, like freelancers also trying to find the right. Like business owners to work with long term because even for them once they develop a good relationship it means continued work because I know for us once we have a freelancer we like we don't explore do you know what I mean? Right, right, right. Why would you?

Why would you? Yeah like you trust this person and that's it. That's what you hope you get from your clients, right? Your clients find somebody they trust and they stick with you. That's what you know. That's kind of like the same philosophy you apply to your freelancers. Yeah, it took a while to find our main editor that we go to. And back in 2021, we found our main editor, Nick, who's just been phenomenal for us over the last few years.

And like, it's always like a collaborative process every time we're working with him. It's like, it's gonna be hard to find another Nick, you know? And it's not that easy. Yeah, there are a few like mini ones you find every now and then that you can like go off of if he's busy, but it's hard to find other people that you can kind of mesh with and just pleasant

to work with. Yeah. I mean, and that's the thing is probably, I mean, editing itself, the technical part of it is a skill. Shooting is a skill, audio is a skill, lighting is a skill, but then the storytelling is a skill. I mean, we probably, 80% of what we do is documentary style interview videos. So taking the right parts and putting it together into the

good story is a lot of what we do and it's a real skill and I'm not sure that you can teach how to tell a good story. I think that there's kind of got to be something in you whether you get it so if it's a good story. I think that there's kind of gotta be something in you, whether you get it, so if it's a good story or not. And then of course, maybe you can hone it and whatever, but it's been interesting to see that, that storytelling matters. That's true, because if you think about a cinematographer,

a lot of that is just very technical stuff, right? Right, right. And especially if you have like the direction from your producer or your director, like you just need to be technically good at being able to light, compose a shot, versus like editing, you do have to have that spark inside you to be able to craft the story.

That's the interesting thing about editors is that in a way they have to be an extension of you and your vision. Yes, for sure. And the thing is, I think that the reason people hire us, I think it's two reasons. I think they like us. They like working with us. It's a good experience. And ultimately we give them a product they really like. So they go to the website and they see our videos and they're like, Oh yeah, I like this stuff. These are good stories. I want to hire these people.

So then you have to have people kind of aligned with your style, right? Because there's different kinds of styles and putting things together Like I'm sure there's people in Omaha that can get a better More sleek polished shot of a car zooming by you know or something But I really don't think there's anybody that can tell a better story than we can so you mentioned how you had that growth spurt at some point I'm just wondering like cuz like when you did have that influx of work coming in how did you handle that without things getting off the rail because oftentimes refer for some other people where they'll get a lot of work

and they'll try to expand to match it, but then it might stop and they might have to let people go or it just might be too much and their whole process breaks down and they have to restart from the ground up. It was pretty stressful. At some point I was concerned because I've always felt like

we had really good customer relationships. I mean, we build relationships. I feel like our, most of our clients are friends, right? And so then, and then we do this really great quality work. So I'm like, crap, what am I gonna do? You know, I'm spread so thin, there's only so much I can do. You know, I know I need to let go of stuff. I'm okay with letting go of stuff,

but how do we make sure we keep good quality and whatever? I was thrilled. I don't know exactly how I did it, Dario, but at the end of last year, clients were happy. I really feel like we were busier than we've ever been and I feel like we were making some of the best stuff we've ever made. I guess communication and care is how we did it. So did you have to like maybe expand your like freelancer base and that did

you like run into any issues doing that? We did expand we expanded our freelancer base when it came to editing editing particularly. So we've had the same kind of shooters the crew that we can use. A couple of our people do photography and shoot. A couple of our people will do drone and shoot. So we were able to kind of get coverage that way. But like you mentioned earlier, having people that you recommend and stuff. Because sometimes you know we have a crew of five. Occasionally we need a bigger crew. So it's like, uh-oh,, we gotta go outside our regulars

kind of thing. But I forget what your question was, Daria. I don't think, just in terms of like, because you had the influx of work coming in, like how did you like match that on like the production or post side, right? Like how did you like avoid running into issues by like expanding your roster of creatives?

I guess I was just very careful with who I chose. You know, it's funny because when you hire somebody that's gonna be a camera person, right, they send you their reel, and you're like, oh, this is some really good stuff. But with an editor, when they send you a reel, it's like, well like anybody can put together the best stuff, right?

