Early Video Productions is a part of Early & Associates which was founded in 1973 by the late Jim Early. Early was a pioneer in Knoxville television and a Hall of Fame member of the Knoxville Advertising Federation. Early & Associates has made the transition from 16mm films and reel-to-reel tapes of the 70’s to today’s world of high-definition digital production. Having found success in advertising merely as a hobby, Jim Early jumped into the profession full-time in 1973 when he founded Jim Early and Associates–an advertising and public relations firm in Knoxville, Tennessee. His background in television news and his outgoing personality made this a natural fit. Early did not, however, want to run a brokerage agency. He wanted to be able to handle every aspect of a client’s advertising in house–from concept to completion. This was not the way most agencies were run then or today. Early had to be a jack-of-all-trades and had to acquire all of the necessary production equipment to accomplish his goals. Through the 1970’s, the agency was predominately print oriented with a complete in-house art department and staff. Jim was responsible for developing the advertising strategies, writing the ad copy, shooting and processing the photography, doing the layouts for newspaper ads, brochures and outdoor billboards. Radio and television commercials were also produced in house. All television was initially shot with 8mm and 16mm film cameras–a difficult and expensive task. Early saw the future of local television was headed towards video tape and eagerly invested into an arsenal of video cameras and editing equipment.