Today we’d like to introduce you to Ejler Bettenhausen.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Growing up, I was always a self-starter. If there was something I was passionate about I would find a way to make it happen. I was blessed with a family that supported me in my endeavors yet didn’t hand things to me on a silver platter. If I wanted something I had to get out there and work to achieve it. Around the age of 9 I discovered my passion for film. Everything was a story worth capturing and everything was a moment worth sharing. At the age of thirteen, I was given the opportunity to film someone’s wedding. Even though the end product was far from good I realized that I could be passionate about something and support myself off that passion. I realized work didn’t have to be boring and uniform, it could be something I was excited about every day.
Now let’s fast forward to 2016 at 19 years old. With hundreds of film projects behind me through my personal business, I decided I wanted to create something bigger. The number one most discouraging thing I discovered along my personal journey in the area of media production was that there were so many extremely talented people who were giving up on their passions to pursue career paths others had chosen for them or that society is pushing. I am a strong believer that the only way to be truly successful and to push our world a culture forward is to have passionate people doing the things they are passionate about. If everyone was in a job or position they were passionate about the world would be constantly moving forward at a rate that is incomprehensible. So I decided to do something about it. The number one thing I’d noticed was that creative people, either in photography, web design, music, videography, modeling, graphic design, etc. didn’t know how to properly market themselves and gain work. So I decided to start a media production company to give this amazing talent a place to showcase it and show the world you can be successful at something you’re passionate about. Right now, we are somewhat small still but we’ve seen tremendous growth in the short time we’ve been established. We always bring an aspiring film maker or photographer with us on our shoots to give them the opportunity to learn, gain insight on how these projects work, show their value, and hopefully inspire them to continue pursuing their passion.
The goal behind Iris Effect Media is to “Create content that explores and brings to life the passions and stories behind business and people”. We advertise the people and story foremost rather than the product or service. What this does is give potential customers a reason to support the business and most of all shines a spotlight on people who are passionate about what they do.
Has it been a smooth road?
As with anything there are always struggles. I would say the biggest was being taken seriously at such a young age. I’ve been producing professional content since the age of 13 and people don’t always expect that someone so young can manage or have enough experience to produce large productions as well as people assuming my work to be just a hobby rather than career. Now at the age of 20 with many large projects under my belt people tend to take me more seriously, but there were most definitely some battles getting here.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
What sets us apart from others in the media production/advertising category is we are a one stop shop and we focus on storytelling. What I mean by this is that we can do everything from making videos that highlight the business, shooting photography, drone and scuba. But we don’t stop there, we can build your website, create your graphics, logo, etc… and then we can actually market you through social media and even run it if you choose. We have people who specialize in all areas of media production and advertisement. But the biggest separation is that we focus on telling a story through the content. We highlight the unique aspects of your business, what you did to get there, and the passion behind it all.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I feel like Southern California in general is an amazing place to start a business. The only thing I would change is add incentives or tax breaks to help small business get on their feet and really do some great work. I would like to see a day when it’s easy for someone to start a business without major fundraising, loans, investors, or donors.
Contact Info:
- Website: iriseffectmedia.com
- Phone: 714 335 8034
- Email: iriseffectmedia@gmail.com
- Instagram: @iriseffectmedia
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/iris-effect-media-brea
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user59638529
Image Credit:
Iris Effect Media
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