Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Nick amp Podcast. This is episode number 25. I cannot believe we've made it to 25 episodes. Did you know statistics say after three episodes, 90% of podcasts, call it quits. They throw in the towel. They stop before they even get started. And of those 1.8 million people, there's 200,000 people left who are going to the podcast that get the episode 20 and 90% of them, they also stop podcasting.
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The guest we had on today's Brady Keegan, he's a filmmaker, photographer, and creative editor based out of Southern California. Right now he's making waves as a documentary filmmaker. He specifically a niche down in the running community. He's had the opportunity to work with some of the top runners in the USA, names like Matt Troy, who has over 300,000 followers on Instagram.
In this episode, Brady and I delve into the topics of his journey to become a filmmaker, why it's important to leave your ego at the door and building meaningful relationships with your clients and why it's important to treat them like real people. Plus we've got a special surprise topic lined up towards the end of the conversation that you're not going to want to miss. So sit back, relax, enjoy the episode. And without further ado, let's cut to the interview with Mr. Brady Keegan. All right.
This is episode number 24 and we're here with Brady Keegan. He is a filmmaker out of Los Angeles, Southern California area. Brady, we really appreciate you coming on here to chat with us today. Appreciate it, Nick. Super excited. It's funny. We we've been chatting over Instagram for two, three years, maybe even more. So it's funny. This is the first time we're meeting, I guess, face to face kind of crazy. Face to face as much as you can get it. Quick note about Brady.
Back when I was entering on the creative scene, he was one of the first people to show me kindness. I was a noob in a lot of many ways and I asked him for help on finding a location in Yosemite and other people didn't respond to my question about inquiring. Where was that? And I understand why they didn't tell me where it was at, but Brady, fortunately, was a kind enough person to show me that kindness to a 19, 20 year old who had no idea about anything.
He was experiencing everything life for the first time in his entire life. And this guy, Brady has been one of the main guys I've looked up to at the beginning and watched him evolve into this whole other industry of being a filmmaker in the athletic department. That's really cool. So again, Brady, before we get keep going, just again, thanks for showing me kindness at the beginning of my creative journey. Really helped me get going. And now it's just all this dove into you.
How the heck, Brady, did you get into the creative industry? Was this an accident? You fall into it. Maybe someone said, Hey, Brady, can you take photos of our wedding or was it something that you've always loved to do? Can you please explain? Yeah, that's a great question. This is a story I love telling. So my parents, so from a very young age, my parents always gave me disposable cameras, you know, like the old Kodaks or Fujifilm disposables.
So I grew up like going to Disneyland, going to the zoo, anywhere we had to go. My parents would buy me the disposable cameras and I just like go out, shoot whatever I thought was amazing as a kid. And that's kind of like what got my creative eye going. As I grew up through high school and joined the military, I always had a camera with me, but it was nothing I really took seriously. It was more so like a hobby, something that I really enjoyed.
And then when 2020 came along, as we all know, with a pandemic world shut down, I had nothing to do, so I was stuck at home, decided to really dive into my passion of photography and try to see if I can improve in my skills, because at the time I didn't know how to shoot anything other than auto. So it's like, oh, let me try to learn how to manually use this camera.
And I was taking pictures of products, posting them online, and it gained a little bit of traction, was able to get out and travel, do some landscape photography, really just built some passions and then somehow it blew up to where I'm at now. So yeah, it's been a fun journey and something that I'm super, super grateful for. So let's concentrate on bringing a camera with you everywhere, military.
So before 2020, I mean, was it just something simply, I want to capture what I'm doing, what I'm seeing, or was it, I want to get better at this. Do I see a future in this aspect? Can you concentrate a little bit in that area, how you kind of truly went into how you are today? Yeah. So it was never really something that I was like, oh, I want to get better in this, in this field or anything. It was more so just like the, the creative outlet.
I remember me and my wife got married February of 2020. So just before the pandemic and we went to San Francisco and we went to San Francisco for our honeymoon, I didn't even have a camera at the time. So I was walking around with my iPhone and I remember seeing photos of these specific locations in San Francisco and I would drag her across the city. I was like, Hey, I got to take this one photo. And she's like, uh, okay, whatever. I didn't even have a camera.
Like I literally just wanted to do it because I wanted to see that location and snap the photo. It was all on my iPhone. And then obviously pandemic hit and I was like, Oh, let me actually try to learn to use a real camera and do something with this. So, but prior to that, no, it was more so like, I just enjoyed it. It was just something creative and I thought it was fun. I don't know. That's really neat that you answered it in that way.
I mean, people do start with their iPhone and I think that's okay. I mean, when you're starting on a creative journey, sometimes, well, most times it's better just to enjoy for what it is, because as you know, now you, me, we do this for work and sometimes we don't, we're not able to put our creative spin on certain things. Yeah. So I'm sure in those moments, yes, yes.
