Second Annual “Week of Engagement” Day 4 – Creative

This is our second annual “week of engagement” and our Day 4 discussion is with Johnny K. Wu, owner of Media Design Imaging. More than a producer and video editor, MDI also puts on live events, like the Cleveland Asian Festival happening this weekend!

Tag your favorite writers, editors, videographers, photographers, painters, actors, marketers, web designers, graphic designers, agency owners on your socials and use #engagesmall so we can follow along.

Find out everything about Media Design Imaging on their website and connect with them on Facebook and Instagram.

Transcript

Brandan: Hey, my name is Brandan Baki from Engage Small, and today is day four of our week of engagement. And day four is creatives. This could be someone who does graphic design, video editing, motion design like myself. It could be a writer, it could be someone who does fine arts, a photographer. It’s a pretty big catch-all. A lot of times these people refer to themselves as freelancers, but they still are small business owners, even if they freelance. But if you don’t know anything about Engage Small, or the week of engagement. Basically, Engage Small is just a hashtag, where you tag your favorite businesses and add the hashtag Engage Small. Today we’re focusing on creatives, and that’s what the week of engagement is. We focus on a different sector every single day. And we just try to tag our favorite businesses and lift them up in a way that is free and quite simple. And I hope you participate. But today, like I said a hundred times, is all about creatives. So we’re gonna be chatting with Johnny Wu, of Media Design Imaging. Hey, so I’m here with Johnny K. Wu of Media Design Imaging. Thanks for doing this, Johnny. I appreciate it.

Johnny: Thank you for having me here.

Brandan: So Media Design Imaging, what, what does that do?

Johnny: So we started this business originally back in 1998. We mostly do video production, editing, shooting commercials, shooting independent films, and doing event producing. But then the uh, my partner back then he just couldn’t take it anymore. So he left. So I took it over and then continue on the journey. We use, we do a lots small businesses, to nonprofit the same project for them. And then we use independent filmmaking as a way to challenge ourselves to become better filmmakers and better videographers. So that’s been very successful. We also do lots of event producing. I’ve been producing event for 35 years . So that should come very naturally. And it’s the other organizing and make it work.

Brandan: So you’ve been doing this since, you said 1992? Is that what you said?

Johnny: 98. 20 years,

Brandan: 1998 So you were doing this on the side from

Johnny: Originally it was on the side as a part-time business. I was working as an IT guy for, for a survey generic firm. And then, then we started this in as a part-time basis and in 2007, I went to full-time.

Brandan: Okay,

Johnny: I’m very fortunate in that back then is we do have lots of clientele, but it’s kind of interesting that I didn’t promote myself too much. We actually just have people referring us to the other people or the other friends and families. And so this is how we got our business going on to some time.

Brandan: So when you said your, your, your partner, he couldn’t, he couldn’t take it anymore. What, what, what part of it could he not take? Was it just a lot on the side of normal work, you know?

Johnny: So yeah, that’s actually, that’s a very good, good question. He used to work for the natural history history museum, Sorry, he’s doing the same thing, photography. So when he get home we still doing photography, the production, he just took it to me to say, I feel like he just had no breaks. So yeah,

Brandan: That’s exactly. It’s such a funny thing when like you, like I video edit also. And so when, when you go home and like a friend or a family member is like, Hey can you edit this thing for me? And it’s like, Oh, I would, I will carry dirt for you. But the last thing I want to do is,

Johnny: Exactly

Brandan: another video.

Johnny: Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, he just couldn’t handle it anymore. So I was like, okay, I’ll kind of move, move on with my life so that’s what he did. But now he’s kind of doing media production, full time. So, it’s kinda funny.

Brandan: It keeps coming back. Yeah.

Johnny: Yep.

Brandan: That’s good. So you kind of talked about how you launched. So what made you decide, like where was that tipping point where you decided, I’m going to take this full time?

