Seven years ago this month, my wife and I took the plunge. No, I’m not talking about wedding bells. I’m talking about our first camera. We purchased it on February 17th, 2006, and thus, 515 Productions was born. It was exciting and terrifying. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times when we wondered if we’d made a huge mistake. And if you had told us then where we’d be today, seven years later, we wouldn’t have believed you. A RED camera? Get real. Of course, such success wouldn’t have been even remotely possible without the hard work and dedication of a very talented group.
In the world of video production, the majority of projects requires a crew of people to handle everything from cinematography to craft services. Over the months and years, the 515 operation has grown into a core collective of video professionals that is able to handle pretty much any project you put in front of it. No, it isn’t your traditional agency structure. But we don’t do traditional. As the economy evolves out of the recession, more and more companies are hiring sub-contractors instead of full-time employees, because it is more cost-efficient. As an unofficial conglomerate of contractors, we like to think that we’re ahead of the curve in that respect. Sure, it gets a little complicated when it comes to name and brand identity, but that’s just semantics. And as long as our clients are pleased with our approach, we don’t care about semantics.
I want to thank my partners in crime, who’ve made this outfit what it is today. Dave Poyzer is a creative genius. Robb Moore is a lighting and logistics genius. Brent Willett is a graphics and animation genius. Aaron Ward is a genius at making a shoot flow as smoothly as possible. And Tyler Dreher is a genius in-the-making. I’m incredibly lucky to get to call these guys my colleagues and friends. In a way, it feels like we’re almost family. Robb and I bicker like an old married couple sometimes. But, really, what family is perfect?
I also have to give props to the city of Des Moines and the state of Iowa. I fully admit, when Lynn and I first moved here from Alaska, I did not love the place. But Iowa has been good to us. It has given us opportunities we wouldn’t have had anywhere else. What’s not to love? It’s a big reason why we’re proud to call Iowa home.
You often hear about the so-called “seven year itch”. At the risk of sounding corny, I’d like to turn that phrase on its head and declare: we’re itching to get started on the next seven years.