#009: Peter von Kahle (27 yrs) on Filming the NFL Super Bowl and Traveling the World as a...

Welcome to the Hackiversity Podcast, where students learn how to achieve more by doing less in college. Learn the hacks from wildly successful recent college graduates as your host, Kyle Whiney explores the colleges, majors, and paths that produce the biggest results in college using less effort. It's hacking time.

What's up, all you college hacks? Hey, hackers. Welcome to the Hackiversity Podcast with me, Kyle Wienie, where I interview recent college graduates who crushed it out of the gate in order to show students how to achieve more by doing less in college. Today, I'm thrilled to talk with Peter von call. In 2012, Peter graduated from Flagler University with a degree in communications. Shortly after college, Peter filmed the NFL Super Bowl 48, a broadcast with over 111 million viewers and over 25 million tweets. It's not surprising that the super bowl is largely considered the biggest stage in all of media. And Peter, only a few years out of college, was in the thick of things filming. In this episode, Peter and I discuss most notably, first, how saying yes to a small video project landed Peter a gig with the NFL at the biggest stage in media. Second, how creatives can break through and claim recognition using the advice from famed comedian Steve Martin. And third, how to select the highest leverage media equipment to help students begin producing content faster and better than before. Without further ado, let's dig in.

Peter, thanks so much for coming on the show today.

Thank you for having me, Peter.

So if your best friend were to introduce you as a guest speaker, what would they say?

He would probably say that I'm a filmmaker or videographer, and he probably would bring up that I have a passion for storytelling.

Cool. He would keep it short and sweet. I like it. So, Peter, there's a lot I want to talk about today. I'm super excited to get to it. But before we do, how old are you?

I am 27 years old.

So, Peter, let's start with your college experience. You graduated in 2012 from Flagler, which is a small school in Florida with a degree in communications.

That is correct.

Why did you choose communications?

When I went to college, I knew that I wanted to be involved in entertainment to an extent, and. And I remember sitting in the very first class that I had for my communications department, I guess, my freshman year, and I had this idea that I was going to be a writer on Saturday Night Live or Jay Leno or Conan or something. I didn't know really what the extent of what I wanted to do, but I really actually wanted to be a writer. And I knew that I wanted to be a writer surrounding television or movies to that degree. And that's kind of. I was like, well, I know that's not business. I know that that's not philosophy. I know that that's not religion. So it's probably communications, because you're communicating something. And so I just kind of went with the flow.

So you kind of always had high aspirations, though, to produce creative content that would be seen and exposed at a wide scale?

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Cool.

So, Peter, did you always know that you were creative?

I don't know if I actually ever came to the conclusion by myself, to be honest. Here I am now. I do recognize that I'm a creative person. But I started taking piano lessons in third grade, and I started writing music as soon as I could figure out the piano and as soon as I could write it. And I remember my mom and my aunt just being like, wow, you're really creative. You like doing this. And so I guess that that's kind of one area where I first discovered that I was creative.

So someone else called that out in your life? Someone else identified that in your life at a really young age?

Yeah, at a really young age, and my entire life in different mediums, I was kind of creating, whether it was with music or with television entertainment. I enjoyed creating stories, and I enjoyed telling stories.

That's really cool. So from a young age, middle school, even younger, you knew that you like producing content, whether it was video, whether it was writing. You just love the creative aspect, and that is kind of the foundation in.

Which you enter college.

And so you chose communications as your major.

But, Peter, how did you know in college that it wasn't painting, it wasn't.

Writing, it wasn't some other medium that you really wanted to pursue at kind of a focused level, but it was film and it was videography.

How did you determine that?