So with editors, you really kind of have to see stuff they've done and the stories that they've told and put together. So it's a little bit different. So when somebody sends me a resume, an editor sends me a resume and a reel, I'm like, yeah, this doesn't do anything good for me. Show me stuff that you have edited, the stories that I can see the sound bites that you pick, that I can see how you put in the nat sound, how I see how you mix the music. That's way more telling to me. And then I just try people out and, you know, see who understands my

brain and how my brain functions and my feedback. and it was just kind of a slow process. And there was a time that we were still editing like crazy too to meet our deadlines. But with the people we were able to find and add to the team, we just kind of came out the other side okay. Yeah, it's so true what you said about finding, like with editors, you have to look at what kind of work they've done.

I always ask them for their top three bits of work that they've done that they're really proud of and happy with, with at least one of them being focused on the type of job that we're trying to hire for. That way we can get a sense of what their experience is, like in that realm and also like how they go about telling stories

and other ones, right? Like editing editor reels is funny because they're just editing other people's footage at the end of the day. It's not really telling a story. Like maybe the only thing a reel will tell me, it's like, okay, you know how to export on Premiere, great. Because it's technically other people's footage

that they're cutting together unless they do something super creative with that reel that's wild, but you have to see people's completed works. And I think that's something more and more people are asking to look at nowadays because putting together everyone's best works is only a small bit to get your foot in the door, but to really get the job,

you need to show actual finished product before you can do anything. Yeah, I was just thinking yesterday that we need to put together a drone reel, like, you know, put together our best drone shots. We need to do the same, to be honest with you. Yeah. So something like that will work, right? Because it's like showing indoor outdoor kind of nature.

But yeah, it doesn't really work for me for editors. I'm with you. Yeah. Well, drone reels are different because it's like when people are asking for drone work, they're like for someone to bring a drone to set, there's specific kinds of shots that you're looking for. And drone pilots, you have to showcase what their capabilities are in flying. It's like, can you fly the for and drone pilots, you have to showcase what their capabilities

are in flying. It's like, can you fly the drone and maintain a good shot or something creative? Yeah, legally too. In a way that you can actually hire this person for the shoot, right? Like if you hire a drone operator and all his shots are, or all their shots are completely jittery or like overblown, like in terms of like exposure and everything like that. Don't last quite long enough. You're like, no way, I need one more second.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's five seconds instead of two. You're like, damn it. But you know, the new Premiere AI tool that allows you to extend shots might actually help you in that case. I haven't tried it yet. Have you tried it?

No, not yet. I don't know if it's out. I don't know if it's out yet yet technically, but when it is, I definitely will be testing it out. Because yeah, you always need like another second sometimes. That with like AI voice is going to be disastrous. I can just imagine you extending the clip of a person and just adding their AI voice to it. Oh my God. I didn't even think of that. Yeah. It's like taking a real interview and then just adding another portion to it. But it might be good for like interview footage, corporate interview footage, because let's

say you just need to add, they fumbled a word. Oh yeah. That could be really good for that. Margot, let's go back to sales a little bit, because it sounds like at the beginning you were doing quite a lot of that. Do you still find yourself actively doing a lot of sales for your company? Yeah, I handle all the sales. It's funny because I told you at the beginning I knew nobody was going to come knock on my door and say, do video for me. But now it's funny

because I can sit around and answer the phone and people want us to do video for them So it's been pretty cool. We have tons of repeat clients. Thank God and That they refer us other people personal people, you know, here's somebody wants video They refer us and then we do a little bit of Google ads so we don't really have a Sales a marketing approach. I wish that I was better at that. I've heard of people doing email marketing and sales funnels. Some of the people I've listened to you on this podcast

have talked about those kinds of things. That's just not really me though. So for sales with me is really just networking, talking to people. What kind of tips would you have for people in terms of networking with either past clients or potential future clients? I just started this past year. There is a non-profit association here in Omaha that's really big and powerful.

And since I have really good experience with them and credibility with them, I just kind of continue to market to them. And they have events and I just go to the events and meet people and talk to them. And somebody might not need video right then, but if they're a non-profit at some point, they're going to need video. So then the whole idea is they've heard of us, they heard of us when it comes time to decide who to pick. They're looking at a couple of different companies.

