BL&S

Shared Values

 
 

Welcome. We’re BL&S - a live action production company and creative studio. We represent a roster of talented directors and photographers.

This page is a collection of thoughts, ideas, and principles that guide us. It’s the best way to get to know who we are and what we’re about.

Skip to the work by clicking here.

 
 
  • We all have a light within and a voice of our own. Our company works to develop people through the mediums of light and sound, bringing them to the world.

    Bring Light & Sound.

  • A lot of our work comes down to negotiating and operating in gray areas. When things aren’t black and white we look for solutions that are “north of fair”.

    See Ray Dalio’s Principles.

  • No client is more important than the wellbeing and safety of crew. If you’re a client that expects us to jeopardize our goodwill with crew to make your project feasible, we are not for you.

  • Try not to get caught up with it. Our interest in working with people stems from who they are and not what they like. We’re all cool in our own ways.

  • "Show business" is known for having its fair share of slimy folks and predatory practices. We don't believe in exploiting people.

  • Our office is currently located in Austin, Texas but our company is not. The company is not located in a single place.

    We work with clients, creatives, and crews from all over the world. We produce work wherever it takes us.

  • Expensive offices, notable awards, and other signals of success are nice but costly. These costs are eventually passed on to clients.

  • You may not hear from us. If it’s an emergency, we will handle it. But, odds are, whatever you’re emailing us about as we’re having dinner with our families can be easily addressed at 8:30am the next morning. If you’re worried about waiting until the next morning, see #12.

  • The company has never received investment. Our founders started the business with $5,000 of personal savings. To this day, the company is funded by its clients and brand partners, and remains profitable by spending less than it makes.

  • We work at the intersection of art and commerce, where it is all too easy to forget that the artist is more than a body of work. When watching work at BL&S, we remind ourselves that we’re not just looking for somebody who has the right kind of work…but we’re also looking for the right kind of person. We would love to tell you more about the talented artists and craftsmen we are putting up for your project if you’re curious.

  • Since our inception it’s been challenging to define what we do. That’s because we love all parts of the advertising, filmmaking, and creative processes. We’re really good at a large chunk of it, too. For now we’re a very stimulated team. There’s always a possibility we keep adding and tweaking, though. We can’t help ourselves.

  • Fear runs rampant in our industry. It leads to bad decision making, short sightedness, and a lower quality of life. Every person engaging with us is encouraged to be courageous. If you’re struggling with fear, read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art.

  • We love what we do and care about who we work with, but we don’t call our company a “family”. When a business calls itself a family what that means is they expect sacrifice. Sacrificing for your “work family” usually means staying late, joining calls on vacation, etc. BL&S is meant to support families, not be one, so we protect our lives outside of work.

  • We avoid it at all costs. When our team gets burned out, our quality of work plummets. We offer unlimited PTO and do our best to adhere to #8 and #13.

  • Since the jump, our goal has been to build a remarkable business and produce movies and television. Who knows how close we are to these goals, or if we’ll ever reach them. As of today, the business is strong and we have made some beautiful short films, but the vision is far from realized.

  • It pains us to watch companies hire and fire employees as they react to peaks and valleys in the business cycle. To this day, we have never fired a staff employee because of a business slump.

  • That agencies would give us an opportunity to speak directly to the client during the bidding and treatment process. If you’re an agency that does this, please call us.

  • Any director, client, writer, crew, talent, or collaborator who possesses a bloated sense of self importance and causes a job to suffer will not be asked back. We place a high value on humility.

  • When working directly with clients, we say that the best ads are essentially just big, well tested, beautifully written, and masterfully made ideas.

  • We often act as an agency and work directly with brands (see #11). Agencies hiring our firm should not feel threatened by this (see #2 and #5).

  • It might be a cliche, but we really believe it here. When working with agencies, clients, and each other we make an effort to not get too attached to the work. We would encourage anybody engaging with us to do the same.

  • “Storytelling” is the most commonly used descriptive word sent by agency producers when searching for directors and editors. We know this because we track these things. This should come as no surprise. Style, swagger, and high production value are lovely…but it all comes down to story.

  • Representing artists and taking talent to market is costly. It requires significant quantities of time and money. This is why exclusive rep deals exist.

    We represent talent with varying levels of exclusivity, and the terms of our representation deals vary by artist.

    All of our talent is free to leave at any moment. The ones that are exclusively repped have very friendly loan out rates. We encourage our talent to work with who they please and we do our best not to interfere (see #2 and #5).