We were lucky to catch up with George Valenzuela recently and have shared our conversation below.

George, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

The way I came up with the idea of becoming a videographer is not conventional, to say the least. I would describe it as a “solution”, because at the time I had a personal problem. I was in my late thirties when I discovered that I had a sleeping disorder, now I did not know this at the time when I decided to dabble into videography. My decision was made when I thought that I had early symptoms of dementia. The reason for this is my constant memory problems. I remember getting into an argument with an employee of a store. Telling him I was outside of the store ready to pick up the order I made online. This person kept telling me that I was not there. As we argued I realized that I was lost, this was the scariest moment of my life! How can a young guy like me lose his mind? Here is another example, I like building things so I have tools and one of my favorite brands of tools is Dewalt. I really don’t know if it is because of their reliability or because of the yellow and black color combination that attracts me to this tool brand, but I like them a lot! This memory thing got so bad I could not recite my favorite brand of tools to an employee of a hardware store. I remember asking God for a solution because I was scared out of my mind. The way God answered my prayer makes me believe that God has a sense of humor! My prayer was answered through a memory. Really God I can’t remember anything but my solution to this problem was a memory, WOW GOD! Till this day I don’t remember where I got this from or the details of what I watched or read for that matter. All I remember is how folks that had lost their mind like what happens when you have dementia were getting short recollection of their memory back to them. These glimpses of memories were coming back when listening to a song or smelling scent. So the songs they heard and the smell of the scent triggered their memory to come back either to the date of that specific recollection or a glimpse of their person. So I bought a GoPro and started to film my family vacations, the kids flag football and all of our activities. My attempt was to create triggers that would bring my memory back in the off chance that I lose my mind. I filmed everything, to the point that my family started to call me TIO GOPRO. Some tried to hide from my camera, but I pretended like I did not get the hint, LOL! I had all this footage and wanted to make an entertaining video summarizing each experience with songs and effects like a homemade blockbuster. This is when I started to dabble with cameras and editing programs, filming theories, lighting and all of the above. I started to post my videos to Facebook. After a while of editing and filming and posting my fist client approached me by asking if I would be willing to film and edit a video for them and that they would pay me. I said to myself, “am I really that good that someone would pay me?” And the answer to this question was YES!
so B Reel Studio was born. So to honor God’s answer to my prayer, in the spirit of God’s wittyness my logo is an actual picture of my family watching a sunset while vacationing in California and it was filmed on a GoPro!!

Yes I still own GoPro cameras! But my commercial work is done on a professional camera not a GoPro! LOL!

I really don’t know how to end this post! I guess I would end this by saying thank you God for what you have shown me to be possible! And I would encourage anyone that your dream could be as close as a problem away. So enjoy the problems that you have because these problems could be the beginning of a solution that will benefit your future clients!!

George, 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?

After my first client approached me to request my services of creating a promotional video for their business and had time to recap my experience from start to finish, I discovered that I fell in love with film production. It is never the same thing I could be doing a commercial or a training video or a short documentary, making my cinematography unique to my client’s needs. I have also learned to create non-scripted videos in situations that my client does not have a scripted. Which is much needed when helping clients that don’t have the resources to hire a professional actor and all I have to work with is an employee. I have also learned to get inexperienced individuals and make them feel comfortable in front of the camera. Through a series of conversations to prepare them for film day. That includes setting expectations and going through the experience of being recorded. I think that the biggest thing that you could do to make someone feel comfortable is by showing patience, don’t be easily offended and finally be approachable. This is the responsibility of the person that is leading the production of the film. I take that responsibility very seriously. I take the time to coach and create a sequence of questions that allow the subject to answer in a way that will look like it was scripted, and I love that it feels genuine. The benefit to this is the relationship you build with the subject and that gives you an open door to keep coaching even through that actual filming of the production.

I enjoy filming and the creativity needed to produce a message in a film. So, I have organized B Reel Studio to be a full production company. We take care of the lighting, sound, editing and if needed production including scripts and storyboards with shot selection. We also design sets for interviews and film all relevant B roll including mini scripted scenes that showcase the theme of the films message to the target audience.

I don’t know what sets me apart from other videographers, but all I can say is that my clients tell me that they enjoy working with me and reward me with repeat business.
Here is one of my philosophies and this is advice to any business owner, don’t ever stop learning more about your specialty. This will keep you sharp and motivated through the challenges that come our way. Because of the everchanging world we live in, we need to adapt to every new economic and industry trend. This mindset will help us to have longevity as an entrepreneur. Also, as you stay up to date your clients will appreciate the quality of your work, making you stand out from the competition.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I have thought of this question; do I wish I had known this earlier? Here is the way I personally think. Some opportunities are shaped by circumstance and not by desire. That means that on a certain level you should be thankful for the circumstance that drove you to create whatever it is that you are into because without that catalyst the inception of the idea that brings you to where you are today would not ever have happened. So, at this point I don’t regret not acting on my videography talent earlier because with the catalyst that what felt like I was losing my mind was the very thing that created passion and desire to record special occasions. Also, as I recorded these events, I developed a hunger to create the best family films that looked cinematic, this got me to be interested in cinematography from lighting, sound and camera angles to editing from L cut to J cut and jump cuts and so on.

To finish this thought I absolutely think that I would not have the same passion if I didn’t have my bad moments to create what I am today. So, don’t be obsessed with what could have happened if you had known about this earlier in your creative journey but take advantage of the opportunity NOW and run with it!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Brand loyalty is huge! I could only explain to you through the lens of a church going lad as to how to create and foster brand loyalty. A scripture that states;’ you reap what you sow’. This is a farming metaphor to tell you a simple concept, that if you sow a lemon tree you will get a lemon tree or another way to say this is you will never get anything different than what the seeds DNA says it is and you have the power to choose what type of seed you will be planting into the ground.

So, my thought is, if you want Loyalty then give loyalty. In my early stages of my business, I lost a lot of money because I made bad verbal price commitments with clients and at the end of it, I realized that I did not quote my project correctly. Some of those commitments were packaged deals that lost money that meant that if I had a 4-video contract, I was losing money every time I was on set recording. I could have gone back on my word since there was no contract to bind me to a verbal commitment, but I did not because I was taught that you should have integrity to the verbal commitments you give to anyone including your clients. Then I evolved and I created contracts then in a situation of sending a proposal I made the mistake of not putting an expiration date so at times I get old contracts with old pricing that I still honor, even if I lose money.

In my experience this is the way I sow loyalty and it is by giving it.

Contact Info:

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