So yeah, let's take a look at Digital Moxie Studio. So those kind of event type things I think are good for me because I like people and I like talking. You probably noticed that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm jealous. You probably noticed that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm jealous to be honest with you. And so I've gotten to like the, the chamber type things,

the, the, the business meeting type things. Sometimes, I think that they're fruitful and sometimes they're not, but you don't know until you try. So I think you have to just put yourself out there and talk to people. I suck at that. Do you just say like, cause again, I'm not good at big events.

I always send Kyril out instead of me, but I'm fine with doing it. Yeah, usually Dario avoids the events. So I'm always trying to- I'm the kiss of death when it comes to events. So I try to avoid them, but this year I made a commitment to go to a couple more. So for someone like me, what would you suggest?

Like, you know, doing like a cold approach. Just like even at these networking events, you just kind of talk a bit about your business because you know, sometimes like they're again, they're not interested in video right now. Right. So how do you know about that? I think Daria, you are super charming, wonderful, talented guy. You heard that, Carl? Yeah, you hear that, Carl?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got that. So I don't think I would... I think that you probably just need to change your attitude that instead of like, oh, I got to go out and I got to go do sales, is just that analysis I used with my dad at the beginning. You love video, right? You love production. So just, what else are you passionate about?

I mean, I like kayaking, I like pickleball. So if I have a chance to talk to people about kayaking or pickleball, it makes me excited. So just talk about video the way you love it, and then don't worry about trying to sell. Just be you. Yeah, yeah. So I would say change your attitude video like the way you love it and then don't worry about trying to sell. So I would say change your attitude and take the pressure off of you that I gotta sell something.

This is sales, I gotta sell something. And just kind of relax and have fun with it. Okay, so I guess not being in your own head would be like a good takeaway from that. 100%. 100%. Try and just enjoy the experience of where you are. Meet somebody new. Try and find somebody that you think that meet somebody that day that you're just going to enjoy the conversation just for the sake of the conversation.

Okay, so I got to like people. I think that's the that's the trick. Oh, that's also tricky. Yeah, like, I don't think you're that good of an actor. I think you like people. Yeah. The thing is also like, we have to also remember that it's not meant to, like you said, you can't go into an event thinking, I'm gonna get a sale today,

or I'm going to get a contact that's gonna get me a sale. It's like, you just have to plant seeds and build relationships. Like there was one, like over the course of the pandemic, there was one marketing organization in Toronto that we became a part of, and I was very active in going to a lot of the events and just meeting and connecting with people.

And it got to the point where every event, a lot of the people knew me, I knew them. And even though it took a while for any work to kind of come through, eventually we did get like a couple like actually pretty big projects from it that were pretty interesting too. And it was just because people had just known me in that small community as the video expert. And so they wanted to send work towards me once they finally had that opportunity. But I'll be fair, that was a very slow burn.

It took like two, three years before any actual paid work started coming our way from it. But again, that was just a very small community. And then it's like, the key is to get into a lot of these other smaller communities of marketers or business owners. And that's one thing that Dario and I have talked about and why he's asking so many questions.

Because many times I've tried to get him to come to these events and he was like, I don't know. I would agree to it. I would agree to it. And then last minute I was, I would always flop. Yeah. All of a sudden have a stomach ache. Yeah.

I was, I always knew his game, but I know, I now know that he's like actually serious about it, that he's asking about it in podcasts. So now he has no excuse. Well, I admire your... that's a long time. Two, three years for some reward there and that was good. But then it was a big reward, right? So then... Yeah. I mean, it was also the pandemic, right? So it wasn't it took two of those years were because of the pandemic itself. So it was not very easy to kind of like push forward because so many budgets were so restricted at the time.

And and as a result, it's like, OK, it's just all I can do right now is try to build relationships as much as I can. And actually, we did do some work with them that indirectly got us a lot of other work with other clients. You know, like we did some kind of like work on the arm for them because it was a nonprofit organization. Then I showed that work to other potential leads that actually got us projects that have led to others. The seeds can help in different ways.

Maybe not direct work, but sometimes indirectly helping you in other ways, right? It's like this podcast, because we had the same thing happen with Creators Grab Coffee, where we connected with people and then maybe two years after that, we got work from them. Because again, everyone is in different cities for this podcast, right? So they had work in Toronto and it worked out. So even though we were doing this podcast for free, just for the knowledge and the networking, we ended up getting some money that helped pay for the expenses of the show in a way. Yeah.

