Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with BrandonTV’s Brandon Stewart

All through his life, Brandon Stewart has been told he had to choose. He had to choose between being in front of the camera or behind it. But time and time again, he’s silenced the doubters, proving he’s a talent that’s more than capable of doing both effectively. Take for example his latest venture: Brandon TV. In just a short few weeks, his new endeavor has reached over one million impressions across social with its growing slate of programming, including the widely successful Shine. Pop Culturalist caught up with Brandon to learn more about Brandon TV and how he’s defying the odds.

Shine

PC: Season 2 of Shine just wrapped up. Tell us about it!
Brandon: It’s been a long journey this season. We more than tripled our viewership from Season 1, doubled the episodes, and had hundreds of dreamers come out to audition. It was a dream come true for our team. Our ultimate goal is to help independent artists gain their footing. This season we had a fearless Top 10, and all of them deserve music careers. There can only be one winner though, and we left that up to America. After almost six months of competition, our Top 5 included Collins Black, Dakota Hayden, Julia May, Meredith Thomas, and Tatum Burns. America voted Dakota Hayden as the champion who will get an exclusive deal with our affiliated independent management label and booking agents.

PC: Did anything surprise you about Season 2?
Brandon: Every season, the audition tour brings the most unique individuals through our doors. We didn’t realize how much excitement we were in for this season. We grew to the most popular competition web series in America. It’s been blessings upon blessings. Most of our contestants on the show are young and open to learn, which makes them prime candidates for our show. I’m pretty tough on them too. When they misstep, they know it. When they bring their A-game, they feel it. That’s important to me. It’s all about learning how to find your own voice and share it with the world. I’d say the most beautiful surprise this season was the engagement we received. It grew tremendously from our first year, and I firmly believe it’s because people want to see our contestants get their fair chance in the music industry. It makes my heart smile.

PC: Have there been any early conversations about a possible Season 3?
Brandon: So glad you asked that. There will be a third season actually. We just ordered it at the top of this year. Happy 2020, right? We are incredibly blessed our fans want to see more and more. What makes our platform different is that we teach these artists how to write and create. They’re only allowed to perform their own songs on the show, and the audience follows them as they build their music from the ground up. It’s fun because there’s not really a show that gives you that behind-the-scenes peek of an album’s timeline from start to finish. Not to mention, that’s what true fans want to see. This is why we have singers leave our platform and really get a jumpstart with their music. You learn their story through their words. There’s no fluff! It’s all real.

Brandon TV

PC: Tell our readers what Brandon TV is.
Brandon: We are a digital studio that creates and distributes content every week. We’re brand new, having officially launched on January 1, 2020. We quickly hit one million impressions across all our social channels and are growing rapidly. As you know, we started with Shine—that became its own digital juggernaut—and now we’re building scripted content, other reality shows, and films. Alongside our weekly fingertip entertainment, we’re in development for our app, our website, and in and out of pitch meetings with networks looking to acquire some of our intellectual properties. Though we do distribute short-form entertainment, on the same hand, they are backdoor pilots too. So everyone kind of wins. It’s an all-in-one type of deal.

PC: Tell us how Brandon TV came to fruition?
Brandon: Well, many people used to tell me I needed to choose to be in front of the screen or behind it. Comments like that would get me thinking. Mainly because I knew I could effectively do both. I mean I look up to people like Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, David Benioff, and all the other minds behind some of my favorite shows. But I’m also an entertainer at heart. So when I set out to find a support system that could help get me started, I found Awesomeness TV; this was about six or seven months before they were acquired by Viacom. A rep there, Dani Abraham, discovered me through one of my dear friends, Ava Michelle. Dani supported me as a creator and an entertainer. So I trusted her and because of that, I felt safe to write, create, and develop concepts.

PC: What was the first concept you developed?
Brandon: It started with This Is Me, which went on to win several awards and ultimately snowballed into the creation of Brandon TV. My team and I needed a source that could hold all my crazy ideas in one place. But then as we started getting more and more attention, friends and friends of friends—all who are so talented by the way—started reaching out wanting to join our team. Last year was our building year, getting our feet on the ground and soft-launching some of our ideas. But now we have over ten creators, all of which are working tirelessly to bring our fans entertainment they’ll love. It’s been a process—a process I knew would pay off, I just had no idea it would grow so fast. It’s really humbling, and I thank God every day.

