Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Brundige.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It all started in 8th grade at Vivian Field middle school. We had a class project built around the book Animal Farm. The class was set up to create a Cow vs. Goat campaign and I was put on the newspaper staff. I’m not a fan of writing and was looking for an easy A. For some reason, I came up with the idea to shoot campaign videos and document the process via VHS. My teachers allowed me to do so. It was a lot of fun gathering interviews, b-roll and other content but then, I had to do something with all of those fun filled days of goofing off. The person in charge of our church’s AV department graciously gave up an entire Saturday for me and showed me how to edit (linear A/B roll ancient stuff). I was amazed! I could add whatever text I wanted, I could add whatever music I wanted and take use of all of the built in transitions (clock wipes etc.). I soaked up every second of our time and loved the entire process. That was only half of my beginning. When the time came to play my video for the entire class, I was excited but very nervous. It was a hit (it was pretty bad), the class was laughing at the right parts and excited in other parts. I remember thinking,”I did this, I made something that people really enjoyed and got a kick out of. I made them feel things.” That was it, I was hooked!
My parents had amazing wisdom in the way that they supported my new passion. They bought a computer for me with a dual deck VHS player. It was a very basic computer with a very basic non-linear editing program. I would shoot everything from holidays, family get togethers and even some made up narratives that my friends and I would come up with. When my parents saw that I was hitting the ceiling with my gear capabilities and wanting to do more, outgrowing the software and hardware I was using, they would upgrade me slightly. Being a parent now, I can understand the wisdom in this. Who knows, it could have just been a phase like karate, pottery, baseball, etc.
My freshman year at RL Turner High School was another turning point. I was blessed with English and History teachers that saw my boredom in the standard ways of learning and allowed me to make videos for my projects rather than writing papers. I quickly made friends, who more than likely were just using me for an easy grade and a fun project. In the end though, it really did plug me into a great network of friends in school. My high school introduced two academies at the beginning of my sophomore year. The Biomedical academy and The Academy for Media Arts and Technology. I didn’t fully understand at the time but I had won the lottery.
After applying, I was accepted into AMAT and spent the next 3 years soaking up college level film classes from an amazing teacher, Mrs. Lisa Scheffler. I connected with two great friends, Patrick Parker and Taylor Allen (writer of Chappaquiddick and Variety’s top 10 writers to be on the lookout for). We formed a production company called Apple Stealers and entered various video festivals, did several big productions for Carrollton’s police department and of course continued with creating video projects in our English classes.
After graduating high school, I went (term used loosely) to Abilene Christian University. Let’s just say that I wasn’t a good fit for traditional higher education. Plus, I felt like I had more technology in my dorm room than the entire campus in 2001. After coming to the realization that the “University life” was not for me, I hit a brick wall.
I was fortunate to have gone to church and played in a rock band with a guy named David Bates. At the time, he was working at the Fossil Corporate HQ. He brought me in for the summer in 2002 as a paid intern in the photography retouch studio to help with developing an in-house video production team. We made a lot of internal videos (scored lots of cool ‘free’ watches) and helped produce Fossil’s first 3 jeans commercials that aired on MTV. After that summer, I enrolled into a film school in Orlando, FL called Full Sail.
In January 2003, my eyes were opened to a new form of higher education when I walked into my first day of film school. The creativity, knowledge, collaboration, etc. that grew from being in that place was amazing. The schedule could be grueling at times. It was easy to put in 40-60 hours of school in one week. You would start and finish a class or two a month. But, for the first time in my life I had perfect attendance and straight A’s. I had access to top of the line equipment whether for school projects or personal projects. I played, created, learned, grew and seared into my brain what I wanted to do for a career. The absolute best thing that came out of film school was meeting an amazing woman who was going through the audio tract, became an audio engineer and my partner for life. My wife is amazing and plays a huge role in what I’m doing now professionally. Having worked in the industry and understanding the demands of the profession has made late nights, week and month long projects and work travel all that much easier.
After film school, my first paid job in the industry was brought to me by none other than David Bates. Yes, the same guy who had made a way for me into Fossil that summer before film school. He brought me into Reel FX Creative Studios here in Dallas where I became part of the master control crew (we called it the bat cave). I have so many fond memories of that job. From all of the talented people I was surrounded by and learning from to the amazing projects I was blessed to be a part of. I remember asking Kevin Althans if there was anything I could do to help him after hours when my master control duties were over. He taught me how to rotoscope and I would sit in his suite into the wee hours of the morning, rotoscoping footage for a made for TV Disney movie. That was such a great opportunity but my thirst was not quenched. I made good friends in the Art Department and Animation Department and found that they had a need to shoot things for spec spots and movement reference. I would bring my camera to the office and help shoot things for the projects they were working on.
