4th Row Films begins with a love for movies and a passion for storytelling. Our philosophy is to approach everything we do as if it was a movie. This finds its way into every aspect of our process and is reflected in what we make and how we make it.

 

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Anything is possible.​

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From a young age watching movies teach us that anything is possible. Working on movies teaches us that the magic of movies happens behind the scenes as well. The idea that anything is possible, there is no such thing as no. That every problem and challenge has a solution.

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Great starts now.

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We often ask new interns who is your favorite actor who is your favorite director. OK - if you were doing this task for them would it be done better? Would you produce something better, would you create a list with more options, would you knock on one more door to find the perfect place to shoot, would you make that one extra effort that makes all the difference between good and special. The answer is almost always yes and our reply is so why not start being great now. Great is not about circumstance. Great starts with making a decision within yourself to do the best you can.

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Team.

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Nobody makes a movie by themselves. Making movies is a group process and that is one of the things that makes it so special. Using sports as a metaphor, sure it's great to win a tennis match and jump over the net, but there is something so much more rewarding about celebrating at center court or in the corner of the field with your teammates. Making a film whether a feature or a brand video requires hundreds of tasks to be thought about and executed properly. Since no one could ever do all of these things on their own who we work with and how we work with others becomes as important as the talent that goes into producing a film.

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Enthusiasm and scale.

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If we are working on a documentary or a marketing video we want to bring an enthusiasm and an effort that one associates with working at the highest level of creating filmed content. In many ways telling stories through the use of films and videos is about solving a particular type of puzzle. The questions that come up and issues that need to be resolved are almost identical regardless of the resources, the scale of the project, and the size of budget. Our enthusiasm is the same regardless if it is a film we hope one day goes on to play in a theater, a video that is going to be seen on a brand’s website, at an event, for one meeting, or on YouTube. The process is the same and the desire to make something special is the same.

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Drama is for the story.

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One of my favorite compliments about our people is how often we have heard “I cannot believe we got so much done today and without any drama". Every movie I have ever worked on whether a 100 million dollar budget or a small marketing video has its challenges. One of the goals as a creative team is to focus on solving those problems as opposed to letting those issues effect how we treat each other. Like any team you know you are going to be working with the same people again whether that means the next day or next month. The only place for drama in the filmmaking process is in the story.

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Appreciation.

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How many people are lucky enough to do something they thought about doing as a child? Whenever there is a day that takes us past the hours that most people work we try to remind ourselves that we are lucky to get to do this incredibly special thing for a living.

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