We recently connected with Phil Hinz and have shared our conversation below.

Phil, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

In 1985 I was just starting up, and was having a tough time getting my name out and explaining the scope of the work that I was capable of. I was working out of a 900 square foot “L” shaped studio that I obtained for free in exchange for building a television/ photo set that included a cyclorama and small kitchen for a commercial photography studio. My plan was to produce a photo of my self climbing an extreme looking mountain cliff and chiseling out my company name in giant letters. I designed and fabricated a 10′ by 12′ faux rock wall and a painted a background that through the lens would make me look like I was 10,000 feet up climbing a scenic rock face. I then made a deal with a neighboring photo studio to allow me 3 days free of charge to set up and do a photo shoot. After printing I sent it out in the format a movie poster to all the contacts I could find to show piece my work. At the time most self promotion was done in print so it made a very innovative mark on the industry.

Phil, 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?

Our scope of work is hard to define as we make anything that is on the edge of the imagination. From a 27′ diameter basketball for the WNBA hall of fame, to transforming a car into a razorback pig for a University mascot, I love to build things for imaginative projects. In my youth I started as a carpenter. At the time I did restaurant service on the side as it paid quite a bit better. While on the job a co-worker needed a fabricated room divider for their apartment. I built his piece and it came out beautifully, His partner at the time worked at a photo studio and asked me to start building photo sets for them. After a lot of reluctance because I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the carpentry industry full time as It didn’t offer the creative social outlet that I desired, I agreed to check it out. I fell in love with what I saw and within a few months I was head of prop and set production. After starting my own company, I became known for being able to build what others believed not possible. The pieces I hold most dear are the orrery moon in the Smithsonian, which is a 5′ diameter, translucent glowing moon with dynamic lighting in the inside to show the phases of the moon, It also had a rotating replica of an Apollo command module circling it. Another one that I am quite proud of is a 27′ basketball curated for the WNBA It was a monster project no one wanted to take on. Not only did we fabricate eight 42 foot panels to create a perfect orb (each panel having over 1000 randomly placed nubs to make sure the texture of the ball was just right!) the ball was built on site and craned into place.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

Back in the early 90s I heard through the grapevine that the Mervins department store was doing a fully themed remodel. At the time my business’ annual sales was around 60,000, while this project at Mervins was set to be around 350,000 dollars alone. I approached the company and somehow got myself invited to the meeting with exec’s that decided who was heading the project. I walked away from that table with the project. The contact I made during this process turned to me and said “wow, I don’t know how you got this, but one thing is for sure you don’t lack confidence.” It was an amazing project and we pulled the whole thing off, it propelled my business to the next level.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

At the time the Space Force was starting I had a project manager that had a friend that worked in government contracts, she found a tucked away bid for the Space force museum and passed it along. We submitted designs that we threw together in sketch-up thinking, we don’t know a lot about this project or the what its they wanted to accomplish, so let’s take a shot and what ever happens, happens. What could it possibly hurt by putting something fun in. Many weeks later while on vacation I got a phone call that said I need get to Coco beach immediately to present. It took me a long time to figure out what the call was about let alone fathom what was going to happen next. I made it to Coco beach when I arrived I got taken to a room and asked to wait. After waiting alone in a room they walked me to a stage, and told me when I go out only look at the people in the front row. I walked into a full auditorium with very high level Air force officers populating the first row. I presented and was escorted back to my room to wait. After a while they brought me back to the stage and awarded me the job to a cheering auditorium of people. We had the contract typed and signed right then and there. It was a crazy project.

Contact Info:

• Website: evergreen-creative.com
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