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Chris Schwager standing on a street in a beige suit, hands in pockets, looking at the camera
Ridge FilmsAbout

Chris Schwager

30 years behind the camera. Now I put you in front of it.

01

Who

Capable business owners, advisers and sales teams freeze on camera because too much is happening at once. I’m Chris Schwager, founder of Ridge Films. We install a desktop video studio in their own office, then I coach them until recording feels routine.

  • 30 yrsin video production
  • ABA100The Australian Business Awards ABA100 Product Innovation Winner 2025
  • 200+★★★★★Google reviews
  • 250+podcast episodes
Chris Schwager holding the ABA100 Product Innovation 2025 certificate
ABA100 Product Innovation winner, 2025

I’ve spoken at

  • The Business Show Australia
  • DigiMarCon
  • The Adviser Better Business Summit
  • Buy Grow Sell Summit
  • Recruitment Masterclass Conference
  • Lawyers Weekly Future Forum
02The story

Good work was never the problem.

Being seen was. Twelve moments, 1980 to 2025.

The first camera.

Dad’s VHS camera, left on a tripod. I zoomed in, zoomed out, and worked out that wherever I pointed it, that’s the story that got told.

The film nobody saw.

I poured everything into a documentary and waited to be discovered. After the screening, an actor’s mum pulled me aside: “Chris, you believe it, but you don’t know it.” Took me years to understand her.

The flat decade.

Ridge Films did good work for ten years and barely grew. “If you build it, they will come” is a trap.

The empty office.

A bloke walked into our 220 square metre office with his family videotapes, asked if we were moving out, and walked straight back out. He decided before I’d said a word. Everything communicates.

The million-dollar room.

We moved into 12 square metres in Marrickville. I locked the lights, camera and background down so nobody had to touch a thing. I stood in it and said, this room will make me a million dollars. It has.

The studio on my desk.

Burnout moved my sales calls to Zoom, and my webcam didn’t match my price. So I fixed a studio to my desk, then started building them for clients. They told me the gear wasn’t enough. They were right, so the coaching went in.

The podcast.

Video Made Simple goes live. Every week since. Now the Video Confidence Collective, 250+ episodes in.

The launch.

Lockdown hit, and six orders for a studio kit came in before I had properly built one. The first kit a client got was my business partner’s own desk setup, taken apart.

The reset.

A near-death experience. I chose growth over stress, and it reshaped how I run the business.

Beyond Australia.

Our first Desktop Studio install outside Australia, in the US. The same setup and the same coaching, from Sydney.

The Collective.

Weekly group coaching. Repetition, simplicity and structure, so showing up stops being hard.

The award.

ABA100 Product Innovation winner at The Australian Business Awards, for the Complete Video Success System.

ABA100 Product Innovation Winner 2025 badge
Clip 01 / 12
Chris Schwager on stage speaking to an audience at the Lawyers Weekly Future Forum
03

What I believe

  • 01

    Trust doesn’t form in private.

  • 02

    You’re not bad on camera. You’re overloaded.

  • 03

    Consistency builds trust. Talent is optional.

04

Where to start

The Ridge Films Desktop Studio, labelled: broadcast microphone, key light, teleprompter, camera and glamour light on one desk mount
The Desktop Studio
  1. 01

    The Desktop Studio.

    See the studio

    Camera, lights, mic and teleprompter, dialled in once and fixed to your desk. You press one button.

  2. 02

    Coaching with me.

    How coaching works

    I coach off your own footage. Faster, slower, smile before you speak. Repetition gets you there, not talent.

  3. 03

    The podcast.

    Listen

    250+ episodes, free. Start here if you’re not ready to talk yet.

05

Said by clients

“I’m doing videos probably in one tenth of the time.”

Jason HowesJason HowesArrow Executive Sales

“I’ve gone from being very stiff and serious and not moving at all to more engaging, dynamic and interesting.”

Amy-Renee HovorkaAmy-Renee HovorkaNSW Procurement Specialists

“You can see a phenomenal difference in the before video and the after video.”

Byron TrzeciakByron TrzeciakPixelRush

★★★★★5.0from 200+ Google reviews · Read the client stories

Chris Schwager in a beige blazer, seated in an armchair, smiling warmly at the camera

Good and invisible is still invisible.

Tell me what you’re trying to fix. Kev or I read every message, and you’ll get a straight answer.

Talk to Chris

FAQ

Chris Schwager
Who is Chris Schwager?

Chris Schwager is the founder and CEO of Ridge Films, a Sydney video production and coaching company, and the creator of the Complete Video Success System. He has worked in professional video production for more than 30 years and now coaches business owners, professional services firms and sales teams on appearing confidently and consistently on camera.

What is the Complete Video Success System?

The Complete Video Success System combines a professionally installed desktop video studio, one-to-one video coaching and an ongoing coaching group called the Video Confidence Collective. It won Product Innovation at The Australian Business Awards in 2025. The promise attached to it is that a client publishes their first video within seven days of installation.

What does Chris Schwager's video coaching involve?

Coaching is delivered live, on camera, against the client's own footage. Chris works from performance signals rather than a script: the forced smile people default to before they speak, talking fast to disguise an imperfect read, a staccato delivery, and using full stops and commas to control tone.

Does Chris Schwager speak at events?

Yes. Chris speaks on visibility as a leadership standard, and has spoken at The Business Show Australia, DigiMarCon, The Adviser Better Business Summit, Buy Grow Sell Summit, the Recruitment Masterclass Conference and the Lawyers Weekly Future Forum. Speaking enquiries go through the Ridge Films contact page.