We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adam Grossman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Adam, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Happy to say all the projects I work on have meaning for me.

One that really sticks out is the work I’ve done with Paws For Life. A unique dog rescue program in Los Angeles, Paws For Life started as prison experiment over 10 years ago.

The novel idea was that dogs would be rescued from shelters where they were scheduled for euthanasia and brought to Lancaster Prison to be trained by inmates serving life sentences. The incarcerated men, many of whom hadn’t seen a dog in over 20 years, had to qualify for the program where they were trained by professional dog trainers and began working with the dogs intensively.

The results were remarkable. The dogs received incredible training that made them extremely adoptable. Hundreds of dogs were saved. But something unexpected happened as well: the inmates grew in ways they had not imagined— reconnecting emotionally, shedding prejudices, finding purpose. I led a team to tell this story and create a video to raise awareness and funding. We filmed in the prison, conducted multiple interviews, and saw this amazing work first hand. It was one of the most unusual and rewarding projects I’ve worked on.

Paws For Life has grown into a multi-faceted training and rehabilitation program. Its main headquarters in Mission Hills offers free dog training for the community and continues to rescue at-risk dogs from all over the country. Remarkably, some of the formerly incarcerated men have had their sentences commuted because of the great work they’ve done and the Mission Hills facility offers employment for them as they transition back into society.

This story continues to unfold as Paws For Life expands its programs. I feel fortunate to be able to make a small contribution by sharing it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started Good Dog Media during the Writers Strike of 2008. I had been working as a director and writer for film and TV for a number of years and decided to try something new with behind-the-scenes (BTS) video. The demand was high as magazines were venturing into ways of creating an online presence and I produced video content for Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue, Smithsonian, AARP, and others for several years. The assignments included celebrity interviews along with coverage of editorial and commercial projects— and the experience was invaluable in terms of working with smaller budgets while maintaining quality.

The key to any successful business is centered in being adaptive and I learned how important it is to pivot when the landscape shifts. I found that growing Good Dog Media meant branching into more commercial projects— promotional video content for businesses and organizations. We still do editorial projects on occasion, but most of our work is about helping companies and organizations tell their stories in compelling ways.

What sets Good Dog Media apart is a focus on authenticity. We connect with audiences because we present a company in a way that is immediately relatable— whether the goal is expanding client base, attracting top talent, or enlisting investors.

We are truly business agnostic— working with luxury manufacturers, professional services, schools, non-profits. I love doing this work because the subjects are always changing and the people I work with are amazing and enriching. Everyone has a story and we feel that matters.

Any advice for managing a team?

Producing is a team effort. We are a team of storytellers and I see my job as Producer/Director largely as making sure we’re all focused on the same story. I’ve found that the best results come from hiring the best team possible and treating them with the respect they deserve. We work hard and we enjoy achieving good results together as a team.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I started Good Dog Media about 20 years ago as a BTS (Behind The Scenes) production company specializing in content for magazines. There was a high demand for it as publications established themselves as online entities. I did all the BTS work for Vanity Fair and a number of other Condé Nast publications for 8 years or so and it looked like it wasn’t ending.

Until it did.

Condé decided to create their own in-house production entity called Condé Digital and I suddenly had a lot less work. What do you do in a situation like that? You have to pivot. In my case, I pivoted toward more commercial work— specifically helping companies tell their stories.

My biggest take away from that experience has been to start the pivot earlier and continuously look for ways to expand and venture into new areas.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.good-dog-media.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gooddogmedia/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gooddogmedia/