Meet Eugene Bush of E-tre Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eugene Bush.

Eugene, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story begins with a bit of a disappointment when I applied to DePaul University’s acting school and got denied for admission but accepted into the school. As far as I can remember I wanted to be an actor, so that news was pretty crushing. My high-school theater director who held a Master’s in Fine Arts encouraged me to take up computer science to make some money and later in life I could act in my own movies. So I switched my major to Computer Science, received my bachelor’s degree in went on for 15 years to work in IT and Finance.

During my years of working corporate day jobs, on nights and weekends, I would act in Stage plays, skits, and independent projects. I also started to audition for some larger projects but would only make it on as a background actor. So one day I decided to come up with a Christian sitcom for my local church that was starring all of my family. I meant to put an acting role in it for me but was too overwhelmed with learning everything else about producing a movie that I didn’t have time to act on this project. We released that project on CAN-TV for about 6 months and received mixed reviews. It was during this project where I first learned how to edit and what all it took to put together a television project.

Sometime later we were sitting in church and my sister came up with an idea for a sketch that we all thought was hilarious. So we decided to shoot it. I went out and purchased a new camera, filmed and edited this project. We entered this sketch into Living Word’s (a large ministry in Forest Park, IL) gifts and talent night. It was such a hit, the church asked to play it at all 3 services that Sunday morning. That was received with such a great demand that we created a DVD that was then placed in their bookstore along with 3 other bookstores.

One day my insurance agent is providing us with a quote for Life Insurance in my home on the west side of Chicago and sees the DVD on my desk. She quickly commented on how she loved that DVD and was happy to see that we purchased it too. I quickly explained that I didn’t purchase it, I made it. She then revealed to me that she was a Gospel recording artist and she needed a music video done. She asked if I would accept $5,000 to put together her music video. Never had done a music video before, I promptly accepted the offer and then realized I may have a business. That music video went on to play on cable station BET and the requests have been pouring in since.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. Transitioning from a regular corporate paycheck to now invoicing clients and waiting on payment was definitely a challenge. There is really a different way to operate as an entrepreneur than an employee. So breaking that mindset was probably the biggest hurdle. Scaling the business is also incredibly challenging being that so much of it is art vs. math. Finding the right team members to assist with certain projects posed another large challenge.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about E-tre Productions – what should we know?
We are a full-service video production company. We have the capability to create, write, shoot, and edit any video project from music video to full feature film and everything in between. The majority of our money is made from live event recaps. I’ve had the pleasure of being flown all over the country to cover events for Hennessy, Heineken, EOne and many more. We’ve shot and recorded everything from bottle launches to celebrity red-carpet events. We usually then edit a 1-3 minute video that gets posted to the vendors social-media sites or is used in presentations to their constituents.

On the more creative side, we have participated in different stages of production on multiple feature films and almost a dozen short films and documentaries.

What sets us apart is our ability to provide a high-quality end result without a lot of the overhead of some of the other production companies. Our clients also enjoy how we are able to capture the essence of the event and transfer that emotion to the viewer.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
There are really a lot of people that had a significant hand in my success. Here are just a few:
My high school director, Vergil Smith, really helped to set the course for my life. He elevated my perception of purpose and taught me the valuable lesson of ‘Delayed Gratification’ that really got me through College.

While I was still in IT, I did work for a company named Trinal. The president, Alicia Garcia-Abner, saw such a gift in me that when I finally left corporate she allowed me to run my company in an un-utilized office in her suite. Being a 13yr Entrepreneur herself, she also advised me on the benefits of getting my MBE certification which opened the door to some government contracts.

Juan Teague-Kirkman is also someone that I learn so much from. She owns her own event planning company, Juan and Only events (JOE), and has done so many epic things in her life including servicing some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment such as Kanye West, Common and Dwayne Wade. I absolutely love working with her and the JOE team.

And of course, there’s my mother, Linda Requilez, who I affectionally call Pastor. Not only is she responsible for giving birth to me but she is also the lead Pastor of the church where I began really stepping into my entertainment gift.

Contact Info:

• Website: WWW.ETREPRODUCTIONS.COM
• Phone: 7733403873
• Email: ETREPRODUCTIONS@gmail.com
• Instagram: @etreproductions
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/etreproductions
• Twitter: @ebushiii

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