So I, you know, like, we. We've already established, I always enjoyed creating content with a video camera. And after my sophomore year of college, my sophomore year of college, I still wanted to be a writer. I still wanted to write scripts. I was looking at different post grad, getting my master's Master of Arts in screenwriting at ucla. You know, these big schools, I had these big ambitions. And I took an internship the summer after my sophomore year at college, and that was with a Young Life camp up in Minnesota, Castaway. And that was the summer of 2010. And my internship was to literally document the events that the campers experienced every day. And at the end of the week, I produced a 20 minute video of the entire week and the kids could buy that in the store and they bring home the DVD and show it to their friends. And I remember one time, I actually don't remember who it is, but somebody said, peter, you know, you're really good at shooting, you're really good with the camera. You know, these are some of the best video scrapbooks that I've ever seen. They said, you know, you should do this. And that was when it kind of. I started shifting my mindset to, but what if I'm behind the camera rather than behind a joke or behind a movie script or behind an idea of a TV show? What if I'm the one holding the camera? I'm the one finding the angles?

Peter, I think that's so key in my book. I refer to that as self awareness. You know, what is it about yourself that you know that you're good at, that you know you're passionate about? And one of the struggles I think that people find with developing self awareness is they just don't really know how to go about it. And, and I think one of the frankly, really accurate ways to go about it and one of the cheap ways to go about it is just listen.

To what people say about you.

And I think that's exactly what you did.

And if people are saying, I think.

You are really talented at this, there's.

A good chance that they are right.

And that is something worth pursuing. And it seems like that was people recognizing your strengths and your passions from their own perspective, I think was kind of really instrumental and helpful for you in determining that you actually are passionate about videography and that you are really good at videography.

So I think people pointed it out and then I was able to almost run with it.

So, Peter, there might be some students.

Out there that say, you know, I really love film and I really want.

To get involved with film, but I.

Just don't know how to get started.

So from your perspective, Peter, what is.

The most critical step for that student to take right out of the gate?

This goes for anything creative is to just get out there and to make something. It doesn't matter if people watch it, really. It doesn't matter if people enjoy it. You know, hopefully people do enjoy it with time. It doesn't really matter if you even like it, but perfect your craft. You know, Steve Martin has this famous quote, and I love it. It's be so good that they can't ignore you. You can buy a $10,000 camera, you can buy a huge editing suite. You can invest so much money into your talent and into your passion, but if you actually don't have the talent to back up your passion, you're not really going to go far. And Steve Martin says, be so good that they can't ignore you. Perfect that craft so that people who see your videos, they can't ignore you. They say, wow, this is really good. This person's really good at that.

Yeah, Peter, I love that because, you know, I think that your story is very much one of which is clear that you're passionate about what you do. But what you've just identified in regard to passion I think is really key. And that is passion by itself doesn't necessarily guarantee success. There has to be an element, you actually being good at what you do. You can be passionate all day long, and if you're not good at it, it just doesn't matter. So the fact that you are passionate about film and good at the same time, and you've recognized that about yourself, I think is not only instrumental in your success, but a really key takeaway for students out there determining what career path they should go down in college and kind of how to create a college career around, you know, not only their passion, but also their strengths. That's really cool, Peter. Also, in regard to students looking to get started, you mentioned about investing thousands of dollars in equipment.

If someone is interested in film, what is the first piece of equipment that they should use?

And so that doesn't necessarily mean that they actually have to go out and buy anything.

Maybe it's their phone that you would.

Recommend that they use.

But what is, you know, like the.

High leverage play, kind of a value play for someone where they can e get in to the film game without spending an arm and a leg. And whatever equipment they use is actually going to generate some, you know, consumable quality content.

I would invest in a good quality computer that you are able to make films, high quality films on. For example, if you were to go out and buy a MacBook right now, or, you know, probably a MacBook, but if you were to go out and buy a MacBook, you have iMovie on there. And you can edit your movie in imovie, you can edit your sound in GarageBand, you can make music with the sound in GarageBand. You can even shoot your video on your phone. You know, the phones are getting better. The iPhone 7 is a great, has a great camera attached to it. And so I would say get yourself a computer that you'll be able to grow your business out of you'll be able to watch good movies on or good other work, other good content on so you can perfect your craft, see what other people are doing and just kind of go from there.