I'm sure you enjoy those moments looking back iPhone days back when I was just doing it for fun and process now learning photography, 2020, everything in that end. Did you, was there somebody that you were watching that you were inspired by? Or did you on your own, were you just trying to teach yourself the settings? Or did you look at the specific person that really gave you inspiration to, I want to be like that guy. Man, I'm going to give you the most stereotypical photographer answer ever.
You ready? Peter McKinnon, but no, aside from, aside from Peter, I'm a big Peter fan. I, he, he's not the best photographer in the world, but he's a great photographer. He's not the best photographer in the world. He's not the best cinematographer in the world. I know a lot of people like to talk smack, but I like him for his passion of photography in, I mean, he does have incredible work. Don't take that as he's not talented.
I think he's amazingly talented, but I just like really resonated with his personality, his drive and his passion. And that's something that like inspired me to continue on with photography and it professionally and take it seriously. Um, another one is Sawyer Hartman. Um, he was one of the OGs, if you'd like to call it on YouTube, he started off like a vlog channel and he kind of progressed into filmmaking photography. And that's kind of where he's at now.
Uh, funny enough, he's actually, uh, one of my mentors in business. He's just such a kind human being and knowledgeable person. So to be able to learn from him after watching him for so many years is, uh, it kind of crazy. Uh, but it's, it's, uh, it's super cool to be able to bring that all full circle and be able to, uh, learn stuff from somebody that I truly looked up to.
Brady, as not only creatives and people trying to improve ourselves in this craft, grow our business, grow our clientele and that things like that. As a man, we do look to people for mentorship to help increase our value and increase our skills. So for you, how valuable was that relationship learning and coming for so called full circle for you? Uh, yeah, I mean, it was incredibly, uh, valuable. Um, there, there's so many things that I am naive to and not good at.
I feel like I'm decent behind the camera, but I don't think I'm the best person behind the camera. There's so much to learn in that regard, but my biggest weakness by far is business, um, whether it's knowing my, my true value, my rate, having business related conversations, pitching to brands, you name it. I I'm just not the best at business. Sawyer though, he is so, uh, working with him has literally completely transformed my business in just the span of a few months.
I went from making the most $5,000 on one project to now making six figures on, uh, my upcoming project, which is, I'm not saying that to flex or anything, I'm just trying to like explain how drastic that this can be working with somebody that knows the business side of the house and can help you get to that next level. Uh, it brought me to that next level. So, um, uh, it's, it's so valuable. Uh, you, you gotta know where you're weak at in what you can improve on.
And if you can find somebody to work with, to bring you to that next level, that is not only proficient in that area, but also passionate. That's it is such a game changer. Game changer. It is excellent as creatives, people who have learned the craft first started as a hobbyist. We were hobbyist at one point in the business side, man, whole different game. Am I right? Dude, it's, it's crazy. Yeah. It's so different.
So with that being said, I mean, going and being creatives first, entering the business world, learning that whole aspect for you. Now, Brady Keegan, you went from someone who was considered is considered higher up there on the rankings of filmmakers, creatives, businessmen, someone now for you, let's talk to someone who is maybe 18 years old. Brady, what would you say to that guy?
He, he's making, he's making, he has some clients, he's doing okay, but he doesn't understand how to value himself as a business person. He's a creative, but he doesn't understand how to value himself as a business person. What kind of actionable steps or approaches would you tell that young 18 year old? They don't have a lot of life experience. You don't have a lot of life experience. What would you tell them? Yes. So this is, this might be an unconventional answer.
I, I don't think there is a direct, you should do this to improve in your business and improve in your confidence in your business. I think the true answer to this is networking. Get out there and talk with however many creatives you can, however many business owners you can pick their brain, learn from them, interact with them, have genuine relationships because you're going to learn so much more from real life experience than you are from sitting down and watching YouTube.
You might see the tangible things you can physically do by reading a book about it or watching YouTube, but you're not going to gain the confidence and you're not going to know the life skills and the tactile things you can do without being in the mix. And even if that's shadowing somebody on a job and seeing how they interact with their clients or how they structure their contracts.
I mean, it's something as small as that, but interacting with real people, having those genuine relationships are invaluable from just to learn. It's not just business, it's anything. So I think that would be my biggest thing for somebody starting out. Look, make some, make some relationships, make some friendships, make some business relationships, learn from everybody you can put yourself out there. Don't be shy and naturally you're going to get to that next spot.
They always talk about, you know, don't surround yourself in a room with people that, you know, don't have the same goals and ambitions as you because you're going to be stuck at that level. Put yourself in a room with people that are above you, so to speak, and you're naturally going to gravitate towards their habits, their trends and move up to that next level. So dude, networking by far, I think is the most important part of this job. Networking, a hundred percent.
So you're someone who lives in Southern California, where it's considered one of the creative capitals for filmmakers, photographers, creative directors, script writers, whoever, anybody who wants to be creative. LA is the place to be. So networking in LA, now I'm curious about, is it easier in LA to do this? Southern California, would you say so? Could you explain the opportunity levels in Southern California versus maybe someone living in a Midwest state?
