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From Film School Dreams To A Profitable Video Company · Studio B Sessions

• 0:04
  Vipul Bindra: Welcome to another episode of Studio B Sessions with me, Bindra, owner of Bindra Productions here in Orlando, Florida.
• 0:10
  Vipul Bindra: This podcast is essentially raw, unedited, unfiltered conversations with other filmmakers and just something for entertainment, maybe education.
• 0:20
  Vipul Bindra: And just like has been this whole season, we've got Mario on the producer desk helping us make this happen.
• 0:26
  Mario Rangel: Hey guys, how are you today?
• 0:27
  Mario Rangel: Nice to see you again.
• 0:29
  Vipul Bindra: And uh, well, a lot of them you may not be able to see because you know they're listening, remember?
• 0:33
  Mario Rangel: Well, nice to for them to be hearing us.
• 0:36
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, there you go, there you go.
• 0:38
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, we've got a good healthy mix, though.
• 0:40
  Vipul Bindra: You know, a lot a lot of people you know watch, but a lot of people also listen.
• 0:43
  Vipul Bindra: And our guest today is Christopher.
• 0:46
  Christopher Crompton: Hey, what's up, everybody?
• 0:48
  Vipul Bindra: Video business owner.
• 0:50
  Vipul Bindra: Yes, and obviously, you've done all the other roles and air.
• 0:55
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, exactly.
• 0:55
  Vipul Bindra: Look at that.
• 0:57
  Christopher Crompton: Lover of movies and honestly storytelling.
• 1:00
  Vipul Bindra: Look at that.
• 1:00
  Vipul Bindra: Look at that.
• 1:01
  Vipul Bindra: He I couldn't have done you know better than you.
• 1:04
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but so welcome.
• 1:06
  Vipul Bindra: Thank you for coming.
• 1:07
  Christopher Crompton: Thank you for letting me be here.
• 1:08
  Christopher Crompton: This is uh uh a breath of fresh air being on this side of the camera.
• 1:13
  Christopher Crompton: Oh my goodness.
• 1:13
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, I know, right?
• 1:14
  Christopher Crompton: It feels weird.
• 1:15
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, it feels really weird when we're used to like being on the other side, directing people, or you know, you know, just whatever.
• 1:22
  Vipul Bindra: We're not used to being on this side, so it's always just uh a little bit different.
• 1:26
  Vipul Bindra: But I think the the fun thing about this is we're just talking about what we talk about anyway.
• 1:32
  Vipul Bindra: Because we remember uh how we met.
• 1:35
  Vipul Bindra: What's the craziest thing is networking can be done in so many different ways.
• 1:39
  Vipul Bindra: And for us, it was to share grid of all places.
• 1:43
  Vipul Bindra: Uh and uh you wanted to rent some things, you had moved to Orlando, right?
• 1:48
  Christopher Crompton: I think I moved to Orlando in 20 end of 2021.
• 1:52
  Vipul Bindra: Okay, so you'd been here a couple years, you wanted to rent something, you came here, and then we instantly just connected and we were chatting for a while.
• 1:59
  Vipul Bindra: It's like this could be an incredible conversation for people just here.
• 2:03
  Christopher Crompton: Exactly.
• 2:03
  Christopher Crompton: And what was crazy is at the time that I met you was when I just started my video business, and I was even talking to you about like one of my first potential clients, which um has now become my main client, and they're amazing.
• 2:16
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but yeah, I've worked in different aspects of the video industry, um, either as a freelancer or full-time, but I've never actually gone out and done the business myself as the owner, and um, it's been a year now.
• 2:31
  Christopher Crompton: I celebrated my one-year anniversary in April, and um we're we're doing good.
• 2:37
  Christopher Crompton: It's been tough and challenging, and I'm a little bit stubborn in some things, particularly learning the business side of things, which you've given me a lot of great advice with.
• 2:48
  Christopher Crompton: There's still a lot that I have to learn.
• 2:50
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but honestly, trusting the process, trusting God, and just taking uh baby steps um is a lot to learn.
• 2:58
  Christopher Crompton: But I've learned a lot as well.
• 2:59
  Christopher Crompton: So it's been good.
• 2:59
  Vipul Bindra: No, that's what it's about.
• 3:00
  Vipul Bindra: You know, you finding your own journey.
• 3:02
  Vipul Bindra: A lot of people just uh I mean, it's okay to find people in your life that you're like, oh, I I like that, I like what they're doing, and you kind of can emulate that, but ultimately it's your journey, it's your path.
• 3:13
  Vipul Bindra: You know, you have to navigate it to get to where you want to go to, you know?
• 3:17
  Christopher Crompton: And that's hard because you see so many different kinds of people telling you how you should run your business, what kind of clients you should have, what kind of industry you should be in.
• 3:28
  Christopher Crompton: So it's tough you have all these different voices competing for telling you what you should do.
• 3:33
  Christopher Crompton: But at the end of the day, I feel like you have to find your own way and what works for you.
• 3:37
  Vipul Bindra: And actually, you say that is why I wanted people to listen from so many different people.
• 3:41
  Vipul Bindra: You know, I've had people who just do vetting videography, who only do photography, who only do um, you know, social media content.
• 3:48
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, there's no one single path to this, right?
• 3:51
  Vipul Bindra: Like you, and and we'll talk more about this, but there's a Hollywood path.
• 3:54
  Vipul Bindra: Like, there's yeah, there's so many different paths that you can try to go on.
• 3:58
  Vipul Bindra: But um the the the right thing to do is to listen to everyone, right?
• 4:02
  Vipul Bindra: And then do what resonates the most to me.
• 4:04
  Vipul Bindra: To me, leave the bones.
• 4:05
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, and and obviously there's there's could be negativity there.
• 4:08
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, or like as in uh you listen to all these people and then you're like nah.
• 4:13
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, and and I'm talking good people, people who know what they're doing.
• 4:16
  Vipul Bindra: But then the the other side of this is some people will go, nah, I'll just do what I want to do, and then they fail too.
• 4:22
  Vipul Bindra: So that's one you don't want to do that because uh it's okay to admit that you don't know everything.
• 4:27
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, uh I don't know everything.
• 4:29
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, it's okay to not do you something unique.
• 4:33
  Vipul Bindra: See, and that's where the the balance is why some people will fail and some people will succeed, and it's okay, it's life.
• 4:39
  Vipul Bindra: Because if you're trying to do something unique, something different, if none of the people have done it, you're right, they're not gonna understand.
• 4:46
  Vipul Bindra: You have to try your own path.
• 4:48
  Vipul Bindra: But there's a high likelihood you could what you think is unique may not actually be desired in the market or whatever, right?
• 4:54
  Vipul Bindra: Or it'd be something revolutionary and you make the best agency or video company in the world.
• 5:00
  Vipul Bindra: So there's there's there's there's the thing of A, either you can listen to people who followed a path, you know these path paths work, you can either combine them or follow the person that sounds the most like you that you want to do, or you can carve your own path, path from scratch.
• 5:16
  Vipul Bindra: Um, and there's a chance you could fail, but that's with anything in life, right?
• 5:20
  Vipul Bindra: You have to first try it to see how it goes, but you never know what you come back with.
• 5:24
  Vipul Bindra: It could be something incredible, right?
• 5:25
  Vipul Bindra: Right?
• 5:26
  Vipul Bindra: And uh what I love is the the power of networking in our um in our industry because like I said, I just met you and I was like, I saw the spark, I I got excited, you know, start talking about business, and then I was like, Oh, you gotta come to our networking event.
• 5:40
  Vipul Bindra: And you know, it was so awesome that you came.
• 5:42
  Vipul Bindra: And then I was like, There you go.
• 5:43
  Christopher Crompton: This is Yeah, which was incredible.
• 5:44
  Christopher Crompton: I met so every every single person there was so friendly.
• 5:49
  Christopher Crompton: I learned so much.
• 5:50
  Christopher Crompton: Uh I love that you guys had sessions where you actually talk about how you run your businesses and different ways that we can help ourselves as budding entrepreneurs.
• 6:00
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but I also have had the opportunity to work with a handful of the guys in there or just call people up and ask people for advice.
• 6:07
  Christopher Crompton: So thank you for that.
• 6:08
  Christopher Crompton: That's been incredibly helpful.
• 6:10
  Vipul Bindra: And like I said, the the least I could do is like as simple as come to this event, you know?
• 6:14
  Vipul Bindra: And and funny enough, you wouldn't be amazed how many some friends I have who have never been to one of these networks.
• 6:19
  Vipul Bindra: I invited them a couple times and I get it, schedule doesn't work, or whatever.
• 6:24
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but they don't have that network.
• 6:25
  Vipul Bindra: And then sometimes when the things get slow, they're like, Oh, I I want to come to one of the network.
• 6:30
  Vipul Bindra: I was like, I don't put these together.
• 6:32
  Vipul Bindra: I right I can't control when the next one is, I'll let you know when the next one is.
• 6:36
  Vipul Bindra: So, but there is huge power in that.
• 6:38
  Vipul Bindra: Like you said, it could be other people hiring you, or you hiring other people, or you just being able to call people up and ask for advice or just coffee or whatever.
• 6:48
  Vipul Bindra: Man, that it could mean anything, right?
• 6:50
  Christopher Crompton: And honestly, for me, where I was and where I still am at, it's just encouraging to be around other video business owners, other entrepreneurs who are actually doing it, you know, and actually seeing their success and like, oh, this thing is possible.
• 7:03
  Christopher Crompton: Um, because at the time, like I said, I was just starting out, and honestly, I was kind of like 50-50, like, I don't know if this thing's gonna work out.
• 7:10
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, I think at the time I might have actually been applying for full-time jobs, and I think just being in that environment and um seeing your guys' success and how passionate you are uh was encouragement to me to just like, no, I'm not gonna take these full-time jobs.
• 7:26
  Christopher Crompton: Like, what is that?
• 7:27
  Christopher Crompton: Uh, I want to live my life and have freedom and do what I love.
• 7:30
  Christopher Crompton: So, yeah, it really pushed me to just go for it and do it, and it's been going, it's been good so far.
• 7:36
  Christopher Crompton: Look at that.
• 7:37
  Christopher Crompton: Let's look at that.
• 7:37
  Vipul Bindra: Let's sort of rewind back a little bit.
• 7:39
  Vipul Bindra: I know you're one of the few people you went on the, like you said, Hollywood path.
• 7:43
  Vipul Bindra: Yes.
• 7:43
  Vipul Bindra: How did that go?
• 7:44
  Vipul Bindra: Tell people.
• 7:44
  Vipul Bindra: So you went to film school, the whole Hollywood thing.
• 7:48
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, talk about that.
• 7:49
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, I'm actually wearing um my my school here, Rochester Institute of Technology.
• 7:55
  Christopher Crompton: Uh, RIT was the film school that I went to.
• 7:57
  Christopher Crompton: It's called School of Film and Animation Sofa for short.
• 8:01
  Christopher Crompton: So wow, this is a uh fun full circle moment.
• 8:05
  Christopher Crompton: Here I am on a sofa talking about sofas.
• 8:07
  Christopher Crompton: Um I loved my film experience.
• 8:10
  Christopher Crompton: That's the exact reason I got a sofa.
• 8:12
  Christopher Crompton: Just for this moment.
• 8:14
  Christopher Crompton: I know it.
• 8:15
  Christopher Crompton: Um, I loved my film school experience.
• 8:17
  Christopher Crompton: And I know a lot of people um can kind of hate on film schools, and some are better than others.
• 8:23
  Christopher Crompton: And it kind of depends too of like what you're actually looking to do with your career and with your life.
• 8:28
  Christopher Crompton: But I think what film school taught me is the power of storytelling and how to tell great stories.
• 8:36
  Christopher Crompton: Of course, they taught us a lot about production as well, which is like all vital information that you need to know, but not necessarily something that you can't learn being an intern for Bendra Productions, you know.
• 8:47
  Christopher Crompton: Exactly.
• 8:48
  Vipul Bindra: Um so what was your motivation?
• 8:50
  Vipul Bindra: What did you actually want to do?
• 8:51
  Vipul Bindra: I wanted to be a Hollywood film director.
• 8:53
  Vipul Bindra: There you go.
• 8:54
  Vipul Bindra: Okay.
• 8:54
  Vipul Bindra: Yes.
• 8:54
  Vipul Bindra: All right.
• 8:55
  Vipul Bindra: So now we know what the vision is.
• 8:56
  Christopher Crompton: Yes.
• 8:57
  Christopher Crompton: And uh they and that's what they encourage the students to do.
• 9:01
  Christopher Crompton: They have other tracks as well that you can go on, but essentially their director track, you do everything, and then you make your thesis short film at the end of your four years there.
• 9:11
  Christopher Crompton: Things might have changed since.
• 9:13
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but they had great professors from the industry, but of course, everything encouraged you to actually go out and do the Hollywood thing.
• 9:21
  Christopher Crompton: There was there was a little talk of like, you know, owning your own business, uh, because there was one of the professors, the cinematography professor, he had his own video business, but most of it encouraged you to move out to where is this um school?
• 9:33
  Christopher Crompton: In Rochester, New York, upstate New York.
• 9:35
  Vipul Bindra: Okay, look at that.
• 9:36
  Vipul Bindra: So you were in New York.
• 9:37
  Vipul Bindra: So did you move to LA?
• 9:39
  Christopher Crompton: Yes.
• 9:39
  Christopher Crompton: Immediately after I graduated, I moved to LA because of course everybody's chasing the dream.
• 9:44
  Christopher Crompton: I actually moved out with uh friends who graduated with me.
• 9:47
  Vipul Bindra: Look at that.
• 9:48
  Vipul Bindra: So you bunch a group, and that's the power to me of school, right?
• 9:51
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, the networking again, you you meet other people who want to do similar things.
• 9:55
  Vipul Bindra: So you bank.
• 9:56
  Christopher Crompton: I currently work with none of those people, but you never know.
• 9:59
  Vipul Bindra: You never know where who one of them may end up and call you.
• 10:02
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, so but you bunch together and you essentially went to LA, right?
• 10:06
  Christopher Crompton: Yes, we moved to LA, and um I kind of hated my entire experience.
• 10:14
  Christopher Crompton: Um LA can be yeah, very, very strong.
• 10:17
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:18
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, that hate hate is also a strong word.
• 10:20
  Christopher Crompton: There were great parts of it.
• 10:22
  Christopher Crompton: I learned a lot, uh, but in the end, it wasn't for me.
• 10:25
  Christopher Crompton: I think the biggest reason for that is I just wasn't a fan of the culture because um it is a lot of what you hear.
• 10:32
  Christopher Crompton: There is like a lot of fake policy.
• 10:34
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, two-faced, and everybody's trying to just get to the next thing and step over each other, uh, which is a huge difference that I've found here in Orlando and working with other video business owners.
• 10:45
  Christopher Crompton: Like it's very much like, hey, I I want you to succeed, I know you want me to succeed.
• 10:50
  Christopher Crompton: Like, how can we help each other out?
• 10:52
  Christopher Crompton: Um, that's harder to find.
• 10:53
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah.
• 10:54
  Vipul Bindra: But I think even in LA you can find that, but out not in the film side.
• 10:58
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 10:58
  Vipul Bindra: If you go core, I've met amazing corporate video people in you know, California in general, but LA too.
• 11:06
  Vipul Bindra: The the reason being is you know, our market is very different than the the film market.
• 11:10
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 11:11
  Vipul Bindra: Film, there's only certain roles, right?
• 11:13
  Vipul Bindra: So you have to you want to be on some movie, if you don't know the right people, then you're not getting on the movie.
• 11:18
  Vipul Bindra: So you'll do anything to get to know these people or be on the sets.
• 11:22
  Christopher Crompton: And that would lead to just like a lot of just negative energy and fake attitudes and personas, and everybody's just looking to get famous, yeah, one way or another.
• 11:32
  Christopher Crompton: And sure, there's like um there's a way that you can do it professionally and work professionally in the in the industry, but that takes a lot of time and climbing up these ladders and me being the stubborn 22, 23 year old that I was, I was like, I don't want to do that.
• 11:48
  Christopher Crompton: I don't want to PA for X amount of years just to be able to maybe eventually be a second AD and then eventually do this, and then maybe one day someone will give me the budget to actually go and make an indie movie, maybe.
• 12:04
  Vipul Bindra: But then the stud have you seen the show studio?
• 12:06
  Vipul Bindra: But then they'll come and tell you, you know, you gotta make a Kool-Aid movie.
• 12:10
  Vipul Bindra: That's the only way that you get budgeted.
• 12:12
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 12:14
  Christopher Crompton: Every way that I thought or around it, I was like, I feel like this just isn't it.
• 12:18
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah.
• 12:19
  Vipul Bindra: I love that show, by the way.
• 12:20
  Vipul Bindra: If you haven't had a chance, watch it.
• 12:21
  Vipul Bindra: I think it's on Apple TV.
• 12:22
  Vipul Bindra: What is it?
• 12:23
  Vipul Bindra: It's called the Studio.
• 12:24
  Mario Rangel: Okay.
• 12:24
  Vipul Bindra: Um, it's it's really have you had a chance to watch it, Mario?
• 12:27
  Mario Rangel: Yeah, with uh what's the guy's name?
• 12:30
  Mario Rangel: The other guy.
• 12:32
  Vipul Bindra: Uh Seth Rogan.
• 12:32
  Mario Rangel: Seth Rogan.
• 12:33
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 12:33
  Vipul Bindra: Oh shoot.
• 12:34
  Vipul Bindra: It's so good.
• 12:34
  Vipul Bindra: You gotta watch it, man.
• 12:35
  Vipul Bindra: I guess if somebody who's into film, it's incredibly funny.
• 12:40
  Christopher Crompton: It's kind of like an inside look in the industry.
• 12:42
  Vipul Bindra: But but it's like kind of funny, but it's like kind of real.
• 12:44
  Vipul Bindra: What makes it crazy is what's happening.
• 12:46
  Vipul Bindra: You'd like, I guess if you're not in Phil, you'd be like, this is so crazy.
• 12:50
  Vipul Bindra: But that's like legit real.
• 12:52
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 12:52
  Vipul Bindra: But it's just hilarious because that is exactly how Hollywood works.
• 12:56
  Vipul Bindra: Yep.
• 12:56
  Vipul Bindra: Uh so uh anyway, like one of the my favorite scenes in the show is like where they have a movie, they're making Kool-Aid movie.
• 13:04
  Vipul Bindra: Again, stupid.
• 13:05
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but then they have a cast that's incredible, but then they go, Oh, this doesn't look racially diverse enough.
• 13:11
  Vipul Bindra: So they spend a whole episode trying to put new actors in there, then it becomes actually racist because you know they uh because they've changed characters anyway.
• 13:21
  Vipul Bindra: It was funny, but I was like, this is exactly how it works.
• 13:23
  Vipul Bindra: Uh uh from the stories I've heard from people.
• 13:25
  Christopher Crompton: Especially now, everything's so run by the studios and the producers, there's not really a lot of original storytelling happening right now.
• 13:32
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, I believe that's gonna change and probably sooner than later.
• 13:36
  Christopher Crompton: Um, just because I think people are getting tired of all the same stuff that we see all the time.
• 13:41
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, Hollywood is clearly declining, that's just uh what it is right now.
• 13:45
  Vipul Bindra: Can it bounce back?
• 13:47
  Vipul Bindra: Absolutely, because people do love movies.
• 13:49
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, regular people love watching movies and seeing great stories.
• 13:53
  Vipul Bindra: It's just currently what they're being told to the it's it's unrelatable, essentially, right?
• 13:59
  Vipul Bindra: Uh so hopefully, hopefully, uh because I love movies, I love the whole experience, obviously.
• 14:05
  Vipul Bindra: You know, that's what kind of started the love.
• 14:07
  Vipul Bindra: So I would love for this.
• 14:08
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, that goosebump feeling that you get.
• 14:10
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, and then to be able to produce something that makes other people feel that way.
• 14:14
  Christopher Crompton: Exactly.
• 14:14
  Christopher Crompton: There's nothing like it.
• 14:15
  Vipul Bindra: But not a lot of movies can do that, but when you do, and my favorite thing is when you go to movie theater and everyone just erupts in laughter or uh you know, applause or whatever, which is natural, you know what I mean?
• 14:26
  Vipul Bindra: Like it's it's another thing to to enjoy that with hundreds of other people, I'm saying, than and then you know, just sitting at your home and watching TV.
• 14:34
  Vipul Bindra: Do I like that at home?
• 14:36
  Vipul Bindra: Absolutely, watching a TV show or whatever.
• 14:38
  Vipul Bindra: Like I said, but that's not the experience of movies.
• 14:41
  Vipul Bindra: And currently people don't want to do that.
• 14:43
  Vipul Bindra: There, I don't think they have they're making movies that make people want to go out and watch it.
• 14:47
  Christopher Crompton: No, they're not, unless you're a Marvel Super fan.
• 14:49
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, but even then they're not making good movies.
• 14:51
  Vipul Bindra: Because I remember watching to going to uh the Spider-Man, I think, four uh or No Way Home, I think is the one.
• 14:57
  Vipul Bindra: Latest the three.
• 14:59
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:59
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, whichever one the latest one was going to that, and then actually the theater was full.
• 15:04
  Vipul Bindra: And there were moments in there that people enjoyed them, and the movies after them haven't had that, you know.
• 15:09
  Vipul Bindra: Like I've even not wanted to go.
