Meet Chason Laing | Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chason Laing and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chason, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We started Lumindeo.org eight years ago with the purpose of creating content for the faith & family market. So many original content shows on streamers and TV are aimed at adults with mature material and adult language. We wanted to make shows that were fun, safe, and encouraging for the whole family. We saw a large opportunity in that niche and spent the first five years creating docs, shorts, and a few series in that genre. That niche tends to be very loyal and often branch out to find content they like, so we focused on connecting with them. We truly believed that if we made good content the audience would come and we were so very wrong. There is so much content being created daily that it is not enough to make something visually great; you have to have an audience behind you. We switched gears and began to pursue building a loyal audience. We saw that the children’s market was hungry for content and that parents wanted good shows for their kids so we thought this would be a great way to connect with families. Even though we had never creating anything for children specifically before, we stepped out and did it and now our show, ‘Wyatt’s Fort,’ is currently on Amazon Prime and doing very well. Then, With the rise in streaming services and advertising video on demand services we adapted again and slowly pushed into broader reaching content with the goal of creating higher quality and larger budget programming. We completed our first drama series called ‘Breakers’ which was filmed locally in Dallas/Fort Worth and is being released soon by ITN Distribution. Now, we are focused on partnering with broadcasters and streamers in both national and international markets, including One Life Studios in India, which has now become even more important with the COVID situation around the world. So we have come a long way and our strategy for what we make and how we distribute has been an evolving process for sure.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The film industry is a crushingly difficult business. Countless days I have thought about just grabbing a simple 9-5 job where I could leave work at the office and have a simple career ladder to climb. I am confident I have had to tackle more difficulties and let downs than most of the people I know. It’s like being on a roller coaster; there are some amazing days and successes and there are some days where I just want to lay on the floor and not get up. One major thing I have learned is that when setbacks and disappointments happen I allow myself one day and only one day to feel it, embrace it, and let it get to me. But the next day I put it behind me and get back on the filmmaking horse. This is not an industry to get in if you can’t get accustomed to getting thrown off over and over again and then getting back up for more. If anything I am stronger and more resilient now. It takes a lot to set me back. I also rely heavily on my faith. God makes no promises that things will be easy but he does promise to see you through it. I am also blessed with having an encouraging and supportive wife, Cassie. We are able to help each other up whenever it gets rough, and be assured, it will get rough.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The places I think are a must to see in the area would be an FC Dallas game, a night in downtown Fort Worth on the square, a drink at Acre Distillery, a trip to Six Flags, a burger at Rodeo Goat, game night at TANSTAAFL Pub, and biking with the family at one of the bike parks.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Lumindeo.org was started by myself, my wife, and my parents, Gaylen and Charles Laing. Without them we would not have been able to create anything. They have all been such a support in so many ways that much of the thanks and credit should go to them.

Website: www.deo.tv
Instagram: dadmakesmovies
Linkedin: ChasonLaing
Facebook: deo.tv

Image Credits
Photos by Tony Torres