Principal, Producer, Director, Dan Fisher and partner Brett Singer share their excitement over Bottle Rocket Media reaching the impressive milestone of maintaining their successful production company for over 10 years. June 2022 marked the anniversary of their tenth year in business.
Chicago based Bottle Rocket Media specializes in video production, motion graphics, and virtual event production, boasting such clients as the Chicago Cubs, Sears, American Girl, Dyson, Walgreens, and Mattel, just to name a few.
Dan Fisher takes a moment to look back over the values and experiences that have been important to him over the past ten years.
How did you get started?
As far as experiments go, this one was more challenging and unpredictable than I thought it would be when we started. We knew what we wanted to achieve but didn’t exactly know how to go about it. So in June of 2011, I officially launched Bottle Rocket Media with Final Cut Pro 7 on my three-year-old laptop, a scratched-up Canon 5D Mark I, a healthy dose of enthusiasm, and an even healthier amount of naiveté.
Anyone paying attention knows that the road to a successful endeavor, business or otherwise, is not straight. Maintaining the course requires some kind of north star; for us, it has been our core values. Long before we had a mission statement or these core values written on the back of a hotel bar napkin, we let these values guide us through our early successes and failures.
What is the most important core value to you?
Maintain integrity in everything we do!
I arrived in Chicago to edit The Oprah Show in 2002, understanding that the show had two years left on the air. Nine years later, we were still burning the candle at both ends. While editing at a daily television show pretty much embodies the definition of insanity – working as fast as you can, every day, all day, long hours, unnecessary revisions, and unnecessary input. (don’t get me started) – The experience of the non-stop, daily grind taught me the importance of maintaining integrity in everything I do.
At BRM, we continue to grow with this notion in mind, always keeping the work honest and real. It keeps us in check, allowing us to approach each project uniquely, always proud to put our name on the finished product.
What was the next stage for you?
Bottle Rocket Media started with one client. And while the workload might seem laughable now, there was a lot to do in the early days. It didn’t take long to realize I was going to need help. I called upon friends in the business, and together we… MADE A VIDEO! It wasn’t the first video I had made, and it wasn’t the grandest of videos, but it felt different and was the beginning of something exciting.
One led to another, and another, and another. The momentum had begun.
In 2013, after a brief walkabout into the wild world of tech startups, Brett Singer, Bottle Rocket Media’s current Principal, Executive Producer began to miss being creative and joined the team. This is when things really started to gel for BRM. Together, we built on our 40+ combined years of experience to create a place where we could be creative, experimental, and collaborative with our colleagues, clients, and friends.
What does it mean to you to be collaborative?
Call it teamwork or collaboration; there is no substitute for rolling up our sleeves, looking one another in the eye, and working together. As a Director, there are countless obvious examples of this. I rely on my producers to get us to the shoot. I work with my cinematographers and audio recordists to help bring my storyboards to life. My production designers take good locations and make them great, and my stylist crew… where do I begin???? I would be lost without them.
But beyond the minutiae of filmmaking, there is an unbelievably healthy amount of collaborating within the walls of Bottle Rocket Media all day, every day. Client services, pre-production, script writing, editorial, motion design, and keeping the refrigerator stocked. We do our best to stay connected, support each endeavor, and push one another to do it better every time. It is nothing short of brilliant work by everyone involved.
At BRM, we are filmmakers, producers, directors, editors, motion designers, animators, writers, creatives, technologists, dreamers, visionaries, and pragmatists. Art + Story + Technology + Common Sense is what we do. There are twelve of us at the core, with another dozen talented freelancers supporting our efforts regularly. Every day I work with any of them is one of the best days of my life.
How has your experience changed the way you relate to others?
I wasn’t a listener ten years ago. I was a determined Gen Xer looking for a community in a city that was not yet my home. I had a goal but did not yet know the path. Bottle Rocket Media has allowed me to get to know the Chicago community in a way I couldn’t predict. And most of it comes from taking a step back, checking myself, and listening to what people say.
How important is storytelling to your business?
We love to tell stories. We have studied it, practiced it, and continue to hone this craft at the behest of our clients and ourselves. I have found that a good story shares intimate details while remaining relatable to the audience. It can be communicated by the subtle way movement connects with audio effects and music in an animated video. More noticeable, it can be felt in how a documentary script is put together or how an actor is directed to smile. It’s these details that excite me about storytelling. It’s these details that cut through the clutter.
This love for story has carried us through the last ten years, and I am sure it will drive us into the future. For a decade now, we have been working hard to bring our client’s visions to life, educate and entertain our audiences, and develop an atmosphere that inspires creativity in everyone we connect with. I look forward to more of all of it in the next phase of Bottle Rocket Media.
ALSO READ: Bottle Rocket Media climbs up the Inc 5000 list
The Bottle Rocket Media video production demo reel:
Happy Anniversary from Reel Chicago!
