Who is Pirate Republic?
Michael Kendlick
Michael is President and CEO of Pirate Republic. Mike is an Emmy nominated director and SBE Certified Broadcast Engineer (2004 – 2009) with over 25 years in the industry. In 1994 Mike started in local broadcast and network television while earning his Bachelors Degree. While working in a variety of technical positions with cable and broadcast networks Mike was able to grow a successful freelance career as a Director and Technical Director in sports and live events. In March of 2017, Mike decided to step out on his own creating Pirate Republic, a one-stop-shop for production, live event management and marketing that aggregates the best of the best across the video production landscape.
Jessica Kendlick
Jessica is Pirate Republic’s Vice President of Operations and brings over 20 years’ experience in video production design and management to the team. She specializes in corporate communications and live events, with a focus on creating engaging multi-platform digital and streaming content.
A self-described “creative nerd” she has a passion for analytics and a focus on information design. Jessica is able to help clients build strong relationships with their audiences through clear and compelling visual experiences.
Jessica is a seasoned leader who people naturally gravitate toward and she excels at engaging teams of creative professionals around the vision and execution of client projects.
Why Chose “Pirate Republic” for a name?
From Michael - “Throughout my career I have met the most amazing and talented people in this industry and have had the privilege of pulling those people together to produce great television. When I started my own production company, I really wanted a name that was inclusive of all of these people. We succeed in this industry when the entire team works to achieve the same goal.
Pirates were always a fascination of mine and the more I thought about how they worked I realized that there were parallels between a Pirate or Privateer crew and a freelance production crew. Pirates were masters of their trades. In most cases they were better than their naval counterparts. When the governor of an island needed help protecting their colony, he would seek out a captain and issue them a license to capture enemy shipping in exchange for their help defending the island. The captain made a deal with someone who owned a ship and headed down to the tavern to hire a crew. The crew including the captain agreed to a set of rules or articles that set the terms of employment from compensation to conduct. Each crew member was free to agree and sign on to the voyage or not. The crew was essentially freelance. They worked when they wanted or needed to. When you think about this it sounds very familiar. When a client or a producer has a project they hire a director, book a mobile unit, call a crewing company and an incredibly talented group of professionals come together to produce amazing television.”