Cool. I think that's great. And Peter, let me just drill down on that a bit more. Do you Recommend Like a MacBook Pro, kind of, you know, the best laptop available, or do you recommend a desktop? What do you recommend under the Apple product line?

Definitely Recommend Probably a MacBook Pro.

And is it worth it to spend more money to get the 15 inch screen or will the 13 inch suffice?

I'd say it's worth it to go for the 15 inch, but the 13 inch will suffice, if that's all you need.

And Peter, for students looking to get started in film or videography, how important is them to market their content and get noticed?

That's most important. And let me define market your work. If you feel as if you are proud to show something, if you feel as if this is good, you know, you've created something and you're happy with the product, share it on Facebook, share it on Instagram, share it on some form of social media. You know, there's so many different platforms that you can now post videos. YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram now tells shows video. You can even upload things to Snapchat. I would. If this is something that you want to do, if this is something that you want to attack, I would say attack it head on.

So, Peter, let's transition now into your professional career. And I want to start by something that I find incredibly remarkable, and that is you filmed the NFL Super bowl in 2014. That was between the Seahawks and the Broncos, I believe.

How did you score that job?

In the fall of 2013, somebody reached out to me and they said, peter, I found you on Vimeo. I wasn't advertising or anything. I have a video in D.C. we don't really pay much. I was like, okay, sure, I'll do it. That was the start of a relationship that I had with this company. The video was about a couple in D.C. they reached a certain amount of money. They were going to change their last names to the Vance Quigglebottoms. I made a video about them, just a quick little profile piece. You know, I gave it to the company. They enjoyed it, I suppose, because then later that year she reached out to me and said, peter, the Wounded Warrior amputee football team, they go all over the country and they play flag football against former NFL players. And so this company reached out to Me, the same company I did Van Squiggle Bottoms for, they reached out to me and they said, peter, you know the Wyndham Border amputee football team, they're playing the game against some former Redskins, and we want to do a video about it. Are you available to do it? And I said, sure, absolutely. So I did it. It was an awesome experience. I actually enjoyed it. And, you know, it was awesome to see these people who pretty much gave their all to protect our freedom and protect our country, have a good time. And fast forward to that. That video actually turned out really well. So In January of 2014, the playoffs are happening, The NFL playoffs are happening. And I get a call. I'm actually out in LA when I get this call, and it's the lady from the company, and she says, peter, we want to do another one, but it's in New York, and it's during super bowl week. And by the way, the guy who runs the Wounded Warrior amputee football team, he also has work for you, Actually working on the Super Bowl. Not very long after, I drove up to New York City, I stayed in Times Square. I worked Radio Row. I filmed this Wounded Warrior football amputee football game against bunch of NFL legends and the Village People. You know, the people who did the ymca, they did the halftime show for this super. Or this Wounded Warrior amputee football game. And I was just like, this is awesome. This is surreal. You know, I remember one morning I went to Radio Row, and if you guys aren't familiar with Radio Row, basically everybody wants to cover the super bowl, right? So they rent out a huge convention center or conference room of a hotel, and they set up rows of tables of radio stations all over the country. And people come by, you know, famous people, former football players, you name it. Rudy Giuliani was there. Pretty much everybody was at this Radio Row doing interviews with radio stations from all over the country. And so I remember I was showing up, I think it might have been the first morning, maybe it was the second morning, but I walk in and Michael Clayton, who is of ESPN NFL fame, he's on the elevator with me. And I was just like, wow, that's Michael Clayton. This is crazy. And then I walk through the door, and this guy hands me a phone, and it's like, hey, can you take a picture for me? And I'm like, you're Reggie Bush. Sure, I can take a photo for you. You know, it's just like this crazy. I feel like I entered, you know.

Parallel universe or something.

Yeah, it was awesome.

