Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth and Ryan Schorman.
Wooden Camera was founded in 2011 by Ryan & Elizabeth, a husband and wife team from Dallas, Texas. Ryan manages product development and Elizabeth, with an investment banking background, manages operations.
Ryan’s interest in film started as a teen when he began videotaping skateboarding. After graduating from the University of North Texas with a business degree, he worked with several advertising agencies creating video content for magazines and TV commercials, while still pursuing freelance production on the side. Ryan was inspired by the RED Epic camera to create the first product, the A-Box, which adapts standard XLR to 3.5mm plugs. After fine tuning the manufacturing process, Wooden Camera began introducing more products with over 1000 SKUs to date.
Wooden Camera’s headquarters is in Dallas, Texas, where all of the design, engineering, assembly, QC, and shipping takes place. In 2015, Wooden Camera opened a retail store in Burbank, California to better serve the local film industry.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The beginning of the process took a lot of time to find out the best way to do our manufacturing and making all of the details consistent. Ryan & Elizabeth complement each other in their skillset, so Ryan takes care of the product development, and Elizabeth manages finance, operations, and HR.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Wooden Camera – what should we know?
We make accessories for high-end cameras. Many times when you buy a $40,000 camera, there is not a handle or a way to mount it to a tripod, we make all of the things necessary for cameras to work in film production. We also make accessories for DSLRs like the Sony A7.
We’re known for our excellent customer service, creative product design and having products before the cameras themselves are shipping, and the fact that we carry everything in stock and can ship items the same day they are ordered. We’re most proud of continuing these core competencies even after 7 years. These are also the attributes that set us apart.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Obviously we could not have done it without each other. Being married to each other sometimes presents issues, like when we both need to travel frequently to meetings and we have a young daughter, but it is also the best! We know what we are each thinking, we never step on toes, and we can always count on each other.
Our families have been instrumental to our success. From being our electrical engineering team, creating spreadsheets in the early days, doing all of our legal work, and just being there for us.
We also have some folks on the team who have been there from the beginning. Jerry has done our manufacturing engineering, Griselda was our original shipping team but now manages all of assembly/shipping, and many more folks.
Pricing:
- Our products range from $25 (hot shoe mount) to $2000 (matteboxes, follow focuses, and video converter boxes).
Contact Info:
- Address: 1826 West Commerce Street
Dallas, TX 75208 - Website: www.WoodenCamera.com
- Phone: 855-966-3226
- Email: info@woodencamera.com
- Instagram: @woodencamera
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoodenCameraAccessories/
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