Yeah. So actually most of my work is out of state. Very few of it these days is in the LA area. When I was doing more commercial work, I would get a lot of gigs in Orange County area, downtown LA area. But now most of my networking and most of my work is in Austin, Texas. It's nationwide. So doing what I do now, I don't know if we mentioned it, I film running content. So I'll go around to different marathons and different races. And there's just not a ton of that in the Los Angeles area.
It happens nationwide. It's everywhere. So now it's kind of transitioned to a lot of my work is travel based work. So I guess it kind of depends what you do. LA is a great area for commercial work, for fashion, maybe even product work. But what I've kind of moved into is different now. So I guess yes and no. But I don't think you have to be in LA or be in a hot spot to make this career a thing. If you're in, I don't know, Arkansas, that's just the first random state that came to mind.
I mean, put yourself out there. Maybe you can have companies send you products to take photos of. You can find a fashion agency or a modeling agency in your local metropolitan area. I don't think you have to be in somewhere like LA or New York. There's work everywhere. You just kind of have to go out and find it. Obviously, LA, New York, it's more centralized. There's a lot more and a lot more saturation. But then again, so is the rest of the market.
So you're going to have a lot more photographers, videographers to compete with. So it's almost maybe beneficial to be in somewhere where you're not having as much competition. Might be something to think about as well. That's interesting that you say about. I mean, I noticed you say that you have worked in out of state areas. And being a creative these days, brother, you know, it's competitive no matter where you're at in LA. Obviously, the creative capital.
And you've mentioned before creating genuine relationships with real people. How valuable or important do you treat that in terms of getting new clients? Maybe it's ones out of state. Is that something that you think propels you to reach more success, get more clients, work with more people? Is that something that really takes you to getting more clients and helping other people out?
Yeah, I think, you know, working out of state and just exposing yourself to more gigs, maybe something you're not as comfortable with, will definitely propel you to. To different opportunities. The way I started filming running content is my buddy Chris moved to Austin, Texas. So he took a leap of faith to move to Austin, Texas for a filmmaking photography opportunity. So he was out here in LA with me and then left LA to go to that area to try to see what he could do without market.
And then he met this runner, Matt Choi, and Matt needed an editor. And I've been doing video editing for some time now. So Chris linked me up with Matt and started just like that doing editing work. But then I started getting into filming marathons for Matt and I have never really ran. I've never I don't know much about marathons at that point. So it was definitely out of my comfort zone at first.
I didn't really know I was doing, but I kind of just watched other videos and figured out what I can do on the creative aspect to help propel that side of the house. And looking back, like those first few videos were not the best. I definitely know what I'm doing now and have more experience with running athletics and marathons specifically.
But going out and doing those first few marathons for Matt and editing that content has gained me, I guess, some notoriety in the running community, which is a super, super small community as is. And it's gained me new clients, different subdivisions of niches in the running community that I've kind of delved into. And I wouldn't have got that if I didn't network with Chris, who networked with Matt, which then it's just like a tree that kind of spread from there.
So, yeah, I mean, sometimes you have to put yourself out there, maybe take a gig that you're uncomfortable with and don't know anything about because you might be a little know anything about because you might end up liking it and it might push you into a different spot in your career where you're working with more people on bigger scale gigs and you have never done it or never known about it if you didn't put yourself out there. I want to focus in on creating work.
So you look back, as you mentioned, you look back at some of the first videos content that you edited, looking back and say, hey, man, this wasn't very good. This wasn't meeting my expectations to how I film things now. Some people, they see an opportunity, they look at it and they say, well, I know for a fact, I'm not going to be good in this niche. The kind of content, the kind of video is the kind of photography that I do. It's not going to come out good, so I'm not going to do it.
I'm only going to do work that I can do that is good. So where does that stem from for you to say, hey, yo, I don't know if I'm going to be the best editor at this, but you know what, I'm going to try it out. I'm going to see if I can improve. How did, where does that come from? How can, how did you just say, I'm going to go for it. I'm going to try to do it. I'm going to get better. Not going to, I'm not going to let me know when it might not be the best at it. It's pulled me back.
Yeah. So it's a little bit of a imposter syndrome, um, and also being hungry. So I, I really, at that, at that time, didn't really know what my niche was. I worked a lot of different photography, video gigs in all sorts of different, um, spaces, whether it was fashion, um, some portraiture product, but I didn't really like have a niche per se. So when I got hit up to do running, um, I mean, I hated running, like truly, like I thought like who would run, who would even make content about running?
Like, this is stupid. So I, I don't know. I was just hungry though and motivated and I was willing to kind of take on whatever gig and it was different. It sounded interesting. Whether I had no interest in it or not, the job itself was interesting and I was hungry enough for projects that I decided to take this on anyways. Um, and then slowly I became passionate about it on my own as I continue to be in the running community, meet more people in the running community.
