We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maurice Victor II. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maurice below.
Maurice, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about one of the craziest things you’ve experienced in your journey so far.
One of the craziest things that has happened in my business that I have never talked about is when I was scammed into a Porsche x Ebony Magazine article.
A good friend of mine was inquired and hired to photograph an executive at Porsche HQ in Atlanta, GA. He recommended and successfully got me on board as a DP, running the video side of the capture. I was able to capture the interview of the exec.
Now this all happened for real. I actually drove to Atlanta, showed up to Porsche HQ, setup my lights, cameras and conducted the interview with (so-called) Ebony Magazine and Porsche.
Where it got interesting was AFTER. The guy who hired us tried to ask for the files right after the shoot and I calmly told him that it would be shared digitally after we receive payment.
What followed was weeks of us trying to get that payment from the man, but we were met with every kind of excuse ever. Frozen assets at the bank, awaiting money from overall client, etc. After a while, we decided (WAY too late) to research this man and really see his connection to Ebony Magazine. We quickly found that he was a two time felon, not really connected to Ebony Magazine but just posing.
To this day, I’m not sure what he got out of the entire thing, but we never handed over files and the article and interview never actaully came out. It was pretty disappointing & it further confirmed the need for CONTRACTS, deposits, etc.
Maurice, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m Maurice, a director who started in sports videography. After moving around sports jobs, agency jobs, etc. I finally decided to start my production company. We provide high-level video production to businesses and brands around the nation and around the world.
I’m proud of the work we’ve been able to do in our short life as a company. It really does feel like just the beginning!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The overall goal that drives my creative journey is to eventually create the leverage I need to be able to make the films that I want.
So as I create, I try to elevate the work and continue to drive it forward in order to one day have the funds, connections and opportunity to make intentional personal projects.
How did you build your audience on social media?
If I had to give advice to someone just starting to build their online social media presence, here’s what I would say.
Just keep creating. Be yourself & don’t give in to the pressure of comparison, etc. It’s easy to look around at people’s success online and immediately thinking you don’t have what it takes.
It took a long time for me to personally come this close to approaching 10,000 followers on Instagram. What I really did was just continue to post consistently, engage the audience and share my work. That’s all it takes. And eventually, that one piece of art will finally hit and reach who it needs to reach.
So create a plan & continue to execute over and over and over. Don’t give up!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mv2prod.co
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mv2productions
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mv2prod
Image Credits
Joel Thomas (Mas Magazine)