Written by Colleen Miller, Photos courtesy of Cafero Creative
Some artists call a cubicle or corner office their place of work, but for SCAD students, Mark Cafero and Walker Cody, “the office” is synonymous with their dorm room. As owner and creative director of Cafero Creative, these two are pushing the boundary between student and entrepreneur.
Cafero of New York is studying film and television while Cody, from Lexington, Kentucky, remains undecided. These first-year students met during the fall 2018 quarter as suitemates. Within a few quick months, they became friends as well as business partners.
“Ever since I picked up a GoPro, I’ve loved film,” Cafero said. “From there it turned into buying more cameras and then doing a bit of commercial work. Then we wanted a space to house everything, a controlled environment. That’s what brought the studio on. I’ve been doing this stuff on the side, both the video and website development. It got to the point where I wanted to make it an entity rather than just being the sole proprietor. To bring Walker on has been a huge help.”
Now, their joint efforts make up Cafero Creative, a media production company that took its current form in late 2018. “Our focus right now is product videos for companies, branded content, advertisements
Since its creation, Cafero Creative has generated content for brands like Raw Elements sunscreen and Hydroflask. “We looked at what other people had and then looked at what we had created in a dorm bedroom, in a very small space, and it wasn’t that far off,” Cody said.
With all work done from their dorm room studio, expanding is top on their list of plans for the business. “The goal in the future is to have a full-blown studio,” Cafero said.
In addition to Cafero Creative, the duo explores other entrepreneurial endeavors including film equipment rentals. They even have plans for
“The goal after [graduation] is the sub-business called, Content Kingdom. It’s a website where there’s a database for content creation. The goal is to get the studio up and running and be able to rent it out while I work on
For students looking to create their own business, Cafero Creative has taught Cody some important lessons. “Figure out what you can do and what you can’t. Be okay with not being able to do certain things. That’s what has been really cool about this. There are certain things Mark does on the web that I can’t touch, where there are more creative things that I excel at. Find someone or a group with a few different ideas coming together so it’s not all the pressure on one,” Cody said.
To learn more about Cafero Creative and their work follow them on Instagram or visit their website.
