The Start of Ridge Production with Pat and TimThe Start of Ridge Production with Pat and Tim
Learning to Lose
Pat Ridge and Tim trace how their friendship, early bands and wedding gigs evolved into Ridge Production’s fast-paced, high-quality studio work. Along the way, Pat’s sobriety and Graceland sober living become part of a bigger story about mentoring creatives and backing the underdog.
52:01•11 Aug 2026
From Childhood Schemes to Ridge Production Dreams
Episode Overview
- Early band projects and tapes in middle and high school laid the groundwork for Pat and Tim’s later production company.
- Weddings and real estate videos became key early income and a practical training ground for teaching new shooters technical and storytelling skills.
- Ridge Production gained attention by editing festival and convention content on-site, using speed and quality to stand out.
- Sobriety and Graceland sober living provide Pat with a community where he finds and mentors creative people who share his values.
- Trust, honesty and sensitivity to both clients and collaborators are highlighted as essential ingredients for strong, long-term creative partnerships.
“"Art is caring, I think, a lot. So, like, if you're looking with somebody, you're shooting a subject... take a beat. Look at what's behind them."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? Here, that strength is tightly woven into creativity, friendship and a decade-long business story. The episode follows Patrick Ridge and his lifelong friend Tim as they chat through the origins of Ridge Production, starting all the way back in middle school bands and home-made cassette tapes.
Tim jokes they "maybe made $3,000" or maybe just spent it, but the point is clear: they’ve been dreaming big and actually doing things since they were kids. You’ll hear how very different upbringings – Tim’s strict home with the bedroom door literally taken off its hinges, and Pat’s loose, low-supervision household – collided into a shared work ethic.
Pat inherited a relentless documenting habit from his entrepreneur dad, while Tim leaned into the business side, interning at Warner Brothers and becoming one of the youngest A&Rs there. Their production company didn’t start with glamorous music videos. It grew from weddings and real estate shoots, charging "five grand a pop" and treating every brief as a chance to make something visually strong and story-driven.
They talk about weddings as a training ground, teaching new shooters camera settings, angles, and how to cope under pressure, all while keeping standards high. Sobriety threads quietly through the story. Pat mentions running Graceland, a sober living environment that doubles as a pool for creative talent, and he’s proud that Ridge has "always helped build people from scratch" and backed the underdog who shows up and works hard.
As the chat shifts to what separates good work from unforgettable work, they point to bold ideas and real care. From on-site festival edits that caught the eye of Coachella and Insomniac to filming motorcycles backflipping at the White House, they keep coming back to one principle: "art is caring" and being "super sensitive" to people, shots and story.
If you’re rebuilding life in sobriety and wondering how creativity, business and recovery can coexist, this conversation might spark a few ideas of your own.
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