Creatives Grab Coffee

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

Creatives Grab Coffee is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 118 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Creatives Grab Coffee, a business show with 118 episodes published.

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  Episode #118

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

  Jul 21, 202654 minS6

  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/

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  Episode #117

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

  Jul 3, 20261h 5mS6

  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/ ).

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  Episode #116

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

  Jun 24, 20261h 15mS6

  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

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  Episode #115

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

  Jun 12, 20261h 22mS6

  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

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  Episode #114

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

  Jun 5, 20261h 30mS6

  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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