• 15:11
  Vipul Bindra: Uh I kind of want to see the uh the Fantastic Four movie, but I'm saying outside that I haven't seen that many even superhero movies where you're like, you want to go to the theater because they're not making them at that level anymore.
• 15:23
  Vipul Bindra: I think it was just the end game and think Spider-Man, the last one, the two that I would say where you you if you were a fan, you wanted to go to the theater.
• 15:31
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 15:32
  Vipul Bindra: Because outside them, you're like, okay, I'll just watch it when it comes on uh on Disney Plus or whatever, right?
• 15:37
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 15:37
  Christopher Crompton: I have a feeling they were like, hey, this is successful, let's figure out how to do it and do it quick.
• 15:42
  Christopher Crompton: And then keep doing it.
• 15:43
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, keep doing it, and probably somewhere along the lines, it stopped being passionate and just about you know the profit, and that's when things decline.
• 15:53
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 15:53
  Vipul Bindra: And maybe they can bounce back, but if not, you know, there'll always be something or uh right.
• 15:57
  Vipul Bindra: Um, so but yeah, so uh do you have any funny stories or something crazy where you were like, I gotta get out of here?
• 16:04
  Christopher Crompton: Um not necessarily like working in the production side of the industry, but actually I have a funny story of interning for a producer, a very, very well-known producer in the film industry.
• 16:18
  Christopher Crompton: Um, she actually was a producer on Interstellar.
• 16:22
  Christopher Crompton: Oh, look at that, and a couple of other uh Matthew McConaughey movies.
• 16:26
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and so I was interning in her office.
• 16:29
  Christopher Crompton: Um, I felt very out of place.
• 16:31
  Christopher Crompton: Um, I don't know why, but I just I felt like because I don't get the LA vibes from you.
• 16:38
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, but yeah, yeah, so I get it.
• 16:40
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, so you probably yeah, yeah, and um, yeah, I'm just not fitting in with the culture.
• 16:45
  Christopher Crompton: Um, she tried to talk to me a few times and she was just like, like, who are you who even are you?
• 16:50
  Christopher Crompton: And what do you want to do?
• 16:51
  Christopher Crompton: And why why are you even in my office?
• 16:53
  Christopher Crompton: It was very much that attitude.
• 16:56
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and so the whole time that I was there, we were more so like her extended personal assistance.
• 17:03
  Christopher Crompton: Um, we would do some like office work and like some script reading and whatnot.
• 17:08
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but this whole time we were trying to coordinate this mirror that she had bought.
• 17:12
  Christopher Crompton: And of course, she owns this beautiful house in the hills.
• 17:15
  Christopher Crompton: And every single week there was an update on the mirror.
• 17:20
  Christopher Crompton: It either got lost in shipping or something happened and we had to troubleshoot it and figure it out.
• 17:26
  Christopher Crompton: So the mirror finally arrives.
• 17:28
  Christopher Crompton: This is towards the end of my internship after like two months, and they tell me to go meet the delivery people at her home and to put it in her house.
• 17:41
  Christopher Crompton: And so I'm like, okay.
• 17:43
  Christopher Crompton: So I drive up to her house in the hills and they deliver it, they set it down, and I think they put it like in the front hallway.
• 17:51
  Christopher Crompton: And so her actual personal assistant calls me up and says, Hey, can you put it up in her bedroom where it's eventually gonna go?
• 18:00
  Christopher Crompton: I'm like, Yeah, sure.
• 18:01
  Christopher Crompton: Um, so it's covered with a blanket.
• 18:03
  Christopher Crompton: I go and put my hands on the top of it, you know, it's covered in a blanket.
• 18:08
  Christopher Crompton: I pull it up, all I hear is crack.
• 18:11
  Christopher Crompton: Oh and this is something I don't know how much money she spent on it, but it must be a lot.
• 18:18
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, because if you're tracking it week over week, it seems like yeah, and coordinating this thing over two months.
• 18:24
  Christopher Crompton: And so at that point, I literally thought my life was over.
• 18:28
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 18:28
  Vipul Bindra: Um, so it wasn't your fault though.
• 18:30
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, all you did was try to do what they told you, which is to move it.
• 18:33
  Vipul Bindra: It seems it was fragile.
• 18:35
  Vipul Bindra: Did it have a big fragile written on it?
• 18:37
  Christopher Crompton: Being uh 21, 22 year old in Hollywood.
• 18:41
  Christopher Crompton: This is what I feel like is my big break with a big time Hollywood producer.
• 18:46
  Christopher Crompton: I thought my life was over.
• 18:47
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, and the blacklist is a real thing.
• 18:49
  Christopher Crompton: I'm like, she's gonna blacklist me.
• 18:51
  Christopher Crompton: I'm I'm never gonna be able to work in this industry, like I'm never gonna be able to like keep living here in LA.
• 18:57
  Christopher Crompton: Uh it's just not gonna happen.
• 18:59
  Christopher Crompton: And so, literally in that moment, time stopped, and I was like, my life is over.
• 19:03
  Christopher Crompton: Like, I have to give up on all of my dreams.
• 19:05
  Christopher Crompton: Or what do you think about super glue?
• 19:08
  Christopher Crompton: Right.
• 19:09
  Christopher Crompton: I can't remember what we actually did.
• 19:11
  Christopher Crompton: I think we might have done that later.
• 19:13
  Christopher Crompton: Um, so anyway, her um there was a maid that was there and she was kind of helping me, and she kind of saw it, but she just pretended like nothing happened.
• 19:24
  Mario Rangel: Yeah.
• 19:24
  Christopher Crompton: And so I just put it where it needed to be, and I start driving home.
• 19:28
  Christopher Crompton: I actually call my mom first.
• 19:29
  Christopher Crompton: I'm pretty sure like I'm I'm crying on the phone to my mom.
• 19:32
  Christopher Crompton: I just broke this big time Holly producer's mirror that she has been trying to coordinate for the last two months.
• 19:39
  Christopher Crompton: She already doesn't like me.
• 19:40
  Christopher Crompton: I'm gonna be blast blacklisted and never gonna work in this industry again.
• 19:44
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and so then I call up the personal assistant and you know, I tell her the truth.
• 19:49
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, and she was like, All right, um, go back and just like see what you can do to make it look like you know it's not broken.
• 19:58
  Christopher Crompton: So I think I did, like, I kind of like put it back together and just kind of left it there.
• 20:03
  Christopher Crompton: And I think we did eventually send somebody to like super glue it back together, and uh they hung it up without her, the producer ever being there.
• 20:12
  Christopher Crompton: And I don't think she ever found out.
• 20:14
  Christopher Crompton: Uh yeah, I broke her possibly a hundred thousand dollar mirror.
• 20:20
  Vipul Bindra: To me, what's crazy is that you can break a mirror that easy where all you try to do is lift it and you know, well, you know what?
• 20:27
  Christopher Crompton: I honestly think that she got scammed with buying this mirror.
• 20:31
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 20:31
  Christopher Crompton: Um, because it was like, I don't know what you call it, but it was kind of like a fiberglassy, almost like foamy material.
• 20:38
  Christopher Crompton: It wasn't foam, but it was something that was like this is not wood, it was something that was made to look like wood.
• 20:44
  Christopher Crompton: So I think she got scammed on what she was buying, and it was actually a cheap product, but she doesn't know.
• 20:50
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, like I say, if it broke that easy, it has to be so unless it's some fancy, you know, again, designer stuff, you never know.
• 20:56
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, they'll they'll sell the toilet paper roll for a little bit.
• 20:59
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, who knows?
• 21:00
  Vipul Bindra: But this mirror was the topic of discussion for those two months that that's so crazy.
• 21:04
  Vipul Bindra: What I find, and this is why I'm like, uh, you have to intern with the right people because sure, you know, you were interning with this amazing producer and you know, like trying to get you know get your Hollywood track going.
• 21:17
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 21:17
  Vipul Bindra: But then I'm like, you're coordinating her mirror.
• 21:20
  Vipul Bindra: How's that relevant to Hollywood?
• 21:22
  Vipul Bindra: No, right?
• 21:23
  Vipul Bindra: It wasn't.
• 21:23
  Vipul Bindra: And and that's what I'm saying.
• 21:24
  Vipul Bindra: A lot of people take advantage of people who are interned.
• 21:27
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, nobody that I interned with, there were at least four other interns.
• 21:32
  Christopher Crompton: I don't think any of them are working in the film industry.
• 21:37
  Vipul Bindra: See, that's the yeah.
• 21:38
  Vipul Bindra: So it's crazy to me, because yeah, what I assume is like if you intern somewhere, you then you're gonna learn.
• 21:43
  Vipul Bindra: Sure, I get it, like you know, you may be doing menial tasks, but at the end of the day, you're still learning the next step.
• 21:49
  Vipul Bindra: You know, um coordinating a mirror to me is not the next step to anything Hollywood.
• 21:54
  Vipul Bindra: But anyway, but that's the life there.
• 21:56
  Vipul Bindra: The the thing is uh, you know, I I realized very quickly.
• 21:59
  Vipul Bindra: That I was like, eh, I'm not gonna do any of the film industry route because A, I enjoy TV more, I enjoyed, you know, but I was like, also, I don't want to do this whole political thing.
• 22:10
  Vipul Bindra: What I hate is like being fake.
• 22:12
  Vipul Bindra: Yes.
• 22:12
  Vipul Bindra: That's just not my thing.
• 22:13
  Vipul Bindra: And that's just what you have to do.
• 22:15
  Vipul Bindra: And it's okay if that's what you want to do.
• 22:17
  Vipul Bindra: Look, there is making movies is awesome.
• 22:20
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 22:21
  Vipul Bindra: I don't I don't want to say making movies is not awesome.
• 22:24
  Vipul Bindra: It's just there's a lot that goes to get on those sets and make those movies, and that is the part I don't like.
• 22:30
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 22:30
  Vipul Bindra: But if somebody's listening and that's all they want to do, then they should do it.
• 22:35
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 22:35
  Vipul Bindra: I don't I don't think I want anyone to discourage anyone to not make movies, obviously.
• 22:41
  Vipul Bindra: But it is not an easy path.
• 22:43
  Vipul Bindra: And like I said, making movies is the easy part.
• 22:46
  Vipul Bindra: Getting to make the movies is the hard part.
• 22:48
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, getting the budgets.
• 22:49
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 22:50
  Vipul Bindra: Or or even just being on the sets.
• 22:52
  Vipul Bindra: Like you said, it just takes a lot to get on a set of a movie that you really want to be, or with the producer, director, whatever that you want to be.
• 22:59
  Vipul Bindra: And uh, like you say, you even just being on PA on these can take apparently years to, you know, I never actually know the right people.
• 23:08
  Christopher Crompton: I never actually made it to an actual film set, but I did make it to uh pre-production um rehearsals for um the movie with I can't believe I forget her name.
• 23:23
  Christopher Crompton: Um it was one of Protozoa Pictures.
• 23:26
  Christopher Crompton: This is terrible.
• 23:27
  Christopher Crompton: Mother! That movie Mother with her.
• 23:29
  Christopher Crompton: Oh, yeah, uh Jennifer Lawrence.
• 23:31
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, Jennifer Lawrence.
• 23:32
  Vipul Bindra: That movie was interesting too.
• 23:33
  Vipul Bindra: I was just like, what?
• 23:34
  Vipul Bindra: I actually never saw it.
• 23:36
  Vipul Bindra: Oh, yeah.
• 23:36
  Vipul Bindra: I never saw it.
• 23:37
  Vipul Bindra: See, I like movies and art, like you know, Christopher Noel Interstellar, beautiful.
• 23:44
  Vipul Bindra: Wow, you know, mother, I was like, what?
• 23:46
  Vipul Bindra: I don't know.
• 23:47
  Vipul Bindra: I I'm not a fan.
• 23:47
  Vipul Bindra: I'm sure somebody is watching is like, what are you talking about?
• 23:50
  Vipul Bindra: It's the best movie ever.
• 23:51
  Vipul Bindra: And that's the thing about it.
• 23:52
  Christopher Crompton: But Mario liked it?
• 23:53
  Christopher Crompton: You liked it?
• 23:57
  Mario Rangel: I don't know if I like it or not.
• 23:58
  Mario Rangel: Okay, for me, it was uh interesting thing to watch.
• 24:02
  Mario Rangel: I I don't know if I'll watch it again.
• 24:04
  Mario Rangel: But yeah, it's a crazy, crazy movie.
• 24:07
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:08
  Christopher Crompton: So I think the reason I didn't actually watch the movies that I was sort of involved with is sort of because I was like traumatized by these experiences.
• 24:16
  Christopher Crompton: I totally get you working in these uh offices as an intern.
• 24:20
  Christopher Crompton: And I think the reason why I went that route instead of trying to get immediately on set production is at the time I wasn't really a fan of production.
• 24:28
  Christopher Crompton: Like uh I wanted to make movies, and I was told the way to do that is either get on a producer's good side or a director's good side, or you have to go out and make the movie yourself.
• 24:38
  Christopher Crompton: And honestly, if now this is like eight years later, I think if you want to be a good Hollywood director, if you want to be a good Hollywood producer, you have to go out and make the movie yourself with however you can do it.
• 24:52
  Christopher Crompton: You can't rely on other people to do that.
• 24:54
  Vipul Bindra: No, that's my yeah, entire point.
• 24:56
  Vipul Bindra: If you want to make movies, go make movies, you know.
• 24:58
  Vipul Bindra: Grab all your friends from school and just just figure it out.
• 25:02
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 25:03
  Vipul Bindra: And yes, will your first movie be the greatest movie ever?
• 25:06
  Vipul Bindra: No.
• 25:07
  Vipul Bindra: But but you know, you can make incredible things together, and that's I think way m easier to get noticed.
• 25:13
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, because like I said, at the end, what are you looking for, right?
• 25:16
  Vipul Bindra: It's a director, you're looking for a budget, you're looking to make something incredible, a good script if you don't have it.
• 25:22
  Vipul Bindra: Are we gonna make a movie?
• 25:23
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, I'm making a movie.
• 25:25
  Vipul Bindra: You know about a movie?
• 25:26
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:26
  Vipul Bindra: You're making a movie, right?
• 25:28
  Vipul Bindra: Mario's writing it, or he's already written.
• 25:30
  Vipul Bindra: Okay.
• 25:30
  Vipul Bindra: I don't know.
• 25:32
  Mario Rangel: We have to get back to it, but yeah, we're we're doing it.
• 25:34
  Mario Rangel: We're doing it.
• 25:34
  Mario Rangel: Okay.
• 25:35
  Vipul Bindra: I've realized, see, this is what I'm saying.
• 25:36
  Vipul Bindra: I've realized making a movie from scratch takes a really long time.
• 25:40
  Vipul Bindra: So that's what kind of I've uh uh what do you call it was a reality check for me because I was like, you know, here's the thing it's not like I don't like making movies.
• 25:51
  Vipul Bindra: I've been DP on many movies, I've I've helped make a lot of movies, but that's just not my passion.
• 25:55
  Vipul Bindra: My sh my passion to make commercials or cobra videos or whatever, right?
• 25:59
  Vipul Bindra: Or or even TV.
• 26:00
  Vipul Bindra: I'd like that more to make, not that I don't enjoy movies.
• 26:03
  Vipul Bindra: So anyway, but I was like, if I'm gonna make a movie, it's gonna be like my style.
• 26:06
  Vipul Bindra: So I came up with this uh really cool movie in my head, or at least to me it's cool, right?
• 26:11
  Vipul Bindra: Anyway, and I was like, now, but I'm not a writer, I don't want to write it.
• 26:14
  Vipul Bindra: So that's where you know Mario and I got connected initially, and I was like, uh, because I DP'd on a movie he was an 80 on, and I was like talking to him about I was like, Oh, I'm a I can write, and and then so I basically one day we met and I just blurted it out to him like what was in my head, and I was like, that's what I want to do.
• 26:30
  Vipul Bindra: And then he wrote it.
• 26:32
  Vipul Bindra: How about that?
• 26:33
  Mario Rangel: Remember, we needed somebody.
• 26:34
  Mario Rangel: Yeah, I have somebody too.
• 26:36
  Mario Rangel: I have a to check the script.
• 26:38
  Vipul Bindra: Really?
• 26:38
  Vipul Bindra: Uh-huh.
• 26:39
  Vipul Bindra: I gotta tell you about her, yeah.
• 26:41
  Vipul Bindra: Awesome.
• 26:42
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 26:42
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, see, so we already have a talk after this.
• 26:46
  Vipul Bindra: Yes, exactly.
• 26:47
  Mario Rangel: You can get a ball writer, Christopher.
• 26:49
  Christopher Crompton: I can write.
• 26:49
  Christopher Crompton: You can write.
• 26:50
  Christopher Crompton: So basically, the the stage we're at I write my client scripts.
• 26:54
  Christopher Crompton: Look at that.
• 26:54
  Christopher Crompton: I mean, and they love movie.
• 26:56
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, so a little help from AI, but just a little.
• 26:59
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
• 27:00
  Vipul Bindra: We should just throw in chat and be like, make it Hollywood.
• 27:02
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 27:03
  Vipul Bindra: My entire point was so I was like, if I'm gonna make a movie, right?
• 27:07
  Vipul Bindra: Obviously, it's gonna be an indie movie.
• 27:08
  Vipul Bindra: There's no budget behind it, but I'm gonna make it the best looking movie.
• 27:11
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, because a lot of indie movies you can immediately look and be like, indie movie, right?
• 27:15
  Vipul Bindra: It's very obvious.
• 27:16
  Vipul Bindra: It's because the resources were very limited, they're using cheaper cameras, cheaper audio, cheaper.
• 27:21
  Vipul Bindra: But right now, everybody loves that.
• 27:22
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 27:22
  Vipul Bindra: The look.
• 27:23
  Vipul Bindra: But but see, here's the opposite thing.
• 27:24
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, I have the equipment, yeah, so I'm gonna make it look like the best looking indie movie ever.
• 27:30
  Vipul Bindra: I don't uh but now I uh you know I want to make sure that the script that we're writing is good.
• 27:35
  Vipul Bindra: Because you know, that's why people would watch the storytelling, not because and that's what they say in film school is like if your script sucks, yeah, your movie sucks.
• 27:43
  Christopher Crompton: Exactly.
• 27:43
  Christopher Crompton: So that's it.
• 27:44
  Christopher Crompton: It's a great script, no matter how bad it looks, people are still gonna enjoy it.
• 27:49
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 27:50
  Vipul Bindra: So what we're we want to do is kind of now refine the dialogue, make the script tight.
• 27:55
  Vipul Bindra: You know, it'd be if I'm gonna make a movie, let's say Netflix ready is the word, let's say that I want to have the script be Netflix ready, and that's not there yet.
• 28:04
  Vipul Bindra: Um but yes, we are making a movie, we will, and I would absolutely call you.
• 28:09
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, it's gonna be a really fun movie.
• 28:11
  Vipul Bindra: I think the story's incredible.
• 28:12
  Vipul Bindra: Uh we've talked about if anyone wants to know more, watch Mario's episode from last season.
• 28:17
  Vipul Bindra: Uh we go into detail about the movie.
• 28:20
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but yeah, no, very excited about it.
• 28:22
  Vipul Bindra: But like I said, not typically a movie director, but can I make a movie?
• 28:25
  Vipul Bindra: Yes, and are we going to?
• 28:26
  Vipul Bindra: Yes.
• 28:27
  Vipul Bindra: The only thing I don't like is how slow the timeline's moving.
• 28:30
  Vipul Bindra: But like I said, it's outside my control.
• 28:32
  Vipul Bindra: I can direct and DP it very fast.
• 28:34
  Vipul Bindra: I need I need to have a script that's you know, like there.
• 28:38
  Vipul Bindra: And I currently am like, this is good.
• 28:40
  Vipul Bindra: This is not good enough to, you know, yeah.
• 28:43
  Vipul Bindra: We'll get it there.
• 28:44
  Vipul Bindra: That's the process.
• 28:45
  Vipul Bindra: It takes a long time.
• 28:46
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 28:46
  Vipul Bindra: And that's the that's the process, right?
• 28:48
  Vipul Bindra: You're like you said.
• 28:49
  Vipul Bindra: So anyway, but yes, I will eventually make a movie, but I don't mind sometimes, you know, again, that's not my number one thing I do, but I don't mind sometimes deeping out people's movie or uh, you know, helping them any way I can.
• 29:00
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, because it's not like I don't have a passion for filmmaking, it's just I have a passion more for other stuff, so I tend to do that more.
• 29:07
  Vipul Bindra: Um, but anyway, but that's good uh to know you about your Hollywood adventure.
• 29:11
  Vipul Bindra: So you packed your bags.
• 29:13
  Vipul Bindra: How'd you make so Rochester to LA?
• 29:15
  Vipul Bindra: How did you end up in Orlando?
• 29:17
  Christopher Crompton: So I I didn't give up on the dream uh quite so soon.
• 29:21
  Christopher Crompton: Um, you know, obviously I needed to make money, but um honestly what was preventing me from just like getting PA jobs on film shoots was I knew nothing about coffee, which is crazy because now I love coffee, I know everything about coffee, but at the time I didn't drink it, I knew nothing about it, and I just someone had told me like if you PA, you have to know how to make coffee, and I didn't, so I just I didn't go for PA jobs, I just didn't do it.
• 29:48
  Vipul Bindra: I can't be a PA, I don't know how to make coffee, yeah right.
• 29:50
  Christopher Crompton: But the one thing that I knew was my way around Premiere Pro, and so I just started applying for like random editing jobs.
