Today we’d like to introduce you to Curtis Cole.
Hi Curtis, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Ever since I was a kid, I always had a fascination with cameras and making videos. I used to steal my dad’s camera that he would film special family events with, oftentimes carelessly taping over something he had filmed to make a half-baked fictional film about a man who has been stranded on a desert island, which in reality was just a trampoline in my backyard. I wouldn’t even edit the footage, I would simply make cuts in-camera by starting and stopping the record function, and there was usually only an audience of one at the final screening. I started to take video production classes in high school and that eventually led me to an undergrad at Cal Poly in Journalism. During my college years I would sneak off to Belize with my friend Drew Ross to shoot promotional content for a wildlife preserve, only to return to be scorned by professors for missing three weeks of a ten week course. My only rebuttal was that I was working on “research’ for my senior thesis. I will be forever grateful to my professors Richard Gearhart, Patti Piburn, Jason Hilford and the late George Ramos for their understanding. But what I was really doing was getting a taste for world travel and video production.
After school I decided to combine these two passions and create a brand called Video Nomad. I had exactly zero connections around the world and a vague dream. So the best course of action, of course, was to book a one-way flight to the Canary Islands and “see what happens…” I was driven by a loosely supported personal theory that those who journey towards their fears are gifted by the universe with opportunities and connections that will sustain the dream. My philosophy at the time was this: “Fear and excitement live together, and are felt simultaneously in the stomach, making them indistinguishable from one another. So you have to take ’em both or none at all.” So, like any overly-empowered and naive college student, I set off in search of adventure and opportunity. Looking back 12 years from today I can say that it all worked out beyond my wildest imagination. I bounced around Europe, North Africa, Asia, and peppered my showreel with eclectic sights and sounds, all while somehow making enough money to sustain the journey. I stumbled upon opportunities, connected with total strangers via social media, slipped my foot in the door of tourism agencies, hotels, sports brands, lifestyle shoots and fortuitous editing opportunities, all by pure and utter serendipitous chance. I crossed and recrossed my steps countless times for countless projects, settled in the Austrian Alps, met my future wife, made lifelong friendships, and worked for some of my dream brands. Companies and people took chances on me, trusted me blindly, and I was able to carve out a market for myself that spanned borders and language barriers. With a satisfied (or at least satisfied enough to pay me) clientele of Red Bull, Specialized, UCI Cycling, BMW, Nespresso, Fox Suspension, Lamborghini, EY, L’Oréal, Formula 4 racing teams, and many more I was able to satisfy my career goals while curating a production style that mirrored the skillsets of early nomadic people.
I think the secret to getting return clients and callbacks was how I structured my production environment. I never allowed myself to appear stressed, overwhelmed, or too stressed to “shoot the shit” in random conversations. I loved to crack jokes, loosen the tension and put the client at ease, admit failure and inform the client to find quick solutions, I always tried to live by a philosophy loosely described as thus: “it is never my right to bring people into my pain and project the suffering of my personal world onto others. No being ‘hangry.’ No snarky responses to strangers caught in the crossfire of my daily struggles. Nobody asked to inherit my problems.” This core pillar of my “code” helped to keep my productions (and my life) on the rails long enough to keep forging good relationships and get those all-too-important callbacks for work (and life).
Video Nomad is still going strong but I have decided to move back home to the Central Coast with my wife and start a new life here, all-the-while abiding by the tenets of my brand: “Mobility, creativity and flexibility are essential survival tools of both ancient nomads and their digital descendants.” 26 countries and 5 continents later, I have returned to my birthplace with a drastically different view of where I come from, where I have been, and where I am going. I am wide open and willing, patient and prudent, charitable and grateful, present but forward thinking, a hunter and a forager. The frontier is everywhere and I am ready to discover (and rediscover).
In the words of my cosmic mentor, the late Carl Sagan, “somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There were countless moments of insecurity and instability. Bank accounts bordering zero, no places to stay, no friends to hang out with, no idea where to go next. At the beginning I was rock skipping from one cool opportunity to another in a seemingly endless string of awesome! But after a year or two that chain began to break. I found I needed to network more, rely on the referrals and connections of others, do favors, work for trade, do the projects and work for the brands I didn’t believe in, find some side hustles in other industries, and BE PATIENT. Enjoy the down time and discover for myself and not for my showreel. Every time I felt stuck I told myself “it is just my environment I need to change.” So I up-and-moved many times. I lived in Morocco, London, and three different cities in Austria. Each change brought new friends, new gigs, new experiences and a feeling of newfound creative energy. During that journey I realized I was wired for this sort of environmental change since I was a kid. I used to rearrange my bedroom almost every three or six months. I got sick and tired of seeing my bed on that same side of the room for too many nights in a row; sick of that same patch of ceiling every morning when I opened my eyes. Change was the lifeblood of my motivation at times.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a freelance video producer specializing in human stories in the action sports industry. My passion is to get into the hearts and minds of world-class athletes as they strive to be the best in the world and to share their wisdom with everybody else. Mountain biking is my ultimate passion, both as a hobby and as a film subject. But that same curiosity can be transferred to any human story in any industry or interest. So when it comes down to it, I have a passion for asking people deeper questions about their existence. To quote Carl Sagan again, “We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.”
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
My experiences have shown me that money is a byproduct of passion. When I was in my highest flow state of creativity and curiosity the money would follow. When I faced my fears and chased my excitement, the jobs would come. And when I remained calm and grateful in a sea of chaos, I could weather the storm until the next reward arrived. I ultimately believe that we are here on this earth to mature the soul through suffering and joy. Our only job is to exist in a way that hasn’t been done quite like this before, and simply by being your authentic self you are successful in your existence.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.videonomad.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videonomad/