Johnny: It’s, I decided to take this as a full-time because we shot a movie in 2005, a feature length movie. We shot it in, in 11 days of seven- five days here and five days in Port Clinton. So once I was done shooting it, I just started to edit it up together. And while editing that, I just don’t have any more time to go back to work. And I actually requested a company, excuse me the civil engineering company to promote me from part-time basis to a full-time. They were okay with that because, they’re really not much into doing IT work unless there’s problem with the computer, but nobody had a problem with the computer all the time. So I took the time and started editing the feature film. And I realized that, you know, I will do, while doing that, notice I’m getting a lots of phone calls or email, people wanting me to help, do filming, do a small video here and there. And I said to myself, maybe I just get it, just do it full time. So I told the company said, I’m not going to come back anymore. They are good friends, so they understood. And I just went and went for a full-time base. I have a small business studio in downtown East 40th street back then, I was part of the courthouse studio. They had a green screen look facility and I had my editing suite in the back there. And it just, just moving forward, just got some good clients and some people were coming here. I think that one of the niche I had, because I speak Spanish and Chinese. So that was the draw for different type of business where clientele need to get a different languages done or different market down so they can hire me to do that market.

Brandan: That’s amazing. So you do a lot of live events, producing, not, not only video, but also live events. So what are your kind of biggest events that you’ve put on in the past? And doing forward.

Johnny: Let’s go in order. In 2001, I did an event in LA. Let me see, to find a flyer. I have it here somewhere. Yeah. Give me a second. There you go. I put this event together.

Brandan: Okay. That’s awesome.

Johnny: It’s called charity jam, it is a event to raise money for charities. So I was hired as a logistic manager and then, yeah, he was performing and we have a bunch of different people. Alicia Keys, Kevin bacon and Michael bacon, uncle Cracker. They all perform at the little cramp place, over the Hollywood. That’s probably the, one of my biggest success. We drew about 5,000 people at the event. Actually, that place you couldn’t even walk, just because it’s shoulder to shoulder packed. And I think we raised about $250,000. but later we found out,

Brandan: Wow!

Johnny: Later, I found out that, ha, I found out that the person who hired me, was embezzling money from his township to do this. So he got arrested, then he got put into in jail. Now he’s living in Hawaii, of all places. And then, about 11 years ago, no, 2010, we, I started the Cleveland Asian festival. Co-founded that with Lisa Wong, and V hunt. We put together this event, we started drawing 10,000 people the first year, all the way to almost 50,000 people, the last time we did it, 2018 And we’re having a virtual one, this next Saturday, May 22nd, at 10:30 in the morning. We’re going to do a virtual DRD, for this year Asian festival. So that got very successful and drew lots of people and drew lots of sponsors. Everybody is seen at Cleveland and knows who I am. So it kind of, it’s kind of cool. Then I got, because of the success of that, I got hired to do the Cleveland Culture Gardens’ One World Day event. I’ve been doing that. I have been doing that event since 2015, so this is what? My sixth year doing it. They love me so much, they just keep asking me back, which is a challenge because, the whole environment is very much a seniors in a Caucasian environment. So getting to me as a Chinese American in, in into the involvement as one of the producers, actually the producer for the event was at first, challenging. It’s hard to convince them and prove that I can do it. And they actually loved me. I don’t know why, and make it happen. And every year they keep asking me to come back and keep doing this, so I guess I did a good job.

Brandan: That’s awesome. And so you said the Asian Fest is next Saturday on the 22nd. Where can people find that, online?

Johnny: You can actually go to YouTube or you can go to Facebook. The YouTube will be Asian Cleveland Fest, and that one can be able to find it there, it’s going to be live there. You can live on Facebook. You can actually see on my Facebook, through my timeline or my company timeline and anywhere that I possibly available, it will be there. So it’s going to be 90 something minutes long, but it will be lots of showcasing a lot of talent and stuff we have in Cleveland.

Brandan: That’s awesome. Yeah. We will share links to that too. Cause that’s, that’s really amazing. So when it comes to small business, you know there’s a lot of learning that goes along the way. It doesn’t matter how prepared you are when you start one, you’re gonna hit some bumps. So what do you wish you knew when you started, that you know now? Did I word that very well? What do you, what do you know now that you wish you knew then, how about that? That’s a better way, okay.

