CASE STUDY

THE UPRISING CREATIVE

Integrated Creative + Production Company (2007-2016)

The Uprising Creative’s Company Reel (2016)

The Story The Uprising Creative was born out of a love for design and, quite frankly, a need to break out of the grind of “working for the man.”

My creative partner and I — both in our mid-20s at the time — had individually spent the 6 or 7 years prior exploring different creative outlets and career paths. Life on the road with bands, managing artists, starting clothing lines, developing creative for agencies, artists and brands. But we wanted to do more, to think bigger, and to forge our own path that was focused on creative expression the way WE wanted to do it.

So we cobbled together some clients based on past relationships, quit our jobs, and went out into the unknown with a DIY attitude and subversive, raw aesthetic and approach that instantly connected with prospective clients big and small.

Under my lead — in roles that eventually came to be defined as CEO and Executive Creative Director — what started as a 2-person design consultancy, situated in a rent-free nook in the hallway of friend and former employer Bill Silva’s offices in West Hollywood, eventually grew into a full-fledged, award winning integrated creative and production company headquartered in the Sunset Junction neighborhood of Silver Lake (CA) with 30+ employees, 4 offices (LA, Chicago, Nashville and London), and a roster of some of the most culturally influential artists, entertainment companies and brands in the world.

Big projects, big budgets, lots of visibility, lots of fun.

Our growth over the 9 years that I was leading the company was steady and consistent, continually adding new areas of focus. We started in design because that’s what we knew. Posters, merchandise, album packaging, promotional collateral. But we started to see more opportunities to be creative on the web with creative code and interactive experiences. Then in content, breaking out of a single frame. Then in experiential. Then in technology.

We merged with a company, acquired another. And because of the organic nature of our growth, the integration of all of these areas of focus came naturally. We developed deeply integrated, cross-functional methodologies for arriving at the most impactful creative, and the work produced between 2007-2016 speaks for itself.

We also worked to incubate, launch and back new businesses with friends such as atVenu, Versus Creative, Firebrand Live (US), Emo Nite (LA), Ride Or Cry, and VehicleVR. Exploring new creative and marketing avenues and companies was a natural extension of the way we approached integrated creative overall.

I left the company in 2016 to pursue new creative outlets. I needed a break from running a company to re-focus on the craft. Repped by UTA, my focus became VR content creation and I was immediately picked up by Live Nation and Hulu to produce and direct a new series with them, which eventually lead to my creative leadership role in-house at Live Nation. It was a bittersweet departure, and after I left, the company closed its doors in 2017 when the team decided it was time for everyone to spread their wings too. I will always be extremely proud of the work we created during that time, the awards we won, the young creatives we mentored, the creative and production teams we built, and the lifelong relationships we developed.