Four Years of Genius House - Video Agency Culture

In celebration of Genius House’s 4th year in business, here’s a brief Q&A with Partner, Video Director & Janitor, Adam Fischer.

 What has surprised you about business ownership?

It sounds cliché, but the main thing that has surprised me is how much I care about the business. Some call it passion and Colleen calls it perfectionism, but I just know that it’s impossible for me to deliver sub par work and shrug it off. I had no idea going into this that I had this “quality” and that it’s not something you can shut off. Ever.

What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time to August 6th, 2013? 

Be prepared to be unprepared and enjoy it when you are not busy, because you are going to be busy. Also, get organized because you’ll never have a clean slate again.  

Looking back over the last four years, what is your proudest Genius House moment?

I don’t think I can name one because there are things happening all the time that I’m proud of. Repeat customers always make me proud, as do referrals from current and past clients. When the team works their asses off to complete a challenging production or tight deadline, that’s always an incredibly proud moment.

Who do you look up to and what companies inspire you? 

There are a lot of production companies and talented freelancers out there, so I’m inspired by the ones that have been around for a while and have navigated the industry for 10+ years and are still rolling along. Every time I see another team produce something awesome and I’m like “damn thats good, good for them,” and then I’m immediately like “how do we do that even better?” 

What has changed about Genius House in the last 4 years? 

We started from the bottom now we’re here. (Still at the bottom but with a larger team and nicer gear). Really not a lot has drastically changed. Our work has certainly improved and we have more long-term clients, but we are still the scrappy, enthusiastic, small and mighty shop we were on day one. 

What is your proudest video Genius House Media has produced? 

I like a lot of our videos, but I still think the Hama Hama Oyster Farm vignette we shot for Xtratuf Boots is my favorite. It’s gritty and raw and it fits the brand perfectly. What makes it stand out to me is not just the finished product, but knowing what it took to get there, the conditions we filmed in, the hours we worked. That’s really what I love about this business. Every shoot is different, something always goes wrong, and there is always a new challenge to tackle. No matter how much we learn, there is always room to grow. It just never gets boring.  

What do you see for the future of Genius House? 

I think it’s a great time to be in the digital video content and I don’t see that slowing down anytime soon. I’d like to do more 360 content that is more immersive and incorporates motion graphics with video. I want to continue to expand our content capabilities. Some crews are one trick ponies but we can do a lot of things at a high level from “about us” interviews, to aerial videos, to product videos, to motion graphics explainer videos and I love that about our team. So I just want to continue to learn trends and styles and roll with the changes in the industry.