Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Bowers.
Justin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Justin Bowers was born August 9, 1990 in Houston, Texas. As a kid, his mom would buy a prodigious amount of movies from several out of business Blockbusters for him to enjoy-he watched all of them.
This is where his love for filmmaking started. He would also make homemade little movies with his cousins. When he played his movies for people to watch, he loved seeing their reactions. That made him continue down the path of creating more movies and letting his vivid imagination go wild. Justin went to ten different high schools in the greater Houston area, due to his mom being in the oil and gas business, where he picked up photography. After high school, Justin bought a GoPro with some basic film equipment and started to make wedding videos. Word of mouth got around about his professionalism and high-quality videos that quickly made him a highly sought after videographer. At the same time, he was working on other videos for various organizations like: Chili Quest & Beer Fest, Galveston Island Wine Festival, Galveston Shrimp Festival, and taking pictures for Google as a Google trusted photographer.
While learning a lot on the job he felt he could learn even more by attending film school. He enrolled at the HCC Film Program where he did in fact learned a great deal. The knowledge he learned from school would later be applied in his work. It was at this time he started his first video production company with his cousins Sam Rossiello and Max Wingert. That company was SMJ Productions. They got glowing reviews from their wedding videos to commercials they filmed for small businesses all around Houston. The company began to expand and that’s when they decided it was time they moved from their humble garage to an office building. They concretely had a reputable reputation that brought them lavish work from such clients as: Tile, Jim Bean, Dish Society, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Academy Sport and Outdoors, and many more. As they acquired more and more clients it was time to move again to a bigger space to keep up with the demand. He also decided to rebrand the company now known as Captiv Creative.
As his clientele grew so did his team. He has created numerous jobs for local filmmakers to aid him on his videos. He’s also opened his doors to students from Turner High School. They earn school credit as they are there for the entire process of filmmaking. Justin loves teaching and will continue with the school program. Justin just finished a mini doc series with a local fishing tycoon that can be found on YouTube, “The Monsta Catch.” He’s also working on various pilots as he hopes to get them off the ground soon. He is also currently working on adapting a World War II book based on a true story. When Justin isn’t filming he is in his backyard tending to his aquaponics garden where he is growing all types of produce. He also enjoys working with motion-controlled robotics to create the impossible shot to be created over and over again for the perfect shot. Justin also spends quality time with his fiancé. They love to spend time in Croatia.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As all business do. We too have hit our own rough patches. Growth has been our biggest struggle. Growing a business can very much be a balanced game… We deliver top quality work and provide all of our team with a place to work and all the equipment to get the job done. While giving our team the opportunity grow there minds and experiment. But simultaneously paying everyone to work and be profitable.
Staying a head of the game with new tech and techniques.
People that are willing to do the work for less just to get there name out there or add it to there portfolio.
Captiv Creative – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Captiv Creative specializes in high profile videos. We do this with newest tech on the market to create a perfect shot using robotic camera arms and gimbals. In the industry its called Visual Engineering or Motion Control. Captiv sets itself from most other video production companies because we are creating something that the human had can not do. But we are able to create that impossible shot with precision and repeatability with 100% accuracy.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success for me is working in a job/industry I love and be able to live comfortable. While giving the opportunity to others to grown there minds and learn new techniques.
Pricing:
- $500-$10,000
Contact Info:
- Address: 900 South loop West Suite 190
- Website: CaptivCreative.com
- Phone: 832-835-0765
- Email: Justin@captivcreative.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justin_bowers360/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/captivcreative
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6evJtDcBZzgS26RG6YpxVw
Image Credit:
Captiv Creative team
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