Timothy J. Forbes, Founder of Frontenac Media ~ Wrote & Produced 3 Indie Films ~ World Traveler (Boston, MA)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

BSO: Tell us about the inception of Frontenac Media.

TF:

This came about because I had done training in web page design, and wanted to get involved in online media. I created a Catwoman fan site, with the intention of displaying my online media skills, and created or helped to create other websites. Later on, I began working on video, which I am basically self taught.

 

BSO: There is no typical day in the life of a project leader and marketer. Share with us your a.m. to p.m.

TF:

When I am not working with Best Buy, I will spend time working on the web site using WordPress, or write story outlines that will be converted over to a working video script.

 

BSO: What are your ‘can’t live without’ apps?

TF:

WordPress, Microsoft Office, as well as Vegas Pro 17.0 for video editing.

 

BSO: What was the best advice you received when you started Frontenac Media?

TF:

I really didn’t get any advice, but I knew from experience working in print media that I had to make sure that whatever I wrote had to be accurate, and that spelling, punctuation and grammar were of top importance. Integrity is also of top importance.

 

BSO: What are your proudest achievements, professional & personal?

TF:

Professionally, getting my three fan films and two major websites launched; they gave me exposure to prominent people. My proudest personal achievement are my children.

 

BSO: What are your favorite news feeds?

TF:

The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and other alternate news outlets.

 

BSO: What are your most rewarding charitable involvements?

TF:

All of them, really. All charitable involvements matter.

 

BSO: Who has influenced your career the most?

TF:

Chris Notarile and James Cawley, independent film makers who showed me that it was possible to come up with good ideas for stories, and then see them through to completion. Chris, in particular, was able to make fan films for almost next to nothing, while James showed he could network with people from the original Star Trek series to produce new film projects.

 

BSO: What is your advice for anyone interested in sharpening their marketing skills?

TF:

• Be aware of the world around you ֩
• Don’t fall into a rut; stay aware of the changing world around you, and stay up to date
• Always be attentive to client needs

 

Timothy J. Forbes, MDiv Biography

Born in Troy, New York, Timothy Forbes’ life has been one long, strange trip to speak of. After spending his toddler years first in Albany, and then in the Rochester, NY area, he grew up in Apalachin, NY, a suburb of Binghamton.

His upbringing in Binghamton was memorable, in that he received exposure to different cultures in an ethnically-rich area, as well as intellectual stimulation from an academic environment that benefitted from both the ethnicities and from having high-tech employers such as IBM. However, Timothy tended to cut across the grain because of his maternal side’s artistic traits. By the time he was 7, he had both an interest in being a cartoonist and in being a road engineer because of his interest in stoplights. The interest in the latter came about because of his visits to Albany, NY, which had many old-style signals.

His interest in cartooning morphed into an interest in print journalism, which led to his first major phase of his career, work in newspapers.

Around this time, he began learning the Russian language; two years before graduation, he took a trip to the then-Soviet Union (now, Russia and Ukraine). His secondary school years started badly when his paternal grandmother was murdered, so it was not smooth sailing. However, Timothy was involved with such activities as the school newspaper.

Upon graduation from high school, Timothy attended the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He finished off his education there by spending his final semester at Syracuse’s facility in London. As in high school, he had involvement with the school newspaper.

Timothy worked as a regional editor for the Glens Falls, NY Post-Star before taking a detour to pursue theological studies. He ended up in Boston and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 1990. By this time, he was married and had three children.

Religious plans did not work out, and his wife died.

In 1998, Timothy began a five-year working stint for desktop publishers (Gould Publications in Binghamton, New York, then Thompson-West in Rochester, New York). During this time, he began working in retail.  He would work there for a decade. During this time, his interest in the world continued with four trips to Latin America.

He began his work with Best Buy in 2015, where he currently works as an Inventory Specialist.

His work with Frontenac Media is what has stood out. Named after the county in Ontario, Canada which lies by Kingston, Frontenac Media started off as a web site company that played off of Timothy’s experience in news media. For a time, he administered web sites for a Twilight Zone tribute site, as well as for actor Alan Young (1919-2016) and for the owner of Batman/Green Hornet vehicles.

His involvement with a comic book message board led to his involvement in video. In 2007, he began work on his first fan film, Batman 1969, shot largely in Ontario, Canada. That first project took three years and was released in summer 2011. That film utilized sites in Toronto, Hamilton and Strathroy, with additional scenes filmed in Saratoga County and Albany, NY, with a cast containing Canadians and Americans.

