Let’s talk movies and television shows.

“None of us went to college to make car commercials.” – Mark F.

When my friend Mark said that, I nearly broke a rib laughing. And honestly? He’s right.

For those of us who studied broadcasting, filmmaking, or media production, we got into this because we love storytelling. Don’t get me wrong, commercial work pays the bills, and I genuinely love doing it.

But storytelling has always been the goal.

That’s a huge reason why I founded Vaupel Video (soon to evolve into something broader than just “video”). At the end of the day, I love great stories and the people who know how to tell them well.

And I consume a lot of content:

for entertainment
to escape reality for a little while
for inspiration
to sharpen my own skills

That last one is probably the biggest reason. I’m constantly watching how other creators solve problems visually, structure scenes, build tension, or frame emotion. Half the time I see something brilliant, I immediately want to go try recreating it myself.

So… let’s start a completely subjective argument:
What are the greatest films and television shows of all time?

Here are a few of mine.

FILMS (in absolutely no order):

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Princess Bride
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The 13th Warrior
John Carpenter’s The Thing
The Incredibles
The Quiet Man
The Martian
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

“Oh, that’s the popcorn movie list.”

Fair enough. Here’s the “film school” list:

Django Unchained
Inception
Schindler’s List
The Shawshank Redemption
The Dark Knight
Fight Club
Léon: The Professional
Memento
Heat
The Searchers

Now television/limited series (this one IS in order):

Breaking Bad
Dopesick
Band of Brothers
Batman: The Animated Series
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Succession
The West Wing
Lost
The Wire
Chappelle’s Show

I know some of you are already typing:
“Where’s The Godfather Part II?”
“How is The Wire not #1?”
“You forgot [insert favorite here].”

That’s the fun of this industry — art is subjective.

So now I want your picks. Seriously. Drop your favorite films or television shows in the comments. I’m always looking for something great I haven’t seen… or a reason to rewatch something I forgot how much I loved. And definitely tell me why you picked them. This is a public post, so let’s keep it clean and fun.

I can’t wait to see everyone’s favorites.

I get this question more than you might think:

“I checked out your website and only saw a handful of videos… are you not busy? Or did you just get started?”

Fair question. And I’ll be honest—there was a time I worried people assumed the worst. That I’m hard to work with, too expensive, or maybe just not very good at what I do.

The reality? It’s none of those.

I have hundreds of videos I could post. There are just a few reasons you only see the ones you do.

1. LESS REALLY IS MORE

The projects on my site are there on purpose. Each one represents a different type of work; documentary, broadcast commercial, corporate, non-profit, and more.

You don’t need to see 20 examples of the same thing to understand what I can do. One strong piece in each category tells the story.

2. NDAs ARE PART OF THE JOB

A large portion of my work is done under non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements. Many of my clients have very specific rules about how—or if—their content can be shared.

In a lot of cases, that means I can’t use the work for personal marketing at all.

That’s something I take seriously. If I sign an NDA, I honor it. No exceptions. (And yes… there’s also the legal side of that.)

3. NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE PUBLIC

Early in my career, I knew someone who never shared his client list—not even with close friends. At the time, I didn’t get it.

Now I do.

This industry can be competitive in ways that aren’t always obvious. I’ve seen situations where someone approaches a client and tries to pull them away by tearing down their current vendor.

It happens.

So I’ve made the decision to keep my client relationships more private. Not out of secrecy, but out of respect and protection for the people who trust me with their work.

FINAL THOUGHT

I genuinely value every client I work with. There’s a level of trust involved in handing over your story to someone else, and I don’t take that lightly.

It’s not just about creating good content. It’s about being someone people can rely on.

Thanks for reading. And yes—this could’ve been a video.

- Troy

Let's Start a Film Argument

“You Work in Media… Why Are There Only a Few Videos on Your Website?”