Our mission

As a kid in the 1980s, I dreamed about TV cameras, broadcasting, and producing shows. Many years later, I'm doing exactly that – and I've spent the last 15 years putting the pieces together to form Collectivision.

Live video, specifically, has always fascinated me. I have memories from early in life of getting my hands on whatever video equipment I could and wiring it all together to make my “TV station.” I didn't have anywhere to broadcast to – other than the neighbors out the window – so I'd play Beatles songs off a tape I'd found.

How video works was pure magic to me as a kid, and honestly, it still is! Somewhere along my own journey with videography and live production, I realized how much I love music and the performing arts – live art and music especially. Here's one of my favorite things about making video live: there's no editing later that may or may not ever happen. It's happening now, and everyone is experiencing it together.

At the end of 2018, I volunteered to record board meetings for the Oregon Country Fair. That led me on a magical mystery tour deep into Fair politics, which I quickly sidestepped. When the pandemic hit, I found myself helping orchestrate livestreams for multiple “stages” during a virtual fair. Nobody loved that there wasn't an in-person Fair that year – but helping out connected me to lifelong friends. It also led me to helping OCF Video Crew begin multi-camera livestreaming the daytime acts at Main Stage. This stream runs every year now and helps those who can't be there feel connected to the people and the unique vibe that is Oregon Country Fair. Watching the live chat, and hearing how connected people felt, taught me something: a true feeling of community can emerge from watching the same thing, together, at the same time.

In today's world of “on-demand” everything, collective experiences of media are increasingly rare. Livestreams are one of the few technologies that can still create that very human, communal feeling.

While making video for local venues, festivals, and gatherings, I kept looking for the best way to present videos online – and I couldn't find it. So I decided to build it. Welcome to Collectivision. I hope it serves you well – whether you're a creator yourself, or someone who simply likes to enjoy what others create.