And we've also hired a few guests actually in the US because we've had a client that wanted us to film in Seattle and North Carolina. So we interviewed people in those cities, hired them, and then I flew out and was there on set working with them for our clients so you never know where it can go you never even had it happen with the UK we had a shoot in the UK and for that one we actually just

let that production company take care of the whole production side of it and then we did the we obviously did the pre and the post for that project so pretty exciting how that works pretty exciting how that works. Pretty exciting how that works. Yeah, I think that if I tried to say that I was a salesperson, I would freak myself out. I would get this whole negative thing. Because in my mind, some part of me thinks that salespeople look at people as numbers.

How can I get this? I gotta close the deal, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I guess I don't look at it that way. That probably is what helps me. Yeah, I think there's like a, I feel like there is a difference between like what we do with regards to sales and an actual salesperson, because I'm just thinking back to like, we got a car in October and I knew the guy at the dealership. He's an old friend of ours, but I could still see that he was treating me like a number. I'm like, bro, like, come on.

Yeah. Yeah. What are you doing? Yeah. It's a whole different. It is different when they're doing some mentality. It's a different mentality because then it's like you're literally, like you said, thinking of numbers and quotas rather than thinking of the person in front of you. And it's always a hard sell. It's like, I got it, I got it. The environments are pressuring people to kind of do that,

but we're not in that kind of industry. We gotta remember, like we're just there to meet people. I think that's like, I think a good starting point. Just go from that perspective. Like I just wanna go meet new people and then who knows where it goes, right? Exactly. Yeah. The other thing you have to admit too is that sometimes you get a project that has a really great budget and it's just not that exciting. And then you get a project

that doesn't have a great budget, but it's super fun. So there's, there's other rewards to it than just the money, right? Yeah. Some of our best, most interesting projects were the ones that had very low budgets. Yeah. Yeah. And it's kind of like a weird catch-22 where it's like you need to do the low budget stuff with great portfolio stuff to get the high budget stuff that is low portfolio stuff.

And that's one of the things that we've noticed over the last few years where we've had, we focused a lot on getting healthy budget projects because that's what we need to do as a business. But then when after a while you start looking at, say if you do a lot of financial clients or a lot of corporate work, it's not that all the work is the same, but it's hard to kind of like do a whole portfolio or like a new reel that's just based off of corporate interviews, you know. portfolio or like a new reel that's just based off of corporate interviews. You know, right. Are you going on to you're going on to a set and you're excited? Like what's going to happen today?

That's kind of, you know, you know, versus I still get that excitement from like corporate videos because like there's always like some random thing that'll pop up and you got a problem solve. But in terms of like something that's visually interesting in a portfolio or in a real, it's hard to get that from corporate work. But like even just the regular talking head videos, like I find them fun to do. I might be in the minority when I say that, but I like just being able to interact with the client that day and then like show off what we can do visually because they always

get impressed with the equipment and the lighting and visually how it looks and then just talking with the talent and directing them. But again, it's not visually interesting. That mentality is what you need to have going into the networking right there. What you just said. Like I'm like, boom, there's your mojo. Okay. That's it. He's 100% right. Yeah. Because it's true. Like a lot of like corporate projects for a lot of people, a lot of people in our industry treat corporate projects as like, you know, low, right? Which is not the right attitude to go about it. Well, not the ones that care about money.

That's the other thing, right? Yeah. Dario knows very well. It's like these are like very precious people that we need to take care of because they will be the ones putting the food on the table, right? But at the same time,

I know what Dario is, where he's coming from, because it's like we are also dealing with people who are not used to being on camera sometimes, and you can see how nervous they can sometimes get. And it feels good to be able to kind of like calm and relax people who typically get anxious about things like that. Because it can be anxious being on camera.

Like Daria and I have done our own video content for the business and like I remember the first few videos we did, we were like, oh no, like this isn't good. Or if you look at the very first episodes of Creatives Grab Coffee, we would just be like, so what do you do? And then we would let the guest talk for like 30 minutes. I forgot about that.

