Creatives Grab Coffee

Hosted by Creatives Grab Coffee

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122

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Welcome to Creatives Grab Coffee, a podcast on the business of video production. Hosted by Kyrill Lazarov & Dario Nouri https://www.creativesgrabcoffee.com Produced by www.LapseProductions.com

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October 28, 20261 hr 8 min

#123 Referrals, Review Campaigns, and One Retainer Client (ft. BT Studio)

Doug Thomsen of BT Studio in San Francisco on building a video business that holds up in a crisis: keeping exactly one retainer client, earning referrals by going the extra mile, running a client review campaign instead of paying for SEO, a viral video that still sends links to his site, the limits of AI video, and the self-funded feature film Pride Jewel. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:29 From seventh-grade iMovie to agency life 2:15 Starting BT Studio with Adam Behrmann 3:10 Why the name sounds like a law firm 3:50 When a partner leaves during COVID 6:56 Keeping the business alive through the pandemic 8:56 Pride Jewel, a self-funded feature film 10:30 Two slow years, then three busy ones 10:55 Crisis-proofing: one retainer, many clients, a buffer 13:00 The next crisis and the AI question 14:01 What AI video still can't do: refinement 15:58 AI audio and when good enough is enough 17:43 Referrals come from going the extra mile 19:45 One retainer client, by design 22:13 Why small retainers rarely pencil out 25:48 Where the work comes from 26:25 Skipping the SEO budget for a review campaign 27:43 Getting clients to actually write the review 29:35 Paying for Clutch and ProductionHub listings 31:09 Dario's tip: log how every lead found you 33:05 Mining customer conversations with AI 34:03 The viral desk video that still builds links 37:25 A lean team: one full-timer plus freelancers 37:59 Living with an unpredictable pipeline 38:58 Slow periods as creative fuel 40:46 Living at home vs paying rent 42:19 Going full time at 27: savings, debt, and a reel 44:08 What's next: more commercial directing 46:19 A new feature about a wildfire evacuation 48:45 Finding a producer for the next film 49:41 Film grants in Canada vs the US 51:53 Nonprofit work: Hamilton Families and the SF Symphony 52:57 Internal projects and a relaunched website 55:41 FAQs, llms.txt, and getting found by AI 59:45 Fewer one-day shoots, more start-to-finish projects 1:01:04 What got you here won't get you there 1:02:26 Where to find Doug and BT Studio 1:04:26 Yes, he still does one-day shoots 1:05:14 San Francisco, San Diego, or San Jose? Creatives Grab Coffee is produced by Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company.

October 19, 20261 hr 23 min

#122 Cold Calls, Claude, and Social Media Retainers (ft. STUDiiO)

Micah David of STUDiiO on running a Las Vegas video company at 21: learning the business side, a fixed workday over the grind, pricing from an hourly rate, selling social media retainers to restaurants and cafes, losing a Fiverr account, and role-playing cold calls with Claude. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:16 A fifth-grade YouTube bet that started it all 2:57 Running a company at 21 3:55 From hobby videos to paid work 6:38 Learning the business side 9:12 The details of selling yourself 10:49 Does being young cost you clients? 14:59 One thing a day compounds 16:14 Why the always-grinding mindset backfires 21:16 A website built in a trade for video 23:27 Claude, ChatGPT, and using more than one AI 30:12 The Las Vegas video market 32:16 Why social media retainers are hard to sell 34:14 Pricing from an hourly rate behind the scenes 37:47 Selling benefits, not features 39:07 Restaurants and cafes as retainer clients 41:00 Why retainers are harder with corporate clients 45:00 Video company or marketing agency? 48:51 Inbound leads vs cold calling 52:49 Instant verification on Google Business 55:43 The risk of relying on Google 56:57 Losing a Fiverr account and owning your leads 1:01:07 Role-playing sales calls with Claude 1:03:49 AI-built call lists and finding decision makers 1:06:06 Email and LinkedIn outreach is a volume game 1:07:11 Training AI on your books, calls, and emails 1:14:22 Why the next generation is ahead 1:16:06 Ten thousand hours in the age of AI 1:19:41 Where to find Micah and STUDiiO Creatives Grab Coffee is produced by Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company.

