I love making videos. And I think I do damn good job of it, as anyone who has seen my work will attest. I believe I and a few others have raised the level of quality of BB videos in the last few years. But I make these things to be SEEN by the fans, not just for myself.
I post these clips for these reasons...
1. To get feedback and kudos. "I like the way that was shot and edited." "I didn't like the way you shot that." Praise feel good but BOTH opinions are incredibly valuable to me and I wouldn't be where I am right now without the feedback of the fans.
2. To spread the word about Mike the filmmaker. You think I want to be shooting CONTEST videos the rest of my career?? Hell no! I'm a damn good filmmaker and I want to shoot bigger and better things. The only way to do that is through relentless hard work and self promotion. Mike who??? I don't want anyone in the BB world to say that.
3. To sell a few DVDs. Bro I am not getting rich off of this. Not by a long shot. If you knew the hundreds of hours it takes to shoot this stuff and edit it in somewhat of a semblance of a movie (I'm talking now about RTB) all by myself you would be astounded. What little money I make from this only pays for my expenses and enables me to continue to make more videos, not much more. I feel I am contributing something to the sport by doing what I do. Most fans on most forums recognize that and give me a little leeway for self-promotion.
If y'all want to go back to the days of dark, shaky, 5 hour long unedited boring workout videos be my guest! When the BB community no longer appreciates what I do I will move on and shoot moto-cross or quilting bee videos if there's a dramatic story to be told. Have you actually seen any of my DVDs? Do you know what I am talking about? I have a feeling that you don't know exactly what it is I do that's different from the average BB DVD.
Having said all that, it looks like four years of self-promotion has finally paid off. I am in the process of finally getting a deal to shoot a documentary on a BIG NAME bodybuilder. SEVERAL different ones, actually. If I am allowed to continue to post here you will see advance clips, just like everybody else, but you would also have access to me as I work with them because of my relationship with Pro Muscle and can get the inside scoop. Isn't that worth something to you?