KKO | Meet the Team: Kelby Joseph

Who are you? What’s your name and where are you from?

I’m Kelby Joseph, founder of KKO Productions. I’m from that wild state we all know and love: Florida. My family is from Haiti.

What’s your position at KKO?

I’m the founder of KKO Productions. On a day to day basis, I could be found writing, drawing up budgets, taking sales calls, planning shoots, overseeing post production and organizing crew.

Why did you decide to get into this line of work?

Well, when I moved to Los Angeles in 2009, I came to study acting, but I had an idea that I could use acting to get me to the point where I could run a movie production company. Or maybe the other way around. Either way, I jumped in because I enjoyed writing and film. Eventually, I realized that I have a deep passion for business. I don’t know how I didn’t quite pick it up when I was younger, since I had a very entrepreneurial mindset in high school and college, selling candy and cutting hair to make money. But my passion for business and passion for video found a way to mix themselves into what I’m in right now. Essentially marketing. And lucky for me, I get to act in some of the videos we make!

How did you become a member of this team?

In 2009 or maybe 2010, I jokingly made a crew called Pulluhz KO because there was a hot rap group out called Pushaz Ink. You get it? Pushaz, Pulluhz? Inc? Co? Alright, I’ll stop there. Either way, I began making silly music videos, skits, webseries and short films and branding them as “Pulluhz KO” videos. I enjoyed making the videos so much that I would get asked to help other students make videos around campus, despite the fact that I didn’t even know much more than they did about making videos. By 2011, I had recruited my friends, including Alicia to pay dues and help me build the company. But I soon realized that this was not everyone’s passion. When it was just Alicia helping me make videos, I realized my position and changed the name from Pullaz KO to Kelby KO (and for a short period of time, just ‘KO Productions’). And that’s how KKO Productions got started.

What are you most looking forward to?

I know it may seem like we just make videos, but I’ve come to realize how powerful, and lucrative our skills are. I say that because I look forward to the results. It could be a client releasing their videos and they earn 60% increase in revenue, or the joy a client gets when they see their ideas come to life. I love great results. I’m most looking forward to seeing the results of even my own hard work come full circle, where I can offer more opportunity to passionate people and repay the favors I’ve received from people who believed in me.

What is one project you felt resonated with you the most?

One time my team and I shot a video for the board of education. As we filmed it, I said to myself “oh man, this is going to be amazing. These shots look so good! They are going to love it.” After I sent the final videos over, I wasn’t met with much of anything. In fact, it took me months and months of contacting to hear back from them. Not only did I want a response, I also wanted my money! The client tip-toed around the subject of the video and went back into their shell for another 6 months. By December, I was sending out an email to all clients with a remaining balance and I said “ah they won’t answer but let me send this email out just in case”. To my surprise, I got a response. They asked me to call them, and so I did. We chatted on the phone and the client found the courage to express his disappointment in the video. I was baffled. It looked so good and so crisp!! But he explained “it’s just not what we were looking for”. Boom, everything clicked. I resonated with this response because I wasn’t thinking like a businessman, I was thinking like a cameraman. I didn’t listen hard enough to their desires. I said “yea, yea, yea we’ll make it look good!” And it did look good, but it just wasn’t what they were looking for. It taught me a valuable lesson. I had to listen and create a strategy with a deep understanding of my client’s desires and goals to make a true impact.

What do you hope to see in the future of KKO?

My plan has “slow and steady” written all over it. We want to work with brands that are passionate about the value of their service and are seeking true growth and/or efficiency. When we’ve reached a certain point, I’d like to offer business development and full fledged marketing services and I even think I’d like to dip into events. I like the gift bags. In the creative sector, I’d like to continue releasing original content. It’s always been my dream to own my own network. If Oprah could have OWN, maybe I could have KJN or maybe I’ll just keep it KKO… I’ll keep working on the name. But most likely YouTube or Facebook content, web series, short films, podcasts and eventually more feature films where we could attract enough eyeballs to assign product placement in our creative ventures and continue to build brands. Those are some of my ideas.

Are you inspired by anyone’s work?

In film I am inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson, F. Gary Gray and Bryan Cranston, but in advertising, I like Sandwhich, Lemonade, PressPlay Media and Tiger House Films. I love their work and they have “Apple quality” brand work. That type of clean, high quality works inspires me. As far as business figures go, I am inspired by 50 Cent, Elon Musk, Michael Bloomberg, Byron Allen, Larry Ellison, Bob Iger and one that might surprise you, Tyler Perry (who I’d say is probably one of the best businesspersons entertainment has ever had).

One day, who do you hope to work with?

I’d like to make videos for artists signed to Republic Records. I’d also like to make videos for Gold’s Gym, fitness apparel and lifestyle companies, a beverage company named Swig, another one called Fiiz and Mark Anthony Brands. In tech, I’d like to work with Kronos Incorporated, Cengage (since I love education) and Compass, Hubspot and Zoom (since they cured boredom during the Coronavirus).

And that’s a little bit about me!

Great Possibilities for You

I know how it feels to film your content but spend way more time editing it. You should be filming more and posting more. We’ve decided to solve this problem for you. Kelby KO Productions now offers a video editing subscription service to relieve of you the stress. For a low monthly fee, we’ll edit your videos within 48 hours and it’ll include amazing high definition royalty free stock footage and audio, lower thirds and titles as well as epic transitions. Choose the best monthly package for you today and make your videos stand out!