Johnny: So I wish I knew then to make sure everybody signed paper works, doesn’t matter who they are, even your friends. You don’t want to say, sure, no problem. I’ll do this for $300. And then the whole non-agreement comes up and then you just keep doing the work, and you just get paid $300 and nothing much. And if you ask for more money, they say, sorry that’s the agreement we had, and than you had to eat the bill. And it’s very, very difficult. And also I had friends I do work for, and then never got paid because they just feel like they could get away with not paying me because we are friends. So that kind of stuff happens a lot. And we also one time I have a client who I didn’t even have paperwork signed because I would just do it for helping her for her first fast food restaurant. Also, it’s in a food court restaurant, for their marketing. I did the job, they love it, they use it, but she refused to pay me. She find every kind of excuse possible. So, learned my lesson and realized that I should put everything in writing. Everything had to be signed. And sometimes I, I market the deposit. I shouldn’t say it, but I’m going to say it anyway. I market the deposit a little bit higher, So if I get turned down or the person doesn’t pay me, at least I am covered.

Brandan: Absolutely well, and that’s what, I mean, I think it’s, it’s about that, that cashflow or the, just, just making sure business runs smoothly, you know? And, and that’s, I think that can be very smart. And raising that percentage, you know, getting, I think when I started out, I was asking for like five or 10% and it’s like, well, that’s not really enough to have a, you know, have a piece in the game. So yeah, I think that’s great. I, I think it’s funny too, when you mentioned just having like a contract with friends, I think doing, doing work for friends and family can be the trickiest thing, because, although it seems simple, it’s, you know, if, if things go sour and you don’t have a contract, even if they pay you, you’ve now, you know you risk losing a friend, which is like even worse. So it does, it does make things a little, it can feel awkward to say like, well, let’s just sign this contract, but I think it’s totally fair to say, you know, you’re going to pay me this. You’ve already agreed to that. So let’s just write it down and then, I’m going to give you this. And it’s good. And everyone’s happy in the end. There’s no, there’s no problem with doing that.

Johnny: Exactly. One of my friends is an attorney and she, she always a very good friend, and she’s always telling me business is business. So every time I had to do something with her, everything in writing, and then she would make it match the agreement. It was always favor as a favor to her more than to me. So I’d argue like Chris, until we have a common, common ground to cover base for each other. And then that’s how it is. But we’re still friends, because we understood that business is business. We don’t want to overstep each other’s toes.

Brandan: And you’re respecting somebody. And I think that shows that you, you showing that respect for each other is, I think what will continue to propel your friendship, family, relationship, whatever it is.

Johnny: Exactly, yeah.

Brandan: That’s awesome. So when, when it comes to, so at Engage Small we’re definitely all, we promote engagement online, interacting with small businesses, and in a way that we always encourage things that don’t cost money, but benefit a business somehow, because I think, yes we can all shop somewhere, but we’ve seen like, when the economy, you know, turns, it’s really hard to lift up a business financially. So what can we do in the meantime? So when it comes to engaging with people who you work with, how do you like to do that? What, what benefits you the most? What’s most enjoyable for you?

