Ivan Anderson, president and CEO of Anderson Productions, has strayed from his original goal to be a sports broadcaster, but he has not wandered far. He now runs a communications company that provides products that include audio/visuals, television and film, communication branding, website content such as streaming video and presentation designs.

With a minor in theology, Anderson sought out opportunities in broadcast journalism and film. Following an internship at ESPN, he moved on to Fox Sports Net and ABC 7 in Los Angeles. He eventually gave into his restlessness.

“I realized that I wanted to bring something bigger and better to the table,” Anderson recalled. “In 2003, I started my own company out of my house and in 2005, got my first office. We acquired another company in San Diego and started growing a little bit. We’re now in our third office and see a bright future ahead.”

Despite the bold ambitions, Anderson’s company is not immune to the recession.

“We’re feeling it,” he said. “At one point, about 15 people worked for us. We’re now down to four. A lot of companies felt it in 2008. We did not really feel it until the third or fourth quarter of 2009. Going into 2010, we said, ‘We need to come up with a different concept, strategy, idea and stay in the same direction, but diversify ourselves. Where can we get more business?’”

The competition is intensifying even at the lower end of the scale.

“It’s not limited to just the major networks. You’ve got kids working in their houses coming up with film ideas and throwing them either on YouTube or MySpace,” said Anderson. “They’re also getting opportunities where they’ve got a groundswell. Sometimes they wind up landing a deal, like the Blair Witch Project or pro-summer brand-type products.”

To Anderson, this is a welcome trend.

“It says, ‘We can do this. We don’t have to be the Fortune 500 or 100 company. We actually have good ideas and a good concept,’” he said. “I like the direction the industry is going in. The industry was too limited and I like the breadth and depth that’s there now. I’m enjoying this.”

Outsourcing does not interest Anderson since creativity is better controlled when people are close together. Occasionally, Anderson will teleconference or use Skype when collaborators are not in the same city.

“When it comes to creativity, it’s an energy. It’s a place where you have to be,” he said, recalling the excitement he felt as a child visiting his grandfather, a set designer and handyman at the local NBC affiliate in Michigan, at work.

“It’s what draws people to California,” said Anderson. “You’re in this industry, you want to come to California. You want to be around the energy. I don’t mind the outsourcing, but there’s a little bit of translation that’s lost. You have a real hold on what the market wants and what people are looking for and that’s important to us.”

As a minority entrepreneur, Anderson believes his company’s value proposition is that it gives companies like Disney, where it is a preferred supplier, different eyes and ears.

“Working with a company like Disney can really create a synergy level of creativity that Anderson production adds to the table. The reason I’m able to think of [unique ideas] is because we work with unknown projects that can vary from one extreme to another. He added, “I don’t just deal with creative people. I talk to everyday people and see how life is going for them. They say TV and film emulates real life. It really does, but you get those ideas from those people.”

One major market for Anderson is the DINK population, or “double income, no kids”: high-income couples from their mid-20s to mid-40s.

“They’re not just from the United States. They’re everywhere in the world,” he said. “They have disposable income and they’re buying. They travel to Europe because they have their lives set up to just be married, but not invest in children.”

Anderson estimates they make up about 30 to 35 percent of those from their mid-20s to age 40 or 45.

“That market is trending really big,” he said. “They have a lot of disposable income and they’re going to start controlling media as far as what they want to view on television and in the theaters.”

However, he added that they will not dominate the web because they are preoccupied and do not have the time to sit in front of the computer like those under 22.

Anderson counts Rich Krause, Paul Orfalea, the creator and founder of Kinko’s, and Arlen Smith, a former sound engineer at Motown Records who still lives in Michigan, among his business mentors. Anderson now seeks “a little more one-on-one with companies that can show me how to maneuver and grow my company to the level that I want it to grow.”

Anderson is not shy about wanting to become a major player in the production, television and film, but is well aware it will take time. He compares his situation to the college draft.

“There is a lot of talent that’s out there and a lot of times, you can’t see it all,” Anderson said. You see a guy in the NFL like Walter Payton, a guy who went to a small school in Mississippi, one of the best running backs to have ever played. Or Scottie Pippen, who went to a small school in Arkansas, one of the best second point guards who was in the NBA who won six championships.”

Anderson is glad he was not discovered sooner by Disney. He also believes that his background in the corporate world has helped him to run his own business.

“Long-term, we would like to be a major player in the industry. It would be a testimony to Disney. They started with us,” he said.

Steve Miller, Senior Vice President for Sourcing and Procurement at Disney, stresses the importance of quality and the value-add that suppliers bring. He says divisions across Disney have high expectations of what they will get from suppliers. “Once you have a company like Anderson productions or others that are able to demonstrate their value and their ability to bring that high service or high quality to a client it’s easier for them to extend that to other divisions within Disney because they have already proven themselves.”

Gramma Bettys, a chocolate company located in Cerritos, California, says Anderson productions handles all of their production needs and does a great job at it. “What separates Anderson Productions is that they understand our objectives and they were very instrumental in helping us to brand ourselves. They deal with customers on a personal level and understanding budgetary constraints, still are able to translate what our company can offer to potential clients,” says DaShon Quiette, Vice President of Sales.

Previously, Anderson ran Presentation Products, now called Spinitar. As systems integration designer, he managed about 40 salespeople in San Diego, Los Angeles, Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona, Honolulu, Hawaii and Anchorage. He built up his skill sets here, particularly his sales abilities, and shaped his vision for a communication company.

“In this industry, you tend to have companies that will open up for a film or television show and when that’s done, they fold up,” said Anderson. “We’re not that kind of company. We want staying power. We want to say, ‘We didn’t fold up, we just went onto another project.’”

His current medium-term goals are to have projects on which to work, both for web or production.

“It’d definitely get us over this crazy economy hump that we have. This is just ridiculous,” said Anderson.

Business is deeply person to Anderson. “I put my name on it. I want to know that I can come to you and hold my head up,” he said. “Every company I’ve ever worked for, I can go back and work for that same company. I like to walk in and out the door doing a great job. Our reputation’s important to us and my reputation’s important to me.”