It was nothing fancy on my part but it plugged me in. After moving the office from the White Swan Building to the old Yahoo building in Deep Ellum, I pushed even more. I made friends with Brandon Oldenburg (now Academy Award winner) who spoke story into me. “Tell stories.” “How does this push the story forward?” I was inspired and with his help created a new department within Reel FX that we called the “Go To Creative Department”. Anything anyone needed shot, edited, etc. to help them do their job better was my task. I had the opportunity to work on the editorial side for the opening of Disney’s “The Wild”, maintain the edit for an animated short starring Andy Griffith called “The Very First Noel” and so many other cool projects. The time came where there really wasn’t a place for me at Reel FX and they had to let me go. I was newly married and was no longer bringing in an income. Dang it!
My wife had a full time job and we were able to manage until I landed the next gig. Enter National Geographic!
Okay, well my paycheck didn’t come from National Geographic but the company it did come from was Lindblad Expeditions who is partnered with National Geographic with their Eco-Tourism business. What an amazing job for me at that time.
I signed on for a 13-month contract that had me on a boat somewhere in the world for a month exploring and documenting nature. I would be on a boat for a month and then come home for a month. Rinse and repeat. I saw some of the most amazing things in the world. From Alaska to the Galapagos. From filming and literally touching wild Gray Whales in the western lagoons of Baja to documenting up close and personal Brown Bears feasting on salmon mid stream in Alaska (caution was taken) to seeing the amazing species I had only read about in the Galapagos. Towards the end of my contract both my wife and I were missing each other and felt like there were other opportunities for me in the near future and closer to home.
From Lindblad, I went to work for a faith based company called Blue Fish TV that made video content for church’s and small groups. Then the economic crisis loomed and I was in the barrel with all of the others that were let go.
From there, I ended up at a company called Pursuant that did a lot of data gathering analytics, fund raising along with videos for non-profits and higher education. This, I believe was the launching zone for where I am now. I was given the responsibility to make cool videos that had an emotive story thread. I learned so much during my tenure at pursuant and I met some really great people as well. Some of those people gathered together in hopes of doing something crazy. We decided that we should try and make our first feature film. With a budget of $10K, lots of donated time and equipment we made our first movie “Between Notes”. Talk about a learning experience! We ate, slept and dreamed about this film while we were shooting. We premiered at Dallas International Film Festival and ended with making our money back through digital distribution and video on demand.
Although, it’s not a great film, it was a defining moment for all of us. It opened doors to growing and learning in so many different areas and in that way it was great. Pursuant shortly after laid off, about 50% of it’s creative team and yes, I was in that 50%. I had always thought about going out on my own but was so secure in full-time employment with a steady paycheck that it didn’t mature into anything more than a thought. Pursuant, in a way, gave me the kick out of the nest I needed to start awkwardly flapping towards some ideal of self employment. So, a group of us formed a company called BFM Creative (Boy From Mars). We offered a turn key solution from script to delivery. Although, we were able to work on some cool projects, in the end 3 of the 5 founders needed to leave due to the company not really providing a good and steady paycheck. Christopher Grissom and I were able to stay on and continue working. We bid on some amazing jobs but kept coming to dead ends. We saw that going after the big commercial work was difficult for a turn key operation, in our opinion at least. We would be one of 3 bids on a big job and time and time again get skipped over for a director. Our analysis was that companies were more comfortable going that route and that BFM couldn’t survive if that was the case. So, we dissolved the company and created our own companies. Chris formed Christopher Grissom Pictures which allowed him to sell himself in more of a director role and I created Brundige Creative.
During our time with BFM, I connected with AMS Pictures. I was contracted on as an editor for an HGTV show called Cool Pools. It’s hard to describe the nervousness and inadequacy I felt that first week working on an episode for HGTV. “What am I doing here?” “I don’t know how to do this.” “I hope I can do this.” “Okay, I think this is doable.” “Maybe not, maybe I’m not talented enough.” I needed the work and most importantly the paycheck so I kept pushing through. With the help, guidance and tools I received from a talented show runner Jessica Schoenbaechler and producer Martin Spirit, I was finally able to believe that I actually could do this. The job went very well and I moved onto another show for HGTV called You Live In What? I had confidence at that point and it only grew as we chewed through more episodes. Then, I was given the gift as Senior Editor for two seasons of The Cooking Channel’s ‘Chuck’s Eat the Street’. The show was fun, witty, foodie and an opportunity to work with multiple editors all grinding for the same goal. To make an awesome show.
