Episode 111
Filming Under Fire (ft. Highlight Films)
Most conversations on this show are about winning clients and pricing projects. This one is about keeping a crew safe. Noam Shalev is the founder and creative director of Highlight Films, an Israel-based production company whose work spans polished corporate shoots and frontline news coverage in active conflict zones. He has spent his career as a fixer, the person who makes difficult shoots happen, and he joined Dario and Kyrill for one of the most unusual episodes we have recorded.
In Episode 111, Noam pulls back the curtain on a side of production few people see: what a fixer actually does, how remote technology now lets a director in Los Angeles run a crew in Tel Aviv, and the overnight pivot his company made on October 7th, going from seven corporate productions to coordinating fifteen news crews in a matter of hours. He is candid about the safety logistics, the emotional weight of documenting history, and the very practical business lessons, like how to protect yourself from clients who might not pay, that apply no matter where you shoot.
Key Takeaways
- A fixer makes the shoot happen. The term can sound derogatory, but the role is essential: the local knowledge, crews, permits, and logistics an outside production cannot arrange on its own.
- Remote production went mainstream after COVID. The same tools that let clients watch a shoot from home now let a director in LA run a crew in Tel Aviv in real time.
- A business can pivot overnight. On October 7th, Highlight Films shifted from seven corporate productions to coordinating fifteen news crews within hours. Flexibility is a survival trait.
- Safety is a logistics problem. Coordinating crews under fire means back-office apps, missile alerts, and protocols that treat crew safety as the first line item, not an afterthought.
- Documenting history carries an emotional toll. Interviewing survivors is heavy work, and Noam is honest about the weight it puts on a crew.
- Instability hits the whole operation. When staff are called to reserve duty and the tech sector wobbles, continuity planning matters as much as creative.
- Reputation beats advertising. Highlight Films was built on word of mouth and trust, not ad spend, especially for work where reliability is everything.
- Protect the business before the shoot. Deposits, clear terms, and a sharp eye for bad clients are how you avoid getting burned, especially by international clients who might not pay.
Timestamps
From Documentary Filmmaker to the Fixer
Noam Shalev did not set out to run shoots in conflict zones. He came up as a documentary filmmaker and grew into the role of a fixer, the person an outside production calls when it needs to shoot somewhere it does not know. He is quick to point out that the word can sound derogatory, as if the job is just running errands, when in reality it is the opposite: arranging crews, permits, locations, translation, and the on-the-ground logistics that make a foreign shoot possible at all. It is the same coordination discipline that underpins any well-run corporate video production process, just under far higher stakes.
That reputation as a reliable local partner is what brings international productions to his door. The show has touched on shooting for clients who are not in the room before, in Chris Stasiuk’s episode on proposals, sales strategies, and remote shoots, but Noam takes it to an extreme most producers never encounter.
How COVID Rewired Remote Production
One through-line of the conversation is how much remote production has changed the business. The same tools that became normal during COVID now let a director or client in Los Angeles run a crew in Tel Aviv in real time, watching the monitor feed and calling shots from another continent. For Noam, that shift opened a steady stream of international work that would have been impossible a decade ago.
It also raises the logistical bar. Moving gear across borders, clearing customs, and staying compliant are their own discipline, the kind of thing an ATA Carnet guide exists to demystify. Remote directing removes the travel, but someone local still has to make the physical shoot happen, which is exactly the value a fixer provides.
Why He Added Corporate Work
Highlight Films is not only news and documentary. Noam deliberately built a corporate arm too, producing the polished brand and company films that keep a studio’s revenue stable between bigger, less predictable projects. If you are new to what that category even covers, Lapse’s primer on what a corporate video is is a useful map.
The logic is diversification, the same lesson Chris Stasiuk raised the week before: a healthy studio spreads itself across different types of corporate video and client types so no single stream carries the whole business. For Noam, corporate work is the ballast that steadies everything else.
October 7th: Pivoting Overnight
The most striking part of the episode is the operational pivot. On October 7th, Noam’s company went from seven scheduled corporate productions to coordinating fifteen news crews almost overnight, reorganizing people, gear, and logistics in a matter of hours as the region shifted to wall-to-wall coverage. It is an extreme version of a lesson every studio eventually learns: the ability to reconfigure fast is a survival trait.
That kind of resilience under pressure is a recurring theme on the show, including Jon Corbin’s episode on values and hard times in the industry. Most of us will never face a pivot this severe, but the underlying muscle, staying calm and reallocating resources when the plan evaporates, is universal.
