Randy Strobl: Welcome to Alumni Live The Podcast.

These are conversations with Grand Valley State University Film and Video

graduates about the industry, the Film & Video major, and alumni profiles.

Hey, welcome to Alumni Live.

We're going to talk to another Grand Valley film alumni.

We've got Alfredo Peters and, Alfredo Peters graduated in 2013.

So just a, just the year after I did, and we're going to talk about him creating

his studio and also a YouTube page.

It's really taken off.

So I can't wait to hear what, what that's like and, Alfredo,

it's good to have you on.

Alfredo Peters: Randy, thank you for the lovely introduction and thank

you for giving me pointers and tips when we were, while I was interning

at WGVU and working alongside of you.

I still use some of those fundamentals and principles that I've learned there today.

Randy Strobl: Oh, wow.

That's a really means a lot.

I didn't expect that.

I, and I think, you know, that's kinda like what, what these Alumni Lives are

for is, you know, like, taking those relationships that happened back you

know, when we were in school or when we were interning and trying to keep

those going forward in our careers.

Alfredo Peters: Absolutely, man, I learned the fundamentals, I would say.

That's what stuck with me the most.

I can't say that I gained a huge amount of experience working in

film while I was on campus, but the fundamentals really stuck with me.

That's what it's all about when you're on the journey.

Randy Strobl: Yeah, and we'll get into all that, but let's start off

with what those fundamentals led you to, so I mean at this point, right?

You've got Higher Faculty Studios.

You've, you know, created a studio, you've built a studio.

You've also launched this YouTube channel, which I, you know, I am

just surprised every time I look at it, you've got more followers.

Tell me a little bit about all that.

Alfredo Peters: It's a long story leading up to me having a YouTube channel,

but I'll make it as short as possible.

After I graduated, I moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where I got the

opportunity to work in film on set.

I graduated.

I just was like, you know what, I'm going back home.

I really didn't have much going.

I was just applying to like work at marketing and media companies.

And my dad just called me one day and say, Hey, I live in Conyers, Georgia.

They're shooting this show called The Originals, which is a spinoff

of, uh, Vampire Diaries, right around the corner from my house.

And he said, I talked to someone on set.

The guy said, have him give me a call next time he's in town.

Well, I jumped on a plane and I called him saying, Hey, I'm in town.

How can I get on set?

from there I started actually working in film.

I was a PA on set and, uh, long story short.

I was, you know, a PA for a while and I decided that I

wanted to build up a demo reel.

And next time I get on set, I want to be much higher.

Like I want to be in the camera department.

So I went back home to Ohio.

Long story short, I freelance for about eight years, never went back

and, uh, ended up opening a studio.

From there, within the studio, the pandemic kind of hit.

We had not too much projects coming into the studio.

So we were like, you know what, let's start a podcast which eventually turned

into us doing reactions on YouTube.

And here we are 37,000 subscribers later.

Randy Strobl: 37,000.

I, last time I checked, it was 35 and a half thousand, so it's,

you know, it's going up daily.

Wow.

And, and I think, you know, that, that pandemic has had a lot of us had

to, you know, shift and be creative.

I mean, even the show was, you know, because of, because of a pandemic.

So creating that studio, what was the original goal with that studio?

Alfredo Peters: So my story goes like this.

I, when I came back to Ohio, I was always working outside of film, but

I was doing it on the side and I was doing weddings, commercials for small

businesses, music videos, promo videos.

I was even doing some photography.

And then it got to a point where I made a name for myself and I was always

getting contacted to do something.

And I was like, you know what, if I get a little bit more organized and

market myself, I can do this full time.

And I just took the leap and said, you know what?

I'm going to open a place to where people can come and get quality content.

So the plan initially was with three other partners.

Two of them dropped off, and our goal was to open up a music recording

studio slash photography, video studio.

An in-house place where people can come, just create quality content.

Well, we lost two partners and then as I said, the pandemic was going on.

So, you know, we weren't able to book as much as we wanted inside of the studio.

That was just the plan initially.

And it just kept changing.

It just, we just had to adapt on the fly and if it wasn't for like

some really big projects that got booked, we probably wouldn't be

able to be sitting here right now.

But at the same time, opening allowed the bigger projects to come.

