Jon Morgan

You got laid off from your first job out of college and started a production company. What was the moment where it went from “I’m figuring this out” to “oh, this is actually a business”?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still figuring this out every day. But once I made the leap from being a generalist to a specialist and going from doing corporate video production to sports content, that’s when things really changed for me. I became laser focused on a new market, built out a new business plan, developed new offerings and just went after it with everything I had.

You’ve done opens for the Blues, Blackhawks, Flyers — the stuff that plays in front of 20,000 people right before puck drop. What’s the pressure like on a project where the deadline is literally a stadium full of people waiting?

In sports, deadlines are no joke. Opening night can’t get rescheduled because you don’t have the video ready. The pressure can get intense — one time we were making final tweaks the morning of a home opener and we were still having problems. But thankfully, most pressure and stress is avoided with proper planning and scheduling in pre-production. We quite literally live and die by our timelines and calendars.

You studied psychology at Mississippi College, not film. How does that show up in the work… or does it?

In the work? Probably none at all. But it shows up in how I manage relationships with clients, employees and contractors. Business is all about people and relationships, so that’s where psychology comes in handy.

Ryval started as JM Films doing corporate video, then you pivoted hard into sports. What made you bet the company on that niche?

I was getting burnt out on doing corporate video and I’m a huge sports nut. So when I discovered there was huge demand for content and production in the sports world, I had to at least try to go after it. Little did I know what a huge opportunity I would stumble into. In corporate video I was competing against everyone everywhere, big or small, and it was exhausting. But in sports I have 5 or 6 big competitors and that’s really it. High demand and low competition is a good equation for business. Sports is a niche with a ton of diversity within it — it’s year round, exploding demand for content, and way bigger opportunities than I ever had in corporate video. Going all-in was a no brainer.

You’re in St. Louis building a national sports production company. Most people would assume you’d need to be in LA or New York. What’s the honest answer — does STL help or hurt?

Being based in STL has never held me back in any way. We could literally be based anywhere in the country and it wouldn’t matter. I love when I get to share we’re from St. Louis because there’s always a little surprise, and I love getting to bring positive light to the production community here and show that small markets can do big time stuff too.