• 29:58
  Christopher Crompton: I eventually got one as a freelancer, like basically a permalancer for uh what is yeah, they're still around.
• 30:06
  Christopher Crompton: Uh LiveMe.
• 30:07
  Christopher Crompton: Have you ever heard of Live Me?
• 30:08
  Christopher Crompton: So before TikTok live, there was live me, and all this live, like uh social live stuff that all started in China.
• 30:17
  Christopher Crompton: Um, funny enough, this is insider information.
• 30:20
  Christopher Crompton: Um the reason all that started and why going live became popular on social platforms, uh, or even just in general, is because over in Asian countries, it's a lot less common for men and women to interact on a daily basis.
• 30:38
  Christopher Crompton: Okay.
• 30:38
  Christopher Crompton: So these uh women started to stream and they would just get tons of men coming in.
• 30:45
  Christopher Crompton: And this is it's not even sexual.
• 30:46
  Christopher Crompton: I mean, maybe some of it is, but most of it is like purely platonic.
• 30:51
  Christopher Crompton: But just because there isn't that normal interaction, um, this uh industry just like blew up.
• 30:58
  Vipul Bindra: That's crazy to think about.
• 30:59
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, and so that's how it kind of caught on over here.
• 31:02
  Christopher Crompton: These Chinese companies started bringing over their their tech and their platforms over here.
• 31:07
  Christopher Crompton: And so I was honestly, uh, they weren't a startup because in China, like they had already been doing great things, um, but they were kind of like a startup in the US.
• 31:17
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and it was it was going well for them.
• 31:20
  Christopher Crompton: And you know, of course, I was just editing their social media content, maybe a couple ads here and there, um, really just getting my editing chops down.
• 31:29
  Christopher Crompton: Um where was it gonna go with that?
• 31:32
  Christopher Crompton: Oh, uh, but what's funny is uh, you know, I don't know how it all worked behind the scenes, but obviously TikTok caught on to LiveMe's success and they kind of perfected it, and you know, now they're the leaders in it.
• 31:45
  Christopher Crompton: I don't think live me really has much okay.
• 31:48
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, no, I didn't know about live me, but even TikTok came out of nowhere, you know.
• 31:51
  Vipul Bindra: It was kind of like you couldn't ignore it, it was just like everywhere when it became popular.
• 31:56
  Vipul Bindra: So I was like, okay, I can't ignore this anymore.
• 31:59
  Vipul Bindra: So I probably just ignored if I even heard about Live Me.
• 32:02
  Vipul Bindra: Because I feel like initially, and this is uh obviously people know about it.
• 32:05
  Vipul Bindra: I've changed my stance.
• 32:06
  Vipul Bindra: Initially, I was just like one of those filmmakers that was like, Nope, you turn your phone, you know, uh, you know, landscape.
• 32:13
  Vipul Bindra: Like, we're not watching vertical content over here, you know what it what blasphemy is.
• 32:17
  Vipul Bindra: I've come around, yeah.
• 32:19
  Vipul Bindra: But now I'm like, you know, after years, you know, uh I was just like, Yeah, this ain't going back.
• 32:24
  Vipul Bindra: You know, after TikTok became popular, I was like, nope.
• 32:26
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, it's it's the way it's here to stay is vertical video is a thing.
• 32:30
  Vipul Bindra: And as a filmmaker, you know, uh part of what we have to do is evolve.
• 32:34
  Vipul Bindra: And so I felt like I had to evolve and just accept that, you know, this is a thing.
• 32:39
  Vipul Bindra: Clients are paying us money to make this thing, so we better make it amazing, right?
• 32:44
  Vipul Bindra: Instead of me fighting, like, no, we gotta make landscape.
• 32:47
  Vipul Bindra: You know, people can turn their phones, it's just people don't want to turn their phone.
• 32:50
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, they will if they're watching long-form YouTube or Netflix or something like that.
• 32:54
  Vipul Bindra: It's so crazy to me how human brains work.
• 32:56
  Vipul Bindra: You're like watching Netflix, you automatically put put your phone to side.
• 33:00
  Vipul Bindra: You open TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, uh not YouTube, well, YouTube charts, but Instagram, you are not turning your phone uh you know aside.
• 33:09
  Vipul Bindra: And I don't get it.
• 33:10
  Christopher Crompton: I think because people relate horizontal to long long form content, so like I don't want something long, I just want my quick fix and be done.
• 33:19
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, you want the addiction, right?
• 33:20
  Vipul Bindra: Of uh the swipe.
• 33:22
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, exactly.
• 33:23
  Vipul Bindra: I wonder how many people's thumbs are gonna need surgery in 10 years.
• 33:27
  Vipul Bindra: Oh, I I I have my own addictions now.
• 33:29
  Vipul Bindra: This is something we're working through.
• 33:30
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, oh my god.
• 33:32
  Christopher Crompton: Because I need to spend more time working on my business and not scrolling.
• 33:36
  Vipul Bindra: It's called, you know, it's it's actually design in the algorithm.
• 33:39
  Vipul Bindra: Every time you stop, it literally analyzes and and tries to next time make you not want to do that.
• 33:44
  Vipul Bindra: It's it's because that's where the money's at, right?
• 33:47
  Vipul Bindra: They just want you to consume and they'll do algorithmically.
• 33:51
  Vipul Bindra: I'm not saying there's and again, a lot of people see this and they go, There's some one person in Facebook going like keep watching Instagram reels.
• 33:57
  Vipul Bindra: It's not that, it's just the algorithm is designed and they keep tweaking it, obviously, to make it you know, you keep doom scrolling.
• 34:05
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, that's this is the the algorithm, and it's learning, it's designed to learn your pattern and your behavior and show you the content that you want to watch.
• 34:14
  Vipul Bindra: And a lot of things to me is crazy is these companies will say they're not listening to your microphones.
• 34:18
  Vipul Bindra: They clearly are.
• 34:20
  Vipul Bindra: How many times I've been on the dining table eating or whatever, and I'll say something like, Oh, we need to get this, and I literally open my phone, it's right there the exact thing.
• 34:29
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, so so the phones are listening to you at all times, even though a lot of these companies say they're not, you know, because clearly, when you know you clear did not search for something, you talked about it, you open your phone, and it's right there, right?
• 34:43
  Christopher Crompton: So and whatever the learning software in there is just so incredibly advanced because even uh I mean, sure, uh all the video business business owners out there, we get ads for that kind of stuff all the time.
• 34:54
  Vipul Bindra: It's like, yeah, and it's so cringy to watch a lot of it, yeah.
• 34:58
  Christopher Crompton: It is, and they're all telling me stuff that I don't want to hear, yeah, making me feel bad about myself.
• 35:03
  Christopher Crompton: Does your video business suck?
• 35:06
  Vipul Bindra: So coming back to yeah, Orlando.
• 35:08
  Vipul Bindra: So, how did you get to Orlando?
• 35:09
  Vipul Bindra: So you were uh editing Yes, okay.
• 35:12
  Christopher Crompton: So I was editing for this live streaming company, um, just doing my thing, hoping there would be a break at some point.
• 35:19
  Christopher Crompton: Um, some coworkers that I worked with there went off to a creative agency.
• 35:25
  Christopher Crompton: So that started.
• 35:26
  Christopher Crompton: So I had this whole maybe like three, four-year stint of working for creative agencies.
• 35:31
  Christopher Crompton: So they recommended me.
• 35:32
  Christopher Crompton: I got in with one of them out in LA.
• 35:35
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and even after I moved to Orlando, I was still working remotely for uh different advertising agencies.
• 35:42
  Christopher Crompton: There's a buff, a bunch of different ways you could call them marketing agencies, creative agencies, advertising agencies.
• 35:47
  Christopher Crompton: Um, all of them do different things, have different kinds of clients, work in different aspects of the industry, but ultimately they provide creative and marketing and advertising for their clients.
• 35:58
  Christopher Crompton: And usually they're they're big-time clients, like you know, Netflix, uh Disney, Nike, you know, whatever it would be, these big corporations.
• 36:07
  Christopher Crompton: Um, they're taking all the big business from us.
• 36:10
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, I I like to partner with them.
• 36:12
  Vipul Bindra: See, I think that's where the the other side, a lot of people could say, you know, oh, they're taking our business, which I mean they're they are the video side at least.
• 36:20
  Vipul Bindra: Uh so you can go and fight about it, or you could start one of those agencies.
• 36:24
  Vipul Bindra: That's another way.
• 36:25
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, or the other thing I say is sounds like a plan.
• 36:28
  Vipul Bindra: You guys take the advertising part of it, the alt part of it.
• 36:30
  Vipul Bindra: How about I do the video production part of it?
• 36:32
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 36:32
  Vipul Bindra: Let's do a partnership.
• 36:33
  Vipul Bindra: I'm willing to even do it because you know, I get it.
• 36:36
  Vipul Bindra: It's a filmmaker thing again.
• 36:37
  Vipul Bindra: You have a complex of credit.
• 36:39
  Vipul Bindra: I know a lot of people who do this, they want the awards, they want the credit.
• 36:42
  Vipul Bindra: Like, oh, they want to tell everyone, look, I did this commercial.
• 36:46
  Vipul Bindra: I genuinely don't have that, and I think that's also helped me because I'll go to these agencies and I'll like I'll do this white label, like I'll put on your shirt.
• 36:54
  Vipul Bindra: So for that day, we are your video production department, we'll work with your team, right?
• 36:59
  Christopher Crompton: You know, because they usually work creative production companies all the time, they usually don't have in-house production people.
• 37:06
  Vipul Bindra: So it's like for me, it's like, yes, are we getting just a very small chunk than we should be getting?
• 37:11
  Vipul Bindra: Uh they're keeping majority of the chunk for doing the creative, but then at the end, say, I like I said, if I want access to these big commercials, you just have to say that's just the route.
• 37:19
  Vipul Bindra: So at the end, I've just I just have really good agency partners where I'll go just make the commercial for them.
• 37:26
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 37:26
  Christopher Crompton: I'm still trying to convince my former contacts um to use me as a production company, they're coming around to it, so you know I think something will break eventually.
• 37:36
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, you just gotta build, keep building that relationship.
• 37:38
  Vipul Bindra: That's what it's about, right?
• 37:39
  Vipul Bindra: They're watching, yeah.
• 37:40
  Christopher Crompton: They're watching, they're seeing what I'm what I'm doing, and every now and then they'll be like, hey, like you're doing this thing on your own now.
• 37:46
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, yeah.
• 37:47
  Vipul Bindra: There you go.
• 37:48
  Vipul Bindra: And that those connects are worth everything.
• 37:50
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 37:51
  Vipul Bindra: Because if you're not even in the running, it doesn't matter how good you are, you want to be in the running to get one of those, and then you want to do your best, obviously.
• 37:59
  Vipul Bindra: On that, that's how you know you can keep growing and keep getting more.
• 38:02
  Vipul Bindra: But that's again, it's if you want it.
• 38:04
  Vipul Bindra: I've talked to so many people.
• 38:05
  Vipul Bindra: Even making big commercial isn't for everyone.
• 38:08
  Vipul Bindra: Because a lot of people think big money.
• 38:10
  Vipul Bindra: The thing is, by the time a brand has picked a number, right?
• 38:14
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, agency is gonna take their huge cut.
• 38:17
  Vipul Bindra: Then by the time you're you get a production budget, and that's if even they hire you as a total company, a lot of times they'll even break down, just hire you as a as a role.
• 38:25
  Vipul Bindra: So let's say they even hire you, they partner with you, you're the production company.
• 38:29
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, then by the time you are done hiring people and equipment, it may not be a lot of money left.
• 38:34
  Vipul Bindra: Probably not.
• 38:35
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, it's usually like 20, 40% if you're really lucky.
• 38:38
  Vipul Bindra: 20 is pretty normal.
• 38:40
  Vipul Bindra: 20 to 40, let's say, it would be the range.
• 38:42
  Vipul Bindra: So that's not a lot of money left.
• 38:43
  Vipul Bindra: You can make way more money doing these three to ten thousand dollar jobs for local businesses.
• 38:49
  Vipul Bindra: You get to decide how much you're profiting.
• 38:51
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 38:51
  Vipul Bindra: And then and if you do smartly, obviously, there's a cheap way to do it.
• 38:55
  Vipul Bindra: Don't do that because that's how you don't get repeat clients.
• 38:58
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 38:58
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but if you do it smartly, you can make more profit.
• 39:01
  Vipul Bindra: I'm saying it's easier to pull a 40-50% profit, I'm saying, if if maybe even more if if if you're cutting corners, I'm saying on that side than it is on uh commercial side.
• 39:13
  Vipul Bindra: So which I have a funny story to talk about.
• 39:15
  Vipul Bindra: Profit.
• 39:16
  Vipul Bindra: But hold on, we gotta we gotta get the no no talk about it before you forget.
• 39:19
  Vipul Bindra: We can we can start go back.
• 39:21
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, all right.
• 39:21
  Christopher Crompton: Um, so my first the client that we've been talking about, I'm not gonna name them.
• 39:26
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and hopefully they don't watch this.
• 39:28
  Christopher Crompton: If they do, whatever, they they love me.
• 39:29
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah um the first job that I did with them.
• 39:33
  Christopher Crompton: Um, I had been doing this mentality when it comes to payment of the 50 up front and 50 on completion.
• 39:41
  Christopher Crompton: I don't know how you do that, but I quickly realized on larger budget projects that does not work.
• 39:48
  Christopher Crompton: No, yeah, not at all.
• 39:50
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, um, and so now I have just been asking for everything up front because I need I need to spend that money.
• 39:56
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, exactly.
• 39:56
  Christopher Crompton: I need to spend it on the production.
• 39:58
  Christopher Crompton: And so I was forced to work with half.
• 40:02
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 40:03
  Vipul Bindra: And now you're like, how do I make this happen?
• 40:06
  Christopher Crompton: And I'm also at the time, I'm I'm just working month to month, like paycheck to paycheck.
• 40:10
  Christopher Crompton: So I'm like, I don't there's nothing left over that I can put into this.
• 40:14
  Christopher Crompton: Um, so I was forced to work with half of the paycheck, and it was really difficult, yeah, but I made it happen.
• 40:23
  Christopher Crompton: Um and afterwards I was like, oh, I'm never doing that again.
• 40:27
  Christopher Crompton: Like, I'm not gonna just use 50%, like I'm gonna spend 80, 80, and then I'll keep 20.
• 40:33
  Christopher Crompton: Um, I did that, and that was also great, but now I'm like, you know what?
• 40:38
  Christopher Crompton: I did it for 50, and I think if I get my systems down, um, get organized, really get better at pre-production, I think I can get it closer to you know, 50% profit.
• 40:53
  Vipul Bindra: You never know 40, 30, but and it also depends on the project that you're doing, you know.
• 40:58
  Vipul Bindra: It's it depends on what you're doing.
• 40:59
  Vipul Bindra: A lot of time, if it's like something very simple, you know, and I again what I mean by is like where the costs aren't that high.
• 41:06
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 41:07
  Vipul Bindra: You know, so each project is different too.
• 41:09
  Vipul Bindra: Sometimes I'll take projects where we want we go overboard and we want to.
• 41:14
  Vipul Bindra: It's not a client's asking us because I'm like, oh, this is a really cool project.
• 41:17
  Vipul Bindra: So I'll just overspend a little.
• 41:19
  Vipul Bindra: Because like you said, I'm the company owner, I get to decide what I want to do, and it's a choice I'm making because we have projects where it's just a talking head, we're doing some reels, I can easily make a lot more profit there.
• 41:31
  Vipul Bindra: So I'm like, okay, so and that's the balance of it, right?
• 41:34
  Vipul Bindra: It's like as a company, we try to make 20%, you know, uh revenue, uh, or not revenue, a profit out of the revenue um after all expenses are paid.
• 41:44
  Vipul Bindra: But that's you know, averaged out.
• 41:47
  Vipul Bindra: So there will be projects that we may make a lot, lot more, and there'll be some where I'm willing to even, you know, pretty close.
• 41:54
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, if you are passionate about video, you're passionate about storytelling, you're gonna naturally want to spend a little bit more to make not only uh a great product for your client, but be like, hey, this is my brand.
• 42:04
  Christopher Crompton: Like I tell great stories and I'm not gonna cut court.
• 42:07
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 42:08
  Vipul Bindra: And it's not every project, like you say, it's selective.
• 42:10
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but but yes, talk about pricing.
• 42:13
  Vipul Bindra: My strategies uh initially was you know, like you said, you start out when you're freelancing, you obviously realize a lot of people want to do net 30, net 60, net 90.
• 42:23
  Vipul Bindra: And then I was like, first of all, I like net one, you know.
• 42:26
  Vipul Bindra: I like if I do the shoot today, I get paid tomorrow or something like that.
• 42:29
  Vipul Bindra: Because I get it, same day you're leaving at night, people don't have time to pay you.
• 42:32
  Vipul Bindra: That was my freelancer thing.
• 42:34
  Vipul Bindra: But you know, not all jobs were like that.
• 42:35
  Vipul Bindra: So it's like, first of all, that's interesting.
• 42:38
  Vipul Bindra: But then two, when I was like, okay, when I start my company, I'm gonna charge 50% up front and 50% at completion so I can pay my freelancers because I wanted to treat people how I wanted to be treated immediately, like hey, I'll sell you the money, or I'll write you the check right now if they need paper check.
• 42:55
  Vipul Bindra: I don't do that.
• 42:56
  Vipul Bindra: I try not to do that, but some people still want to check.
• 42:58
  Vipul Bindra: But what I'm saying is that's how I approached it, and I was like, okay, so 50 will be for production, pre-production production, and the remaining 50, 30 will be for post and 20 will be for me, if that makes sense.
• 43:09
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, it was very easy.
• 43:10
  Vipul Bindra: So that was the like you said, it didn't go overboard because the per uh post-production would be paid after the client paid the final thing because you know revisions are done and they have to pay before they get the files.
• 43:20
  Vipul Bindra: It worked for, like I said, initial company.
• 43:22
  Vipul Bindra: When you start new first year, I think it was a very good plan.
• 43:25
  Vipul Bindra: Then I quickly realized, like you said, as as the projects go above the 10, 20, 30k range, you need more production money.
• 43:33
  Vipul Bindra: Because you know, as as the see, it's easier when it's like a 5k, let's say, project to divide.
• 43:39
  Vipul Bindra: Like, yeah, I could do 2500 production, I can I can pay, you know, thousand bucks post production, the rest can be profit, something like that.
• 43:46
  Vipul Bindra: I'm just saying.
• 43:47
  Vipul Bindra: But when you're at 50 grand, a lot of time production may be 30 grand.
• 43:51
  Vipul Bindra: I'm just saying.
• 43:52
  Vipul Bindra: And and so or sometime even 30 grand post production may not be that complicated or whatever.
• 43:57
  Vipul Bindra: It just maybe you needed to do either spend more.
• 43:59
  Vipul Bindra: More per day, or you had just so many days, or something like that.
• 44:03
  Vipul Bindra: And that's where I was like, Oh, I'm not gonna self-fund it.
• 44:06
  Vipul Bindra: And I didn't like it, where sometimes uh in the beginning I had to be like, okay, guys, I'll pay you, you know, in a little bit or whatever.
• 44:13
  Vipul Bindra: Sure, they were friends, but that's just not the way to do it, you know.
• 44:16
  Vipul Bindra: And I was like, that's not cool.
• 44:17
  Vipul Bindra: You know, they're not a production company, they're a freelancer, they shouldn't have to wait on my paycheck.
• 44:21
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, so anyway, so so I came up with the initially a tiered system, which was again 50-50 for less than let's say 15k projects.
• 44:29
  Vipul Bindra: Anything over that, we're gonna do a tiered system, you're gonna pay me 50 up front at signing, 25 before shoot, 25 at you know, push production.
• 44:38
  Vipul Bindra: But now I just do 100%.
• 44:40
  Vipul Bindra: It's very simple.
• 44:41
  Vipul Bindra: If you're an existing client, I'll still do 50-50.
• 44:45
  Vipul Bindra: That's okay because you've known me for years.
• 44:47
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, I don't want to hassle them.
• 44:49
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but I've kept it very simple.
• 44:51
  Vipul Bindra: I basically do that for old clients, but new clients, it's just 100% up front.
• 44:56
  Vipul Bindra: And sometimes I'll do you can do split it, but I'll say, okay, you can deposit, like do a 50% to book it, and then the other 50% do before the shoot, if that makes sense.
• 45:05
  Vipul Bindra: But I ideally want before the shoot the hundred percent of the money so I can spend the money.
• 45:11
  Christopher Crompton: Like I said, in my short experience, I've noticed that clients are actually happy with that.
• 45:17
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, it's easier for their financial departments, and if they already like you and trust you, it's not a difficult decision for them.
• 45:26
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 45:26
  Vipul Bindra: Because I mean, if you have a working relationship, then they get it.
• 45:29
  Vipul Bindra: And then you know, at the end of the day, uh, it's not like again, we're trying to take the money.
• 45:33
  Vipul Bindra: Again, good production company, I get it.
• 45:35
  Vipul Bindra: There's some, you know, people who are like, oh, I'll take all of it.
• 45:39
  Vipul Bindra: Let me hire a couple of students and then you know you're done.
• 45:41
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but that's a short-term, you know, look at it, right?
• 45:45
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but most of the time, at least for me, uh, you know, we're spending the money back, and I have you know, my contractors, my subcontractors to pay for it, and I want them to have a good experience.
