The Fully Functional Production Studio In Your Pocket

Let's not let words confuse us: we call the devices we live with phones, but that's not what they are; not really. They are computers. They are portable computers equal in processing power and functionality to moderately high-end desktop units five-to-seven years ago. They also happen to be able to make phone calls.

Because we mostly use them to make calls, use social media and play games, it's easy to overlook a truly revolutionary development. The camera and microphone in your phone are more sophisticated than the cameras used by most local TV stations in the 80's and 90's.

Think about that for a moment. That metal and plastic rectangle in your pocket is capable of more than most network television stations at the height of network broadcasting. With a few touches of a finger you can record video and add effects that would have taken hours of post production. And with another few touches, you have access to the same sort of mixing and effects technologies that would have required control boards complex enough to need their own room, and technicians to use them.

Don't take my word for it. Google “film shot on note 10" and “film shot on iPhone 11.” But you don't have to be that new and fancy… Search the same queries with the Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6S. Almost any phone bought in the last 6 or 7 years is capable of doing what the pros were doing, say, 15 years ago. And some rival what the pros are doing now.

Now, add the top seven to ten social media platforms, and you have a potential reach those same outlets could never have dreamt of.

59% of the world's population have internet access. That is a potential audience of 4.66 billion. One percent of that would still be more than 46 million people.

If you are looking to make decent content to build an audience but haven't started yet, expensive equipment, complex software and lack of knowledge are not valid excuses. The technological, informational and permission- based barriers to entry have all been removed. The only barrier left us inertia.

Make a (quick, dirty) plan, gab your camera and hit record. Now.