You know, I think what is really awesome about that, Peter, is it all stemmed from what we talked about earlier, and that is just putting yourself out there, putting yourself out on Vimeo.

This whole how.

How you got here was not because you studied longer in the library. It wasn't because you had perfect attendance at class. It wasn't because, you know, you scored 4.0s and just dazzled everyone with how smart you were.

It was because you did what mattered.

And that. That is get out there with your creative content, get recognition, and then be great at your craft. And that is exactly what you did. And that landed you a killer position in the super bowl. And you got to meet Reggie Bush and you got to meet John Clayton and all these really cool experiences, all because you put yourself out there as a creative. I think that's. That's the most key takeaway from that story.

Absolutely. I had this film teacher, so I actually. I took a film studies class when I was in high school, and it was really just, I have an extra elective. I need an easy A. What should I do? Somebody said, do film studies. You'll enjoy the class. So I was like, all right, I'm do film studies. And my teacher there, he actually went to film school in London. And he was a great guy. But I remember one thing that he told me, and it might be the only thing that I still remember to this day, is that in production, especially in video production, there's things that maybe you're not sure if you can do or if you really want to do it, not if you really want to do it, because obviously you do want to do it. But there's going to be challenges where people will approach you for jobs, and you'll say, I need you to do X, Y, and Z. And you're like, I've never done that before. But he said, just always say yes and then figure out how to do it. And at the time, I was like, well, that seems like you're gonna land yourself into some trouble. You know, that could be an issue down the line, but I actually kind of adopted that mindset to, hey, can you film my wedding? Well, I've never filmed a wedding before. I don't know the first part about filming a wedding. The angles to capture a bride. You know, I didn't think about the X and O's. I just was like, yeah, I can do it. And I figured out where I needed to be and when I needed to be there to. To capture the right moments. And just by making myself available, by saying, yes, I've been able to grow this business.

You know, I think what holds people back from me saying yes is that they're afraid of failure. They're afraid of putting themselves in an unknown situation, and that creates uncertainty, and then they're afraid that they're going to fail. And, you know, I think that what you've done, Peter, is you just looked at that differently and you said, you know, I'm not going to focus on the downside here because the upside is so big. The upside is I can actually do a really good job here. I've been afforded this opportunity, and if I do it well, I can land at the super bowl or something like it. And I think it's just really cool to be able to frame opportunities in the right light and not get so bogged down on this fear of failure that I think prevents people from acting on opportunities and saying yes. So I think that's a really cool takeaway. Peter, one other cool thing I want to talk about in regard to your career is I know that you've been all over the world filming, in particular the Amazon.

So for students who want to travel.

And film, what's the first step that they can do in order to accomplish both of those things?

I think we just hit it, is that you have to make yourself available. So I, you know, you mentioned it. I do go to the Amazon, you know, about twice a year now with a great nonprofit based out of Nashville, Tennessee, called Justice and Mercy. And we go and live on a boat for a week. I was just there for 11 days in June, actually. And the whole reason that I was able to do this was somebody just said, peter, you do video, right? And I said, yeah, I do video. And they said, would you mind taking a video that we can show the church, we can show supporters who sent us? And I said, sure, you know, I'd love to do that. But again, that was me saying, I could have said, well, I don't know. I wasn't really planning on bringing my video equipment. I don't really know what it's going to be like there. What if I get dust? What if my lenses get scratched? I didn't really think about that. I just was like, yeah, I love doing video. Sure, it'd be awesome to be able to tell this story of whatever is about to happen, because I really had no clue what was about to happen. So we go on this trip, I come back, I make a video, I take pictures, and the people in Nashville see it, and they're like, can you make us some more videos, you know. Well, we'd love to have you come to come to Brazil again. Can you keep doing this? And so just by simply saying yes, I now have a new client that I'm continually traveling the world or at least to Brazil. They want to send me to Moldova and maybe South Africa. But it was all because that first initial yes took place, that I'm able to travel the world and tell stories that I've. I never in a million years would have thought that I had told.