So we just been, like adjusting on the fly.

And as we talked a little bit before the stream, it's about the adventure.

You know, sometimes you just have to figure things out and go with the flow.

And that's what it is when you're working in film and media.

You can have the security of consistent projects once you build that up, but

ultimately it's just an adventure.

You don't know what's coming next, and I think that's what keeps me going.

Randy Strobl: Yeah, totally.

And, and I hear in your story, a lot of what happened with me.

You know, I, I also created a company with a partner who is now my wife,

you know, it's, it's that, that thing of like, you, you do feel like it's

an adventure, you do feel insecure.

But somehow, like those jobs keep coming in somehow, you know, it's,

I don't know if it's marketing or if it's, you know, relationships,

but, uh, you know, how have you been able to keep those jobs coming in?

Alfredo Peters: Well, I just do the best I can.

Every time that I do a project, my goal is to make the next shoot, my best shoot.

And I always try to communicate effectively with who I'm working with.

Just, you know, treat it as a business.

Do right by people.

Do your best.

And I would say over 90% of the jobs I get are by referral.

Like I, I did a great job the first time I actually, Alright, so this

is a tip for any, any film alumni or anybody in, in video period.

The first project that I've done and like that category of

projects, I did it for free.

Like my first wedding.

I had no wedding experience.

I did it for free.

But from that wedding, somebody was like, you did an amazing job.

I want to book you.

How much is it?

Same with like other events and commercials and, and

short films and music videos.

I started off doing a lot of free work.

And as I mentioned during the pandemic, I booked a really big job, but I

got that from doing a very small job in the past with this person.

They reached out to the CEO of their company, and rather than having their

annual Christmas party, they were doing the stream for their company

party and they booked 15 videos.

And that was, that was just amazing.

And it spurred from me doing a small project for them and

it just came back around.

Same with another project and in the same month.

I did free work with a lady about five years ago.

She called me, she needed about seven videos in one month.

So it just comes full circle, you know, make sure you communicate

with people effectively.

Make sure you use good customer service and always put your best foot forward.

Randy Strobl: I know something, especially in the beginning of our company,

something that we struggled with was deciding what that value was for us.

Right?

Like how much are we worth people?

You know, there's always that standoff of, you know, like how

much are you going to charge?

How much is your budget?

You know, it's kind of like, so, you know, for us, like we kind of

decided what we wanted to make hourly and kind of worked back from there.

What was your process for moving from a free work, into getting paid?

How did you end up deciding what your value was?

Alfredo Peters: So, I got feedback from other people who

were doing this type of work.

And it's something that I struggled with up until recently, it

was how do I price this stuff?

You know?

And ultimately I kinda broke it down hourly, kind of like you did.

And, you have to have the ability to tell people no sometimes when they

can't afford your services, because in turn, the people who can afford

it will pay and you won't lose out on losing those jobs because you're busy.

So, uh, I think you have to decide how much you're worth

and, provide value to the client.

Uh, one thing that I did run into was I was producing like commercial content for,

uh, businesses and I kind of was upset because they didn't know how to market it.

So here you are, you're paying me a pretty good price for a video

and you post it on social media.

It gets one or two likes.

So I wanted to complement that with a strategy.

So I added like strategy to my pricing.

And that's another tip that you can use to, you know, structure.

Add more value to what you're you're producing.

Randy Strobl: Sure, and I'd imagine too, like having your YouTube channel

has kind of put some weight behind that strategy because you've really, you

know, been able to grow your social media presence like we were saying earlier.

You know, in addition to, to balancing, you know, kinda your

YouTube stuff, your studio stuff, you've got a family life, right?

You've got a four year old daughter.

What struggles or strategies have you had in balancing home life, work life,

you know, studio life, family life?

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

That's, that's something I am still figuring out.

Like I said, my daughter's four years old.

Her name is Layla.

She's very beautiful.

And she's been in here working shifts with me and it's, it's hard

to balance at times because she can only sit still for so long.

She wants to play.

And many times have we been recording YouTube videos, luckily they're not

that serious, but she'll walk right in the shot and say, dad, I'm hungry.

And, uh, you know, it's just about coming up with a system because

none of this was anticipated.

We woke up to 200 subscribers after our first video.

