Accord Productions just celebrated its 31st year. Rocky my brother has been my partner through thick and thin but little do most people know that Accord Productions was started after Rocky and I were fired. Fired by a very nice man but he saw the world very differently than we did. So with Rocky, myself and 2 other partners, Accord was started at my dining room table. We could not have done it those first few years without those two partners.
Claudia Moore (now Knickerbocker) five foot tall blonde Columbian with non-stop energy. Gino Coco-Mir, very serious and personable, no-nonsense Puerto Rican who was all about relationships and getting to know people, really know them. He is the type of guy who makes friends easily. They were our partners at the start. Claudia brought the energy and the “don’t say no” attitude that we have always been known for. Gino brought organizational systems to our marketing and operations.
To this day we still use Gino’s original system of job descriptions that he called “Hat Files.” In theory, if the hat file was written correctly, anyone could read it and understand what was required and expected in any position in the company. It also allowed others to read the hat file of their fellow employee and know exactly what they were doing and how they were doing it and most importantly what was expected of them.
Claudia was the perfect personality for our undercapitalized, inexperienced, over-anxious and naive group who started a production company in a very competitive environment. Why? Because she did not know the meaning of “no” or “can’t”. Statements like “we can’t trust our TV commercials/video production to a new company run by a bunch of twenty-somethings.” She would explain how great everything would be- and they believed her. That, mixed with Gino’s organization, and Rocky and my attitudes of working 7 days a week no problem, we got it done. And the clients kept coming back. Very early, we were doing big video projects and providing video services to most of the major companies, agencies and networks in South Florida.
We’ve come far from those early days at the dining room table. We’re finishing up our work for our second season of “Tomorrow’s World Today” on the Science Channel and heading into season three of “It’s How You Get There” on The History Channel. Brainstorming, pre-production, shooting around the world, and hours upon hours of editing. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The wheel keeps spinning and I think of those early days and how hard we worked. How hard we still work. I think of all of the people who made it possible. Even after each of them has moved on to other things, a piece of them “sticks” to Accord. Every day I tell people who want to get into this business it does not get easier- so you better be having fun or don’t do it.
We make people famous. We help people sell more product and grow their business along the way. And yes, we have fun!
For more From Accord…
- Titans of Business, The Cecil O’Brate Story to Make National Television Debut on February 14 at 4 pm CT on Fox Business
- TV Production on the Road: Media Bags and Counting Boxes
- Miami Video Production COVID Rules Update: What Works
- Streaming Stories: Producing Virtual Galas
- The Full Service Menu of Accord Productions