Is a video production company possible in a small city?

Rylan Zolinski

Rylan Zolinski

Well-known member
I currently live in a city that is populated by only 40,000 people. I have a relative moving down here that's into advertising and we decided to team up and try to tackle weddings/corporate videos and anything video related that I am capable of doing. My question is this:

Have any of you had any success doing such a thing in a small city? As far as I know, there are very very few businesses that deal with video production in the area. I am not sure if it's because it's not needed or no one has really went out of their way and tried to advertise themselves. I honestly think it might be a great opportunity to try and get somewhere with this since competition is nearly null. Also, there is another city only 1 hour away that is populated with roughly 240,000 people and we are willing to advertise in that city as well.

Any suggestions? If you are wondering what sort of equipment I have, well:

-Tripod (duh)
-Canon XHA1
-2 soft boxes and a key light
-Editing software with a good computer

Basically the essentials to shoot and edit. I also figured that it would be nice to get a secondary camera (like an HV20) for a backup and I am considering it very much so.
 
Sure, I think you can have success that way, business may be slow at times, especially at the start, but if you are the only show in town then basically you have a corner on the market, so if you do good work and treat the companies professionally you should have success. The key to a small market is, I would imagine, offering lots of services, you probably cannot specialize much, so you have to take any work that you can reasonably do. Whereas for me, in Los Angeles, I have to specialize and pick something specific I want to do that my competition isn't doing.
 
I live in a town of 40,000. That's 40,000 including the nearby areas. The closest large city is too far to even think about. There are quite a few businesses doing well here.

There are a lot more important questions than number of people. A refugee camp with 200,000 is going to be less likely to get you a good profit than a private island jointly owned and lived on by twelve millionaires who need home videos. You need to know the demographics of your area, the businesses, the people and the needs.

The most successful businesses here have a full marketing package, which I believe is the best way to go. That means video production for corporate and commercial, website design and the ability to help companies market themselves the way they really intend. Or aim for people getting married if that's the market that holds the most potential and is what you want to do. The first might take too many people and varied skills.

Also, at least at first, don't consider yourselves to be working full time. It's a contract based business.

How you market yourself is going to be more important than anything else, but the specifics really depend on your area and the market you choose to go after. Plenty of businesses collapse compared to those three doing well because they weren't as on top of marketing themselves and networking as they should have been, and they didn't put out a professional enough front with a good sized net. You have to be a company, not a guy with a camera to do really well. Big difference. And, even though you may have the market cornered now, that might not always be the case; especially with another town an hour away. I'm sure you have plenty of competition in that town that wouldn't mind the drive.

Also, if you do events you should try to secure two cameras. You'll also need an audio setup, which can be a big hit in the budget. For weddings, I recommend including wireless lavs.
 
All good advice.

I think how you sell yourself is really huge. A guy with a camera to me is not impressive, and I see people like that attempt to sell themselves as companies, when they have one crappy Webpage with a reel and maybe an About Us section. It's... not impressive. You have to sell yourself much bigger than you are, and some people don't "get" that, they think that's dishonest, but it's just good salesmanship. My company is just me, I'm the only officer, nobody else has shares, etc. But my connections are vast and I work with many people, so I can sell myself as having many abilities as a company and being a lot bigger than anyone needs to know or understand. I have a ton of my own equipment, fully capable production flow for any mid-sized production (and can rent above that for larger work), and lots of people who I work with regularly and don't have to go out and find, so I can have a quick turnaround time for anything. I just shot a short and we'll have a final cut done Thursday night, less than three weeks after shooting. Would have been faster except for a few minor issues in post and waiting 4 days before even starting editing.

Go big, or go home!
 
How many lavalier mics should I need for a wedding? 3? One for the minister, bride and groom? If so, what sort of setup do you recommend? If you could point me in the right direction, that would be awesome.

Also, as a secondary camera I was thinking of a HV20 or something similar since it shoots great footage and I might be able to match it closely to the XHA1, but it looks like a very low budget camera and I don't want to throw customers off.
 
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I am happy to chat with you about this. I run a one man production company in Clarksburg WV. There is not even a rental house in this state. Very small.

Feel free to PM me or check out my company. Links are in my signature.
 
its all about being better and in this world right now cheaper than your competition... I've shot some wedding videos for people at almost "Half" the price as other people... its a good sales pitch too.. its a good way to start out.. if your not to desperate for the money...( ha ha when are we not desperate for money)
 
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