We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Patrick McNamara a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Patrick, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve been able to work on is a film I created in Ireland at a historic lighthouse. I was a passion project or spec film, so I did it primarily for the love of filmmaking. I knew I was going to Ireland later that year and I wanted to create something while I was there. The roughed landscape of Ireland has always captivated me and the charming people have fascinated me. I decided to create a short commercial film for Peterson Pipes, a tobacco pipe company based out of Dublin. I wrote a storyline, picked a location and found a person as the lead role of my film.

After much pre-production, I had landed in Ireland, and it was time to film. Everything went very smoothing the day of filming, I had to pinch myself because it felt like a dream. After filming, I edited the film and shared it with Peterson Pipes. They liked it so much they shared the film with their fans online.

This is the part that was the most meaningful and unexpected part of the whole project. The response of the viewers was quite amazing. People really connected with the film and shared their thoughts in the comments section. One person said pastorpipe: “The connection between father and son. When my son graduated from high school, I bought him his first pipe…a 309. He cried when I gave it to him!” Another person said irishpipedad: “Incredible job…not a dry eye on the internet!”

This is what filmmaking is all about, taking the audience on an adventure and transporting them into your story.

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 started filmmaking in high school by remaking music videos. I think selfishly I just wanted to star in my own music video. Most artists don’t usually get into business because they have this grand plan on making money. Usually, it’s because they have a love for a certain craft and then figure out how to make it their livelihood. This is how filmmaking became my fulltime job. I loved filmmaking so much I knew I had to make it my career. I now create commercial content for organizations and brands.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A time I had to pivot in my life was before my wife and I had our first child. I was still not a fulltime filmmaker. I knew from an early age I loved filmmaking, but I was doing it part time as I worked at a local coffee roastery. I loved coffee as well so for me I was content balancing both these things. It wasn’t until we found out we were expecting that I realized I needed to pivot. I looked into my future and realized I couldn’t balance being a barista, a filmmaker and a father. I had the realization at that moment I had to make the jump and go fulltime with my filmmaking.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think when it comes to building your reputation in a market, the best thing you can do is create expectational service and produce a great produce. Make the client that you have, feel like they’re your top client. Make them feel like they’re the only client you have. With this mentality, you will get repeating clients and they will think of you when they talk to someone else who needs the services you offer. It’s an old school thought but I think it’s the most valuable way to build a good reputation within your market.

Contact Info:

• Website: drawntotheimage.com
• Instagram: drawntotheimage
• Facebook: facebook.com/drawntotheimage
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmcnamara001