Production company finds new home

After several years in the video production business, Mike Weaver has a new studio location and has added a staffer, so he said as a result he definitely feels he’s in a new venture.

In the past Weaver operated DreamWeaver Productions out of his Colbert home, but over the summer he established a studio at 10003 N. Division St.

And he recently hired Ken Underwood. Underwood is a visual effects artist, a graphic designer and a steadicam operator, Weaver said. “So, he’s wearing three hats,” he added.

“With the studio outside the home, I’ve learned about being more productive. There’s more focus, kind of like being in a new business,” he said.

Underwood’s background is in commercial print, but more recently his interests have gone to motion graphics and 3D, Underwood said.

Both Weaver and Underwood display upbeat personalities and apparent enthusiasm for their work.

The video production studio is set up for all facets of the professional media creation process, large and small. It’s a small production firm with a wide variety of services primarily for TV, Weaver said.

Weaver broke into the business after working for two years in a production job with KREM-TV and a couple of years of higher education at three colleges, he said.

“I had a video camera on my shoulder for years,” Weaver said. He used to provide videos for friends as a favor before the KREM years.

“I packed a lot education into those two years,” he said

Perhaps the best way for a prospective client to get an assessment of the studio’s work is to visit its Web site, dreamweaverpro.com, which lists a dozen clients and offers sample views of recent projects. A demonstration reel is also offered.

The Web site also provides a list of the studio’s wide range of capabilities: film and video commercial production, television spots, promotional and music videos, duplication services, freelance shooting, graphic design, 3D animation, Web design, digital photography. One of the studio’s bigger clients is Northwest Basketball Camps, better known as NBC Camps, Weaver said.

The studio produces a couple of videos a year for NBC. The videos serve as an introduction to the camp programs for interested youngsters and their parents. About 11,000 copies were distributed last year, Weaver said.

“The business is not about people walking in.” Weaver stressed, although the firm now operates out of the new studio.

“We’re appointment-based, project-based,” Weaver said, adding he can best be contacted by telephone or e-mail.