Notes from Chris

Episode 1049

Fresh out of university with a dual major in film and government, Kurt Graser ["Grah-zer”] landed a job that many would dream of: he started working as a video production assistant for ESPN and NBC Sports. He then spent five years filming, interviewing, and editing footage for some of the top sports personalities and events in the industry.

Eventually, though, the dream job turned into a grind, and Kurt started looking for other opportunities. So he started moonlighting, doing freelance work. This allowed him to make some extra money, and keep doing the creative video production he loved.

One day, he was on a train ride back from New York City with another freelancer and friend, Alex Steed. They started talking about how much fun it would be to make a web series featuring the food and drinks of various towns and regions around the State of Maine.

Within a few weeks, they hashed out the concept for Food Coma TV. They would build a small team from contractors they had both worked with before, and enlist a friend and personality from the local foodie scene to be the on-camera talent.

While getting footage at a facility in Northern Maine, the manager asked them if they ever did commercial work. Kurt thought about it. He had originally imagined Food Coma TV as a fun project that would allow him to flex his creativity, and didn’t plan to make any money off it. But he admits that while they all knew the footage would be a nice addition to their portfolios, they didn’t realize what they were really creating.

Once the series was wrapped up, Kurt, Alex, and a third partner brought all their clients together under the newly incorporated Knack Factory production agency umbrella. With contracts from international brands, athletes, and regional personalities, they had plenty to do.

The team did everything on their own that they could. To offset their costs, they negotiated barters with creative and business friends. When they needed a logo, they offered to do a brand video for a design agency. For their website, they did behind-the-scenes content for a developer.

They divided tasks by the needs of the project, as each owner had their own specialty—but they now had two other people to help with the crew work they’d each been doing on their own, or outsourcing to contractors. They each made about $10,000 a year at the beginning.

By the end of year two, Knack Factory was bringing in over six-figures, and Kurt was able to make the move to full-time himself.

In addition to production space for their now six-person team, they also opened offered coworking desks and small offices for rent. This has helped with their own increase in rent, and allowed them to build a creative and collaborative space filled with writers, brand marketers, designers, and more.

They now host events in the space, often featuring workshops on all the business things they wish someone had told them from the beginning.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Knack Factory: Check out the Knack Factory's work and learn more about them from their website.

  SEE ALSO:

• Movie Editor Turns 19th Century Art Into Full-Time Job: He started creating webcomics back in 2003. Little did he know this labor of love would eventually turn into a $10,000 per event side hustle.
• Movie Industry Friends Rewrite the Credits, Earn $20,000/Month: Those long credit sequences at the ends of movies can include a LOT of names—and they also take a lot of time for producers to coordinate. When two industry friends team up to simplify the process, they crawl their way to a highly profitable side hustle.
• TV Writer Casts Himself in Lead Hustle Role: A Los Angeles based TV and magazine writer writes himself into a role of memorable audio interviews.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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