October 16, 20261 hr 19 min

#121 Salaries, Slicing Pie, and Quarterly Profit Sharing (ft. Minivan Productions)

Kyler Beal of Minivan Productions on moving a production company from Virginia to San Diego with a city scoring system, a partner who fired himself from the day-to-day, slicing pie equity, quarterly profit sharing in four buckets, moving owners onto salary, why Minivan avoids retainers, and the grant funding behind its documentary work. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:31 Meet Kyler Beal and Minivan Productions 1:47 Why Minivan moved from Virginia to San Diego 3:20 From a bedroom office to a team of three 5:35 A scoring system for picking a city 6:38 Travel days and documentary work 7:42 Team size and the San Diego studio 8:52 The partner who fired himself 11:48 Replacing a partner's many roles 17:02 From creative to company leader 19:17 Slicing pie equity after a partner steps back 24:16 How Minivan sets its profit sharing 24:56 Four buckets of quarterly profit sharing 27:10 Why quarterly beats annual 30:08 Moving the owners onto salary 33:05 The fear of guaranteed payroll 34:27 Salary and a lower tax bill 37:28 Why Minivan avoids retainers 41:01 The first retainer, by exception 43:54 Retainers at agencies vs production companies 46:50 What is next for Lapse 48:37 Seventy percent commercial, thirty percent docs 50:33 A grant-funded documentary series 52:05 More funding than people think 54:00 Business brain or creative brain? 56:55 Do grant funders check the final film? 59:07 Is most work out there mediocre? 1:01:59 Gambling ads and AI content 1:04:33 Filtering for client fit 1:07:24 Lessons from non-creative industries 1:11:30 The story behind the Minivan name 1:15:20 Where to find Kyler and Minivan Creatives Grab Coffee is produced by Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company.

October 9, 20261 hr 25 min

#120 Owner-Led and Human-Made in the Age of AI (ft. Blue Barn Creative)

Carlos Foster and Stephen Alberts of San Diego's Blue Barn Creative on fourteen years of owner-led production, earning 70 percent repeat business without retainers, using AI to buy back human time, why testimonial clients now want the stumbles left in, and how they kept the company going after losing a founding partner. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:43 Meet Carlos Foster and Stephen Alberts of Blue Barn Creative 2:40 2012 and the birth of the brand film 3:45 First steps: an office and a glorified freelance outfit 6:55 Early clients, cold calls, and wedding films 9:17 Small jobs that grew into big brand relationships 11:40 Be the helper, not the hero 13:04 Moving beyond word of mouth 17:09 Yelp, Google, and ChatGPT referrals 20:41 Seventy percent return clients, no retainers 22:24 Differentiating on relationships 26:01 Owner-led as a brand position 28:17 Why early competitors did not survive 31:10 The Lapse parallel 33:38 Using AI to get hours back 38:26 When a client's AI invented sound bites 39:55 Why people-driven work feels protected 41:40 A reality check on generative AI 45:55 Testimonials that keep the stumbles 50:23 Authenticity, UGC, and coaching interviews 55:25 Why Blue Barn runs the interview 56:53 Leading clients instead of following them 58:25 Losing a founding partner 1:00:13 Partnership paperwork and owning your shares 1:02:19 The week everything changed 1:06:28 Visionaries and integrators 1:11:47 Grief, restructuring, and leveling up 1:14:13 Choosing to keep Blue Barn going 1:17:52 The story behind the Blue Barn name 1:21:40 Where to find Blue Barn Creative Guest: https://bluebarncreative.com/ Creatives Grab Coffee is produced by Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company.

