Meet Erica Leonis | Multimedia Expert

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erica Leonis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I’ve worked in media for nearly a decade now, and before that I dabbled in video as a hobby in high school and college. I love the challenging and endlessly creative aspects of it.

I have also seen how media can entirely change someone’s life through working in news. There would be times they called me in for a major breaking news story. In those situations I had to edit video for our shows, video for all the major networks, log sound bites and help get content ready for our reporters and social media. Chances are, you have probably seen video I’ve edited because other stations would just play our live feed in these situations.

Later we would get messages or emails about how impactful it was for the families, loved ones and our community that we got the information out there. It would literally save lives and property. Media is a powerful tool.

Since I’ve closed the news chapter in my life, I’ve been trying to find a way to make a positive impact with my video, photography and promotion skills.

I don’t want to work in a reactionary field anymore, I want to aid others in their growth.

I really love when someone sees the content I made and they get excited. This could be because it gives them a new tool to promote themselves, or they now see themselves the way I and many other people see them. I started Lion’s Tale Productions because of that feeling, because I want to help build others up.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My career has been a bit of a rollercoaster to be completely honest. I started in the news industry before I left college. I was a video editor there for 2-4 years. After 2 years I started writing and producing the on air broadcasts too, alongside editing video for some of the shows.

At my second news station I began coding camera shots too for a 4.5 hour morning show. I would come in at 11pm, and have the show mostly ready by 4:30 am. I did this for the better part of a year before deciding news was no longer for me.

I then became a quality control technician for NBCUniversal. I would watch and check commercials, shows and movies to make sure everything was correct before sending them out to international markets. I learned quite a few languages through osmosis during this job.

Then the pandemic hit, and we all know how that rocked the working world. I was let go from NBCUniversal, and for the first time in my working life, didn’t have a job. It was near impossible to find a job too, until I started working for a local tabletop game store during the height of the pandemic.

This is where I really started to enjoy small business promoting. I was able to take picture and video for social media. After this job is when I started my business, Lion’s Tale Productions.

I then worked retail/food with the Rocky Mountain chocolate factory in Colorado Springs. They allowed me to take images and video of their products for promotional use before they decided to go a separate direction. Honestly this is where product photography really came into play for me.

I should mention that all the whole, throughout my whole career I’m also working my “hobby” job in some aspect, haunted houses. HellScream Entertainment really gave me a springboard to create and make video wise with very little to no restrictions. I was even thier Media manager for a few years, and really enjoyed promoting the haunted house and the wonderful people who are a part of it.

Fast forward to today, I have a full time video support job with Comcast, alongside building and growing my own business. I’ve gotten the opportunity to travel this year and do media for a musician friend of mine, family, ScurryFace functions, and I even have a haunted house I’m visiting in another state in October with ScurryFace.

I am so excited for how my business is growing, and I can’t wait to see what is next.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well this is a fun question!

In Colorado Springs I would definitely plan a mid-week trip to garden of the gods. It’s gorgeous, picturesque and worth the potential crowds (reason for the mid-week part).

Second, with spooky season practically here, I’m bringing them to Hellscream and The Fear Complex haunted houses. In my opinion, some of the best haunted houses in the state. And I’m not saying that cause I used to work for them, I am genuinely floored by the amount of work that everyone puts into what they do there.

There are so many good hiking spots around here too- Red Rock Cañon open space, the incline, 7 falls just to name a few. I would encourage we go to check out one of the trails (if it’s the incline maybe bring oxygen with us) then afterwards grab a bite to eat!

There are so many breweries here that it’s pretty phenomenal, and anyone would be a great experience. I also really enjoy King’s Chef Diner, which is great for breakfast, or really any time of the day. You’ll recognize it by it’s iconic purple castle in Downtown Colorado Springs.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many people I need to thank for who encouraged me in my journey, however there are three major people (outside of my family, hi mom!) Who really deserve recognition.

First is my first video mentor Michele. She really took me under her wing. She showed me the ins and outs of the Adobe software, and even had me help edit her haunted house training DvD she was making at the time. She is an amazing person, and an amazing friend.

Second is Tyler with ScurryFace. This one is relatively new. I had been supported creatively through my haunted house, Hellscream, before I met Tyler. Hellscream was wonderful, however between the pandemic and personal life issues, I wasn’t really sure how to really work my business as a business. I was even close to shutting it down. Enter ScurryFace, and they helped reignite my passion and excitement for an industry I’ve loved for so long. They are really an incredible group of people.

Lastly, I have to talk about someone who really helped me hone my skills, but is unfortunately no longer with us. Don Ward was a news anchor for the station I worked for most of my news career. He cared so much for the community, and for the platform that we were a part of. He helped me figure out the best way to storytell with video, how to get as much information across as quickly as possible, but also make it coherent and in some ways beautiful. When I started writing news shows he was right there again, helping me write conversationally, but also in a dynamic way to make people listen. He is a huge part of my journey too. He passed away in 2020, and left a legacy behind in the southern Colorado community.

Website: In the works

Instagram: Lions.TaleProductions

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LionsTaleProductions

Other: Email: LionsTaleProd@gmail.com

Image Credits
Deloris Godfrey (Personal image) Lion’s Tale Productions (all other images)