Hawaii entrepreneurs come in all stripes.
Dennis Callan (a former Honolulu Star-Bulletin travel columnist) is a case in point. An inveterate wanderer, he has led more than 80 tours of Europe with Hawaii travelers since 1987 and documented them by shooting video. With 1,300 travel movies on YouTube, he’s established a global presence with 52 million views and 138,000 subscribers. Callan is a textbook example of an entrepreneur who has leveraged the internet to catapult a successful travel industry career. I had the chance to visit his Makiki home office recently for this interview.
Question: Tell us about your background.
Answer: I have been in Honolulu for 55 years, but my first eight years as a military dependent kept me moving to London and then around the mainland. After graduation from Brown with a degree in English literature, I moved to Hawaii and earned graduate degrees in anthropology and political science at the University of Hawaii in the 1970s. Since then I built up the tour business and have been making travel videos and websites.
Q: How did you get started making videos?
A: I have always been a photographer, and began shooting video in 1987 when small cameras became available. My first audience was on local public-access TV, even before ‘Olelo, and I became the longest-running show there. But with YouTube my audience went worldwide in the millions.
Q: Did you have any training in this?
A: None of my formal education directly prepared me, so I learned on my own how to how to market my tours, which included writing for the Star-Bulletin and making videos. It was all self-taught. I continue to get helpful feedback on video production from my wife and friends. While leading so many tours through Europe, I discovered where to go and how to see a place, so the videos are practical guides based on those experiences. There are the major destinations that must be seen, and the out-of-way places that are also beautiful and less crowded, so I focus on both in my videos.
Q: What kind of equipment is needed to make the videos?
A: Anyone can shoot videos with their phone and edit them on a laptop, but it is important to learn the basics of how to shoot. My editing gear is more elaborate because I do this all the time, so I have a MacPro, five monitors and nearly 100 hard drives filled with the videos.
Q: There are lots of travel videos on YouTube. How do you compete for an audience?
A: When I started on YouTube 17 years ago, there was not much competition, so I got a head start, but now there are so many travel channels getting more viewers than me! The new trend is long, walking videos through a place with no narration, just pictures, but I don’t subscribe to that. My videos are fully narrated by me, based on extensive research, to explain and describe what we are seeing. In that way I create a useful travel guide filled with entertaining visuals.
Q: What about a revenue stream? How does social media fit in?
A: YouTube has been supportive of creatives by sharing advertising revenues, and I am also on Amazon, Roku and a few other places, which has created an income stream that keeps me happy. However, it’s not my main motivation. While competition has greatly increased since I first posted on YouTube, it’s still possible for newcomers to make money. The key is creating excellent videos that find a large audience. You need to market so social media can help build an audience. That said, making lots of money should not be the primary motivation. A personal passion is more relevant.
Q: Any new projects you’re working on?
A: My new website, with videos, narration texts and pictures (www.townsofeurope.com) offers tips about where to go in nearly 200 towns around Europe. When I complete making a video, there is a great feeling of personal satisfaction that viewers find the movie helpful and fun.
Q: Any suggestions for those who want to make YouTube videos?
A: Just get started shooting; learn the basics of video editing! You’ll need to provide narration based on your experience, and a good mic.
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Rob Kay, a Honolulu-based writer, covers technology and sustainability for Tech View and is the creator of fijiguide.com. He can be reached at Robertfredkay@gmail.com.