September 3, 20261 hr 10 min

#119 From Free Promo Videos to Tech Launch Videos (ft. LV Productions)

Vlad Lapich of LV Productions on going from free promo videos to tech launch videos, rebuilding his website with AI, automating proposals, why cold email died, SEO vs Google Ads, scaling post production, and what to do when a client stops paying. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:38 From Belarus to San Francisco: photographer turned videographer 2:06 Free promo videos and the Instagram DM that changed everything 4:46 Wearing five hats at a startup, then going solo 7:21 GPT-3 cold emails and the first big clients 8:13 The team: freelance editors, animators, and DPs 8:52 The bottleneck: scaling post without losing quality 12:12 Junior prep, senior storytelling: the editing pipeline 14:44 Paying editors: hourly vs per project, and picky clients 17:30 Rebuilding the website in a week with Cursor 22:03 AI for lead intake, proposals, and Video Galaxy 27:41 Pricing on the website and the proposal tool 30:04 Cold email is dead: 80 percent SEO, 20 percent referrals 32:22 SEO takes years, and one Google update can undo it 34:00 Why Google Ads did not work in San Francisco 38:37 Weddings vs corporate at Lapse 41:28 Networking for introverts 42:11 Premiere vs DaVinci Resolve 44:44 Animation: from 10K videos to offshore competition 47:43 Goals for the rest of the year 50:53 Claude as bookkeeper: margins, salary, and a missed invoice 54:08 LLC vs corporation 59:02 Clients who do not pay 1:03:46 Invoicing: 50/50 deposits and net terms 1:06:38 The story behind the name LV Productions Creatives Grab Coffee is produced by Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company.

July 21, 202654 min

#118 Invest in Marketing, Win on Retention (ft. 17 Projects)

Rob Arevalo of 17 Projects on launching a video company two months before COVID, marketing with no budget and then with real money, cold calling in New York, government RFPs, toning proposals down for corporate buyers, and why client retention drives growth. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:46 Meet Rob Arevalo and 17 Projects 3:13 From the Air Force to launching during COVID 6:35 Why keep going when the industry stopped 8:13 Corporate clients and the easiest path in 10:31 Client retention beats chasing new clients 12:59 Systems that keep clients happy as you grow 14:38 A two-person core with a deep freelance roster 15:57 A thousand cold emails: marketing with no budget 18:56 The marketing bets that took 17 Projects full time 20:18 How Lapse grew: SEO over paid ads 22:40 Evolving the marketing mix year to year 24:03 Do mass cold emails still work? 27:32 Cold calling in New York 29:07 Timing, brand awareness, and staying on the radar 32:08 Government contracts and RFPs 38:38 What RFPs teach you about proposals 39:32 Corporate proposals: make them boring 44:24 Expanding to LA, Chicago, and Miami 48:54 Competing in NYC: do your recon 51:01 Why the name 17 Projects Creatives Grab Coffee is produced by Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company. ( https://www.lapseproductions.com/ ). To learn more about the show, visit: https://www.creativesgrabcoffee.com/

July 3, 20261 hr 5 min

#117 Winning on Trust in a Crowded Market (ft. Offbeat Creative)

Gabe Nazario, founder of Offbeat Creative in Jersey City, joins Dario and Kyrill for a candid, tactical conversation about the business of video in the New York metro. He built Offbeat on the side of producer and editor roles at Fox, Disney, and JP Morgan, then went full time once the profit matched his salary. In this episode: growing slowly and hiring deliberately, why a lean 1099 crew sometimes scares clients, treating AI consulting as an SEO play, the tools that speed up the work, chasing simple-deliverable retainers, and why in a market where everyone makes good videos, you win on trust and follow-up. Guest: Gabe Nazario, Offbeat Creative ( https://www.offbeatcreative.co/ ) Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:19 Meet Gabe Nazario and Offbeat Creative 2:07 From Fox, Disney, and JP Morgan to going solo 5:09 Making the leap from a corporate job 8:51 A lean core team plus 1099 crew 10:26 Why a small team spooks some clients 12:29 AI consulting as an SEO play 16:39 The AI tools Offbeat actually uses 28:32 Social media: phone-tier content and volume 33:08 Corporate and commercial: the bread and butter 35:00 Chasing retainers for a monthly pillow 42:30 Google reviews, SEO, and the 70/30 split 45:31 Take the one-off 46:59 Jersey City vs New York 49:41 Competition and winning on trust 53:14 The sale is closed on the hello again 1:01:42 The story behind the name Offbeat Creatives Grab Coffee is a podcast on the business of video production, hosted by Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov and produced by Lapse Productions ( https://www.lapseproductions.com/ ).

