Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Martelli.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My brother Matt and I have owned and operated Mad Media since 1995. Our story really begins with the Helix High School graphic arts ROP program that was run by Rick Benson and Rick Dirk back in the early 90’s. The class taught both design and operation of printing presses but was an unofficial art history class as well. It was way ahead of its time – and was one of the first programs in the city to utilize Macintosh computers and version one of Photoshop.
After Helix, my brother and I attended Palomar College, which also had a very progressive graphic design program under Neil Bruington. It was an incredible program for honing our design chops, and today they have an equally impressive video production department under Wade Rollins. All of the current Mad Media film production staff were at one time students of Palomar.
We spent ten years servicing skateboard companies like Osiris Shoes, Expedition One, and trade magazine powerhouse Transworld Media. That led to a friendship with Ken Block who was a co-founder of DC Shoes. Ken invited us to film some of his rally racing adventures with the Subaru Rally Team / Travis Pastrana – and within a few short years, we were producing and directing car commercials for Subaru of America. We also worked with Ken on a project called “Gymkhana” – which led to us producing and directing three short films that amassed well over 100 million views. That really put us on the map in the automotive world between 2006 and 2010.
In 2012 we purchased The Mint 400 – America’s oldest off-road race – and have spent the last six years rebuilding it into a cultural phenomenon. Jay Leno, The Diesel Brothers, Bill Compton, Patrick Dempsey, Jesi Combs, and Dax Shepard are just a few of the celebrities that have raced the Mint in the past five years. We now attract well over 35,000 to Vegas each March to compete in twenty-two classes of off-road vehicles. Our production arm, Mad Media has been instrumental in producing over six years of uninterrupted television coverage of the Mint. There have been several important themes or mantras in our business that have led to our success as a company.
First and foremost there’s no replacing hard work. Since we operate in San Diego and compete with agencies and film groups in LA we have to hustle. We have to give our clients a reason to keep coming back to us. That means long hours and lots of extra effort. We don’t cut corners and we don’t shy away from doing things the right way.
Another important part of our company culture is the total lack of fear to try new things. To not be intimidated by new technology, or new areas of growth. Whatever we can dream up with our clients we attack with a ferocity that most groups simply don’t enjoy as part of their core culture.
Has it been a smooth road?
Oh, it’s never “smooth”. There are always bumps in the road. Mistakes happen. The key is learning from them and not repeating them. We’ve been sued, had to sue others – which is always a drag and never really amounts to a winner in the end. We’ve taken on partners that ultimately didn’t work as hard as us and had to let them go. We had to weather the economy when the recession hit. All you can do in those situations is focus on the next most important thing for your business and trust in each other. And simply never give up.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Mad Media story. Tell us more about the business.
Mad Media is a full-service video production group, marketing and advertising agency, and design group all rolled into one. We focus on cultures we are part of in our personal lives. We’re car guys, off-roaders, responsible gun owners, outdoors people, surfers, Mtn bikers, etc.. so we seek out clients in those areas because we pride ourselves on being cultural experts.
Most proud of?
In the past five years, I would say our work on the “XP1K” franchise for Polaris. We’ve produced four films for Polaris Industries for their “RZR” line of cars featuring professional off-road racer RJ Anderson. They’ve been viewed millions and millions of times all over the world and it’s been a keystone for Polaris in their war with the competition in the power sports / UTV market. So to be able to produce such wildly successful videos as a team is just awesome. We all take a lot of pride in our work.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Camera and video technology will continue to improve – but it will no longer be a game of who has the best “toy”. The fanciest camera that shoots the highest resolution, for example. That won’t win clients in the future. The things that were ALWAYS important will remain important such as storytelling, lighting, audio, editing… It’s great that it’s never been easier to produce good-looking content and there and many many more ways to distribute it.
BUT – the old school rules about storytelling and design for film and TV still apply. I think we’re going to continue to see an explosion in distribution platforms like Netflix and Amazon – I see Walmart getting into the content game soon. Really anyone with millions of customers… And I think groups like us that have been producing branded content for twenty years will be perfectly positioned to take advantage of it.
Contact Info:
- Address: 403 Wisconsin Avenue Suite H
Oceanside CA 92054 United States - Website: www.madmedia.com
- Phone: 619-921-9196
- Email: josh@madmedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madmedia/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madmediadesign/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/madmedia?lang=en
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mad-media-oceanside
- Other: https://vimeo.com/madmedia
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