We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brittani Burgess a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brittani, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Yes, I do wish I would have started my creative career sooner. I am a former D1 collegiate and professional basketball player. Since I was 5 years old my entire life has been about basketball, and I was embarrassed to be seen as something other than a hooper. In the dark I was always writing, drawing, and watching documentaries. My dream was to make it to the WNBA. It was not until I realized, basketball no longer fulfilled me, that I started to accept myself as a creative. I wish I allowed basketball and my creativity to coexist sooner than later.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

In 2015 while in college I started Baze Interactions. At first it was just a page where I posted my artwork, photography, and experimental videos. None of the people close to me knew who this page belonged to. At the time I did not accept myself as an artist. I came up with the name Baze because I was a fan of “Banksy” and enjoyed the fact that the world knew his art but not his identity. The name “Interactions” came about because the one thing that remains the same when I create is the interaction, I have between myself and my subjects. After college I played overseas, went corporate, and even tried coaching. None of the above was fulfilling so I finally took a huge leap into my filmmaking career, and I haven’t looked back since.

In 2020 I finally released my first docuseries about student athletes and mental health. It was a 3-part series, that allowed former student athletes to share their experiences, traumas, triumphs, and everything else in between as a collegiate athlete. After this project, I gained the confidence needed to showcase myself as a storyteller and cinematographer.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

One goal of mine is to collab with the WNBA. As a child I wanted to play in the league, but due to injuries and unforeseen circumstances that took place in my college career I knew that dream was dead. But as a cinematographer/ filmmaker I have repurposed that childhood dream and realized that it can still come true but through a different perspective, my camera.

Have you ever had to pivot?

At the beginning of 2022, I realized that I had to pivot my career. I found myself doing a lot of videography work such as, capturing events and sports highlights. The unfulfilling feeling started to creep in, so I had to get back to storytelling even if this meant doing a lot of free work. I had to get comfortable with saying “no” and turning down certain jobs. While I was turning down jobs it gave me the freedom to start connecting with people in the bay but also LA. All of 2022 and 2023 I started to look at myself as an investment. I began driving to LA every week attending filmmaking workshops, social events and even meeting other filmmakers for coffee. I am now starting to see the return in my investment.

Contact Info:

• Website: baazeinteractions.com
• Instagram: @bazeinteractions
• Linkedin: Brittani Burgess
• Twitter: @bazeinteract