Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Luke Porter. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Luke thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

It started with a text from Joe, one of my clients – would I be interested in helping his friend Drew tell his story on camera? My interest was already sparked, as I love story telling. That text led to a phone call with Drew, where I learned that he is an army veteran who is suffering from guillain-barré syndrome. I had never heard of this disorder before, and he explained that it’s a progressive nerve disorder that caused him to become completely paralyzed. We worked out the details and set a filming date.

On the day of the video shoot, I arrived at his house with my portable studio. Drew and his wife Christa were very welcoming, and we found some great spots in their home to conduct their interviews. I knew their story would be emotional, but I wasn’t expecting the painful rollercoaster of events that they had to endure. Among other things, it included full body paralysis, a traumatic trip to the emergency room, a medically induced coma, isolation from loved ones, and months of slow and difficult physical therapy.

Through the pain and despair there were also moments of hope and beauty, such as the story of their engagement, the birth of their son, and the overwhelming support from friends and family. Many times during the shoot it was difficult for Drew to even talk about certain events, as the emotions would all come flooding back. I found myself becoming emotional as well, as I was pulled into his story.

After the filming was complete, we made a plan on how to reach as many people as possible with Drew’s story. We would start with a trailer, and then release the story in 5-6 minute biweekly segments, followed by a release of the full 30 minute documentary afterwards. With that plan in place, I was able to start my post production work.

I visited the Minneapolis V.A. where Drew spent most of his recovery to capture on-location footage. I sorted through hundreds of photos and video clips of Drew’s recovery. And I immersed myself in the interview footage, cutting and weaving together a story that I hoped would take viewers on the same emotional roller coaster that Drew and Christa had taken me on.

The result was an inspiring outpouring of support from not only friends and family, but caregivers, providers, and families who have been affected by guillain-barré syndrome. The full documentary has been watched over 10,000 times, and Drew is already planning a follow-up. I am very proud of the work I did on this project, and I look forward to working with Drew again in the future.

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 have been telling stories through video production and digital marketing for over 16 years. I started Moving Tree Media in 2017, and I work with a wide variety of agencies, organizations, and small to medium sized businesses. In addition to videos, our brand work includes social media marketing and website design. But no matter which client we are serving, or which medium we are using, the most important aspect is always what story we are telling.

One of the recent projects that I am proud of is working with United Family Medicine in St. Paul on their digital marketing and public outreach. I get to work with my friend William Schultz of Vivid Concepts Media, and together we have the opportunity to reach marginalized populations and educate them on the amazing community services that the clinic offers. I have been creating two social media videos per week for them since August 2022, including on-location interviews with doctors, nurses, and other staff members. United Family Medicine has an inspiring vision of providing healthcare services to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My wife Heidi is a post-surgical nurse at the Minneapolis V.A. hospital. In July 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she accepted a deployment to Marshalltown, Iowa, to help a medical facility recover from a COVID outbreak that affected almost their entire staff. Heidi and I are high school sweethearts who have been inseparable since 1998. I was very proud of her for agreeing to help, and I was not going to let her be alone in Iowa during this difficult assignment.

I worked out of a hotel room for 8 weeks, traveling back and forth to Minneapolis as needed for video shoots. I pushed my laptop to its limits and edited 4K footage, ran complex social media campaigns, and designed large scale web sites. Heidi worked long days, and came back to the hotel exhausted. On our days off, we explored central Iowa, and found some unexpected gems, such as the traditional German stores and restaurants of the historic Amana Colonies.

It was definitely a challenging experience, but we remained flexible and we made it work. And although I was really, REALLY sick of that hotel room after 8 weeks, I have great memories of that time, and I am proud that I was able to provide my full range of services to my clients even in those circumstances.

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

I follow the same process for our own marketing that I recommend to my clients – put out as much high quality content on social media as you can. Part of that is creating the right kind of content for each platform. For example, as of this writing the most opportunity for audience growth is with vertical videos on Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. We have pivoted our own marketing strategies to mostly create vertical videos.

Each quarter, I book a theater in Minneapolis and I do a half-day video shoot for my own content. And it’s the kind of content that performs well for my type of business – educational videos. I give out my best advice for free. The videos cover topics on social media marketing, audience growth, profile hacks, video tricks, and more. Not only does this type of content provide value to my followers, but it also shows the types of services that I offer my clients.

On some platforms, such as the vertical video platforms I mentioned earlier, the audience growth happens naturally as you release videos. On other platforms such as Linkedin, I manually add new connections every single day. Almost all of my new clients come either from word of mouth, or directly from these educational video posts.   

Contact Info:

• Website: https://movingtreemedia.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movingtreemedia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/movingtreemedia/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-porter-videographer/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/movingtreemedia
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG_ROtaO3nsMDEcXp3dygZQ