Joey Rodriguez (Cinemagic Creations)

Joey Rodriguez is the owner of Cinemagic Creations, a video production company operating in the Twin Cities. 

Born in Houston, Texas, the amiable Rodriguez can usually be found sporting a cowboy hat, even though a traditional southern ranch would be hard to come by in the great state of Minnesota. 

“When I was two, I was wearing a cowboy hat, so this is nothing new for me,” says Rodriguez, a genuinely jovial soul whose neverending smile could bring sunshine to even the gloomiest of days. 

In high school, while his peers were out playing football or patronizing Whataburger, Rodriguez was in the garage, tinkering with engines and exhaust valves. 

In other words, he was a car guy. 

“I had a 1967 convertible Camaro,” The Lone Star State native says. 

“In fact, I was more into cars than girls.” 

After high school, Rodriguez eventually turned his attention away from cars long enough to find a wife, and he also enlisted in the Air Force, serving as a machinist, welder, and fabricator for F-16 jets for eight years. 

Several years after exiting the military, Rodriguez moved to the Twin Cities, where he founded a non-emergency medical transport business. 

Despite an unprofitable first year, Rodriguez forged onward, and within a turn of the calendar he had generated significant revenue for his niche company. 

“But it was tough to get the word out about what kind of business I had,” he mentions, then remarking on just how challenging it was to produce quality video content that he could leverage to attain more clients.

”It was even hard to get the neighborhood kids to come outside and shoot content for $100. That’s how difficult it can be to market a business when you don’t have an abundance of resources.” 

Determined to get his company in front of his target audience, Rodriguez started filming his own content, and after networking with other small business owners, he realized many of them also wanted purposeful and impactful video content, without having to allocate thousands of dollars toward a visual venture every time they wanted fresh material.  

“The challenge for most small business owners is creating quality video content at an affordable price,” Rodriguez acknowledges. 

“So back then, to earn extra money, I would film content for other small businesses for a fraction of the price that traditional video companies would charge.” 

But it wasn’t until a close friend of his intervened did Rodriguez realize that he might be in the wrong industry. 

“A good buddy of mine said that my $200 video was better than the $2,000 one that he got from a much bigger company,” he states, and thus, Cinemagic Creations, Rodriguez’s video company, was born. 

From there, Rodroguez sold his non-emergency medical transport business and moved full-time into content creation. 

“Every day, I tried to learn something different when it came to video,” he says.

Right away, Rodriguez encountered pitfalls that plague most incoming videographers. 

These obstacles included learning how to properly set up lighting for a shot, and how to overcome audio dilemmas. 

“If we’re being honest, when I first started, there were times when I forgot to turn the microphone on,” he recalls ever so gracefully. 

“Thankfully, I’m well past that stage now.”  

Rodriguez also produced podcasts, fielding requests from companies who had the necessary equipment but lacked the artistic vision needed to bring their pods to fruition. 

“I was a natural at producing podcasts. I understood what went into creating a compelling show,” says Rodriguez, whose video arsenal is deep.

At present, Cinemagic helps clients with all varieties of projects, including:

Short-form content, weddings, and much more. 

“With small business owners specifically, they want a lot of short-form content that they can deliver to their social media manager, so right now I create a ton of quick and insightful videos that help companies elevate their brand,” Rodriguez explains. 

“I also do a lot of clips for weddings because that plays well on social media. That contrasts with what many other videographers want to do, which is create a full-fledged movie for their clients. Sure, those are cool, and I will still create those types of videos, but because people love sharing their wedding stuff on social media, I’ve developed a surprisingly large demand for my services just because people see my shorter clips and want that for themselves.”

Beyond the stellar work Rodriguez and Cinemagic produce, what makes the Texas transplant’s services so sought after, at least in the business world, is the fact that he still can relate to many of the struggles that small business owners endure when it comes to marketing their companies. 

That’s why Rodriguez is extremely tactful with the content he creates, because he knows from firsthand experience how vital it is for a small company to deliver their message to their core audience, and to do so fast. 

“You want your video to capture your audience’s attention in a span of less than three seconds,” Rodriguez reveals. 

“Money loves speed, so with my clients’ videos, I want to deliver value to their end consumer as quickly as possible, because that’s when video becomes profitable, is when you combine value and entertainment in a concise and effective manner.” 

More impressively, Rodriguez, in spite of the growing popularity of Cinemagic, has kept the cost of his services relatively low.

Right now, small business owners can expect to spend about $575 for five edited and personally curated short clips. 

“But I don’t just edit five clips,” Rodriguez points out, before explaining how during his editing process, he assembles dozens of additional clips that clients can purchase at a later date for as little as $25 each.  

“I devised this strategy with the end consumer in mind. I want to bring as much value as possible, while also working within the parameters of their budget.”

According to Rodriguez, this a la carte-style model is what his customers want because it gives them the flexibility to buy more content if they receive value from Cinemagic on the front end. 

Of course, there will be some, namely larger video companies, who will criticize Rodriguez’s business model, but the Rogers resident remains unfazed in his approach, for the simple fact that moving forward, he will continue to design innovative ways to bring online curb appeal to businesses at a reasonable price point. 

“I want Cinemagic to be the video company that is a disruptor in the industry,” Rodriguez says. 

“What that looks like in practice is finding new and creative ways to continue to bring value to my clients, especially the small business owners who, again, can’t afford to throw $5,000 at a project. That’s ultimately who I like helping, and while it’s been fun to see how Cinemagic has progressed to this point, I’m even more excited to see how everything evolves moving forward.” QS

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