Main Stage Films Helps Fans Around the World Enjoy Live Music from SXSW

How do you turn a simple hobby into a viable business operation? You just have to go wild with it. It’s how I grew a successful wedding videography business into an even more successful full-service production and live streaming company with my Austin, TX-based Main Stage Films.

After running a wedding videography business for 11 years and having filmed more than 500 weddings, I began looking for something different. I thought about my two favorite hobbies: music and video technology, and I stumbled upon the perfect fit: streaming concerts, which happens to be a very viable business in Austin, the live music capital of the world.

I also work behind the scenes in television production on live two-way video and bringing in remote guests, so I have the technical knowledge and expertise to execute expert productions and live streams. But that is only one piece to the puzzle. You also broadcast-quality equipment that allows me to generate professional productions for clients.

From 25-seat theaters to 20,000-person outdoor concerts, I have tackled a variety of events and venues, such as Fitz and the Tantrums, Dawes, Givers, Los Lonely Boys, Austin City Limits, Blues on the Green and the Country Music Awards. There is one particular event, however, that just might be my favorite: live streaming four days, seven straight hours a day of live music from the SXSW Waterloo Records Day Parties for the annual SXSW music festival. With the stage taking over an entire parking lot in downtown Austin, the party is just one of a multitude of free live music events SXSW attendees and local residents can enjoy.

2014 marked my fifth year working the festival, and I was responsible for live switching and live streaming 24 bands to hundreds of fans in attendance and more than 5,000 viewers watching the live stream from around the world each day.