Today we’d like to introduce you to Rhett Brennan
Hi Rhett, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Schertz, TX most of my life and decided to go to college at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX in 2016. When I enrolled I was a Kinesiology Major and found out quickly that was not the direction I wanted to take with my life. I had always messed around with cameras since I was young due to my mother being a sports photographer. In high school, at the age of 16, I started making videos with friends and we would run around cliff jumping, skating down massive hills, wakeboarding, anything that was exciting! When I went to college the second year and suffered through Kinesiology classes that I dreaded, I realized I was falling in love with the process of creativity. At the time I expressed this through video production and editing, with some photography being involved, but I really focused on video. I knew this was what I wanted to do at that time.
Weirdly enough I had a friend contact me that he was moving to Colorado and asked if their was any chance that I would move with him. I thought about it for a few days and said yes. Everyone close to me was definitely shocked at the decision but I knew it was the best time. Long story short I packed my bags and moved to Boulder, CO for about a year. We got an apartment and I would film our daily adventures. We traveled all around the state and saw national parks, we snuck into X-Games with a fake media pass to film successfully, and more that my mother wouldn’t be necessarily proud of like hanging off sketchy cliffs..
After the year was up I moved back and reenrolled into Texas State but switched my degree to Mass Communication because it was the best options that campus had for what I wanted to do. I still was not the best student. I missed some classes to film some cool shoots and my professors were not happy except for one that I’ll always remember. Daniel Seed allowed me to film outside shoots and submit it as a grade because I was “in the field doing what he’s teaching”. This meant everything to me at the time because it allowed me to grow not only my skills in production but expand my network at a young age.
One day in class I saw a post from a company called Round lll. They were looking for assistance in Dallas on a shoot. I had followed them for years because they posted amazing skydiving work that inspired me. I instantly messaged them and they told me to come that day. I had already blown through my excusable absences but couldn’t miss this opportunity. Daniel Seed helped by talking to some of the other professors about my work allowing to to film and miss classes. That shoot changed everything for me. We shot the most beautiful skydiving sequence with state of the art cameras that hadn’t been released at the time. The camera company had sent them to us because of how amazing Ben and Aj’s (Round lll) work was. They taught me so much and allowed me to learn a TON of new skills but I knew I had to figure out how to do this on my own.
I went back to school with a new excitement and dedication to create an agency of my own to service large scale productions. I was in classes daily, got a job as a marketing manager for an insurance agency, worked a pizza delivery job and coached tennis to get funds in order to get the equipment I needed. It was worth it because I was able to purchase the gear and found my new agency, Iconic Media Studios in 2018.
Heres where Austin, TX comes into the picture…
I graduated from Texas State at the end of 2021 and already knew I was moving to Austin. Growing up 50 miles from Austin and coming to explore constantly is what made me know I would live here after college. I had a slow start in the business for 2 years while I finished up college but it gave me the time to understand the industry. Once moved to Austin thats when I knew it was time to take Iconic to the next phase.
In the beginning I would take any project I could get my hands on. I started with a ton of work in the hospitality and entertainment industry. I filmed for local Bars, Boat Companies, Food Trucks, etc. (and still do some to this day because of the deep relationships I enjoy building amongst the people I work with.) After about a year of focusing on this industry I was hired for a commercial project for the first time. Instantly, I fell in love with the production style, cohesiveness between other creatives, all working together for the same vision..its the best.
I knew after the first year of running Iconic I wanted to shift into a production agency to do commercial work. I was still heavily freelancing and being contracted by other agencies and knew I needed to shift in order for Iconic to grow to its potential. I expanded my crew and started pushing for commercial clients. We have kept this push as our main focus over the last 3 years and Iconic has seen huge success from this venture. We have worked with brands such as Capitol One with Tom Brady, Drunk Elephant Cosmetics, RED Digital Cinema, Rolling Loud Music Fest, Lalo Tequila, Georges St-Pierre, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, City of Cibolo, and so many other companies. Some local companies we also work very closely with are Heart and Soil, Cosmic Saltillo, Independence Brewing, La Caza Tequila, The Cauldron on West Campus, RAWDAWG Runclub, and more!
Iconic is now servicing 20+ constant companies and 100+ independent productions throughout the year. Some major achievements over the last few years since headquartering in Austin – We have been contracted or partnered on award winning commercial/advertising productions, we have tracked over 300+ million views from videos created or produced by Iconic Media Studios, we had 24 million of those come from SXSW week where we shot over 15 different events over the course of 8 days.
I feel like theres so much I am leaving out or forgetting but I will leave you with this. The journey I started while holding a camera almost 8 years ago now is now something I could never have imagined. The people I’ve had the pleasure and honor of working. besides makes this the best “job” I could ask for. Ive met friends, mentors, partners and so many others along this journey that have allowed me to push Iconic to the point its at today. The crew members on Iconic’s sets are the best of the best and couldn’t do this without them. The clients who have trusted us with these highly complicated yet beautiful projects…thank you! We are happily servicing projects all over the world now BUT Austin will forever be mine and Iconic’s home. Keep Austin Weird. – Rhett Brennan
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. Financial struggles right after graduating college for the first year made running the business extremely difficult but was able to figure this out and successfully profit within 24 months of moving to Austin. I also struggled with scaling. I was doing everything and was difficult for me to let go of certain tasks. After many talks with my mentors I realized this was a skill I need to refine. I was able to learn how to not only delegate, but partner with people to make the projects we were working on objectively better. I realized it benefited everyone involved and started pushing for partnering with the right people to get the job done. I also very much prioritize good people and good vibes. If you want to work with us you have to bring the good vibes because life is too short to work it away, lets have fun along the way. Our current challenges are mostly in scaling internally to keep up with the large scale projects. They are challenging and take months if not full 12 month long cycles. Were learning this and tackling this challenge head on everyday.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am predominately a Creative Director. I also am very skilled with high-level post production. Not just editing, but the actual conception of an idea being brought to a physical deliverable like a video. I really am passionate about the story being told in the best way we can. I love working within the limitations and having to problem solve and approach new challenges everyday. From a camera car being wrecked on accident to jumping out of planes with $50,000 cameras, I love these challenges and feats. We are one of the few companies that can service skydiving cinematography in Texas. It requires a deep network within the skydiving community and many many jumps to be able to utilize the cameras we can operate from 14,000 feet in the air. What sets me apart from others is not only the editing or production skills but mostly my ability to put the people first when working together. I am very passionate about working with good energy people and want to bring that myself. Making sure we have fun in those small moments and reminding ourselves why we chose this industry… were artist.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I remember traveling on a cruise out of country for the first time and loving the idea of seeing the world. The travel bug hasnt left me since then.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.iconicmediastudios.com
- Instagram: lostwithrhett
- Facebook: Iconic Media Studios
- Youtube: Iconic Media Studios
Image Credits
Rhett Brennan
