Meet Aaron Weber of Wander in Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Weber.

Aaron, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
The year was 1996 and the place was East Lyme, Connecticut. I was mistakenly placed in an upperclassmen class whose responsibility was to produce the school’s internally televised morning news show every day. Being the only freshmen in the class, I was not allowed to help much and find myself tinkering with a brand new computer that was sitting in the corner of the room.

Shortly thereafter I would find out that this computer was purchased on a state grant and its sole purpose was to run a new 3D modeling and animation program called 3D Studio Max. I took it upon myself to read and learn as much as I could about all things 3D and was soon impressing the upperclassmen with my crude animations that soon were making it on the morning news show. Highly motivated by my enjoyment of the work, peoples positive response and the recent release of Toy Story, I decided to major in computer animation.

Cut to 2005. I am now graduating from New York City’s School of Visual Arts. During my time there I first realized that 3D animation was not actually what I wanted to do – I found sitting in a dark room and being involved in only part of a project to not be the right fit for me. I also realized what I did want to do, which was produced. After producing my own senior thesis, called Wander, I knew this was my calling and made plans to move out to Los Angeles and really immerse myself in the entertainment industry.

I moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 2005 with a single short film in hand. I saved up money doing print and web design and was able to put together a 3 commercial reel to start seriously shopping myself around. Not too long after that, I landed Nintendo as a client, which made my inner child very happy. This was a relationship that would last for roughly 5 years.

Then in 2011, I produced a film that would forever change my life again. That project was called Follow the Frog and it was both the massive success (millions of YouTube views, a Cannes Lion, tons of industry write-ups and much more) and the genre (for an environmental nonprofit – Rainforest Alliance) that would set a new course for me.

Whatever aspect of filmmaking you choose, it is a lot of work. And working with clients that were trying to make the world a better place selfishly made me feel good too. In 2012 I set a new course for Wander and since then have been focused almost exclusively on creating visual stories for the world’s do-gooders.

Has it been a smooth road?
Despite how people envision it, the path from point A to point B is rarely a straight line and my journey is no exception. In the early days, there were some very lean years living project to project. And throughout my career, there are always things you try that work and things that don’t work.

For me, sales representation has always been challenging. I’ve tried in-house and freelance reps, I’ve tried repping other directors in a more traditional commercial production company model and have tried being repped by other production companies. To this day, the best success I’ve had selling Wander has always been personal connections and my own efforts.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Wander creates visual stories for the world’s do-gooders. To further elaborate on that, we create short-form film content for corporations, associations and nonprofit organizations who work to make the world a better place. I like to tell prospective clients that we have our bags packed and are ready to go anywhere in the world at a moments notice.

Many of our nonprofit clients have interests in remote regions around the world and this work has taken us to incredibly interesting places, from India to Uganda, Japan to Colombia. Our biggest success to date has been a project for Rainforest Alliance called Follow the Frog.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I feel that being based in Los Angeles / “Hollywood” provides Wander a cachet to our clients around the world that separates us from our competition that is located elsewhere. Additionally, it allows us to access the best equipment and crew members, bar none.

This town exists for filmmaking and I am proud to call it home. That said, it can be a cutthroat place full of empty promises and unmotivated individuals which just means you need to be clear to yourself on your personal goals and be unwavering in your ambition.

Contact Info:

• Address: 7080 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 1100 Los Angeles, CA 90028
• Website: wanderfilms.com
• Phone: 323-230-7361
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @wanderfilm4good
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WanderFilms/
• Twitter: @wanderfeed

Image Credit:
Martin Linss, Zack Menna

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