What does it take to run a professional photography and video editing business? Seniors Evan France, Andrew Klein, David Ardill and Trevor Blount know from firsthand experience that it’s not easy.

Parallel Pictures is a student-run media group that professionally edits a wide variety of videos and photographs; they have made everything from lifestyle and adventure videos to advertisements for businesses. The team has been working together for years, but in 2015 they established a website and began to make a name for themselves.

In the past, Parallel Pictures has produced videos promoting products such as inflatable loungers and backpacks, as well as a piece on a volleyball player sponsored by an outdoor company. Later this month, they are planning on making a company’s instructional video on how to set up a mosquito net for a hammock.  

However, the Parallel Pictures team is loath to call these videos ads. “We like to put our own story [first], and then secondarily the product comes in to it,” Blount said. “It’s not just a video all about the product, [because] then we[’d] lose that creativity.”

Much of their success is credited to the teamwork and harmony that they share. “The purpose of why we’re doing this and why we investigate it is so that all four of us can get experience,” Blount said. “When we have tried to make something without a certain [person], you can feel the absence there. It’s been really cool building our abilities off of each other, and then that’s where you see that growth.”

While the business started off as just for fun, all four members of the team gained real-world experience. What started off as just a few friends taking pictures together has yielded experience in marketing and entrepreneurship, as well as coordinating business ventures with CEOs of companies. “We’ve learned that it’s really hard, because I know that [the team has] emailed hundreds of companies,” Blount said.

When asked about the origins of the name and what it means for the future, Blount was quick to answer.“Parallel lines span infinitely in both directions,” he said. “like how we’ll always be creating content.”

        For more information, visit http://parallelpicturesme.wixsite.com/parallelpictures, or @parallelpicturesmedia_ on Instagram.