You know, we had an experience where we had to do this massive educational series for one of our clients and they were short on people. So short on acting. Yeah, they were short on talent. And Kierla and I stepped in to do like a couple of the videos, right? Like I'm talking about I forget how many videos we did. I think it was like 80 videos. We did 88 videos in one month. That's what we had.

One month. We were in that office for three and a half weeks straight to the point where I think it looked really fun when we signed the contract. And I looked at all the digits. I'm like, oh, my God, this is great. This is a third of what we need for the year. Fantastic. But oh, my God, after the third day, I was losing my mind. I think I was drinking like 10 teas a day just to keep myself like away from falling. Noting off with the client is talking. Oh, my God.

I noticed how like I need something different like every five minutes because otherwise I would die of boredom But it was the point of that story is that we stepped in in front of the camera Yeah, I got like a little anxiety attack with the first speech and I remember that it was like cuz Dario was saying like yeah I'll get it all done in like cuz we're doing our own blog videos at the time and I was doing fine But it was just me and him right so I felt come we had the client over there and I started shaking like my hands started shaking I'd never seen a mind. Keep in mind. I did have it like three. I was it was like You're gonna blame the cafe. The tea I needed like three I got to the point where I needed three tea bags at once

To be able to to get anything from it because I was drinking so much tea. So I think it was that. But thinking about it, it's like, man, that's probably what some people feel when we're shooting with them. For sure. Where they get that little bit of anxiety. So we try to make them feel comfortable.

It is satisfying when you interview somebody and you get really great content. Sometimes I think that the editors would like for me to cut my interviews a little shorter so they have less to go through and stuff. But I'm a huge proponent of that. If you don't have it, you can't include it. So I really take my time. I tell the people afterwards too, I mean,

the first third of the interview we hardly ever use, right? You use the stuff that's in the middle or towards the end is usually the really great stuff. So use the backups. Yeah, that was great. Let's get the back. Yeah. One thing I learned also from that project that Dario was talking about is that a lot of the nerves can sometimes come from not great writing as well. And cause if things don't sound good or flow well, especially if you're reading off of a teleprompter, it can really get to you. And like that particular project was one was, was a very scrappy because it was just Dario and I on set.

Cause it was during like, like, like like around the lockdown pandemic lockdown era. So all we were allowed to have was like four people in one room and that was it. So it was us, one talent, one client person, and that was it. So it was, and the whole office area was empty. So it was kind of eerie at the same time. And so Dario had to do a whole English module and I had to do an entire French module because I was able to speak French. But the problem was that the scripts to kind of like go with the content like and to streamline it,

the client had to write it with their team daily for us. And what happened was one of the people who was in charge of doing the French went to Google Translate and then put the English one there. And when I was given the French one, I'm trying to read it. And then I started screwing up and I'm like, this is not normal. Like I shouldn't be screwing this up.

And then I'm like, okay, something here doesn't make sense. And then finally I was able to kind of get through it in the end. It was the act, we had a French actress come in and the next day, the next day she was reading and she's like, Oh, like that's like, uh, like the way they wrote it, it's very like dirty. You can't say that. So then we figured out that, yeah, yeah. That she's like, the whole thing was like miswritten. So she actually helped us rewrite it. But yeah, it turned out they used google translate for that So that just that lens that lends itself is to the writing. It's like if you're writing something for

People who've never been on camera before for a teleprompter. You have to make sure like read it yourself, you know Because if it doesn't flow Just enough like if you make a run run on sentence, it can completely disrupt the flow for talent. You know, like if you have to like put like 10 different points in one sentence, you get out of breath, you get tired and then you make a mistake and then it's, it's like a snowball effect. If, if, if, if, if talent starts to make too many mistakes in a short amount of time, it

starts to get to them in their heads. Yeah, they freak out and it's, out. And it's difficult to recover. There's a related story to that recently, because we do this quarterly webinar. And one of our clients, the team, the executive team goes and does their whole thing, reads for that. And one of them always had issues getting through it. And I could see it would frustrate him, right?

