At just 24, I run a production company in NYC, and one day I had two shoots to run.
My day started at 5:45 a.m. and my first shoot was finished by 1:30 p.m.
The second shoot of the day was for the tech industry, and my busy scheduled ended at 11 p.m.
I started my first video production company in middle school, and now 10 years later, I run Boundless Creative, a boutique production company in NYC.
Being a young founder is great because I get the freedom to set my own schedule, meet amazing people, and work on projects that excite me. But there are a lot of drawbacks too.
One of the biggest is not getting taken seriously because I'm Gen Z, even though I have a decade of experience working with paying video production clients. It's also a lot of pressure to bring in new work, hire and manage teams for projects, and work long hours.
As my company continues to grow, every day is different, and here's a look behind the scenes at a recent day filming two projects.
I started my busy day at 5:45 a.m. and began working almost immediately.The author wakes up early every morning.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
I usually avoid looking at my phone first thing in the morning, but on shoot days, it's particularly tough.
After making breakfast and doing pushups to wake up, I responded to emails, including a new project inquiry that needed a quick pricing estimate.
Fast client communication is really important, especially when I'll be on set most of the day.
By 6:30 a.m., it was time to check my equipment. He checked his equipment before work.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
My crew was bringing most of the gear, but I was bringing my Blackmagic Ursa as the second camera. I prepared everything the night before, but I always double-check memory cards and batteries. I ensure all the equipment is there and functioning properly.
Ever since I forgot my sound recorder filming for a local business in 9th grade, I always triple check my gear so I don't forget anything.
At 7:10 a.m., it was time to head out for the first shoot of the day with Techstars. He heads to work in a Tesla.
It was a peaceful morning drive through Manhattan, and I like to take a little time to look around and mentally run through the plans for the day.
The crew met at 7:40 a.m. outside the loading dock.The crew heads up in freight elevator.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
The freight elevator opened at 8 a.m. and our first interview was scheduled for 9 a.m., which is a tight timeline.
We met up with our client contact and got some coffee before it was go-time.
Since we had a location scout and several meetings to prepare, our cinematographer, sound mixer, and production assistant each knew what they needed to do to stay on track.
The freight elevator shook a bit on the way up, but we made it to the 15th floor and set up on time.
The shoot was a simple but informative interview format.The interview is about entrepreneurship.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
This video series had experts answering the common questions about entrepreneurship. We heard from Techstars' managing directors and mentors about best practices when building a startup.
Shoots like this are one of the reasons I love my job; I get to learn about so many industries and help share fascinating stories.
We wrapped the first shoot at 1:30 p.m.The film crew grabs lunch.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
We were all hungry after a morning of filming, so we went to Chipotle.
I said goodbye to the cinematographer and sound mixer for the day, and sent Cora, our intern, to pick up a hard drive since we were running low on storage.
We kept lunch quick so I could take the subway back home to take a call.
At 3 p.m., it was time to run a sales training and then sneak in a quick break.The meetings takes place virtually.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
One of my employees was discussing outreach strategies. We went over her initial list and talked through what some of the first messages would look like.
Afterwards, I wrote back to some clients and took 20 minutes to decompress and listen to some music, which was one of the few times in the day I had a chance to rest.
Around 4:30 p.m., one of the videographers and editors I hired, came by to review edits.Checking deliverables takes time.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
Mikey, the new hire, has been busy filming and editing Tech Week recap videos that all have fast turnarounds, so we talked through a number of different deliverables.
We made sure that the event recap edits follow a clear story flow, are synced to music, have the right sound mix, etc.
I found that having two brains on an edit is always better than one.
By 5:30 p.m., we headed to Andrew Yeung and Rho’s Tech Palooza, an event for people who work in tech.Miller takes a car to the event.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
Traffic was…really slow. Luckily, we left early enough to still arrive on time.
We met up with Cora who was there to help as a production assistant as well as Andrew who was hosting the event.
The space was amazing; it was in a nightclub, complete with an F1 racing simulator, live music, and arcade games.
We filmed the event, but also got to participate. The event was crowded.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
Before the event started we discussed the most important areas to highlight and capture the energy — both of the space as well as sponsors who were important to include in the video.
It's crazy to think about how this job came about: I randomly attended one of Andrew's mixers around three years ago when I moved to New York. We've since become friends and worked on numerous projects together from Austin to Miami.
Once Mikey was all set to film, I got to take a step back and chat with attendees, including some friends I wasn't expecting to see.
At one point, we were able to climb up to the top of the lighting booth and look out at the crowd below which was a highlight.
We wrapped around 9:45 p.m. and took the train back home, completely exhausted.The night ends with a train ride and file organizing.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
I got home around 10:30 p.m. and transferred all of the files from the day to backup drives.
That's another lesson I've learned the hard way: No matter how tired you are, always prioritize backing up files.
Around 11 p.m., I took a shower, ate dinner, and tried to read a few pages before my eyes started to close. Bed time.
Courtesy of Eitan Miller
It felt great to have gotten so much done, and I was ready to get a good night's sleep before day two of the Techstars shoot the next day.
I'm so grateful that I'm able to film with such interesting clients and amazing crew members as a job.
New York is filled with so much opportunity, and even on the most exhausting days, I wouldn't want to do anything else.
