I’ve recently been privileged to do some work with Darren Doane, filmmaker extraordinaire. I wish I could say I was making a documentary or a music video with him, but I’m still trying to decide on a name for my band. So, there’s that!
What we’re actually working on is something more closely related to my end of the division of labor–education!
If you’d like to learn more about Darren’s project, you can scroll to the bottom where I make a shameless plug for his course, but the rest of this post is about what I’ve learned working with Darren.
In case you don’t know who I’m talking about, Darren Doane has been nominated for CMT Music Video and Director of the year, produced and directed music videos for some of the biggest bands in the country (e.g., The Zac Brown Band, Shinedown, Skillet, Colbie Caillat, The Supertones, MxPx, Van Morrison, and Jason Mraz), and worked on brand development for some of the biggest brands out there (e.g., NIKE, HURLEY, YAMAHA, TOYOTA, JBL, CLARK LITTLE, SIERRA, and CASS).
Darren’s work has over 2 billion views on Youtube alone. His documentaries span from Kirk Cameron’s Unstoppable all the way to the Apologetics classic, Collision, starring Christopher Hitchens.
An Amphibious Life
In my work as a church planter, educator, school founder and administrator, content creation and brand development is something I have been learning on the fly. And it has not always come easy because I’m somewhat of an amphibian. I was born on land but have had to learn to breathe under the virtual waters of reality.
I grew up in a generation where things like FaceTime or AI housekeepers were something of a cartoon fantasy picked up watching The Jetsons.
We got our first microwave oven when I was still wearing bell-bottoms. Prior to that, you caught a flick if you wanted popcorn–or you popped it in a pan on the stove.
Shortly after I graduated high school, my dad bought a brick cellular telephone that weighed in just under two pounds and was about the size of his foot. It was an expensive device (priced in the thousands), cost about $1.00 per minute to use, and had a battery life of about 30 minutes. However, it did come attached to a battery pack that plugged into the ashtray for charging it. People were buying them by the droves but it was really only convenient in comparison to walking five miles through the desert if your car broke down.
When I was in high school, I thought we were technologically advanced when we graduated from a long cord on our rotary phone to a cordless phone. The cordless phone was mostly cool because sometimes we could pick up our neighbor’s frequency and listen in on their conversations. Apparently, they were still working out the bugs with bandwidth and encryption.
Needless to say, it’s been interesting living at such a time as this, when technology has not only developed exponentially during my lifetime, but its development has democratized everything!
The Business of Content Communication
With today’s smartphone, you can do just about anything you want! A person literally has 10,000 servants at their beck and call. Want to snap a photo or shoot a video? You can. Want to order a pizza or a sandwich? How about a ride to the airport? There’s an app for all those things. Want to publish a book, teach a class, or run a business? You can—right from your smartphone. Today, tons of people, like Darren, are using technology to run successful businesses in content communication with high-profile clients all around the world.
So, getting to work with him on this project has not only been fun, but it’s also been epiphanic. Darren is a guy who is actually doing what a lot of folks just talk about, and he’s doing it well. What’s different about Darren is he’s not only a working creative professional, but he also teaches others how to do the same.
So without further adieu, here are four things I’ve learned working with Darren.
The Smartphone is More Powerful Than You Realize
Get to know the power of the device in your pocket. Remember, with a smartphone, you have 10,000 servants at your beck and call. As one person put it, we’re foolish if we are paying our servants to just lounge in the backyard and smoke. Get them up and put them to work. That’s what they get paid for. Don’t be afraid to explore, try out new apps, see what works for you, and what doesn’t. Learn what tools you have that are just sitting in your pocket and then put them to work.
Make Something New Every Day
Practice making something new every day, and practice a lot. Be comfortable getting it wrong for a while, too. As G. K. Chesterton famously stated, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” Chesterton wasn’t excusing poor effort. In the context in which he said it, he was excusing poor results while one is learning to get better. What Darren emphasizes is to just show up with something you’ve made every single day. Keep practicing. Share it with the world. That kind of consistency gets meaningful attention that will convert to followers (people you influence) and ultimately fans (people who pay you for your product, service, or art.)
Document Your Work
Social media is not, first and foremost, for your vain pride. It’s also not for your primarily for your polished product. Social media is where you document the practice of your craft and invite people into your space to watch you at work. Stop trying to polish everything and just share your work, says Darren. And, surprisingly, when we try something new or practice getting better at something old, and we ship it, we don’t become more vain–which is what so much of social media consists of today–we become more humble. We might be humbled by how we sound, how we look, or how poorly we feel we’ve done. But at the end of the day, we have to learn none of that matters. What matters is the work is being done, documented, shared, and shipped.
Be Generous
Success is a result of our consistent presence, authentic connection, and sacrificial generosity. Be willing to work for free for a while. Working for free isn’t working for nothing, after all. There is intrinsic value in practicing your craft and giving to others generously. Eventually, you will get noticed, appreciated, and people will pay you with spendable currency. In the meantime be content being paid in experience and confidence. As a business tactic, “being generous” can seem cheap, cheesy, or slimy–that is is you’re “giving to get”–but as a life’s strategy, real generosity always pays off.
I hope you benefit from these four lessons I’ve learned working with Darren. I certainly enjoyed learning them. Most of all, I hope it inspires you to get busy doing your best work, and then share it with the world.
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Kepler’s Certification in Content Communication with Darren Doane
If you’re interested in content communication (i.e. content creation, script-writing, filmmaking, social media, brand building, video editing, etc) as a vocation, there is an opportunity to get certified with one of the most prolific content creators and music-video filmmakers in the country. Darren Doane is inviting a hand full of senior high and adult students (only 12 seats available) to join him in an intense 32-week certification program. This is not a video course like Master Class where you never meet the teacher.
Darren will teach live, online classes in real-time several hours a week. Students won’t just study the books–though you will do that too—but you’ll build a real creative portfolio of your own work with real high-profile clients who work with Darren.
You won’t get a better education in content communication at a college or university–and guaranteed, you’ll literally pay a fraction of the cost. Darren is the real deal and best of all, he is a committed Christian who teaches his students how to create art and influence culture from a Christian worldview!
His classes start the week of September 7th, so if content communication is your jam, you’ll never get a better opportunity than this to study and earn your certification with a real master at a price that is less than a semester at a state university.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I’m happy to answer questions or connect you with Darren and let him answer them for you.
Learn more about Darren Doane’s Course in Content Communication.