PC: Who are some of your creators?
Brandon: My best friend, Joel Parent, and I crafted this brainchild before I signed with Awesomeness. So he was technically my first partner in crime. Then came the Shine team: Derek Williams and my mother, Melanie Tomlinson Stewart. From here I pulled in an on-screen coach, Amber Bohac, during the first season of Shine. Then I signed with Awesomeness, where Andrew Young and our mutual friend, Chad Gregerson, joined. That brought in our first affiliated production company, SwitchKill Productions. Then boom. We got the news that Viacom was acquiring Awesomeness, and so I expanded again. I pulled in my superstar friend, Ava Cantrell, and a former talent agent, Richard Lewis. Then came our next production partnership with Quagmire Filmz, which was where we attained four more talented filmmakers: Daniel O’Reilly, Chelsea Teel, David Holt, and Luis Trovar. But the team was not complete until signing Dylan Mooney, Savannah Mills, and Shondrella Avery to round it all out. All independent and passionate about what we do. I love them all.

PC: You all must be producing a lot of content?
Brandon: Oh yes. It’s nonstop and worth every minute. The most beautiful part is watching everybody put their creative energy together to build phenomenal products we can be proud of years down the road.

PC: What is the process like deciding what you’ll invest your time in?
Brandon: Well, there’s money, time, and sleep. You can only have two per project they say. Let’s just say we sacrifice a lot of time in our own beds to make content our audience will enjoy.

PC: How’s the process itself?
Brandon: It starts with a pitch from one of our creators or from an individual outside Brandon TV one of our creators brought to us. From there, we decide if it’s something our audience would enjoy. If it is, we assign the producers we think would do the best job. We spend lots of time in development and preproduction. We also allow any creators in our wheelhouse to share opinions or give direction on all concepts, even if they’re not married to the project as a producer. That’s key for us so there are as little mistakes down the road as humanly possible. We have built a sea of incredible independent minds.

PC: What happens to the projects you don’t green-light?
Brandon: It’s all about transparency. The concepts we pass on won’t always find a home on our slate. If it doesn’t, it either is something we have time to do or are interested in doing. If it’s a time issue, we ask them to make it and build out a distribution plan for them. If we pass on it, which happens more than not, there’s clear communication why. This gives the creator closure and a clear understanding on why we couldn’t accommodate. As we grow, our model will continue to develop as well. But for now, while I can give my time to building and empowering as many artists as possible, I will do that.

PC: What’s been the biggest takeaway since starting Brandon TV?
Brandon: The commitment. The team we’ve built are really in it for the long haul. We have a pretty loyal audience already, but we’re not in the millions of fans yet. For some who are impatient, that can be daunting. I’m just happy to have so many committed individuals on board this early.

PC: So there have been moments of self-doubt? How did you overcome them?
Brandon: Self-doubt is a mental struggle many entertainers face day to day. As a leader, it’s about bottling that into motivation for your team. The reason you doubt what you can accomplish is from a lack of progress. I make it a point to celebrate our small successes as equally as our big ones. Do we have a vision board with big lofty goals? Yes. Do I think I will win an Emmy or an Oscar one day? Well yes. I’m confident in our abilities as a team. But that’s not going to just happen tomorrow. It’s important to set smaller goals that help lead you to those lofty goals many feel are out of reach. They’re only out of reach because we say they are. Anyone can live their dream with a little hard work and dedication. When you remember that and never forget where you’re going, self-doubt has no seat at the dinner table.

PC: What can viewers expect from Brandon TV in 2020?
Brandon: Like we talked about earlier, Shine will be returning for a Season 3. We have a sketch series that is running for the remainder of the year on Thursday nights at 5 p.m. PST called Now That’s Sketch. We have a comedy coming out in April titled Rusty Camel and an untitled horror film coming out near Halloween. Other than that, we have shows called Crestmore, Drylands, Getaway, Guess Clue, Red, White and You, and several more filming this year too.

PC: So it’s going to be a busy year?
Brandon: It’s going to be busy with blessings for all involved Kev.

PC: Where should people follow all the excitement?
Brandon: The Brandon TV socials are the same across all platforms as @ItsBrandonTV, and my personal accounts are all @BranMStew and are the same across all platforms too. If you want to keep up with Shine, the socials for that show are @ShineSings all across all platforms.

To keep up with Brandon, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photo Credit: Tim Hendrick