• 45:54
  Vipul Bindra: You know, I want to pay them within a day or two, yeah.
• 45:57
  Christopher Crompton: To work with you rather than somebody else or a company.
• 46:00
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, exactly.
• 46:00
  Vipul Bindra: So that's the the way I treat, and I like I said, I treat people how I want to be treated.
• 46:04
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, and the only way I can do that is by having money up front, right?
• 46:09
  Vipul Bindra: You know, because costs are more than 50%.
• 46:12
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but but there's creative ways to do it.
• 46:14
  Vipul Bindra: The only one I don't like is any net anything.
• 46:16
  Vipul Bindra: I don't like doing net 30, net 60.
• 46:19
  Vipul Bindra: And now I get it.
• 46:20
  Vipul Bindra: There's some clients who only do net 30, net 60.
• 46:23
  Vipul Bindra: So I've accepted that those are not my clients, unfortunately.
• 46:26
  Vipul Bindra: How cool the project may be, I'm just like, not for me.
• 46:29
  Vipul Bindra: That's the deal breaker.
• 46:30
  Vipul Bindra: Unfortunately, yeah, I just don't want to do it.
• 46:32
  Christopher Crompton: Even if it's like a 50k plus project.
• 46:35
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, but are you gonna spend 40k out of pocket for and wait for 60 days to get paid?
• 46:40
  Vipul Bindra: Are you gonna finance it?
• 46:42
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, you're right.
• 46:43
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, I'm not a bank, right?
• 46:45
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, being real with you, and that's okay.
• 46:48
  Vipul Bindra: Again, I have cli I have friends who do do net 30, net 60, net 90 projects, uh, and they're happy with that.
• 46:55
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, you know, but I've also heard horror stories of clients not paying.
• 46:59
  Vipul Bindra: There's this I'm saying there's all sides of coin.
• 47:02
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 47:02
  Vipul Bindra: So uh I didn't even think about that.
• 47:04
  Vipul Bindra: I don't want to discount like that there are companies that have financial procedures that you know it are that, like it is what it is.
• 47:11
  Vipul Bindra: Uh it's just my thing is I don't want to be the bank, I don't want to finance anything.
• 47:15
  Vipul Bindra: I'm your producer, right?
• 47:16
  Vipul Bindra: Then I'm on set your director.
• 47:18
  Vipul Bindra: So, but as a producer, when you initially hired me, my job is to look at the budget and spend it most sufficiently, right?
• 47:24
  Vipul Bindra: Without wasting anything.
• 47:25
  Vipul Bindra: Because, you know, I am on your s on their side.
• 47:28
  Vipul Bindra: So I don't want to finance anything because guess what?
• 47:31
  Vipul Bindra: Uh you know, even as sure, I I've been doing this for a while.
• 47:34
  Vipul Bindra: That doesn't mean I've got a bank here, you know, or that Bendra bank that I can just go in, all right.
• 47:40
  Vipul Bindra: 50k project, let me pull 20k, right?
• 47:43
  Vipul Bindra: So they can't.
• 47:43
  Vipul Bindra: You can take equity and all your equipment.
• 47:45
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, I know, right?
• 47:46
  Vipul Bindra: And so who's paying that interest now?
• 47:48
  Vipul Bindra: I already have a low profit, so you know, I can't cut into that.
• 47:52
  Vipul Bindra: So anyway, I they're not for me, like I said, but that doesn't mean they're not for everyone, right?
• 47:58
  Vipul Bindra: But I don't do it.
• 47:59
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, you you're open to it?
• 48:00
  Vipul Bindra: No, probably not, yeah, especially not at this point, yeah.
• 48:04
  Christopher Crompton: Because you're right, if if there was a situation where either they weren't happy or whatever they didn't want to pay, then I'm totally out of a business.
• 48:12
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, exactly.
• 48:12
  Christopher Crompton: I'm drained of everything, yeah.
• 48:14
  Vipul Bindra: And because you probably would have financed by your credit card or family or friends or whatever.
• 48:18
  Vipul Bindra: You know, at that point, I don't want that.
• 48:20
  Vipul Bindra: I don't know over my head anywhere.
• 48:22
  Vipul Bindra: Um, then even now where we're sure we may have sometimes, you know, a couple of let's say fifty thousand dollar projects happening.
• 48:29
  Vipul Bindra: I could pull from here, but again, I don't want to do co-mingling between two projects.
• 48:32
  Vipul Bindra: I just do it like this is a project, it's the money I can spend, let me spend more, you know, like or spend me here or whatever.
• 48:39
  Vipul Bindra: I don't want to pull from here, then it's like I can't pay for this one or whatever.
• 48:43
  Vipul Bindra: What you know, you get the point.
• 48:45
  Vipul Bindra: Um, so yeah, but that's a very good question.
• 48:47
  Vipul Bindra: A lot of people don't want to talk about pricing, but I think it's very important to be able to understand how you charge.
• 48:53
  Vipul Bindra: There's not a set rule, um, but like I said, I've tried both ways, and I find the bigger the number, the easier the client pays.
• 49:00
  Vipul Bindra: So most of my big uh numbers, clients just wire the money.
• 49:05
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, I send them an invoice, they wire me the whole money.
• 49:08
  Vipul Bindra: We never even have the 50-50 discussion, if that makes sense.
• 49:12
  Vipul Bindra: The only time I have a 50-50 discussion is when the project is oh, the client doesn't want to spend as much or whatever, and that's what I'm saying.
• 49:19
  Vipul Bindra: It's already starting out in the negative anyway.
• 49:22
  Vipul Bindra: And it's okay to help small businesses, I don't mind that, but then it has to be where I can manage the project in the 50, or otherwise, what's the point of taking it here?
• 49:32
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 49:32
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, yeah, I've had the same experiences so far.
• 49:35
  Vipul Bindra: So, how'd you get to production company owner?
• 49:37
  Christopher Crompton: So you're in Orlando, yeah.
• 49:38
  Christopher Crompton: So I'm in Orlando, I'm working as an editor for these agencies.
• 49:42
  Christopher Crompton: Um COVID hits, uh, I lose all my work.
• 49:47
  Christopher Crompton: Um still living out in LA, and a bunch of things happened, but I decide to move home.
• 49:53
  Christopher Crompton: Um, eventually start working for this other agency remotely, uh, this time as an art director instead of an editor.
• 50:00
  Christopher Crompton: And at this point, too, I'd been like fed up with editing for these agencies.
• 50:04
  Christopher Crompton: And actually, what's kind of cool is I became known in this like kind of LA agency circle as like the editor who fixes things.
• 50:12
  Christopher Crompton: Okay.
• 50:13
  Christopher Crompton: So if something was bad or didn't go as intended, and they're like, We have to deliver this project to the client and it has to be good, but we don't know what to do, they would call me.
• 50:23
  Vipul Bindra: Okay.
• 50:24
  Christopher Crompton: And um, I hated that, honestly.
• 50:26
  Christopher Crompton: Like nobody wants to be handed garbage and be like, here, make it a diamond.
• 50:30
  Christopher Crompton: But hey, that's a talent though.
• 50:33
  Vipul Bindra: It is garbage into gold.
• 50:34
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, that's that's yeah, that's that's a kill, yeah.
• 50:37
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, so um it was great financially for a while there, but like it was really like just weighing on my soul.
• 50:44
  Christopher Crompton: Like, I just you know, I I don't want to work on bad projects anymore, I just don't want to do it.
• 50:50
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and so I had been trying to push myself more into this director role, like working more in the pre-production side of things.
• 50:58
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and one company decided to hire me.
• 51:02
  Christopher Crompton: I just um someone saw my resume and they had a conversation with me, and they just thought that I was cool and that I kind of understood their vision.
• 51:12
  Christopher Crompton: And so they decided to give me a shot.
• 51:14
  Christopher Crompton: And so art directors do a hundred kinds of different things in agencies.
• 51:20
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but some agencies will hire video art directors, and essentially that person is in charge of uh helping with the concept, assisting the creative director come up with the concept for whatever the video campaign is gonna be.
• 51:35
  Christopher Crompton: Um help them create visuals to either pitch projects or almost like storyboarding for the client, like helping the client understand what we're doing for them, what the overall vision is.
• 51:47
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and so there were some things that I got to actually put in my two cents of like, hey, what should the ad actually look like or be?
• 51:56
  Christopher Crompton: But mostly I'm just assisting the creative director in doing that, and it was a lot of fun.
• 52:01
  Christopher Crompton: We got to work on advertising for um a handful of different Netflix films.
• 52:06
  Christopher Crompton: That was like my my claim to fame for a while.
• 52:10
  Christopher Crompton: There was um I worked on advertising for Netflix films.
• 52:14
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, and it it was a great, yeah, it was great.
• 52:16
  Christopher Crompton: We worked with uh Tanu Muinu, who she is a Russian music video director, famous for directing um Lil Nas's Lil Nas X's um what was his song?
• 52:29
  Christopher Crompton: Starts with an M.
• 52:31
  Christopher Crompton: Mario.
• 52:32
  Christopher Crompton: Do you know?
• 52:33
  Vipul Bindra: The one that got famous?
• 52:34
  Christopher Crompton: The one that got famous where he goes to hell and everything.
• 52:39
  Vipul Bindra: Let me check, let me check.
• 52:40
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, I know the song you're talking about.
• 52:43
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, so it was around that time that that released, and so you know, she's hot.
• 52:47
  Christopher Crompton: Everybody wanted to hire her for things, so they hired her to um direct some ads for Montero.
• 52:53
  Christopher Crompton: Montero, yes, yeah, um, and so yeah, that was fun.
• 52:59
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, that's pretty good, yeah.
• 53:01
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, and I got to be on set and everything.
• 53:03
  Christopher Crompton: Um, didn't really do much while I was there.
• 53:06
  Christopher Crompton: I was supposed to direct the photography, and I knew nothing about photography, but I didn't want to say that.
• 53:14
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, and uh the photos turned out pretty terrible, not gonna lie.
• 53:17
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, they're not great.
• 53:19
  Christopher Crompton: Oh my goodness.
• 53:20
  Vipul Bindra: So far, there's a pattern.
• 53:21
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, people are gonna be like, why'd you get this guy?
• 53:24
  Vipul Bindra: You know, you're like, I did this, and uh, it wasn't like I did this and it wasn't great.
• 53:28
  Vipul Bindra: All right, when is it gonna get good?
• 53:30
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 53:31
  Christopher Crompton: Um, so I I kept working as an art director for uh two different agencies at the time.
• 53:37
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and I don't know, I think I just realized like, oh, I'm not an art director.
• 53:43
  Christopher Crompton: Like, this actually really isn't my skill set.
• 53:46
  Christopher Crompton: Like, I got to do some cool stuff because the first creative director I worked with, uh, he had a lot of the same skill sets that I did, so he just liked working with me.
• 53:54
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but really art directors are at least in the agency world, like graphic designers on steroids.
• 54:01
  Christopher Crompton: Like, not only can they design, but um they can conceptually visualize a project as well.
• 54:08
  Christopher Crompton: But I didn't have those design shops, so a lot of spaces I didn't really fit in.
• 54:13
  Christopher Crompton: Um and we had a there was a uh a recession scare in June of 2022.
• 54:25
  Vipul Bindra: Okay.
• 54:26
  Christopher Crompton: And anytime, at least from my experience working with agencies, anytime there's some kind of like financial thing going on in the economy, like agencies freak out and they fire people and whatnot.
• 54:41
  Christopher Crompton: And so I got let go of the freelance gigs, even though there was no recession, they just there was no recession, there it was just yeah.
• 54:49
  Christopher Crompton: It was a just a scare, and they went on hiring freezes, they let me go.
• 54:53
  Christopher Crompton: And actually, I was interviewing for both companies for a full-time position, and I was expecting the salary to be really nice.
• 55:02
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and they went on hiring freezes, and I never heard from again.
• 55:06
  Vipul Bindra: Look at that.
• 55:07
  Vipul Bindra: Like you cannot predict the the world, right?
• 55:10
  Vipul Bindra: No, uh, and that is true, you know, and and again, nothing wrong with the nine to five, but when you are doing a nine to five, you're kind of relying on all these things, you're relying on other people, you're relying on economy, things that you cannot control, or whatever their hiring you know, practices are all of that.
• 55:25
  Vipul Bindra: You're you're kind of just relying on other people, and that's why I like entrepreneurship.
• 55:30
  Vipul Bindra: You know, it's not for everyone, but when you are your own boss, you decide when to fire yourself.
• 55:35
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, you know, nobody else can tell you, you know, you're laid off, right?
• 55:39
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, and now I I don't think I could ever go back.
• 55:41
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, because you get freedom.
• 55:43
  Vipul Bindra: But but I'm pretty sure you work more hours now because I do, you know, you work 60 to 80 hours a week.
• 55:50
  Vipul Bindra: That sounds that sounds realistic, yeah.
• 55:53
  Vipul Bindra: If you do have to put in those extra hours, then they would be pulling in, you know, but then at the same time you get more freedom, you get more income, you know.
• 56:01
  Christopher Crompton: And I I don't feel completely drained all the time.
• 56:03
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, sometimes when I don't manage my schedule well, but yeah.
• 56:06
  Vipul Bindra: So, what at point do you go?
• 56:08
  Vipul Bindra: I need to start this production company thing.
• 56:10
  Christopher Crompton: So actually, it's not until two years later.
• 56:12
  Christopher Crompton: Oh, okay.
• 56:12
  Christopher Crompton: Um, around the same time, I got connected to my church and I just loved it so much.
• 56:18
  Christopher Crompton: Uh fell in love with Jesus, and I was volunteering doing videos for them, and I was like, you know what?
• 56:24
  Christopher Crompton: I lost all my work.
• 56:26
  Christopher Crompton: I could do I could do what I'm helping them with, I could do this full time.
• 56:29
  Christopher Crompton: And so I submitted my resume, and they hired me as their on-staff videographer.
• 56:35
  Christopher Crompton: Oh, look at that.
• 56:36
  Christopher Crompton: And I did that for two years.
• 56:37
  Christopher Crompton: I loved it at first.
• 56:39
  Christopher Crompton: I mean, I wouldn't have traded it for anything.
• 56:42
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and then over time I realized okay, there's a cap of what I can do here.
• 56:48
  Christopher Crompton: And I was like, you know, I think it's time that I go off and try to uh chase my dreams, whatever that looks like.
• 56:56
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and I wasn't exactly sure if I was gonna start a production company, if I was gonna go back to freelancing, or if I was going to try to do the uh filmmaking dream again.
• 57:08
  Christopher Crompton: I really didn't know.
• 57:09
  Christopher Crompton: Um and ultimately I decided, you know, I want to get realistic about my goals.
• 57:15
  Christopher Crompton: I want to get married, I want to have a wife, I want to have children, I want to have a house like Vipple.
• 57:20
  Christopher Crompton: Um and I know you want a house like Vipple, but yeah, we'll we'll winter par.
• 57:25
  Christopher Crompton: Um and ultimately I decided, you know, I think doing this video business thing is gonna help me achieve those goals and to have eventually to have stability.
• 57:38
  Christopher Crompton: Um not that I have some stability right now, but obviously I'm still pretty new into it.
• 57:45
  Christopher Crompton: Um so yeah, um, so then uh Dreamers Only Media was born.
• 57:50
  Christopher Crompton: Dreamers Only Media LLC.
• 57:52
  Christopher Crompton: Look at that.
• 57:52
  Christopher Crompton: I got my official yeah, I got my LLC in May of 2024.
• 57:59
  Christopher Crompton: We're in 2025, right?
• 58:01
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, May 22nd, 2024 is when I officially filed for it.
• 58:05
  Christopher Crompton: I was working on some stuff before that.
• 58:07
  Vipul Bindra: So, how do you go about so here's the crazy thing, you know?
• 58:10
  Vipul Bindra: A lot uh, you know, you start a company, right?
• 58:13
  Vipul Bindra: A lot of people get there.
• 58:15
  Vipul Bindra: The the biggest thing is then the most important thing.
• 58:18
  Vipul Bindra: How do you find customers?
• 58:19
  Vipul Bindra: How do you find clients?
• 58:20
  Vipul Bindra: Great to actually start making money.
• 58:24
  Christopher Crompton: Nothing.
• 58:24
  Christopher Crompton: Oh, you didn't do anything?
• 58:25
  Christopher Crompton: Uh no, because the Lord is gracious, and honestly, um, so far, all of my clients have come through church.
• 58:32
  Christopher Crompton: Okay, and like um church is amazing for community, and there's a lot of different business owners in there, but actually, uh, one of my coworkers that I had worked with, uh, she has now become uh a client.
• 58:48
  Christopher Crompton: Look at that, yeah.
• 58:49
  Christopher Crompton: And so she was my connection into the um uh public university that I'm working with at the moment.
• 58:57
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and she kind of acts as like the executive producer over all of our projects.
• 59:02
  Christopher Crompton: And yeah, it's been wonderful.
• 59:04
  Christopher Crompton: And um, I would say they're um one of my two main clients, and then I work with you know small businesses here and there when I can.
• 59:14
  Vipul Bindra: So you you're telling me you've been lucky enough to not have to go hunt for any clients that have just come to you.
• 59:20
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, and that's the power of networking.
• 59:22
  Vipul Bindra: You know, I want people to know it's not just has to be obviously you know you should network with other video people, yeah, clearly.
• 59:28
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but but the real money, again, and this is to make money as a production company, does not come from other video people, it comes from end clients.
• 59:37
  Vipul Bindra: And uh then you gotta look around you, find resources everywhere, whether that's church, whether that's where you worked in the past, you know, or uh your friends, you gotta reach out to everyone and tell them what you do.
• 59:49
  Vipul Bindra: Uh because you're right, you know, you never know where your lead is coming from.
• 59:53
  Christopher Crompton: It's great that you say that because um she actually didn't ask me.
• 59:57
  Christopher Crompton: Um, I texted her, not expecting anything.
• 1:00:00
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:00:01
  Christopher Crompton: Um, she's a good friend as well.
• 1:00:02
  Christopher Crompton: So I text her, I said, Hey, uh, do you guys need any video work?
• 1:00:06
  Christopher Crompton: That's all I said.
• 1:00:07
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah.
• 1:00:07
  Christopher Crompton: And she was like, Um, I don't think so.
• 1:00:10
  Christopher Crompton: Okay.
• 1:00:10
  Christopher Crompton: And then uh maybe a week later, she goes, actually, yeah, we can use one, right?
• 1:00:16
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, actually.
• 1:00:17
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and so I had some conversations with her and um with her people, her team, and it they actually needed a lot of videos.
• 1:00:26
  Christopher Crompton: Look at that.
• 1:00:27
  Christopher Crompton: And uh, what had actually happened, and I know you're you're big on this, um, was they had been working with previous videographers who did not treat them well, did not give them great products, and so they had put the idea of video in the back of their mind, like we're never doing videos again because we've only had terrible experiences.
• 1:00:44
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but of course, with any kind of business, the need for video is always gonna come up.
• 1:00:50
  Christopher Crompton: So, inevitably, you know, just the timing worked out.
• 1:00:52
  Christopher Crompton: I was like, we don't want to do videos, but we have to do a video for this, so we need somebody to do it.
• 1:00:59
  Christopher Crompton: And so they gave me a call, and they were a little hesitant about it because you know they hadn't had great experiences in the past.
• 1:01:07
  Christopher Crompton: But what I learned from you was that the client experience is key, yeah, it's very key.
• 1:01:15
  Christopher Crompton: I that lipo, that phrase, whatever you said to me was playing in my mind the whole time like, how can I make this experience great for them?
• 1:01:23
  Christopher Crompton: Not even knowing that they had poor experiences in the past, and so every time that I've done a project for them or um someone you know within their department that needs video work, um, they always come back and say, Hey, you treated us so well, you made us either feel like celebrities or just felt welcomed or made the space peaceful for us, or the people that you hired were so friendly to us and accommodating.
• 1:01:50
  Christopher Crompton: And uh that was all that I learned from you like really early on.
• 1:01:53
  Vipul Bindra: Well, I'm so thank you.
• 1:01:55
  Vipul Bindra: I if you know if I can help a little bit, it makes me feel good.
• 1:01:58
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, because my entire thing is, you know, uh, and again, it comes from a good place, it comes from not just you know, and and and you know this, we talked about this, but like from a place to just you know be fake or whatever.
• 1:02:10
  Vipul Bindra: Like it comes from genuinely treating people how you want to be treated.
• 1:02:14
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:02:14
  Vipul Bindra: My thing is if I go in a business and they don't treat me right, I don't want to shop there, I don't want to buy whatever they're selling, so I just walk out, right?
• 1:02:21
  Vipul Bindra: Um, and and obviously I know there's people who'll fight, they'll you know what I mean, like or argue like customers, right, or whatever.
• 1:02:28
  Vipul Bindra: But the thing is, you can just look around you, tell, see where where you went and they treated you well and you went back, right?
• 1:02:34
  Vipul Bindra: Right, or you spread that message on social media or whatever, and the then the reverse, and people are more proactive about it.
• 1:02:40
  Vipul Bindra: If you weren't treated right, they'll go blast everywhere and tell all their friends that do not go there or do not talk to them.
• 1:02:46
  Vipul Bindra: So so when I started the business, it was a very easy concept for me.
• 1:02:51
  Vipul Bindra: And I it may be because my first my I've only had like two companies I've ever worked for, just you know, and my first company I worked for Disney, and it may be that my initial training ever in the world of having a job or whatever was just you treat people right, because you know that's what Disney teaches you, right?
