We were lucky to catch up with Clyde Bessey recently and have shared our conversation below.
Clyde, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?
What it takes to be successful is a broad question with several layers. In life, I believe it means living in alignment with your passion and your purpose, and in the film industry, it usually means making high quality content, both don’t always go hand in hand. We strive to bring both of these meanings into harmony: to create films at the highest level, while using intention to connect with others.
Storytelling at scale is a powerful thing, and we consider it our responsibility to tell authentic stories for brands and all of our partners. Being successful for us isn’t creating content that looks premium, even though it does, and it isn’t creating content that reaches the masses, even though it does. For us it means creating stories that make an impact first and foremost, and ensuring that the stories we’re telling are actually worth telling. We want to help people connect through shared experiences, and spreading messages that ring true. If the intention behind a film isn’t clear, it’s going to get lost in the noise.
The most successful projects have a clear purpose, and using all the tools of the medium to our advantage to help communicate that purpose is the goal. To balance our partner’s goals with what’s possible on a regular basis takes extreme discipline and focus, as well as a flexible mindset. Navigating such a tough industry is a challenge for anyone, and each day our team shows up with a mindset of belief in our ability to get it done under any circumstances. We strive to cultivate an environment that allows us to perform our best creatively and to feel free to explore different solutions for each problem until we find the right path. We’re a small team with big expectations, and I believe this underlying attitude is what allows us to achieve at such a high level.
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.
Origin Point is a modern creative agency that specializes in producing content that connects with audiences. We believe in the power of good storytelling, and our ultimate goal is to foster community through our work, to invite people in with entertaining work that cuts through the noise. We’re a turn-key solution from developing the initial concept through production and post, a creative partner for brands on the journey to bring content to life.
Years ago we initially began as the internal production team at RED Digital Cinema. During our time there we traveled the world developing our signature cinematic style, eventually winning a Webby Award for Best Branded Documentary Series with our work on the ‘RED Collective’. We learned to craft a big image from a small footprint, and as time went on our style evolved as the company continued to grow, telling bigger stories while staying true to our roots as storytellers.
After we branched off from RED, we began collaborating with brands in the film industry like Frame.io/Adobe, Zeiss, and the Hollywood Professional Association. And today, we’re proud to say our clients have grown to include some of the top companies in the world such as Netflix, Amazon, and National Geographic, as well as manufacturers like KitchenAid, Therabody, and BYTE.
That being said, we also love to produce content for brands and organizations that you may never have heard of, and that’s because we care deeply about stories that need to be told. Regardless of the scale of the project, we aim to create amazing content that makes an impact on the viewer, to be the Origin Point of change.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
The three founders of Origin Point are Andrea Bessey, Jason Mitcheltree, and myself, Clyde Bessey. We all met while working together at RED Digital Cinema in various departments, and it’s a story of being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. As RED was beginning to create it’s own content, we were brought together to form the internal production team to help realize the company’s goals for reaching filmmakers through their marketing.
Andrea has always been an all-star producer, no challenge is too big for her to take on, as the projects grew, so did Andrea’s determination to rise to the occasion. Jason is an incredible artist, he has an impeccable eye for cinematography as well as design, combined with his background in visual effects truly makes him a well-rounded creative director. My head is often in the clouds dreaming about the stories we’re telling and they usually bring me back to earth in a very balanced way which is why we’ve always made such a great team. A team synergy like ours is tough to find, and that dynamic grew into a deep friendship that gives us the strength to operate at a high level across all of our projects.
As RED grew, their need for an internal team was less important, and it was the perfect opportunity for us to begin working with other brands and telling broader stories, and that was when Origin Point was born.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
We treat every brand and partner that trusts Origin Point with the utmost care, because it truly means so much to us to have the opportunity to do what we love: to use our filmmaking skills to spread their message to the world.
The majority of our work comes through word of mouth, and the reason I believe we consistently get referred is because we believe in providing good customer service alongside the highest quality videos. There are a ton of filmmakers out there who can shoot a flashy film or edit a great video, but it’s the intangibles that really set our team apart. The flexibility to deal with a project that appears out of nowhere and the brand needs an idea yesterday. the patience to react when a deadline changes at the last minute. We maintain a calm, flexible, collected energy that helps us get through times like these as a team.
Making top tier content has become a standard we strive for, but being able to provide a smooth experience for everyone involved in an industry whose nature is inherently chaotic, I believe that’s what makes us stand out. From our creative partners all the way down to the PA’s and truck drivers, we treat everyone with respect throughout the entire process, and that’s something we’re incredibly proud of.
Contact Info:
- Website: originpoint.io
- Instagram: instagram.com/originpoint.io
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/originpoint.io/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hivemindfilms