Um, and then obviously over time I grew my confidence. I learned what I needed to do, whether it be filming or editing or whatever side of the house to, uh, improve on my creative skills in that space, but it's, it's a little bit of being hungry, being willing to take on projects and hustle to get into whatever space you can just to improve on your overall photography, videography skills. Brady, you've been in the running industry now. You're it's a niche. It's very small community.
I know you mentioned small community and runners are a specific type of person. It takes a specific person to run marathon. It takes a specific person to train. It takes a specific person to overcome those hard moments realizing that you're in an agonizing pain running all those miles. And you mentioned that you do not like running if you didn't like running at the time and I follow your stories. I mean, man, I'm all about self-improvement, improving your life, getting better.
I mean, that trends of struggle to business life, relationships we have with other people and you've been on a tremendous journey and I applaud you for that. First of all, and second of all. Was being associated with these people filming them. Was that just an automatic indicator that they influenced you? How did they influence you to become a runner yourself to decide I'm done. That's it. I'm going to improve my life and we're just going to keep getting better. And that's it.
No questions asked. Yeah. So the running community is super, super positive. Everybody's there just to like help each other out. There's no like negative competitive nature. It's kind of wild. So Matt Choi was the first runner that I worked with and I was with him for quite some time before I picked up my next client in the running space, which is Jeremy Miller. And I would see the positivity in the running community with Matt. I saw, you know, how great it was going to the marathon.
It was going to marathons with him and like how fun it was, how positive it was. But it wasn't really until I started working with Jeremy and seeing another person's perspective and seeing another subdivision sub community in there with him that I was really like, wow, this is pretty incredible. Like everybody's out here just to help each other be a better person, be more physically fit. I'm a dad and I saw other dads out there running with their strollers with their kids.
I was like, wow, this is actually this is pretty damn cool. And I kind of want a slice of that pie. Like I kind of want to be part of this, like aside from just filming it. And plus, because I'm filming it, I should probably be somewhat adept to like running alongside these people. Maybe I should like just get a baseline fitness.
And as I started going the first few weeks, months, like I mean, it sucked, but I started to grow a passion outside of filming it and realizing like how positive it was on my own body, how positive it was for my mental health and aspects.
So, yeah, I mean, it's of course, it was beneficial for my career to be adept in that department because now I can like run alongside the athlete for a few miles, but it's really taken a hold on my personal life too and really changed things for me physically and on the mental side of the house too. I'm eating better. I'm making better choices in that regard. And yeah, I never thought I would be in this position because I hated running. Running was a punishment in the military.
Like I didn't think I would ever do it for fun. So yeah, it's still kind of crazy to me that it's really changed my life and changed my mindset like that. I've been a part of the running community myself for quite some time. I was in cross country to track. I was doing all the miles, man. So we touched on the positive energy between runners encouraging one another, not competitive. And that's absolutely true. And seeing you, Brady, I've been following you for the last three, four years.
You've from what I've watched, watching YouTube videos, whatever you do, you do seem like you're a passionate and fiery person and you put your heart into it, what you're doing. And in terms of running, how has that influenced the way you make decisions in life now? Has there been any things that you can point out from entering this running space that just truly influenced your mindset and the decisions you make today?
Yeah, do you mean like in the personal, like physical aspect of running or like getting into like running, filming, like on the business side? So specifically just how you approach business, running, filming, getting better relationships, everything, just how has that influenced you specifically to take on everything? Yeah, I guess on the personal side, like running, it's gave me an outlet to go out and think.
So when I'm out there for an hour, it gives me the head space to go out and think of things creatively, think about my projects and kind of focus in on what I need to do creatively on the business side of the house. There's not too many opportunities where you have silence to think about things, especially me as a husband, as a father, I have three kids, you know, there's not a lot of quiet time in my life.
So getting out and having that quiet time is great to actually focus on the things that do matter outside of, you know, family and all that. Like it's, I'm overwhelmed so much with different projects and business and to be able to set all that aside and like have a space to think about it and, and meditate on it as I need to is incredibly helpful. It makes me make better decisions too. I don't make rash decisions out of, oh, I just need to say this to my client right now.
Like if there's a business conversation I need to have, I can sleep on it. I can think about it for that hour and then make decisions accordingly with a clear mindset versus just making rash decisions. So it's helped a lot on the personal side, it's helped a lot on the business side. So it's kind of nice to have that time now and have that head space.
I think as creatives and business owners, anything of the sorts, improving your life in that aspect, having time to assess what the heck is going on, what the heck am I going to say? I think out of rash decisions, so crucial and to hone in, I mean, you do it with people all the time, you have relations with business people and have emails, calls, phone calls, different clientele that you work with. And sometimes people don't recognize the amount of effort that we put into this. And that's okay.
I mean, people more than likely ignorant on the topic, there's more than likely not a lot of malevolence on the issue. And as creatives, we mature, we get older and we realize that's actually the case most of the times. It's just they just don't know. So having that time to think about it, what am I going to say? How am I going to explain this in a positive or clear, concise way, setting those boundaries?
