Parker Stroop grew up in Sarasota, tried film school at UCF, switched to computer science, then switched back, a detour that turned out to matter later. Before COVID he worked as a production assistant on ABC's Great Christmas Light Fight, gripped a roughly $1.2 million kids' feature called Homers, and once stood in as a backup surfer on a National Geographic Shark Week episode filmed in Jacksonville because the hired actor could not actually surf. During the pandemic he lived out of a van and a tent for about two and a half years, chasing gigs that eventually included a Nat Geo documentary and a season of American Idol as a production assistant in San Diego.
The turning point came when Stroop was about to move to Los Angeles for a first assistant camera job, chasing what he half-jokingly describes as a plan to become the youngest Oscar winner for cinematography. An emotional phone call with a friend triggered a breakdown at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport when his flight was delayed, and he took it as a sign the LA path was not where he was supposed to be. He applied to a batch of churches instead, got rebaptized on the flight home, and returned to Sarasota to build his own companies rather than climb someone else's ladder.
The Backlot and Two Docuseries Stroop now runs two ventures under a shared kingdom-minded mission. Second Watch Network centers on a production-management platform he calls the Backlot, built so call sheets, script sides and scheduling stay fully interconnected in a way he says competitors like StudioBinder and Yamdu do not match, with plans for a Netflix-style streaming platform and a free 24-hour live channel aimed at giving under-resourced creators budget and mentorship without locking them into exclusive deals. His production company, Pillar Productions, is currently filming Serving for Grace, a six-episode series following a couple in their fifties competing at the World Cup of Pickleball, centered on a subject whose past includes addiction and infidelity before a Christian conversion six years ago, and Coastal Torque, a series documenting Sarasota's underground car culture built around a twin-turbo S650 drag car.
The hosts, hearing him describe three ventures at once, push back on air, urging him to focus primarily on the Backlot software given a production-management market they peg at roughly $1.4 billion. On roundabouts, Stroop says he enjoys them, calling them fun to take fast, but notes older drivers in older cars seem to struggle with them most, and singles out the downtown Sarasota roundabout, with its tricky multi-lane merge, as the one where he has come closest to an accident. He describes himself less as a traditional filmmaker than as a marketplace leader, ministering informally in professional settings the way a bar preacher might.
What you'll take away
- A breakdown at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, on the verge of moving to LA, convinced Stroop to build his career from Sarasota instead
- His Second Watch Network platform, the Backlot, aims to unify call sheets, script sides and scheduling more tightly than competitors like StudioBinder
- Pillar Productions is filming Serving for Grace, about a couple competing at the World Cup of Pickleball, and Coastal Torque, about Sarasota's car culture
- The hosts advise him to focus on the software business alone, citing a roughly $1.4 billion production-management software market
- He calls the downtown Sarasota roundabout, with its multi-lane merge, the closest he has come to an accident in town
“I wanted to be the youngest Oscar winner for cinematography.”
“I got rebaptized on the flight home.”
Places mentioned: Downtown Sarasota