Summary
On this episode of Startup Junkies, hosts Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Victoria Dickerson sit down with Zak Heald, Owner of Intercut Productions, a full-service video production agency in Bentonville, Arkansas. Zak shares about his early start in entrepreneurship and how he created Intercut Productions with a DBA the day he turned 16. Throughout the episode, Zak discusses how his team utilizes AI to increase productivity, his passion for aviation, and the power of ask.
Show Notes
(0:54) Introducing Zak Heald
(1:19) Zak’s Origin Story
(11:30) Building a Business and Learning on the Fly
(19:44) Zak’s Take on Machine Learning and AI
(30:22) Bentonville Studios
(34:49) Filming in Northwest Arkansas vs. Filming in Other Cities
(39:26) Supporting the Local Economy
(40:51) Incentive to Film in Arkansas
(47:03) Dozen Duzit
(52:46) Advice to the Younger Self | The Power of Ask
(57:00) Closing Thoughts
Links
Quotes
“We realized early on that we could build the business if we just had cash flow. Like, that was going to be the key to building the business was cash flow. And so we started pursuing those jobs that provided that cash flow. For us right out of the gate, that was weddings.” – Zak Heald, (14:54)
“I’ve just learned to set long-term goals, keep people really happy, provide as much value as you can, and it always comes back around.” – Zak Heald, (19:35)
“The more people understand AI, the more they use it, and the better they understand how it comes up with its answers, the more powerful it will become for people…once you understand how it’s being taught and all that, the ideas will come to you. How can I use this to better my business or to start a new business altogether?” – Zak Heald, (28:18)
“Our biggest thing right now is we want to provide that base infrastructure. Provide a place that productions can call home, whether they shoot in our studio, whether they just use it for offices and for building sets and all that kind of stuff. Regardless, we just want it to be a home base, a place that productions can feel like…it is their place.” – Zak Heald, (35:53)
Film, AI, and Aviation with Zak Heald of Intercut Productions
On this episode of Startup Junkies, hosts Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Victoria Dickerson sit down with Zak Heald, Owner of Intercut Productions, a full-service video production agency in Bentonville, Arkansas. Zak shares about his early start in entrepreneurship and how he created Intercut Productions with a DBA the day he turned 16. Throughout the episode, Zak discusses how his team utilizes AI to increase productivity, his passion for aviation, and the power of ask.
Creating Intercut Productions
After falling in love with film in his early teens, Zak drove to the courthouse and filed for a DBA for Intercut Productions on his sixteenth birthday. He picked up small video gigs where he could and learned along the way. After graduating high school, he went to film school at John Brown University at his parent’s request. A difficult freshman year of balancing work and school led him to drop out the following summer and commit to Intercut Productions full-time.
Zak poached a few friends from film school, and they hit the ground running taking every job they could. They prioritized cash flow over passion projects, and knew that if they could keep money flowing in, they’d have more opportunities in the future.
“We realized early on that we could build the business if we just had cash flow. Like, that was going to be the key to building the business was cash flow. And so we started pursuing those jobs that provided that cash flow. For us right out of the gate, that was weddings.” – Zak Heald, (14:54)
While prioritizing cash flow meant taking jobs they weren’t always excited about, they pushed forward with a mindset of building a happy customer base that would come back for more projects.
“I’ve just learned to set long-term goals, keep people really happy, provide as much value as you can, and it always comes back around.” – Zak Heald, (19:35)
Building a Soundstage in Northwest Arkansas
Today, Intercut Productions has established itself as the premier video production agency in Arkansas, doing mostly commercial work, while dipping its toe in documentaries. Zak also built Bentonville Studios, Arkansas’s largest soundstage. Zak’s goal with Bentonville Studios is to provide the necessary infrastructure for larger-scale productions to begin filming in Northwest Arkansas.
“Our biggest thing right now is we want to provide that base infrastructure. Provide a place that productions can call home, whether they shoot in our studio, whether they just use it for offices and for building sets and all that kind of stuff. Regardless, we just want it to be a home base, a place that productions can feel like…it is their place.” – Zak Heald, (35:53)
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