PDN Edu - Spring 2017

In Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outlier, the author asserts that in order to become world class in any field, you have to practice your craft for 10,000 hours. After reading the book, Preston Kanak—determined to become a successful filmmaker—committed to making a film a day for an entire year.

“The key for each film was to try some-
thing new,” Kanak said of the project, which
he began in 2010 while he was studying me-
dia productions at the University of Regina in
Saskatchewan, Canada. “I’d pick a color, for ex-
ample, or experiment with camera techniques
and lighting.”
Kanak confesses he didn’t quite under-
stand the work it would take to make a film
every day until he got started; even still, he
stayed dedicated. He posted a new film, aver-
aging three minutes in length, for 365 days on
a dedicated website. It was an intense effort,
sometimes baffling to friends and family, but
the hard work paid off. One of the filmmak-
ers he collaborated with on the project intro-
duced him to the crane manufacturer Kessler,
who hired him as a brand ambassador. Some
staff members at Nikon began following the
content on his website, which led to him be-
ing hired to shoot “Every Moment Counts,” a
short film, shot with the Nikon D810, about a
fisherman in eastern Canada. Using the ex-
pertise he acquired as a filmmaker, he began a
business in 2014 shooting and producing com-
mercials and video for corporate clients using
crews of local freelancers.

He soon realized that he wanted to use the
knowledge he had acquired to help other film-
makers. He began posting free video tutorials
and articles on his website on topics, such as
how to produce serialized video campaigns
and how to create time-lapse videos. “There
are so many filmmakers who create great
work but don’t know how to market them-
selves or make a living from it,” Kanak says.

“I’ve always had the desire to help others. If
a post or video I make helps one person, the
effort I make is worth it.”
The satisfaction he felt creating such con-
tent led to yet another business opportunity,
this time as a one-on-one coach for people
searching for a path to success (the founding
of his life-coaching business coincided with a
move to San Francisco, where he relocated to
be closer to his partner). “I want to help people
make films, but I also want to help them on a
higher level,” he says. With clients in the past
year, he has worked on developing five-year
plans and personal branding overhauls.

Helping others to execute their dreams has become another facet of his business, but making great films through collaboration is still his focus. “I’ll always want to tell stories,” he says. “That’s where my passion is.”