During this time, Timothy’s involvement with the comic book industry and with comic cons led to his creating a number of “Cat Blogs.” His second fan film, Batman: Onset of Winter, was completed in 2013. More recently, Timothy released his third fan film, The Conquest of Batman, filmed in Boston as a way to launch a planned web series. In 2019, he revamped his two major web sites by converting them over to WordPress, since those sites are heavily content driven. Timothy’s interest in different cultures and world cultures continues in 2020 as well, as expressed by his concern for indigenous people and interest in Armenian culture.

No matter what happens today, Timothy Forbes is far from finished! He currently resides in Massachusetts.

Sanjay Shah, Director of Visionary Digital Studios Ltd. (Brisbane, Australia)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

BSO: Since our interview years ago, please share with us ways in which you’ve 1) challenged yourself and 2) grown, personally AND professionally.

SS:

Evolution and growth are always at the top of my mind, both as an individual and as a business (www.visionarydigitalstudios.com) (http://linkedin.com/in/visionarysanjayshah).

For me personally, one important change has been spending more time with people who I can learn from. I’ve joined a high-level Mastermind to make sure I’m mentored by people who are well ahead of me on the journey. Being in a Mastermind also ensures that I’m always surrounded by other CEOs with big ambition.

This keeps me motivated, keeps the fire burning.

In business, Visionary’s target market has switched to more high profile CEOs and bigger companies. This keeps our whole team challenged, always reaching up, always evolving to compete on a higher level. It also has the knock-on effect of consistently bringing successful people into our network, so we can share ideas and share more success with them as the relationship builds.

My recent epiphany – the growth curve will never stop.

We’ll always be reaching up to bigger deals, more challenging opportunities, delivering more value, working with more successful people.

Growth & Evolution IS the game …

BSO: With what you’ve learned about yourself and all that you’ve achieved, what are 3 pieces of advice you’d give your younger self ?

SS:

• A natural part of all evolution is pain. Get used to the pain of building a business, learn to enjoy it, embrace it, and know that every time you endure it, the glory you get in return is always worth it.
• The viewpoints of the majority of society are designed for people who want to live ordinary lives. That’s fine, no problems with that. But if you want to live your dreams, then you’ll have to think differently, and you’ll have to be comfortable with being very different from the norm.
• Understand that if you’re putting in the HARD work, if your exposing yourself to the right training, and if you’re spending time with the right people – with patience, the results are pretty much guaranteed.

BSO: That never ending ‘balance’ question (wellness, career and family). What’s your typical day look like ? Or share with us a sample of 2 days.

SS:

I think there is no such thing as work-life balance for entrepreneurs!

Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle.

It doesn’t mean you can’t have family & friends, rest periods, and time to live your wildest dreams imaginable …

But all of those things should be correlated to your business.

So it means spending more time with family & friends that inspire your mission, scheduling deep rest to ensure you can bring your best self to your work, and consistently living your dreams to keep the fire burning for your business …

The way this plays out for me : I’m usually working 5:30am – 8pm, 5 days a week, plus plenty of hours on the weekend. However, I’ll factor in exercise designed to power my work day, spend time every day with people who inspire me and consuming content that makes me a better Director.

And it’s mandatory for me to live right on the ocean in a beautiful apartment, just to make sure the struggles are always worth it!

But to me … it’s all categorised as “work”. Everything in the day is designed to power the vision of the company in some way.

BSO: To function at our highest level and to continue tapping into our creativity, Weekends should be restorative, physically and mentally. What does yours look like ?

SS:

Hahaha this question makes me feel guilty …

I work all day Saturday and most of Sunday morning.

But I’ll always fit in some Crossfit training, some beach time, and usually a party or a concert to keep life exciting.  Sunday afternoons are spent in nature, usually alone. Deep rest … to prepare mentally for another big week ahead.

BSO: Please share with us what we can look forward to in terms of projects you are working on or your next exciting venture.

SS:

As entrepreneurs, we all want to start new ventures every day, and we find it hard to control ourselves!

But I’m a firm believer in focus.

If you have limited work hours each week – I think all your energy should be focussed into one single venture.

So, for Visionary Digital Studios, we’re sticking to our core product – Animated Marketing Videos for leading tech companies. However, we’re expanding that product to include options to use the videos to attract leads and scale business results.

So we’re now strategising Websites, Facebook Ads and Google Ads for our video clients, all based around the videos we have produced for them.

These Digital Marketing services are a competitive space to be in.

But it’s really exciting for us, because we are one of very few video agencies worldwide who can also offer these extra services, and do it well.

Lots of work on the horizon …But loving every step of the evolution & growth.

http://linkedin.com/in/visionarysanjayshah