And we were like, man, that's awesome, like.

Randy Strobl: After one video?

Alfredo Peters: Yeah, I was like, let's do it again.

And then we just kept going and going and adding more value.

It started off as us sitting right here at this desk, and then we added

lighting and then we added another camera angle, and then we started

taking suggestions and then we added a, we created a Discord, which is

like another chat room type program.

And it just kept getting bigger and bigger, and so the balance is something

that I have to figure out almost weekly.

You know, when will I have, or what will, what will we be doing?

When will I need a sitter?

Because sometimes I'll react from nine to five or, you know, be working on my

YouTube strategy, take a little break and then I'm still working after that.

Editing projects that I'm shooting for other people.

So that's something that's a day by day process, you know.

Just figuring it out.

Randy Strobl: And that's something that I've had to learn myself too.

I, you know, in, in the music we listened to and in the, you know, just kind of

the world we go in, you know, as, as driven people, I think we hear a lot of

like, you've gotta be on all the time.

Right?

You've got, you know, every second, you know, you're on your grind.

And so it's something that I've had to learn as, as I'm building my, my family

here and, you know, kind of learning about stuff is, you've got to build

that grind, but you've also got to still have, your time and your family,

you can't just be absent all the time.

You know?

Alfredo Peters: That is very, very, very key and important.

And especially we're getting older, we graduated in 2012 and 2013.

Randy Strobl: It keeps getting farther and farther away.

Alfredo Peters: Right, right.

We have more adult responsibilities and our lives slowly become less about us.

It becomes about our families and uplifting the next generation.

So, yeah.

Thank you for that.

I got a question for you.

Randy Strobl: Oh, alright.

Alfredo Peters: Who does your editing?

Are you an editor or how does that work?

Randy Strobl: Yeah.

So, so at our company at Wrinkle Creative, we do shoot and edit everything ourselves.

So Mallory and I will go out and we'll film, you know, as a two person group,

sometimes we'll freelance a third person in, and then usually I'll take all that

back and be editing that on our own.

For our TV show, I co-edit with my co-director, Zach Liniewski.

So, we do kind of, you know, share it on the bigger projects, but yeah, like

usually we're doing, you know, these kind of smaller fundraising type things,

which, you know, we keep our crew small so we can keep the prices down for people.

Alfredo Peters: Yeah, for sure.

And editing is something that is very time consuming for one.

Randy Strobl: Yeah.

Alfredo Peters: And for me, I kind of put myself in a box because I'm

really, really good at editing, but I just don't like to do it.

Randy Strobl: Right!

Alfredo Peters: And then the client's, like, expect this great quality editing.

So right now I'm in the process of trying to, like outsource some of my editing,

but so finding somebody I can trust.

Randy Strobl: Sure.

Yeah.

And, um, you know, with, with the digital age too, it's gotten a

lot easier to, you know, to find somebody, even in a different city.

So they don't have to be in Middletown, Ohio with you, you know, you could

find another alumni who is able to edit, you know, from a distance.

Ship 'em off the footage.

Things like that.

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

So if anybody's watching this at Grand Valley, we're looking for an editor.

Randy Strobl: I mean, we need a, the soundboard, hit the plug button, right?

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

Randy Strobl: So the Higher Faculty, you've got this, uh, YouTube channel.

It's growing big.

It sounds like, you know, you put one video up 20,000 subscribers, not even

20,000 views, 20,000 subscribers.

So what even are these videos about?

Alfredo Peters: Okay, well, one video, 200 subscribers.

That's--

Randy Strobl: Oh sorry.

Alfredo Peters: All right, so here's the situation.

We started a podcast, like local people coming in to our studio

and we did the first episode.

It was one, a good friend of mine.

He went to the NBA.

Vince Edwards, played for the Houston Rockets.

We were setting up for our podcast while he was in here for about an hour.

And I said, you know what?

That's very rude.

And next time, we have to be more prepared.

Now, luckily he's a close friend, like a brother to me, so he wasn't really

upset about it, but I said, next time somebody comes in, we need to be prepared.

We need to figure out how to work this switcher we got.

We got multiple angles, as you can see.

So my partner was like, you know what?

We, we, we thought about doing reactions, but he was like, you know what?

