We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Edgar Romero. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Edgar below.

Alright, Edgar thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

On the surface our job as visual media artist is to provide entertainment, to influence, to invoke emotion, to change the world around us through the stories we tell. That is why we go to such lengths to choose the best actors/actresses, locations, cameras, etc. With this approach one can make a significant impact through their own work, even through other mediums.

In 2021, my non-profit client faced a unique obstacle: due to Covid 19 restrictions, in person gatherings were not allowed, thus forcing them to alter their approach to how they will hold a fundraiser event for that year. Enter my company, Studio 495, proposing to launch a video premiere in place of their fundraiser event. We drafted creative briefs in collaboration with the client. The plan: produce a 22 minute video hosted by key individuals within their organization to share success stories, impacts, and ultimately ask for donations. Guided by my unique approach, I made it my missions and desire to tell these stories well.

Come premiere night, I was excited yet nervous at the same time since we’ve put a lot of work into this project. Thankfully, the premiere was met with praise and appreciation. The video helped fundraise $269,154. The stories I helped my client tell did exactly what I intended it to do: entertain, influence, invoke emotion, and change the world around us.

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

I was a bit lost as a teenager. Growing up first generation Latino American, a racially ambiguous boy in a single parent household, I had very little hope for myself. My only escape was skateboarding in Downtown Silver Spring, MD, where I spent hours everyday roaming through skate spots with my best friends. The constant rhetoric “do what you love” influenced me to launch a skateboarding business at the age of 15, funded by my earnings from lawn mowing gigs, thankfully, at a time when content creation wasn’t mainstream. I quickly learned that marketing was going to be the most vital component to growing my business.

With a small little Canon Rebel T4i, an old Acer laptop, and Sony Vegas Pro editing software (hacked version), I dedicated myself to learn filmmaking and photography for the simple purpose of promoting my business. Through this experience I developed a passion for visual media because of the real world impact I was making. My content reached places around the U.S, to places like Brazil and Barcelona. Other kids like myself emailing me to buy my skateboards. It was great. However, my drive for skateboarding dwindled over the years but my passion for filmmaking continued to grow. It’s what made me feel useful to this world, it was the light I needed to push me forward.

I’m 12 years into this industry, where as a video production agency my team provides the full scope of service. End to end video production services from conceptualization to distribution and everything in between. A client can come to me with a goal they want to achieve, from making an elaborate company presentation to investors, to creating a marketing video to help drive sales, I strategize how we can help them achieve those goals. In the end, our services make a perpetual impact that lasts indefinitely and without interruption if necessary.

I believe what sets me apart is a deep emotional intelligence I’ve developed over the years, which I use to craft compelling stories. Furthermore, I am supported by a highly creative and diverse team dedicated and driven to produce exceptional work. Our commitment is to show clients that achieving their goals doesn’t have to break the bank, we provide cost-effective methods without compromising quality or creativity (just don’t expect Quentin Tarantino on a $500 budget lol).

It’s my team’s commitment to authenticity in storytelling, filmmaking, and creativity that I am most proud of. We prioritize helping our clients achieve their goal, striving to deliver services that truly make a difference. And on a deeper level, I will continue to invest in the filmmaking community, offering mentorship to aspiring filmmakers and contracting opportunities to professionals. I’m driven about increasing diversity in our field, actively working to provide opportunities because within our community, not only is there talent, there’s a wealth of untold stories waiting to be shared, and I am dedicated to bringing them to life.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

In my field, I’ve realized that people want to feel useful in addition to being rewarded their worth. From managing the process in the office, to directing on set, it’s important for me to understand each person. This includes their drive, aspirations, motivations, personality, but most importantly, their strengths and weaknesses. With a respect the workplace heir-achy, but still treating everyone equally, I put people in a place where they will succeed, or at the very least likely to succeed with some guidance. It’s important to foster the belief that it takes a team to execute the project successfully, and everyone plays a vital role in that process.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

It starts with a commitment to connecting with your community. An inherent desire to build relationships mixed with a profound ability of understanding and patience has helped me succeed in fostering brand loyalty. I research the organizations that I work with, I personalize messages, and I ask important questions. It’s important for me to approach my business relationships from a place of support rather than where I will get my next paycheck.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Studio-495.com
• Instagram: @shotbyromero_ (likely to change but will leave it for now)
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edgar-romero-4b690b93/

Image Credits
Image credits: Edgar Romero