• 1:03:06
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, the Disney, what do you call mind the wires that they put in you?
• 1:03:10
  Vipul Bindra: Like, no, you you say yes, and you know, like you help people, you help them, you know, in the Disney world, whatever, do whatever.
• 1:03:17
  Vipul Bindra: Uh so even when I would talk to, and I'm talking this is like a 19-year-old me, you know, at a peep guest at Disney World, I'd be just nice to them, you know.
• 1:03:25
  Vipul Bindra: Like if you see a lost kid, help them, you know.
• 1:03:27
  Vipul Bindra: You know the basic things.
• 1:03:28
  Vipul Bindra: You see trash, you pick up.
• 1:03:29
  Vipul Bindra: So I and maybe I'll give them a little bit of credit.
• 1:03:32
  Vipul Bindra: But ultimately, when I started the company, I was just like, I'm gonna treat people how I want to be treated.
• 1:03:36
  Vipul Bindra: It's very simple, and it's not always great, because I'd be real.
• 1:03:39
  Vipul Bindra: Sometimes I want to be treated as be told the truth, and a lot of people don't like being told the truth.
• 1:03:44
  Vipul Bindra: So there is a balance.
• 1:03:46
  Vipul Bindra: I'm saying it's not always perfect because I don't want to go around the bush to get to where it is.
• 1:03:50
  Vipul Bindra: Sometimes the answer is no, right?
• 1:03:52
  Vipul Bindra: You know what I mean?
• 1:03:52
  Vipul Bindra: So what I'm saying is, but I treat people how I want to be treated, even if it's bad news, I wouldn't be just given, and I don't want to be, you know, not given it or given in a roundabout way that just annoys the crap out of me.
• 1:04:03
  Vipul Bindra: So again, I treat people how I want to be treated, and that makes life so much easier.
• 1:04:08
  Vipul Bindra: But I also find that's how you get repeat business because every single time they say, Oh, you made us feel like a celebrity, or you made us feel good, or the and then the product was great, and and you know, they just want to keep bringing you over and over and over again, and uh, you know, you help them, they help you, you know, everyone wins type of thing.
• 1:04:26
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but like I said, now there's the the slight negative side of it, coming back to it, is just that sometimes I've had where you know, usually I try to accommodate, they'll ask for something.
• 1:04:35
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, let me see.
• 1:04:36
  Vipul Bindra: Oh yeah, okay, we can we can figure it out, right?
• 1:04:39
  Vipul Bindra: At the end day, I'm the producer, I can figure out how to make this happen.
• 1:04:43
  Vipul Bindra: Usually what the requests are, which is simple things, you know.
• 1:04:47
  Vipul Bindra: Um, like, can we not have this thing or can we put up this prop here, or you know, like simple things, or we really like this room instead of this room, even though it may not be cinematic, so we can figure out how to move things there or whatever.
• 1:04:59
  Vipul Bindra: I always take their suggestions, you know what I mean?
• 1:05:02
  Vipul Bindra: It's my job, and to figure out now how to make look cinematic is on me.
• 1:05:06
  Vipul Bindra: But then sometimes they'll request, oh yeah, can we do five other interviews today at the same time?
• 1:05:10
  Vipul Bindra: No, yeah, it's one thing I could accommodate maybe one more, but you know, we have a tight schedule.
• 1:05:15
  Vipul Bindra: Like, no, we're gonna have to come back the next time.
• 1:05:18
  Vipul Bindra: We don't have a timeline for that.
• 1:05:19
  Vipul Bindra: Uh that's what it is, I'm saying.
• 1:05:21
  Vipul Bindra: Whether it's negative or not, you're being upfront, you're being honest.
• 1:05:24
  Vipul Bindra: I think it's okay to be be real with people too.
• 1:05:28
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:05:28
  Vipul Bindra: And not then eat because you could do it too big, like, yeah, let me try and fit it, but you can't fit that many in trees.
• 1:05:33
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, and ultimately you're gonna lose money.
• 1:05:35
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, that too.
• 1:05:35
  Vipul Bindra: And but but ultimately uh, but also it's like you can't if if you have a day planned out.
• 1:05:39
  Vipul Bindra: A little bit deviation is okay because it's corporate radio, but a lot is not okay, or or them adding a whole production day is not okay.
• 1:05:47
  Vipul Bindra: That's when I just simply go, yeah, that obviously uh let's add another production day.
• 1:05:51
  Vipul Bindra: Let me send you an in what's right.
• 1:05:52
  Vipul Bindra: You know, it's very clear, like it is what's gonna what it is.
• 1:05:56
  Vipul Bindra: So, anyway, coming back to it.
• 1:05:57
  Vipul Bindra: I'm so glad I was able to have that conversation with you.
• 1:05:59
  Vipul Bindra: It helped a little bit.
• 1:06:01
  Christopher Crompton: Can I tell you something else that you helped me with in the same realm?
• 1:06:04
  Christopher Crompton: Um, I think you mentioned it at the videographer meetup, uh, the importance of hair and makeup and how that makes the client feel good.
• 1:06:14
  Christopher Crompton: And so, right before this first project that I did with them, and this was everything was riding on this project because you know, whatever their experience would be with this would determine our relationship thereafter.
• 1:06:25
  Christopher Crompton: And um, I was meeting with my DP, and I had not budgeted for hair and makeup partly because I only had 50% to warn.
• 1:06:35
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 1:06:36
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, sound and hair makeup cuts cut the the first thing, and those to me are very valuable.
• 1:06:42
  Vipul Bindra: But yes, but you're not the only one I'm seeing.
• 1:06:44
  Vipul Bindra: That's what I'm saying.
• 1:06:45
  Christopher Crompton: I've learned the sound thing recently as well.
• 1:06:47
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and uh his wife actually does hair and makeup for film video.
• 1:06:54
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and you know, those your words again, they ring in my mind.
• 1:06:58
  Christopher Crompton: I'm I'm literally walking out his door and I'm like, you know what?
• 1:07:01
  Christopher Crompton: Let me just see if like she's available.
• 1:07:04
  Christopher Crompton: And um, I actually I was gonna spend the rest of the money that I did have on another camera operator, but I opted with with my uh DP's um actually suggestion, he said, you know, I don't mind having one less camera operator if you want to hire my wife to do hair and makeup.
• 1:07:23
  Christopher Crompton: And I think that actually made the whole experience for the client.
• 1:07:29
  Christopher Crompton: Like I would say 80% of their great experience was the hair and makeup.
• 1:07:35
  Christopher Crompton: Just the fact that they had it and that they were able to walk onto the set feeling confident that they looked good was everything to them and something that they had never experienced before.
• 1:07:47
  Christopher Crompton: And the reason I say that is because afterwards they're like, we need you to have that every single shoot we do.
• 1:07:53
  Vipul Bindra: Like, I don't care what we do, yeah, there needs to be hair and makeup.
• 1:07:56
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 1:07:56
  Vipul Bindra: See, once they experience it, they're never going back.
• 1:07:59
  Vipul Bindra: It's just uh look, uh the the world that we live in, productions are getting smaller, budgets are getting smaller, and what usually ends up happening, especially clients who don't understand the value of it, um they always cut.
• 1:08:14
  Vipul Bindra: That's like I've I've learned there's a pattern to it, you know.
• 1:08:17
  Vipul Bindra: They cut hair and makeup, yeah, cut sound.
• 1:08:19
  Vipul Bindra: You know, you do guys do the sound.
• 1:08:20
  Vipul Bindra: This is how it happens, and and uh 50% of the video is sound, it needs to sound really high quality.
• 1:08:28
  Vipul Bindra: And so if you cut 50% of the video, and not that we can't do, I mean, there's tools now for cinematographer.
• 1:08:34
  Vipul Bindra: I I mean look at my audio kit, but I'm saying we can definitely do audio.
• 1:08:38
  Vipul Bindra: It's just uh having somebody dedicating that 50% uh is really important.
• 1:08:43
  Vipul Bindra: And then the second thing is uh here in makeup, not only it gives people confidence that we're filming, and uh, but it also makes them actually look good on camera.
• 1:08:52
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, it makes our job uh you know as directors and cinematographers a lot easier when you know makeup is helping them look better because that's what they want.
• 1:09:01
  Vipul Bindra: People want to look their best, and uh a lot of time doing corporate commercial video, uh, they're also our clients who are paying our bills.
• 1:09:08
  Vipul Bindra: So if you make them or sometimes their clients, because you know, it could be like you said, um, I don't know, a marketing manager, so yeah, their clients would be like their CEOs or their customers that we're doing testimonials for, making them feel great is also part of client experience.
• 1:09:24
  Christopher Crompton: And the thing is when they watch the videos, they're not paying attention to the lighting or the motion graphics or the cinematography, they're looking at themselves.
• 1:09:33
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, yeah, they're they're they're more interested in that.
• 1:09:36
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:09:36
  Christopher Crompton: They're like, how do I look?
• 1:09:37
  Christopher Crompton: How how do I sound?
• 1:09:38
  Christopher Crompton: How am I coming off?
• 1:09:39
  Christopher Crompton: And if they love that, then you know, yeah, gold.
• 1:09:43
  Vipul Bindra: It makes it everything so worthwhile because uh, you know, I don't know.
• 1:09:47
  Vipul Bindra: I like I said, I hold it so the way I do my proposals is I do a proposal, but the only constant thing is always there.
• 1:09:54
  Vipul Bindra: Hair makeup, highly recommended.
• 1:09:57
  Vipul Bindra: You know, it's optional, but I'd be like optional, but highly recommended, and same thing with sound, yeah.
• 1:10:01
  Vipul Bindra: Sound guy, highly recommended, you know, uh optional, but because uh the because the I want them to check those boxes because and I can say it's not even like as a company I'm taking that much profit or anything from that.
• 1:10:13
  Vipul Bindra: Uh because you know, once you had kit fees and day rates, it's like a decent number.
• 1:10:18
  Vipul Bindra: Uh so I'm happy to pass majority of that to these people because they're gonna make my video look better, yeah, and they're gonna get me more uh you know, repeat business.
• 1:10:27
  Christopher Crompton: So what's your reasoning for even including it as an option instead of just building the price into your package anyway?
• 1:10:36
  Vipul Bindra: So very good question.
• 1:10:38
  Vipul Bindra: It's because most things I'm doing are corporate, and most corporate people don't want to pay for that.
• 1:10:42
  Vipul Bindra: They're they're just when you're when you're going with an existing client, slightly different because I know then I don't even do any breakdown, right?
• 1:10:50
  Vipul Bindra: Here's the price, right?
• 1:10:51
  Vipul Bindra: Let's do it.
• 1:10:52
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:10:52
  Vipul Bindra: I'm not bidding against someone, but when you have a new client come in, uh you know, they're generally talking to two, three people.
• 1:10:58
  Vipul Bindra: Let's be real.
• 1:10:59
  Vipul Bindra: This is how it is.
• 1:11:00
  Vipul Bindra: So I don't want my number to look higher just because I have hair and makeup in it.
• 1:11:04
  Vipul Bindra: Oh, okay.
• 1:11:04
  Vipul Bindra: That's the unfortunate part because most 99.9% of any other video people are not adding that.
• 1:11:09
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:11:10
  Vipul Bindra: Especially I'm saying under 10k budget.
• 1:11:12
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:11:12
  Vipul Bindra: Sorry, that's just not a thing.
• 1:11:14
  Vipul Bindra: So usually it's gonna be like, you know, we're gonna give you extra camera or whatever, right?
• 1:11:19
  Vipul Bindra: You know what I mean?
• 1:11:19
  Vipul Bindra: That's where where people leave too.
• 1:11:21
  Vipul Bindra: So my entire thing is hey, this is the project, but these are the two additional things that I think we needed.
• 1:11:26
  Vipul Bindra: But if they don't, to be real, I can do it without it, obviously.
• 1:11:29
  Vipul Bindra: Corporate video.
• 1:11:30
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, and it's not like by the way, that's where it separates me.
• 1:11:34
  Vipul Bindra: It doesn't mean we don't do high-quality sound.
• 1:11:36
  Vipul Bindra: My sound package is probably better than 99% sound people locally.
• 1:11:40
  Vipul Bindra: Like it's gonna be chef sound, really high quality, recording 32-bit directly on the microphone, and we still have mattifying powders and everything that we're gonna apply on them.
• 1:11:50
  Vipul Bindra: So to be honest, they're still getting good service.
• 1:11:52
  Vipul Bindra: It's just obviously I'm not a makeup artist.
• 1:11:54
  Vipul Bindra: We're not gonna like sit there and put makeup on them, but we can at least make sure there's no shine.
• 1:11:59
  Vipul Bindra: We can make sure that um, you know, that that they sound really good with the best mic possible.
• 1:12:03
  Vipul Bindra: So obviously, you know what I mean?
• 1:12:05
  Vipul Bindra: Like, even at that price, I'm gonna do that.
• 1:12:07
  Vipul Bindra: But it's a lot easier when I have a dedicated audio person because I have people that I can bring in, they know how to operate my kit, it makes life easier.
• 1:12:15
  Vipul Bindra: It actually is very cost-effective to get a sound guy through me because I already have better sound equipment than most sound people.
• 1:12:20
  Vipul Bindra: I just need a dedicated person on it.
• 1:12:22
  Vipul Bindra: Because what happens is if one person is doing two tasks, your attention's divided.
• 1:12:26
  Vipul Bindra: Yes, and you don't want that.
• 1:12:27
  Vipul Bindra: And and again, if the budget isn't there, obviously we'll do it.
• 1:12:30
  Vipul Bindra: I can do it.
• 1:12:31
  Vipul Bindra: Mario's done it for me.
• 1:12:33
  Vipul Bindra: But if if the budget is there, I highly recommend one person just focus on sound, one person, you know, on camera, whatever.
• 1:12:39
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, and again, we're talking lower budget projects, obviously.
• 1:12:42
  Vipul Bindra: And then same thing with hair and makeup.
• 1:12:44
  Vipul Bindra: Somebody's there, dedicated, because you know, they like we are artists.
• 1:12:47
  Vipul Bindra: I can look at a skin tone, I can decide lighting, how it needs to be, whatever.
• 1:12:51
  Vipul Bindra: Uh same thing with a makeup artist.
• 1:12:53
  Vipul Bindra: They see a person's skin tone, they see uh what they need to do.
• 1:12:57
  Vipul Bindra: What I'm saying is they're the experts, how to make them look best.
• 1:13:00
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, and especially the the hair and makeup artists who understand video because there's a regular hair and makeup artist, but then there's the person who understands video because a lot of times the makeup doesn't look the best in person, the one that looks best on camera.
• 1:13:15
  Vipul Bindra: So I also like the people who understand a little bit on what looks good on camera, right?
• 1:13:19
  Vipul Bindra: Because then they know you know how to apply it or whatever.
• 1:13:23
  Vipul Bindra: Uh and that that's even better.
• 1:13:24
  Christopher Crompton: Because sometimes I've had where they'll go get hair makeup done themselves and then it'll look the best, especially when they use the highlighter and stuff that they look wet, they look sweaty, and it's like, oh, you the wrong products.
• 1:13:37
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, because they this is designed for real events or whatever, and we're not doing that.
• 1:13:40
  Vipul Bindra: We we need to look nice on camera, right?
• 1:13:43
  Vipul Bindra: So, and that's why you want somebody who understands what makeup to use for camera and eat skin tone and blah blah blah.
• 1:13:50
  Vipul Bindra: You get the point.
• 1:13:50
  Vipul Bindra: They're experts, just hire them, right?
• 1:13:52
  Vipul Bindra: Let the makeup artists do their thing.
• 1:13:54
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but most projects, especially locally, I'm talking about their sub, you know, 10, 15k.
• 1:14:01
  Vipul Bindra: Hair makeup artists is unfortunately not in the budget, especially I'm trying to do multi-cam, you know.
• 1:14:06
  Vipul Bindra: So by the time you account for, you know, cameras, editing, you know, post, you know, pre-production, the budget is gone.
• 1:14:13
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:14:13
  Vipul Bindra: So uh, but anytime I can, that's why I always add that as an option.
• 1:14:17
  Vipul Bindra: Like I add this because then I know for a fact that we can have it.
• 1:14:21
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but on bigger projects, absolutely, yeah.
• 1:14:23
  Vipul Bindra: Anything more than 20k a day or whatever, yeah, absolutely.
• 1:14:27
  Vipul Bindra: That's not even a you know, option at that point.
• 1:14:30
  Vipul Bindra: But those projects are very different, you know, how you bid for them, right?
• 1:14:32
  Vipul Bindra: So those ones uh I generally include it because they they understand that's part of what what's needed.
• 1:14:39
  Vipul Bindra: That makes sense.
• 1:14:40
  Christopher Crompton: That makes sense, and yeah, that's kind of how I've done it, but I wanted to get your reasoning on why you do it.
• 1:14:46
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, and and it's okay.
• 1:14:47
  Vipul Bindra: Again, if it were at the end of the day, it's just how it works.
• 1:14:50
  Vipul Bindra: You know, I have clients, uh, I've talked about this where you know, I call like they call me or whatever, they say we need a video.
• 1:14:56
  Vipul Bindra: Here's the budget, end of story, done.
• 1:14:59
  Vipul Bindra: It's so simple, like the conversation, because you've had that relationship.
• 1:15:02
  Vipul Bindra: Or sometimes they'll explain to me, like, hey, this is what we want to do.
• 1:15:06
  Vipul Bindra: Uh what do you think it'd be, you know, even if we worked a few times.
• 1:15:09
  Vipul Bindra: Well, I'm like, you tell me, you know, we we did this video, this range, we did this video, where where are we heading?
• 1:15:14
  Vipul Bindra: Right, right.
• 1:15:15
  Vipul Bindra: And then they can give you an idea.
• 1:15:16
  Vipul Bindra: But I'm saying conversations are usually very short, easy, to the point they know what you produce.
• 1:15:22
  Vipul Bindra: You're not selling anything, you're trying to just do the most for them, right?
• 1:15:25
  Vipul Bindra: In that budget.
• 1:15:26
  Vipul Bindra: Versus new clients is very different.
• 1:15:28
  Vipul Bindra: That's where I'm like spending a lot of time.
• 1:15:30
  Vipul Bindra: Like, so what are you looking for?
• 1:15:31
  Vipul Bindra: What have you done?
• 1:15:32
  Vipul Bindra: Let me see some reference videos, let me understand what you want before I give you a price point because you know I have no idea what they're wanting.
• 1:15:39
  Vipul Bindra: And like you said, they could easily call a student, uh, because they don't know, right?
• 1:15:43
  Christopher Crompton: If you haven't thought about that, having them send you reference videos, yeah.
• 1:15:46
  Vipul Bindra: Because it's it just helps, you know, to know because what because you know, honestly, that'll probably help you charge more.
• 1:15:52
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, no, because if they send me, I've had that happen where somebody, like, for example, okay, I'll tell you real world example.
• 1:15:57
  Vipul Bindra: Somebody wanted animated videos.
• 1:15:58
  Vipul Bindra: So we're starting a course being animated videos.
• 1:16:01
  Vipul Bindra: Like, absolutely, I we we we got great animators here.
• 1:16:04
  Vipul Bindra: And then I'll look at the and I was like, send me a reference video, uh, if you have one, you know, or inspiration, something.
• 1:16:10
  Vipul Bindra: They sent me a video, and I was like, what's your budget again?
• 1:16:13
  Vipul Bindra: We were like 500 a video, and I'm like, Yeah, you're not getting that, you're not even getting remotely close to that.
• 1:16:20
  Vipul Bindra: And then I had to like reel get with them.
• 1:16:22
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, hey, why do you even want animated?
• 1:16:24
  Christopher Crompton: Still PNGs on a keyframe.
• 1:16:26
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, I'm like, no, but but then that's where you can drill down if you're real, want to help them.
• 1:16:31
  Vipul Bindra: I was like, why do you even want animated videos?
• 1:16:34
  Vipul Bindra: Because you're telling me you want to make a course, right?
• 1:16:36
  Vipul Bindra: You're the expert, right, about whatever the subject is.
• 1:16:40
  Vipul Bindra: And why aren't you gonna be on camera talking about it?
• 1:16:43
  Vipul Bindra: Why do you want animated video course?
• 1:16:45
  Vipul Bindra: I I I didn't understand that.
• 1:16:46
  Vipul Bindra: I was like, I get simplifying complicated systems through animation that I get, but why aren't you the one speaking on camera?
• 1:16:54
  Vipul Bindra: I never understood that, right?
• 1:16:56
  Vipul Bindra: Initially, so they're like, yeah, it should be me.
• 1:16:58
  Vipul Bindra: I was like, exactly, let's do that, and then we have the budget for that.
• 1:17:01
  Vipul Bindra: You know, we combine all that.
• 1:17:03
  Vipul Bindra: Let's do that first because you can actually go to market with the course, and we can come back and add the animations later when you actually start making some revenue.
• 1:17:14
  Vipul Bindra: So it could be things like that, you know, figuring it out with them.
• 1:17:16
  Christopher Crompton: That's something I'm still working on is having the confidence to tell the client what they need.
• 1:17:22
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:17:22
  Christopher Crompton: Um, because mostly I've been working now is like they tell me what they want.
• 1:17:25
  Christopher Crompton: For the most part, I give it to them.
• 1:17:27
  Christopher Crompton: I do offer my advice here and there, but I really do need to kind of be help them be more strategic and be like, no, this will actually help you more if you're gonna do it.
