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Marketing artist – Hamilton native returns to Montana to build award-winning ad firm

Chris Johnson has a passion for telling a story.

Chris Johnson, owner of Mirage Productions http://www.mirageproductionsonline.com of Missoula, won seven Addy Awards for television commercial production earlier this month in Great Falls.

By MICK HOLIEN of the Missoulian

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/03/24/business/bus01.txt

While his enthusiasm for storytelling paid dividends when he was training to be a broadcast journalist at the University of Montana, it’s been equally beneficial in helping him make commercials.

"It’s all about story. Can you affect someone on an emotional level?" Johnson said, sitting in the midst of his Mirage Productions studio at the Montana Technology Enterprise Center last week. "That’s what we try to do with the commercials. Let’s find out how our product or service fits into people’s lives and then let’s see something that can emotionally grab that part of their lives."

An effective commercial is not just about spewing out information. Johnson wants to take the process a step further.

"Let’s encapsulate that information into a story that people can become a part of," he said. "You can’t just go out and say ‘go out and find me an emotion.’ There’s is a process involved. There is a nuance to it and artistry to it."

About a semester short of his UM degree, Johnson, 33, moved to the Chicago area in 2001. He worked in a marketing job there before starting his company. Moving back to Missoula was all part of the Hamilton High School graduate’s 10-year plan.

It didn’t take 10 years.

On Sept. 11, 2001, he was in Boston on business during the terrorist attacks; his family had remained behind in Milwaukee. While standing outside the hotel where some of the terrorists had spent the night before the attacks, he watched a pair of U.S. Navy fighters fly over the city.

He rented a 24-foot U-Haul van and headed for Wisconsin en route back to Missoula.

"Sept. 11 was the impetus," Johnson said. "I changed my mind right there and said ‘I am not sticking around. There are some people out there that say ‘I’m going to move to Montana,’ but you know they’re never going to do it. We said, ‘Let’s decide if we’re going to do it and go back and somehow make it work there.’ "

He kept working for his Midwest company even while living in Missoula for a year and then signed a two-year agreement and moved into MonTEC http://www.montec.org/ in August 2003.

"This place has just been great," he said of the technology-based business incubator. "It fit to a T. It’s just terrific."

While he’ll do any commercial, it’s those with a creative edge for unusual clients that bring him the most enjoyment.

"That client is someone who is concerned with the image that their business has," said Johnson. "They care about how their business is perceived by the public and it becomes important to them that not only do they have a message that’s remembered, but that they have a message that’s remembered in a positive way."

"Just being remembered isn’t the most important thing," about a commercial, he said. "You can make people remember you, but can you do it in a way where there’s a positive emotional connection or some kind of call to action?"

Hamilton, who worked at KLYQ-AM while growing up in Hamilton, is an admitted jack-of-all-trades – a marketing artist, so to speak – both by necessity and avocation.

"Now they call us predators," a term Johnson doesn’t particularly enjoy but one which describes myriad responsibilities.

"You’re not just a double or a triple threat," he said. "You’ve got to be able to shoot, light, produce, edit. direct, to be able to see a trend or build a trend, to animate and it’s tough."

His work has now begun to be recognized. He recently won seven Addys for commercials and last year claimed two Telly Awards for his television production. He’s done commercials for clients such as the Good Food Store and Barney Jette Jewelry and also produces a weekly television program, "Around Helena."

Johnson is at a balance point in the business where, if he is to grow first regionally and then nationally, he needs to hire some talented employees.

"I want to find people like me," he said, and laughed. "People who can look at the big picture and write and then go in and know what details are going to have to happen to make that written thing come to life (but) if I could find somebody like that I could be training my competition."

"I’m looking to take this to the next level. I think we could run a national production company from Missoula," Johnson said. "I want to be able to provide six or eight good-paying production technology-based jobs in the Missoula community and I want to do that within five years."

The sophistication and availability of higher-end equipment, he said, makes such growth a distinct possibility.

"You can pack a lot into these cameras," he said. "These cameras are what put me in this game. Twenty years ago you would pay $30,000 for a camera that you would get an image half this good."

But the equipment, he noted, is just the tool of the trade. "A tool is a tool and unless you know what you’re doing with it, it doesn’t matter," he said.

The company’s growth also could be fueled by industrial work with medium-sized companies and the advent of DVD production.

"As a marketing tool, (it) is really an untapped resource," said Johnson. "It’s great for education of employees, for shooting specific type of equipment and how it works … With DVD you can actually run multiple screens at the same time and the camera angle changes with the push of a bottom. You’re basically a director. That’s something I’m trying to develop."

Along with knocking on doors, he’ll let the company’s reputation sell his stock.

"I want to let the work that I do grow the business. This business is all about reputation. There’s a lot of competition out there but really what it all boils down to is who is best," said Johnson. "The bottom line is: It’s all about story. That’s the part that keeps me coming back here every morning."

More on Mirage

Mirage Productions, a Missoula company specializing in video and DVD production, recently received seven Addy Awards for television commercial production. Located at the Montana Technology Enterprise Center, or MonTEC, at 1121 E. Broadway, the company began in Milwaukee and opened in Missoula in 2002. To learn more about the business, visit http://www.mirageproductionsonline.com or call Chris Johnson at 549-7782.

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