Meet Stephen Steelman of Brigantine Films in Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Steelman.

Stephen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Vegas. Initially, I moved out here for acting, but I slowly found myself drifting towards the other side of the camera. DSLRs like the 7d were first coming out and delivering footage that actually looked professional, and I took the money I made off a commercial and bought one.

Shortly thereafter a buddy was looking for someone to make a music video for him but didn’t have much as far as money went, and I volunteered to shoot it for him. I was still super new, almost the entire thing was out of focus. But people liked it and I started doing more. I started doing tutorials online… learned Premiere, After Effects, etc.

After one music video, I found myself creating visuals for a band. That took me down the path that led me to create content for some bands I grew up listening to like Deftones & System Of A Down. In doing that, I’ve had to learn how to work media servers for live events, which has just expanded the tools I have at my disposal to create content.

Finally, I got the itch for VR. I’ve shot a couple of narrative VR shorts. It doesn’t pay the bills but I believe there is a new way to tell stories in VR that we haven’t really figured out yet. It feels like what I imagine filmmaking was like 100 years ago.

So yeah…

Has it been a smooth road?
The road is always smooth if you zoom out far enough. 🙂 I mean, every job comes with its own set of challenges.

That’s part of what interests me. Something about the phrase “we don’t know how to pull this off” that piques my interest. The entertainment industry is fraught with barriers to entry. I think if I was super specific about my goals and unwilling to take the opportunities as they come, it’d be much more of a struggle. I’ve said yes a lot… and work has bred more work, and that has made me better. Maybe I haven’t made my first feature, but I’m more prepared for it than if I was sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring.

To make it more specific and come up with what’s happening currently… I’ve made a few films in VR. It’s a passion of mine, especially because there’s the opportunity to create the narrative language of storytelling in a new medium. And it’s tricky. Of the few companies getting financing to create (live action) VR, most would rather approach a known director and convince them to shoot a VR piece than cultivate talent who are really interested in it.

I know, boo-hoo. It’s just another challenge. And I’ve gotten to show my shorts to a bunch of good people in the industry. You never know where the next opportunity is going to come from. So I keep making shorts and experimenting, as much as I can in-between gigs.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Brigantine Films is a content creation studio.

We primarily create music videos & visual content for musicians. We also specialize in immersive (VR) narrative content. With my company, I’ve gotten to create some pretty cool stuff. I’ve been able to create content for artists that were hanging on my wall when I was a kid, like Deftones, System of a Down, & most recently Jonathan Davis (Korn). It’s a trip.

I pride myself on making the experience positive for the clients who hire me AND the people who work for me on any given project. I think it shows up in the work.

Filmmaking and live events are already difficult without screaming and yelling. We can be super ambitious in our goals and still enjoy the process. We try not to get lost in results. I’m most grateful when a client calls me up again to do something else. That means I must be doing something right…

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Well duh. It’s LA. Of course… you can make a film anywhere these days… but it’s different when you’re actually in a space that cultivates creativity.

Not to say we don’t have our share of shitheads… and it can be challenging to find your place in this city… but it’s worth it. Many of the opportunities I have had were due to being here. I just wouldn’t have been in the mix if I were still in Vegas.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BrigantineFilms.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: stephensteelman
• Facebook: facebook.com/brigantinefilms

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