For folks who may not have read about you before, can you please tell our readers about yourself, how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc, what type of products/services/creative works you provide.

I started my career as a graphic designer working for big brands, Fortune 500 and 200, companies. Just doing creative direction and large scale activations. After a while I was just like, “I’m doing this for other people, I should do it for myself.” I love music, I love art, I love being able to bring an idea to life. That’s how this was born. 

I use my connections working with W in past experiential activations. It really got kicked off by starting as just a private a and so, you know, really got kicked off by starting a Pride activation every year, and then it just ballooned into several. They just really liked what I was doing. Every year they kept giving me more and more dates. Right before the pandemic I basically owned the entire calendar year of the W Hollywood, and we had basically started to branch out into the other W territories like Austin, Miami is one on our list, and then Mexico. The vision became not just pool parties and art shows and fashion shows, it was more communal – bringing community together, and looking at the festival through the lens of a boutique experience, where we wanted to be big, but we didn’t want it to be like a 3 million person event. We wanted to be a little bit more curated and intimate. 

What problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others.
I think what sets us apart is the big push that we do for minorities, the LGBTQ community, women, people of color, and really giving them a platform to be able to perform with big headliners. Usually in this industry people don’t get those opportunities, unless you have a half million followers. We’re not really looking at that, we’re looking at the talent behind it. That’s the driving force behind our community. So really looking at it more from a grassroots standpoint, as opposed to how many people you can touch. We’re really looking for the talent aspect.

What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.
Everybody has a seat at our table, big or small. We really pride ourselves on building community. I think that that’s the big thing that sets us apart. To touch back on one question that you asked about services- it’s really all about the curation and being able to execute on multiple levels of bringing a party together, but also the marketing aspect, all the different touch points that go into a campaign, from graphic design to music selection to just bringing an activation together.

I think the value is that artists just become family. There’s so many people that were helping to promote our block party that weren’t even on the list on the bill. They just said, “we believe in you, and we want to support you.” I think it’s the authentic, grassroots sort of support that we get. 

Can you share the story of a time when you had to pivot (in business, career or life).
I don’t know if it’s so much of a pivot because I use my graphic design skills all the time for this. I develop all of the creative to put forth the vision. I’ve only been doing this for six or seven years, and looking at other people in my industry that have pulled this together on a similar scale, they’re 20-30 plus years into their work. 

I feel that my business acumen, with that background, has really given me a big step forward. I know a little bit more about how to activate and how to present the people behind a project. I don’t know if pivot is the word. But I think one of the passions that has allowed me to move into this world a little bit faster is the fact that I love music. I also DJ and produce music. Being able to look at it holistically has opened up a lot more doors, and has allowed me to really focus on what I want the experience to be. 

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think being able to work with everybody. Our brand Nightbreed and Artificial People, we’ve always had our own events, but then also being able to work with different promoters, and bring everybody to the table, has really been able to build that reputation. Because in nightlife, it’s kind of cutthroat, and I don’t operate like that. I operate as a businessman, and operate on good faith with people. I think that’s why everybody always wants to work with us and partner with us, and do different things with us to really expand the current communities that we have–really touching to people that we might not necessarily have been able to reach on our own.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenightbreedla
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenightbreedla
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryantacosta/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCInV0lquYi-7uJTBHSQZ28g

Image Credits
NightbreedLA