A point of difference
Howl Media keeps up with the changing industry
A GEELONG commercial video and photography business is set to deliver a suite of videos to promote northern Queensland as a medical training destination in a job that involved 12 weeks of filming.
The major contract saw Howl Media visit 35 towns to produce 15,000 photos, 15 hours of drone footage and 50 hours of video footage while also conducting 65 interviews.
General manager Geoff Hutchinson said the 20 promotional videos produced for James Cook University and Queensland Health would be shown to prospective medical students with the aim of attracting and retaining medical professionals in Far North Queensland.
“Our productions will be shown all over Australia and internationally,” Mr Hutchinson said.
“For a small company that has been doing little videos around town, it’s a big paradigm change for us.”
Howl Media is a merger of the creative talents of photographer Pam Hutchinson, videographer Damian Visser and Mr Hutchinson, who has extensive senior managerial experience and doubles as the company’s drone pilot.
Ms Hutchinson has long operated a photography business in Geleong while Mr Visser, who has a graphic design background, established a videography business in 2012 with the concept of a single provider of professional visual media growing out of cross referrals between the two businesses.
Formed two years ago, Howl has been growing on the back of leveraging their customer bases to provide a suite of services while Mr Hutchinson’s executive experience adds another layer of expertise by connecting the creative offering to clients’ marketing strategies.
“We have probably doubled their (Pam and Damian’s) respective businesses,” Mr Hutchinson said.
“What we are doing is leveraging a quality client base to offer quality products that we didn’t have before.”
Ms Hutchinson, who last year was acknowledged as a Licentiate by the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, has been a professional photographer for about 25 years but she recognised the need to reinvent the business to cater for increasing demand for video. Having a video offering, including via a drone, not only complemented her photography service but also enabled clients to be retained.
Mr Visser said the team’s collective skills meant Howl had the capacity to add value to clients.
“The next step for us is to move ahead in that discussion; to be involved earlier in the process,” Mr Visser said.
Mr Hutchinson said he was a retired CEO who fell in love with drone technology and had become an advocate for its responsible use.
He said he had a remote pilot’s licence and the company had registered a remotely piloted aircraft operators certificate meaning it operated under procedures approved by CASA.
“To try to create a point of difference in a competitive market, we are trying to be a professional provider (of drone services) with the proper registrations, insurance policies and procedures,” he said.