Safety as a Logistics Problem
When you are filming under fire, safety is not a disclaimer, it is the first line of the production plan. Noam describes running coordination through back-office apps, essentially group walkie-talkie tools, and building missile alerts into the workflow so crews can take cover and move safely. Every decision starts from keeping people unharmed, and the creative work is built around that constraint.
It reframes what production logistics can mean. On a corporate event shoot, logistics is call sheets and load-in times. In Noam’s world it is the same planning instinct pointed at a far more serious problem, and it is a reminder that great producers are, at their core, risk managers.
The Emotional Toll of Documenting History
Noam is candid about the human cost of this work. Interviewing survivors and documenting traumatic events takes a real emotional toll on a crew, and he does not pretend otherwise. He shares older stories too, including smuggling footage out of Iraq in the tape era, that underline how long he has operated at the edge of what production can safely do.
It is a side of the business rarely discussed on shows about pricing and pipelines, and it lands hard. The craft is the same as any documentary, but the weight of what is in front of the lens is on another level entirely.
Running a Business Through Instability
Beyond the shoots themselves, Noam runs a company inside a volatile environment. Staff can be called up for reserve duty with little notice, and broader instability ripples through the tech sector that many of his corporate clients belong to. Continuity planning, cross-training, and a deep bench become essential rather than nice to have.
This is the harder-edged version of a familiar challenge: building an organization that does not depend on any single person being available. The show explored the constructive side of that in its episode on growing and investing in your team, and Noam’s reality shows why that resilience matters.
Why Stay?
Given all of it, Dario and Kyrill ask the obvious question: why not move to Los Angeles, where the work is steadier and the risks are lower? Noam’s answer is simple and human. This is home, and the pull of place and community outweighs the case for leaving. It is a reminder that a video business is never only a spreadsheet, it is tied to the people and the place that built it.
“Despite everything, this is home, and I am not leaving.”
Noam Shalev, Highlight FilmsBuilding a Reputation Without Advertising
On the business side, Noam has grown Highlight Films almost entirely on reputation and word of mouth rather than advertising. In work where reliability can be a matter of safety, trust is the whole product, and a strong reputation is worth more than any ad campaign. Referrals compound over years into a pipeline that marketing spend cannot easily buy.
It rhymes with the show’s past conversations on new ways to generate leads and developing sales strategies. For most studios, reputation is one channel among many. For Noam, it is the foundation the entire business sits on.
“In a place like this, a camera gets treated like a weapon.”
Noam Shalev, Highlight FilmsProtecting the Business: Deposits and Bad Clients
The episode closes on hard-won practical advice: protect the business before the shoot, not after. Noam is firm on deposits and clear terms, and he has developed a sharp instinct for spotting clients who might not pay, a particular risk with international clients where chasing an unpaid invoice across borders is often not worth it. Getting paid starts with structuring the deal correctly up front.
That discipline applies to any studio. Being clear about what a video costs and where a project’s day rates land, then backing it with deposits and terms, is how you keep good client relationships from turning into bad debt.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a fixer in film and video production?
A fixer is the local producer who makes an outside production possible: arranging crews, permits, locations, translation, and logistics, often in difficult or unfamiliar environments. Noam Shalev notes the term can sound derogatory, but the role is highly skilled and essential.
How has remote production changed international shoots?
Since COVID normalized remote workflows, a director or client in one country can now direct a crew in another in real time. Noam’s team regularly runs shoots where the creative lead is in Los Angeles and the crew is in Tel Aviv.
How did Highlight Films pivot on October 7th?
Overnight, the company shifted from seven scheduled corporate productions to coordinating fifteen news crews. It is an extreme example of the operational flexibility every production company needs.
How do production crews stay safe in conflict zones?
Through logistics: back-office coordination apps, real-time missile alerts, and safety protocols that put crew protection first. Noam treats safety as the foundation of every shoot, not an add-on.
How can video production companies avoid clients who do not pay?
With deposits, clear written terms, and a trained eye for red flags. Noam stresses protecting the business up front, especially with international clients where recovering unpaid invoices is difficult.
The Hosts
Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov are the co-founders of Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company, and the hosts of Creatives Grab Coffee, a weekly show about the business of video production.
About
Creatives Grab Coffee is a podcast about the business behind video production: sales, strategy, pricing, team building, and everything that happens off camera. New episodes every week on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Lapse Productions is a Toronto-based video production company serving tech, finance, healthcare, and manufacturing clients with corporate, promotional, testimonial, event, and recruitment video. Not sure who to hire? Start with our guide on how to choose a video production company.
Highlight Films is an Israel-based video production company founded by Noam Shalev, producing corporate films and international news coverage and serving as a trusted local production partner and fixer for shoots in the region. Learn more at highlight.co.il.
