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Meet Alan Scott Davis of Davis de Dios Productions in Tucson

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Scott Davis.

Alan Scott, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been working as a video producer in Tucson, AZ for about five years. My business partner John de Dios and I run a production company known as Davis de Dios LLC that services Arizona as well as national and international clients. I have professional experience in creating science documentaries and commercial video products that are target specific for television, websites or social media. We as a business, can handle any type of multimedia project/campaign and our client’s products stand out specifically because of our rich background in journalistic storytelling.

I was first exposed to working in a video when I was a journalism student at the University of Arizona. While a student, I began producing science documentary video pieces under the tutelage of John de Dios and Cody Sheehy. John who produced for National Geographic News and Scientific America cranked down on my basic storytelling skills. We’d either spend our days going out with DSLR’s and capturing fun events or making sure my stories actually had a solid beginning, middle, and end. Cody taught me to use professional lighting and music in my stories as well as how to use Adobe After Effects to produce motion graphic. Thankfully, my two mentors, plus a handful of other professionals, gave me the skillset and the network to be a freelance professional right out of college. One of my favorite early pieces is on the Reintroduction of the Mexican Grey Wolf in Arizona.

While freelancing in Arizona, I learned from some of the most talented and knowledgable minds in the state. I developed an awesome personal/professional mentorship with Directors Guild of America member and former Hollywood director Bruce Dorn. While working with Bruce, I learned how to dream big on my projects and to have fun with them too. Bruce would let me work as either a camera operator, video editor or sometimes both on video deliverables for companies like Canon USA, Arri, and General Tire. It goes to be said that these experiences are invaluable to me because I experienced producing commercial content on a national and international level.

I love Tucson. Everything from the people to the food to the architecture feels right to me. So naturally, I wanted to learn how to service industry and businesses in the Southwest. I would be given that opportunity while freelancing for Film Creations Ltd, the oldest production company in Southern Arizona. Rick and Paul Rose, the companies first and second generation owners, showed me how to produce quickly and helped me get a feel for the local Tucson market. They would take me to meetings with their own clients and taught me how to listen to a client and deliver beyond their expectations. While producing videos for Film Creations Ltd I’ve collaborated and created for local entities such as Jim Click, Long’s Realty, Banner Health Center.

I also continued working closely with my friend and mentor John de Dios. Working alongside him, I continued producing science documentaries with some seriously awesome deliverables. We’d go on to create videos for National Geographic, The National Science Foundation, The University of Arizona as well as other universities. I mostly attribute my overall commercial/documentary style of video to my prolonged mentorship with John. Here’s one of my favorite pieces that he and I produced for the National Science Foundation.

Here is the link to a project for National Geographic

I’d also like to mention that I enjoy teaching as well. I’ve been fortunate enough to teach the at Prescott Film Festival alongside my friends and mentors John de Dios and Bruce Dorn. We are hoping to do it again this year! I also had the pleasure of mentoring five UA students in creating a documentary on the role that zoos play in conservation. Teaching those students has by far been the biggest learning experience in my career. Below is the full documentary.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Yes and no. Make no mistake, being a part of two Emmy-Award-Winning documentaries, producing content for international and national companies and publications such as Canon USA, Arri, National Geographic and The National Science Foundation not to mention learning how to run and sustain a life/company in Southern Arizona has a steep learning curve. However, because of all of my mentors and friends, I’ve been able to stick with it. They have helped me hurtle every obstacle and produce better content at every level. The road hasn’t been smooth but I know my friends and I can accomplish anything. I couldn’t be more grateful to them.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Davis de Dios Productions – what should we know?
Recently, my mentor and friend John de Dios and I organized our business Davis de Dios LLC.

We describe ourselves as a full-service media production and digital media agency. We specialize in photography, video production and multi-faceted digital campaigns from legacy media to social media.

We pull from our rich background in storytelling and journalism training to craft strategic campaigns that showcase our clients. We also have a rich network of creatives that we constantly collaborate with making us capable of handling projects of any size.

Here is a video that we produced for our client the Reid Park Zoo to showcase their holiday event Zoo Lights.

Here is our reel as well!

https://vimeo.com/255809217

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Teamwork is my biggest thing.

Having friends, mentors and mentees that you can teach and learn from are essential to success. Or at the least, they will make your life easier. I personally love collaborating with people that help me hurdle obstacles, are good communicators and can be leaned on creatively.

In my experience, being part of a team makes lofty goals more attainable. On the surface level, teams are more efficient at handling physical tasks which ultimately provides me with more time to focus on delivering a creative vision. For example, it’s easier for me to focus on getting a specific action out of a group when I have an extra set of hands handling audio or working with lighting. Furthermore, a cohesive group can offer insight and problem-solving skills, provide different and interesting angles/perspectives, not to mention having more people always makes the atmosphere way more fun! Having fun and setting a light working atmosphere is extremely important and valuable to on set days. My friend Bruce Dorn says, “I’ve found that one person can do the work of about one person, while two people can do the work of two or even three people!”

I also believe that producing professionals in the film industry is a team effort. There are plenty of Youtube videos and Facebook articles that talk about camera settings and how to use Adobe Premiere but, in my opinion, there is no substitute for hands-on experience. Knowing your camera gear, while important, is really just the first step that makes you a successful video professional. It’s while creating that you make mistakes, draw upon your teammate’s experiences and (most important) establish your own style. I personally wouldn’t be anywhere without my friends and mentors. They always had my back while I was learning how to create with a camera. Their guidance and incorporation of me during that process helped me succeed and become a better teammate.

I’d also like to add how important teaching and passing on knowledge is to become a better teammate. It simply makes you a better communicator. For me, it wasn’t until I taught filmmaking that I came to truly understand the fundamentals. Simply because my students asked questions and I had to communicate to them in a way that made sense. I personally couldn’t give them surface level answers because I wanted to provide them with a full education. Which I discovered while teaching I didn’t fully possess.

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