You REALLY Gotta See This! (eBook)

A Book For Video Creators & Storytellers

Paul Steven Forrest (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
220 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3178-1366-6 (ISBN)

Infos

You REALLY Gotta See This! isn't a how-to manual-it's a creative reset for video storytellers. In this follow-up to his bestselling book, Paul Steven Forrest invites creators to shift their mindset, trust their instincts, and rediscover the power of unscripted stories. This book doesn't give you step-by-step instructions-it gives you something more valuable: a new lens. One that helps you see what others miss, shape moments that matter, and create videos that resonate with real impact. Whether you're behind the camera or deep in the edit, this book will help you think differently-and make work that feels different.

Paul Steven Forrest is a writer, director, and creative coach with decades of experience producing award-winning unscripted content. From national television specials to branded stories that connect and convert, Paul's work is built on one core belief: story matters. As the creator of the Start with Story. End with Wow! Master Course, Paul helps video creators elevate their ideas, shape authentic narratives, and turn rough footage into polished stories people talk about. His first book, You Gotta See This!, became a go-to guide for video makers hungry to level up their storytelling. This follow-up, You REALLY Gotta See This!, takes the next step-diving deeper into the secrets, strategies, and creative breakthroughs that help everyday footage become unforgettable. When he's not coaching creatives or crafting story-driven content, Paul's probably scribbling ideas on sticky notes, story-mapping on graph paper, or mentoring the next generation of storytellers one video at a time.

---

This isn't a how-to manual. It's a creative reset. You REALLY Gotta See This! is a book about seeing the story that others miss-and learning to trust your instincts as a visual storyteller. It's about choosing meaning over momentum, clarity over chaos, and purpose over performance. Paul Steven Forrest has spent decades directing unscripted content that connects. In this follow-up to You Gotta See This!, he shares deeper insights on how to elevate your thinking, not just your footage. It's part creative spark. Part quiet nudge. All designed to help you think differently and make videos that feel different. Whether you're holding a camera, sitting in the edit bay, or simply wondering what your work could be this book is a reminder: Your best story is still ahead. You just need to see it.

Textauszug

CHAPTER TWO - RETHINK YOUR HUSTLE

Whether you’re making videos as a side hustle. Or your full-time hustle. The way you get jobs. The way you do jobs. And the way you get paid is very different now.

Old Way: Develop a local network. Work where you live.

New Way: Develop a broader presence. Find jobs at home and online.

To scale in today’s marketplace, you have to adapt, pivot, innovate, and rethink your hustle.

Here are 10 Hustle Tips to get you started …

1. Change Your Thinking. Rather than thinking of yourself as a freelancer chasing gigs, see yourself owning a business that is selling you, your skills, and your experience.
2. Develop a Plan. You’ve got to know your customer and how to reach them. Don’t just focus on the local guy who books you a couple times a year. Start looking for new clients everywhere. Have a short game, and a longer game.
3. Repeat Business Pays Bills. I learned a long time ago that onetime-only projects will never take me far. Repeat clients are invaluable. Especially if you want to pay rent and put food on the table.
4. Become a Specialist. Look at your market and find a specific niche, then own that category. Target businesses that need the high-end work you want to do. Work that allows you to scale your income!
5. Get Your Biz Online. Listing your business on freelancer sites means competing with global creatives in a game of “lowest price wins.” Pivot by finding sites that specialize in your skills and become the big fish in a small pond.
6. Activate Social Media. You already know the power of social media to help you find target customers. So, get you and your brand out there by posting consistently. Delete all that stupid stuff you posted because clients are checking you out.
7. Buy a Piggy Bank. Chasing checks is no fun. Emailing clients to see when you can expect payment makes you look desperate. So do everything you can to build up a 90-day reserve you can draw on while you wait for payment and new jobs.
8. Network with Friends. There will be times when work is slow.

And other times when you have more work than you can handle. Network with friends to help with the overflow. Book them and ask them to book you. Outsource!

1. Build a Database. Buy software that allows you to maintain a database of clients. Send them regular updates and press releases. Share your backstory and passion. And don’t let your leads and contacts get cold. Go beyond your Facebook page.
2. Use Other People’s Money. Need to upgrade gear or pay for rebranding? Try using income from a couple jobs (OPM) to pay for it. Pick up small pieces of gear that will improve quality. Buy big ticket items from bigger jobs.

So, here’s some advice from Management Consultant Peter Drucker, “If you want to do something new, you have to stop doing something old.”

Ready for something new?

