Coping with COVID-19: Ocean State Video Inc.

CRANSTON Jim Karpeichik, owner and president of Ocean State Video Inc., a company that produces videos for broadcast, said his operation has experienced some silver linings in the COVID-19 pandemic, even as it has impacted him personally and professionally.

Karpeichik, who has operated his business since 1999, previously served as the chief news photographer for WJAR-TV NBC 10.

“This being Rhode Island, you don’t have to reach very far to know someone who has suffered a loss as a result of the pandemic,” said Karpeichik. “One of our friends lost her father. Also, the guidelines have meant that I have not been able to visit my 94-year-old father who lives in Massachusetts.”

As for business, he said, “Almost immediately one university cancelled an annual project with us, but just as quickly we helped another regional university produce several videos to communicate with their students as they pivoted to on-line learning. This quickly led to helping with graduation video messages and then orientation messaging. We are also working with a local agency on TV spots and educational videos relative to the crisis.”

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“We have increased our reliance on technology for collaboration and communication. While a video producer would have joined us on a shoot in the past, now they might be asking questions from their home while we stream a signal back to them. When someone sat in on an edit session previously, now they are reviewing projects online. This has been possible for quite a while but the interaction of the process is less organic without everyone in the same room.”

PBN is asking local business owners and CEOs five questions in a survey designed to understand how the new coronavirus has affected them and their businesses and what they have learned from the unprecedented challenges. Here are Karpeichik’s responses:

How are you coping amid the COVID-19 crisis?

I would describe the current climate as fragile but my personal philosophy is to always look for the opportunity. The safety of everyone we work with is always our first consideration but that does not mean sitting in a bunker until Covid-19 passes. While some clients have put projects on hold, others have increased needs and are looking for guidance. Others may not even be thinking about how we can help so we will have that discussion. We evaluate each inquiry first from a safety perspective, then look for ways to help the client with their production. We work with freelancers and while most of our work is done remotely anyway, we’ve eliminated any face to face meetings.

Have you found silver linings in these difficult times?

One silver lining has been the strengthening of relationships with clients and colleagues. Everyone is facing an uncertain future and knowing you are not alone is comforting. In the past 15 years we have worked on over 20 documentaries telling the stories of WWII veterans and it has been helpful to be inspired by their experiences. That generation knew how to improvise, how to overcome obstacles and how to persevere in the face of great adversity. We can all learn a lot from them. As Bruce Sundlun said, “Together we’ll get the job done.”

How are you maintaining your company culture?

In our business we rely on relationships with both our clients and freelance colleagues. Right from the beginning we have increased our communications with both groups, suggesting communication solutions to clients and sharing best practices with other production professionals. We are calling clients just to see how they are doing and listening to their concerns. If we can share any useful information, great. It is the same with colleagues. In one case another production company was doing a similar pandemic related project for a similar client, so we shared best practices. That is one of the great things about our business; we pretty much all get along and are open to helping each other.

Did your business continuity plan work or were there surprises?

There are always surprises so we do our best to anticipate where they might be and how we can position ourselves to navigate through difficult periods. First, my philosophy has always been to try and help a client get what they need. If that is something I can do, great. But I have never shied away from recommending that someone work with a different company if I thought that would be in their best interest. That approach may be a little unconventional, but it is worked for 20 years and people know they will always get my honest opinion. Very little of the work we do ever comes with more than a few weeks of notice so not knowing what we will be doing more than two weeks from now is pretty normal. It means budgeting for the slow times and scheduling the longer-term projects into those periods.

Do you have advice for other local companies?

First, be safe. Second, find the opportunities. They may be external as in new or modified services for customers or internal as in using your existing resources to build for the future. Finally, don’t sit around and wait for things to improve. Even if your business cannot be open right now, you should be planning for what might be next.

Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer and researcher. He can be reached at shuman@pbn.com.