What We Talked About
I sat down with Devin Nickelson at the Quant house, the same place we filmed Quinn Fukawa and Antonio Nguyen. Devin runs Its Media Production, a video studio, and he thinks about story the way most creators think about hooks: constantly, and out loud. This one is for anyone who makes video and wants people to actually finish it.
We got deep on structure. How an A storyline and a B storyline can split apart and still pay off, as long as the B group is fighting to get back to the main objective. Why a protagonist who keeps branching off and abandoning the cause loses the audience too. And the rule Devin keeps coming back to: a story has to resolve in the same lane it started in, or you leave people with a bad taste.
Then we zoomed out to advice. Devin's take on getting into production is blunt: swallow your pride, learn fast, and make things for yourself first. If you love an idea, someone else will too. The episode is brought to you by Socialync, and Devin makes the kind of multi-format video that is a pain to post to four apps by hand, which is exactly the problem we built Socialync to kill.
Key Moments
- A storyline vs B storyline - How a split group can carry its own conflict and still merge back into the main objective without confusing the audience
- Why resolution decides retention - A story has to resolve in the same way it starts, or people leave with a bad taste and don't come back
- Don't edge the audience and bail - You can pull viewers closer and closer, then rob them of the payoff. Devin explains why that kills the next watch
- Swallow your pride - The fastest way into production is to learn from people ahead of you instead of protecting your ego
- Make it for you first - If you love an idea, someone out there will love it too, even if it takes years to find them
- How a video producer like Devin uses Socialync to cross-post - One upload sends a finished edit to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X at once, instead of exporting and re-uploading four times by hand
- The niche audience always exists - Why "no one will watch this" is the wrong reason to not make something
Links & Resources
- Devin on Instagram
- Its Media Production on TikTok
- Its Media Production on YouTube
- Devin on X
- Devin on LinkedIn
- Its Media Production
- Episode Highlights: How Devin Nickelson Builds Stories That Keep You Watching
- 6 Storytelling Lessons From Devin Nickelson
- Subscribe on Spotify
- Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Watch on YouTube
- Try Socialync free