Minnesota Business & Opportunities magazine

September 18 , 1998

OUT OF TINSEL TOWN:

Perry Cowen of Maverick Productions Inc.Video Company Shoots Local Stars

MINNESOTA TRANSPLANT PERRY COWEN began his career in television 10 years ago. He went to Hollywood with five years of experience behind the camera, and immediately began working on a variety of glamorous projects, such as painting studio offices and sweeping set floors. After a year of unpaid grunt duty, his break finally came in the form of a sick co-worker. A year later, Cowen was getting paid to direct commercials, local news and talk shows.

In the years that followed, he continued on to a prolific television career, and received recognition for a varied list of projects. In 1990 he won a Golden Mike award for stage managing, in 1991 he was awarded Best News Feature by the Orange County Press, and in 1992 he won a local Emmy for a documentary. At one point, Cowen was approached by a producer to write, direct, host and film an old movie screening (similar to Mystery Science Theater's format). Being an old movie buff, Cowen took the job.

Cowen had beat the odds in Hollywood. But his success there would become a stop-off in pursuit of a different dream career behind the camera. He explains, “What I really wanted to do was to start my own business. I wanted to do things my own way.”

Oddly enough, Minnesota was not the first place that came to mind when he began his search for a dream locale. He wanted to go to Colorado. Unfortunately, “There, I would have maybe gotten one job a year, filming skiers - probably pro-bona,” he says. As hard as he looked for a place near the mountains or the ocean - researching several markets, how people spend their money in different areas and local economies - he says, “Everything I read pointed to Minnesota as a good starting place for a business, as well as a place where people would buy my product: pure entertainment, for whatever purpose.”

Cowen made the move to Minnesota in December of 1992. The snow was the easiest change he encountered in his pursuit of the American Dream. “When I started looking for a loan, I didn’t have a business plan, no business experience, no collateral and no equipment,” he says.

He spent two years directing for the All News Channel and learning about business plans from a series of rejections. Finally, he was able to land his first loan, buy the essentials for startup and launch Once Upon a Time Video Productions.

The next thing he faced in his learning process, Cowen says, “I got a few clients by word of mouth, but I didn’t know how to attract clients. “Now, he says the breadwinners for his business are the corporate clients with large projects such as training videos. But his favorite and most creative work is filming and editing special events. For example, Cowen uses subtle special effects, black and white and slow motion to give the videos a movie quality. This is the work Cowen left Hollywood for.

He has learned the business end (of his business) as he has went along. One of the company’s growth benchmarks was in early 1998, when Cowen incorporated his company into Maverick Productions Inc. His most recent business move was to market his company online. Once Upon a Time’s website has an original feature of providing clips from each wedding’s video for their clients and out-of-town guests. Also, he has recently moved into a bigger space and is in the process of setting up a second studio.

Cowen’s next addition will be to add a second shooter and an office manager. He intends to grow his business, but wants to stay focused on his original idea. He says, “I never wanted to be a business man, I just like the work.”