Catching Up Scrapyard Media Founder Brad DiMaggio—Creating Value Through Story – Speed on the Water

In just three years, New Baltimore, Mich.-based Scrapyard Media has redefined video in the high-performance powerboating world. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of entertaining go-fast boating videos mostly of the boats-and-babes kind. But videos that told actual stories rather than being simple mash-ups of boats flying across the water and bikini-clad gals at the docks were scarce.

Led by Brad DiMaggio, Scrapyard Media began its relationship with Speed On The Water with its “In The Lead” video series in 2021. Photo by Matt Trulio copyright speedonthewater.com.

Why? Because storytelling came a distant second to video imagery. And no matter how spectacular the imagery, storytelling demands that imagery be woven into a cohesive narrative that anyone can follow.

From the first time we interviewed Scrapyard Media founder/creative director Brad DiMaggio and his then-partner in the business and longtime friend, Ryan Wenk—now director of sales and marketing for Sunsation Boats—we knew they wanted to tell stories through video. DiMaggio loves the medium and he was born to work with it, but he is first and foremost a story-teller. From the “In The Lead” series that shares the intimate stories of high-performance marine industry’s most compelling figures to documentaries chronicling creation and accomplishment such as the Monster Energy/M CON Class 1 Skater Powerboats raceboat build and the tale behind Factory Billet’s ludicrous-speed 184-mph run at the 2023 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, the videos co-produced by Scrapyard Media and Speed On The Water set a high bar.

This year, DiMaggio made Scrapyard Media his full-time job. Despite that he had a steady client and partner in speedonthewater.com, it was a leap of faith. Take one look at the Speed On The Water YouTube channel and you’ll see how his gamble worked out. And Scrapyard still has one more video, “In The Lead with Florida Powerboat Club Founder Stu Jones,” to release this year.

For the past two years, Scrapyard Media’s Katie (left) and Brad DiMaggio have chronicled the Boyne Thunder Poker Run in Northern Michigan.

To say I “caught up” up with DiMaggio would imply that we don’t talk often, and that’s anything but the case. But I did have a few questions for him before we all lost ourselves with our families and friends for the holidays.

Here’s what he had to say.

What inspired you to start Scrapyard Media?

My dad has been and continues to inspire me to be an entrepreneur. He started a business well before I was born, so being raised in that environment gave me the confidence to go after it. (Sunsation Powerboats president) Joe Schaldenbrand also pushed me to do it. I think he saw the entrepreneur in me before I did, and he helped me go at Scrapyard full time.

You’ve accomplished a lot in three years. How do you account for that given your relatively short time in the video world?

I have quite a few people that account for my success so far. First and foremost, my wife, Katie, takes care of all the stuff that doesn’t lead to the next video publishing and she even started filming and editing herself. Jeff Riehl with UNRIEHL Performance gave me the opportunity to start making videos four years ago and that was followed up with Joe Schaldenbrand hiring me full time after seven years of corporate IT work at General Motors.

A joyful and soulful spirit, Katie DiMaggio is at the heart of Scrapyard Media.

This was our first year going at Scrapyard full time and the videos you see on Speed On The Water and Sunsation’s YouTube channels wouldn’t be possible without you and Jason Johnson at Speed On The Water, Bobby Boyd and my wife, Katie, and everyone who sits down—or stands—on-camera to tell their stories. We’re fortunate to work in an industry with incredible people who have great stories. Making videos is the easy part.

What is the biggest challenge in producing high-quality video storytelling?

Our biggest challenge right now is taking an industry that isn’t accustomed to using video for storytelling and showing them the value in it. In 2023, we were blessed with some opportunities to create longer videos with higher budgets. They are the videos you’ve probably seen on YouTube since they ended up being our most viewed.

Rick Pierce of Bass Cats, Katie DiMaggio, Randy Scism of MTI and Brad DiMaggio met for the first time the day before shooting began for the Mercury Racing “Water Street Confidential” video series celebrating the Fond du Lac, Wis., company’s 50th anniversary.

What do you love—and hate—about it?

I love a good challenge, and showing value in video storytelling isn’t one I take on alone. Jason, Ryan Wenk and you all help me go after the next big project.

Hate is a bit strong, but the most frustrating part is not being able to create something I have a vision for. Sometimes it ends up being a passion project, but too many of those don’t equal a successful business.

What can high-performance powerboating video fans expect from Scrapyard Media in 2024?

Next year has some current projects continuing like the Sunsation Nation YouTube series, and our In The Lead Speed On The Water series. We’d also like to add a project that gets us out of our comfort zone. Something that will level up Scrapyard from a production standpoint as well as entertain performance-boating enthusiasts like never before. We’ve got something in the works, but it’s too soon to share details.