The Business of Video Production

One of the easiest ways to generate more work in your video production business isn’t by finding new clients. It’s by reconnecting with the people who already know you, trust you, and have hired you before. In this episode, I explore why so many great client relationships quietly fade away, not because anything went wrong, but because everyone gets busy. I share practical ways to reconnect that fe...

Running a successful video production business isn’t just about strategy, marketing and sales. Much of it comes down to mindset. In this episode, I explore the psychological side of running a business and share some of the personal philosophies that have shaped the way I’ve approached work and life over the past 20 years. These are the ideas I come back to when things get difficult, the principles...

Have you ever felt like your business has stopped moving forward? You’re still working. You’re still getting projects. But the growth, excitement and momentum that used to be there feels harder to find. In this episode, I sit down with one of my coaching clients to talk about what happened when he found himself in exactly that position. After years of running a successful video production business...

What if one of your best clients left tomorrow? It’s a question that has kept many business owners awake at night, including me. This is Part 3 of my three-part series on How to Get More Leads and Clients. In the first two episodes, we looked at acquisition and leverage. Today, we’re talking about retention: the often-overlooked skill of building client relationships that last. I share the mindset...

This is part two of my three-part series, How to Get More Leads and Clients. In part one, we focused on lead generation. In this episode, we're moving to the next stage of the process: leverage. Most video production business owners think the value of a project ends when the invoice gets paid. The job gets delivered, the client is happy, and everyone moves on to the next thing. But there's...

Have you ever found yourself repeatedly checking your inbox, hoping a client will get back to you? Or staring at a quote you’ve sent, knowing that if this one project goes ahead, you’ll be fine for another month? Most video production business owners know what it’s like to have too much riding on a handful of opportunities. In this episode, I unpack the framework I’ve used over the past 20 years t...

What actually creates momentum in a video production business? Why do some people take coaching, ideas, and strategies and genuinely run with them… while others stay stuck in the same patterns for years? On this episode, I continue my conversation with coaching client Nic Mongillo from Toronto, Canada. Last week we spoke about the practical side of growing a video business: systems, team, structur...

What does it take to go from being a one-person operator to running a business with good systems and a team? On this episode, we welcome back one of my coaching clients, Nic Mongillo, from Toronto, Canada. Nic first appeared on the podcast back on episode 58. We recorded that episode together 9 months ago. And I called it “How to go Pro with your video business.” And if you haven't listened to...

Most video producers know they should be posting more on LinkedIn. They’ve got great work, smart ideas, and interesting stories from the field, but for some reason, they hold back. Maybe it feels awkward. Maybe they don’t know what to say. Or maybe they’ve posted before and nothing happened. In this episode of The Business of Video Production Podcast , Ryan Spanger breaks down how to build a conte...

Are you working harder than ever, but still not getting the results you want? You’re editing, quoting, filming, following up... replying to client emails at 10pm. You’re grinding. But it still feels like something’s off. In this episode, I want to show you a different way of thinking. One that’s helped me, and many of my coaching clients, escape the cycle of overwork and under-earning. It’s called...

If you're not a natural salesperson, if you dislike high-pressure sales tactics, and if the idea of "closing the deal" makes you uncomfortable, this episode is for you. In this episode of The Business of Video Production Podcast, I break down how videographers and video producers can sell authentically: without tricks, hacks, or pushy techniques. I share my journey from struggling wi...

A year ago, I released the Iron Man Model as a six-part series. I’ve been thinking about that series again recently and decided to bring the whole model back together in one place as a single episode. Partly because it was originally broken up, and it’s much easier to take it in as a complete framework. But also because, over the past year, it has become more relevant. There’s more uncertainty in...

You know the job isn’t right. The budget feels off. The scope is messy. It’s going to pull you back into doing more than you want. But it fills the week. It brings money in. It solves the immediate problem. So you take it. This episode is about that moment. We get into the idea of playing the long game in a video production business. • The gap between effort and reward, and why most people struggl...

This episode comes from a listener question sent in by Liston in the Bahamas… and it opens up something a lot of video production businesses struggle with. How do you create an offer that actually makes it easier for a client to say yes? We get into what’s really going on in a client’s head before they make a decision… the tension between what they want and what they’re worried about… and how most...

Have you ever sent an invoice, felt good about the work… and then the client pushes back? It’s a tough moment. You feel defensive. Like you need to justify yourself. But how you handle it matters. It can strengthen the relationship, or damage it. In this episode, I break down how to respond without getting emotional, how to explain your value clearly, and how to hold your ground while still protec...

If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you probably have a sense of how I think about running a video production business. The strategies, the systems, the way I approach clients and pricing. And if you're new, it will help fill in some gaps and provide context. But what I don’t talk about very often is where all of that actually comes from. In this episode, I take a step back a...

In this episode, Ryan walks through the practical steps behind building recurring video packages that actually work in a production business. You’ll learn how to think about retainers from the client’s perspective, how to structure the offer, and how to avoid the common mistakes that turn recurring work into a production treadmill. Ryan also explains: • The types of clients who are most likely to...

Many videographers start their careers filming weddings. It can be a great training ground and, for a time, a reliable source of income. But for many people, there eventually comes a moment where they begin to wonder if it’s time to move on. In this episode, I share my own experience moving from wedding videos into corporate video production. I talk about the early years of filming weddings, the s...

There’s a lot of noise right now about AI. And if you run a video production company, there’s a subtle pressure that you should be doing more. Experimenting more. Automating more. Keeping up. In this episode, I break down how I’m actually approaching AI in my own business. Where I’m using new tools to speed things up. Where I’m deliberately not getting distracted. And how I decide whether somethin...

There’s a business idea that gets repeated constantly in entrepreneurial circles. It sounds smart. Mature. Aspirational. If you hear it often enough, you start to assume it must be true. But the more I hear it, the more I’ve started to question it. In this episode, I take a widely accepted business idea, hold it up to scrutiny, and ask whether it actually serves you as a video production business...

This week I’m replaying Episode 1. When I recorded it, hardly anyone was listening. Since then, the audience has grown a lot. And I want newer listeners to understand what this podcast is actually about, and what I’m about. In this first episode, I answer some pretty direct questions: Who am I, and why should you listen to me? Do I actually understand the challenges you’re facing? What’s the philo...

Video producers often get stuck in one of two pricing loops. Either you’re trying to find the “going rate”, or you’re trying to charge “what you’re worth”. Both sound reasonable. Neither holds up when you’re in the middle of real projects, real clients, real timelines, and real risk. In this episode, I look at pricing as something you shape around the job in front of you, not a fixed number you’re...

This episode came from a listener email that landed at exactly the right moment. Alex is a video producer in New York who’s recently stepped out of full-time work and into running his own business. Things are going well. Work is coming in. He’s starting to bring other people in. And with that comes a new set of questions: What do you actually need in place as the business grows? How do you keep pe...

This is the first new episode for 2026, after a short break and a some reruns. The year’s started, but maybe you haven’t quite yet. Things may still be a bit quiet. Work hasn’t fully kicked back in. And you’re wondering how to use this in-between period without just waiting for momentum to magically appear. In this episode, Ryan talks about what it’s really like to come back after a break when mot...

Every creative business hits a moment where waiting stops working. For Toronto-based video producer Nic Mongillo, that moment came when he decided to stop treating his video business as a side project and start building it properly. In this episode of The Business of Video Production Podcast, I sit down with Nic to unpack how, in just six months, he: • Left his day job • More than doubled his inco...