And I want to transition to you into the aspect of documentary filmmaking, something I'm very passionate about and your involvement with that. Did you ever see yourself coming into that realm? Was it just a naturally, was it a natural thing? Was it a natural order of events or was it something that you brought up that you wanted to do for these people? Yeah. So first off, I never thought I'd be doing video, let alone documentary filmmaking. I was so ignorant.
Like in the beginning, I was like, all I want to do is take photos. Like I never want to do video. Obviously, as the industry has shifted and video is more prevalent in business, I had to bite the bullet at some point. I'm like, all right, I need to get into video if I want to stay relevant, because I'm not going to stay relevant just doing photos. As I got into video, I realized, okay, it's really good for my career. But also, like, I truly enjoy this.
Like it's like taking still photography, but making it way more complex and making it way more fun. So it's kind of fun to have like the different challenges in video because you're dealing with lighting, you're dealing with audio, you're dealing with composition, but then thinking about multiple different frames. So like video in general, like I thought that was so far out of my reach. So to be doing this as is, is wild to me.
Just looking back a few years, thinking about how much I didn't want to do it. But yeah, documentary filmmaking, I just kind of fell into it naturally. I've always been interested in it. I've always been interested in the stories. I've loved documentary photography and looking at documentary photo books and all that. It's something I found wildly interesting. And the longer I was in the running community, the longer or the more I knew there were deeper stories than just running.
There was a lot more meaning behind why people ran and some of these specific runs. So I started off with a project, the Moab 240. It was for this athlete, Pierce Shao. And he is 22 years old and had run multiple Ultramans, multiple Ironmans, multiple marathons, hundred mile races. And he signed up to do this challenge called the Triple Crown 200s, where within a six month time span, he ran three 200 plus mile races.
So a 200 mile race, another 200 mile race, and it culminated with a 240 mile race in Moab, Utah. So I filmed that for him. We're getting ready to put that out very soon. The editing process is almost complete, but that was kind of like my first toe into the waters. And again, like going back to our previous point, I've never done something to the scale. I've never done documentary filmmaking.
So I had no clue what I was doing, but I did a lot of research and I had an imposter syndrome face on and said, I can sure do this for you. When I got hit up for the project and it ended up turning out pretty well. I'm pretty proud of it. But I do have a bigger project coming up that actually kicks off in about 10 days. And it is a transcontinental run. So quick baseline of the story.
Paul Johnson is a naval officer based in Rhode Island, and he is attempting to run from Los Angeles to New York City in 40 days, which is 75 miles a day to break the world record and raise a million dollars for veterans charities and mental health charities. So it's just an incredible feat that he's trying to do, an incredible story on why he's trying to do it. And on top of that, all for a greater cause of raising a million dollars for veterans mental health charities.
It's such an incredible project. Such an incredible project. It's like kind of wrapping everything full circle for me. Being a veteran myself, having dealt with mental health issues and anxiety and being in the surrounding space. It's like everything has all kind of like culminated in this one project. So it's pretty wild to be able to go out and direct this, film it, and just be part of this whole process. I'm still kind of in shock, still kind of blown away that this is all happening.
But yeah, it's a lot of that imposter syndrome, having faith in yourself that you can do it, being interested in the subject matter and just, you know, just going out there and making it happen. So yeah, my path to documentary filmmaking was not linear. I never expected to be here, but I'm super stoked. And I truly see this as the continuation of my career. I love it. I'm very passionate about it.
I love the stories of these people and it's something that I want to continue to do and do on grander scales in the future as well. Nothing makes me happier than hearing that last bit of your statement right there, man. I can't wait to see the work that's coming up to impact some of that. What you said, man. First of all, runners doing great work to giving back to other people. Amazing giving back to other people.
And giving back is one of the many things that we can do as people and helping other people out. And in terms of your documentary filmmaking, to delve into that was, are you running the full two, you're not running the full 200 miles with them or are you? No, I can move. No. Yeah, no. So I'll give you like a quick synopsis of what I did for the Moab 240. I'll give you like my insight on what I'm going to do for Transcon. Quick overview.
So for the Moab 240, we had a crew van where we went from checkpoint to checkpoint, which was maybe 20 to 40 miles in between. So I would go with the crew, jump off and meet my runner about two miles out, run in with him with a camera. So I have footage there, film him at the aid stations and then run out with him another two miles or so. And that's how I completed that project for Transcon because it is 75 miles a day across country for 40 days. It's a much different scenario than a race.
So what my game plan is for that one, we're going to have two crew vans and essentially I'm going to get out, follow Paul where I need to with a gimbal and then actually just plot myself in the van, have the driver just go at Paul's pace, film Paul as we go and just kind of go about it that way. So obviously I am nowhere near the same shape as Paul to run 75 miles a day, especially with a camera.
However, I will probably be out with him a few miles a day here and there, but I have had to coordinate on different ways to film him, whether that's going from checkpoint to checkpoint with the telephoto, getting creative that way, following him with a drone, hopping in a van and filming him outside the van. There's different ways to do it without having to actually be out there and putting in the quote unquote legwork.