Johnny: So I, what I do most of the time is, I share lots of information on social media, information about what can do better for, for business. What can do better for filmmaking. Some tips and tricks, and here and there. I do every month, two live stream about different products. And they showcase people about that. And that makes people have an interest to see that I’m willing to- I’m willing to provide, ensure my insider knowledge in return for nothing. And that actually would make them feel like they have to have more respect for me. And because of that, I actually get some jobs for recently, I just got an editing job from a, someone from Instagram who saw my post and say, you know what? I need an editor. So I’m going to hire you to do some editing, out of nowhere. I don’t know the guy. I don’t know where are you from originally? But we talked through Zoom and I got to work, and I’m been watching my computer working right now. I don’t know, I’ve seen the footage. So yeah, that’s happening a lot lately. And I also joined a, another social media platform called clubhouse. It’s a social- Ignore my cat. He always liked zoom bombing. That’s unfortunately, it’s 18 years old and very, very spoiled. So yes, I joined clubhouse. It’s a audio based social media platform where people actually talk to each other via voice, and get to learn from each other. And it’s always about sharing knowledge. And that had brought in lots of different interesting friends and people that I get to know. One day we were in the room and talking about filmmaking stuff, suddenly, I got a notification that I got paid $5 for my knowledge. Like who just gave me $5? it’s nothing but it was a surprise, but kind of sound like that happens a lot at the clubhouse now, where you actually get paid for your knowledge. It’s kind of interesting in the same time, it shows that people actually respect who you are. And that’s how I engage. Where I make sure that people get to, to, to know who I am, will get to hear my, my messages. And then in return they like to work with me.

Brandan: That’s awesome. Yeah. And that’s what, I mean, I think. That’s awesome. That’s fantastic. What an angle.

Johnny: All right.

Brandan: Yeah. I think that that’s, I mean, obviously this engagement is working for you and that’s great. Like, yeah, it could just be one random project, but you just don’t know how- when you mention people, and you send this stuff around, where it could pick up or who it could get in front of. And yeah. I just think that that’s, that’s great. And, and yeah, I agree. Like you’re sharing knowledge for free is, you know you can, you can learn anything you want. I’m not going to teach anything that you can’t find somewhere else, but hopefully, I can put it all in one space, and give it to you in a free way. And then if you decide to, to work with me in the future, like that’s great, but it’s all about that, you know,

Johnny: Yeah.

Brandan: just giving this stuff and sharing what you know, and helping people. It all comes back to you.

Johnny: This is the new world we’re living in, in where the digital media is still big and the internet is so widely used, sharing information, sharing knowledge. It’s, let’s say it’s some way to engage people now, more than there used to be, used to be you’re trying to sell a product, you’re trying to sell and benefit the client once, but know its about sharing the information, when they realized, okay this person has enough knowledge, It’s willing to share, that made you have a better customer service and provider. Maybe I want to connect with the person more, and get to know the person more and do business together.

Brandan: Right. Yeah. And it’s, I think everyone’s afraid that like, a freelancer or some small business, they might, they might not know what they’re doing. They might not be able to handle your project. They might disappear after I give them a deposit. And I think creating this, this awareness of, I’m here, I’m knowledgeable. I’ve been doing this, you know, I’m a professional. I just think that that’s just really great groundwork for someone to say, yes, you know, we’re going to, we’re going to have Johnny, you know, do our garden event because, he knows what he’s doing. You know, he’s, he’s fully capable.

Johnny: Yeah.

Brandan: Yeah. So I know we’re kind of running a little long. I wanted to also touch really quick on, I know that you, you’ve become, I can’t remember what it’s called, like a, like a COVID-

Johnny: COVID Compliant Officer.

Brandan: COVID Compliant Officer, so a CCO. What, what is that The reason I’m asking is, you know, I know that this whole industry was shut down during the pandemic. And a lot of people, you could kind of sit idly by and wait for it to reopen, because eventually it will, but you did something a little different. So explain that COVID compliant.