And then this last one, it was like perfect read through, but because they customize like the prompt or speech to like his like reading style. So oftentimes that's also the case too. You got to customize it to the client. I totally I would recommend, you know, I recommend it to clients, is that whoever's gonna read this, if it's written, have them modify it to where it's how they talk. Keep the main points, keep the thing, but make it sound like you. I had a-

The problem is it's compliance people who are writing these scripts sometimes. Yeah, I know, the legalese crap stuff. Sounds like a contract you're reading on a teleprompter sometimes. That, I know. The legalese crap stuff. It sounds like a contract you're reading on a teleprompter sometimes. That's not true. Thou shalt not give money to said subject and yes. Therefore known as client. We had a job that I was super excited when it ended, but for an entirely different reason. We

did the welcome to jail video. So like when you go to jail there's like an orientation and you there was like a half an hour video that you sit down and watch and it's like you know this is the stuff you'll get. These are the rules. This is the thing and stuff like that. So we did that. We did one about house arrest and stuff. So we were at the jail for a week, like literally, you know, they put them on the carousel afterwards, like the cows and then just let them was at a spot treatment.

No, that was, that was why I was glad that it ended because I was so happy to leave that set. I've never been so happy to be a free person because jail, unlike the spas with the cows, is not a fun place to be. Did you have to interview some inmates? We did not. We did not. We got V-roll.

That looks like fun though. I would love to be able to add that to our list of places we've been to. Not like, you know, as an inmate, but like as a... Not as an inmate. Yeah. Yeah. But like as a company, that's pretty cool though. It's very easy to get in when you think about it.

Yeah. Yeah. We can make that happen. But it was interesting because we did have to get B-roll with the people, with the inmates, and they were so eager to be in the video and stuff it was kind of fun yeah they're you know because sometimes you go and you need like people to be in B-roll and they're like not there they were like i'll do it i'll do it i'll do it so

they have the same routine every single day like that video project Dario and I we were doing so you know they they were looking for something different. Something different, mix up their day. Extra curriculum. Shawshank Redemption where they got to go fix the roof. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep.

So when that job ended, I was very pleased that we got to leave the jail as free people. That's great. Just hope you didn't rub it in anyone's faces as you were leaving it. I was like, I'm free. We were very subtle, slid out. Just me make sure we didn't screw anything up and got out of there. Did you say like, have a nice life? Sentence, that is.

Oh, brutal. Darn it. That's a George Costanza bit. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, from Seinfeld. One last thing I wanted to mention in terms of making your talent feel comfortable is, aside from making sure, sometimes if they keep fumbling, it might be the script. But another thing as well is, sometimes their breathing

isn't right. So they might not be breathing properly. That's the issue I had when I started freaking out with that little bit of anxiety is I wasn't breathing enough so I didn't have enough oxygen to keep reading so my brain went into panic mode so sometimes I notice if client like if like the lead is or like the talent is like fumbling a little too much I tell my right take a moment take a deep breath take another one or and then we can start because sometimes they they don't give themselves enough time to inhale and then their brain goes into panic mode because they

don't have enough oxygen. Yeah that's interesting that you you guys use the teleprompter so much because I really we really try not to because delivering somebody else's words and making them sound like your own is a skill I mean that's why Brad Pitt is famous and makes tons of money, right? So I try really hard, we as a company try really hard to not have non-professionals read. We try not to, like again, it depends on the project. We do have it as a backup because sometimes, unfortunately, everyone can learn, I don't know who said it, but the famous director

said that everyone can learn to be a good actor. The thing is some people just take way longer than others to do that, right? So sometimes we're on tight timelines. So we have it as a worst case, hey, if they can't get it within this one, we'll pop out the teleprompter we'll place it kind of like where the interviewer's head will be and it kind of looks seamless because

Again, sometimes we just don't have enough time Like I can't spend all the whole shoot day trying to get you to read like try to get you to answer three questions, right? Yeah, yeah No, I don't I yeah, I try really hard every once in a while somebody just did it a couple months ago We said bullet points bullet points. They sent me the bullet points these bullet points look good They seem to get the flow of the point of the story I show up and not only does he have a script But the other two people that he has to be in it have a script and so now they're trying to memorize the script and trying

Deliver it to camera. I'm like, yeah they're trying to memorize the script and trying to deliver it to camera. I'm like, Oh, it was terrible. And so then the, the, the bad thing is the worst thing is that now he thinks he's not good on camera and I'm like, it's in their head and then it's like, you're, you would be amazing on camera if you would have listened to me, but you, you wrote out a script and you're not a professional actor. You're not going to be able to do this, you know, writing it down and rehearsing it for five minutes.