But that's kind of my process that I'm going to go ahead and take for this one. I heard so much. And I mean, the one thing that was really sticking out my mind, there's no way this guy's going to run 75 miles a day with them. And to delve into the whole documentary filmmaking, I mean, it's a little different than making a narrative film. And I mean, in terms of being like a blockbuster or a short cinematic film, documentary filmmaking, it's its own thing.
So transitioning your mind to have an approach to tell these stories about these runners, what was a challenge that you had to understand for this? And what are some challenges you're expecting for this upcoming one in terms of being able to tell the story? It's a whole different thing. Documentaries like over here. Yeah. So funny enough, you actually mentioned the biggest struggle for me, and that's telling the story. So I'm so used to capturing photos.
I'm so used to making YouTube videos, which YouTube videos are very straightforward, linear. Like you have your topic, you go off of that for eight to 10 minutes. It might be a challenge to make it, but I mean, you have your topic, you follow the path. Documentary is a lot more complicated because you have to tell the story. You have to introduce your audience to the character. You have to make it suspenseful. You got to follow a path that has the ebbs and flows that has a climax.
It is way, way more complicated than just telling the events of something chronologically. You got to think about emotion. You got to connect your audience to the character. It's just, it's so much more complicated. And that's something that I've had to learn. Some people, maybe storytelling comes naturally. It wasn't something as natural to me, and that's something I've kind of had to study. I've had to learn a little bit, kind of tap into the emotional aspects of things.
So given as simple as asking questions in the interview, sitting down and having like a pre-interview with your client and learning more about them personally before you go out and film it is going to help tremendously because you're going to then know the right questions to ask, the right moments to film, the things that invigorate emotions, spark curiosity for your film. Because if you sit and watch something chronologically, yeah, it might be entertaining.
You're going to see how events unfold. But really what people want to do is connect with a character, feel something in them that they relate to. And that's what makes a passionate story. So it might not be something I'm the best at currently, but it's something that I'm actively trying to learn, actively improving on, and something that I am now getting passionate about, about how to tell stories.
Being also a photographer going over to video telling the actual story, brother, incredibly hard when I'm teaching other people about which genre of things. And yeah, dude, you get it. 100%. I'm the smiley face when you're talking about it. I'm like, I'm there with you, brother. And that's cool, though. I love that you're actively trying to improve and you're not letting your current skill set, which I've watched your films. They're good.
I've watched the work you've been doing, putting it in there. You're doing a great job, but I love that you're not letting your current skill set hold you back from doing the next one and keep getting better compounding it because some people, again, we talked about this. They let their current skills set. That's not where it needs to be at. They let it hold it back and not continue on to choose to get better.
And a little more on the documentary side before I ask a specific question about this, being able to give subtle cues without dialogue in documentary filmmaking has been something I've really tried to hone in on for people listening. Maybe you're talking to me. What would you give advice for to give, to focus on giving subtle storytelling moments without the character talking?
Maybe someone's just sitting there, 18 years old and they're like, yo, I can do dialogue, but showing those specific moments, what's your approach to that aspect? Yeah. So I have two answers to that. The first one is actually having a script. Now that sounds counterintuitive because you think having a script might be for narrative films.
However, having a storyboard in mind on how you plan to tell this person's story is going to be so beneficial because when you're out there, you have something to reference to. You can kind of nudge your client or not client, but the person you're interviewing into. So if you already know, okay, I want to tell this aspect of the story, but this person isn't touching on it, you can kind of ask them a question, kind of invoke that specific moment or emotion that you want.
And that helps propel the story. It even gives the character or the client something to continue on and think about on their own sake. On the creative side of the house, on telling the story without dialogue, you just need to get a varying array of shots and add it in a constructive way that's not just like throwing clips into a timeline. So what I like to do is I'll get beneficial B-rolls. I'll get a close up of something. I'll get a wide establishing shot and then I'll have dialogue under it.
So sometimes I have dialogue that's not even from that specific moment, but helps tell the story under some B-roll that makes it more captivating. And it also helps transition from scene to scene. Sometimes you don't need dialogue at all. You can just have important music, sound effects, or whatever you want. Important music, sound effects, this B-roll to help transition things and tell the story. It doesn't have to be that complicated.
If you sit down and study some documentaries, stuff that inspires you, you'll see a lot of it is actually negative space. And then they just use that negative space with that B-roll, the sound effects for those few seconds to spark an emotion, transition from thought process to thought process or from scene to scene. And that's kind of like a good methodology that I've been using. And I think it's helped on my end. Thank you for taking the time to answer that.
I think people listening, you're going to really take a lot from that. What you said really do mean that. Transitioning just a little bit over to, I've had a couple of guys on the podcast already who have served in the military, also on the creative field. Now, is there anything that you would say that you took in from that part of your life that still applies to your creative side now, which you do with today? Oh yeah.