Let's, let's figure out how to use this equipment so we can do our podcast, which

will in turn be marketing for this place.

So he did a reaction video one day.

I was kind of busy editing and I'm like not paying attention.

His computer couldn't handle it.

So I think the next day or so we're like, let's, let's try it again

to get a feel for this equipment.

So I jumped into the reaction and we did it locally, live on Facebook.

Just had artists send us music and we listened to it and looked like, we

were like, let's do this on YouTube.

So I picked the song.

One day I was in the shower, listening to music as I always do, and I heard this

song kind of, I was jamming out and I looked at the artists like, who's this?

And I'm like, wait, wait, they're not speaking English.

And I heard that song one time.

So I was like, let's, let's put this on YouTube.

We don't know the language.

It's a very fun song.

So we did a reaction to it.

And like I said, we woke up to like two, two or 300 new subscribers and

they made a bunch of suggestions and we were like, okay, let's do it again.

And then it got to a point where we started doing five videos a day.

I figured out how to load an intro, record the video, put an outro, so

we didn't have to do any editing.

So as long as we had time, we could do reactions, and it got to a point where

we were gaining a thousand subscribers a day and we complemented our YouTube

channel with a Discord, which is like a chat room type of community.

And people kept growing and chatting amongst each other and

becoming friends through us.

And then from there we started a Patreon, which is a way that people can

pay and support your YouTube channel.

And that has grown over a thousand plus people monthly,

and it's just been a tremendous, tremendous journey and experience.

And it just all kind of happened off us trying to test our equipment.

Randy Strobl: Right.

Alfredo Peters: Which is crazy.

Randy Strobl: And that song, it was, it was in Korean, right?

That ended up being the language, and so you've become this huge K-pop channel.

Like you're reacting to K-pop.

What is, K-pop, what artists are you listening to?

You know, where can people find this stuff?

Alfredo Peters: So, of course you can type in Higher Faculty on YouTube, but

K-pop is Korean pop music and it's kind of just an overarching title for it.

It's more than just pop music.

You get R&B, you get hip hop.

They even have some ballads and country style music within that genre,

but we've been listening to some of the most popular artists like BTS.

They were nominated for a Grammy this year.

I don't know if you watch the Grammys, but BTS actually performed at the Grammy's.

It was the first time a Korean artist did that and, uh, NCT and XO or some

of our favorites, but there's so many artists and it's a huge playing field

and we react to some of their concerts.

They do it a lot bigger than America.

I'm super surprised.

Like there are concerts with a hundred thousand people in there

and they're all going crazy.

And people from all over the world travel to watch these concerts and it

actually boosts the Korean economy.

Randy Strobl: Wow, it's got that much impact, huh?

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

So these record labels and entertainment companies are, are dumping big budgets

into their productions and music video, and the quality of music is

just outstanding because if it's affecting the country's economy,

then they should invest in it.

So it's been an amazing journey and I, I just, I just truly enjoy

it now and I want to learn Korean.

Randy Strobl: Right.

So that's so nice to hear.

You're all in, huh, just from hearing that once in the shower.

So I had watched, you know, gone through a couple of your videos, get getting

ready for this, and, you know, at first I was like, K-pop like, I, I don't know,

BTS, like I wasn't like, you know, a, a fan of, of K-pop going into this and you

know, I probably wouldn't have looked it up otherwise, but then like being

alongside it, like watching you guys react to it, like, I, I understood the music.

Like I was, you know, I felt like I was hanging out with you as, as you

and your co-hosts were all, you know, watching along with it, reacting.

Tell me about like reaction videos.

It's a whole genre on YouTube.

What, um, you know, what makes them reaction videos?

Alfredo Peters: I'm not like, well versed in this.

I just saw that people do this.

And a friend of mine was doing it as well.

And she had like, over a hundred thousand subscribers and I didn't understand it.

And my goal when I opened my studio was to bring her in and take her out

of her room and doing this at home and give her a professional setup.

You know, my goal was to help other people start YouTube channels.

And if you want, just come in here to my studio, you can pay

a monthly fee and just create.

That was our business model initially.

But we started to do it for ourselves and we started growing.

So like with our channel, I would say I re-- what separates us from

other like reaction channels is that it's pretty much like a podcast.

