Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Bencid.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Isaac. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We started back in Caracas, Venezuela 15 years ago. Four friends of the University and High School- Alberto Chumaceiro, Mauricio, Rodriguez, Isaac Bencid and Tadeo Arrieche- started this video production agency after graduating. We lost most of our jobs because of the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003 (also known as the oil strike or oil lockout), it was an attempt by the Venezuelan opposition to President Hugo Chávez to go on a new presidential election. We decided that if we have no jobs we had to create one for us.
We started going to the Young Entrepreneurship Association in Caracas to meet people and do some video recordings for them. We had to make interviews to many CEOs, business owners among other people that inspired us and helped us to believe in our dreams. Little by little we started having new clients, a small business that either believed on us or we had a competitive price so we were an option.
As time passed by, some of our university friends were working for some important companies and seeing us growing and giving good services with a concept on and an excellent look and feel started calling us and recommended us with their bosses and that’s how we get into coming big companies in Venezuela. Honest work with quality always on time.
Brands as Empresas Polar, Harina PAN, Pepsi Cola, Cargill, Subway, Bayer, Rum Santa Teresa were some companies that gave up the opportunity to work with them at the beginning.
Then, by 2012 thing in Venezuela started going not as well as we wanted and we opened an office in Downtown Miami and started looking for clients. It was hard but some companies like Yare Films, o other small companies needed our services and served as strategic allies for us and we had to come often to the US to have meetings, meet clients. HBO Latinamérica asked for our service for production on location with VIP Pass, a red carpet and movie show. We felt that this was an opportunity and we had to take it.
We got to Texas because of Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) called us to do some corporate presentation. I can’t remember who recommended us with them, but we have had a great experience with them doing some corporate videos. We also have had other experiences. Once we were at the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown with a documentary about Luis Aparicio the only Venezuelan there. He has so many important records and he is a very well respected as a person and as a shortstop.
Another recent experience is about doing political videos for different NGO’s. We were yesterday just awarded with Reed Award in the category “Best Web Video for public affairs (overall)” Those awards are compared to the Oscars but in politics. We went last years as finalists in two categories but we didn’t win. This year we did. The video is called “Cincuenta”(Fifty) and is about a Miguel Castillo a young person who was killed by the government in the protests of the first semester of 2017, the fifty-person killed. This award is dedicated to him and the other people that gave their lives for freedom.
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?
We have had some. Living in Venezuela was not easy. But we grew there and that country gave us so many opportunities. When we moved, I and one partner decided to move to the US was like starting over again. We have has to confront low budgets again, convince the potential clients that we can do a great job.
The video industry market is neither easy nor fair in Miami because there are a lot of people offering videos.
Sometimes for taking a client, you see colleagues working for free or for a very low rate. They are making a big damage to the market. That’s why we are going to Houston. People there understand the value of work, the talent. I think what we have seen in Houston is that business owners believe in true work and give the others opportunities.
Start again at the age of the late 30’s is not that easy but it a true challenge. We were born to grow and do good things.
Fenix Media – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Fenix Media offers commercial video production services that speak to your audience: whether you are small businesses or a large corporation in the US and Latin America. Our strategic location (Miami, Houston and Caracas) covers the region and maximizes the value of your investment. Yes, we know how important it is to maintain the balance between quality and costs to generate value.
Our professional branded videos and cutting-edge animations, both with personalized and unique digital content, produce a harmony between a corporate brand’s ideas, products, and messages.
Fenix Media offers more than the traditional commercial video production services; our unique value proposition is to help companies increase sales by creating videos that engage the desired audience. Professionals and innovators will navigate the complex marketing industry and produce content designed to attract customers, solve their needs and motivate them into action.
As trusted advisors, we collaborate with businesses, providing guidance on proven methodologies to transform the corporate brand’s message into content that connects and inspires the targeted audience. With more than 15 years of experience, we are experts driven to highlight the most important thing in your message, beyond the cutting-edge technology: the story.
We are devoted video storytellers and our goal is to understand your communicational needs to create a message that persuades. Through all stages of development; from the idea generation, execution and delivery, we listen and partner with you, to understand your target audience and drive them to take action.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I told you that in the first question. But, when I moved to the US and see our company in Venezuela struggling and growing with all the social, political and economical problems we feel that we are doing something good. We have created new workplaces when other companies are closing because of those situations.
This what we did on 2017: https://vimeo.com/252547169
We just won a Reed Award here in the US. We went to a Film Festival at the Baseball Hall Of Fame. We used to be university professors in Venezuela.
Contact Info:
- Address: 168 SE 1st St. Suite 500 Miami, FL 33131
- Website: www.fenixmedia.tv
- Phone: 3865069039
- Email: isaac@fenixmedia.tv
- Instagram: @fenixmediaof
- Facebook: @fenixmediaof
- Twitter: @fenixmediaof
- Other: https://vimeo.com/fenixmedia
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