About Thrill Wave · Est. 2018
Made of people, for people.
Thrill Wave is a video production company in Phoenix, Arizona. We bring the hearts of artists, the work ethic of builders and the curiosity of engineers and scientists to one job: working alongside people to help them tell their story clearly, honor what came before and move forward together.
Origin
Founded in 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona.
We started Thrill Wave because we love making things with people, and we kept watching the people get lost. Dated processes, smoke-and-mirrors pricing and endless bidding took the heart out of something that should be simple: good people, a true story and the care to tell it well. So we built the company we would want to hire, and we've tried to do right by everyone who walks through the door ever since. Here's where that has taken us so far:
- 2018Founded in Phoenix
- 10+Years behind the camera
- 80+Organizations we've worked with
- 12Fields and counting
Our founders came to film from very different places, and each path taught us something we still bring to set, from the rhythm of a good edit to the habit of asking why a story matters. Thrill Wave is where it all comes together.
Who we are
Artists, operators and problem solvers.
We work as one team on every film, and each of us pitches in wherever the work needs us. The artist in us chases what moves people, the operator keeps every shoot running smoothly, and the problem solver finds the clear story inside a complicated subject. When a film calls for more hands, we bring in trusted crew, and we care about the people on screen as much as the people who hired us. Here are the founders behind the work:
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Chris Kuzman
Founder + Strategy
Chris leads our strategy and our SITREP research, digging into each client's craft, peers and industry before we shoot. He spends his days with communications leaders working through hard problems, and he writes about the craft, the people and the industry. He asks the questions that get to the heart of things, checks the answers against the facts and turns what he finds into the story worth telling.
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Tony Swann
Founder + Director
Tony is our director and director of photography, and he carries every film from the first frame to the final cut. He leads with a quiet humility: out front with his boots on the ground when it counts, and a step back when it's someone else's turn to shine. Crews respect him for it, and he always finds the shot. Add a sense of style that's all his own, and you have a director worth watching.
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Ari Everett
Founder + Producer
Ari spent 12+ years running finance and operations at the biggest companies in the world, including Coca-Cola and Amazon. He runs Thrill Wave the way the best of them run theirs, leading the people, processes and systems behind every film so what ends up on screen is incredible. A lifelong love of tech, art and building great companies is why he helped create Thrill Wave, where all three meet.
Our values
What we care about.
A few simple beliefs guide everything we do, from what we shoot to what we cut and when we speak up. They're what you can count on from us on every project:
- 01
We keep it true
We report first, check our facts and let people speak for themselves. Everyone on screen is a real person with something real at stake. We don't stage what should be felt, and we don't promise what we can't film.
- 02
We keep it simple
Untangling a complicated subject is our job, not the viewer's, so the message reaches people clearly.
- 03
We care about the craft
We love the problem-solving on set, the light and the edit that makes it all click. If a cut doesn't move us, we don't expect it to move anyone else, so we keep working until it does.
- 04
We stay accountable
You'll know who's on your project before the first shoot day, and we answer for how it turns out.
- 05
We talk straight
We're honest about scope, cost and timeline from the start, so there are no surprises, upsells or overpromises later.
- 06
We care what happens next
The final cut isn't the finish line. We pay attention to where the film lands and what it does for the people who watch it.
What guides us
Our mission, vision and charter.
Every company needs a compass, and this is ours. It says why we exist, where we hope it leads and the commitments we make to every client, crew member and person in front of our cameras. We'll start with the why:
Our mission
We help good people tell true stories, beautifully, so they reach the people who need to hear them.
Our vision
We want a world where the stories that matter are told as well as the ones that sell.
Our charter
These are the promises we make to everyone a project touches, and we keep them on every shoot:
- We tell the truth. What's on screen really happened, with people who chose to be there.
- We protect the people we film. We ask for consent first and treat everyone with dignity, especially when the story is personal.
- We research before we roll. Every project starts with a SITREP, our deep research into your world, so the story is earned and not guessed.
- We keep your trust. Your data, drafts and story stay confidential until you're ready to share them.
- We treat our crew right. Everyone who works with us is paid fairly and on time, and gets credit for the work they do.
- We leave it better. We leave every location and every community we film in better than we found it.
Start a project
We'd love to hear your story.
Tell us what you're working on, even if it's only a hunch so far. We'll do the homework, and then we'll help you find the best way to tell it. The easiest way to start is to write to us here:
Write to us