So cool, Peter. So, Peter, let's transition to the final section of the show, which is also my personal favorite. And that's what I like to call the rapid fire question section, which is where I offer up some quick hitting questions. But that by no means requires your answers to be quick hitting. So you ready? Yeah, let's do it.

Peter, would you say there's a specific.

College track to get you where you are today?

Absolutely not.

I like it just straight.

No.

Peter, who is the first person that comes to mind when I say the word successful and why?

As soon as you said that, Steve Martin came to mind. When you look back at a comedian or an entertainer such as Steve Martin, he's had a brilliant career. You know, he was on Saturday Night Live, he's written a ton of movies, he's now starred in a ton of movies. He's still entertaining. He's hosted, I think he hosted the Oscars in 2003 and then he co hosted in like 2009 or 2010. And so I think that the reason why I viewed him as successful is that he's well into his 60s. I don't think he's 70 yet, but he's in his 60s and he is still absolutely doing what he loves and what he's wanted to do since he was in college. And so he was able to make a career out of his passions.

Peter, what's the best lesson a teacher, a parent, or a mentor has taught you?

One of my mentors in college, actually, who is also a teacher, he always says if you're not standing on the edge, you're taking up too much space. You know, and if you think about it, if you're not standing on the edge, you are taking up too much space because you're living life kind of safe. And there's nothing wrong with being safe. However, you are able to, once you start taking risks, you are able to see so much more and become follow more passions, follow more desires than you ever thought you'd ever be able to do. So so yeah, live on the edge a little bit. Money is going to come. You'll always have money somehow. And if you really need money, you're going to be able to find a way for money. I'm not saying go into debt, however, take chances and live on the edge.

Another one of my favorite sayings that you have, Peter, is if you wait to the last minute, it only takes one minute. It only takes one minute.

Absolutely.

I like that one too, a lot.

Yeah, it's so true.

Peter, what book do you think every high school senior should read?

All throughout high school? My favorite book was actually a play by Arthur Miller called Death of a Salesman. The reason why I think I loved it so much was because I read it as a high school senior saying, I don't want to end up like Willy Loman. And if you guys haven't read it, Willy Loman, he's the main character, he's the salesman. And you know, spoiler alert, he dies at the end. Hence Death of a Salesman. He kind of lived his entire life. Life, especially in the latter years in the past, like, my life was so much better then. I just have to get back to this point. And I think that for me, I never wanted to do that. I never wanted to reflect and say, you know, those were the best years of my life. If only I could get back there. I guess I've always made it a goal of mine to make sure that the next day is actually better than today, so tomorrow is better than yesterday.

I like that. Always forward looking.

Peter, if there's one thing that you.

Want a college sophomore listening to this podcast to know, what is it?

You probably don't know what you're going to do for the rest of your life. And that is completely fine. You don't necessarily need to have a plan, but you need, you should try and figure out one, what you like, two, what you're good at, and three, how. How it would be possible to do that for the rest of your life.

Yeah, I think that's so cool. Peter, in my book, I refer to what you're describing as the life is linear narrative, which basically it's when people ask you, what are you going to do for the rest of their life? What they really mean is that life unfolds in kind of a straight line way where it's okay, step one, you go to college and then you do that, check. Step two, graduate, find a job, check. And then there's all these different checkboxes that you're supposed to do in this, you know, order that they've somehow, you know, dreamed is the way life is supposed to go. I think, as you've identified, life doesn't work in a straight line. Just because you do something today doesn't mean that you're going to be locked into it for the next 40 years of your life. And that's just, frankly, the reality in which we live. And I guess I always find it frustrating when people, just particularly older people, think that life unfolds in a very kind of clean and neat way that, you know, you're supposed to just kind of go through and just check off the boxes in this precise order. So I'm glad you said that.