• 1:17:37
  Vipul Bindra: And it's okay because I have some clients where they have their own marketing teams, right?
• 1:17:41
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:17:41
  Vipul Bindra: So I can't really go and tell them what they want, but here's how I do it.
• 1:17:45
  Vipul Bindra: So they'll come to me and they'll say, Okay, we need this, right?
• 1:17:48
  Vipul Bindra: Like, we need you to make this for us or give us this footage or whatever.
• 1:17:52
  Vipul Bindra: And I'll handle it.
• 1:17:53
  Vipul Bindra: That's fine, it's part of business.
• 1:17:54
  Vipul Bindra: But then at the every time I'm there, I'll throw a little idea.
• 1:17:57
  Vipul Bindra: Hey, how about we how about we do this?
• 1:17:59
  Vipul Bindra: Have you thought about this for the next time?
• 1:18:02
  Vipul Bindra: And you know, it doesn't happen every second.
• 1:18:04
  Vipul Bindra: Like I say it and they're like, let's sign the contract.
• 1:18:06
  Vipul Bindra: That's kind of how it's been.
• 1:18:07
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:18:08
  Vipul Bindra: Three to six months later, yeah.
• 1:18:09
  Vipul Bindra: They go, you know what?
• 1:18:10
  Vipul Bindra: We really want to do what you talked about.
• 1:18:13
  Vipul Bindra: Because it's not like you're just trying to, again, if you come from the great the the right intention, I feel like most people will see that because you're generally trying to help their business.
• 1:18:22
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, it just may not be in their in their mind.
• 1:18:25
  Vipul Bindra: Now you've thrown that what do you call uh that bug, right?
• 1:18:29
  Vipul Bindra: Like that for them to like keep thinking about it, and then and then they go maybe a month later, it could be three months later, it could be six months later.
• 1:18:36
  Vipul Bindra: But I usually get that call where they're like, oh, I we were thinking about doing this, and sometimes they would present it as their idea too.
• 1:18:43
  Vipul Bindra: So crazy.
• 1:18:44
  Vipul Bindra: I've had that happen.
• 1:18:45
  Vipul Bindra: Sometimes they'll say, Oh, we like what you said, let's do that now.
• 1:18:47
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm like, awesome, let's do it.
• 1:18:49
  Vipul Bindra: But sometimes they'll say, Hey, we just had a marketing meeting and we thought we would do this type of video.
• 1:18:54
  Vipul Bindra: What do you think?
• 1:18:55
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm like, absolutely, you guys are geniuses.
• 1:18:57
  Vipul Bindra: Let's do this.
• 1:18:57
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm like, Yeah, I said that to you six months ago.
• 1:19:00
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:19:00
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but but again, it's not about ego, it's about like, hey, we finally got where what they need.
• 1:19:06
  Vipul Bindra: Um, but uh that's why my favorite ones are where they don't have these huge marketing departments.
• 1:19:11
  Vipul Bindra: We can work directly with either the marketing manager, CEO, and get things done, like the balls rolling so fast.
• 1:19:17
  Vipul Bindra: I don't know, makes life easier for us.
• 1:19:19
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah.
• 1:19:20
  Christopher Crompton: I have a question for you.
• 1:19:21
  Vipul Bindra: Okay.
• 1:19:22
  Christopher Crompton: So I I feel that I've reached a crossroads in my business, and I may not have.
• 1:19:28
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah.
• 1:19:28
  Christopher Crompton: Uh it might just be what I'm perceiving.
• 1:19:31
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but so obviously there are clients who have larger budgets and clients who have smaller budgets.
• 1:19:39
  Christopher Crompton: And I have been hustling because I'm trying to do all this great work for the larger budget clients while trying to squeeze in the smaller budget projects in between.
• 1:19:55
  Christopher Crompton: And what I've noticed is that um, not that the overall work for the larger projects is sacrificed, but I know that it could be better if my time wasn't so divided.
• 1:20:07
  Christopher Crompton: But at the same time, um you're losing out on those clients that you know are gonna keep coming back.
• 1:20:18
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:20:18
  Christopher Crompton: Um, and you never know if you could lose a client in the future.
• 1:20:23
  Christopher Crompton: So uh could you tell me about what was your experience um navigating that transition yourself?
• 1:20:31
  Christopher Crompton: And then do you still navigate that?
• 1:20:33
  Christopher Crompton: Is that still something you're saying?
• 1:20:37
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, that's it's part of being a business owner, right?
• 1:20:40
  Vipul Bindra: Being strategic.
• 1:20:41
  Vipul Bindra: Now, yes, here's the right answer.
• 1:20:42
  Vipul Bindra: I'll give you very quick, then I'll tell you the real answer.
• 1:20:45
  Vipul Bindra: So the right answer is yes, you niche down as much as you can.
• 1:20:48
  Vipul Bindra: Like I help businesses with this many employees in this industry, like I help, I don't know, bodybuilders who go in competition and and win prizes.
• 1:20:59
  Vipul Bindra: I'm just saying that is the most successful agencies.
• 1:21:02
  Vipul Bindra: Like I help lawyers who have 10 to 15 attorneys on staff, you know, or I help uh law offices that have over a hundred teams.
• 1:21:10
  Vipul Bindra: We help large law firms with over a hundred um you know attorneys on staff.
• 1:21:15
  Vipul Bindra: What I'm saying is the best way to succeed in what we do, I'm talking as an agency owner, as a production company owner, is to quite literally niche down into something really specific and become the expert on that in the whole country, right?
• 1:21:29
  Vipul Bindra: That's the right way to approach it.
• 1:21:32
  Vipul Bindra: Now, let me tell you what I do.
• 1:21:34
  Vipul Bindra: I would get bored, I've said this before, I would get bored out of mind.
• 1:21:37
  Vipul Bindra: If I was just working with attorneys all day or doctors all day, or dentists all day, whatever I'm saying, I would I would lose my mind because you know then you're kind of get repetitive.
• 1:21:46
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm sure there's some projects that are different, but at the end of the day, if you've mastered this one industry and this one size of that industry, then to me that's boring.
• 1:21:57
  Vipul Bindra: As a business, that makes sense.
• 1:21:58
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, so that would be the ideal thing.
• 1:22:00
  Vipul Bindra: You sit down and say, who do we want to actually target?
• 1:22:03
  Vipul Bindra: Right?
• 1:22:03
  Vipul Bindra: And that doesn't mean you don't take other projects for now until you you become the number one, but you should present yourself only as that.
• 1:22:09
  Vipul Bindra: Like I only help universities, you know, or public universities of this size or whatever that is.
• 1:22:14
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:22:15
  Vipul Bindra: You need to have, and this is the correct business advice I'm saying.
• 1:22:19
  Vipul Bindra: You need to be very specific, very niche down to who you help, how you help, and why you help, right?
• 1:22:24
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:22:25
  Vipul Bindra: But coming back to reality, I do this because I love this, not because I want to make just money.
• 1:22:30
  Vipul Bindra: I could I can go and finance, I can do a lot of things if I just wanted money.
• 1:22:33
  Vipul Bindra: So I could not niche down this much because I would lose my mind.
• 1:22:38
  Vipul Bindra: So I decided very early on that yes, it's not the best business decision, but I'm just gonna call myself uh a video agency or video production business for brands and businesses.
• 1:22:48
  Vipul Bindra: That's my niche, which is sure, I don't help your personal side, but I help your businesses.
• 1:22:52
  Vipul Bindra: Now it's very broad.
• 1:22:54
  Vipul Bindra: I guess it's a niche, but it's not a niche.
• 1:22:56
  Vipul Bindra: And then we prefer to do corporate commercial filmmaking, maybe corporate docs.
• 1:23:00
  Vipul Bindra: That's what Bindra does.
• 1:23:02
  Vipul Bindra: Now, in one way it's niche, but it's in a way it's very broad.
• 1:23:06
  Vipul Bindra: And the reason is I love being able to go one day and work with this industry.
• 1:23:11
  Vipul Bindra: Like I'm working with a doctor's office, now I'm working with the law office, now I'm working with a big brand, and you know, I'm working with a car company here, I'm working with a solar company here, right?
• 1:23:20
  Vipul Bindra: The industries change.
• 1:23:21
  Vipul Bindra: I'm doing an event one day, I'm doing live streaming the other day, and then I'm doing directing a big commercial the next day.
• 1:23:26
  Vipul Bindra: I hope that makes sense to me.
• 1:23:27
  Vipul Bindra: That's fun.
• 1:23:28
  Vipul Bindra: It does, and that keeps the life inciting and very interesting.
• 1:23:31
  Vipul Bindra: Now, uh, you know, so I could never niche down, and that's why I know I have a ceiling because I can only do so much work and so much marketing as a broad company.
• 1:23:40
  Vipul Bindra: Um, but uh, but that's what I enjoy and that's what I like.
• 1:23:44
  Vipul Bindra: So coming back to your answer, it's like you have to decide.
• 1:23:48
  Vipul Bindra: You have to sit down and say, Do I want to take on these bigger projects?
• 1:23:51
  Vipul Bindra: Does that make me happier?
• 1:23:53
  Vipul Bindra: Or do helping these small clients help make me better?
• 1:23:56
  Vipul Bindra: You and then you prioritize that.
• 1:23:58
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:23:58
  Vipul Bindra: I don't think you should at this stage just not take anything.
• 1:24:01
  Vipul Bindra: You know, you should take everything because that's what new companies are.
• 1:24:05
  Vipul Bindra: Um again, don't take obviously bad projects.
• 1:24:07
  Vipul Bindra: I'm saying take all the good ones, whether small or large budget, but you have to prioritize what is best for you and what you enjoy the most, right?
• 1:24:16
  Vipul Bindra: And and and sometimes that is the smaller projects, like I said.
• 1:24:19
  Vipul Bindra: Uh and then once you pick that, then that will be like, hey, this is number one.
• 1:24:24
  Vipul Bindra: And if you can fit these other in the schedule, then you do, absolutely.
• 1:24:28
  Vipul Bindra: And then the other side is do not forget the power of uh white labeling or or bringing other people in.
• 1:24:35
  Vipul Bindra: Uh as see, it's different.
• 1:24:37
  Vipul Bindra: When you are a DP, you're a freelancer, then you're you are, you know, the work.
• 1:24:42
  Vipul Bindra: So you want to do everything, right?
• 1:24:43
  Vipul Bindra: And that's how you make money.
• 1:24:44
  Vipul Bindra: You're like, okay, I'm booked this day, here, this day, there.
• 1:24:48
  Vipul Bindra: But when your production company owners more than you, yeah, and a lot of new company owners don't realize that they're like, I have to be on every set, I have to do every pre-production, I have to do every post-production.
• 1:24:57
  Vipul Bindra: That's not the truth.
• 1:24:59
  Vipul Bindra: The truth is you will not grow at all or very slowly if you are everything.
• 1:25:04
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:25:05
  Vipul Bindra: So the best thing I did was to let go.
• 1:25:07
  Vipul Bindra: So first thing was, oh, post-production.
• 1:25:10
  Vipul Bindra: I gotta let go.
• 1:25:10
  Vipul Bindra: I'm just starting to hide.
• 1:25:12
  Vipul Bindra: Initially, I was like, I did some, then you know, then it was all, and then it's like the same thing.
• 1:25:17
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, sometimes uh, you know, like I said, I love being the director, producer, DP, but sometimes projects I'm like, I can't be a DP.
• 1:25:24
  Vipul Bindra: Or um, so I bring in other people to DP, or I need more camps, or I need somebody here, or I need somebody to be a project manager on this.
• 1:25:32
  Vipul Bindra: Can you produce this?
• 1:25:34
  Vipul Bindra: What I'm saying is you never know, or bringing other owner operators in different states if it's a project that I'm like, I can't I need to shoot in five states for this project, right?
• 1:25:43
  Vipul Bindra: Which ones am I gonna fly to?
• 1:25:45
  Vipul Bindra: Oh, I can touch these two and then these three I can hire somebody local to do it.
• 1:25:50
  Vipul Bindra: I hope that makes sense.
• 1:25:51
  Vipul Bindra: Or send sometimes it's not even hiring local, send my friend, like as somebody I trust that'll get the vision right.
• 1:25:57
  Vipul Bindra: So if you have the budget, what I'm saying is you don't have to do all five.
• 1:26:01
  Vipul Bindra: Like, first thought is like, how do I make it to all five?
• 1:26:04
  Vipul Bindra: Or how do I do this on my own?
• 1:26:05
  Vipul Bindra: And I think that's just the nature of what we do.
• 1:26:07
  Vipul Bindra: You just start to tablet.
• 1:26:09
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm like, no, you have to slow down and go, what's the best where you can use your time most efficiently?
• 1:26:14
  Vipul Bindra: Because you could be using that time to do one of these maybe smaller ones or focus on a bigger one or whatever, where somebody else could be getting this for you.
• 1:26:23
  Vipul Bindra: So biggest thing is to start when as you start to grow, is to just let people come in and you know help you basically as needed.
• 1:26:30
  Christopher Crompton: I I feel very similar to how you approach that.
• 1:26:34
  Christopher Crompton: I think you say your passion is for video.
• 1:26:37
  Christopher Crompton: I think my passion is for storytelling, but you know, I do that through the medium of video and filmmaking.
• 1:26:43
  Christopher Crompton: Um, though where my mind goes when you talk about that is well, why don't I niche down, make a bunch more money, hire people to run the business for me, and then I go do whatever my passions are over here with the money that I'm now making.
• 1:27:02
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, you could, but then the thing is the business is probably gonna run to the ground if you don't run it daily.
• 1:27:06
  Vipul Bindra: The problem is you're not selling a product.
• 1:27:09
  Vipul Bindra: Now, you could do that.
• 1:27:10
  Vipul Bindra: A lot of people do that.
• 1:27:11
  Vipul Bindra: You know, you can open a coffee shop, train a couple of people, baristas, you and cut around a hire manager and go away, is what I'm saying.
• 1:27:18
  Vipul Bindra: You don't need to usually I'm saying again, I'm not business advice, I don't run coffee shops, but I'm saying that type of business, or you you make a product, you know, you make headphones, put them on shelves, find partners, then you kind of you know, you don't have to like every day run it.
• 1:27:32
  Vipul Bindra: You have time for your passions.
• 1:27:34
  Vipul Bindra: But with that's why I tell with video business, you hopefully are passionate about it because most agencies, uh, you know, you have to run the agency because you are the agency, right?
• 1:27:47
  Vipul Bindra: Now, yes, can you bring in a creative director?
• 1:27:49
  Vipul Bindra: Can you bring in a staff?
• 1:27:51
  Vipul Bindra: Can you automate the whole thing?
• 1:27:52
  Vipul Bindra: Absolutely.
• 1:27:53
  Vipul Bindra: But then at that point, you need millions of dollars and you need a huge staff, and you need people who are actually passionate.
• 1:27:59
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:28:00
  Vipul Bindra: All doable, but it's a lot easier then for those people to start an agency.
• 1:28:04
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:28:05
  Vipul Bindra: Because if let's say you have a head, you know, you you would have to find somebody who's really motivated like you to grow the agency to have it running.
• 1:28:13
  Vipul Bindra: But then that have the same time be have the personality who doesn't want to run their own agency then.
• 1:28:18
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:28:19
  Vipul Bindra: Now, yes, there are some people like that, but those are very rare to find.
• 1:28:24
  Vipul Bindra: So the hardest part would be finding someone who'll run it like you would passionately.
• 1:28:28
  Vipul Bindra: But so so coming back, actually, that's a great thing you bring up.
• 1:28:31
  Vipul Bindra: So, what is your passion?
• 1:28:32
  Vipul Bindra: What would you rather be doing if not this?
• 1:28:34
  Vipul Bindra: You know what?
• 1:28:36
  Christopher Crompton: I thought I had it figured out, and I've gotten to the place where I actually don't know anymore.
• 1:28:41
  Christopher Crompton: I don't know anymore.
• 1:28:42
  Christopher Crompton: Like I told you, I do love storytelling.
• 1:28:45
  Christopher Crompton: I think there's a lot of ways that you can do that.
• 1:28:48
  Christopher Crompton: Um so I don't know.
• 1:28:50
  Christopher Crompton: I'm I'm I'm re-finding what that is.
• 1:28:53
  Vipul Bindra: So I think that that that's a very good thing, and to say it's okay to not know.
• 1:28:57
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:28:57
  Vipul Bindra: And maybe that's where you need to go next, is just do keep doing what you're doing until you figure it out.
• 1:29:02
  Vipul Bindra: And when you do, that's when that decision needs to be made.
• 1:29:05
  Vipul Bindra: Like and but video business, I'm saying, is one of the rare ones where it's hard to run it without you.
• 1:29:12
  Vipul Bindra: It can be done.
• 1:29:13
  Vipul Bindra: I'm not saying can't be done, but typically I'm saying it's a hands-on business, right?
• 1:29:19
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:29:19
  Vipul Bindra: You can automate each project, like you can have uh obviously call me and other people like me.
• 1:29:25
  Vipul Bindra: Like I help a lot of people, like the one in we did in Chicago, it's my friend, right?
• 1:29:29
  Vipul Bindra: He's like, hey, I need you to come DP for this me.
• 1:29:31
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:29:32
  Vipul Bindra: And I helped him, like, hey, hire this person.
• 1:29:34
  Vipul Bindra: We need this person, we need this, we need hair and makeup, or whatever, right?
• 1:29:37
  Vipul Bindra: So there's people I'm saying who can who can come help you.
• 1:29:40
  Vipul Bindra: And I wore his shirt, even though I helped him, you know, kind of put this together.
• 1:29:45
  Vipul Bindra: I know, and I don't want to discount what he did.
• 1:29:46
  Vipul Bindra: He did obviously found the project, he directed the whole thing, whatever.
• 1:29:49
  Vipul Bindra: But I'm saying it's a collaboration, right?
• 1:29:51
  Vipul Bindra: You bring the people, or I I helped um Adam, who was on the podcast.
• 1:29:55
  Vipul Bindra: You know, he's like, I need this shoot on a farm done, and then and that's going with him.
• 1:29:59
  Vipul Bindra: But then he sent me to uh DC last year that I talked about on the podcast with him because he wanted um uh this doc shot, but he couldn't fly.
• 1:30:08
  Vipul Bindra: So I went there and I helped him remote produce.
• 1:30:11
  Vipul Bindra: Like I I brought him in as a remote producer and I did the whole thing.
• 1:30:14
  Vipul Bindra: And then I've done shoots for him where he's not there at all.
• 1:30:16
  Vipul Bindra: So the point I'm trying to make is uh that's when you call your friends.
• 1:30:20
  Vipul Bindra: Now, would I do that for just anyone?
• 1:30:22
  Vipul Bindra: No, obviously my primary income comes from me working directly with end clients, but I'm happy to have friends go.
• 1:30:27
  Vipul Bindra: I'm saying be their DP.
• 1:30:29
  Vipul Bindra: I'm the owner operator, right?
• 1:30:30
  Vipul Bindra: They hire like I do other states.
• 1:30:32
  Vipul Bindra: So what I'm saying is there's ways to take on more than what you can handle.
• 1:30:36
  Vipul Bindra: Because that's what the agency is, like, it has to be bigger than you.
• 1:30:40
  Vipul Bindra: And I like to have full oversight, so I make sure to manage each project, whether small or big.
• 1:30:47
  Vipul Bindra: But I don't personally go to every project, you know.
• 1:30:51
  Vipul Bindra: Uh I'll I'll sometimes, you know, send someone or hire someone, especially on photography.
• 1:30:56
  Vipul Bindra: Like, we also do photo technically.
• 1:30:58
  Vipul Bindra: Like, so I don't do photo, but I have enough photographers on demand that somebody wants a photo that I'm just like, hey, you want to do this?
• 1:31:05
  Vipul Bindra: This yeah, I've been starting to do that too.
• 1:31:08
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 1:31:08
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm helping other friends make more money.
• 1:31:11
  Vipul Bindra: It's perfect for me.
• 1:31:12
  Vipul Bindra: My clients love it because it's coming from me, they don't want to have different vendors for that.
• 1:31:16
  Vipul Bindra: Um, the point I'm trying to make is at the end of the day, it has and again, it doesn't have to be, but usually I'm saying a video production company is bigger than a freelancer, and the best way to manage that is by bringing help.
• 1:31:29
  Vipul Bindra: Because as a one person, it's A not gonna be the best agency because you can only do so much, right?
• 1:31:34
  Vipul Bindra: You're one human, and then B, uh you have to have help, man.
• 1:31:38
  Vipul Bindra: That's just how life is, you know.
• 1:31:40
  Vipul Bindra: We can't do this uh the alone.
• 1:31:43
  Vipul Bindra: I don't know.
• 1:31:43
  Vipul Bindra: I can't.
• 1:31:44
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, if you can, then you know you're a superhero, but usually, and and that's the hardest thing, at least for me it is, letting go.
• 1:31:51
  Vipul Bindra: But when I do, it's like the best thing ever.
• 1:31:53
  Vipul Bindra: Like a lot of times, like even when I have Mario on set, like, hey, um, you know, I need you to just take this camera, like here, take the sound and just operate it.
• 1:32:02
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:32:02
  Vipul Bindra: Now, you do I am passionate about it?
• 1:32:04
  Vipul Bindra: Do I want to go start setting every little thing in there?
• 1:32:07
  Vipul Bindra: Yes, but guess what?