That's just not how this works. So I was really, I was really disappointed because he could have been better, you know, but sometimes people have to learn things the hard way, right? So, yeah, and it also depends on the, like, as Dario mentioned, it also depends on the kind of project you're doing. Like when possible, we always prefer to do the interview style where we're getting people to have very natural responses on camera

because that is the most engaging content that you will get usually, right? But it just so happens a lot of our funny stories are projects that were very specific scripts that had to be delivered talking directly to camera, right? Cause it's one thing to do an interview when you're talking to someone, but the second you're talking to a camera,

it's very difficult to keep it natural because you're not talking to a human, you're talking to a little spherical piece of glass at the end of the day, right? And like all these other tidbits that we're talking about is like what it's like with teleprompter the day, right? And like all these other tidbits that we're talking about is like what it's like with teleprompter type setups, right? But it's a completely different skill set to also do interviews, right?

But as Dario mentioned, sometimes at the end of the day, if there's a specific thing, if they're not good on camera, better to try to like get like something still. Like you could feed them an answer, they can get it back to you if you need to, based off of their own wording, of course, right? But- still like you could feed them an answer they can get it back to you if you need to based off of their own wording of course. But it's funny because as you're talking I can think of the worst person I ever interviewed

and the best person I ever interviewed. The best person was at the head of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce at the time and we showed up and we asked him five questions and we had five perfect sound bites. It was like he didn't stumble on a word, he didn't miss a thing, he was on point, it was like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And then the worst person was a guy that was really, he was really gregarious in real life and charming and everything, but as soon as we turned the camera on he literally was like camera shocked and he couldn't, during like even three words he couldn't finish a sentence and like you were talking about Dario it took forever just

to get anything kind of usable out of him. Anytime I hear someone saying oh I'm great in front of crowds I'll get this done in two seconds I always go oh lord and it's always like that oh as soon as they say I'm great in front of crowds It's done. Like I already know like the warning sign for you. That's the warning sign for me That's the red flag the reason behind that the psychological reason behind that is because they're going into the recording session with an inflated ego and Like kind of like an expectation of themselves to nail it, right? And so what's normal when you're on camera is that sometimes you make little fumbles and mistakes. It's normal to do that, right? But they don't realize that.

So they go on camera and then they make their first mistake. They're like, oh, no, my ego's hurt. Like I should do this perfect. I don't even think it's that. I think that when they're in front of a crowd, they feed off the energy off. That's part of it. But I'm just saying like that's that. I think that when they're in front of a crowd, they feed off the energy off the crowd. That's part of it, but I'm just saying that's the thing that triggers it where they start to kind of get in their head sometimes is when they start making these mistakes. But because they're talking in front of people, the mistakes are something that they would

do on stage are kind of like part of the whole spiel, right? Right. You just keep going if you stumbled on a word. You don't even notice that you stumbled on the word necessarily because exactly going yeah Yeah, because you're also getting feedback from the people there right away. It's like yeah anyways Listen, we're just past the one-hour mark I just like to end off with how he came up with the name of the company and then I guess we'll just do your

Social handles and we'll cut it off. So how did you come up with the digital moxie studio? I wish I had a better story for this So I've always liked the word moxie, you know It's been used about me a couple of times in my life And so I just started writing words down like studio production digital film video Moxie and put some different things and then kind of had a bunch of words and just kind of put some together and then I picked I picked it I narrowed it down to my three favorite and sent it to friends and said which one of these three

do you like and they all picked Digital Moxie Studio. Nice. Yeah. That's great. Okay, so let's move on to your social media. How can people find you? So your website is? Digitalmoxie.studio.

Yes, Digital Moxie the studio and obviously based in Omaha, Nebraska and do you have any socials? Yeah, I mean I don't know what they are at the top of my head I'll open them up right now I'm on Instagram, I'm on At Digital Moxie

LinkedIn, the works Facebook So guys make sure to follow her on at Digital Moxie for Instagram. And then Facebook is Digital Moxie Studio. There you go. Thank you, Daria, for looking that up.

Thank you so much for joining us on Creatives Grab Coffee. You're a delight to chat with. It was a joy. I enjoyed it. Thanks for listening to this episode of Creatives Grab Coffee. Please make sure to follow and engage with us on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and your favorite podcast app.

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