I mean, there's a lot from my military days that I've taken aside from just business, but my personal life. But I think the big thing is the confidence. A lot of what they teach you in the military is confidence in yourself. And if you're not confident, you have to be, you got to have that imposter syndrome. I know I've talked about that a little bit already on the podcast, but you have to go into scenarios where you're not confident in your abilities.
You are doing something uncomfortable and you just got to get out there and freaking do it, man. It doesn't matter. You have to set your ego aside. You have to set everything else aside to be able to complete the mission. It is greater than you is for a team. So that's kind of how I look at some of these things is I might not be entirely confident about it, but I'm going to go out there because I wanted to take on this gig. I'm going to make it happen one way or the other.
I'm going to make it happen one way or another, whether I miss a shot or not. I will make the project happen somehow and I'm going to make it happen for my client. And that's kind of why I like documentary filmmaking because it kind of gives me something to connect to. And I kind of look at it as a team. I'm looking at the person's story that I'm telling as something I'm invested in, in a team mentality kind of like back into the military days.
So it's easy to go there and just have no option other than to make it happen, whether I'm confident or not. But I'm going to put on that confident face. So I think that's the biggest thing that I've taken away is something that's, you know, changed my life, changed my perspective on things, changed my business. It's all about, you know, the imposter syndrome. And eventually it's not going to be impossible syndrome. You're going to just be confident with yourself, your abilities.
And that's how you do it. You just, you just have to go out, be uncomfortable for a little bit, make it happen. And eventually it's not going to be so uncomfortable. Take some time real quick to focus on that team aspect. You mentioned that in not making this whole entire thing about yourself is a big thing. You said setting your ego apart as successful people are, they have to be successful.
Put the ego aside and realize that there is a common goal, whether it's serving the client, serving the team, serving the person, telling the story about, can you share for the people listening? How does someone, let's just talk specifically about our space, our industry right now. How does someone get around their ego in terms of the creative space and remembering that, yo bro, this is about the team. This is about the common goal. This is about serving other people.
This is not just about serving myself, tickling my ego, rubbing it a little bit, saying, hey, this makes me feel good. What do we got for those people, man? Yeah. So, I mean, like the thing about this space is it's so saturated. So I'm going to say it blunt and brutally honest, like to anybody listening. And if you're listening to this, you're probably already a good human being because you're linked in with Nick. But I mean, I'm going to say it anyways.
But seriously, like this market is so saturated. There are so many people out there trying to do what you're doing. There's so many videographers. There's so many photographers. There's so many people out there that can easily do what you're doing and probably do it better. So don't be cocky. Don't be arrogant. Like be open to creative feedback. Be open to new things because your vision of creativity, it might not always be the best thing.
Sometimes I have worked on a project, something I was super passionate about, and then I get feedback from a client or I'll send it off for feedback from one of my peers. And they'll be like, oh, this is all right. Have you thought about doing it this way? And I could have been arrogant. I could have been like, no, this is the best thing I ever made. But I took the feedback and I'm like, all right, let me rework this. Let me think about it and give it some thought.
And then nine times out of ten, not always, but most of the time, setting your ego aside and taking on some of that feedback, it actually lends for a better product because us as humans, we're so narrow minded, especially when we get in the flow of things. We think what we're doing is the right way, the right answer, the one and done. But other people that are third parties that aren't in that tunnel vision for that project that you are will be able to give you different creative feedback.
And you might think it might give you inspiration to do things in a different way. So seriously, like just setting it all aside, being receptive, maybe even asking for help. Like a lot of times I'll send my projects to my peers and be like, look, just go ahead and roast me. Tell me how this project is, what I can do better, if it was entertaining, how it can improve. What aspects of it would you do differently? And sometimes I take the feedback, sometimes I don't.
But I just kind of make that decision based on if I think it actually benefits my project or not. But yeah, you know, just be willing and be open to everything else in the world, because guaranteed your way is not the right way. There's so many ways to do one thing. And there's so many people that would die to do what you're doing for what you're doing. So just be grateful for what you're working on, be receptive and throw it out into the world.
Let people collaborate with you as long as it's constructive criticism and feedback. And you're going to grow exponentially just with the help of other people that you trust and other people that you look up to and admire. Thanks for answering that so in depth. Appreciate you breaking that down. People tend to let the ego get in the way. We all do what happens to us all the time. Even today, it's always something that everyone's going to battle. Remember, hey, get out of the way, man.
Ego, quiet. Yeah, but going forward, me and you share something in common that I think everyone should have in common. It is coffee, drinking coffee, man. Can you explain to me? Oh, let's go. Can you explain to me how this whole passion for coffee, you got to get into it. Is this something that just maybe one day someone was like, hey, man, here's a cup of coffee and then that was it. You had that moment. It's the best thing I've ever had.
Or was it just something that kind of grew on you over time? Yeah, I love this question. Here we go. So yeah, I don't know. I didn't really care for coffee for a while because growing up, my dad made Folgers in a Mr. Coffee Instant Pot and it just was disgusting. In the military, military coffee is also disgusting. It's just like dirt water. It's overly burnt, roasted, undersaturated, nasty dirt water.