Like, yeah, we'll listen to the song.

But I give my input as a filmmaker on the music video, and my partner who reacts

with me gives his input as an artist.

And we just talk about like our life's journey and experience with the music.

So of course you can sit and enjoy the music, but you can also

have a good conversation with us.

And then from there we even added other elements, like a DJ coming

in and mixing this genre of music, and he throws in some of the music

that he likes, which naturally is like American hip hop and R&B.

And some of these people say, we haven't heard anything like this, you know?

We're bringing music across the world to people who have never

experienced it in this way.

So we're just adding new things to our channel and being that like, we

never planned it, we kind of fell down the rabbit hole and lost track

of what we really want to do, which is combine education and entertainment.

So we do want to teach people about the fundamentals of shooting good

video and being an artist and how to make money as a film maker.

So, we're going to complement the reaction videos with content of our own.

Randy Strobl: Yeah.

Well, and I can say too that, you know, as far as education goes, I mean, I

learned about K-pop like, I didn't know anything about Korean culture

going in and it's already working.

Alfredo Peters: For sure.

Randy Strobl: This episode is brought to you by the Chuck

Peterson Memorial fellowship.

The fellowship was established by Chuck Peterson's family and friends to assist

the upper-level students in the film and video program at GVSU who were working

on creative projects that support the nonprofit sector in their community.

Kyle Macciome, the 2020 recipient, of that fellowship describes the

benefits of the support he received

Kyle Macciome: When going through this fellowship, there are three separate

parts of yourself that I think get to experience a lot of development.

The first is as a student, because this is a learning process.

You get to learn how to work with a client on your own independently,

out in the world, away from the classroom, like you would in

something like producing for clients.

And the second one would be as a video maker, as a video producer, as someone

who has respect for the work that they're doing and wants to improve on

themselves and produce a final product that can be used out in the real world.

And then the third one would be as a citizen.

You know, you're not making video for an entertainment value or for some

kind of commercial purpose, it's for a non-profit it's for a direct benefit in

your community and being a citizen of that community, understanding how you

can directly impact and improve it, um, is a really valuable experience that

I think the fellowship teaches you to be as, as a student, as a filmmaker

and as a citizen, all three of those things are directly a part of this

process that you get to learn and ask yourself, how do I want to be seen?

And how do I want to act as these three roles?

Randy Strobl: For more information and to donate to the scholarship, visit the link

in the description now back to the show.

And it's, it's also, you know, it's not like you're, you're just making

these videos and, it also brings back some money to you, right?

I noticed that you say you're a part of affiliate programs and some of there.

Can you talk about monetizing YouTube videos and a little bit about, you

know, if students want to start a channel, what that might look like?

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

So YouTube has a partner program.

In order to make money and get paid from ad revenue from YouTube, you have to meet

the minimum requirements in what you do.

You have to apply to become a partner.

So I believe that's like a thousand subscribers and maybe 4,000 watch

hours, Which it sounds like, but we hit that relatively quickly.

Now I wouldn't, I wouldn't expect everybody to grow the way we've grown.

You know, hopefully you can, but the reason I mention that is don't

be intimidated by the numbers.

You can do it.

Before we started it, my goal was to make 52 YouTube videos this

year and gain 10,000 subscribers.

So we had the intent going in.

We just didn't know it would take off that fast.

So, to let you know about monetization.

So when you react, do reactions, you're listening to copyrighted material.

So when you upload the video with the music playing in the background,

you're going to get a copyright claim on the music, which isn't a bad thing.

YouTube just says, you don't own the rights to this music.

If you get a a hundred thousand views, that's a hundred

thousand streams for the artist.

So that revenue from the ad goes to the artists.

Randy Strobl: Oh, interesting.

I didn't know that.

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

So we had to figure out a way, how do we monetize this thing?

And I heard a little bit about Patreon, but I wasn't too familiar.

We started a Patreon which is very popular amongst reactors because our fans know

that we can't monetize these videos.

So they were expecting it.

They were like, oh, I guess we can get these type of videos

once they make a Patreon.

And we were like reading comments and saying that like, oh, I

guess we need to make a Patreon.

They're expecting us to have one.

So we started a Patreon, which is like, people subscribe

to you kind of like Netflix.

