Welcome to the Complete Video Solutions Blog!!!
I'm excited to begin this new chapter in my life, and I'll start off with a little background on me and my company, Complete Video Solutions.
I'm that rare type of person: I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to be when I was still a small child. Fascinated with movies, TV, theatre, you-name-it, I never even though of another career path other than Video/Film Production. It would have been GREAT to be in front of the camera, but my passion came in asking "how": How do they make that? How do you produce that? How come I'm not in Hollywood right now working in this field!!!
My grandpa always said: "It doesn't matter what you are, a plumber, a garbage man, etc. What matters is that you're THE BEST at what you do." His words led me to follow opportunity after opportunity, and although I never made it to Hollywood I did end up graduating from Central Michigan with a degree in Broadcasting & Cinematic Arts.
I was heavily involved in my fraternity (Beta Theta Pi) and also in the extra-cirricular Broadcasting groups up at CMU. I produced a show that aired on the campus channel, and worked for PBS in Mt. Pleasant. Upon graduating in 2001, I was immediately hired as a producer for Clinton Township Cable TV as a Program Specialist, having interviewed the station's Supervisor for my Thesis.
I LOVED that job, as it gave me opportunities to produce all kinds of different video, from live studio productions, to creative shorts, to PSAs, to feature-length documentaries (my documentary "Golden Mettle" produced with Charles Dewandeler, won several national awards and was the most successful show in the station's history.) It also gave me insight on how to run and operate a station, and introduced me to many amazing people.
One of which was Ann Johnson, who at the age of 93 was in poor health upon me meeting her. I was producing a Historic Documentary piece on the history of Quinn Road in Clinton Twp, a primarily black area that had been ravaged over the years, and Ann was the town historian. This woman had collected and stored a MASSIVE amount of historical documents and artifacts of the area, from old photos, newspaper clippings, church minutes, etc. In fact, 2 rooms of her 3 bedroom house were stacked TO THE CEILING with such things. Amazing as it was, this was a lost history of an area that was mostly overlooked, and she lived her entire life dedicated to preserving its memory.
Why do I mention Ann Johnson? Because meeting her changed my life and really gave me a purpose for why I am in the field of video.
Upon finishing the Quinn Road History show, I showed it to her at her home. I was nervous, and watched her watching the show, hoping she would think that the show did Quinn Road justice, and included all of the important details. When the video ended, she rose from her chair, walked over to me, and gave me the biggest, hardest, most hearfelt hug I had ever gotten. She then grabbed my face in her hands, and as she cried she gave me THE BEST compliment I have ever or will ever receive. She said, "Tom, I have lived a long time and I've watched so many people come and go through this world. So much forgotten. Why am I keeping all these things? Why am I spending my life collecting scraps? Why am I still on this earth? Well now I know...I was waiting for you. Making this video, that is why God has kept me on this earth."
I was floored!!! Pretty dramatic I know, but this woman spent her whole life trying to preserve a day and age long forgotten. But a video? It will last FOREVER. Her children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will watch this video. They will be able to hear their Great-Grandma talk about the old days, about the origins of where they came from and who they are. It was after this that I realized: VIDEO IS POWERFUL.
The amazing feeling I got from Ann Johnson is the driving force behind what I do. Since then, I went on to work for JD Entertainment providing Wedding Videos to hundreds of Brides. And not just "videos" but POWERFUL Videos, that are capturing not only an event, but a time in these peoples lives, an age that they will soon outgrow. I am providing in essence, a time capsule. Something that will live forever.
So now, its 2009, and I am entering a new phase in my own "story." Complete Video Solutions is just that. Because nothing that happens in life is complete unless it is remembered. And there is nothing more powerful than to remember your life as it happened, with sight and sound. Weddings, anniversaries, birth announcements, birthdays, memorials, even deaths. My mission is simple: to COMPLETE your story, and to ensure that future generations remember what came before.
There are very few things that become MORE valuable as time goes along.
I'm a grown up now, and I still know EXACTLY what I want to do.
