We recently connected with Alex Schreer and have shared our conversation below.

Alex, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

Looking back 5, almost 6 years ago when we founded Reelbros, I don’t think I would’ve thought we would make it as far as we have in such a short period of time. Legacy for myself has always been a big part of my journey. Making sure I grow into a person who is not only remembered for my accomplishments in whatever I take on, but also remember for helping to mentor and be a respected member of the community. Someone who will answer your questions and be a guide for those following.

From our creation Reelbros has decided to operate differently than most of our competitors in the media space, we wanted to be professional and trusted, but never lose sight of the enjoyment and fun the media space can be. It’s in our branding and name, Reelbros is memorable and catchy. The very fact of going into business with partners with the goal of creating a brand identity that is bigger than ones self, can completely change your approach to a legacy.

I often say its easy to build as an individual, but building a brand is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever taken on in my life. It’s been a lot of careful thought and difficult decisions at times to make sure we don’t dilute who we are as creatives and what we are building, just for the sake of someones acceptance. In doing show we are writing the road map of what our legacy will become each and every day.

When its all said and done I hope people will see a legacy of individuals dedicating themselves to a craft and making sure they worked towards the very thing they loved every single day. We did it our way and were able to cut through the noise and build something exponentially bigger than ourselves, and inspired a lot of people along the way to go after their own goals. Just make sure you don’t loose sight of why you started in the first place.

Alex, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

With a background in product design and a lifelong explorer of creative mediums, I am a true solution seeker. Whether bringing physical or ideological based solutions to every project I am a part of, I enjoy leveraging my blending of design background with visual storytelling through a variety of mediums to create impactful and emotive forms of art.

A former creative resident of the global creative agency 72andSunny’s Los Angeles office, I have crafted compelling commercial content and experiences for internationally recognized brands such as Starbucks and Adidas before moving back to Phoenix as a freelance creative director.

From there I went on to be a Founder and Creative Director at Reelbros Media where we have built a brand to work with the likes of Ford, Lexus, Mitsubishi, HBO, NBC, Atlantic Records, Ferrari, Nike, Yeti, The Tonight Show, The Arizona Supreme Court, Arizona State University, Peterbilt, Arizona Coyotes, and More.

Reelbros is a Multi Award Winning Commercial Media Production Company. Creatively leading the way by providing all ranges of production services to agencies, brands, clients, and more. We strive to tell stories that are just as unique as the brands, people, and products they are crafted for., in ways that create a lasting impression on your audience. Recognized for our ability to go beyond the creative brief bringing clever and unique insight to your story.

Recognized for my focus on content with social currency, I understands the responsibility and power held by creative individuals in the modern economy and the stories we tell. I remain passionately curious while documenting my own story through the business of art for commerce.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I really enjoy this question because funding is often something that is difficult for people in the creative industry to understand when starting out their business. We are artists and often chasing our passion, so financial decisions often come hard for us.

I think one of the most dangerous things that happened to the creative industry is the idea of “The Starving Artist”, this idea that if you do what you love the money will come. Although there may be some truth to that, I think it is a disservice to those looking to pursue a creative career. From the beginning of my own business, I met with my partners and we made it clear that we needed to treat it as a business first and a production company second. What does that mean exactly, well it meant every decision we made moving forward would be looked at as if we were running a business and not just artists making films for people or fun. I think this approach is something many people don’t start off with and often get into trouble.

This is especially crucial when funding your business because it allowed for us to make a decision such as treating our business as if it was our 4th partner. Being relatively young when we started the company, our capital wasn’t well established as we started on shoe strings and a handful of equipment we each had owned and acquired over many years. By treating the business as a 4th partner it meant any income was being split between “All the Partners” allowing the business to start gaining some capital that we would eventually need for new equipment or when it came time to move into an office. There were often many times to when decisions were made to keep more money in the business and forego a partner draw from projects, as we all had an understanding of what we wanted to build and what better time to make sacrifices for business then when its just getting started. Too many people are not fully committed to making things work and taking the risk. I think we put in so much time and effort those first few years that we really surprised ourselves just how much capital and funding we were able to build on our own without outside investment, and that gave us a much better mindset and understanding when we eventually sought outside capital.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Building a reputation is one of the most important things you can do as a business owner, word of mouth and reputation will open more doors for you than you could even imagine. As I mentioned before at Reelbros we focused on building our brand and brand image from the very beginning. We did this in a wholistic way, everything from how our web and social presence looked, how we are dressed while on set in Reelbros branded gear, how our vehicles and trailers looked, there was definitely no way you could miss us when we showed up on a set or even around town. We built ourselves to look successful, fun and professional from the beginning, the type of company you would be hyped to be working with. We also got involved with our community of filmmakers, supported their events and met with people one on one to chat about what they had going on and how we could help. Many people don’t realize how important it is for your brand to gain that awareness, but it’s only half the battle. You have to back up your brand with exceptional service, memorable interaction, and be a solution to your clients problems. Over the past 5 years we have had enough time working with people locally in Arizona to beyond that our name has become associated with a group of people who do amazing work and often times can bring the most unique solution to the clients problems, while delivering them beyond what they were looking for. This has grown into a large majority of our clients becoming return customers, even after they transition to a new company or business. So if I had to attribute our reputation to a few simple steps it would be make sure your brand presents itself as the established choice from the start, be memorable, and be the solution seekers. After some time you will surprise yourself just how far your reputation can travel. I’ve been in airports across the US and had people come up to us wanting to meet the Reelbros because they recognized us as they pass by.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.reelbros.tv/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelbros.tv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelbros
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reelbros-media
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReelbrosMedia
• Email: [email protected]