We put private videos in there, and they pay a monthly fee to watch them.

So when you react to like concerts, a lot of the, some of these things get

blocked completely off of YouTube.

So we post them in our Patreon for people to watch privately.

And you can set prices any, any way you want them.

So we got like a $3 tier, a $5, a 20, 50, a hundred, $150,

and they all come with perks.

And surprisingly, you know, we were, we're going to hit about 1500 people

in our Patreon paying us per month.

Randy Strobl: Congratulations.

Alfredo Peters: Thank you very much.

And I just say that to inspire anybody else looking for ways

to monetize their own content.

Randy Strobl: Right.

It sounds like you really took the effort to learn about all this stuff, right?

You know, like you're learning about, the, the things that come in from,

you know, like the law side of it.

Right?

So who owns the music?

You're, you're learning about the production things.

Right?

So putting up different, you know, all the equipment you've got,

leveling that up all the time.

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

Randy Strobl: It sounds like you're just constantly learning,

always putting new stuff into it.

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

It's been a learning experience and I'll say like all of the knowledge that

I've accumulated, even starting back in high school, because I went to like a

vocational school where I kind of learned the fundamentals of broadcasting, all

the way through me interning at WGVU, I knew the importance of switcher.

I have a switcher right here in front of me.

Oh, camera two is dead, but, you know, I learned about proper

lighting, proper sound, and I just applied it to our reaction videos.

When you watch people doing this, they're sitting in the room,

they don't have a microphone.

There's no lighting.

The sound isn't good.

But I said, you know what, if we're going to do this, let's do it properly.

So I treated our reaction as a show.

I made an intro in After Effects.

You know, I know what production value looks like.

Randy Strobl: Yeah.

And just an aside real quick.

I do love that intro.

Like I saw it, like that, that gets, it gets you hype every time.

Like, I, I never skipped it.

I just watched it every time.

Alfredo Peters: Thank you.

Thank you.

So I think the little things I would say, that's what you pick up

as a film student, you understand what makes something quality.

You understand the importance of taking the time to add little production value.

But when we started, I made the intro and then I flashed

our Instagrams on the screen.

I made sure the sound was correct.

And we had got a mixer, an audio mixer, so I got the levels going.

So I just essentially made a mini version of a production studio.

And I believe that is one of the reasons why we were able to grow so

fast because people were like, man, they got a fish tank in the back.

They've got lighting, they've got microphones.

It sounds good.

On top of us having the personalities for it, which it

just all kind of clicked at once.

Randy Strobl: Right.

And, and I do think too, you know, so when we were in school, right?

You know, 10 plus years ago, it was a different world.

Right?

We were learning SD things.

We were on tape.

We were, you know, editing in, in different, you know, totally different

editing programs that are out now.

But like, like you're saying those fundamentals, you know, even though it's

4k now, like it's not even HD anymore.

It's 4k, it's, you know, multiple cameras live, right?

We didn't, you know, internet was very different when we were young, but

those fundamentals of storytelling, of quality video, all of that,

you know, it does come through.

And I, you know, I, I see that quality.

I like it.

It's good.

Alfredo Peters: Thank you very much.

Whenever you can pick up little nuggets in film, 'cause I remember learning

in film class about cinematography and that still to this day is

one of my passions and interests.

And when you learn some of the fundamentals, you learn how to pull

them off effectively, it just adds a little bit more to your work to where

somebody who doesn't know anything about it says they know what they're doing.

Randy Strobl: Sure.

And even though technology doesn't change or technology changes,

light doesn't change, right?

Like it's always going to bounce in the same way.

It's always going to shadow in the same way.

Alfredo Peters: Exactly.

Randy Strobl: Yeah, for sure.

You mentioned your co-host for a second there, and you guys do

have, you have great rapport.

So were those people you knew before this?

Or how, who are your co-hosts and how'd you bring them in?

Alfredo Peters: My co-host is my partner, Larry Carter, AKA elsie you heard?

He's a great friend of mine.

We grew up in Middletown, Ohio together.

We played football together.

He was the captain of the football team.

He's two years older than me.

I was a sophomore on varsity playing football and we graduated

and you know, he moved to Indiana.

