Today we’d like to introduce you to Trae Briers.
Hi Trae, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey started at the age of 20. I was a kid who decided to take some time off from being a full-time college student studying Economics at UCSB and moved to Hollywood to see the movie business up close and personal. I landed a job as a Studio Paige at Paramount Studios, and it was there I realized I wanted to be a Filmmaker. I was able to see the
movie business at every level of the industry, from the corporate side, the planning side, the talent side and the everyday journeyman side. It was during my time there I realized that if you can’t do this business with your own two hands, then you won’t survive in this business. So, after a year working on the lot, I moved back home to Oxnard, CA and enrolled at the local junior college. I learned how to be hands-on with every aspect of filmmaking. I worked as a Stage Manager, Master Control Operator, Editor, Camera Operations, Stage Lighting: you name it, I did it. After spending 2 years in the Television Production program, I re-enrolled back to UCSB, changing my major to Film Studies, and immersed myself into learning the history of filmmaking and the theory behind filmmaking, while also enhancing my production skills. During my last semester there, I did an independent study with my professor on “How to make a movie for $100K”. I had written my first script and wanted to learn all the necessary requirements to make my own movie. I researched every aspect of the expenses required to make a movie: permits, insurance, crew budgets, etc. And while doing the research, I realized the true cost of making a movie and what it takes to complete it. So, after I graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Television Production and a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Studies, I knew I was ready to pursue my dreams.
After graduation, I landed a Production Assistant job on a major network television show and was able to get first-hand experience on how the big production machine operates. After working on a couple of major shows, I decided it was time to make my own film. I did the old school “work the room approach” and went to family and friends and applied my research I did in film school and raised the funds within 6 months. Their belief in my script and my passion to be a filmmaker gave me the jolt I needed to make my first feature film titled “In Your Eyes”, a Romeo and Juliet themed movie based on a young Black boy who falls in love with a young Mexican girl, despite her father’s wishes. With the help of my close friends and supporters, we filmed the entire feature film within 20 days in Oxnard. I also brought along my close colleague Alessandro Gentile who I met during film school, and who has been my Director of Photography for every project I have done and he is one of the best filmmakers I know.
During production, we were notified by the Santa Barbara Film Festival they wanted to screen my film as a special presentation. There was no way I could pass up that opportunity to screen my very first film in front of a live audience, so I accepted the offer. The only issue was, I had originally planned to spend 3 months working on the post-production, but because of the opportunity, I had to complete the post-production in 3 weeks. With hard work and dedication, we were able to pull it off, and we screened the film to a sold-out audience. I literally watched the first cut of my movie with a packed house. The reception was tremendous. Our movie was the talk of the town. The festival received so much press for our film, they gave us a second screening later in the week, which also was a sold-out screening.
I eventually received a national DVD distribution deal for “In Your Eyes”. The greatest feeling was seeing my movie on the shelves at Blockbuster. It was also a cool feeling to hear about my movie being a hot “bootleg” DVD across the country too. But what I realized is I still didn’t understand the “business”. By not knowing how distribution truly works, we didn’t make the money we had hoped for with selling our rights to the movie. This let me know I still had lots to learn. I still needed to understand what acquisitions mean. I needed to understand how accounting works. I didn’t understand how budget financing works. The only thing I knew was to tell a story. So, I took a step back and realized I needed to go back to school and learn business. I decided to enroll in the MBA program at University of Phoenix and focused on understanding finance and budgeting.
After completing my MBA, I partnered with my close friend Rubin Bryant, and focused on enhancing our production skills and business skills that would help us create quality projects. We started our production company, FFAM GROUP, LLC and strategically crafted a plan to self-finance our next project where we would minimize the financial risk and increase our brand awareness by choosing a film that will create thought and showcase my writing and directing skills. We chose to produce “TRADE” , a movie based on Rubin’s transgender sister, who has lived a compelling life and the timing was perfect to tell her story. With the proper planning and marketing, the film was selected to stream on 18 different platforms, streaming over 20 million hours in one year and was the winner of 8 Best Film selections for a variety of film festivals. After the success of that project, we knew we were
ready to take the next step and do a major financed motion picture.
