Meet Benjamin Valentin of ValCinema Productions in Roswell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Valentin.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Benjamin. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My wife, Celine, and I spent the first 3 years of marriage very committed to figuring out where we were going with our careers — In the first 3 years, we’ve lived in 3 states, 6 cities, moved 7 times, and I held 4 different jobs before starting our business at ValCinema. We were adamant about not settling until we found where we would be happy long term, and we’ve found that here at ValCinema in Atlanta, GA!

My brother, Josh, and I started ValCinema together in September, 2017 in my sisters basement. His strengths were creative in videography, and mine were in business and sales. After helping build the business, Josh left the business on good terms in January, 2018 to freelance full time and still works as a freelancer for ValCinema very frequently (And is still one of the most talented videographers we hire).

We started off with wedding videography, with some commercial and documentary work here and there. As we’ve grown, weddings have still been our main source of business, as it’s definitely our strongest quality product to this point. Though we believe that the real estate walkthrough video business is one of our next big steps, alongside narrative feature films.

We ran the business out of my dining room for about 8 months, thanks to my wife’s willingness to allow our house to be an entrepreneurs house. By our 12 month mark next week (September, 2018), we will have moved into a 2500sf office and grown to a staff of 7 team members including myself and my wife, still looking to grow even more over the next 90 days.

I believe one of our biggest wins in our first year was the feature film we produced — His and Hers.

Most filmmakers wait years to produce their first feature film – We really wanted to take the challenge to make a feature length film in our first year, so we set the goal of making a No-Budget feature film — Our motto was “No excuses” in making this film within the year.

I approached an actor friend of mine, Brian Porzio, who co-produced alongside me as well as wrote, directed and acted in the film. We just finished filming the entire project last week, and completed filming within 7 days of production, having only purchased meals for the cast and crew.

A principle we’ve held at the company is to “Commit first and figure it out later.” This is how we’ve grown quickly, made a feature film in our first year, and hopefully how we will continue to grow over the years.

It’s also a passion of mine to create a place where people can come to work and love what they do and where they work every day. You spend most of your life at work, and I believe you should never hate going to work every day.

Our goal is to grow the business financially so that we can provide more jobs, give back to those in need, and create more film that inspires others.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was definitely not a smooth road getting here. My wife and I have slept in basements, spare bedrooms and I even had to drive for Uber for 8 months just to pay the bills. We spent every penny we could on growing the business and hiring new employees. Every new employee we hired, every advertising dollar we signed a contract for and when we signed the lease on our new office were all that I call “Vomit Moments”. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I knew it was the right next move. The way I see it, if you haven’t made a decision that scares the daylights out of you lately, you’re not taking steps forward, you’re just coasting.

Another phrase my staff hears me say frequently — “If you make a decision based out of fear, it’s the wrong call.”

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about ValCinema Productions – what should we know?
ValCinema Productions is a general video production company. We currently specialize in wedding videography and offer our services to clients throughout the entire southeast region.

We’ve done everything from commercial film, music videos and even produced and filmed our very first feature film this month.

I believe we may be moving towards a small scale film studio, producing feature films on a regular basis — Though this is a long journey ahead, and I have not worked out all the kinks in my concept to head that direction.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The decision to move forward in spite of fear.

My brother played with legos as a kid, and he’s an incredibly talented creative. When I think of my childhood, I was jumping out of trees, climbing buildings and doing anything that would give me an adrenaline rush.

I realized that it’s always been rooted in me to chase whatever scares me, and I really think this is such an important factor for all entrepreneurs.

Other characteristics would be simply being a loving and caring person. I love people, I love my staff and my clients. I’m definitely driven by money, but the purpose of money to me is to help others and provide for others.

Contact Info:

• Address: 419 E. Crossville Rd. Suite 105
  Roswell, GA 30075
• Website: www.ValCinema.com
• Phone: 678-280-4271
• Email: info@ValCinema.com
• Instagram: ValCinemaWeddings | ValCinemaProductions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValCinemaWeddings

Image Credit:
ValCinema Productions

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