On The Couch with Thomas Kuzma & Cameron Powell | Supported by Canon
February 02, 2022
XMEDIA is a video and photography production house based in Brisbane, Australia. Although a relatively young company, the creative team has quickly made a name for themselves, producing dynamic and engaging content for various high-end commercial clients.
We caught up with Thomas Kuzma (Founder and Managing Director) and Cameron Powell (Director of Photography) to chat about how XMEDIA came about, how the creative team stays innovative and inspired, and of course, gear.
Best mates Thomas Kuzma and Ben Treasure began their side hustle five years ago with little more than a drone and a small mirrorless camera. One job led to another, and a couple of years later, the guys launched their company, XMEDIA.
Tom has spent the last few years drawing on his marketing degree to continue elevating the XMEDIA brand and pull in bigger jobs. At the same time, Ben remains a driving force behind all video productions. Today, the two lead a team of seven full-time videographers and two full-time photographers.
One of those full-time photographers, Cameron, was only six months out of high school when he contacted the guys via Instagram to share a video he’d shot with his Mavic and tell them he loved what they were doing. Tom liked Cam’s edit and invited him to grab a coffee. Two and a half years later, Cam is now Director of Photography at XMEDIA.
The whole team is multiskilled and responsible for both shooting and editing. To date, the majority of productions have been complete in-house creations. But as the company secures higher profile clients with more complex campaigns, it has begun outsourcing specialist roles such as lighting and colour grading.
From the first drone gifted by Tom’s mum, XMEDIA has transitioned through a range of Sony and Blackmagic camera bodies. They purchased their first Red camera two years ago, a significant investment for the young team. Tom muses that as soon as they bought the Red, they found clients were just happy to pay more.
We didn’t get any better the night before we bought it to the day after, but suddenly people want to pay you more.’ - Thomas Kuzma
Today, XMEDIA’s ‘war chest of gear’ is now fully equipped with kit that has been hand-picked because the team knows it works, is reliable, easy to use and will deliver the quality and style they are known for.
For photos, Cam tells us that he’s always shooting on the Canon R5. Paired with the R5 body, Cam has an impressive selection of high-quality lenses to choose from, such as the 14mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.4, 24-70mm f/2.8, and 70-200mm f/2.8. And given the volume of high-quality real estate projects they shoot, it’s not surprising to see their lens line-up also includes the 17mm and 24mm tilt-shift lenses.
As with any production company, there have been some expensive casualties along the way. Tom and Cam note that they’ve probably put down ten drones over the years and joke that DJI care refresh is their best friend.
Tom and Ben have a pretty firm no weekends policy for themselves and their team, opting to work hard from Monday to Friday and leave weekends free to live life.
Every Monday morning, the team meets for 1-2 hours, where they watch and share inspiring content from around the world and explore ways they might enhance their own productions. They also take this time to discuss the previous week’s work, what was good and what can be improved. From there, the week gets a lot less predictable, a fast mix of shooting and editing.
Turn around times vary depending on the size and complexity of the project. Smaller real estate jobs can be as short as 24 hours for photography and three days for videos. The company has recently begun taking on larger-scale productions that can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months.
Like many businesses, XMEDIA had to adapt quickly with the arrival of Covid. Before the pandemic, standard production for real estate was a short 60-second video with a small intro by the agent. When restrictions were imposed, they switched things up and were able to add value to their clients by creating 5-10min walkthrough videos to be used in place of open homes.
Much of XMEDIA’s success can be attributed to clear branding and strong partnerships. Their close working relationship with leading Sydney real estate agent Gavin Rubinstein led to the guys being featured in the first season of Luxe Listings Sydney. Back home in Brisbane, XMEDIA has also partnered with the luxury construction company, Graya, to create and deliver all of their project content.
In terms of digital presence, the company relies heavily on Instagram. Tom and the team spend about 10 hours a week perfecting the style, colours and mood of the content they share with the Insta community.
‘It’s (Instagram) our business tool, it’s how we got our following.’ - Thomas Kuzma
Developing a consistent style has also been crucial in building their brand and fostering client loyalty. The creative team predominantly utilises natural light, opting to use artificial lighting only for interviews and studio work.
I like using what's in front of me cause then you’re also giving the viewer of the photo an experience of what they’re actually going to see if they were there.’ - Cameron Powell
On most video productions, they’ll have two or three people shooting. One will film on a gimbal such as the Ronin, and the others will be on a tripod or grabbing hand-held footage. The various angles allow them to cut together the dynamic edits and transitions their videos have become known for.
If you’d like to learn more about the team at XMEDIA, check out the full interview here.