local storiesMay 30, 2023

Meet Andrew Hatcher Jr

Local Stories

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Hatcher Jr. Andrew was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Tasha Featherstone.

Hi Andrew, we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
Starting Druski Media was done honestly because the camera found me. I was in between jobs at the time and an associate contacted me and said that there was this new company opening up that was going to be in the cannabis space and cater to Las Vegas locals. I jumped at the opportunity and started volunteering my time helping this company create flyers, and magazine covers and, hosting small events in the Downtown area of the city. We threw our first couple of events and they went okay, but not as planned. We had to come up with a way to show people what we were doing besides the flyers that were being created. One night at an event that I created in the city called “Trap Karaoke Nights”. While people were performing, I pulled out my cell phone and used it to film clips of the performers, and then using an app from the Google Play Store, I created several clips that were used on Instagram to promote further events. That lasted about a month. The Owner and I had a falling out because, well, he was trying to make me an employee and I had the spark to start my own business.

Inspired by the current circumstances and by my wife, I formed my first company AnD So Custom which sold custom handmade bracelets and jewelry worn by rappers on the west coast and in the PNW. Having a product, you need photos, So I made a DIY lightbox and started to take photographs of my products. Getting tips on lights and properly using a camera, a mentor of mine called me up, and said “I see what you’re trying to do and you have a natural eye for photography, so here, here’s $1000, go buy yourself a camera and some equipment and get to it! I went home that day, with a thousand dollars and a goal, to buy a camera.

I went on the hunt and searched on Facebook Marketplace for a camera in the few hundred dollar range so I could get more equipment if I needed. Not knowing what I was really looking to do in the field, shoot videos or compose photographs, I chose the Sony NEX-F3 Mirrorless camera and got to work. Shooting everything that I could possibly shoot, from flowers to animals to children, I just practiced my newfound craft. I did product photography for a local company that created bio-degradable, disposable crutches for cannabis flower smokers. That was my first retainer client. In the process, I ran into another mentor of mine, Shabraya “Chef Bray” Woodal. We met via Brooksie Hussle, an entrepreneur in the cannabis space who created the Cannachef Union, which was inspired by Chef Bray. It made businesses of all kinds come together to utilize the skills one another has. Bray and I met and she instantly had something for me to do. I filmed her first video to put up on social media and to promote herself on the platform and to the world, breaking her shyness for the 1st time. We were like 2 peas in a pod. I had someone who wanted to be filmed and I had tons of content to create. Bray, utilized a lot of my skills. From graphic design, copywriting, and creating custom letterheads, invoices, and even menus for her clients. Then she would call me up for the same client I created the menu she just sent me a couple of weeks earlier, to come and film the event. We did this for 2 years then I met Tasha Featherstone, owner of STFU Designs. The fashion designer needed photos of all her creations and wanted to show her bold side. My second retainer client showed me more of the mountains of Nevada and Southern California than I’ve ever known in my life. For a year we created a ton of content that can be seen in magazines such as Voyage and Vegas Cannabis Magazine. It was an awesome time and It has been making me proud to know that the content that we curated together is being seen all over the world

Please tell us more about your brand, Druski Media
Druski Media is a production company based out of Las Vegas, NV that offers services to small business owners and civilians as well that include Photography, Social Media Management, Video Production, and Podcasting. We wanted to put Las Vegas, the citizens of the city, and the businesses that are here within the global eye. We wanted to showcase businesses that are coming up in the city and help them build from the ground up. We want to grow with you. That’s what makes us different. We are family at the end of the day. We come in ready to work on any assignment we are given and by the time we leave, you feel as if your cousin who does awesome photography just left your event. We offer some of the quickest turnaround times ever in photography because we shoot what we want in frame, by the 3rd frame.

So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Tasha Featherstone and STFU and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with STFU.
Tasha is a one-of-a-kind spirit ill tell you that! My experience working with Tasha was amazing and I honestly miss her as a client. She did not want to do anything that was plain jane! She wanted a scene to be set. We traveled to lavish areas of Las Vegas and used the city as our backdrop for her 2nd photoshoot. We traveled to the Elco Dunes and did a whole fall/winter, stranded-in-the-mountains-themed photoshoot. That one was the one I remember the most because Tasha asked me to model in her clothing and, credit to Tasha Featherstone, she took some of the photos of me in her menswear and absolutely knocked it out of the park! They are some of my favorite photos ever of myself.

Our photoshoots rarely had any hiccups and the one we did have, anyone who reads this, who was there, will know what I mean when I say, we will never do a shoot at a place with no A/C. Tasha always had a vision when it came to the backdrop she wanted. It was always something bold and out there, They also made sense. Like the photoshoot done at of the big parks in North Las Vegas. It was for workout clothing and the park and the area we chose in the park just made total sense. Those photos came out amazing as well.

We always had a set of beautiful models to work with us or, if we had to WE were the models but it was always a fun-filled time that produced 400-500 photos per session with another adventure around the corner.