Tom Kranzle was first introduced to cameras through filming during his high school Digital Media classes. These were the classes he cared about and focused most of his attention on during his high school career. Although, Kranzle had always enjoyed film and photography, by his senior year of high school he was all set to attend the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his mind set on flying fighter planes. A few months before graduating he met with a representative from Brooks Institute and, after learning that he could go to school to study a profession he would actually enjoy, he decided, rather abruptly, to enroll at Brooks Institute.

“It was always something I enjoyed but it wasn't until about two years into Brooks that I truly became "passionate" about shooting,” said Kranzle.

At this point in his Brooks career he had learned all the technical aspects of shooting but he realized that the content he was producing was still not the best he felt he could do. He took a session to travel across the country and take stock photographs of all the major cities and National Parks he could. He drove a lot and shot every day.

“Somehow this progression fueled my passion for photography. It gave me the ability to be totally comfortable in all my technical skill sets so I could then just focus on the creative aspect. It got me to a point of looking at what I liked in an image and knowing how to do it myself. This opened up a whole new world of photography for me where my creativity was no longer limited by the technical skills I had,” revealed Kranzle.

Shortly after earning his Bachelor’s Degree at Brooks, Tom Kranzle started Venture Visuals (VV). His vision was for VV to be a production company that could deliver any form of commercial visual content to advertising agencies, marketing departments, and media outlets. He built VV around commerical film and photography.

Now in its third year of operation, VMG employs a few of Kranzle’s close friends who are also Brooks graduates. Like any other startup, the business has had its ups and downs. Getting through those slow times has been the hardest part for Kranzle and his team.

“We have loved every minute of it, though. We all went to Brooks to pursue a career that we love. We all enjoy coming into work every day and I think loving what you do is a huge part of achieving ‘success’,” shared Kranzle.

When asked what advice he would share with current students, Kranzle said, “Listen to your instructors when they talk about networking. I have gotten more jobs based on who I know over marketing efforts.”