Check Out Casey Goode’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Goode.

Hi Casey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It all started at in 2004 at a camera rental and sales house called EVS in Glendale, CA. I was a courier going from back lot to backlot to every post house around for a few months and it was taking its toll on not only my psyche but my car. I knew a family friend of ours had a son who owned a camera rental shop so I asked if he could introduce me. A week later, I met the two owners Cody Martin and Shawn Simon, shook their hands and got a job in the shipping and receiving department. Over the next ten years, I went from shipping to sales, to rentals and met quite literally everyone responsible for me being in the position I am today.

One day, while working in rentals, a customer asked if I ever freelance (I never had before) and I said “absolutely!”. I was paid $80 to grip a very small shoot but that was it for me – I was hooked. Then, I’d get jobs from other customers doing camera, media management, audio, all the things. Those ten years forged lifelong friendships and a vast network of creatives that I still call on to this day for locations, crew, latest gear knowledge, you name it. It also was a crash course in all things production – the best education I could ever have. I look back and realize that that store houses some of my favorite memories. I liked to say it was the Cheers of the production world – where everybody knows your name.

I left EVS in 2013 and they have since grown into a rental powerhouse as well as having a full production studio for rent spearheaded by their rental and studio manager and one of my best friends, Toby Fulp.

Working at EVS, I cultivated relationships with a lot of our vendors including: Matthews Grip, Tiffen/Steadicam, IDX, Atamos, JVC, Redrock Micro and many others. The idea was to make content for these brands where we take their products and give them to friends of ours to use on their shoots while we shoot a behind-the-scenes vignette of the product in action on a real set. It worked well, but the demand at the time just wasn’t there. This was before “influencer” was part of our vernacular. This worked for a few years, but the company ended up fizzling out as both Danny and myself wanted to go in different directions.

I then started working for a near and dear friend of mine, Nick Lentz, who I also met through EVS renting him camera gear. He’s also an incredible writer/director. I started producing for him – commercials, music videos, TV pilots. It was so much fun and such a huge learning experience for me. It was working with Nick where I learned development. He has such a knack for finding an idea and expanding on it. Creating a show bible. Mapping out an execution plan. I also learned how a good director operates and what a good leader looks like. He makes every project fun and exciting and makes sure to include everybody. A collaborator in the truest sense of the word.

Then, one day, I get a call from an old customer of mine who I haven’t seen or spoken with in years. He said he worked at Facebook and wanted to know if I could help set up the lighting in their studio at their LA office. After setting everything up, I ended up meeting one of my mentors Ray Timmons who was the studio lead at the time. We became fast friends and he started hiring me freelance for a few jobs here and there which lead to me getting hired at Facebook LA full-time to help roll out Facebook Live as well as other products for Instagram. I setup a three-camera live switch streaming studio that I was able to light, mix, switch and stream all on my own. I also started an off-site team where I would set up a mobile live camera switch for various partners including Stagecoach Music Festival, Outside Lands and HBO. It was an incredible experience that I’m very thankful for.

I left Facebook and was back to freelancing full-time with Nick and crew when… the pandemic hit. All work was gone. I was depressed and had no purpose. Times were dark.

Throughout the entire period, I just laid out, one of my customers John Adolph would hire me here and there for jobs. He worked at Edmunds which is the go-to source for all things automotive. Basically, if you want to learn about or buy a new car, you go to Edmunds.com. Well, they started hiring me… it’s hard to describe the feeling of joy I had that I actually had a job to do again. Then, in the height of the pandemic, I get a call from the Editor in Chief who offered me a full-time senior producer role. I almost cried. I loved working with them and I am a huge car nerd, but to get this call in the HEIGHT of the pandemic? It felt like Falkor was flying down to pull me out to the mud.

I’ve now been at Edmunds for almost three years producing and directing automotive content and I absolutely love it. I have a great team and truly enjoy the work I do.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A smooth road? In THIS business? HAHAHAHAHA!

Look, have I had to live in my car and eat ketchup packets? No. But the arrogant 25-year-old me would be shocked that I’m not a millionaire by now and rightfully so, because that younger me had a lot to learn.

I’d say one of the biggest obstacles for me was thinking I knew what was going to happen. Being dead set on a plan and not being open to other possibilities. Once I learned that I don’t know everything (what a shock), things really started changing for me. I started saying yes a lot more and worked whatever jobs I could which allowed me to meet more people and get a footing in more work and more professional relationships.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
All the jobs I’ve had in this business are almost by mistake. I never planned to be a producer/director. Honestly, I wanted to be an actor. If I’m being REALLY honest, my dream of dreams is to host a nightly talk show. Will those things ever happen? I don’t know!

I love people. I love connecting people. I love identifying talent, learning personalities and pairing them with someone else who I think they could make some serious magic with. I also love telling a story. I love being in the trenches with friends on 16-hour days, all working towards the same goal of making cool stuff. There’s honestly nothing better to me. I love crafting in posts. Spending hours on tone and pacing. Finding the right music cue. All of it.

If anyone wants to get into this business on the production side, I’d highly recommend getting a job at a rental house. Also, not being an asshole. That helps too. Be curious. Be humble. Be willing to offer your time and expertise to those that need it without expecting something in return. It all adds up. Also, if you have an idea for a short, a music video, a pilot, just do it. Don’t allow yourself to rationalize your way out of it. Put in the work. Find your circle of creatives and teamwork the everlovin’ S out of it. Don’t be afraid to FAIL! You need to fail to succeed.

I’m proud of all my work, but one in particular is a TV Pilot I helped develop and produce with Nick Lentz that hasn’t seen the light of day… YET. Will you ever see it? Again, I don’t know! I just try to put all the irons in all the fires and see what happens.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
If anyone wants to get ahold of me, I’d say just shoot me the old casual DM on Instagram @caseybueno.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @caseybueno
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseygoode

Image Credits
Andy Rooney Exact Digital