I was here in Ohio making a name for myself, shooting music videos, and

he makes Christian hip hop music.

So he reached out to me as the guy from his hometown, like that does

videos and said, Hey, I want to start taking this artistry more serious.

I want, I want you to do my music videos.

So for a while he was driving back and forth from Ohio, from Indiana

to Ohio, we would do a music video and then he would go back.

And then years later he, you know, moved back to Ohio.

We were coming up with a plan to like, you know, invest in each other.

Because I believe in his sound and music, he believes in my ability to

shoot videos, we were like, let's come together and start something.

So it started off as us kind of doing videos.

And I went through like a huge identity crisis, and I

kind of shut everything down.

You know, I was shooting videos for a while.

It wasn't, everything hasn't been always easy, you know?

There was a point in time where I wanted to shut it down.

I actually sold my gear, got rid of my camera and said, you know what, I'm done.

I'm going to do something else, you know?

And fast forward we come back together and, uh, I start Higher Faculty, you

know, he's right alongside with me.

And, you know, we just develop the bond and relationship to where,

you know, we're just growing this thing as big as we can together.

So that's our story,

Randy Strobl: Right, and that bond really does come through on, on camera.

You know, I think as an audience, we feel like we're hanging out

with, with you as you're up there.

Here's some behind the scenes of your, uh, of your studio there, building it.

The, the name of Higher Faculty, where does that come from?

What does that mean?

Alfredo Peters: So I was working a lot of regular jobs

while doing video on the side.

I had a job that allowed me to listen to a lot of music and stuff in my

headphones while I was working.

I started to listen, after I'd listened to every song that I've ever heard,

every song that I've ever liked in my, my, my Spotify and Apple Music

library, I was like, you know what?

Something's got to change.

Like I feel like I wasn't made for a regular job.

Like I can be a great employee for about six months, and then I started losing

focus and motivation, and I've always been kind of like a go against the grain guy.

So I was like, you know what, let me start listening to personal development.

There's a personal development coach called Bob Proctor, and Bob

Proctor tries to introduce you to the highest side of yourself.

You know, to, it's like personal empowerment.

And one of the concepts he talks about are your higher faculties.

You have six of them: imagination, perception, intuition,

willpower, memory, and reasoning.

And you can go through and study each one of the higher faculties

because that's the part, that's the non-physical part of yourself as a

human being, and I really drew a lot of inspiration from those teachings

to start believing in myself more.

And ultimately it was those teachings that propelled me to eventually

leave my regular job and start doing what I want for living.

And the name Higher Faculty just is kind of like a play on words, like you

do have the higher faculties, but as faculties, we are responsible for teaching

and we just combined that together and that's where the name comes from.

Randy Strobl: Wow.

And I imagine it wasn't, you know, just a, you know, you turn the,

you turn the switch on and all of a sudden you started the company.

Even though you were excited for it, I'd imagine you've probably

had some, some nervousness.

You were probably, you know, kind of worried about how to start this

thing, if it was going to work.

You know, how, how long did that process take and, and what, what got

you through it to where you are now?

Alfredo Peters: I would say it was about eight years of just freelancing.

And it could have been a lot sooner if I had the strategy and belief.

Like I said, I started off doing free work and then it got to a point where

I would get contacted almost daily.

During peak season of people wanting to shoot, like in the summer and spring,

I would just get hit up all the time.

Like, Hey, I need this type of video.

I need this type of video.

And I really lacked the structure.

Cause I was kinda just saying yes to everything you--

Randy Strobl: Sure, I did that too.

Alfredo Peters: Yeah.

You just kind of find a, a niche, like something that you're really good

at, or you really like to enjoy to shoot and just double down on that.

Randy Strobl: Right.

Alfredo Peters: But after, after about eight years of kind of do it on

the side, I was like, you know what?

I can really do this.

I have a lot of contacts and I never really marketed myself.

Which is kind of something I regret, but it kind of worked

out because it was all organic.

Everybody's like, you know what?

You need to hit up Alfredo.

He does great video work.

Randy Strobl: That's gotta feel good.

You know, hearing that after, you know, not being sure for so long, like

that, that must've meant something.

Alfredo Peters: Yeah, it did.

And, I just said, you know what, I'm going forward.

