Mini Media Moguls Share Their Talents Locally

Jen and John Senften want to make people happy. In fact, they have figured out a way to make a living out of it. With a combination of his visual creativity and her social media marketing skills, the couple’s Experience Media company has been successful in documenting the important times in people’s lives.

The Felton-based couple recently brought their talents to the area from Orange County, but their business of creating began long before that.

John’s interest in all things visual began in 1998 with photography.

“I started as a sports action photographer for local schools," he said.

But he soon realized that pictures in motion held much more of an emotional appeal for him.

“Video allows you to tell a story by editing a series of shots [together.] That’s the fun part,” he said.

In 2001, at a time when the Internet was beginning to take hold and video was suddenly becoming much more accessible, John began to make video magic. He established a video yearbook program producing content for four Orange County and Los Angeles area schools. By 2005, that number had grown to 15 schools.

Today, that video yearbook is known as High School Highlights and is still a tremendous part of his and Jen's video arsenal. The idea behind it was to take the standard and repetitive high school yearbook and bring it to life with action, graphics and music on a keepsake DVD—essentially a movie creation of the high school experience.

With the business off to a good start, Jen and John married in 2002, and she immediately took on a role of not only wife but chief marketer of the business.

But her responsibilities don’t end there. Her talents are also used as script coach, when necessary. She keeps preproduction schedules running smoothly and stays up-to-date on marketing through social media including Facebook and Twitter.  

“I think it’s great that we’re finally able to work together,” John said. “She kind of fills in where I’m blank. I’m the creative, but Jen is an integral part of the business; she is always looking ahead to keep us busy.”

Jen’s keen sales sense combined with John’s “have camera, will travel” attitude have taken them all over the world, including a time when fishing fortune smiled upon them.

It was Jen who came upon an ad on Craigslist. That lead landed them in Mexico where John was offered a position with a sports fishing show on FOX called Fishing Ventures.

“They originally hired him just to shoot, but then they learned how talented he was,” Jen said.

This was a pivotal moment in John’s career. He learned that he had a knack for capturing live action sports shots with measured precision. He coupled this with a quick-paced editing technique, and his visual story-telling style was born. It wasn’t long before John was asked to produce the show.

If awards are any measure of success, then count the Senften’s among the accomplished. John’s work on the show garnered him industry recognition with three Telly Awards for cinematography and editing.

For someone who is largely self-taught, John said it was a gratifying achievement.

“It was nice to be recognized and see how your work compares to others,” he said.

Together, the couple has also achieved other business success. Their business resume includes nationally run commercials and an array of corporate media web ads.

Nowadays, satisfaction comes from knowing that they are 100 percent responsible for the entire project. The quality of their work directly equates to how happy their clients are.

But Jen admits that being partners in both business and life has had its challenges.

“Balancing time with family [is tough]. When you own your own business, there is no clocking out,” she said.

The Senftens aren’t sure exactly where work will take them next. Their hope is to continue to expand their business and have the ability to go where ever they want.

But for now, they are happy to be in their in-home studio in Felton—a place where they say, “People have the same values” as they do.