We were lucky to catch up with Jon Noeth recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?
Yes, I was able to start earning a full-time living supporting my family of five after six years in business. I always had a passion for videography and did study it when obtaining my Bachelor of Arts. After I graduated, I was not employed in the creative arts and supported myself as a full time server and working in a surf shop. My wife was a physical therapist at the time and encouraged me to put more time towards videography after I started doing more event videos first for friends, then at a very low rates, and that pushed me to start working at videography full-time. We had our first son around this time and I was a stay-at-home Dad during the days while my wife worked and then I would edit nights and film more and more on weekends. My wife started to assist with managing the accounting, contracts, preliminary meetings and that allowed me to focus on the technical aspects of the equipment, editing software, and how to elevate the video I was shooting to where I wanted it to be. By the time we had our second son in 2017, we were both working full-time in our videography business and it has sustained our family since that time. Knowing what we know now I’m not sure that we could have “sped up” the process too much—I think developing into the creative you will become takes alot of time, practice, trial and error, mentors you meet along the way that put you where you want to be creatively. The business end of this also takes time to build, you quite often have to start at a low price point—you won’t be charging alot right off without a portfolio, a body of work that reflects what you can do (because you are still working on that!) and building a repertoire with those in the industry where you are located also takes time— to show you are consistent, professional, and deliver time after time. Referrals have been huge for us and you don’t gain that kind of trust overnight; someone who is recommending you to a client is placing alot of trust in you and by doing great work it will positively reflect their business as well.
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.
My name is Jon Noeth, I am a videographer and my company is Noeth Films. I focus primarily on event videography, particularly weddings. We provide authentic, photo-journalistic wedding videography that is comprehensive and reflects a couple’s personality through candid documentation of one of the most important days. I am particularly proud of my approach to documentation—I strive to avoid making videography a production on the day of the wedding, we do not pose or interfere with the flow of the day, but obtain the most artistic and beautifully framed shots as the day unfolds organically. I am able to personally edit the video into a fun and meaningful video that truly is an authentic reflection of the wedding day.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Honestly, the initial mission of my creative journey was to avoid, in any way I could, from having a 9-5 desk job. I did have a job working briefly the back end of a website and video company and it was absolutely not something that I could do long-term. Now my drive is my family. I’m incredibly grateful to be able to do my creative work on my own terms while enjoying what I do and providing for my family.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
In the beginning I was so focused on having a run and gun video style that I wanted to do everything as minimalist as possible. I didn’t want to use lights, I didn’t want to use a drone. After continuing to operate this way, it became clear that my videos could really be at the next level if I would embrace all these other tools and that it wouldn’t fundamentally change my style.
Contact Info:
- Website: noethfilms.com
- Instagram: @noeth_films
- Facebook: @noeth_films
Image Credits
Rachel Crumbliss