As a young boy, Bill Zographos took to dad’s camera and never looked back. An inquisitive mind led this young boy into the world of photography. He would take pictures of anything and everything, and experiment with colour and composition; he would try and get that great shot. He experimented with audio recordings – his was an era of the cassette tapes and radio, but it was when he got his hands on a video camera in the early ’80s that would cement his desire to work in the media industry and develop a business offering video productions.
“You have to love what you do,” says Zographos with certainty on his early beginnings in the media game. He’s always had a passion for this industry, one that he has developed into his business MSA – Media Services Australia.
Founded in 2005, MSA transforms ideas into effective business videos. He uses the medium of film to get corporate messages to clients, staff and suppliers. Videos are produced for websites, elaborate corporate works for companies, client testimonials, web video newsletters and the filming of major live events. He works on television commercials and training videos for companies and also has a professional photographic component to his business that delivers corporate images for companies.
MSA works alongside clients to produce start to finish corporate videos. Zographos meets with clients to understand their company in order for him to create a production that not only suits their needs, but that speaks to their clients. Once the concept meeting has taken place, Zographos works with his team to deliver the final result.
“It all depends on what [the client] needs to produce and for whom and the creativity comes when you are producing the ideas for the project you are working on,” he tells Neos Kosmos.
Zographos is a man who lives and breathes video production; a self-taught producer who has engrossed himself within short courses and trained at the ABC, Channel 9 and Channel 7 news and current affairs section. His skills can be transferred in most areas of video production making him a survivor in this industry. And in order to stay strong in the industry, Zographos has to work 24/7; it’s not a 9-5 job but one where you need to sacrifice weekends and nights to meet your clients needs.
An industry that is fast-paced and demanding, Zographos adds there is “always room for improvement” and keeping that at the back of your mind at all times makes all the difference between a success and a failure.
And in an industry where technology is changing at such a rapid rate, Zographos takes it in his stride and is confident in his skills to continuously deliver a high standard of work.
“Technology changes but the end results and the basic principals of good quality production – light and sound – don’t change,” he explains, “like how you compose a picture, framing focusing lighting and sound – all those ingredients haven’t changed.
“The equipment changes have made it easier but sometimes people have the idea that if they buy an expensive camera that will make them automatically a professional but that’s far from the truth.
“It’s not the camera that makes the person a professional, it’s the professional that makes the camera work.”
And the pressure of this industry is what Zographos thrives on when he says “you need to work under pressure and yet produce outstanding results without compromise”.
His body of work features video productions of Queen Elizabeth, to the musical group Kiss, to Greek singers such as Glykeria, Ploutarhos, Petrelis and Dalaras even John Howard gets a nod, but with all this Zographos says his highlights are still yet to come.
“If you have the equipment, the know how and the passion and desire you will succeed.”
For more information on Bill Zographos and Media Services Australia, visit www.mediaservicesaustralia.com/