Covid Causes Career Change

The pandemic has had different effects on different types of businesses. It’s been a boon for delivery services; but disastrous for entertainment. For Brandon Sappington’s booming video company, it spelled doom.

He had done everything right, from his telecommunications degree earned at Baylor University to a Universal Studios internship to production work as a script supervisor and a data information tech. Brandon learned the trade and honed his skills. Then, with his brother, Brad, he built a successful business producing training videos for the restaurant industry. Brandon says they made several thousand videos from 2003 to 2020.

Filmechanix had many notable clients, including Corner Bakery, On the Border, Mr. Gatti’s, Zoës Kitchen and Love’s Travel Stops, along with a few non-restaurant clients. What began small grew as these clients grew and their needs expanded. And when the Sappington brothers saw that the restaurants weren’t always managing the training videos well, they developed management software – VidWorx – to help them store and deliver the training effectively.

But when Covid 19 appeared in the second quarter of 2020, restaurants were closing and, for the ones that remained open, training was no longer a priority. The Sappington brothers lost every one of their clients.

That’s not the end of the story. Brandon is shuttering Filmechanix. That is history. Currently he’s selling flooring, which it turns out he’s pretty good at. But he hasn’t given up on his filmmaking dreams. In fact, being forced to give up a very lucrative business that was only technically related to filmmaking may turn into the opportunity to get back on track.

These days, Brandon is keeping his hand in by spending time in the Bauhaus Media edit bays. There he has access to state-of-the art hardware and the latest software. He is currently completing a “how-to” video on digital photography which will benefit a particular Bauhaus client and may be made available to others.

Then time will tell where new opportunities will take Brandon. Bauhaus studios has been involved with several feature films, and even had an edit suite in Los Angeles at one time. So, this could be a launching pad for a great film career. You never know.

For now, the Bauhaus crew is enjoying the opportunity to collaborate with a talented videographer. Brandon’s knowledge, experience and enthusiasm is a welcome addition to the office.