We were lucky to catch up with Sophia Banks recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sophia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?
Prior to Directing, I was a Costume Designer, stylist and fashion designer. I had friends who, over the years, would tell me they really wanted creatives to collaborate on campaigns who understood the fashion world and branding. I had always wanted to be a Director and actually, that is what I had originally set out to do but my path led me on a different career path. So when I found myself full circle, my first client was someone that I had worked with when I was in fashion: Christian Siriano. It was my first spot, featuring his beautiful couture gowns and skater girls, shredding across the moody streets of DTLA wearing these incredible dresses. That spot went on to win a lot of awards and soon after, brands started to replicate that spot for their own brand. Always cool to see something you do go a little viral.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a commercial, television and feature film director. I got my start in directing through commercials it was a great way to break into the industry instead of trying to go directly into feature films, which is ultimately where I wanted to land. I directed nearly a hundred commercials while I worked on short film projects that saw a lot of success – my first short “Unregistered” starring Trevor Jackson and Dylan Penn went on to make it’s World Premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and my second short “Proxy” starring Emma Booth went on to sell as a TV show to Anonymous Content. It was the launching pad for then getting on my first feature film, that I shot with the Producers of the John Wick series. Now I am prepping on my next film and I still shoot commercial work in between.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social Media is one of those things that I have a love/hate relationship with. Not having grown up with Social Media, I never really needed it while I was in the fashion world. I saw it at it’s inception and through it’s own evolution of growth and I’ve learned that this is the way that people communicate now. It’s almost a “necessary evil”. The way I use it is fairly limited. I like to show people what I am up to through my work but I still live my own life privately. It’s become a good tool for keeping the professional world up to date and connected even when you can’t get to your emails.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Aside from posting new projects on social media platforms and my website, I like to share my new work through private emails and my own mailing list. It’s a great way to keep people connected with what I am working on. I like to stay connected as much as possible, you never know what people are working on or what exciting projects there are to collaborate on.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sophiabanks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiabanksc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bankssophia/