A producer is at the heart of any film production –they wrangle the creative chaos that swirls around great stories and people. Leo brings a calm, reassuring burst of energy to the filmmaking process at Flow–with an eye for detail and the keen empathy to understand what makes every project stakeholder tick. Our Director of Production, Jamie Savalle, sat down with Leo to learn more about what motivates him everyday, and why he loves growing with the Flow.
Jamie: Hey Leo! Tell us a little about your media production background.
Leo: I've been passionate about media production since high school. I knew that's what I wanted to pursue. I went to Michigan State University to study this and earned a degree in media and information. It's a film and TV production background. I also minored in documentary filmmaking production.
When I entered college, I knew from the get that I always wanted to have a hand in media production. More importantly, storytelling is something that I want to have a hand in. From there, I graduated in 2019. With that B. A. and minor, I pursued a career in storytelling.
And where I started was at the Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills. I've always had a passion for history and there's an incredible amount of storytelling, of course, that goes into communicating history itself. So, between that and my cultural upbringing, it was a good fit to start at the Holocaust Center and utilize my skill set for storytelling and media production to support their efforts from there.
I always knew that storytelling was something I wanted to continue to pursue. The concept of telling uplifting and empowering stories catches my attention. So, continuing to do that work was of key interest. I have known about flow video for years. When the opportunity to join the team was available, I jumped right on it and applied.
Jamie: As a storyteller, what is your main focus when you go into a production?
Leo: My main focus is ensuring that whoever we're interacting with, their story is being told as it needs to be. Accuracy and authenticity is core to what I believe in when representing someone. There's an inherent bias that we all bring to any given situation. We all have our own perspectives, so trying to be as truthful, as honest and as authentic as possible with our subjects who are the main storytellers in these situations – that's what's key.
Jamie: How do you bring the creative process into storytelling?
Leo: Well, in this role, it's a matter of supporting how we can get the right people in the right place to tell the right story. If certain elements logistically don't line up, you will end up with a different product than what you may need or desire. Perhaps you won't be able to find the golden nuggets you were looking for.
So, entering situations where you can set everyone up for the best success possible. Most importantly, making sure the client/subject’s vision is what's told is the ideal of supporting creative endeavor in this position.
Jamie: How do you set your team and subjects up for success?
Leo: The preparation is really making sure that we get out in front of any unknowns as much as possible prior to the actual gathering and capturing of the material itself to tell these stories. To make the vision that is desired possible, it's best to, and ideally you can get out in front of it by answering as many questions as possible about what it will take to tell that story prior to getting into that position.
And so I find that to be quite an effective way to set up a storytelling endeavor for success.
Jamie: What are your favorite types of stories to tell? What are your favorite projects that you like to work on?
Leo: I really love that. With my background in the nonfiction space, that's where my heart goes. It's to the true stories. It's the authentic stories and experiences that people are living, have lived, and will live that really capture my attention. Those are the stories that are windows into truth. True stories are some of the most important stories to tell, because they exist in front of us.
It is the reality of our world. Fiction has the power to do that as well, but nonfiction does it in a way where it's not only true on camera, but true in the real world.
Jamie: Do you think your clients appreciate that preparation you put in place for their productions?
Leo: Absolutely. You know, whether it's seen or not, I think it shines through the end result. So yes, I absolutely think that is greatly appreciated by the client. And I think the results speak for themselves.
Jamie: A producer's job can be very stressful, how do you deal with a multitude of moving parts?
Leo: Dealing with a multitude of moving parts, that's just a reality in any given production. I think it's helpful to gain perspective of the overarching goals of a project. What is the actual intent? What is the end goal? And while these moving parts are happening at the same time, seeing how they all combine to really achieve that end goal is something I noticed that really rounds out the beautiful chaos.
Your hand is in multiple pots. You're trying to stay on top of everything to help carry out this vision to allow the creatives to be as effective as possible. Putting them in the best logistical position for success is what allows me to stay focused and manage multiple elements going on at once.
Jamie: What helps you stay organized with so many moving parts? Organization might be not the most glamorous part of the production process, but it's extremely important.
Leo: Yeah, it's exactly that. While organization isn't glamorous, it is absolutely vital. So that comes down to compartmentalization. Making sure that the correct elements are in their correct spaces allows you to gain an understanding where things stand, where things need to be, and where things are. So keeping track of various logistics in their proper homes allows me and others to stay focused on the tasks at hand, to maintain organization, and keep moving forward.
Jamie: What does our tagline video with a higher purpose mean to you?
Leo: My gosh. When I read the tagline for the first time – “video with higher purpose” – that just speaks to my core of why I got into this work in the first place. There are many opportunities, many things you can do with video/visual media. You could put all types of efforts in anywhere, but to apply it with purpose, I view that to be authentic storytelling, These are stories that need to be told, deserve to be told, and deserve to be told in their truest form.
So video with a higher purpose is, to me, telling stories accurately at the highest level possible.
Jamie: Do you have any other, besides producing, amazing hidden talents that you would like to share with us?
Leo: I was thinking about this recently for the headshot yesterday. Producing is really engaging in the sense that it incorporates many various skill sets. That's what it is. It's just incorporating skills across the board for the job. So with that said, I wore an apron yesterday for my headshots, a cooking apron (it's actually a workshop apron first and foremost) that my father gave me.
And what it represents is the willingness to take on something new. In my photograph, I hold up a dovetail cut off the edge of a spice rack that I made with my dad. He was a woodworker for many, many years. And that was my first and only woodworking project I've ever done where it was strictly a woodworking project.
And I haven't been back to it since, but what it was was an opportunity to learn something new, do something new, get my hands dirty in a different way. One of my favorite things to do is just try new things, to explore, see what works, see what doesn't and see what that can do to inform future opportunities and future skill sets. Ultimately, it’s taking that curiosity and seeing where it can take me.
Jamie: Lastly, what types of video projects are you excited to dive into with Flow Video?
Leo: I love that question. I love coming back to that nonfiction element. Flow’s nonprofit work, where we're working with the community around us. That is so deeply exciting to me being here from Michigan, having had family in the Detroit area for generations now. And then being lucky enough to be in this space, in this area, seeing it in the 21st century. To be from Michigan and tell these stories in the Detroit area and beyond, that is extremely exciting.
Jamie: Thank you so much for your time Leo - you are truly an asset to Flow Video and our clients!
