Today we’d like to introduce you to Shayn Mitchell.
Shayn, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born here, Camp Pendleton to be exact, my dad was a marine, but left me, my brothers and my mother when I was four. I grew up fast, helping to raise my brothers as my mother battled with depression and addictions. At 12, I entered the workforce, at 16 I joined the Army and found myself in bootcamp at just 17 years old. By 18, I was living in Germany as part of the 1st armored division. At 20, I got married just after returning from a deployment to Kosovo, then leaving the army at 21. I left the military shortly after 9/11 and struggled to adjust to civilian life this found me homeless with my wife and a newborn son. I worked two part-time and one full-time job while going to school just to keep a roof above us and food on the table.
I got burned out and decided to find a better job, just 1. After a short stint as a car salesman, I landed a job with a local company that utilized the skills I learned in the Army and soon after, I was the companies shop foreman. Soon I found a better job at SAIC then an even better one Working as a Senior engineer all over the world! I have been to some amazing places, more countries than I can remember. In 2007 a group of friends and I decided to make a movie, none of us with any experience what so ever. We bought a bunch of expensive equipment and made it happen. I’m still impressed with what we did. you can find it on YouTube “Fistfull of Flapjacks.” I was hooked and fell in love with film making and soon I was building and flying drones and attaching cameras to them.
Eventually, I found myself getting divorced and my Ex returning to Germany. I was raising two young boys on my own. Luckily I have friends and family but I had to stop traveling for work, and with the travel taking a toll on my health, I left and started my first company “Drone Cameraman” which I still run today. As I grew, I wanted to start branching out and offering video production, however with all the drone branding, I was limited and I started forming the basis of Cypher Studios in November of 2017. With the encouragement of some close friends in the industry, Jacob Patrick, Samuel Davis III, Kellie O. Davis, and my Brother Dustyn Elkins. I built out the first studio location with a shoestring budget, I put together a sound stage and podcasting studio, however I shared the space with my brother’s construction company and the location was not the best.
In Sept 2019, I looked for and found the perfect location for a new studio, after some negotiation I secured the lease on the current studio. Unfortunately, the building needed considerable updates, after a short stint as an illegal dispensary raided by the police, I had my work cut out for me. I roped in my brother and another friend (Steven Porter) and we built a studio complete with a main studio with green cyc wall, a white endless wall, a sound recording booth and we are finishing up on our newest studio that will be for podcasting both audio and video have a modern office/studio look. We opened doors of the new studio to the public in January 2020, closed doors the first week of March, as things slowly opened up in late June, we offered the only completely contactless studio where we controlled the cameras from another room and the studio was sanitized. Its been a slow reopening as it is for most business’ during this pandemic but we are here and we are open for business and ready to help anyone who wants to be creative.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No, its been quite a learning curve, developing something that didn’t exists before. Blending the shared workspace concept with a studio for creatives is new and has yet to catch on. The first location didn’t pan out and I had to completely start over and just after opening, we are hit with COVID 19.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Cypher Studios story. Tell us more about the business.
Cypher studios is a local studio for local creatives and business professionals. Built to be full DIY to done for you. Our spaces are for use by the hour. Use it one time or get a monthly membership and get access as needed at a discounted rate. We have Studio A which contains a sound-treated, pre-lit 12×8 green cyclorama, a 16-foot endless white wall with backdrop bar.
Our sound booth which is a sound-treated room for recording vocals or music. Studio B, a 14×16 studio set, a pre-built modern-looking room set for video and audio podcasting. With this comes a conference room and full editing station. As a company, we offer an affordable alternative for creatives, business owners or Entrepreneurs. We offer a plethora of services from fully assisted to fully done for you. From creative development and content creation to social media management and social media marketing, we are a one stop shop.
We are currently a small team and as we grow to meet the demand, we hope to expand our locations further and further out. What sets us apart is, we are not here to just offer a one time service we are here to grow with our clients, once the restrictions of the pandemic start to be lifted, we will once again offer classes and meetups and hosting community events that help to uplift and inspire creativity. We have a program in development to offer internships to at-risk youth and veterans. We have so much more we want to do to give back as long as we survive the struggles of the pandemic.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I am not a full believer in luck, if its there it hasn’t been my best friend. Everything I have to this day has been earned through my efforts and abilities. I mean, I have been homeless three times in my life, grew up in total poverty and work every day towards my dreams. I work seven days a week 10 to 18 hour days. It’s not luck its hard work and dedication to your dreams.
Contact Info:
- Address: 925 S orange St
Escondido CA 92025 - Website: https://cypher-studios.com
- Phone: 760-933-9696
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @Cypher-Studios
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CypherFilmStudios/
Image Credit:
Cain gessek, Karen Cox
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
