We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ethan Milner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ethan , thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
It has been a blessing to achieve full time status as a creative! My journey started back in 2015 when I decided to take a videography class in high school. I had always had a big interest in Youtube and felt like the class would be a fun choice for an elective. Fast forward to graduation and I had developed a bit of a hobby for making videos. During this time I had found a creator on YouTube who I was fascinated and inspired by, his name was Casey Neistat. Neistat was known for making cinematic vlogs about his life as a creative living in New York City and traveling around the world. I fell in love with the lifestyle he had and the inspiring life lessons he shared in his content.
Fast forward another 2 years and after failing to find a major that fit my interests I dropped out of college. At this time in my life I adopted a completely different identity, one defined by defiance and free spiritedness. I no longer wanted my life to fit into the mold that society places on us. I had no fear of abandoning college, and with a chip on my shoulder and a burning passion to find my purpose I went all in on the artist lifestyle I had seen in Neistat’s videos.
At this time it was 2019 and my first move was buying a nice DSLR camera, just like the one Neistat used. From there I spent the rest of the year focusing on whatever made me happy and taking any chance I could get to use my camera. I bounced from part time job to part time job, all the while spending my free time teaching myself how to use my camera, watching hours of Youtube tutorials, and content from other various creators on the platform. Eventually I started to venture out into my home city’s creative scene, meeting lots of new people and developing my networking skills. I began by posting photos of myself and my girlfriend at the time on Instagram, and quickly fell in love with portrait photography, shooting local models and creatives. This is where I learned how to conceptualize creative ideas, and work with aesthetics. I learned how to style models and used lighting, props and color to expand my work, taking inspiration from other portrait photographers on social media. Within a year I had built a small local following. Shortly after I had the opportunity to shoot a wedding and various other photography projects. I would spend hours editing and photoshopping my photos in order to impress my audience on Instagram. I loved the niche that existed on the platform during this time, and was lucky enough to connect with various other photographers in my home city. I also picked up a part time job as a wedding photographer for a local company too at this time. I had used my growing photography knowledge to excel at this job.
After my stint in photography I realized I was ready to pursue the thing I had always wanted to do, making videos, and so at the start of 2020 I transitioned from portrait photography to video content for local recording artists. This transition fueled my passion even more. My following on Instagram kept growing and people were excited to see me produce both forms of content. At this point I had learned enough about basic camera skills and how to direct talent in front of the camera. I had bought a stabilizer for my camera midway through 2020 and shot my first music video for free for a friend of mine. I went all out on this first music video in hopes of attracting real clients. After I dropped the first music video I shot my second video for $200 shortly after and the rest was history.
I emphasized quality over quantity and put everything I had into each video, which allowed me to continuously up my prices. Within a month or so I was shooting a video every single weekend for $500. I used the power of social media to market and grow my new business’s reach, attracting new clients on a rolling basis. I didn’t just go through the motions on these first project’s though, I was obsessed with perfection and quality. I did literally anything I could to improve and make each video better than the previous. I spent so much time through my life up to this point watching YouTube videos, and specifically music videos that I had a large bank of visual inspiration sitting in my head to pull from. I met a couple of talented local artists and began shooting consistently with them, moving deeper into the music industry. Before long I was shooting any type of content that had to do with music. I got into clubs for free after connecting with several dj’s and shot videos for them as well, all the while continuing to build my online presence and social network in my home city. I quickly realized there were lots of artists in my city longing to become famous, all lacking quality music videos. I had stumbled across a great market and for the next year I put my head down and worked my ass off. I would edit during the week and shoot 3 day videos during the weekend, consistently.
Fast forward to 2021 and I had built a solid reputation for being an amazing videographer in my city and had progressed extremely fast. I loved music and I was addicted to making videos to it. I kept shooting only music videos for the next year and a half. Throughout my time I worked tirelessly to keep my momentum and progression going. My motto quickly became quality over quantity. I did my best to avoid taking too many jobs and spreading myself thin as well, constantly having to explain to my artists “why shoot two average videos when you can have one amazing video”. Throughout 2020 and 2021 I had racked up an impressive reel of visuals, a reel that exceeded all of my competition and earned me a reputation as being the very best in my niche. I simply just went all out, above and beyond. I didn’t care how much money it took or how much I was making, I just cared about making a video that people would watch and say “wow”. I wanted to knock people off their feet with my work. Average or mediocre didn’t exist for me.
In 2021 I had to learn that my my hobby wasn’t just a hobby anymore, I was making a full time living and had to learn the business side of things. I had turned myself into a talented and driven artist, but had to start learning how to be the CEO of my own company, emphasizing more than just making art. The basic principles of running a business like customer service, writing contracts, staying organized with client payments, getting an LLC, etc all where things I had to learn and am still learning to this day.
