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.
Jim Early learned a valuable lesson in the late 70’ that has served the company well to the present day. Early learned that bigger was not necessarily better. Jim Early & Associates briefly merged with another advertising agency–having a staff of over 20, a huge downtown office, company airplane and more. Early was miserable. The company was so big that he lost touch with his clients and he was no longer able to be as involved with each individual project. From that point to the current day Early & Associates has had a staff no larger than four and Early stayed closely involved with every aspect of the agency’s work. He hired hard-working, dedicated associates with broad skill sets. He drew from his relationships at WBIR to hire Jay Beeler and later Sam McGill to run his growing video production department. Earlene Ledbetter, a bright, young, ambitious woman was his office manager for a number of years. His devoted wife, Dena, handled the accounting for over 10 years.
Jim’s youngest son, Chris, came to work with his father in the late 80‘s. Chris had grown up around the business and was a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in advertising, but his true love was video. He shot and edited his first video at age 12. Chris eventually took over the video side of the business in the early 90‘s. “I can’t believe how much the business has changed from the time I first started working,” says Chris. “Radio spots were being recorded on reel-to-reel equipment. Video was shot and edited on 3/4” tape and the graphics were extremely limited. I can remember watching my dad splice together a radio spot like a magician. It’s crazy to remember how things were done.”
Like his father, Chris had great foresight to see where video production technology was headed. Desktop computers were starting to become a larger part of the editing process and a new product called the Video Toaster greatly expanded the company’s graphics and effects capabilities. By the late 90‘s the Apple Macintosh was revolutionizing the production world with non-linear editing. Early & Associates made a large investment in a Media 100 / Mac workstation. Early & Associates was one of the first production companies in town to switch to non-linear editing and business soared. “We were producing videos that would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars only a year earlier,” Chris says.
Health issues forced Jim to begin slowing down by the end of the 90‘s as Chris continued to grow the production business. Since Jim’s passing in 2005 the company has focussed on Early Video Productions while continuing to offer many of the other traditional agency resources that helped establish Early and Associates as an effective and affordable alternative. In 2006 Early Video Productions made the switch to high-definition and once again was one of the first in town to offer it. The video production industry is always changing and Early Video Productions strives to be a leader without forgetting it’s roots. Jim’s fingerprints are still all over the business today. The company is small by design, Chris handles every aspect of the production, and client satisfaction is always the number one goal. “There is not a day goes by that I don’t think of my dad a remember something he taught me,” Chris says. “I have gigantic shoes to fill.”
