Today we’d like to introduce you to Terry Maday.
Terry, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My first introduction to the power of storytelling happened on a road trip that I took with my brother, Tom. We drove from Chicago to Memphis, TN to experience Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. We decided to document our journey with photos and video, which made sense, given Tom’s status as a professional photographer. For me, however, this was the first time I used a video camera to try to shape a story.
When I hit the record button, I remember feeling like I was sharing something important. Seeing life through the viewfinder helped me realize that I had a point of view. I had a vision. And I was excited about framing up the next visual opportunity.
We returned home with some great imagery – each photograph conveyed a moment in time and transported us back to Memphis. But the video, well, my skills needed some work – beginning with organizing and isolating the best footage. As I started to make selects, I discovered that I loved this part of the process as well. An establishing shot here, a driving shot there and next thing you know, I had a story to share.
My first audience included two people; Aunt Brigid and Uncle Pat – both Elvis fans. Truth be told, Uncle Pat fell asleep, but after watching the debut that proved to be too long and perhaps a bit vague, my Aunt Brigid had an announcement. She politely encouraged me to pursue this path as a career – she was convinced that I had the gift of storytelling. So much so, that she loaned me the money to invest in my first camera, which ultimately changed my life.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I opened Maday Productions in 1996, just before our first daughter was born. We weren’t working with global clients and high profile projects just yet, but one element of the business has remained constant from day one. Family support.
My wife, Eileen, and four children, Michaela, Kelly, Johnny and Terrence have supported me in ways that have allowed us to grow the business and continue to do what we love to do. The production world is a business that can be very demanding in regards to your time, and having support from home is an essential ingredient to be able to move forward.
In the early days, all projects were good projects, and staying busy was good. I was working creatively on the execution side, and that was satisfying. And I also found that I really enjoyed the collaboration process with clients – this is when I discovered that companies aren’t looking for a team to simply execute.
They are looking for partners who have a strong point of view and the ability to help bring their vision to life. Of course, the final work is vital to our continued success, but the relationships are equally important – this is what leads to long-term partnerships.
Maday Productions – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The power of video. The power of content. The power of marketing. The power of communication. For us, it’s all about the power of storytelling. As the demand for content grows every day, the work that resonates are the stories that connect with people and help them feel something.
Whether it’s a short corporate story or a long form documentary, our goal is to create emotion that feels human, personal and authentic.
We create content across a variety of distribution outlets including digital, social, long-form, corporate, and broadcast. We concept, film, edit and animate – building stories starting with original ideas through execution and delivery. From the United States to Mexico, from Africa to Jordan and the United Kingdom to China, we have created content across the aviation, entertainment, social, financial, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing and sports industries.
It is an honor and a privilege to collaborate with some of the best brands in the world. Bank of America, Chicago Cubs, CME Group, ESPN, 50,000feet, GE, Harley-Davidson, Hill Holliday, IBM, Kohler Company, Mastercard, Sony, Uninterrupted, VSA Partners, Wilson Sporting Goods and more. Sometimes we work directly on behalf of clients, and on other projects, we collaborate with agencies to provide motion content as part of a bigger campaign.
As a native Chicagoan, I think versatility may be part of our natural approach. The reality is that we really do thrive on variety – there are shoots when we are on set with 50 people, and there are other times when we are shooting with 2 crew members. The key is not only to scale to fit the budget but more importantly, to find the right team that creates the ideal environment to help us capture the strongest moments.
We challenge ourselves every day to create work that we would want to share with each other. If we can create content that feels relevant, modern, and in every way, authentic, then we feel good about the direction of our work.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://madayproductions.com/
- Phone: 7739883612
- Email: terry@madayproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madayproductions/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madayproductionssocial/
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