It’s 2:00 a.m. as I stare at my glowing computer screen where hours upon hours of work is compressed into a tiny 12-minute timeline. I hit the spacebar and watch it through for the 1000th time, my eyes darting to find bad cuts and my ears listening for distorted audio. I save the project and export the file, finally satisfied after never-ending revisions. 

I’m not even working on a paid project. I’m working on a fun video I put together with friends. Why in the world would I stay up late for this? Simple. I love creating videos. Videos that communicate more than just a pitch. Videos that make people laugh, contain subtle hints, or produce emotion. There’s something beautiful about the emotional majesty of music combining with moving photos and sound effects to give you a glimpse into another world. Or, if you’re like me, videos can become tools to capture and forever freeze in time the wonderful memories you cherish. Life may change, and the people in it, but you’ll always have a window into the past when something is captured and turned into art.

I wasn’t always passionate about creating videos. For most of my life, it was either a hobby or a business. My journey through video has been an exciting one, and in this post, I would love to share my story of becoming a video creator and the role God has played in that.

Starting Out

I was a kid when I first decided to take videos with my smartphone. I filmed our pets, made birthday videos for my grandparents, and messed around with stop motion Lego animation. Eventually, I started filming the Nerf battles I would have with my friends and got better at editing. I found that I really enjoyed making fun comedy videos and adding sound effects and special effects to everything I could.

That’s why when I went to high school, I decided to take a video production class to get better at it. I had a blast practicing short narrative videos and I became known as the VFX guy because I’d always be creating portal effects or blowing up things on video. When the next semester rolled around, I inadvertently led a segment of the school TV show that focused on a detective story. That was my first taste of directing and scriptwriting, and I really enjoyed it. My teacher Jon Goodman, who I am forever thankful for, is a strong Christian and really impacted me by showing me how someone can stand boldly for Christ and use the medium of video for good.

Commercial Projects

As I left high school and started college, I was unsure about what I wanted to do. I enjoyed creating videos, and people told me I was good at it, so I wanted to give a career in commercial videos a try. I took classes to get better at making marketing videos and I worked as a freelancer doing local video projects under the name Faelin Media. During my first year of college, however, God started working on my heart and showing me a different direction.

My Testimony

I’d been raised in an evangelical Christian family and taught to love Jesus. But a lot of difficult things had happened in my life in my early teens. I began to question God’s goodness. I began to live for myself. Thankfully, when I was 17, I chose to fully return to my faith when I recognized that I would begin to hurt people when the consequences of my sins caught up with me. I started growing again, developed a strong relationship with Jesus, and found a community of Christians to support me. 

A Change in Direction

It was when I was 18 and taking video classes that God began to ask me a question. If He asked me to go into full-time ministry, would I be willing to do that? I wrestled with that subconsciously for about a year. I had always wanted to help people through ministry, but I always imagined doing that part-time or when I wasn’t busy. I had no idea what going into full-time ministry meant or what it would look like, all I knew is that it would change my plans drastically. 

Finally, when I was 19, I surrendered to the Lord and told Him I would go into ministry -whatever that looked like- if He wanted me to. Thus began a long confusing process of figuring out where God wanted me and how I could serve.

Video Ministry

After Covid-19 made it impractical for me to take college courses, I took on more freelance video work and continued honing my skills. Video was still a means to end at this point for me, not a passion. However, that began to change when I realized that video can do more than sell products and appeal to customers. I was invited to film a father-son ceremony at my church, and afterward the men came up to me and thanked me for the slideshow video I made for the event. It was then that I realized that video had more potential and impact than I had previously thought. These men could remember the emotion and meaning of this amazing event through MY video. As I began to do other videos with Christian messages, I began to see a ministry path through the medium of video. 

I began to look for jobs or internships where I could practice my skills and serve in ministry as well. After a few months of searching and waiting with no results, I got exasperated and prayed that God would just have someone contact me. To my surprise, a friend contacted me and offered me a video editing job at a ministry that created videos for kids on a Christian youtube channel. It worked out well and I ended up editing most of their videos and creating graphics for them, even hiring an assistant editor to help me with the workload.

In addition to this, some friends and I started a YouTube channel in 2020 called The Hope Factor. Its focus is on helping Christians grow in their relationship with Christ. Working with others gave me a super fun opportunity to work with a team and lead projects, develop content strategies, and train others. 

Why I Started Witness Studios

Eventually, in the summer of 2021, I decided to create a video production company specifically to make videos for non-profits and Christian ministries. Witness Studios would be different from my commercial company Faelin Media so I could focus on what I believe God has called me to do.

Video is an amazing tool to capture memories, stories, and emotion. But when paired with God’s message and the accounts of how He is working through his church, it becomes poignant and life-changing. I’m excited to see where God will take me on this new adventure and what stories I will get to capture along the way!