June 24, 20261 hr 14 min

#116 Why One Video Is Never a Strategy (ft. MultiVision Digital)

What happens when a sales guy, not a camera guy, builds a video production company? Rob Weiss started MultiVision Digital 15 years ago in New York City with no portfolio and no editing skills, and has since produced more than 1,700 videos. In this episode he sits down with Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov to break down the system behind that run: batch producing so one shoot day becomes ten deliverables, selling clients on a video-first strategy instead of one-off projects, a trade show sales machine built on business cards and a script he has used for years, niching so hard into manufacturing that he launched a second website, and going chest-deep into AI without burning through the budget. In this episode: - Batch producing, and why you never make just one cookie - How to sell clients on a video-first strategy - Where clients really are on video adoption (a 1 to 10 scale) - The 14-FAQ-video story: aligning budget to goals - A trade show playbook built on "I just want to say hi" - Niching down until you need a second website - The YouTube Shorts epiphany and repurposing to TikTok - Using AI in real client workflows, and pricing it with contingency days Chapters: 00:00 Intro: A Sales Guy Who Built a Video Company 03:29 Batch Producing: Why You Never Make Just One Cookie 05:23 Stop "Just Carving Out Snippets," Plan Your Reels 08:41 Selling Clients on a Video-First Strategy 11:19 Where Clients Really Are on Video (a 1 to 10 Scale) 14:21 Aligning Budget to Goals + the 14-FAQ-Video Story 17:34 A Softening Market and Smarter Client Questions 20:38 Trade Shows, Business Cards & Planting Seeds 24:05 The "I Just Want to Say Hi" Sales Approach 29:01 Postcards, QR Codes & Email Sequencing 33:57 Running Sales While Running a 5-Person Team 40:09 Coming From Sales, Not the Camera 43:25 Long-Term Freelancers and a Team Mentality 47:21 Why Manufacturing Became the Niche 49:55 A Separate "Video For Manufacturing" Website 53:46 The YouTube Shorts Epiphany 57:40 Going Chest-Deep Into AI Video 1:04:07 Pricing AI Work With "Contingency Days" 1:08:29 Where AI Video Editing Goes Next Guest: Rob Weiss, MultiVision Digital — https://multivisiondigital.com Hosts: Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov of Lapse Productions — https://www.lapseproductions.com Creatives Grab Coffee is a weekly podcast about the business of video production. If you are enjoying the show, follow and leave a review, it genuinely helps. Watch the full video episodes on YouTube and find every episode at https://www.creativesgrabcoffee.com

June 12, 20261 hr 21 min

#115 Experience-Based Hiring & AI Tools (ft. LivaLittle)

