The Opportunity
After a year of grinding to build New Eve, our video production company, an incredibly exciting opportunity emerged: a mini-documentary following pilgrims on an annual trip to Lourdes, France. For Jacob, Mary, and me, this wasn’t just another project. It was the chance to elevate our portfolio and prove we could handle international productions.
The First Attempt: A Difficult Lesson
Securing the project proved far more challenging than the actual production would be. We’d spent the past year learning just how difficult building a business could be: cultivating relationships, closing sales, and fulfilling projects that often weren’t even in our wheelhouse, all while struggling to break even.
When the Lourdes opportunity appeared, it felt too good to be true. And initially, it was.
After weeks of proposals, contracts, and endless back-and-forth, the client delivered crushing news: they’d decided against the documentary. They felt there was not enough time to coordinate the logistics of including a video crew on their pilgrimage. It was deflating. But at the same time, I was ready for it, and the team and I did the only thing we could do: we moved on. We kept growing the business, slowly but steadily. Nothing as flashy as an overseas project, but we were fortunate to have a relatively steady stream of work.
The Comeback
Ten months later, the client reached out again. While it can be difficult to attempt to secure a project that has already failed to close once, on the second attempt you have a distinct advantage, you are attempting an experiment with all of the knowledge you had from the first attempt, and you can preemptively address any of those issues. Which is precisely what we did. Armed with this knowledge, we approached the opportunity differently. Instead of letting discussions drag on for weeks, we created urgency. Mary and I pushed hard on the proposal, addressing their logistical concerns head-on and providing quick revisions to match their vision.
The strategy worked. I still remember Mary calling me to let me know: “They’re signing the proposal.”
It was surreal, after years of steady but unglamorous work, we’d finally landed the project that could transform our business.
The Production
Once the contract was signed, everything flowed smoothly. The novelty of working in Europe made even the long days feel light. For me, the challenging part wasn’t the filming, editing, or storytelling, it was everything that came before.