• 1:32:09
  Vipul Bindra: I then can't look at the bigger picture.
• 1:32:10
  Vipul Bindra: I'm trying to be the DP director here and also the producers.
• 1:32:13
  Vipul Bindra: I gotta make sure I can look at that bigger picture and then let go because I do trust him and other freelancers that I bring in.
• 1:32:21
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm like, then if I hired them, then it's also my job to just step back and let them do their thing.
• 1:32:28
  Christopher Crompton: And uh, that's something that I'm starting to learn now, the importance of systems and processes, so that you can step away in confidence that whoever you put over a certain area is gonna understand what the standard is that they need to meet and how to go about that if they're unclear.
• 1:32:44
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, exactly.
• 1:32:45
  Vipul Bindra: You want to be very careful with who you hire, because especially when you're not there, the biggest thing can be soft skills, which are not even art skills.
• 1:32:52
  Vipul Bindra: So, like somebody could be a great camera operator, but if you step away, you don't want somebody saying something silly in front of your clients.
• 1:32:59
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, it's okay to be funny, I'm not saying that, but I'm like something um that wouldn't be appropriate.
• 1:33:04
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:33:05
  Vipul Bindra: Or um them talking to your client rudely because they don't know who they are, right?
• 1:33:09
  Vipul Bindra: They could just start talking, be like, what are you doing there?
• 1:33:11
  Vipul Bindra: Why are you sitting there?
• 1:33:12
  Vipul Bindra: And then next thing you know, they are the ones who hired the whole production crew.
• 1:33:15
  Vipul Bindra: You like because you are the one who's been contacted stuff like that.
• 1:33:18
  Vipul Bindra: You want to make sure that you bring in people who are gonna represent, like you said, systems and processes, who understand what we're doing there, why we're there, what's the level of professionalism that you're looking for, or whatever.
• 1:33:29
  Vipul Bindra: And that doesn't mean a boring set, you know, you gotta still have fun and enjoy the set.
• 1:33:33
  Vipul Bindra: But I'm saying that you don't want to bring people who are gonna ruin your relationships because that's what the key is for a company to succeed, right?
• 1:33:40
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:33:41
  Christopher Crompton: I spent about six to eight hours the other day uh preparing like a document and like uh project set up for like the simplest edit.
• 1:33:52
  Christopher Crompton: But I was like, you know what?
• 1:33:53
  Christopher Crompton: I need to do this in order to get back what I would have done.
• 1:33:59
  Christopher Crompton: And I'm like, even though I spent eight hours for this project and doing this, and now that probably doesn't make sense budget-wise.
• 1:34:06
  Christopher Crompton: Um it's important, and if I do it now, I can eventually standardize this across multiple projects and it'll benefit me in the future.
• 1:34:16
  Christopher Crompton: We're getting there.
• 1:34:17
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, and no, and that's very smart, and that's what takes the longest time.
• 1:34:20
  Vipul Bindra: Trust me, I I've been doing this six, seven years.
• 1:34:23
  Vipul Bindra: I'm still uh trying to, you know, standardize my processes or put some on documents and uh get you know it'd be more efficient or whatever it is.
• 1:34:34
  Vipul Bindra: It's a constant thing, right?
• 1:34:35
  Vipul Bindra: And that's what makes you a business owner versus a freelancer, right?
• 1:34:39
  Vipul Bindra: Being able to build those processes, being able to have consistency, because it shouldn't matter who's coming in your team, uh, they should be able to perform at their best, and they can only when they know what they're doing, right?
• 1:34:51
  Vipul Bindra: And that's on you to tell them what they're doing, you know.
• 1:34:53
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:34:53
  Vipul Bindra: So uh and and that's why you should be, you make more money because a lot of people got like, you know, I'm a freelancer, I could be a business owner.
• 1:35:00
  Vipul Bindra: It's like, yes, as long as you're willing to put in that extra that comes with being a business owner.
• 1:35:05
  Vipul Bindra: But I mean, to be real, don't be on hard on yourself.
• 1:35:08
  Vipul Bindra: You've only been doing this uh a little over a year.
• 1:35:11
  Vipul Bindra: You were you're killing it over there, and you found really good clients.
• 1:35:15
  Vipul Bindra: And also once you know that's how it is.
• 1:35:17
  Vipul Bindra: Usually, most company business owners, small scale, only have few big clients, and then obviously you'll have smaller clients that come and go or whatever, and then some of that could turn into one of those bigger clients.
• 1:35:29
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but it's it's okay to not have you know lots and lots of I'm saying big projects every day.
• 1:35:36
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, if that happens, it's awesome, but it's not normal also either.
• 1:35:40
  Vipul Bindra: So don't be hard on yourself.
• 1:35:41
  Vipul Bindra: Thank you.
• 1:35:42
  Vipul Bindra: I think you should just keep doing what you are doing, which you make great content, you know.
• 1:35:46
  Vipul Bindra: And like I said, treating people nice, treating your clients great.
• 1:35:49
  Vipul Bindra: That's what it's about, man.
• 1:35:51
  Vipul Bindra: And having fun.
• 1:35:52
  Vipul Bindra: Are you having fun?
• 1:35:52
  Vipul Bindra: I am, I am, yeah.
• 1:35:54
  Vipul Bindra: Uh on most projects.
• 1:35:56
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, so those are the ones you want to eliminate from your life.
• 1:35:59
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm not joking.
• 1:36:00
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, as a business owner, when you're new, one of the hardest things is to go, I need all this money.
• 1:36:05
  Vipul Bindra: I'm living paycheck to paycheck or month to month, like you said.
• 1:36:08
  Vipul Bindra: You you that's when it's scary to say no.
• 1:36:11
  Vipul Bindra: But that's literally the best thing you can do sometimes for yourself.
• 1:36:14
  Vipul Bindra: Because guess what would do?
• 1:36:15
  Vipul Bindra: Let's say you're like, I really need this money, right?
• 1:36:18
  Vipul Bindra: Obviously, don't be like where you're gonna start or not have food, I'm saying.
• 1:36:21
  Vipul Bindra: But let's say you're like, I really need this money, but this project sounds awful.
• 1:36:24
  Vipul Bindra: This client feels like not the right fit.
• 1:36:27
  Vipul Bindra: I would personally rather say no, yeah.
• 1:36:29
  Vipul Bindra: And go back to the table, go now what?
• 1:36:32
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:36:32
  Vipul Bindra: And I know it's a pressure, but I work best under pressure.
• 1:36:35
  Vipul Bindra: So I would then sit down and be like, okay, now I need the money, but I don't want to work with them.
• 1:36:39
  Vipul Bindra: So where do I find the people I want to work with?
• 1:36:41
  Vipul Bindra: And to me, that would put the fire under me to go, no, I'm gonna get the person, right?
• 1:36:46
  Vipul Bindra: Or whatever I need to do.
• 1:36:47
  Vipul Bindra: So, how did you get connected with these agencies?
• 1:36:49
  Vipul Bindra: You just work over the years, right?
• 1:36:51
  Vipul Bindra: Somebody hires you as a freelancer.
• 1:36:53
  Vipul Bindra: So remember, I was a freelancer, so I had a job, but I was a freelancer from 2010 to 2018.
• 1:36:59
  Vipul Bindra: So I had eight years of freelance work.
• 1:37:01
  Vipul Bindra: So when I became a production company, I had the simplest thing, right?
• 1:37:03
  Vipul Bindra: An email, hey, starting this production company, we're gonna have the best of equipment, we're gonna have the best of the rates, and you know, it's me, you know, like come on, let's work.
• 1:37:14
  Vipul Bindra: And then, you know, it takes obviously it's not like I sent that email and they were ready to let's go, let's go.
• 1:37:18
  Vipul Bindra: And are these local?
• 1:37:20
  Vipul Bindra: No, no, they're all over the country.
• 1:37:21
  Vipul Bindra: I try I fly everywhere.
• 1:37:22
  Vipul Bindra: But I'm saying, even when I started, you know, everyone uh and again I've told the story before, but mainly everyone was like, Oh, you can't do that, or whatever, whatever.
• 1:37:30
  Vipul Bindra: And uh funny enough, my first all clients were none of them were old clients, they were brand new clients.
• 1:37:35
  Vipul Bindra: I just went out, okay.
• 1:37:37
  Vipul Bindra: I'm a I'm a full count time company, now I need to get full contracts.
• 1:37:40
  Vipul Bindra: So I just went out and I I closed contracts, and they were they were all decent-sized contracts.
• 1:37:45
  Vipul Bindra: I think uh like 30, 40 grand in the first week or whatever we closed.
• 1:37:50
  Vipul Bindra: So yeah, I remember you saying that before.
• 1:37:52
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 1:37:52
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, this it's not that complicated.
• 1:37:55
  Vipul Bindra: And then agency started to come back slowly.
• 1:37:57
  Vipul Bindra: I'm saying that wasn't that was just the introduction, right?
• 1:37:59
  Vipul Bindra: Hey, I'm an agency.
• 1:38:00
  Vipul Bindra: That doesn't mean, like I said, the next day the phone started ringing.
• 1:38:03
  Vipul Bindra: Uh I tell people like it's you have to be realistic about it.
• 1:38:06
  Vipul Bindra: But then it was like, hey, by the way, we need this.
• 1:38:09
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:38:09
  Vipul Bindra: Or hey, we we really it's COVID, you know, uh we need live streaming.
• 1:38:14
  Vipul Bindra: And I see you're doing live streaming, and not that many people know what they're they're doing.
• 1:38:18
  Vipul Bindra: It's like absolutely, let's do live stream.
• 1:38:20
  Vipul Bindra: You know, it's like slowly you you build your way in, you build a trust, and they're like, hey, we really want this, but the client only wants to work with us.
• 1:38:26
  Vipul Bindra: Would you would you sign an NDA and you know, work white label?
• 1:38:30
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, duh, yeah, absolutely.
• 1:38:32
  Vipul Bindra: I don't care about credit.
• 1:38:33
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:38:33
  Vipul Bindra: So kind of like that.
• 1:38:34
  Vipul Bindra: But so stuff like that.
• 1:38:36
  Vipul Bindra: I'm just saying, it's like it's slowly you build a relationship, and then you they realize you can execute.
• 1:38:40
  Vipul Bindra: Because to be real, the agency owners are stingy, the truth being.
• 1:38:44
  Vipul Bindra: So they'll say, Hey, we want you to do this, we'll give you 50 grand, and you go, absolutely.
• 1:38:49
  Vipul Bindra: And then you realize, oh, it costs 50 grand.
• 1:38:51
  Vipul Bindra: That's why they were so excited.
• 1:38:53
  Vipul Bindra: Give me 50 grand.
• 1:38:53
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:38:54
  Vipul Bindra: I got excited because the number was high, and then you know, you don't make any money, but then guess what?
• 1:38:59
  Vipul Bindra: They go, Wow, he did it, you know.
• 1:39:01
  Vipul Bindra: Uh so you know, that the trust builds.
• 1:39:04
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:39:04
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm not saying let people take advantage of you, but I have put myself in crazy situations like that where I took projects where I was like, Oh, I see what they meant.
• 1:39:13
  Vipul Bindra: Why they were so excited to give it to me.
• 1:39:15
  Vipul Bindra: Because I've had that happen where you know, where you go, wow, I'm so lucky, I'm doing so great.
• 1:39:20
  Vipul Bindra: And then like, oh, well, the the numbers seemed high, but you know, the cost was that much.
• 1:39:25
  Vipul Bindra: Anyway, so then you you learn from that.
• 1:39:27
  Vipul Bindra: So next time you price better and or you become more efficient or whatever.
• 1:39:31
  Vipul Bindra: Okay.
• 1:39:31
  Vipul Bindra: And then seven years later, you're here.
• 1:39:33
  Vipul Bindra: And even now, I'm not saying I'm doing something great.
• 1:39:36
  Vipul Bindra: All the advantage I have is just I've done this so long that I have enough people calling me.
• 1:39:40
  Vipul Bindra: Like you said, from the video production company side, I usually get emails saying, Hey, we want some video or some project or whatever.
• 1:39:47
  Vipul Bindra: So I'm doing that.
• 1:39:48
  Vipul Bindra: And then the other side is the freelance side, I still do, where it's like friends like, hey, let's do a commercial here, or I want you to be a DP here.
• 1:39:56
  Vipul Bindra: Can you be my gaffer?
• 1:39:57
  Vipul Bindra: Or even sound guy, you know.
• 1:39:59
  Vipul Bindra: Uh so those roles, then I can go help other people where they can't they get the advantage of having access to this half a million dollars worth of equipment for a to be a real really good deal.
• 1:40:09
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm like, hey, I was free those days anyway.
• 1:40:12
  Vipul Bindra: My company doesn't shoot every day.
• 1:40:13
  Vipul Bindra: So, you know, everyone wins because I'm not doing post, I don't do any post-production.
• 1:40:17
  Vipul Bindra: I let Julie handle that, and then uh, you know, so as in like I can go have some easy freelance days where I'm like, oh, I'm happy.
• 1:40:26
  Vipul Bindra: Like I shot, I gave you the footage, I'm done.
• 1:40:28
  Vipul Bindra: Or I came and I helped your site set get, you know, lit your set, and then I'm done.
• 1:40:33
  Vipul Bindra: You're telling me that's awesome.
• 1:40:34
  Vipul Bindra: Whether that's bringing gear, sometimes it's not even bringing gear, that's just me showing up.
• 1:40:38
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, and and that's the other smaller side of it, right?
• 1:40:42
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, and uh yeah, try to find a balance of it.
• 1:40:45
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, so I like I said, I do have connections with some agencies in LA and New York, but my thought is like one, they could hire somebody locally, and I think two, um there's some really great talent in LA and New York that far exceed you know what I could accomplish, but you're right on the price points.
• 1:41:05
  Christopher Crompton: Like even if I was traveling, I would find a way to do it for a lower budget.
• 1:41:10
  Christopher Crompton: So that's something that I hadn't thought.
• 1:41:12
  Vipul Bindra: But also, see, and that's and that's on you, because right now all I hear is they're more talented, they're they're in LA, they're in New York, they why wouldn't they hire me?
• 1:41:24
  Vipul Bindra: You know, that's just reeks of and I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'm like, you gotta believe in yourself.
• 1:41:29
  Vipul Bindra: You're a talented person with lots of experience, and and and that's you know, again, I hate I uh the the right and I know it's kind of can be foolish, you don't want to be overconfident, but as but you want to be confident, you want to believe in yourself.
• 1:41:43
  Vipul Bindra: You have to have that little spark of you know, I'm the best type of thing, you know, because if you don't believe in yourself, then who else is gonna believe in you?
• 1:41:51
  Vipul Bindra: That doesn't mean also I'm saying you're in competition.
• 1:41:54
  Vipul Bindra: Uh like I tell people, there's enough work to go around that we can all have more than enough work without calling each other competitors.
• 1:42:01
  Vipul Bindra: It'd be one thing that the there was not that much work.
• 1:42:04
  Vipul Bindra: There's work.
• 1:42:05
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, the only reason you don't have it is because they don't know you or they don't know you exist or your quality of work.
• 1:42:09
  Vipul Bindra: You just need to let them know about that.
• 1:42:11
  Vipul Bindra: Don't worry about what anyone else is doing, right?
• 1:42:13
  Vipul Bindra: And my entire thing is guess what?
• 1:42:15
  Vipul Bindra: Your cost of living is not what the cost of living in New York is.
• 1:42:18
  Vipul Bindra: Yes, is Orlando expensive?
• 1:42:20
  Vipul Bindra: Very, but is it as expensive as Manhattan?
• 1:42:23
  Vipul Bindra: No.
• 1:42:24
  Vipul Bindra: So you have an advantage.
• 1:42:25
  Vipul Bindra: Flights are very cheap.
• 1:42:27
  Vipul Bindra: We have direct flights, really cheap flights, and uh ultimately comes down to how good of a director producer you are, you know, and do you fit the um the bill of whatever the project is?
• 1:42:38
  Vipul Bindra: And do you have that relationship with them?
• 1:42:40
  Vipul Bindra: I would, if I were you, I would reach out to everyone and I would make it a consistent thing.
• 1:42:45
  Vipul Bindra: Obviously, don't spam them, but every couple of months you want to follow up, you want to share some uh things with them, ask them about them, uh, and and then just continue, like I said, developing those relationships.
• 1:42:56
  Vipul Bindra: And it doesn't have to be those.
• 1:42:58
  Vipul Bindra: Uh just continue building relationships.
• 1:43:01
  Vipul Bindra: You never know.
• 1:43:02
  Vipul Bindra: Like I said, it could be somebody here you hired as a PA.
• 1:43:05
  Vipul Bindra: You're literally somebody who's like, hey, I want to learn, man.
• 1:43:08
  Vipul Bindra: You're like, sure, come on my set, and you never know.
• 1:43:10
  Vipul Bindra: Two years later, they are marketing manager at some fancy company and you're getting lots of work.
• 1:43:16
  Vipul Bindra: You have no idea what the future holds.
• 1:43:19
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:43:19
  Vipul Bindra: I try to be nice to everyone because you yeah, you never know.
• 1:43:22
  Vipul Bindra: And again, I'm not saying do it with that intention, but you never know where it comes.
• 1:43:26
  Vipul Bindra: But yes, you have to build those relationships.
• 1:43:29
  Vipul Bindra: That's why I tell at least people like look at us.
• 1:43:32
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, let's be real.
• 1:43:33
  Vipul Bindra: You came here for share grid.
• 1:43:34
  Vipul Bindra: I didn't have to say yes to that share grid.
• 1:43:36
  Vipul Bindra: Uh I've told this before, and and uh, and again, it's not your fault.
• 1:43:40
  Vipul Bindra: You you you saw things you rented, but a lot of times when I get a share grid, I generally like uh sugar, I gotta get these lights out, I gotta uh you know, pack them up, I gotta inspect it's usually just for give it to you, then I gotta wait the next day, then I'm gonna reinspect them, put them back in the vein.
• 1:43:55
  Vipul Bindra: I've thought about it multiple times.
• 1:43:56
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, and and and then the thing you have to think is it costs you, I'm pretty sure, way more money, 300, 400 bucks, and then share grid after all the fees and things taken out, insurance taken out, then my they're cut.
• 1:44:07
  Vipul Bindra: I probably got 100 bucks.
• 1:44:09
  Vipul Bindra: And you know, as running even a video production company for a year, how easy is it to make 100 bucks as in like time-wise, if I spend that much time finding a client, I could make a lot more than 100 bucks, but I still do it because here's the thing I go to these other cities and I need equipment, and where do I find it?
• 1:44:27
  Vipul Bindra: Right, usually share grid.
• 1:44:28
  Vipul Bindra: I like uh uh getting it from other people, um, and then uh then rental companies.
• 1:44:33
  Vipul Bindra: So I feel like rental companies are standard kit versus with owners, you get what you actually need.
• 1:44:38
  Vipul Bindra: Sometimes they'll have accessories or whatever that you actually need, you know, um, then than what um a rental house would have.
• 1:44:45
  Vipul Bindra: They have a standard package typically, and I'm talking more complicated stuff.
• 1:44:49
  Vipul Bindra: Obviously, lights are the easy one.
• 1:44:50
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, but in general, what I'm saying is, and and so I do this because I realize that this is not a huge market, and a lot of people need some specific items like a car rig or some weird stands or knuckles or scissor mounts or whatever that most people don't have locally, so I don't mind helping people, but it's as a cost, right?
• 1:45:10
  Vipul Bindra: But the advantage is I get to make cool people, like I said, and it's not everyone that comes here and you know we just instantly connect or whatever.
• 1:45:16
  Vipul Bindra: I just trying to help them with no intention, but then you know, you meet people like you, you're like, hey, I'm doing this.
• 1:45:21
  Vipul Bindra: By the way, I have this client.
• 1:45:23
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, oh, awesome.
• 1:45:24
  Vipul Bindra: And I love that, you know, we started having instant business chat, and I was like, Look, uh, here's um, you know, the meetup, right?
• 1:45:30
  Vipul Bindra: Come to that, and then it's just you never know.
• 1:45:34
  Vipul Bindra: I'm saying something great comes out of that.
• 1:45:35
  Vipul Bindra: And then funny enough, one of my really good friends um was from ShareGrid.
• 1:45:40
  Vipul Bindra: He just wanted to rent a mic, and I met him just as a share grid person, you know.
• 1:45:45
  Vipul Bindra: He's like, I I want to try this mic out, and nobody else has that mic to rent.
• 1:45:49
  Vipul Bindra: Uh and I was like, Absolutely.
• 1:45:51
  Vipul Bindra: Then I was like, Oh, I also want a recorder because I don't have a recorder good enough to record.
• 1:45:55
  Vipul Bindra: So I purposefully added because a lot of stuff on my share grid just added, you know, because people ask, I was like, okay, let me add the recorder for you.
• 1:46:01
  Vipul Bindra: So I rented that to him, and then doing that after like a year, it's like, what do you do again?
• 1:46:06
  Vipul Bindra: And then you know, you start talking, you're like, Oh, I we should have just hired each other or whatever, right?
• 1:46:11
  Vipul Bindra: And then now we work a lot together.
• 1:46:13
  Vipul Bindra: So you never know, I'm saying what comes through.
• 1:46:16
  Vipul Bindra: And it could be even share grid, it could be another client, it could be another event.
• 1:46:21
  Vipul Bindra: And uh, like I said, now look at us, we're having a conversation here, and that's incredible.
