Today we’d like to introduce you to Roger Miller.
Roger, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It has been said that if you work at something you enjoy, then you will never have to work another day in your life.
I have been fortunate to work at things that I enjoy for most of my life.
In no particular order of the top five things I enjoy are:
Classic cars
Woodworking
Video production
Traveling
Consumer Electronics
In K-12, I was not much of a scholar.
With no place to put me, the guidance counselor placed me in a high school woodworking class.
Thank goodness for that guidance counselor, otherwise I would never have tasted success in school.
Success in woodworking gave me the can-do spirit to try photography.
Success there, provided the can-do spirit to go to college and major in the teaching of woodworking and photography.
Less than 7 years after entering my first woodworking class Stereo Review Magazine took notice of how well my interests of Woodworking and Photography and electronics could be combined at link below:
http://advantagevideo.net/home/Press_coverage.html
The Industrial Education degree, and my willingness to work for minimum wage, opened the door to an entry-level photo lab position.
The money I made in the photo lab enabled me to buy one of the first home video camera systems on the market, at a time when few could afford or understand this type of equipment.
Fortunately the things I already knew about tape recorders and still cameras were the same things everyone needed to know about the early video equipment.
I was such an early adopter that I might actually be one of the first people to ever take a home video camera to Disneyland.
Once I got through the turnstile, I was surrounded by seven Blue Suited security guards.
Based on their questions, it was clear that the guards on this particular shift, had never seen a home video camera.
I was also such an early adopter that Videomaker magazine wrote the article at the link below:
https://www.videomaker.com/article/f10/3519-video-time-machine-a-look-back-to-life-before-camcorders
Not long after the trip to Disneyland, it was time to move on to a career in Consumer Electronics
Hands on experience with home video equipment, opened the door to selling audio and video equipment at a store much like today’s Best Buy.
Selling skills gained there opened the door to a career at Panasonic as a video product training specialist, and their Western US In-House Corporate Video Editor.
It was a great time and I was able to experience a lot of my interests on Panasonic’s dime with Panasonic’s blessing and the paychecks that went with that blessing.
The events of 911 created a downturn in the sales of electronics and closed the door to Panasonic.
At the same time, the events of 9/11 opened the door to running Advantage Video full time, Advantage Video had already been running quietly since 1981.
Our specialty is multi camera event video shot with 10 or more mostly hidden cameras.
One of the other ways we differentiate ourselves from the competition is our own in-house invention called SteadyIT.
We use it to take a lot of the shake out of the camera that you get when you zoom in or rove through an event.
The typical way to solve this problem is by losing opportunities to rove and / or zoom in for the best close up.
Other ways to solve this problem is to use expensive equipment that takes time to learn.
As a bonus, the creation of SteadyIT. gives me an excuse to make sawdust in the woodshop.
Now it’s time to juggle in a new adventure, which is to find a broker, to put my classic cars into the movies so that I can “work” that interest as well.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
A hostile divorce was a big setback in the early 90s.
It was and is more than offset by a very successful, second and final marriage.
Some of the various companies I worked for had the occasional hostile work environment.
While those environments did their damage, fortunately the damage was nothing permanent.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Having more than 50 years of hands-on experience with gadgets, I am able to come up with solutions for people that others may not be able to handle.
For example, if you have an old Betamax videocassette sitting next to a broken Betamax video recorder, you may not have been able to watch that tape years because they haven’t made Betamax machines in decades.
Advantage Video can bring that tape to life on your DVD or Blu-ray player.
If you can’t find anybody to convert your old Reel to Reel tape to a CD?
Look no further than an Advantage Video.
If you want your wedding day captured in thorough detail, right down to the train kicking up leaves as it goes down the aisle, an Advantage Video camera hidden under an audience chair, will get that shot for you.
One of the other 10 or so cameras will catch your mother wiping a tear from her eyes because that camera had nothing else to do but cover your mother full-time from the beginning to the end your wedding. And the list goes on.
Our specialty is multi camera event video shot with 10 or more mostly hidden cameras.
One of the other ways we differentiate ourselves from the competition is our own in-house invention called SteadyIT.
We use it to take a lot of the shake out of the camera that you get when you zoom in, or rove through an event. The typical way to solve this problem is by losing opportunities to Rove and / or Zoom in for the best close up.
Other ways to solve this problem is to use expensive equipment that takes time to learn.
What were you like growing up?
When I was 9 I took the first airplane flight I can remember. I’ve been hooked on aviation ever since. It’s a good thing I fit comfortably into a coach airline seat.
When I was 10 years old I wired my first speaker to my first tape recorder. I didn’t know it at time, but wherever I was going, my life took a sudden change in direction
I was also very shy and a late Bloomer. For example. I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until I was 12.
I made up for it by still using a bike is my daily driver. The bike I have today has over 60,000 miles on it.
All throughout junior high I was kept out of Wood Shop because it was thought that I would cut my hand off. Today my wood shop teacher would tell you that I came in with less experience, less confidence, and less skill than most of the people in the class.
He will also tell you that I made up for it by ending up ahead of most people in the class by improving in leaps and bounds.
Pricing:
- Weddings $2495 to $4995.00 + Tax
- Corporate Product Launch or Corporate Special Event $1495.00 and up
- School Plays or Graduations $3500.0 + tax, divided by the quantity of vides purchased
- Video Conversions 19.95 + Tax
Contact Info:
- Website: www.advantagevideo.net
- Phone: 562 432 4794
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Roger Miller
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
