04/30/2021
I had the honor earlier this week of interviewing Bronson Henriques, Colorado Mesa University's videographer! It was super insightful getting to talk to him and I hope you all enjoy as much as I did.
A Professional Q&A with Colorado Mesa University Videographer Bronson Henriques
By Carl Bryant
As I step into Mr. Henriques’ office, I can tell this is a man after my own heart. Various pieces of video production equipment scatter the floor on the far side of the room. On his desk is a high end DSLR. I can’t tell what specific model it is, but I can tell by the strap and button layout that it’s a Canon. Mr. Henriques sits behind two large monitors, an editing station far more advanced than the laptop I use. All I know is this is definitely the kind of guy whose brain I want to pick. Pleasantries are exchanged and the chat begins.
Q: First off, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
A: I’m the videographer and media asset coordinator at Colorado Mesa University. I was a student in the mass comm program, graduated in 2015. Not long after that I got the job here, and this July I’ll have been here for five years.
Q: What is your job at CMU?
A: My job is to produce videos that advance CMU’s strategic goals, mainly based around recruitment of students to the university. That has also evolved into telling stories that bring in dollars to the university via donors and things like that. But I think you can tie that back to recruitment of students at CMU. That’s what we do, we recruit students to help them find their paths and grow themselves.
Q: When did you first decide you wanted to get into video production?
A: I’d have to say somewhere around my sophomore year here at Mesa. I switched over to the mass comm program from the theater program. I pretty quickly got involved with CMU TV, and I really started to see video production as the career path I wanted to go into closer to my junior year… Going into my senior year I was able to get an internship with Greg Mikolai, doing some work for Rocky Mountain PBS. That really showed me the market that’s out there for video production.
Q: How do you see your career in video production progressing?
A: I’m not leaving any door unopened. I think there is a huge need now more than ever for video production and video storytelling. I think that is one of the most powerful tools we have to tell and show students why CMU is the best place for them. In order to do that, I think we need to grow our video operations. That’s a challenge I would like to undertake. As it sits I am basically the only videographer for the university at present. So I think leading a group of three to four videographers telling a story with CMU... is somewhere I could see myself going. But I also think branching out and starting my own business… would give me a bit more freedom in terms of the kinds of jobs I can pursue. And it’s not that you don’t get that CMU, but everything is central to CMU, and every story we tell is about CMU.
Q: What is your favorite video product you’ve worked on so far?
A: The one that pops into my head right off the bat is a video I made for my grandfather, who had passed away. My grandmother asked me to put together a video that could play in his services. Originally she wanted to do a slideshow, and I thought “Well, why don’t we go beyond that and do something a little more for him?” So I was able to produce a short documentary on his life.