We secured a production deal in 2023 for my next film,”CUATE”, a movie about a young Black boxer who is trained by a seasoned Mexican boxing trainer who only speaks to him in Spanish and they both are learning how to develop not just a friendship but becoming a family. After 2 years of the producers not being able to secure the funding they wished for, I decided to get the rights back to my film and pursue a different avenue.
What has transformed my life is I ended up getting my CTE (Career Technical Education) Teaching Credential in Film and Media and have been a full time teacher with Oxnard Union High School District. I have loved every minute of it. I truly enjoy teaching the next generation of young filmmakers and giving them a personal relationship with someone who is from the same city as them and understands the struggles of getting their stories told. I was even awarded “Teacher Of The Year” at my school for the 2024-2025 year.
Through my experiences over the years, I have come to learn that your team members are the key to your success and having an education is paramount for survival. It’s very important to maintain solid relationships and a positive outlook to who you work with and ensure your integrity is always positive. And being educated in what you love will help ensure you never look at your passion as work.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road to success is never smooth. If there are no bumps in the road, then you are on the wrong road. I experienced challenges that could have easily shifted my path. But I never let them bother me or get in the way.
The number one challenge for me is to ensure I maintain a secure job so I can provide for my family while I maintain my filmmaking career. Wanting to be an “Owner” means I don’t work on projects that I don’t control, so I don’t earn a living working in the “industry”. I make a living outside the industry, which isn’t always stable. I ensured I received an education, that way I would always be able to make a good living working in the corporate world. My finance skills and MBA education allowed me to get a job that pays well. But, because it’s the corporate world, you’re never safe from restructuring and layoffs. And I’ve experienced that a few times.
I have been able to juggle family life, corporate life, and filmmaker life as best I can. I am a father of 5, so I don’t have the luxury of not earning an income. And making films, the financial risk is always a loss before there is a gain. And the gain might not come for a while, if ever. My wife Doris is my backbone and the person who makes sure I never give up. She holds me accountable to this family and to my career choice. She has maintained being the stay-at-home mom while also pursuing her education at the same time, receiving her Bachelors and Masters Degree, and is currently completing her Teaching Credential. And she has done a tremendous job. All of our kids are Honor Roll students, and she herself has been an Honor Roll college student throughout her education pursuit. We both understood the challenges we faced when we got together, so we never lost focus of our true goal and we encouraged each other to do better and stay on course. And it comes full circle as we both are now Teachers and have found careers we both enjoy.
About 3 years ago, I could no longer accept sitting inside a cubicle working for a company that will probably let me go in a few years, so I decided to enter the Education field. And I was upset at myself I didn’t do it sooner!! I loved becoming a teacher. It has been the best feeling in the world to be inside of a classroom talking about movies everyday and teaching young adults about the film business and giving them instructions on how to turn their ideas into films. I found that becoming a teacher is more than just a job, but it’s a passion. What is even cooler is that I am teaching in my hometown. I get a chance to inspire students who once sat in the same seats I did and let them see what a filmmaker looks like and I can talk to them about the importance of an education and help further their academic journey. I teach at Frontier High School, a continuation school and Pacifica High School, the largest high school in the county. I’m blessed that I get to work with the students who are on their last chance to receive their high school diploma, and I’m able to give them a new outlook on education and learning to love the media. And I really enjoy working with the largest school population of students in the region and seeing how bright they are and anxious to tell their stories.
If I had to sum up my entire experiences and career up to this point where struggle is part of my reality, it’s a motto I adapted long ago: Consistent Persistence. I believe that if you stay focused on one task, don’t jump from idea to idea. Stay consistent with the one thing you want to do, and work on it every day. Don’t focus on the immediate outcomes. Be diligent in your pursuit, but also be realistic. It’s not going to happen overnight. Your first try at something isn’t going to
yield financial success. The desire to continue as opposed to the money is what will motivate you to continue to push forward. Be consistent. Be persistent. If you focus on that, everything will all fall in place.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What I am focused on right now is working with my fellow film and media teachers in Ventura County and showcasing our students and their film projects. I’m dedicated to bringing awareness to our region and giving our young filmmakers a chance to show their skills and what they’ve learned. It’s important in this climate that we spend time with the students in person and give them hands-on training. It’s important we also show them how to use their cellphones as a tool instead of a mentally draining device. The cat is out of the bag: these kids love their phones. So as a teacher, I am focused on teaching the up and coming storytellers how to use their cell phones and make movies. The Vertical Productions are the future when it comes to independent filmmaking, so why not celebrate it and showcase it.
