Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Watson.
Mike, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As a child, all I ever wanted to do was work in TV. Before video cameras were common, I used to interview my friends on cassette tape, then play them back as a radio show for other friends. By high school, I’d found some video equipment in the school library and started making weekly TV shows. In college, I majored in journalism and then made my way around the country working in TV news. Albuquerque, Denver, Atlanta… eventually finding my way to San Diego. After several years, I was recruited into TV production, and I was happy to escape the daily grind of news. I had always done a little freelance work on the side, but as the years went on I was getting more and more calls. Eventually, it got to a place where it was going to have to be one or the other – stop freelancing and focus on work, or quit my job and go out on my own. Ten years ago this month, my wife was seven months pregnant with my daughter, and I gave two weeks notice at work. That was the beginning of Video Approach!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Once word got out that I was out on my own, the phone was ringing off the hook. Within a few months, I couldn’t keep up with both the shooting and the editing. I knew of an intern for a different organization who was graduating and looking for a job. I told her I thought I could keep her busy a few hours a day for a week or two, while we worked through an editing backlog. She started on a Monday and never left – she was full-time immediately. She has since moved on, but the pace has never slowed.
Please tell us about Video Approach – what should we know?
My background in TV News is the key to our success. On TV, the story runs at 5 pm whether you’re ready or not. If you are waiting on a graphic or a particular shot, or if the editing process needs another hour… you are live at five regardless of all that.
Many of our competitors take weeks or months to produce the same videos we turn around in a few days. This is a huge savings both on timing, but also on cost.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
There are so many supporters that it would be hard to name them all. My wife, Music, and my daughter, Michaela who put up with my traveling a lot. My employees: Kami, who started it all, Caitlin, who sits and edits our video 8 hours a day, five days a week, and Melissa who is really the bread and butter that makes the vision come together.
The people I am really grateful for are the clients in the early years. Now that we have awards and credentials and a body of work, it’s less of a leap of faith to hire us. But that first year… San Diego REP, University of San Diego, San Diego Asian Film Festival, Art Institute, CCSA… you believed in me and supported me, and I could never find a way to thank you enough.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.VideoApproach.com
- Phone: 619-928-4336
- Email: mike@videoapproach.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videoapproach/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VideoApproach
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/videoapproach
- Other: https://vimeo.com/videoapproach
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