I had saved up a little bit and I was like, you know what, I'm going to open

the studio, whatever happens, happens.

And I don't know if it was bad decision or a great decision.

It was during the heart of the pandemic.

Randy Strobl: Sure.

Alfredo Peters: I said, I can't do this.

I have to get out and like, imagine being inside, and I'm a free spirit.

I like to be out and about, and the pandemic, like doubled that,

like now I'm in the house and when I'm not in the house, I'm

at my job and I'm just not happy.

So I was like, you know what, you only live once.

If I fail, I fail, but at least I tried and ultimately I

was just like, you know what?

I'm going to take the leap.

I'm going to actively reach out to somebody or actively reach

out to some of the people I've done work with in the past.

I'm just going to accept every project, which turned into a frenzy of me just

shooting and running around, shooting, editing, the cycle was just vicious,

but now I'm kind of narrowing down and picking and choosing on what projects that

I want to take on because I am able to generate a stream of income from YouTube.

So, I'm, I'm kind of transitioning into only doing the projects that I want to do.

Randy Strobl: Yeah, which, you know, we kind of went through a similar

journey with our company too where at the beginning we started with,

you know, just kind of scattershot of like, we're doing photography, we're

doing video, we're doing broadcasts, we're doing, you know, 360 video

popped up, so we started doing that.

And then, you know, it was only in the, in the last, like maybe year or

two where we really started to say, okay, like we know what we don't enjoy.

Right?

We don't enjoy doing this stuff, so we're just not going to advertise that anymore.

We don't, you know, think that we're all that good at doing this kind of stuff.

So we're not gonna do that.

And we really honed in now on knowing who we are as, as filmmakers.

But I also think that moment of saying yes to everything, like, did

let us know what our identity is.

Alfredo Peters: Yes.

Randy Strobl: So, so I guess, you know, off of that, you know,

we've got a question here, so what do you see as coming next?

Right.

So now you've kind of learned who you are.

You know where you've come from, you know what you like, you don't

like, what do you want to do next?

Alfredo Peters: What's next is doing a lot of purpose driven content.

We want to make our own content to complement the reactions on YouTube.

So short films, music videos.

My partner makes music.

I love shooting music videos.

I love it.

Especially when it's music I can enjoy and share with my family and friends.

Yeah.

I just want to create content that inspires and teaches.

So we do want to kind of do some teaching, how to light, properly, sound, and

cinematography, but also show people that you can be creative for a living.

You can create your own short films and skits and shows.

So I just want to be a, a living, a walking testimony of you being

able to be a full time filmmaker.

So look for a lot of creative content on our channel outside of reactions

because that's what's coming next.

I'm freeing up a lot of my time doing the random projects

to do more in-house projects.

Randy Strobl: Man, after hearing that, like I'm inspired, like let's go create

something that feels, that feels great.

Alfredo Peters: For sure.

For sure.

That's my goal and my mission.

And that's the purpose of Higher Faculty.

And as long as I'm alive, I'm living that purpose.

Randy Strobl: That's beautiful.

Well, uh, thanks for coming on and thanks for, for sharing

your stories and your tips.

I really enjoyed catching up with you.

Alfredo Peters: Yeah, it was, it's a pleasure.

And next time I'm up in, on the west side of Michigan, I'll reach out to you.

Maybe we can get some coffee or something.

And, uh, I look forward to getting back on campus and seeing what's going on.

Every time I peek at the campus, you guys add 10 new buildings and all kinds of

stuff that wasn't there when I was there.

So yeah.

Randy Strobl: It's getting big.

Pretty soon they'll have the Peters building up there.

Right?

And kids will learn about studio stuff.

Alfredo Peters: Man, I'll have to donate 1.5 million or something.

Randy Strobl: You're on your way.

Alfredo Peters: Right, right, right.

But thank you guys for having me.

It's been a, an amazing experience.

And I look forward to seeing what comes out of the film program,

like other filmmakers and content.

So thank you.

Randy Strobl: Great.

Thanks a lot.

And thanks everybody for watching.

If you want to follow, uh, Alfredo, you can check out Higher Faculty

on his website, his YouTube, social media all across the board.

We're Alumni Live, so check us out on Facebook and YouTube

and subscribe if you liked it.

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