And then I don't know, after I left the military, I ended up getting a Keurig and I found a blend that was all right and I started to like it and I would drink it every day. But I just knew like, all right, this isn't like the greatest thing in the world and I know it's literally the best thing in the world. I know it's like a plastic pot of probably stale coffee with some water going through. I'm like, I know there's a better way.
So I ended up researching how to make better coffee without a coffee pot. And I got, I think it was a French press I got first. And I got pre-ground coffee and I threw it in the French press and I was like, oh man, like, I mean, it tastes like coffee. I mean, I'm like, I mean, it tastes good, but there's like so much sediment in this. Like, why is, why am I getting coffee grounds in my drink? So then I did some more research.
Oh, like, okay, you got to like grind your coffee to a correct size for French press. And then like, it just kept going from there. I was like, oh, water temperature, oh, brew ratios, oh, pour overs. And it just like blew up and exploded. And it became like a call it unhealthy obsession. I don't know, but it's, yeah, it's definitely an obsession of mine, but it's more so like, it became a, a Zen type of thing. Like it's become my morning ritual aside from just drinking coffee.
Like I thoroughly enjoy waking up, having that five minutes to myself to do a slow pour over in the morning, it's something that helps reset my mind, focus on something. Cause it's, I mean, it's become second nature to do a pour over with like the correct ratios and like the beans I want in grind size, whatever. But like, it makes me think in the morning.
It makes me appreciate what I'm doing and kind of start the day off with a win by making a good cup of coffee, something that I made versus like pressing a button. So I think that's why it means so much to me. But also, yes, I do thoroughly enjoy the drink as well, but that's like the deeper meaning behind it and like how I got started in that. But yeah, it's definitely like an obsession, a passion for me. I do, I love coffee. I don't, I don't know. That's it.
Best answer I've heard all day so far. Yes. And for people listening, for me too, what, what blend or two beans should we all be drinking in 2024? Could you recommend is just one blend beans? What do you got for us? Anything other than folders. No, I mean, it depends on, on like your, your preference. I've grown to really like a light roast and something a little bit fruitier because I like to taste the notes of the coffee.
So I usually gravitate towards like a Nicaraguan or even like an Ethiopian because they have a little bit more complex flavors, a little bit more juiciness, acidic undertones. This is getting really, really nerdy. And people that don't know anything about coffee are probably like, this dude is insane. But yeah, honestly, like I think the easy answer is just find a local coffee shop or roastery.
That's not Starbucks, Dunkin's, something like that, something that's like an actual specialty coffee shop. Go and pick up one of their bags and just try that. Like if you don't have a grinder, have them grind it for you. Most will be more than willing and happy to do that. And that will be a great introduction to something different than just like grocery store coffee. It doesn't have to be any single origin, whatever. Just find something local and that might be a good start.
And you might just fall in love with it that way. You heard it here. Go to your local coffee shop, get their blend, whatever they're introduced to the world of coffee. And you're not going to regret it. Mr. Keegan, 2024, he was here. We're two months in, everybody's closing out. Can you give me one statement on your approach to life and how you're going to take on the year of 2024? Good question. I mean, just heads on, I guess.
This project that I took on, this TrainsCon project is so abstract and huge. And out of my comfort zone, I mean, you just got to go all in and just go for it. There's a lot going on this year for me with this project, with my retainer clients, with my regular work, with kids. And it's crazy. There's no other option for me if I want to survive in the industry than just to go all in and just go hard.
So I mean, that's it. 2024 is a year to make it happen and just go all about it for the greater goal of making 2025 better. So I mean, I guess that's it. Just forward-facing outlook. Excellent, Brady. We appreciate you taking the time to just sit here, chat with me, give some valuable insights on your perspective on the way you view things and what you've been through. People who want to learn more about you, Mr. Keegan, where can they find you at?
On the social platforms website, anything of the sorts. Yeah, you can find me on Instagram at Brady Keegs, B-R-A-D-Y-K-E-E-G-S. You can also find me on YouTube under the same username. I haven't been active on YouTube in about a year, but I plan on getting back there. So maybe stay tuned. My website is BradyKeegan.com. But yeah, I'm pretty active on Instagram. So you can catch me over there. You heard him here. Catch the guy Instagram again, Brady. Thank you for being on here.
Looking forward to seeing what you're doing and maybe in the future, I'll see you. Maybe I'll come down there, man. Dude, or I'll go up there. So dude, it was a pleasure. Thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it. Wrap with a conversation with Mr. Brady Keegan. I really appreciate him taking the time to chat with all of us. He has now officially left the building. I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did.
If you want to stay connected with me, you can follow me on Instagram. It's @thenickamp. And hey, don't forget to hit that subscribe button on YouTube if you want to see more of these videos. Your support means the world to us and none of this would be possible without you. If you found this video helpful or enjoyable, do me a favor and share this with a friend who you think might benefit from listening to us. Your word of mouth helps us reach more people and grow this community.
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