We were lucky to catch up with John Buchanan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi John, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I have always been interested in filmmaking from the time I was a kid whether that was in the form of just picking up my fathers Sony handy cam or creating various YouTube channels it has always been rooted in my life. Once I got to high school, my school offered a filmmaking program which I became interested in and ended up taking 3 years of classes while making my own videos on the side and really becoming infatuated with the art of filmmaking. I started looking up tutorials on YouTube on how to use the different programs such as after effects and premiere pro, and by the time it was ready to go to college I was pretty good at it. Once I got to college I chose to major in filmmaking but once I saw that the seniors skills were pretty much on par if not worse than mine as a freshman I chose to drop out after just 3 semesters and focus on Soul Serum. The most essential part of the learning process for me is just finding inspiration and being open to learning more. Even though a lot of my skills didn’t come from a traditional education, I learned a lot of them through the internet. If I would go back in time I wouldn’t change anything though, I was introduced to Soul Serum through my short time in college and everything I have been through and built is reflected in my work today.

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

I’m the 23 year old Creative Director and part owner of the brand Soul Serum. I got into this industry by having a passion for filmmaking, graphic design, and a love for music and ended up blending all of them together when I had a friend making music and I asked if I could make his first music video. This led me to Tanner who had just started Soul Serum and I loved his vision and asked if I could be of any assistance whether that be making graphic designs or creating music videos etc. it ended up scaling up into what it is today and I now oversee everything creative in the brand. The thing that I think sets me apart is that I can do it all, I film, edit, and do VFX for music videos, I do graphic design and design clothing, and with the help from my team at Soul Serum I think we are essentially a one stop shop for artists needs. We can get a music video, an interview, photos, and you can record music all in the same day with us and I don’t think many people are doing it like us.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing our clientele for us has really just been working with as many people as possible and letting the brand spread through word of mouth. For example when we work with one artist and execute the music video for them their management or team usually either manages other artists or are connected to other managers in the industry and refers us to them.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met Tanner while I was in college because I became friends with his younger brother (who is my age). I rushed the fraternity that Tanner and his younger brother were in and this was right around the time when Tanner had started Soul Serum. So I didn’t really know him that well but I was into filmmaking and graphic design and I saw that he had posted on social media that he was pretty much looking for anyone who could help build the brand with him and to send an email to him. So I did just that, and eventually he had me come to his house and show him my skills and what I’m capable of doing and the rest is history.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.soulserum.shop
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j0hnbuchanan/
• Twitter: https://www.Twitter.com/j0hnbuchanan/
• Youtube: https://www.YouTube.com/soulserum

Image Credits
Connor Douglass/@fiki.exe