Blog
The 18 year process to buy LiftFilms.com
I started Lift Films in 2002 (the year I graduated high school). I still have a few of the early videos I was making with the Lift Films branding on them. I also have a hard copy of the first invoice I drew up for a customer and my first business card that I printed on card stock and cut out by hand.
In 2004 I purchased the domain www.LiftFilms.net because the .com was owned by a production studio in New Orleans at the time.
I wanted the .com but I knew it would be nearly impossible to get with my budget. I needed a website for my business so I purchased LiftFilms.net to get me by. Every once in a while I would check to see if the .com was available but It wasn’t until 2011 that it happened. I reached out to the sellers but I never got a response. At this point I accepted my .net fate and talked myself into believing that it wasn’t that important in the grand scheme of things.
In 2021, I was researching domains for another project I was working on and decided to check the status of LiftFilms.com. I was surprised to see it was listed for sale on GoDaddy’s domain marketplace for $5,000. I still believed that the .com wasn’t that important to my business but my ego couldn’t let someone else get that domain.
I submitted a bid for $1,000 but it was quickly declined. For the next year and half I exchanged messages with the sellers and never budged from my $1,000 offer. Sometimes I would ignore them for weeks at a time. It became a game for me (and them I’m sure).
Below are a few of the highlights from the bidding exchange with the seller. Unfortunately they don’t show my responses since it was through the GoDaddy marketplace portal. The first message was on April 22, 2021. On September 22nd, 2022 they accepted my offer and I was finally the rightful owner of www.LiftFilms.com.
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
New Logo Design Work - Southern Home Storage
A new storage company in North Carolina needed a custom logo design as part of their full branding package. This was the final design.
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
New Jarrett Bay Insider Episode - July 2024
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Marlin Magazine | Randy Ramsey Portraits
I met Randy Ramsey back in 2012 when I made my first video for Jarrett Bay Boatworks. In that initial interview with Randy, it was clear he was one of the most passionate people I had ever met. He could tell stories for hours about the the early days of charter fishing and boat building. His engaging story telling was matched by his humility–quickly giving credit to the people that helped bring his vision to life. I’ve been fortunate to hear a lot of Randy’s stories over the years and I’m proud to call him a friend today.
Marlin Magazine wanted to feature Randy in an article for their July boat building issue and I was honored to be the photographer for the opening spread.
To read some of Randy’s stories, check out the full article HERE.
The article was written by Jason Pim.
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
New Jarrett Bay Insider Episode
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
New work for Gregory Poole Marine
2024 Caterpillar C32B Sales Promo
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Lift Films in the wild | Yachting Magazine
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Lift Films in the wild | The Big Rock Tournament
The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament recently used some of our footage for social content.
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Lift Films in the wild | Marlin Magazine Newsletter
A look at how Jarrett Bay Boatworks has been using our content in their marketing materials recently:
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Cover Photographer for the 2024 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament
I am honored to have one of my photos on the cover of the 2024 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament Magazine. The boat featured in the photo is Jarrett Bay Hull 65, Rebelette. Jarrett Bay’s full page ad is also on the back cover which features another one of my images. The front cover was laid out by Cabin Fever Communications/Big Rock. The back cover Ad was laid out by Stealth Marketing/Jarrett Bay.
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Lift Films in the wild | Jarrett Bay Boatworks Newsletter
A look at how Jarrett Bay Boatworks has been using our content in their marketing materials recently:
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Long time Raleigh customer gets creative
Long time customer Vertical IQ recently released a new feature on their platform and wanted to use a video to help promote the product. Vertical IQ’s marketing team came up with the idea for a movie-trailer-style video. We shot this video in their Raleigh, NC headquarters and used an additional mix of stock video and animations to help bring it to life.
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Jarrett Bay Hull 65 - 64' Rebelette Walkthrough Video
Behind the scenes video shot and edited by my 11 year old son:
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Lift Films in the wild | Jarrett Bay Boatworks Newsletter
A look at how Jarrett Bay Boatworks has been using our content in their marketing materials recently:
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Story is King: How a construction timelapse video went viral.
Viral social media videos are a powerful tool for brands to extend their reach well beyond their normal audience. By definition, viral means for content to rapidly gain widespread popularity through social media sharing due to its compelling nature. Below are a few screen grabs from a recent video we produced for Jarrett Bay Boatworks. The video captures the 10 month construction of a custom sportfishing hull. It was shot with a long term timelapse camera mounted in the rafters of the building.
2018 - Behind the scenes
The video has over 4 million views across all social platforms along with hundreds of comments.
Even with knowing the ingredients for what makes a video go viral, it’s tough to predict when it will happen. I thought about this particular video for a while before I realized what helped propel it into the viral universe.
A long-term construction timelapse video is essentially just a good story; and good stories resonate with people.
This video showcased the 10 month visual journey from the initial groundwork to the final product. Compressing a 10 month process into :40 seconds also presented it in a way people aren’t used to seeing. Compelling stories like this are prime candidates for going viral because they engage viewers on a deeper level and provide a satisfying visual narrative of progress and achievement. These elements make the content highly shareable, increasing its potential to reach a wide audience and bring unprecedeented attention to the brand.
Instagram Link: Watch on Instagram
Facebook Link: Watch on Facebook
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Lift Films in the wild | Jarrett Bay Boatworks Newsletter
Here are a few of the ways Jarrett Bay Boatworks has been using our content in their marketing materials recently:
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
Flipping the Jarrett Bay 90, Hull 68 - NEW! Jarrett Bay Insider, Ep. 22
We recently produced a 5 minute episode of the Jarrett Bay Insider that goes in depth on their process for flipping a hull. We used 6 total cameras to capture the different angles of the hull being flipped. Enjoy!
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.
The Men Behind the Build - Marlin Magazine December 2023
Marin Magazine’s December 2023 issue featured a beautifully written article by Cameron J. Rhodes (The Buckskin Billfish) that tips a hat to the folks that rarely get the recognition they deserve; the craftsmen that build the best sportfishing boats in the world. I am grateful to have a few of my photos selected for the article including the two page spread title page.
Photo 1 features Jarrett Bay Hull No. 60 - Reel Development
Photo 2 features Jarrett Bay Hull No. 62 - Jaruco
*Lift Films is a video production and commercial photography company located in Raleigh, NC. Click here to send us a note.