––– ABOUT MCL
We've been at this a while.
Sixty years of combined experience between two founders who still get excited about a good cut. Here's the short version of how we got here, and why we still do it the way we do.
OUR STORY
Built on craft, not shortcuts.
Mike Curran and Chris Lapinski founded MCL Video Productions in 2015. By then we'd already spent decades — separately — writing, shooting, and editing every kind of video imaginable.
But over those years, we watched the bar drop. Cheap cameras made everyone a "producer." Templates replaced taste. And the result was a sea of safe, forgettable content that did no one any favors — least of all the businesses paying for it.
So we built MCL to do it the other way. Strategy first. Story second. Polish third. Every project gets the same question most shops skip: what's the story, and who's it for? Then we make the work the way it should be made.
The two people behind every frame.
––––– THE TEAM
Mike Curran
OWNER • PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
Thirty-plus years producing, directing, shooting and editing commercials, corporate films, and brand work for New Jersey businesses and beyond.
Chris Lapinski
OWNER • PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
Decades of experience behind the camera and in post. A craftsman's eye for the shot that makes a spot work, and the cut that makes it land.
PHASE 1
Strategy
We start with what you're trying to do, who you're trying to reach, and what success actually looks like. The brief drives every decision after.
PHASE 2
Story
Script, storyboard, shot list.
We design the narrative before we touch a camera so the production phase stays on time and on budget.
PHASE 3
Polish
Editorial, color, sound, motion graphics. We don't release anything that hasn't earned its place on the screen.
––––– HOW WE WORK
Strategy. Story.
Polish.
Every engagement runs the same three-phase loop: no skipping steps, no surprise invoices.