Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Kesslak.
Mike, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I began getting involved with film in my sophomore year of high-school. Myself and two of my best friends, Ritzy and Tyler, began making parody videos and short films. As high-school came to an end, I realized I really enjoyed creating stories visually and decided to pursue it into college.
While in college, I found it difficult to find someone else with a similar drive, passion and work ethic to collaborate with until I met my friend Wes Hogan. We began working on all of our projects together and grew with each one. He was someone that wasn’t only genuinely passionate about film but a genuine person. He was also one of the best editors I’ve ever seen despite the fact that he was blind in one eye. We continued making a little more of a name for ourselves through our work and decided to start branding our projects. When trying to figure out a name, 41 was a number that meant a lot to him growing up and everyone associated that number with him and “Casanova” was a name that resonated through a conversation with a friend of mine. We decided to add them together after realizing it has a good ring to it and “41st Casanova Productions” was born.
So we continued with the name and put it at the end of all of our projects. One day we met up, he informed me that there was something wrong medically with his one good eye and that if he didn’t drop out of school and get the treatment that he needed, there was a potential to lose his sight completely. He was also told that regardless, he wouldn’t be able to do film anymore. I was in shock that something like this could happen to such a good person. At that moment, I made a promise to him that I was going to do everything in my power to make “41st Casanova Productions” into so much more than just a school project brand. I was going to make it into a company and have it represent the values that we held and represented in ourselves. It was going to represent drive, ambition, positivity, and that absolutely anything is possible when you’re doing something from the heart. And I haven’t stopped trying to do that since.
After that conversation I continued branding everything I did under 41st. I started collaborating with another ambitions filmmaker, Pat Walker, and he helped me push 41st further. As I was getting closer to graduating, we began creating work for ourselves and freelancing producing music videos, short films, corporate videos and mini docs. Six months after I graduated in 2014, on October 4th, I left my part time job that I was at for 6 years at TJ Maxx and went full time being self-employed. I haven’t looked back since.
Pat continued in a different direction and pursued a full-time job where he continues to do amazing work in the film world. After that I slowly built up my team. Now 41st Casanova Productions is a full multi-media production team specializing in Video, Photography, Audio, and Graphic Design. I am the lead director and creative shooter/editor. Dan Emond is our lead corporate editor and special effects wizard. Gerry Vincent is our very talented, self-taught, lead Photographer. Mikey Vieira is our lead audio engineer. And Sam Harrington in our lead graphic designer. We also have a numerous amount of other amazing shooters, photographers and production personnel on our team.
Our team is the definition of the word. I envisioned 41st as a one-stop-shop for anyone looking for media work, whether you’re a music artist, run a small business, or are looking for anything creative at all, we can work with you so every creative decision across the different artistic mediums are cohesive. Example: If an artist wants to record their album, create album art, make a logo and create a music video, we can provide that so everything creatively is consistent with one another to match their brand.
I have been doing this full time now for 3 and a half years and the best thing about it is that we have stayed true to our values and it has resonated with the people we work with. One of our motto’s since the beginning has been, “We don’t make new clients, we make new friends.” It is the best feeling in the world knowing that we get to create with our friends and family and that the people who we work with feel the same way. It is no longer a company or a brand, 41st Casanova Productions is a community and a family. And the only reason why we have gotten to where we are is due to our message of positivity, ambition and collaboration.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing worth having is easily obtainable. There are always obstacles that we face in anything that we do.
One of the biggest obstacles at the beginning was finding constant work. Once I began doing this full time, there was no guarantee of a paycheck at the end of the week. Even until this day that is an aspect that is in the back of my mind, even though money is not the driving factor behind what I do. But one thing that has helped me after hearing some of my friends express their concerns of it being difficult to find work, is coming to the realization that we don’t find work, we create it. Since acting on that, my team and I have done our best to continue to create work and opportunities for ourselves instead of waiting for work to find us.
A common obstacle we face is when we come across people, whether it be potential crew or clients, that may not share the same values that 41st represents. A huge part of this is accountability; we strive to do great work, and within that are the kind of standards we all hold each other to. This has been a learning curve but greatly contributes to the fun, collaborative experience we get to have on each and every shoot. We want to have people on the team that are doing this because they wouldn’t want to be doing anything else and the same goes for the people we create content for. The client’s ambition and love for what they do is just as important as the end product itself which is why we are so grateful for having been able to build the community that we have over the years. Clients and crew being able to come together with a common goal and similar mindset sets the entire creative process up for success from pre-production, all the way through SHOOT DAY, and post-production.
41st Casanova Productions – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
41st Casanova Productions is a multimedia production company meant to be a one stop shop, specializing in investing in the client and crew experience and relationship just as much as the end product itself.
As far as content, we specialize in full production needs for musical artists, as well as small/corporate businesses, promotional and advertisement content and management, social media management, television production, etc.
As a company we pride ourselves on the community based interactions and experiences we offer over everything. We at 41st know that there will always be competition, there will always be someone else that can offer similar services, however, we truly believe that the relationships that we have been fortunate enough to build along the way are what really make it all worth it. We genuinely love what we do and we believe that shows in every piece of content we create.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I think my proudest moment in my career has happened many times over again, which I am extremely grateful for. I think a generalization of that is really being able to see things that I have envisioned for this company finally come full circle, with not only the positive affect that I may have intended, but so much more. I had the opportunity to see my team’s very own Pilot episode air on television for a project that had been in the works for what felt like forever; I was finally able to put into play the charitable aspect of 41st that had been something I had wanted from the very beginning of my career, to be able to give back and reach others on an even more personal and communal level. But I also think some of my proudest moments in my career have just been passing conversations with “clients” that I now consider family, talking about upcoming projects or even something as simple as them expressing how much they are looking forward to the future because of what we have already accomplished together. These are all things that really embody what I have always strived for with 41st and to be able to know that we have reached and impacted so many people’s lives so positively is something I will not only be proud of, but also be forever humbled by.
Contact Info:
- Website: 41stcasanovaproductions.com
- Phone: 978-423-2293
- Email: 41stcasanova@gmail.com
- Instagram: @41stcasanova
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/41stcasanova
Image Credit:
Gerry Vincent
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