Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carly Stone. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Carly, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I believe that my optimism comes from my parents and how I was raised. My mom and dad are both very positive, happy people and I constantly hear the phrase “anything is possible!” and “you can do anything you set your mind to,” to this day. I tend to always look on the bright side of things—which can sometimes be a detriment given the circumstance (love those rose-colored glasses), but I believe that if you shift your thinking towards positivity, you will experience a happier life. It’s easy to get caught up in the negative and go down dark rabbit holes, but pessimism will lower your state of being and just make life miserable. When I feel down I have to actively make an effort to bring myself back to a good state. But generally, I’m of the mentality when life is going well (or poorly) to think “how can it get better than this?” Also, if you practice gratitude then that inherently makes you optimistic about life. Growing up in an environment that was loving, nurturing, supportive and positive is definitely where my optimism comes from. I strive to spread that optimism wherever I go and be a positive influence on those around me.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself and your career?
I’m a freelance videographer based in Southern California. I have been filmmaking since I was a teenager and am now fortunate to have made videography my career.
My journey with filmmaking began as a 9 year old kid, filming my friends and I having fun (I’d record videos in my treehouse, dance routines in the living room and more)—that’s when the passion started. As a teen I entered some student film contests (and won some) and had an incredible film mentor at the time, so doing it for fun and being driven by my supportive mentor is what spurred turning video into something I wanted to do as a profession.
My professional career began at 20 years old when I apprenticed for the lead videographer at Rip Curl. That experience led me to start working for USA Surfing (filming and editing recap videos for surf competitions) and filming professional surfers (such as Taylor Knox and Tia Blanco). During that time I met a lot of people in the film industry, took classes through open university at CSULB and learned an immense amount of skills through the video apprenticeship. These connections I made eventually took me down the path of working for production company: Alani Media. While there I honed my skills as a video editor and had the opportunity to work with major brands such as Alo Yoga, Speedo, Bella + Canvas, Lulus and more. We produced content at multiple Alo Houses at which I edited videos that were published to Alo’s social media channels in real time. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun! At Alani I also was a camera op for live Alo Yoga classes, surf contests and got to create behind-the-scenes videos for the company.
Throughout the past 7 years in the industry I have worked closely with a number of bands, producing acoustic music videos and filming live performances at world-renowned venues. I also filmed videos for fitness and dance studios (for example, during Covid I worked with a trampoline studio to create an extensive library of on-demand classes). Besides those projects I’ve also had the pleasure of filming and editing soccer tournament recap videos, live broadcasts for surf brands and much more.
At the moment I work for number of charter schools. I’ve filmed/edited graduations, testimonial and field trip recap videos for the schools. It’s been a wonderful experience and as a former homeschooler myself, it feels good to use my services to give back in this way. I also assist fellow filmmakers in the area by camera assisting, camera operating, editing or even creating behind-the-scenes videos for productions. I especially enjoy creating BTS videos for musicians, production crews, dancers–anyone! I have a natural, documentary-style to my shooting and I’m able to capture organic moments easily. I love being a fly on the wall and documenting people doing what they do best!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The most important qualities that were impactful on my journey would be: good communication, reliability and gratitude. I think if you are early in your career, no matter what field, if you foster these qualities you will go far. Having the ability to clearly communicate if key, showing up to a job on time and doing a good job, and being thankful for all the opportunities offered to you is so important. People respect and value these qualities and with them you can achieve a lot.
Okay, so before we go on always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’m always looking for folks to collaborate or partner with! I’m interested in working with kindhearted people who have a good story to tell. I love working with other filmmakers; I can help them by camera assisting, camera operating, editing or even shooting and editing behind-the-scenes videos for their brand or production company. I enjoy working on documentary-style projects and with artists and athletes in the action sports worlds specifically, but am open to anything. Also, if you have a brand that needs a promo video/ad, or an event happening that you need a videographer for, I’m your girl. If you’re reading this and want to collaborate please send me an email at: seastoneproductions@gmail.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.seastoneproductions.com
- Instagram: @seastoneproductions
- Other: www.vimeo.com/seastoneproductions
seastoneproductions@gmail.com
Image Credits
Dave Tada Jorge Aguilar