For more than 2 years now, Brundige Creative has continued to grow in ways I could have never anticipated. New clients continue to stream in and continue to come back. Clients from Mary Kay Inc. to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and so many other awesome groups! Chris and I continue to work with each other on many projects whether from his side or mine. The greatest part is that we continue to pursue our passion of filmmaking. Most recently, we finished a short film entitled Underneath that we’re hoping to premiere at DIFF this year and we have a pilot that we are currently working on, as well as a couple of ideas for features.
There are so many things that I love about my job and profession. One is that, no matter what project I’m working on, I’m telling a story. I’m pushing and pulling emotions out of an audience, that still gives me the same smile as it did the first time back in 8th grade. The other amazing thing is the collaboration part. I not only work with some amazing clients but I also get to work with some really gifted and talented artists. Throughout the years, I’ve worked with a lot of crew both on the production and post-production side. Some of those people may have had talent but they were missing a lot more of the important stuff. The people I still hire and work with on a regular basis are the creme de la creme. Talents and skills aside, I bring people in on projects that are passionate, collaborative, want to go that extra mile on their own accord without complaints for the sheer fact that they want everything that they do to be absolutely awesome. You can’t find that through job posts, you can’t read into that with resumes. You have to have worked/played together on projects to find those gems. I’m blessed beyond belief to know and work with so many great creative individuals. When asked about being a subject for this piece the term “hidden gem” was used and I wouldn’t say that I’m a gem. But, I work within a mine of some of the most beautiful people.
I’ve grown and gained a vast amount of experience in the video and film industry for the past 15 years and continue to do so. I service many clients across the country working on a wide array of projects with amazing teams. I don’t think that I’m particularly special or ‘God’s gift’ to the industry. I just like working hard, being creative, making people feel something and doing a kick ass job.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not smooth at all. I’ve never quit a job (That means he’s been ‘let go’ from all of his past employers). I’ve never held a job longer than 2.5 years. Some cases, it was due to financial reasons for the companies sake and other cases, I believe, was that I wanted more. I wanted to do more. I didn’t fit in the box I was assigned.
I had a difficult time at one job due to the whole shoving creatives in a corporate box structure. I produced great results from the projects I worked on that always delivered at the quality the client expected or higher and I always delivered on time if not early. I would stay late, work weekends and did whatever it took to make my work the best it could be. But, the company came down hard with some rules about what you could or could not do at your desk. Only work was allowed. If you wanted to read a book, you had to do it in the lounge etc. In my opinion, I was the catalyst for these rules. I had my XBOX 360 hooked up at my desk, watched movies, built ports, etc. For me, that was how I was able to create. I always described it as: you can only squeeze a lemon for so long before there’s no juice. I still believe in that philosophy. If don’t step away from what you are working on and take a break, an actual break with some fun or entertainment, your work is going to suffer. All that to say, my views were not shared.
Humility was also something I struggled with early on. Even though, it was during the time in which I think mostly everyone goes through that, it was something that was always on my mind. I didn’t have all of the answers. I didn’t necessarily know the best way to achieve something.
Financially, I was only able to pursue this because my wife worked hard and supported me like crazy. We openly discussed jobs that landed and jobs that didn’t land and she never shamed me or made me feel guilty for not having a steady income. She believed that this is what I was meant to do and that during those hard times we were planting seeds for the future. Yeah, she’s awesome!
During dry seasons, I will admit, I questioned if I had taken the right path concerning my profession. It was never anything too crazy where I started looking into other careers but there was some mild anxiety and fear.
Please tell us about Brundige Creative LLC..
Brundige Creative is a turn-key solution for just about every video need. We specialize in great storytelling coupled with amazing quality and organization. I think we’re known for being very easy to work with, being able to get on the same page and understand our client’s needs and always up to doing as much as possible to have a happy client and exciting end product.
I’m most proud of being able to hire talented people. I love sharing budgets with my favorite people who do exceptional work. Having the ability to employ and put money into people’s bank accounts is very fulfilling and brings me great joy!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over is a hard question. I’m so happy where we are now and everything it took to get to this point. Moving forward, I would love to carve out even more time for our side passion projects in the pursuit of trying to fulfill our ultimate goal in being successful filmmakers. By successful I don’t mean awards, lavish bank accounts, etc. I just mean by being able to support our families while making films full time.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brundigecreative.com
- Email: mattbrundige@me.com
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