• 1:46:26
  Vipul Bindra: I'm just happy to know you.
• 1:46:27
  Vipul Bindra: Also, you helped me.
• 1:46:29
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, if you remember when we did the van shoot initially in January, yeah.
• 1:46:33
  Vipul Bindra: So I had built this van and I was like, I wanna, I hate being on camera, but I was like, I want to show it, but I'll show it in a realistic setting.
• 1:46:40
  Vipul Bindra: It wouldn't be it'd be very rarely just me pulling all these carts out.
• 1:46:44
  Vipul Bindra: So I'm like, it's gonna be in a group setting.
• 1:46:46
  Vipul Bindra: So I asked you to come and you were kind enough to come and be in that video.
• 1:46:51
  Vipul Bindra: I really appreciate you putting your time into it.
• 1:46:53
  Vipul Bindra: That was such a fun day.
• 1:46:55
  Christopher Crompton: It was very fun, and I did not expect.
• 1:46:58
  Christopher Crompton: I think I don't know if you planned to do two cameras, or if you were like, well, we just have a second camera, so if somebody wants to pick it up, yeah.
• 1:47:06
  Vipul Bindra: No, I fully you were just ready to help out, you know.
• 1:47:10
  Christopher Crompton: I fully expected there to be like no B Cam footage in the edit, but I saw the edit.
• 1:47:16
  Christopher Crompton: I think Mario edited it, right?
• 1:47:17
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, I saw the edit, I was like, okay, okay.
• 1:47:19
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, no, you helped a lot, and that's what I'm saying.
• 1:47:22
  Vipul Bindra: That's what happens when there's no pre-production.
• 1:47:24
  Vipul Bindra: Because uh, to be real, I was literally even the day before getting the man ready.
• 1:47:28
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, and and and and I was just like, look, I need this, but I honestly need direction here because it's the opposite side of things, right?
• 1:47:37
  Vipul Bindra: It's easy.
• 1:47:38
  Vipul Bindra: Like you tell me, let's make this video.
• 1:47:40
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, awesome, I got it.
• 1:47:41
  Vipul Bindra: But there you go.
• 1:47:41
  Vipul Bindra: Versus, like, I need a video.
• 1:47:43
  Vipul Bindra: I'm the same way with my stuff too.
• 1:47:45
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, exactly.
• 1:47:45
  Christopher Crompton: You I'll uh I'll hire people to either concept social media stuff for me or take on that, yeah.
• 1:47:51
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, because it's easier, right?
• 1:47:53
  Christopher Crompton: For someone else.
• 1:47:54
  Christopher Crompton: So, anyway, at least and you get the experience on the other side.
• 1:47:57
  Christopher Crompton: I think that helps you with your client relationships in the future because now you know what it feels like to be on the other side.
• 1:48:03
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 1:48:03
  Vipul Bindra: And so you guys were awesome.
• 1:48:05
  Vipul Bindra: Like I said, you you were awesome to come by.
• 1:48:07
  Vipul Bindra: Not only did that, you were happy to like pick up a camera, you got some great shots, which Mario used to be at it.
• 1:48:14
  Vipul Bindra: Also, um uh who was it?
• 1:48:17
  Vipul Bindra: Somebody was directing me.
• 1:48:18
  Vipul Bindra: I don't know if it was you, I don't, it's been a while, but any anyway, somebody was uh I was like, somebody direct me because I have no idea what I do.
• 1:48:24
  Vipul Bindra: I felt you know, as soon as you put a camera, and that's again learning how to do it.
• 1:48:27
  Vipul Bindra: Mario was directing, yeah.
• 1:48:29
  Mario Rangel: Somebody was like, yeah, between everybody within you, me, Emmanuel.
• 1:48:33
  Mario Rangel: I mean also was uh I remember Quinton was there, Quintin, Juan, yeah.
• 1:48:38
  Vipul Bindra: Juan was good there too.
• 1:48:39
  Mario Rangel: Juan was the one with the camera, like shooting with it.
• 1:48:42
  Vipul Bindra: Juan had a camera too.
• 1:48:43
  Vipul Bindra: He was awesome.
• 1:48:44
  Vipul Bindra: Essentially, yeah, again, you know, it was just like people I know.
• 1:48:47
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, hey, who wants to come hang out and do a couple of a little shoot?
• 1:48:51
  Vipul Bindra: And I was amazed by uh who was it?
• 1:48:54
  Vipul Bindra: Quentin said it.
• 1:48:54
  Vipul Bindra: Somebody said to me, I was like, you got a lot of people here.
• 1:48:57
  Vipul Bindra: I was like, look, I just put out a thing, and I'm so again, I'm so grateful for everyone who showed up.
• 1:49:02
  Vipul Bindra: But I'm just saying, I didn't know.
• 1:49:03
  Vipul Bindra: I didn't know if it was gonna have one people or we're gonna have like a group of people.
• 1:49:07
  Vipul Bindra: And we had a huge turnout, and I was so happy.
• 1:49:09
  Vipul Bindra: This was like, guys, we gotta go have the video.
• 1:49:11
  Vipul Bindra: The video was great, yeah.
• 1:49:12
  Vipul Bindra: No, video came out amazing.
• 1:49:13
  Vipul Bindra: And that was shout out to you and Mario for the editing.
• 1:49:15
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, and you and everyone else who came out to help.
• 1:49:18
  Vipul Bindra: Um, and like I said, it made me feel comfortable because um it took me a little bit of effort to, you know, um be able to be comfortable and talk about what I'm doing, even though it was off the cuff.
• 1:49:29
  Vipul Bindra: And um, that kind of I think also sparked the whole YouTube thing that I'm doing.
• 1:49:34
  Vipul Bindra: Um, you know, where it was like, let me show you the studio, let me show you the cart, let me show you the audio.
• 1:49:39
  Vipul Bindra: Because the because I genuinely want to share, but I also am not the most comfortable in front of camera, but I think I have to do it enough to to get there, right?
• 1:49:48
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:49:48
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, because at the end they the way I approach it is like, hey, I've done this a few years now, I stumbled my way through here now.
• 1:49:55
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, why can't I help other people not have to do that?
• 1:49:58
  Vipul Bindra: If I can save anyone Some headaches, you know.
• 1:50:01
  Vipul Bindra: Not that you need my help, but if I could save you a little bit of time here or there, why not?
• 1:50:07
  Vipul Bindra: Why wouldn't I do it?
• 1:50:08
  Vipul Bindra: You know, at the end of the day, and you never know.
• 1:50:09
  Vipul Bindra: Like I said, you were gonna be making that next commercial, you need a DP.
• 1:50:13
  Vipul Bindra: It may come back, you know.
• 1:50:15
  Vipul Bindra: Not maybe not now, maybe a few years, or you're making a movie.
• 1:50:18
  Vipul Bindra: That's true.
• 1:50:19
  Christopher Crompton: I really do want to get into commercials.
• 1:50:21
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:50:21
  Christopher Crompton: Because I feel like you have uh a lot more, well, bigger budgets and you have more say in the storytelling.
• 1:50:29
  Vipul Bindra: It is awesome.
• 1:50:30
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, you have to obviously make a pitch deck and all that, you know.
• 1:50:33
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:50:34
  Vipul Bindra: Uh the other thing is, again, the way I see it, budgets are shrinking.
• 1:50:38
  Vipul Bindra: So you have to be very nimble.
• 1:50:40
  Vipul Bindra: You know, obviously you want bigger budgets, but the sad part is the budgets are shrinking.
• 1:50:45
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, I saw I can't remember if it was like a McDonald's commercial or something like that, but it was like 10, 12k for a commercial, which is crazy to think about, yeah.
• 1:50:55
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, I would say the the time of the million-dollar commercials is kind of going away.
• 1:51:00
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, they're still done for some Super Bowl stuff, but like most productions are like that 100k or less.
• 1:51:07
  Vipul Bindra: They're very nimble, and that's what kind of made my company towards, you know, when when people are like, what are you?
• 1:51:12
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like trying to predict.
• 1:51:14
  Vipul Bindra: And again, no, I have no, I don't know if I'm correct or not, but I'm predicting that that's where majority of the shoot's gonna be, and I want to be the one who can provide that.
• 1:51:23
  Vipul Bindra: I'm like, I want to have the nimble crew, like, hey, if you need grip, lighting, camera, sound in one package, one small van, you know, like yes, that's that's where I fit in.
• 1:51:32
  Vipul Bindra: And I that's at least where I see seeing is obviously it's uh still decent sized budgets.
• 1:51:37
  Vipul Bindra: I'm not saying 50 grand is no money, but I don't think three years, four years down the low, it's like there'll there'll be tons and tons of half a million dollar commercials.
• 1:51:47
  Vipul Bindra: There'll be few and far between, you know, most content is gonna be done at at a more lower price point.
• 1:51:55
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:51:55
  Vipul Bindra: Uh so if you're uh you know, if you're gonna you're gonna have the ability to basically, I'm saying, eke out every little thing from that 20k commercial, then you're high chance of being more successful than somebody who's like, oh, 20k is just my director's fee.
• 1:52:10
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:52:10
  Vipul Bindra: Sorry.
• 1:52:11
  Vipul Bindra: You know, I mean, uh, and then I don't know.
• 1:52:14
  Vipul Bindra: I don't know if that happens too often in Orlando.
• 1:52:16
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, not in Orlando, no.
• 1:52:18
  Vipul Bindra: But but major productions are not happening in Orlando.
• 1:52:20
  Vipul Bindra: So if you want to do commercial, you better get on a plane.
• 1:52:22
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:52:23
  Vipul Bindra: You know, is what I'm saying.
• 1:52:24
  Vipul Bindra: So uh to me, at least corporate and commercial filmmaking, I don't look at Orlando as my market.
• 1:52:31
  Vipul Bindra: I look at United States as my market.
• 1:52:33
  Vipul Bindra: Because most of my projects I'm just flying.
• 1:52:37
  Vipul Bindra: Uh uh most average projects are in Orlando are like 10k or less.
• 1:52:41
  Vipul Bindra: I have, I'm not saying uh I don't have.
• 1:52:44
  Vipul Bindra: I'm doing a 50-60 grid project right now in Orlando, so it's it's doable, but I'm saying those are again rare.
• 1:52:50
  Vipul Bindra: Most of my big projects are where I'm traveling.
• 1:52:53
  Vipul Bindra: Right.
• 1:52:53
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, because the client's like somewhere else, like you said, New York, California, or one of the or some weird states too, smaller states like you wouldn't think about because they just you're helping me open my mind.
• 1:53:05
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, you have to get a possibility endless.
• 1:53:07
  Vipul Bindra: You gotta, yeah, you gotta look more outside Orlando.
• 1:53:10
  Vipul Bindra: You pick a home base, which is good.
• 1:53:12
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, you're right.
• 1:53:13
  Vipul Bindra: Orlando's a smaller.
• 1:53:14
  Christopher Crompton: I love the idea of just like you know, emailing past connections I have until one day.
• 1:53:19
  Christopher Crompton: And you're right, because there eventually comes up that project that they're like, you know what?
• 1:53:23
  Christopher Crompton: I don't feel like there's nobody that I know right now that would happily take this project, but hey, Christopher's been emailing me.
• 1:53:30
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah, Christopher's like, oh, you know, you're like giving it away.
• 1:53:34
  Vipul Bindra: For this budget that we don't know how it's gonna happen, but yeah, and that and you already said you know how to make garbage into gold.
• 1:53:39
  Vipul Bindra: You lean into what makes you awesome.
• 1:53:42
  Vipul Bindra: So now also I know.
• 1:53:43
  Vipul Bindra: Let me go add in my catalog.
• 1:53:46
  Vipul Bindra: If I ever come somebody gives me garbage footage, I know who to call to make yeah.
• 1:53:50
  Christopher Crompton: No, I'm I'm taking myself away from from post for other people, but I would love to.
• 1:53:56
  Christopher Crompton: And I made I made really great money as an editor.
• 1:53:58
  Christopher Crompton: That's something that I had to break up with actually.
• 1:54:01
  Christopher Crompton: The last editing gig that I did, which was not too long ago, I made 6k for just like three days of editing.
• 1:54:08
  Vipul Bindra: That's not bad, actually, for an editor.
• 1:54:10
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, it's really good.
• 1:54:11
  Christopher Crompton: Pretty good, yeah.
• 1:54:11
  Christopher Crompton: It's really good.
• 1:54:12
  Christopher Crompton: And I had to be like, um, I think that eventually I can make more money as a video business owner if I give up on the editing side.
• 1:54:24
  Christopher Crompton: So that was tough.
• 1:54:25
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:54:25
  Vipul Bindra: No, I get it.
• 1:54:26
  Vipul Bindra: And then that's one of the things you have to let go.
• 1:54:28
  Vipul Bindra: And and doesn't mean you can't do your favorite projects, I guess, once in a while, but it just editing takes so much time.
• 1:54:35
  Vipul Bindra: That's my thing.
• 1:54:36
  Vipul Bindra: If you're trying to run a company, unless you're just running a post-production company, it can be really tough to run a company and edit at the same time.
• 1:54:44
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, so before we go, let's talk a little bit about pricing strategies.
• 1:54:48
  Vipul Bindra: What uh as after one year, what are you trying to price your projects as?
• 1:54:52
  Vipul Bindra: Um, and what's like range?
• 1:54:54
  Vipul Bindra: Because I know projects are different.
• 1:54:55
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, they're small, but what range are you trying to be at?
• 1:54:58
  Vipul Bindra: How are you what type try how are you trying to sell clients on that value?
• 1:55:02
  Christopher Crompton: Um, at least uh I am still figuring all of that out.
• 1:55:05
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah.
• 1:55:06
  Christopher Crompton: Yeah.
• 1:55:06
  Christopher Crompton: Um, but what I the projects that I am join enjoying right now are ones where I can have more of a career.
• 1:55:14
  Christopher Crompton: Okay.
• 1:55:14
  Christopher Crompton: Where I can bring on a DP, I can bring on an AC sound, hair and makeup, etc.
• 1:55:20
  Christopher Crompton: And so my pricing strategy has become okay, what do I need in order to fulfill those roles?
• 1:55:28
  Christopher Crompton: And then what kind of profit margin do I want to make?
• 1:55:31
  Christopher Crompton: Is it 20%, is it 30%, 40%, 50%?
• 1:55:34
  Christopher Crompton: Um and I'm trying to do that.
• 1:55:40
  Christopher Crompton: And so right now that is averaging between 8 to 12k is where that comes out after having that many crew members post-production, saving enough for myself.
• 1:55:51
  Christopher Crompton: Um, I'm only working with a couple of clients right now.
• 1:55:54
  Christopher Crompton: I'm not even thinking about how to sell to future clients.
• 1:55:58
  Christopher Crompton: So that's something that I've been telling myself this summer I'm gonna take some couple weeks off and like actually strategize.
• 1:56:04
  Christopher Crompton: Okay, what what is my offer to a potential client instead of clients just coming to me saying, Here's what we need, like what can I offer to like a brand new client?
• 1:56:14
  Christopher Crompton: That's something that I have not done yet, and I know it's very important.
• 1:56:17
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 1:56:18
  Vipul Bindra: Um, but we're getting there.
• 1:56:19
  Vipul Bindra: You'll get there.
• 1:56:20
  Vipul Bindra: But I mean, you're already killing it, and and ever since just even when I met you, uh, you're doing great, and you were obviously doing really great since you started.
• 1:56:28
  Vipul Bindra: See, that's the thing about it.
• 1:56:30
  Vipul Bindra: You just have to look at the bigger picture and uh kind of keep fine-tuning it until you get better and better and better and better.
• 1:56:37
  Vipul Bindra: And that's just like I think with anything, right?
• 1:56:39
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, but so far, uh, why that's why I wanted you here so people can listen from somebody.
• 1:56:44
  Vipul Bindra: You were great at something, but you you decided to, you know, step away from it to start just something new, and now look, you're finding success here too.
• 1:56:53
  Vipul Bindra: And I think that just shows uh what type of person you are.
• 1:56:56
  Vipul Bindra: And as long as I feel like people want to do it, that's the number one thing, the want.
• 1:57:02
  Vipul Bindra: And then put in the time and the effort and the energy.
• 1:57:05
  Vipul Bindra: It's not that hard.
• 1:57:07
  Vipul Bindra: It's the whole point of this, is like, you know, it's it's very doable, it's very, very, very achievable.
• 1:57:13
  Vipul Bindra: And uh I like about that is like you didn't even go outside your network.
• 1:57:18
  Vipul Bindra: You were already working in the church, you you just found connects there, and you were able to find you where you're making a good living, and not only yourself, you're hiring freelancers, so you're you're contributing to their incomes, um, you know, and uh you're making great products, so clients are probably making money from that, a ton of it.
• 1:57:36
  Vipul Bindra: So I think everyone wins, right?
• 1:57:37
  Christopher Crompton: And then uh uh Yeah, well, thank you for one having me, yeah, but two for giving me those information and insights that are so important and things that you've learned that have made you successful, yeah, and being open and honest with sharing that and not trying to hide it behind a paywall or something like that.
• 1:57:58
  Vipul Bindra: We don't sell anything here.
• 1:57:59
  Vipul Bindra: You know, that's been my struggle, and I don't know, I've talked about this again.
• 1:58:02
  Vipul Bindra: I want to really do like a because you know, to me, cinematography is mostly lighting, and uh a lot of deeps and gaffers don't really understand like deep concepts about lighting.
• 1:58:11
  Vipul Bindra: So I want to do a really next level, I'm talking more than basics level of course, and same thing.
• 1:58:16
  Vipul Bindra: I was like, I want to do it for free.
• 1:58:18
  Vipul Bindra: But then I was like, oh, but I only want to do it in an intimate setting, less than 10 people.
• 1:58:22
  Vipul Bindra: And I'm like, how do I limit it to the people who really want to learn?
• 1:58:25
  Vipul Bindra: And then the the everyone keeps telling me paywall it, paywall, and I'm like, but I don't want to charge, and that's why I haven't done it.
• 1:58:30
  Vipul Bindra: So I'm like, nobody's winning.
• 1:58:31
  Vipul Bindra: See, uh, because I was like, as soon as I put a price on it, then I feel like you know, if you can't afford it, then you can't come learn.
• 1:58:38
  Christopher Crompton: Uh so I don't know.
• 1:58:39
  Christopher Crompton: I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
• 1:58:41
  Christopher Crompton: Oh, I think the negative connotation with the paywall is often you're not really getting the value that you're paying for with a lot of these things that are being marketed towards us, but obviously with something, someone like you, you know you're gonna get yeah.
• 1:58:53
  Vipul Bindra: Well, but then it has to be somebody who knows me.
• 1:58:55
  Vipul Bindra: So how many people may not get that opportunity?
• 1:58:57
  Vipul Bindra: So that's why currently, at least, this has been the best format where I'm like, hey, look, we're gonna shoot the shit, we're just having fun, and there were, but there's so much golden nuggets that people can get out of this conversation.
• 1:59:06
  Vipul Bindra: I mean, already just you and me just talking, right?
• 1:59:09
  Vipul Bindra: How much information was in there, you know, um, and uh what not to do, what to do, and how to succeed.
• 1:59:16
  Vipul Bindra: Because to be honest, uh, like I said, you have huge value to provide to these people because like you did it, you're already doing it, and you're kind of successful, and you're only gonna keep getting successful with what you're doing.
• 1:59:27
  Vipul Bindra: And uh, yeah, this has been awesome.
• 1:59:29
  Vipul Bindra: It's always a pleasure talking to you.
• 1:59:32
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, so thanks for coming.
• 1:59:34
  Christopher Crompton: This has been so good.
• 1:59:35
  Christopher Crompton: I've learned so much, and hopefully, um, something I shared will help somebody.
• 1:59:40
  Christopher Crompton: We created something people can play in the background.
• 1:59:42
  Christopher Crompton: I've been all over, not only all over the country.
• 1:59:45
  Christopher Crompton: I've lived in LA, New York, Florida, Orlando, um, but I've been in a bunch of different parts of the industry and kind of done a full circle and then now doing it myself.
• 1:59:54
  Christopher Crompton: And I'm really enjoying it.
• 1:59:56
  Vipul Bindra: Can't wait to catch up with you in a season or two and see where where you are then, you know.
• 1:59:59
  Vipul Bindra: But do you stick with this so you move to something different and maybe one day you know direct a movie like you want to?
• 2:00:05
  Vipul Bindra: You never know, right?
• 2:00:06
  Vipul Bindra: I think it's gonna come.
• 2:00:07
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:00:08
  Vipul Bindra: It's definitely doable, or or at least help me on my movie.
• 2:00:11
  Vipul Bindra: Exactly.
• 2:00:11
  Vipul Bindra: I would love to, exactly.
• 2:00:13
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, because I think you you would make, like I said, a great person to to to have on set.
• 2:00:18
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah.
• 2:00:19
  Vipul Bindra: Uh thank you, Mario, like always, for making this happen.
• 2:00:22
  Vipul Bindra: Thank you guys.
• 2:00:22
  Vipul Bindra: Yeah, look, we will come up until next week.
• 2:00:24
  Vipul Bindra: Just joking.
• 2:00:26
  Vipul Bindra: Uh yeah, see you next week.
• 2:00:27
  Vipul Bindra: Uh, thank you again, Christopher.
• 2:00:29
  Vipul Bindra: It was a pleasure, and until next episode, see you again.
• 2:00:32
  Vipul Bindra: It's been Studio B Sessions with me, Bendra.