Video entrepreneurs aim to fill void, cash in on Democratic National Convention

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When Tommy Nichols told his friends he was quitting his information technology job at Central Piedmont Community College to start his own company he got some strange looks.

“They asked me if I was nuts for quitting a steady job in this economy,” Nichols said. “But I told them I had a dream and I was going to follow it.”

His decision is partly to blame on the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which Charlotte will host.

Nichols is hoping to cash in on the DNC by teaming up with business partner Joe Harrison, a former producer at WSOC and WCNC, to form Dream Media Studios, which was launched in May.

DMS has done some work for the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce on videos promoting the DNC and has begun testing the waters to become the go-to video company for production work for the event.

The two entrepreneurs, both in their late 40s, are tapping into what is, apparently, an unmet need in the Charlotte area, as some say there seems to not be many Queen City video companies catering to corporate clients, although there are enough of the type that can shoot, say, a wedding or bar mitzvah.

“There are a few corporate-level production companies and then this mom-and-pop kind of operation but not much in between,” said Natalie Dick, spokeswoman for the chamber. “What it seems like mostly is it is a lot of folks who do it on the side in addition to their regular gigs.”

The convention work might be low-hanging fruit for DMS in another way, as competitors aren’t exactly lining up to fight for it.

“We haven’t made any plans to market to the Democratic National Convention specifically, and I really wouldn’t know how to go about doing that,” said Beth Sewell, co-owner of Episode XI, a corporate-level video production company based at 3415 Westinghouse Blvd.

“We have some good competition, and there are a lot of companies that do video work in Charlotte, but not a lot of companies do work on our level,” she said. “We don’t do social events, like weddings. We have enough competition, but I wouldn’t say Charlotte is a city like LA, where obviously there are thousands of video production companies.”

Nichols and Harrison are putting 17 years of combined video experience together in forming DMS. Both have had their own video production companies, with Nichols running Tommy Film Works and Harrison helming Digital Media Concepts.

They have already had some success with landing DNC work: The company handled live streaming video for the DNC kickoff event at CPCC in June.

Another thing the company might have going for in its attempt for DNC work: its status as a minority-owned business in Charlotte.

Ever since it was announced that Charlotte won the DNC, many officials are calling for minority firms to benefit from the event. Mayor Anthony Foxx and former Mayor Harvey Gantt are among those who have said that it will be important to make sure that minority businesses aren’t overlooked for convention-related contracts.

To that end, the DNC’s executive committee has pledged to use a directory of women and minority-owned businesses in Charlotte when awarding contracts for catering, security, video and other services.

“I think that directory is a good thing, a good step,” Harrison said. “But I almost wish it wasn’t necessary to be putting a list like that together.”

Nichols said the directory will help give his company more exposure, but he also was dismayed that the list was even needed.

“We should have those kinds of relationships with other vendors and groups in the city already,” he said. “It should be organic, not something we have to make a priority or force to work.”

Nichols was working at a computer repair shop in Dayton, Ohio, when he decided to move to Charlotte — his parents are from North Carolina — and own his own business. He moved to Charlotte about a year and a half ago.

“But I didn’t know much about the area anymore,” he said. “So I got my job at CPCC and then I wrote a play that was produced at Winthrop University in South Carolina.”

Through the exposure of his play, Nichols started Charlotte’s inaugural Black Film Festival, which was held in March. The event drew minority filmmakers, producers and actors from across the Southeast.

His connections through the film festival and other companies led Nichols to Harrison. The two met in January as competitors on a job while running separate companies.

“I thought I was filming an event for a client, but when I got there Joe was already setting up,” Nichols said.

“This guy just walks up to me and starts talking about my cameras — which I had HD equipment ready to go — and my microphones and all of this,” Harrison said. “He knew his stuff. We hit it off. And he ended up helping me with sound that day, just because he wanted to help out.”

Nichols would later send some jobs he didn’t have the time to handle to Harrison, and vice versa. The pseudo-partnership led to DMS.

Nichols said the company aims to set itself apart from the dozens of other video production companies in Charlotte by highlighting its live sets and what Nichols calls “lightning quick turnaround” for produced pieces.

“In a matter of hours, someone can be in our studio and stream it to the Internet or uplink right to CNN, NBC or right to your mobile device,” he said. “And we can do that here at our studio or onsite.”

Nichols said the company is all about digital technology, meaning there is no analog equipment, so they need fewer editors and less equipment and overhead costs are lower.

“We can have about five to 10 videographers in the field at an event,” he said. “And then they all send their stuff back to the studio and we edit it right then. The technology is so elegant now you can even shoot and edit video on your mobile phone.”

As the DNC rolls near, the duo said they want to collaborate with other local businesses for the event.

“We’re working with All Stars Communication here in the city to use their satellite uplink,” Harrison said. “They don’t have a studio, and we don’t have our own uplink truck, so we’re sharing those things.”

Getting capital to start a business is a tough task right now, so Nichols and Harrison decided to just use their own money to launch DMS.

Including a renovation of the company’s space at the chamber of commerce’s building at 330 S. Tryon St., the two have spent about $50,000 out of pocket.

Scott Baughman  can be reached at [email protected].