The business, which has been located in the Arapaho Village development for the last decade, specializes in digitizing media from film and video tapes, audio recordings, slides, photos and more.
“Countless people will say, ‘This is one of a kind, [and] I don’t trust people to ship it off,’” Gray said. “You bring it to me, and you don’t have to worry about it. We will take care of it from start to finish.”
All transfers and conversions are done in house. Gray said his services have been used by museums, archivists and thousands of customers.
“I’m always surprised at the different people that contact us about doing things,” he said, noting his work has shown up on Netflix, Discovery Channel and more. “But, honestly, that’s such a small part [of the work] for us. It’s everyday moms and dads that are coming in.”
The reactions from customers to the final products have run the gamut over the years, though there have been many tears of joy shed in the business’s lobby, Gray said. One of his favorite projects is transferring old film with sound, he said. Gray said Action Video is one of the only places he knows of in the metroplex that handles sound film.
"When you have film from early on that has sound, that’s just even more special, being able to transfer that for people,” he said. “It helps bring people back to life in a sense.”
When a new customer calls the business, which Gray said seems to happen every day, his staff knows how to find out what their ultimate goal is.
“We’re always trying to figure out what is the real question behind why you’re interested in having this done,” Gray said. “A lot of times it is, ‘Well, I have no good way to see it on my TV.’”
The business is also “super transparent” with customers about costs, Gray said. After closing at the beginning of the pandemic, he said Action Video is now averaging around 150 projects each month.
“I think COVID[-19] [has] caused people to reflect more on their memories and on their health and on their family,” Gray said. “Now it feels like every day is busy.”
Action Video Service
819 W. Arapaho Road, Ste. 23, Richardson
972-437-2021
www.actionvideoservice.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-1 p.m., closed Sun.