One of the first things I did when I became a teacher was to reach out and connect with every high school film and media teacher in the region and discuss with them about having a countywide film festival where each high school will get a chance to showcase their student films. We have high schools from Ventura, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Conejo Valley, Camarillo and all the high schools in Oxnard, coming together and having a big end of the year event on May 30, 2026. I’ve been very vocal my entire career that Ventura County is too close to Hollywood and we should be able to tell our stories and be heard. The best way to do that is to empower the youth to be that voice. And it’s going to be a great event and I can’t wait to see some great short films from the future 805 filmmakers. We are blessed we have a great Director of Career Education at our district who believes in building the Media and Arts within the county, as it’s important we teachers show unity in developing the students and giving them an opportunity to showcase their work.
Becoming a CTE Film and Media teacher has opened my eyes to what the future of the media looks like. I’ve accepted the short film social media format and vertical productions, as the kids of today only want to watch content on their phones. I show my students films they’ve never seen, ones like “I Am Legend”, “12 Years A Slave” and “No Country For Old Men”, that way they learn to appreciate the art form. But I also embrace the new way to create content, and I teach them how to prepare to shoot an idea and follow the proper steps in completing their work. With creating the countywide film festival, it creates the love of competition and being able to see their final project with a live audience. This still gives the youth a feeling of wanting to go to the movie theater and sit with your peers and enjoy your art. I’m trying to infuse the vertical productions and the movie theater experience at the same time. With teaching this subject, I get to highlight all the different career jobs the movie business has and the students get to learn about some of the different jobs they would like. Everyone doesn’t want to be a Director. Some students want to work with their hands and learn to be a Grip. Some students want to learn about doing Make Up. Some want to be Production Designers. I feel that giving these young students at the high school age a first hand exposure to other careers the industry offers makes this subject matter that much more valuable. So when the students create their projects, it’s not just about being the Producer, Director or Editor. But it’s about collaborating with different departments that make a movie. My goal is to get them to LOVE this business.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along my journey is patience and integrity is a must to withstand the journey. You can’t put a timetable on success. And you can’t be someone who doesn’t honor their word. This business is very small and has many pretenders who want to take something from you. You can’t follow or believe every person you meet, regardless of their wealth or success.
I learned that the movie industry is truly changing and at some point, us “older” producers need to adapt or die. Long gone are the days of spending $10 million on an independent movie. Any producer who still thinks all you need is a star to get funding is going to need to face reality that those budgets don’t exist anymore. The vertical productions and streaming concepts are the new independent movies and star power isn’t what it used to be and doesn’t guarantee you a return on your investment. This generation wants their content right away and they want it to look good. They want the story to be compelling. They can care less about how famous you are. I had to learn that the hard way over the last 2 years by trying to get my film produced the old school way. I’m glad I’ve put myself in a position to try again, but with a different goal and plan.
Another lesson I learned is you need to be able to pivot when the time is needed. At some point, you need to be able to recognize the path you are on is just not working. Rather than be upset and give up, just pivot. Go in a different direction but with the same goal. I believe my pivot to teaching has opened me up to a bigger audience and a bigger opportunity, as I am still involved in film production and I get to be apart of the future. And the future is our youth. The future is being able to tell our stories in this new media world, a world these young students will be leading.
I am all about hands-on training. I focus on teaching my students how to build it with their own two hands. I also focus on collaborating with different people. One of the key things I do is ensure each student in the class personally knows each other’s name. I focus on being able to be personable and social. One of the major things we see missing with this new generation is being able to actually talk to one another face to face. I make sure each student knows how to get up in front of the class and tell us what they want to do. I make sure they all know how to answer the most important question in life: “Tell Me About Yourself”.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ffamgroup.com
- Instagram: smakkd
- LinkedIn: Trae Briers