Towards the end of 2021 I found myself struggling to outdo my work without landing higher paying clients, and my work became all about money and marketing myself to find higher paying clients. I had hit a ceiling in my home city. This is when I realized I needed to find a better market full of clients that would pay higher prices for my quality. In the fall of 2021 I decided I would be moving to LA, and after saving up for several months I did just that, packing all my belongings up into my car and driving 23 hours to LA. I had to leave all of my progress in my home city behind, taking a big gamble in hopes of getting to the next level.
Now, in current day I look back at my journey to becoming full time creative with pride. It takes tenacity, intense focus, passion and a bit of raw talent to get to this level. Looking back, I had to sacrifice a lot in order to put myself in the position I am in now. I believe I had the raw talent and an eye from day 1. The things I wished I had focused more on were the business side of things. As a full time creative it can be a struggle to switch gears from being a right brain artist, to a left brain business manger. Either way I am proud of my start as a full time creative. I have a great future ahead of me in the music industry. I started because I just wanted to be happy and enjoy a hobby, and I continue today because I have found my purpose and plan to live the rest of my life out through it.
Ethan , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a 24 year old creative born in Silver Springs, Maryland and raised in the affluent suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri. I am an energetic and talkative spirit with a great childhood, one full of sports and entertainment. I remember falling asleep to loud music coming from my iHome speaker in middle school. Some of my fondest memories where when I got my first iPod nano and had convinced my dad to finally pay 99 cents for my favorite song on iTunes at the time, and when I used my families video camera to make YouTube tutorials. I loved music, Youtube and dancing. One of my favorite movies growing up was Step up 3.
I was blessed to attend a great school system, getting the opportunity to find my passion for cinematography at a special program my school district offered to Junior and Seniors in High School. It was there that I was able to work with professional filmmaking equipment and further my passion. Then after dropping out of college after 2 years I dove head first into the artist lifestyle of traveling the world and creating art full time as a filmmaker. I took a risk and pursued a passion.
Currently as a full time music video director and cinematographer I give my clients a chance to be seen and heard and to be taken seriously as recording artists. I create stunning visual art that helps recording artists cultivate their public image, something that is very powerful in music. I set myself apart by my attention to detail, quality, and creativity. I make sure each music video I produce is something that will grab its viewers attention and leave them with a lasting impression.
I am most proud of my willingness to go above and beyond in order for the viewers of my client’s videos to say “wow”. I will do just about anything it takes to get the shot I need and to get my clients the recognition they deserve. I am a firm believer in quality over quantity as well, this is the motto I have stuck by my entire career. I take the mindset that each project I get the opportunity to work on could and will go viral. I am unmotivated by simply meeting quotas or shooting a video just to get it done and get paid. My passion is fueled by artists and clients that can match my level of tenacity and who are willing to trust and respect my process in order to create meaningful and impactful art. I love the relationships I have built with my clients over the years. Building lasting relationships with my clients is a big priority of mine at the moment.
My business’s name is GLDN BOY FILMS. I got the name from hearing clients constantly react to my work by saying “that’s golden”. I take pride in being the very best at what I do, and strive to constantly improve my work in order to become the best creative and more importantly, best person I can be. I believe kindness and generosity are the most important things in this industry. I am pushing to cultivate a positive and inspiring atmosphere surrounding my brand, one that can inspire others to be fearless and go after their own passions in life, as well as promote a positive image within the music industry, bringing music lovers and film lovers together.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is to become the very best at what I do. I am motivated by constantly and consistently improving in order to one day be considered to very best at what I do. I am also motivated by the lifestyle I want to create for myself. One that is full of happiness, kindness, travel, and music. I am also motivated by the impact my work has on others. I want to make people feel emotions. I want my work to have a profound and positive impact on peoples lives, so that I can look back and feel that I have made a difference in peoples lives.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Currently, my pivot is in the form of pausing my pursuit of being a freelancer and taking time to work for a company and have a bit more structure in my life. With the current state of the economy in the summer of 2022, inflation and the cost of living a big problem, I need the benefits that come with having an employer. This will also allow me to learn valuable skills that I otherwise may miss out on being self employed. I hope to leverage both opportunities to further my career and allow myself more freedom.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gldnboyfilms.com
- Instagram: @thegldnboy @gldnboyfilms
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZtCtFyLFQI3kBK_P0jzyPA
- Other: YouTube: GLDN BOY FILMS
Image Credits
Greg Rubbert