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

Joey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

In the world of film production alot of sets have gotten a bad wrap. Most producers, directors, and even talent dread them.

Why?

Because when you throw a bunch of awesome creative people into one small space there is typically an unannounced hierarchy. Who’s the “boss?” Who’s “in charge”? And why in the world don’t these people have their ish together!?

Forget the Hollywood glam, set days can be stressful, chaotic, and sucky. And when a set sucks, it sucks the fun out of everything. Early in our production career we decided as a team: sets don’t have to suck.

Our mission is to provide a seamless experience for everyone involved, from the big wigs to the assistant delivering coffee or coordinating lunch.

So how do we do it?

It’s called systems. We started by thinking through the worst parts of set days and then creating solutions to those problems.

For example, looking at how the location works for all departments as well as for filming. Thinking through small details like what elevators are used for load in, how that will impact time of filming, dressing room options and providing privacy for the client—the list goes on and on.

When you choose to work with Southend you’re choosing a partner that’s already thought through these things. We come to the table with solid organizational systems and we run a tight ship. No detail is left uncovered. The work on the front end leading up to set day(s), while exhausting, is worth it. We’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. And we’ve had plenty of sucky set days.

Culture plays another huge role in an awesome day on set. Egos are checked at the door. The team works together in a way that is supportive vs. aggressive – and if something goes wrong we don’t ignore it, we own it.

Yes, mistakes happen. Yes, sometimes we make the wrong call. We are human. But you can bet we will own that mistake and do everything we can to make it right, as quickly as possible. It’s easy to point fingers in the world of production…instead, our Southend team addresses the problem and creatively works to solve it.

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

I didn’t come from a film background, although I had a passion for movies and movie making at a very young age. I feel like any aspiration to be a filmmaker or movie director was a pipe dream. Because of that, I pursued a career in graphic design and building brands. Somewhere along the way, the desire to make films resurfaced and I restarted my career down the filmmaking path. However, the skillset earned to learn how to tell a brand’s story visually transitioned easily into telling brand stories in video.

I entered a 50/50 partnership with Nathan Cheuvront, and we started Southend Films with the belief in good quality video content, and in order to have that we knew we needed to have both the creative storytelling element as well as the production element. Both sides needed to co-exist and work together in order to achieve great quality content.

With Nathan serving as Head of Production and myself leading as Creative Director, Southend is positioned to cover all aspects of video production—from creative development of concepts and scriptwriting, to an unbeatable organized on-set production experience. Our strong production skillset partnered with the entire team being as creatively brave as possible provides clients with top notch service beginning at the initial idea until the final cut.

For the past five years, Southend has established itself as a team of Creatively Brave filmmakers, dedicated to telling stories that awaken emotion. While Southend started with just myself and Nathan, the team has grown to support various roles needed for a full service production company.

Mandy Wright was the first to join the team as a producer, followed by Princess Anosike (editor) and Jasmine Higgins (production coordinator), and most recently, Summer Schantz (Director’s Assistant).

With a dream team in place, Southend’s goal is to continue to partner and work with agencies. to streamline their production process, allowing their clients to achieve the results we want to achieve.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We are still a young company in a sea of establishment. The reality is, there are tons of fantastic production companies. But time and time again, we hear from talent, crew and our clients that our sets are some of the most organized and enjoyable sets. Nathan and I both believe that treating others with respect and caring for the client experience helps to set Southend apart from the rest of the talented production companies around Atlanta.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Creative burnout and times of creative dryness are normal. Being creative also doesn’t mean you will always have an idea on the spot, although many creatives, including myself, never really stop having ideas or dreaming. The reality is, working for commercial clients oftentimes means putting your own creative vision aside for the agency Creative Director’s vision or the campaign that will help that brand meet their goals. One of the more challenging aspects of being on this journey is finding the space and time to be personally creative—to satisfy the desire or need to create something without limits or goals or feedback. Truly creating for yourself, the artistic side of many creative people can be stifled by the grind of constantly producing for others. It’s exhausting and draining, especially if other creatives are anything like me…it isn’t easy to separate your own passion or heart for a project—I believe passion is what makes a person truly creative. But that passion can be easily stolen by negative feedback or a vision that differs from yours. The key is to change perspective when entering client conversations…it’s about them, their needs. Truly approaching a creative job as an opportunity to serve. The other key is find time or outlets to express yourself artistically. For me, it’s writing and developing personal files or shows…or simply creating a new podcast. Find a creative outlet.

Contact Info:

• Website: southendfilms.com
• Instagram: southendfilms
• Linkedin: joewthompson
• Youtube: youtube.com/@southendfilms740
• Other: joewthompson.com

Image Credits
Clay Goswick (https://www.claygoswick.com)