Johnny: A COVID Compliant Officer is a person who is in charge to make sure that the, the client or the production, or anywhere you, you have, you’ve been hired to do the work, that are compliant with the current safety guidelines through the CDC and senior Cleveland, or the whole state, wherever you’re at. And that’s a very important process because nowadays when you do some kind of work for anybody in the, in location, an event, video production, people always worry about safety and, and whether we accidentally get COVID or not. So this kind of an officer job is to maintain the process and make sure that the company itself, follow through the guideline correctly, and there’s no overstepping or, or less work. And then people are just, be responsive with it. And that’s going to be a very important role for it. It’s, I did not, I was almost got kind of doing the NFL draft day or the, the browns because you need a whole bunch of COVID Compliance Officers, but I didn’t want to be in crowd. So I told them no, I still have fear, even though I’m a Compliance Officer, I have fear that I will bring that, the COVID into my girlfriend who hasn’t been vaccinated. And so that’s something that I always could be watch out for. And so that’s the reason why I hardly go to crowd places. But, the job of the COVID Compliant Officer for example, for the Cleveland Cultural Gardens event, One World Day event, August 29th, I’m going to make sure that we comply with the safetyness guidelines that’s set. We also make sure that, let’s say we had to use Truck Shuttle services, up from the parking lot, to take them to the location. We had to make sure that we have volunteers wipe up the seats that’s possible every time to have loading and unloading participants. So that is something to watch out for. We had to make sure that there’s signage at all of the places, want to make sure that everybody following the order in wearing mask throughout the whole event, if anybody is not wearing a mask and not eating or drinking, we’re going to make sure that they are, they’re aware of that they should do that as much as they can. We’re going to make sure that there is hand sanitizers, washers in porta-potties available for people to clean, to wash their hands. And if people sit in the chairs, and after a certain time, we had to make sure that we wiped, cleaned the chairs. So this way the next person to sit in it, would not have to worry about contacting anything. So-

Brandan: That’s awesome.

Johnny: Officer

Brandan: It’s really, I didn’t even know that, that was a thing until you had mentioned it before. And I just, I’m like, of course that’s a thing, and that’s great. And it’s really great that there’s this proactive approach. It’s not just, Oh, well, someone’s going to read this thing. It’s like, no, these are trained people, you know, to, to do that. Yeah. It’s fantastic. It kind of makes me just even more, you know, just have, I feel even better about going to these events, knowing that there’s people there who are, it’s not just that they did something, it’s that they have people who are in charge of that, which is really, I think that’s powerful

Johnny: Yeah, It’s kinda interesting. When we apply for volunteers asking, for volunteer to help out the event, we have people asking us, so what kind safe- What are your safety protocols?

Brandan: Right.

Johnny: So when they find out I’m a Compliant Officer they’re like, okay, I’m much more at ease, we’re willing to be participating.

Brandan: Yeah, absolutely.

Johnny: Yeah.

Brandan: So, okay. The last question that I have is, besides your work, besides all the things you like to do, with your small business, what do you enjoy doing on your free time that has nothing to do with it?

Johnny: So, my free time would be when I get sick and tired of looking in front of the computer, editing, I walk away or when I just said, like I’m done with doing any production. I want to take a break. So what I usually do is sleep. That’s number one thing I do, eat, which I love to eat, so I go, whenever I’m not doing work, I just go to, go to a different restaurant. I try their food. The third one would be traveling. So, just to just get my head out of the room I’m in here, and go out and then experience in life. So, and obviously I do martial arts, so that’d be always part of my life. So I won’t put it as my- as it’s something I do all the time anyway, so doesn’t matter.

Brandan: Yeah. That’s awesome. Perfect. So Johnny, thank you so much

Johnny: Yeah

Brandan: I wanted to say that the website is mdifilm.com- Is that correct? And @mdifilm, you’re on Facebook, Instagram, you’re all over the place.

Johnny: All over the place. You should be able to find me with mdifilm.

Brandan: Perfect. Thank you so much.

Johnny: Thank you for having me.

Brandan: I appreciate your time. And now I hope you go and tag your favorite small businesses whether they’re creatives or not. I think they can all be helped out a little bit. Remember to use the hashtag #engagesmall. You can check us out on social media, Instagram and Facebook, @engagesmall. You can go over to engagesmall.com to learn more. We have a very helpful resource page. We have a blog that we’re updating quite often now, and it has all kinds of resources for small businesses. It has resources for consumers who want to help lift up small businesses. Please feel free to comment on this video, comment on your own page. Just try to use the hashtag wherever you can, so we can see that, that growth and that outreach. And that’s it. I really appreciate all the help and support, and I appreciate Johnny for taking the time to chat with us today.