The More Things Change...

As we enter our 20th year of business I took a few minutes this month to think about the dramatic changes that have transformed our business in the last two decades. As I was doing that, I realized that the obvious, dramatic, and transformative change is interesting to consider, but the constants (which are less obvious) are equally and often more compelling to consider. It is these constants that I will focus on in this post.

When I started thinking about the things that have changed very little in the last twenty years, the first thing that struck me is that good people always find work (or is it, work always finds good people?!) What I mean by that is that even though an explosion in cheap, relatively high quality video gear has brought a huge influx of people into the business, I see the same talented people, year after year, working on project after project. That's not to say that there isn't great new talent out there--there is--it's just that establishing yourself as a talented professional in this business is still a huge and difficult task, requiring dedication, long hours, and a LOT of humility and most people don't have what it takes to make it for the long haul.

The other constant I've noticed is that the basic skill set that is required to produce high quality videos has changed very little in the last 20 years. Sure, some jobs dealing with specific aspects of the technology have changed, but the basic skills like producing, directing, writing, lighting, shooting, acting, and sound acquisition have changed very little. I have to laugh every time I hear about how some new technology (camera, edit software, etc.) is going to revolutionize film and video work and get budgets down so low that anyone can now make Hollywood Movies.

The truth of the matter is simple--great films and videos are made by talented people. Cameras and software are just tools and great tools in untalented hands still produce poor results. As for budgets getting lower, it is true that the tools are somewhat less expensive, but the single greatest cost for most projects is not the tools, it's the people who operate them. I mean, the tools for building construction have also come down dramatically in price, yet it is still more expensive to construct a building today than it was 20 years ago--the same is true in this business.

So what is the takeaway from this? If you want to make a great video, hire great people and let them bring the right tools for your job.