Ben Brown: Head of Film (Trailer Creator)
Introduction
Brown is the head of film at Zealot, a creative marketing agency. He has worked on trailers for A Quiet Place 2, Downtown Abbey, Scream, and Sonic the Hedgehog (for the Superbowl), to name a few. His work is centered around crafting the visual and audio stories of a film’s advertising campaign.
The Past
As a teenager, Brown inherited a love of film and movies from his grandfather who worked as the business manager for a prominent director. Brown pursued a bachelor's degree in Psychology not far from home at the University of Virginia (UVA). Psychology seemed like a good choice at the time based on the versatility of the degree and quality of the professors. But Brown also made sure to take every film class he could despite UVA not having an official film program. Once he graduated from college, Brown was unsure of where he could fit into the entertainment industry, but knew he had to leave Virginia to go somewhere with better field opportunities. So, he moved to Hollywood with his best friend. There they were both able to get their foot in the door through jobs at talent agency mailrooms. Brown and his friend used the agencies to gain exposure to the entertainment industry and expand their networks. By chance, Brown filled in for an assistant while he was on vacation. The following week, the assistant was let go and Brown was given the assistantship full time. This was Brown’s first taste of the industry’s inherent competitiveness. During this time, he realized being an agent was not for him. Brown craved the film aspect of the industry, wanting to be more involved in production and editing of films. His goal was to become a studio development executive who handled the logistical considerations of filmmaking. He leveraged his position as a talent agent by focusing on building his network and talking to as many people as possible in the industry. His psychology degree supported his new endeavor. He was able to communicate and work with people of all different personalities and positions, including high-ranking professionals. At one point, Brown was on the way to becoming a producer. However, his career took a turn when working under Joel Silver who introduced him to movie marketing campaigns. He was exposed to a whole new world he didn’t even know existed, one where outside ad agencies (and not in-house studio teams) were hired to make movie trailers. He fell in love with this facet of the industry, but knew that switching to the movie trailer industry would require him to basically start his career all over working with people right out of college or grad school. He decided to make the move anyway. His first job in the trailer industry ended up being at Aspect Ratio as an associate producer for almost 3 years. At his next company, AV Squad, Brown was able to work his way up the corporate ladder from a producer to creative director.
“There’s not a single trailer that I haven’t watched.”
Although Brown unintentionally wound up in the trailer business, many of his peers were interested in trailer making from a young age and cultivated their passion through traditional means. Most of them attended film or art school in the hopes of learning the fundamentals of the discipline. At the same time, they would pursue internships and jobs in marketing departments at major studios to increase their chances of working in the industry right out of college. Their traditional background gave them the technical skills necessary to be editors at major firms. While Brown was at a disadvantage because he did not possess these skills, he did have the job experience and education necessary to fulfill more managerial and strategic roles. Brown understands his boundaries and personal strengths and ultimately does not regret the path he’s taken. The only life event he wonders about is his decision to move across the country straight out of college, away from everything and everyone he knew. He notes, “Everything worked out. But I think I would tell myself to pursue your dreams and follow them but also [consider] what it means to move across the country at such a young age.”
Highs and Lows
Although Brown can be working on ten to twelve different trailers for any given movie, creating the first version is easily his favorite part of the job. Brown discusses trailer creating as a problem-solving process where the team is tasked with making the movie appear as compelling and engaging as possible. The goal is to evoke feelings in the audience whether positive or negative. Brown sums up his job as “every trailer has a thousand of those problems to solve and there’s nothing more exciting than solving those problems. I find them incredibly interesting and engaging and it’s really fun. I’m a nerd.” Brown continues by mentioning that his favorite movies to create trailers for aren’t necessarily the movies he enjoys watching. He loves working on horror films and family friendly animation movies, especially since he has 2 young boys who love his work almost as much as he does.
“Every trailer has a thousand of those problems to solve and there’s nothing more exciting than solving those problems. I find them incredibly interesting and engaging and it’s really fun.”
The trailer-making industry is competitive and Brown’s company is never the only one working on a trailer at any given time. Multiple other companies craft trailers for the same movie in hopes that theirs is the one picked, and they all work around the clock to meet cutthroat deadlines. Brown recalls a time early in his career where he didn’t see his family for 3 months while working on the Mission Impossible trailer, but still lost it. This was devastating to say the least, but helped Brown mature as a professional and creative. He learned to decenter himself from the project and not take losses personally. Brown came to understand that the decision “had nothing to do with you, you are irrelevant. It’s not because they didn’t like what you did or didn’t value you. You have to separate yourself from it.” Brown has experienced many wins and losses through the years, and now, losing a trailer is just part of the process.
Mechanics
Every movie has a story and Brown’s goal is to convey that story in a short time frame. He always begins by identifying compelling parts of the film that he knows will hook the audience. He believes that every trailer should evoke feelings and after watching a trailer he asks himself, “Did it make me feel something?” to evaluate whether the trailer is effectively attaining its primary goal. Many people believe that trailers give everything in the movie away, but Brown actively works against this narrative. A trailer should be interactive and leave the audience wanting more – not just a simple summary of the storyline. For example, Brown may choose an opening line that leaves questions unanswered or start a scene and not conclude it. He wants to leave the audience asking questions and wanting more.
The audience is always at the forefront of Brown’s work no matter the genre. Working on varying genres forces his brain to think of multiple methods to appeal to different target audiences. In children's movies, he uses bright and flashy colors to appeal to children, versus in horror movies he works to create a story without giving away every scare. The detail and depth of his work is made possible by the talented editors and sound designers he works with. In addition, different trailers exist for different purposes; general audience, explicit trailers, optimized for social media or release chronologically (Teaser, Trailer 1, Trailer 2).
"How do you hook someone emotionally with an interesting idea? That could be [in] many different ways."
It’s been necessary for the movie industry to evolve as social media’s influence has grown – especially when it comes to advertising. Every aspect of a movie’s marketing, especially trailers, not only have to make people interested in the content, but convince them to leave their house to watch the movie. The convenience, quality, and surplus of content available on streaming services has made it difficult for studios to vie for people’s attention. The goal now is to make theater releases too compelling to ignore.
The Future
Brown has many dreams and hopes for the future. In the next 5 years, he aspires to create an academy award winning trailer and lead a top trailer company. He specifically hopes to work on the marketing campaign for a drama that unexpectedly blows up, similar to Parasite, whose marketing campaign was run by Zealot.
Brown hopes to be involved in projects that most people wouldn’t expect to blow up, especially in the US market. As of right now, Brown's current company is growing rapidly and he hopes to continue growing alongside them.