Absolutely. Another thing that I would actually encourage people to do, find a biography or an autobiography about somebody that you really admire and maybe you want to follow their career path. Almost treat it like a textbook and study it and say, look at how this person got to where they are. And for me, for example, for me, that was, again, Steve Martin.

Peter, I think it's kind of ironic in a way that you're encouraging people to find biographies, which I think is fantastic advice. But I am actually hoping that you are one of those people that they decide to follow. In particular, people who are students, that is, who are in, you know, high school, college, and they are interested in film or they're interested in videography, and they're like, boy, who should I look up to to tell me how to get to somewhere really cool in this industry? And I want that person to be Peter Von Kah, that they can say.

Oh, well, here's what worked for Peter.

I'm just going to do what he did. And so I think that's great advice, but I'm hoping that people take that same approach with you.

Awesome. I appreciate that.

Cool. Peter, one last question here. Rapid Fire is if you could recommend something to a college student in the form of a tweet, what would that be?

Always say yes to your passion. Always figure out a way to make your passion work. That comes with a little bit of a footnote saying, okay, but also work at your passion. Don't say, oh, well, you know, I want to be a millionaire, and I don't really care how I'm going to be a millionaire. I just want to have a million dollars. No. Come up with a plan on how you're going to become a millionaire, how you're going to accomplish the goal that you set before yourself. But always say yes. Always, always be available and know that it's probably gonna look completely different than what you Think it will.

Cool. I think that's such great advice, Peter. This has been really fun. I just. I love doing this. Where can people learn more about you and the work that you do?

So I actually have a website, watchpvk.com.

Standing for Peter Von Kohl.

That's my website. You can also Google me and I'm sure my Vimeo or something will show up and you'll be able to find me. Right now, my website's actually going under a little bit of a renovation, I believe.

Right now, watchpvk.com indicates that you are, quote, the bad boy of DC.

I sure know the bad boy of DC, man. That is quite a title. I am. I am. According to my website, I am DC's bad boy of a video. I didn't know that that was up there until a few days ago. And I've been getting clients and I haven't changed it, so I might just leave it.

Peter, thanks again. It's been fun.

Yeah, absolutely. Kyle, I appreciate you having me on. And yeah, people want to email me if you actually are seriously interested in video or you're like, hey, I have a question about, you know, how do you approach telling a story? How do you approach doing something like this? I'd love to hear from you. You can email me peteratchpvk.com I also have a contact form on my website. You can send me an email. Video is a passion of yours. If storytelling is a passion of yours, I'd love to hear from you.

Cool. Awesome. We'll leave it there. Thanks again, Peter.

Cool. Thanks, Kyle.

Hey, all, two highlights for everyone. First, Peter scored a gig filming the Super Bowl.

Why?

He didn't study harder, he didn't ace every exam. He just did what mattered. And that was putting his creative content out there for everyone to see. That's how Peter got picked up. So that means if anyone listening is a creative looking to break into the industry, you need to start producing and distributing. Pick a place to share. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, whatever. Just start attracting eyeballs. The second highlight is that Peter didn't land his super bowl position simply because he loved videography. A lot of people love videography and.

They will never film inside an NFL stadium, much less at the Super Bowl.

What made Peter different was that he was and is good at what he does. He takes his craft seriously. But notice what I said. He takes his craft. Not his calculus class, not his astronomy class, but his videography seriously. So again, for everyone out there trying.

To emulate Peter, stop worrying about classes. That don't matter.

Instead, redirect that effort into your craft and master it. That way you'll become how Steve Martin describes so good they can't ignore you.

And maybe film the Super Bowl. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.

If you want more hackiversity and achieving more by doing less in college, you can subscribe to the podcast on itunes or grab the book on Amazon. For the show notes and the latest on hackiversity, check out kylewiney.com don't forget to follow Kyle on Twitter ilwinie and on facebook@facebook.com hackaversity till next time.

Time.

Happy hacking.