Posted by Travis James Annabel Leaving the security of a full time job to start your own company is without a doubt daunting as both Chris and myself discovered when we started Motion Factory. So why do it? We both enjoyed what we were doing in our full time jobs prior to starting Motion Factory, and what we were doing was in fact not too dissimilar to what we do with Motion Factory; that is, video production. The reason isn’t that easy to articulate, however it’s fair to say there’s no one reason – there is, in fact, many. First up, there’s the whole exciting prospect of being your own boss. Get into work when you want, leave when you want, grab yourself a cup of coffee when you want. And it’s true – being your own boss affords you more personal freedom.
Secondly, there’s the concept of your own work being responsible for generating revenue not for some faceless group of shareholders or company directors. Rather the work you do is responsible for generating revenue for yourself. Thirdly, there’s the concept of doing the work you want to do, rather than the work you have to do. True to a certain extent, however, the second point of revenue generation largely dictates what work you do – let’s face it, very few start-ups have the capital to turn down real work of any kind. For both Chris and I however, it was a real passion for filmmaking that saw us start Motion Factory. For as long as either of us can remember, we’ve had a passion for film and video, and breaking into the industry really was a dream come true for both of us. But there’s only so far your passion will take you when you’re working for someone else. Starting Motion Factory was, for us, a way to spread our wings. It was a way for us to explore the art of filmmaking and videography without boundaries. Regardless of whether that work is commercial or editorial, we are afforded a luxury that few filmmakers who work for a company (be it commercial or otherwise) experience – the complete lack of rules. Frank Capra, the director of the classic American film It’s a Wonderful Life once said "There are no rules in filmmaking. Only Sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness". I think, that in this modern world where social media is god, and the internet rules supreme, Capra’s quote is now more relevant than ever. There’s just so much content available to us, whether that’s commercial content or otherwise. These days, dullness is not tolerated. Haven’t been engaged by the first three seconds of a YouTube video? Click onto the next one. A sponsored Facebook post not grabbing your attention? Keep on scrolling. When it comes to filmmaking or videography in the present day, a willingness to throw out the rule book in order to create engaging video content is absolutely paramount. And that’s why we had to start Motion Factory – it gave us the freedom we needed to become better filmmakers. No rules, no boundaries, no dullness.
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BLOG AUTHORS:Chris ThomsonProducer, videographer, editor - Motion Factory's Director of Photography has a huge passion for film making. Travis james annabelFilmmaking has been a passion of Trav's for as long as he can remember. Archives
February 2018
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