Filmmaker and tech founder Drew Schettler shares how he went from a strictly ministerial college path and church media work to running a production company and building Atlas, a modern all‑in‑one workspace for filmmakers. He talks about learning business the hard way as a creative, navigating burnout and feast‑or‑famine freelance cycles, and then spending seven months using AI and no‑code tools to ship a real SaaS product for his own industry.

On this episode we talk about:

  Growing up in a ministry “bubble” and how Drew slowly leaned into photography and filmmaking

  Building a freelance video business serving churches, nonprofits, and commercial clients

  Discovering AI/no‑code app tools and deciding to build Atlas for filmmakers

  Product–market fit, MVPs, and iterating based on user feedback instead of over‑polishing

  Why creators need to think like entrepreneurs and how to escape the freelance hamster wheel

Top 3 Takeaways

1.  Creatives who want to go full‑time have to think in systems, margins, and client outcomes—not just in terms of making beautiful work.
2.  You do not need a massive dev team to validate a software idea; a scrappy, AI‑assisted MVP is enough to start selling and get real feedback.
3.  The most sustainable path is often using your high‑ticket services as a cash‑flow engine while you build scalable products that can eventually overtake client work.

Notable Quotes

  "You have to lead with how you’re solving the client’s problem, not just how good your video looks."

  "If everyone has the cheat codes with AI, it stops being cheating—it’s just who executes better and faster."

  "Most creatives are trying to impress other creatives instead of building something that actually moves the needle for a client."

Connect with Drew Schettler:

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