In this episode of Creatives Grab Coffee, we sit down with JD Gonzalez, founder of LivaLittle, a boutique production company based in Brooklyn, New York. JD is a cinematographer, producer, and director who's built his business around a unique philosophy: experience-based hiring — rotating crews and giving people the opportunities they need to grow their careers. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Intro: Meet JD Gonzalez of LivaLittle 01:50 – Experience-based hiring & a DEI-focused production company 03:58 – Building a network by rotating crews 10:23 – Getting remembered in a new market: consistency over time 12:17 – JD's backstory: film school & teaching high school film 17:00 – Crafting the Image: running free filmmaking workshops 23:46 – Virtual production & partnering with rental houses 25:09 – Why film education should be free 27:19 – No one can steal your perspective 30:10 – Could Creatives Grab Coffee go live & in person? 31:21 – Why JD moved from Denver to New York City 34:30 – Breaking into the NYC market 36:38 – Does owning a camera still win you work? 39:11 – Consigning gear with a rental house 40:41 – The logistics of filming in NYC: trucks, insurance & freight elevators 48:22 – Branding, SEO & landing direct-to-client work 51:23 – Running a lean, direct-to-client production model 53:05 – Building PrepViz: a scene design & previz app made with Claude Code 56:31 – Pre-Checklist: simplifying gear lists & prep 58:49 – Teaching yourself to build apps with AI 1:02:41 – Building a custom CRM 1:03:54 – Are you locked into one AI platform? 1:09:44 – The ups and downs of the AI train 1:11:41 – Standing out when everyone uses AI: you get out what you put in 1:16:04 – Wrap-up & where to find JD Connect with JD Gonzalez: Website: https://www.livalittle.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jdgonzalesdp 🎧 Hosts: Dario Nouri & Kyrill Lazarov — Lapse Productions , Toronto https://www.lapseproductions.com 🎙️ About Creatives Grab Coffee: Creatives Grab Coffee explores the business of video production , featuring candid conversations with studio owners and filmmakers around the world on scaling, creativity, and industry evolution. 👇 Follow & Subscribe: Website – https://creativesgrabcoffee.com Instagram – https://instagram.com/creativesgrabcoffee LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/company/lapseproductions #VideoProduction #Filmmaking #Podcast #CreativesGrabCoffee #VideoBusiness #Cinematographer #ClaudeCode #AITools #NYCFilmmaking #ProductionCompany

June 5, 20261 hr 30 min

#114 TV Doc, RFPs, and AI (ft. Bee Video Productions)

Brigitte Sachse of Bee Video Productions returns for her third visit to talk shop with Dario and Kyrill. We get into how Bee Video landed a documentary series on TVO ("The Nature of Design"), why animation became their secret weapon, and the recurring theme of the whole episode: diversifying your work, your income, and even your project timelines so you never have all your eggs in one basket. We also dig into whether AI video is actually a threat (spoiler: not yet), the great raw-footage-and-project-files debate, the pain of government RFPs, public pricing, SEO, and a couple of brutal "client didn't pay us" war stories — plus the copyright-strike trick that gets you paid. 🎧 More episodes: https://www.creativesgrabcoffee.com/episodes/ Timestamps 00:00 Catching Up with Brigitte (Bee Video Productions) 01:00 "The Nature of Design": Pitching a Doc Series to TVO 05:20 How Animation Became Their Secret Weapon 07:30 Working with a Broadcaster vs. a Corporate Client 11:10 Making a Passion Project Profitable 14:15 Why a Diversity of Timelines Prevents Burnout 19:35 Why Is Everyone So Busy Despite the Economy? 21:45 Is AI Video a Real Threat? 29:45 Raw Footage, Project Files & the "Costco Hot Dog" of Post 41:45 Government RFPs: The 50-Page Slot Machine 55:00 What's Next: Personalized Video & a Shared Studio 01:03:30 The Real ROI of a Podcast + SEO 01:06:15 Should You Make Your Pricing Public? 01:14:40 Getting Stiffed & the Copyright-Strike Fix 01:25:35 Wrap-Up 🎧 Hosts: Dario Nouri & Kyrill Lazarov — Lapse Productions , Toronto https://www.lapseproductions.com 🎙️ About Creatives Grab Coffee: Creatives Grab Coffee explores the business of video production , featuring candid conversations with studio owners and filmmakers around the world on scaling, creativity, and industry evolution. 👇 Follow & Subscribe: Website – https://creativesgrabcoffee.com Instagram – https://instagram.com/creativesgrabcoffee LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/company/lapseproductions #CreativesGrabCoffee #videographyhacks #videography #videographer #videoproduction #businesspodcast #videoproductionpodcast #lapseproductions #videomarketing #videoproductioncompany #videoproductionservices

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