According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses make up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses. What’s more, Utah has been credited as the most pro-small business state in America, thanks to our state’s pro-business initiatives and support systems. Each month, the Salt Lake Chamber will highlight a small business in Utah to emphasize its importance in our economy and encourage local support.
If you visit the BW Productions office in downtown Salt Lake City, you’ll see a sign on the wall that reads “Tell stories that matter.” That’s because Brent Uberty, founder of the company, believes that video production is more than just advertising.
“I’m a storyteller,” Uberty explained. “Every company has a story, and that’s why we do what we do.”
BW Productions began after Uberty graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Parks, Recreation & Tourism and quickly realized that while he loved collaboration, he didn’t love working in a standard corporate office. Armed with a passion for storytelling, he worked as a freelance videographer across the Salt Lake Valley until he became so busy he couldn’t do it all by himself.
“As I grew I hired freelancers to help support my work load, and because being able to start building a community was really important to me,” Uberty said. “Then, in 2020, we hired our first employee. Fast forward to today: we have a 13-member team of creatives for every element of video production and photography.”
By starting small and building his team intentionally, Uberty created a cohesive team that cared about telling meaningful stories just as much as he did. As a small business, BW Productions could do so on a very personal level, no matter who the client was.
“We really care about the work our clients are doing,” said Uberty, “We want to make sure we’re providing our clients with the media they need to achieve their vision. We don’t even have any sort of package pricing — we sit down with each client and customize our work for them.”
Uberty explained that by personalizing each client’s experience, he has been able to create working relationships across the Utah business community because of his company’s reputation for transparency, creativity and reliability. For example, in 2018, Uberty’s team created a video about Rocky Mountain Powers’ former CEO Cindy Crane when she was awarded the Salt Lake Chamber’s prestigious ATHENA award. Now, BW calls Rocky Mountain Power one of their best clients, and they have continued to create each year’s ATHENA videos since.
“Almost everything we’ve done has been because of referrals or inbound leads,” Uberty said. “It just shows that we’re doing really good work.”
That “really good work” doesn’t just refer to client relationships or creative deliverables, either. They may be a small business, but their dedication to deliver on time is unmatched — in the entire, decade-long history of BW Productions, they’ve never missed a deadline.
“We want to make sure that when people are working with us, they have a good experience,” Uberty said. “A client will never receive a bill higher than what we estimated. For all of our photography work, we offer next-day turnaround times.”
Since founding BW Productions, Uberty has had the opportunity to work with businesses across almost every industry creating videos and capturing photos of all types. No matter what he’s doing or who he’s working with, Uberty’s satisfaction comes from successfully telling stories and seeing the impact that storytelling makes on business.
“One of the most successful moments for me as a small business owner is when our clients see the final videos and I see smiles and tears,” Uberty said. “To me, that means we really did something great.”
BW Productions creates a thriving community of creatives across the West telling stories and creating content that is impactful for viewers and is executed in the right medium while providing an exceptional experience for everyone involved. Click here to support their small business.
