Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adrian Rashad Driscoll. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Adrian Rashad, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Well I’ve taken many risks in life but I have to say one of the most recent, was when we started Collimation. I was coming off a really profitable year and a system that was working. But I had this lingering idea in my head that wouldn’t stop, about creating immersive experiences. I was already in the industry & well known, but this was tapping into a space that I had never touched, game development. The first part of this risk was gathering a team. Even the thought of putting this idea out there to my colleagues was intimidating. If they thought it was dumb, I’d lose a lot of credibility as an XR expert. But to my surprise, the team formed with enthusiasm. These were some of the heaviest hitters in the world and they were excited to join to nurture this seed of thought. The next risk was not accepting investment for the first 3 years. This was crazy as of course we all needed to eat, but again we made it through, we spent thousands of hours learning Unity and Unreal and there were even some interns that came on board just because they believed in the vision. God came thru for us as we were able to survive off client work alone. On top of that, we were able to create a slate of incredible experiences that still exist to this day. This boosted our valuation incredibly, and now we are opening to investors, the right way. Crazy.
Adrian Rashad, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m pretty bad at talking about myself but I’ll do my best. I’m from a really small town (Barstow CA). I started acting in the church when I was 6 years old, and I kept acting and creating stories well into my 20s. At 22, I took my tax return ($1,400) and moved to LA County hoping to be the next big star. Hollywood is a different kind of animal, and I was quickly humbled as all my previous work was theatre. “We don’t care that you’ve been in a play” was the response I was getting way too often. Luckily, I had been writing stories all my life and I was able to use that experience to write small scripts that I felt would highlight my acting talents. The issue was, I didn’t know ANYTHING about filming or editing. But it needed to be done. My mom was kind enough to sponsor a DSLR for me and I learned the basics of filmmaking (shoutout to NoFilmSchool).
From there I became obsessed with the process and it’s all I wanted to do. I would do background work in the day making basically no money at all. But unlike the rest of the background actors, I would study the crew’s every move. I bugged the directors, DPs, Pas, and asked about the process. I was getting a live masterclass that I could then apply to my own work. From there I started creating short pieces and BOOKING GIGS.
This is where it all changed. Other actors started noticing that I was booking and asked me to produce their reels as well. I was making WAY more money producing than acting and I saw the potential to be a multi-threat artist.
Fast forward to around 2013 when I was doing a gig and was introduced to VR. Of course, I had heard of VR in the past but not like this, this was different. I saw it as a new way to tell a story and quickly became obsessed with this process as well (I think we see a pattern here). This was a new way to tell stories and it was uncharted territory. After some time, I became a world expert in VR and acting would take a back seat to filmmaking.
As incredible as this all is, I won’t lie and pretend that it was easy. In 2015 I was making good money, but a lot of my clients had NET90 or NET120 terms. By the time I got paid the money was already spent and I was losing a ton in interest and overdraft fees. I had failed. Shortly after that, I was homeless, living on Skid Row. So, I had to start over basically. I took my tax return (again) and moved into a room in a house. This time, I was focused on how to grow my brand and never end up in that situation again. I studied psychology to understand how to interact with clients on a deeper level. I can’t tell you how many books I read on the topic. I also worked between 8-16 hours a day 7-days a week for years. I was relentless. I learned that talent is nothing without growing your brand and that’s exactly what I did.
In 2018, NBC had noticed my work and took me to USC on a scholarship in the form of a DEI program called EDGE. This showed me the business side of filmmaking and how to avoid the traps that a lot of companies fall into. This also introduced me to my production partner Harold Hayes Jr. The same year I was asked to help teach XR to HBCU students at SXSW. This is where I met Young Guru. It took 2 years for Guru and I to have a follow-up, but when we did, Collimation was formed.
Since then, I have slowed my schedule to only 6-days a week. But I’m just as adamant about creating impactful stories as ever. This is my calling.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
The Biggest lesson I had to unlearn was my Imposter Syndrome. I had so many thoughts in my head about what successful people looked like and it made me self-sabotage so many of the amazing opportunities that I have been presented. About 3 years ago I didn’t even know what Impostor Syndrome was. So that means for 30+ years I was only living in it, I was making it stronger by the day. Again, I give credit to Lisa Orbe-Austin and her book, “Own Your Greatness” for helping me escape this toxic behavior cycle. The issue is, I’ve always been really smart, I’ve always made dean’s lists and been in gifted education programs. This isn’t bragging, it’s just a matter of fact. The issue with this is that I rarely felt challenged at school. I saw a lot of activities (i.e. homework) as pointless as I knew the material. But teachers would scold me telling me the only way to learn this material was through the way they set forth. So, when people would tell me I was smart, or that something I did was impressive, I DIDN’T believe them. This translated into my adulthood, and I became overly modest to the point that I couldn’t complete a lot of projects because I thought I would be discovered as a fraud. This has been my biggest barrier to date, and though I’m a lot better than I was when it comes to Impostor Syndrome; it’s still there in my head. My advice to anyone in a similar situation would be, it’s ok to be humble about certain things, but you have to take ownership and pride in the things that you are really good at, or you can never excel at them. If people think you’re bragging, let them. “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Tim 2-17
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
My social media audience comes from a bunch of places. As I used to do acting & modeling, I have a lot of fans that have rocked with me from day one and have shown me nothing but love. As I’m heavily involved with music another part of my audience is based on musicians both aspiring and established. Lastly, I think the lion share of my audience is made up of tech people and creatives. I think most of my audience stays around because of my goofy personality and obsession with tech. I give a lot of my tech tips away and can translate new tech without focusing on the tech itself but the actual practical applications. My advice would be to give away most of the knowledge that you have. Become an expert in the space, and let people come to you for tips. Don’t focus on charging for everything as the money will always come, just focus on producing quality content and helping people. 
Contact Info:
- Website: Collimation.tv
- Instagram: instagram.com/driscool
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/driscool/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@collimationtv2176