The business of video production
Honest conversations with the people who actually run production companies
Creatives Grab Coffee is a weekly podcast on the business of video production, hosted by Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov of Lapse Productions. New episodes every week, plus a full library of written guides.
Latest episode
Latest · #120#120 · Owner-Led and Human-Made in the Age of AI (ft. Blue Barn Creative)
Recent episodes
#119 · From Free Promo Videos to Tech Launch Videos
#118 · Invest in Marketing, Win on Retention
#117 · Winning on Trust in a Crowded Market
#116 · Why One Video Is Never a Strategy
#115 · Experience-Based Hiring & AI Tools
#114 · TV Doc, RFPs, and AI
#113 · Building a Values-Driven Production Company
#112 · Expanding to Multiple Cities & Potential Career Change
full archive →
If you run a video production company, this is your show.
Every episode digs into the parts nobody posts about.
Pricing comes up in almost every conversation. For our written take, Lapse breaks down what a corporate video actually costs and videographer day rates. Chasing AI’s role? Start with #114 on RFPs and AI.
Prefer it written down? Start with the guides.
Each guide takes one question production owners actually ask and answers it with every episode that touched the topic: named practitioners, real numbers, and genuine disagreement.
All 16 guides
Should You Niche Your Video Production Company?
Ten owners on the record, including a genuine case against niching, and the hosts' verdict in between.
Read the guide → Lead generationHow Video Production Companies Actually Get Clients
The channels that actually book work, ranked by what owners report, including the ones that never pay off.
Read the guide → PricingHow to Price Video Production Work
Day rates, value-based pricing, quoting on the spot, and knowing which revenue to turn down.
Read the guide → AIAI and the Business of Video Production
How real studios actually use AI, with named tools and named owners. Refreshed quarterly.
Read the guide → Recurring revenueRetainers and Recurring Revenue for Video Production Companies
When retainers actually work, the guardrails they need, and the alternatives that pay.
Read the guide → ScalingHow to Scale a Video Production Company (and When Not To)
The groundwork, hiring order, and crew networks that grow profit, and when staying small wins.
Read the guide → Client retentionClient Retention: Keeping Video Clients for Years
Trust, the on-set experience, staying top of mind, and proving the work paid for itself.
Read the guide → ContractsVideo Production Contracts: Protecting Your Business on Paper
The seven clauses every production contract needs, plus payment terms and pre-contract red flags.
Read the guide → PartnershipsBusiness Partnerships in Video Production
Choosing a complementary partner, buy-ins, and the productive tension behind durable studios.
Read the guide → Starting outHow to Start a Video Production Company
Eight founders on side hustles, bedroom studios, and when to finally quit the day job.
Read the guide → Creative workPassion Projects vs Paying the Bills
How owners fund the work they love without putting the business at risk.
Read the guide → Small marketsRunning a Video Production Company in a Small Market
How studios from Jackson Hole to Reykjavik win clients, stay lean, and reach beyond home.
Read the guide → CrewingFreelancers vs Employees: Building Your Crew
When to stay freelance, when a contractor becomes your first hire, and when in-house pays off.
Read the guide → Revenue streamsBuilding Multiple Revenue Streams in Video Production
Rentals, retainers, agency work, and service expansion to smooth out feast-or-famine income.
Read the guide → Exit planningBuying or Selling a Video Production Company
What a production company is really worth, and how to build one that someone would buy.
Read the guide → SalesThe Video Production Sales Process: From Lead to Signed
Qualifying leads, getting the budget early, the proposal debate, and closing before deals go cold.
Read the guide →The Guest Network
95 companies, 10 countries, one directory
We built the Guest Network so you can actually find these people. Every company that has grabbed a coffee with us is in one filterable directory: search by company or city, filter by country, and every listing links to the company’s website and the episode where you can hear how they run their business. Need a crew in another market, or a peer who has already solved your exact problem? Start here.
Meet the hosts
Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov are the co-founders of Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company working across corporate, commercial, and branded content. Between them they’ve spent over a decade building creative businesses and fighting the same battles you are.
Creatives Grab Coffee started as a way to have the conversations that usually stay behind closed doors, and put them out in the open. More about the show and hosts.
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Frequently asked questions
The short version, for anyone finding the show for the first time.
What is Creatives Grab Coffee?
Creatives Grab Coffee is a weekly podcast about the business of video production. Each episode is an honest conversation with the people who actually run production companies, covering pricing, margins, hiring, sales, positioning, AI, and long-term sustainability. It is produced by Lapse Productions in Toronto.
Who hosts Creatives Grab Coffee?
The show is co-hosted by Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov, the co-founders of Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company working across corporate, commercial, and branded content. You can read more on the about page.
What topics does the podcast cover?
Recurring themes include pricing and client expectations, scaling teams and systems, niching down versus staying broad, AI and changing workflows, sales and positioning, and building a sustainable company in a competitive market. Browse the full episode archive to explore by topic.
Does Creatives Grab Coffee publish written guides?
Yes. The Guides section collects sixteen in-depth, owner-side guides covering niching, getting clients, pricing, retainers, scaling, AI, client retention, contracts, partnerships, starting a company, passion projects, small markets, crewing, revenue streams, buying and selling, and the sales process. Each one is synthesized from every episode that touched the topic, with named practitioners and real numbers.
Where can I listen to Creatives Grab Coffee?
New episodes are on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, plus any podcast app that supports the RSS feed.
How often do new episodes come out?
A new episode is released every week. The show has published 120 episodes across six seasons, with a global roster of production company owners.
What is the CGC Guest Network?
A free directory of the 95 production companies and creative studios, across 10 countries, that have appeared on the show. You can filter by country or search by company or city, and every listing links to the company’s website and their episode. Browse it on the Guest Network page.
How can I be a guest on the podcast?
If you run a video production company, you can pitch yourself on the be a guest page. You can also browse past guests in the guest network.