Randy Eckman

Owner

I spent my childhood dreaming of writing music and making movies when I wasn’t busy admiring the night sky just outside of Dayton, Ohio. While my friends, cousins, and I could be frequently found roaming the streets with my camcorder, it was editing those videos that brought me the most joy. Through my own experimentation and observation of my favorite films and TV shows, I developed a belief at quite a young age that the most important tool in storytelling is not the script or stagecraft but the way the scenes are cut and presented to the viewer–that the editor, more than anyone, can influence the emotional resonance of a scene by setting the pace and mood.

I particularly honed my video editing skills working first as a videojournalist and then the online/multimedia editor at my college student newspaper, The Purdue Exponent I constantly challenged myself to convey events to the viewers without any narration or commentary–only letting the visuals and interviews tell the story. I was heavily influenced by the styles of CBS News, particularly “60 Minutes” and “Sunday Morning.” I also accepted a handful of freelance gigs doing motion graphics at this time, some of which can still be found on my old YouTube demo reel channel.

Finally, after moving to Houston post-college, I began to shoot and edit wedding videos for a number of friends. I shelved the idea of continuing to do it professionally as I was focused on my “day job.” However, my growing desire to tell stories and elicit them from those around me led to establishing the current incarnation of Stretch Your Mind Entertainment.

My goal is to not only provide a platform for my own podcasts, videos, and other storytelling media, but also for those around me who may not otherwise have access to such resources to help capture and produce content.

One of our deepest needs is to share our stories. I want to make it easier for folks to do just that. Help me help you express yourself through multimedia in the modern age.