As Jon Riley, who is most well known as a DP on action sports projects and an aerial cinematographer, was building his freelance business, he got to wondering. “I had this network of creatives I liked to work with,” says Jon. “Why couldn’t we market ourselves as a bigger collective?” 

The short answer? Nothing was stopping them. Today, in addition to his personal business site, Jon markets the collective he’s built in the greater Jackson Hole area. The idea is to rapidly build teams of people that trust each other to get bigger projects done. [Editor’s note: This is what Hence is doing on a national and soon global scale.] 

The collective Jon founded—Out in Space Studios—features 12 independent contractors with expertise in everything from producing and directing to business strategy and, of course, camerawork, editing, and post production. “It’s just better to work with teams that you already trust,” says Jon.

“We all have our strengths and weaknesses,” says Jon. “But when you work as a team the weaknesses disappear. I bring a lot of technical expertise to a project, but I don’t have as much experience as my collaborator Shannon Corsi building pitch decks and selling an idea. The more people you have, the more aspirational work you can take on.”