North County Standout: Video production steals heart of former actress

By: JESSICA MUSICAR - For the North County Times | Friday, June 10, 2005 11:44 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- A former actress, theater producer and director, Diane Strand never considered the possibility that corporate video would be her true passion.

Having been behind the scenes on television's "Friends" and "Veronica's Closet," Strand eventually left the Los Angeles entertainment industry to produce films that appealed to a different kind of audience.

Now as the majority owner of JDS Productions, a full-service video production and media solution company, Strand, with her husband, Scott, creates TV commercials, training and welcome videos, public service announcements, trade show films and other spots for biotech and biopharmaceutical companies, as well as some North County businesses.

"This is where my heart is ---- not acting," Diane Strand said.

Clients include Dimension One Spas, Grand Pacific Palisades, Althea Technologies, Amgen and the Gear Up program at Palomar College.

Located in the Strands' home in an unincorporated portion of Escondido, the business has been open since May 15, 2003, and is steadily growing as satisfied businesses pass on JDS' name.

"We are kind of a mom-and-pop operation," Scott Strand said.

"We customize every project to fit the need ---- we don't come in with a cookie-cutter answer to everything," Diane Strand added. "My philosophy has always been that it is better to gain a client than to just get the job."

Project prices generally range between $7,000 and $28,000.

Filming often takes place on location, but the Strands have transformed their living room into a sound room whenever necessary. In addition to camera work, JDS handles concept development, script writing and editing, while providing original music compositions, graphics and packaging.

Joelle Kohn, creative services manager for Neurocrine Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company in Carmel Valley, said she hired JDS to produce a welcome video for new employees.

"It was very well received; the new employees loved it," Kohn said of the video. "We liked their approach. (It) gave a real good sense that we are becoming a large company but (still) have a family feel." She added that JDS was flexible, completed work on deadline, and came in the middle on bids for the project.

Although creating films for biotech companies may seem like an unusual niche for someone who was once focused on mainstream entertainment, Diane Strand said she has a strong understanding of the inner workings of the industry. A year with Amgen, where she worked as a free-lance producer, prepared Strand for her then-future career, she said.

"That's where I found my passion," Diane Strand said.

Lured back to the entertainment industry for a short while, Diane Strand finally tired of working long hours and not being able to see her young son.

So, one day she and her husband decided that opening their own production company would be the best solution.

The small family moved to San Diego and began knocking on doors, hoping to attract some clients. While there were few bites at first, persistence paid off, and JDS now has a client base of about 20. In its first full year of business, JDS grossed $40,000, but Diane Strand said that amount has already been surpassed in five months this year.

"We never gave up on any lead that we got. That dogged determination is what finally helped the business take off," Scott Strand said.

Standout facts

Name: JDS Productions

Address: 8621 Captain's Court, Escondido

Phone: (760) 749-0388 Ý

Web site: www.jds-productions.com Ý

Year established: 2003

Products and services: Video production and media solutions

Number of employees: Two, plus several independent contractors

Size: 1,500-square-foot office space and editing bay

Gross sales: $40,000 for 2004

Contact free-lance writer Jessica Musicar at gwyllion@aol.com.

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