Spotlight: Anthony Najera of Colectivo Creative Media
We’re excited to highlight Stoke member Anthony Najera, founder of Colectivo Creative Media. With over a decade of experience producing video content in the DFW area, Anthony and his team bring stories to life on screen, especially those that raise awareness for causes and spark meaningful change.
Anthony shared more about his journey, the inspiration for Colectivo, and how he continues using storytelling to make a difference. Here’s a look at his story:
What inspired you to start Colectivo Creative Media, and how did the idea first come to life?
My old boss actually gave me the idea after chatting about how to better represent my work to potential clients. I’d been working for years just as a freelancer under my own name, but struggling to land the larger projects I wanted to take on. By starting a company, a potential client would see me as much larger than I really was and able to tackle projects beyond the scope of a single person.
In mid-2020, I finally decided to move on the idea, utilizing much of the free-time I had during lockdown. Built a website, portfolio, LLC, bank account, all the things a small business would need. Then in 2021, I left my full-time job to be completely on my own, under Colectivo Creative Media.
Can you share the meaning behind the name Colectivo Creative Media and why it felt like the right fit?
Colectivo (collective) was chosen with the intention of inspiring collaboration and a team of creatives that it takes to take on any project.
The name has a few origins and details that are important to me. Primarily, the name needed to signify the services we provide. I didn’t want someone to just see a single word and wonder, “huh, what does Colectivo do?” Incorporating “Film Production”, “Videography”, and ultimately “Creative Media” was important. It was also vague enough that we could potentially take on projects like photography, animation, or other similar mediums.
Additionally, being Latino owned, I wanted to incorporate Spanish in some way. One, as a personal touch, and two, as a way to signal to clients with similar cultural backgrounds that there’s a production company for them in their community.
Anthony Najera - Colectivo Creative Media
What has been your proudest moment since launching your company?
The proudest moment was the transition from working on other peoples’ projects to being able to sustain my business through my own projects. At the beginning, I often played a role in someone else's production and doing the job for the day. About 3 years ago, I essentially stopped working on other production company’s projects and solely focused on my own. Each year, we’ve steadily grown in the amount of projects Colectivo is doing, producing larger budget projects, and increasing the overall revenue from our projects in a year.
Lastly, I’m incredibly proud about the amount of jobs we’ve been able to create with our various projects. While Colectivo does not have any additional full-time employees, the film industry is built upon freelancers and we’ve been steadily increasing the amount of freelance opportunities available. It feels great to see friends and collaborators paid and to be a part of that.
What’s one challenge you faced early on in building Colectivo Creative Media and how did you overcome it?
There are quite a few, but one that sticks out is knowing my worth, both in time and money. As Colectivo is a project based company, there are moments where work is slow and I’m itching for income. I’ll get an inquiry where the proposed budget is well-below standard (maybe insultingly) and/or the client seems like they’ll be a challenge to navigate. In moments of desperation, I’ve taken those projects and regret them every time.
It can be a challenge to turn away work when you’re hungry, but in the long-run it's proven beneficial. I’m not killing myself over peanuts and it allows me to focus more thoroughly on my awesome clients. This was very tough to manage the first couple of years in business, but in the long run it increased my standards as a company and the services I can provide.
How has being part of the Stoke community influenced or supported your business journey?
Stoke has been a great resource in my business journey. I’ve been able to find collaborators and use the community as a resource in my business needs. It's also been fun to help others who are starting their journey who are looking to the Stoke community and their resources for help.
What kinds of projects or clients do you specialize in, and what makes your approach unique?
I think we specialize in working with clients who are looking to take narrative risks and tell a unique story. Sure, we can do the standard paint-by-numbers corporate approach that can be ubiquitous in my field, but when clients have allowed us to tackle their project with creative freedom, they’ve always been blown away by the results.
How do you hope your work with Colectivo Creative Media impacts your clients and the broader community?
While Colectivo does a lot of work with larger corporations and brands, I love when I get to work with local organizations and businesses. This means creating content and media that has an effect on my community directly and will be seen by my friends and neighbors.
For the past 2 years, I’ve made it a point to focus more on not only working on local projects, but keeping our budgets and spending local. That means hiring local freelancers for our crews, offering opportunities to film students at UNT, utilizing local locations for filming, and even ensuring our food and coffee is provided by Denton based establishments. Keeping money local is what would really impact the broader community.
What does a “day in the life” look like for you as a media company owner?
You want the real answer or the #entrepreneur-life answer…
Every day is different and depends on the projects we currently have in development and their stage in the production pipeline.
If a project is on the horizon, I spend a lot of time preparing for that shoot. Meetings with stakeholders, other production partners, crew, and talent. Visiting potential shoot locations, building documents so my team knows how we’re approaching the project and what we’re delivering. Lots of emails, crossing T’s and Dotting I’s to ensure everything is in place for the actual shoot days coming up.
Shoot days can be exciting because it looks so glamorous. Big camera, lenses, lights, crew. Lots of moving parts that come together to make a pretty image on screen. These days can be very long, as a standard shoot day is 10hrs, plus commute and all of the extra time I put into it to ensure it goes well. This is where I’m having the most fun, honestly, but also the most exhausting part of it all.
After a shoot day, we begin post-production, so either myself or someone on my team will begin editing the project. This turnaround can be days (lighting fast) or months. Once that’s completed, we’re onto the next one, or finishing another project that’s happening simultaneously.
While that all seems like a lot, there are many days with very little “production” going on and it's much like any other business. Paying bills, answering emails, and a whole lot of waiting for a new project to reach out. When it's busy, it feels like you don’t have enough time, when it's slow, you’ll wonder if you’ll ever work again.
What’s next for Colectivo Creative Media, are there any exciting projects or goals on the horizon (I already know there are!)?
Last month we produced a fun project announcing the new Garland Public Library. This project was a lot of fun and a blast to shoot. The turnaround time was incredibly fast (1 week), but we managed and are super proud of it.
Check out the video here: https://vimeo.com/1101284800
On the horizon, we’re continuing to produce content in virtual reality for use cases in public health. We may have an opportunity to go to some really breathtaking locations for the project, but that’s still in the works.
Anthony Najera - Colectivo Creative Media
For more information on Colectivo Creative Media visit the website here.