By: Drew Roberts
As the owner of Motivation Media Inc., it’s Michael O’Sullivan’s job to find his client’s story.
Motivation Media Inc. is a video production company stationed in Mobile, Ala. O’Sullivan started out with his friend’s production company as an intern. He quickly fell in love with it, causing him to start his own company.
“There were men in my life growing up who hated what they did,” he said. “I just couldn’t imagine going to work every single day and hating it. It’s fun that we get to play with some really cool cameras and toys and do really cool things, but it’s gratifying to know that I get to do something I enjoy everyday.”
For O’Sullivan, no two days are quite the same. The Archdiocese of Mobile, Donaghey Orthodontics, and The Mobile Rundown are just a few of his clients. The needs of each organization vary, so O’Sullivan keeps a flexible daily schedule.
“Because we work with a variety of organizations: for profit, nonprofit, et cetera, everyday looks different,” he said. “There are a lot of days where we are working, sitting in front of a computer and editing projects, and for me as the business owner, answering a lot of emails. There are other days and weeks where we are doing the full gamut of what we do, so we’re out on location a lot.”
O’Sullivan noted that with a wide range of clients, finding your own voice can be challenging. He believes that putting the client’s needs first is the biggest obstacle people in his field face.
“It becomes so ego-driven,” he said. “You put so much of your own time and your vision into hopefully creating a vision for someone else and implementing that, turning their idea into a reality. There are times where they come back and say, ‘This needs to change,’ or, ‘We don’t like this.’”
Creating media that falls in line with the client’s vision is the heart of O’Sullivan’s line of work. He cited both editing and shooting video as important skills to have. Finding a client’s story, however, is one skill he believes is overlooked.
“So much of what we do is story-based, so being able to identify what actually is a good story [is important],” he said. “Story has become such a buzzword over the past five to 10 years, so I feel like it’s lost some meaning, but still, being able to pull out a good story and hear the story I think is a super valuable skill.”
For those interested in entering the field of video production, O’Sullivan emphasized the versatile nature of the profession.
“Every field, and I do say this in the context of production work, has its different specialties or rabbit holes you could go down, so [it’s good to] have some idea of what interests you the most,” he said. “Maybe it’s editing. Maybe you really enjoy the post-production process. Maybe it’s filming things or being able to compose a shot. The best advice I could give is to figure out what brings you the most passion and what you’re good at.”
Vallo Vision News 