Who doesn’t love a good movie? From blockbuster hits to student made shorts, films are an integral part of our modern day art and entertainment industry.
Usually when we think of filmmaking, we think about the well-known roles like directing or producing – but what really makes a film of any kind special is quality VFX. What would an action movie be without it’s mind bending explosions, and what is a commercial without catchy music and/or sounds effects to hook its audience?
That’s why today I’m excited to share my interview with Christopher Kelly, the founder of ProductionCrate. After dabbling in video production with his friends, Christopher realized that it was surprisingly hard to find high quality stock VFX for his films – so he started making them himself. After finding that other creatives faced the same issues, he began uploading his homemade effects to an online library resource, and ProductionCrate was born. A decade or so later, ProductionCrate has served more than a million users and continues to add resources to help filmmakers all over the world.
Allow me to introduce Christopher Kelly…
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My name is Christopher Kelly, and I founded ProductionCrate.
ProductionCrate provides resources for video and filmmakers, ranging from visual effects to motion graphics, music, sound effects, and more. In 2009 we launched what is now our flagship product, FootageCrate.com, which quickly gained recognition in the VFX community. Our platform has now grown to serve over a million users, offering them all the assets they need to enhance their projects.
In college at SFSU, I loved making videos. When YouTube started in 2005, my roommates and I began uploading various content from fun fight scenes to short films. My interest in visual effects (VFX) took off when my roommate introduced me to After Effects. I started adding VFX to our videos, and when I couldn’t find specific effects online, I made my own.
Seeing a need for a place to store and share these effects, I created a website in 2009 called ‘FootageCrate’. The online community loved it, and its popularity grew. What began as a simple project to meet my own needs turned into a full business. The growth of FootageCrate came from both passion and feedback from other creators. I saw a need in the market and worked to fill it, helping other filmmakers along the way.
The process of building FootageCrate was mostly chaos. I filmed special effects in my parent’s garage, leaving behind a thin layer of dust and fake blood splatter but taking with me some pretty cool footage. After doing a little post processing, I uploaded it to the website. The website itself was absolutely horrible. I used one of those early DIY website building tools, and created one of the ugliest sites anyone has ever seen. It worked. People used it, and that’s all that really mattered in the beginning.
I started the website in college, and shot all the content in my parent’s garage. There was no ribbon cutting ceremony, I don’t think I even told anyone I knew that the website existed for the first few months.
YouTube as a Resource: We utilized YouTube as both an educational and promotional platform. By creating tutorials that showcase our visual effects, we have been able to educate our users on best practices while simultaneously promoting our offerings. This approach not only showcased our expertise but also built trust within the filmmaking community.
Membership Tiers: Offering a free membership tier allowed users to familiarize themselves with our services without financial commitment. This strategy enabled us to introduce users to our platform, with many later opting for our premium services after recognizing the value we provide.
User Engagement and Feedback: Our User Requests page has become an integral part of our platform, facilitating a space for users to suggest and vote on new content. Additionally, our expansive email list serves as an avenue for us to keep our community informed about our latest content updates and developments.
By merging educational content, tiered membership options, and consistent user engagement, we’ve fostered a growing and loyal customer base.
I love the podcast “How I Built This”. It’s great to hear other founder’s stories. A lot of which don’t seem to have any parallels with my business, until I hear how they overcame problems or strategized for the future. It’s fun, digestible but also really valuable.
One of my favorite books “Creativity, Inc.”: This book by Ed Catmull covers the behind-the-scenes workings of Pixar. His lessons on fostering a creative culture, embracing challenges, and the importance of transparency in leadership have been instrumental in guiding my approach to business.
Beyond books and podcasts, I’ve been influenced by countless individuals in the VFX community. Their relentless passion, innovative spirit, and willingness to share knowledge have been both a source of inspiration and a guidepost on my journey.
Things are going incredibly well. The team has grown, and we are building entirely new tools and assets for creators. I’ve always been ambitious, expecting the most from the future. If I saw where we got today five years ago, I’d be floored.
Just make it, ship it and refine. Don’t just be willing to fail, crave it. Failure is your best friend, it’s packed with the most useful education experience can offer. Don’t just be willing to pivot, always look at what you’re doing from a different angle, and kill your darlings.
Absolutely. For those interested in connecting or following our journey, here are the primary channels:
Website: ProductionCrate.com
Instagram: @productioncrate
Facebook: ProductionCrate
LinkedIn: ProductionCrate
Twitter: @productioncrate
YouTube: ProductionCrate
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