GRAFFITE PRODUCTIONS

By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
McDONALD -- Graffite Productions is out to prove that a video production company doesn't need a glitzy studio in Los Angeles or New York to lure a national client base.
So far, owner Marty Graff says his McDonald business address hasn't been a problem.
Graff started Graffite Productions five years ago, leaving a position with a large Cleveland production company. He set up shop in this small Trumbull County village because his wife, Lisa Friend, already had a successful dance school here.
Steady growth
Since then he's relied solely on word-of-mouth advertising, and business has grown steadily, fueled by referrals from colleagues in the industry and satisfied customers.
Graff now owns his 6,000-square-foot headquarters on East Marshall Road. There's a large video editing suite and a studio equipped with close to $500,000 worth of video cameras, TelePrompTers, light and sound equipment and backdrops. Plans are to remodel the remaining space into offices and dressing rooms.
Graffite Productions has become a regular film crew provider for Home & amp; Garden Television, the Discovery Channel, Fox News and CNN.
Graff sends crews across the country to film reality TV programs, including "Wedding Story," "Dating Story" and "Baby Story," and the company is one of 17 nationwide filming the popular "Trading Spaces" home decorating show.
News assignment
Other assignments have taken Graff as far away as Israel, England and Italy. When terrorists attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, CNN dispatched him to Shanksville, Pa., and later, to Washington, D.C., to spend several days filming developments for the news network.
Graffite Productions has also edited documentaries for PBS and produced public service announcements, TV advertisements, satellite media tours and corporate videos for businesses and agencies around the region and in several foreign countries. It lists the Cleveland Browns and Cavaliers among its clients.
The company's new producer-director Richard "Oz" Ouzounian agrees with Graff's philosophy that a production company can operate successfully anywhere.
White House job
Ouzounian relocated to Boardman and joined Graffite this summer after nine years working with a Washington, D.C., production company as a producer and director of films and video productions in the White House.
He worked closely with Presidents Clinton and Bush and enjoyed the hectic, exciting lifestyle, but when the company sold its White House contract, Ouzounian decided it was time for a change.
"With technology and the Internet, I knew we could live anywhere. My wife's family is here, so I thought, 'Why not move to Boardman,'" he said. "It was the right move to make."
Youngstown's position midway between the Cleveland and Pittsburgh airports is an advantage, Graff said, because it offers a wider range of flight schedules and fares to make travel more flexible and affordable.
He travels four to six months out of the year, but he's found that many jobs can be accomplished long-distance by telephone, fax, e-mail and traditional mail.
Long distance
As an example, Graff said he recently edited video of a play for a Los Angeles producer who was hoping to find financial backers for an off-Broadway production.
"He sent us the demo reel, we edited it and sent it back, and he got the funding he needed," Graff said. "In the whole process of editing this demo reel, the producer never stepped foot in Ohio."
Graff's "Philadelphia office" is no more than a wireless phone with a Philadelphia telephone number. Clients there like to be able to reach him without calling long distance, he explained.
Their next goal, Graff and Ouzounian said, is to make more area companies aware of their services.
"Most companies in this valley don't realize what they can do, and we want to get them thinking," Graff said. "We have a lot of good-sized companies in this area, and a lot of them have never considered video news releases, corporate sales and training videos, satellite media tours. Those are the kinds of things we can offer them."
In the works
Ouzounian and Graff also plan to create some original programming.
Their first project, if they can line up the necessary financial backing, will be a documentary on General Motors' recent decision to invest $550 million in its Lordstown assembly and fabricating plants. The project would likely take three years to complete, Graff said.
vinarsky@vindy.com