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

Tom , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I think the learning aspect of filmmaking goes hand in hand with a healthy obsession with movies. These strange time-locked artifacts say so much about that specific moment and the people who made them. You must appreciate cinema if it’s what you want to make your life. I did go to film school, I guess I’ll start there. There seems to be this separation of opinion around filmmakers attending classes or not. The obvious truth is everyone is different. To be a filmmaker someone does not have to go to film school to learn anything essential about filmmaking. What I did gain there, was an understanding of how to form consequential creative relationships with my fellow filmmakers. My first serious creative collaborators, essentially.
Being a great collaborator is more important than having the best ideas or more expensive equipment. The media that resonates with audiences aren’t about ‘cool shots’ they’re about creating an emotional connection that lasts after the credits roll. The key to achieving that on the production side is to be a great listener and collaborator. Of course, a knowledge of the craft doesn’t hurt. As a Director I am a conduit for the ideas of others, not the sole author of ideas.
I used to dread the networking aspect of filmmaking. At the time it seemed to be a distraction, something that would lessen my joy of making movies. It was only when I decided to put aside my inflated sense of self-reliance and invest in the ideas of others that things felt meaningful and connected to something larger.
Technology will continue to change but the environment of great ideas is something only those who can create with others can cultivate. I’m truly convinced it’s the collaborators who are going to carry this art form into the next century. I hope they will always have the loudest voices in the room.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I decided, during the pandemic, that I wanted to be in a different place creatively. I was proud of my previous work yet, looking back it seemed isolated from audiences and mostly not my style. As the world began to shut down it felt like a big shake-up off all industries at once. I set myself a goal of being someplace better on the other side of this chaotic moment we were all having.
Every job I’ve gotten in this industry since then has been through someone I’ve met. Again, the focus on forging relationships became essential. Flash forward to now, and I’m working with the best collaborators of my career. Small business owners, comedians, musicians, and other driven people who hire me for not just my technical skills, but also my vision.
I didn’t want to be the guy who held the camera all the time, there are plenty of more skilled camera operators than me. I knew I wanted to be at the heart of the stories we were telling and for me, that was in the editing room. To paraphrase Kubrick; the edit is where the movie is truly made. Today, I’m proud to offer handcrafted videography and editing services to my clients. Holding a focus on the narrative, combined with a strong technical expertise in hopes of creating a visually engaging piece that carries an emotional resonance. This specific direction sets my work apart from others and connects with audiences in a way most generic work does not.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I think connecting people through a shared experience is the ultimate goal. To be a channel for connection is one of the primary functions of movies. I know it sounds like a cliche answer but there’s nothing like sitting in the audience and having people react unexpectedly to something on the screen you made. Even when the work appears on social media. I love seeing it take off with an online community, like my show “Jubilation, Texas”, or “Comedians on Bulls.”
People have a keen sense of when you’re trying to say something important and they’ll respond to it. You get into an audience’s head with this stuff and it can be addicting. Call it cinema.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I deeply enjoy working with others who are driven by this base desire to better the human condition via self-expression. The clients, crews, and talent I’ve met in this career have been a key part of the most rewarding and educational experiences I could have ever asked for.
Even when I have a long day, the feeling that we are all working towards making something meaningful isn’t lost on me. It’s rewarding to create work that expands the audience that a client either thought was unreachable, or didn’t even know existed. That’s the power of great work. Hopefully, it becomes the content that connects people and they see part of themselves in it also.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tom.videochannel
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-ehrbar-12581412
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tehrbar