Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Barner.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Shawn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always had an interest in doing things related to multimedia. I use to make little rap songs using some old cassette tapes that had instrumentals on them with a stereo my Dad owned and ran the live sound at my youth church. When I took a video production elective in my senior year in high school, I was instantly hooked with the whole process. The video editing is what grabbed my initial interest. I liked the idea of taking footage shot and putting together how the story would be told for a mass audience to see. That made me enroll at the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2004, which helped me gain more knowledge about the film and video production process. I met some great people there, which a few I’m still in contact with today. When I graduated college, I managed to get a job doing live broadcast production work for a small home shopping network style channel.
During that time, I met some people I was able to do freelance work with here and there but didn’t get access to my own equipment until around 2012. At that time, I linked back up with my old college roommate and friend. He bought a Canon T3I and with my money from freelance work, I bought other essential things like lights, lenses, etc. That’s how we started Phuzion Media Group. We were shooting content that ranged from commercials, short films and music videos. Initially, the idea was for the company to be marketed for like a fraternity for content creatives but it developed into just a straight video production company. I eventually purchased my own camera and started to oversee the companies direction as my founding partner pursued other ventures. Today I’ve been able to provide services creating video content for people that never had the resources or access to people that know how to do it right. I mostly do commercial video production targeting entrepreneurs or small businesses wanting to expand their marketing with visual representation but still do narrative and music videos sometimes too.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Absolutely not! I’m not like one of these IG or YouTube influencers who have the come up story about how they just woke up one day and became who they are now or had the resources to make their come up easy. I didn’t have rich relatives I could call and say, “Hey, I want to get into this” and get a check sent. My partner and I spent a lot of time putting our own money into building up the company. With a lot of extra activity or leisure, I sacrificed. Starting out at the time as a brand new company, we didn’t have a portfolio of work to showcase either. Our earlier shoots back in the day were shot with little to no budget and the amount of labor that went into it exceeded that. Eventually, once the portfolio work grew, so did the clients and budgets. Today I still face challenges and obstacles. I work in a business where technology constantly changes. If you don’t keep up, you can find yourself getting left behind real quick. The production process alone can be a struggle, sometimes depending on how complex it gets. This is a teamwork business also, so everyone needs to be on the same page as to what their roles and duties are in a project we may take on.
Phuzion Media Group – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Phuzion Media Group provides production services to people or businesses looking for a way to create video content. Ideally, I like to target people with brands or small businesses that are expanding their marketing strategy to include video production. Our services range from videography, video post-production or we can help you put together a final product from start to finish. This is what we are known for mostly. A potential client will hit me up with an idea and I work with them the whole process through making their idea a reality. What sets me apart is my dedication and effort I give to the craft of video production. Anyone can go get a camera that shoots video and shoot footage. Do they understand or know other essential things like lighting, sound and proper composition, though? This is what separates you from someone who just has a camera and someone with a video production business.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
First of all, I want to give thanks and credit to God for blessing me with the gift of creativity and putting me in a position to use it. My mother always says that God gave us gifts and we must make sure we use them. Secondly, thank you, Canon for making photography cameras evolve to have video shooting features. This changed the game for a lot of us content creators back in the day, giving us easier access to resources to do video production, Third, I must give credit to my college roommate, friend and founding partner Uriel Isom. We both share an interest of content creation, which allowed us to get Phuzion Media Group kicked off as it did. He always keeps me updated with new cameras and other essential video production equipment to look into for expanding the business. The clients definitely deserve credit too. Their trust in us to provide services that affect their brand or business has been essential to our growth. Although totally irrelevant, I also want to shoutout Melyssa Ford. She has been fine, still is fine and will forever be fine. I hope future bae looks just as good sitting home happy to see me as I return from an awesome shoot that day, LOL.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.phuzionmediagroup.com
- Phone: 4048278541
- Email: phuzionmediagroup@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/phuzionmediagroup
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/phuzionmediagroup
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/phuzionmedia
- Other: www.shawnbarnermedia.com
Image Credit:
Greg McCarthy – Viisionary Productions
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