DOUBLE DOWN

Karl is an amazing motion graphics artist who has won several Emmy Awards for his work at ESPN in New York. Not long ago, we had the chance to work together on a half-hour show for a major network.

I’ll never forget the afternoon Karl walked into my edit bay to review some edits and talk about the motion graphics he was building.

As I played back the sequence, he looked at the monitor and pointed out how his graphics supported the messaging.

That afternoon, as we kicked around ideas and our discussion turned to storytelling, he said something that really caught me off guard. Karl looked at me and said,

“Paul, I’m not a storyteller. That’s what you’re good at. What I do is motion graphics.”

In just three sentences, this talented designer told me he understands how he’s wired. He knows his role, what he does well, and he’s OK with that.

An important key to rethinking your hustle is understanding how you’re wired. Karl is wired one way, and I am wired another.

He loves designing motion graphics, and I love the storytelling process. Together our skills “and wiring” complement each other.

Making You Really Gotta See This! videos, and finding your lane, starts by knowing what you do just OK and what you do well. Then doubling down on what you do well..

Let me explain…On a scale of 1 to 10, If you’re an 8 as a Writer, but a

2 as a Graphic Designer, you’re wasting time designing graphics for your projects, when you could focus on the thing you do best. Writing.

If you’re a 7 as a Shooter, but a 4 as a Writer, trying to write copy would be a big mistake. You need to find a partner who is a 9 as a Writer. Someone who can help you elevate your copy.

Think about this. Hollywood directors don’t make movies by themselves. They work with hundreds of skilled professionals who are each wired differently.

At the studio level, every one of these professionals is a 9 or 10 at what they do well, or they wouldn’t be working.

You need to work with pros who are strong where you’re weak. I would have been foolish trying to create motion graphics for this show when I have a rock star designer like Karl working with me.

Doubling down on what you do best is one of the smartest things you can do to find your lane.

Knowing your strengths is only part of the equation. The next question is: Are you in position to use them when it counts?

Let’s talk about that…

ARE YOU IN POSITION?

It’s not enough to have talent.

It’s not enough to have skills.

It’s not enough to have experience.

The big question is: Are you in position to step up when opportunity shows up?Because success doesn’t just go to the fastest, or the smartest, or even the most creative. It goes to the ones who are ready.

Let me take you back to my high school football days. I played fullback, which meant my job wasn’t to carry the ball — it was to block for the halfback, creating an opening so he could break through the line and score.

Being in position was everything. If I missed my assignment — if I was even a step out of place — the entire play could collapse. Instead of a big gain, he’d get tackled for a loss.

But every now and then, on third-and-short, I’d hear my number called. Instead of blocking, my job was to take the handoff and fight for those extra yards to get the first down.

I knew that in those moments, my assignment had changed, but my responsibility to the team hadn’t. I still had to execute or the drive would stall.

And here’s the thing — every player on the field has an assignment. If everyone does their job, the team moves forward. If someone is out of position, the play breaks down.

The more I think about it, the more I realize the same is true in video production and storytelling. If you’re not in position — if you don’t know your assignment — you won’t get the results you’re after.

In football, positioning isn’t just about where you stand — it’s about where you need to be at the exact right moment to make the play work. The same thing applies to video storytelling.

Whether you’re shooting, editing, directing, or producing, your success depends on these three things:

• Knowing your role. Are you the director, DP, editor, or producer? Are you trying to do everything, or are you focusing on where you add the most value?

• Being in the right place at the right time. Are you setting yourself up to capture the right moments, frame the right shots, and tell the best story possible

• Executing the assignment. It’s not enough to just be there — you have to deliver. Are you showing up prepared, focused, and ready to make an impact?

And just like in football, sometimes your role changes. There are moments when you have to step up and take the ball. Maybe an editor has to jump in and shoot.

Maybe a director has to grab the mic and do an interview.

Those moments matter — but only if you know the play, trust your team, and execute.

If everyone on a video project does their job, the production flows effortlessly. But if one person is out of place — whether it’s a bad shot, poor sound, or weak storytelling — the whole project suffers. Let’s break this down even further. In football, the playbook is designed to put everyone in the right place at the right time to make the play work. The same thing happens in storytelling.

If you want to create an impactful video, you have to position Three Key Things:

• Your Characters. Who is at the center of your story? Are you placing them in situations that bring out the most emotion, struggle, or transformation?

• Your Camera. How are you framing the action? Is your shot selection setting the audience up to feel...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 10.8.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3178-1366-6 / 9798317813666