We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brad Etter. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brad below.
Alright, Brad thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Star Potential Media was created for multiple reasons. The first was to simplify and streamline the social-first video production process. As producer/social manager and director/shooter/editor for a smorgasbord of clients over the years, my business partner Julia and I saw that many brands, businesses, and influencers were hard-pressed to find the jacks- and jills-of-all-trades of production that they needed in order to develop their brands creatively and meaningfully online while keeping their marketing budgets low.
Another reason we created Star Potential Media was to celebrate the freelance creative. Having built many digital empires from the ground up, Julia and I know all too well just how much time, effort, and creativity goes into amassing an audience for a brand or personality. Hence our motto “it takes one to make one.” That’s why our secondary goal – once we start to expand, that is – is not only to secure our boutique production teams consistent work, but to flip the camera and chronicle the magic of the production process in our own internally-produced docustyle series. Our message? The people behind the camera are the real stars!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
To this day, people give me a blank look when I use the term “social-first video” to describe my industry. Basically, social-first video is content created specifically for social media platforms rather than web or traditional outlets like film and television.
I got into social-first video well before it was a thing – and well before I thought it could ever be considered a profession. Basically, shortly after graduating high school in 2008, I started shooting and editing comedy sketches specifically for YouTube and Facebook and built a following in my community that way. This penchant for social video blossomed alongside an intensive college education in film directing.
And it was these two distinctly different yet interwoven passions that led me to start a freelance career of directing cinematic content for YouTubers upon moving to LA in 2010. Shortly thereafter, social video became a huge thing and suddenly terms like “sponsored content” and “influencer” were part of the public lexicon. LA in particular was taken by the influencer influenza. Needless to say, I haven’t stopped working with digital creators since!
After years of experience in this emerging field, I decided I wanted to become a business owner. One day I had a lightbulb moment: what if there was a comprehensive menu of packages and memberships for people looking to try on social video for their brands or businesses and see if it sticks? Not only that, what if this company took the best of both worlds and applied a traditional Hollywood-style production approach to digital content?
Upon joining forces with my business partner Julia, I saw very quickly that this model provided a product that people didn’t even know they wanted or needed. We saw how many entrepreneurs and business owners were desperate to turn away from outdated marketing schemes in favor of a more authentic approach to the advancement their business aspirations. And the beautiful thing about content? It is diverse as those aspirations and the people who have them! That’s what makes creating it so much fun.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I met my cofounder and business partner Julia Steinberg on the set of a music video – she was an extra and I was the director/shooter. Following the project, Julia decided that she wanted to get more involved in producing due to the fact that the project was so disorganized on the production side of things. So we decided to team up as a producer-director duo on music videos and social content… and the rest is history!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn the precept that creatives are not good in business. Conversely, when I was able to de-condition from this idea, I saw that my focused creativity was really the driving force behind my “business brain.” Marketing and strategy are fundamentally creative endeavors, and it takes true creativity and originality to motivate the quality of left-brained thinking that makes one stand out in business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://starpotentialmedia.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/starpotentialmedia
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093522043886&name=xhp_nt__fb__action__open_user
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/star-potential-media-llc
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@starpotentialmedia?si=MMBYiGJo66mnOQr9
Image Credits
Kevin Bard