Community Highlights: Meet Greg Bassenian of ARIS + FASTFOLLOW

Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Bassenian.

Hi Greg, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I graduated from Boston University with a degree in film and spent most of my senior year in Los Angeles through a program designed to give students a foothold in the industry. That led to an internship on The King of Queens, which turned into my first full-time job as an office PA after graduation.

From there, I joined America’s Next Top Model as the Co-Executive Producer’s assistant and was promoted to Associate Producer. I eventually made the jump back into scripted television, joining CSI: Miami as the showrunner’s assistant before being promoted to staff writer for the show’s tenth season.

When CSI: Miami ended, I decided to build something of my own. I started small, creating content for startups and emerging brands, often operating as a one-man production company while also pursuing graduate studies at USC.

While at USC, two other students and I entered and won a commercial competition for a Coca-Cola spot. That became a real turning point. It gave us an early piece of work for a globally recognized brand and helped jump-start the business in the commercial space.

From there, I began building what would become ARIS, a Los Angeles-based commercial production company. We started with small projects and very limited budgets, but I always approached the company with the ambition of building something much larger.

Since then, ARIS has grown into a full-service, commercially represented production company working with Fortune 500 brands, advertising agencies, and many of the major global agency networks. Along the way, we’ve built a roster of amazingly talented commercial directors, each with a distinct creative voice and perspective.

Representing directors has become one of the most rewarding parts of building ARIS. We try to be very thoughtful about our roster and the filmmakers we partner with. The goal isn’t simply to represent great talent, but to build long-term creative partnerships, help directors develop their careers, and create opportunities for them to do ambitious work with great agencies and brands.

Most recently, we launched FastFollow, our dedicated post-production studio, expanding our capabilities across commercial production, editorial, finishing, and post. It was a natural evolution for us and allows us to take what we’ve built on the production side and extend it through the entire creative process, from production through final delivery.

We’re also looking forward, particularly at the opportunities emerging around hybrid live-action and AI production, and how those tools can be thoughtfully integrated with traditional filmmaking to expand what directors, agencies, and brands are creatively able to achieve.

What I’m probably most proud of is that all of this was built organically. There wasn’t a big launch, outside funding, or a shortcut. It was one project, one relationship, and one opportunity at a time. That experience has shaped how I think about both the creative work and the business behind it: stay adaptable, keep building, and make sure the quality of the work continues to open the next door.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road. The pandemic was probably the single largest disruption our industry experienced in the last decade. We had been growing year after year when, almost overnight, production came to a complete stop. It was difficult to weather, but we came through it, rebuilt our momentum, and returned to growth.

Since then, one of the biggest challenges has been increasingly compressed budgets while clients continue to expect more from every dollar they spend. In many ways, that has helped shape who we are. We’ve embraced remote editorial, hybrid work, remote-server workflows, and a lean but meaningful physical office presence, including our edit bay. We want a place where people can collaborate, but we also want to stay nimble and put as many resources as possible into the talent and the work itself.

That philosophy extends to production. We’re constantly exploring new technologies and workflows and collaborating with our directors to find smarter ways to work without sacrificing their creative vision. Generative AI is the newest part of that evolution, and we’re actively exploring hybrid live-action and AI workflows to understand where they can genuinely elevate the work. We see AI as another tool in the filmmaker’s toolkit, one that should support and expand a director’s creative vision rather than replace the human creativity behind it.

For us, the director and the idea remain at the center. Whether it’s a new production methodology, a more efficient post workflow, or emerging technology, the goal is always the same: adapt, create more value, and never compromise what makes the work great.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about ARIS + FASTFOLLOW?
ARIS is a Los Angeles-based commercial production company representing an amazingly talented roster of directors and working with advertising agencies and brands to bring creative ideas to life. We produce everything from national broadcast commercials and branded content to documentary-style work, digital campaigns, and social content.

What I think sets us apart is that we’ve tried to build ARIS around both the creative and the execution. We’re very selective about the directors we represent, and each brings a distinct voice and area of expertise to the roster. We want to be real partners in their careers, helping them find the right opportunities, develop relationships with agencies and brands, and ultimately do the best work possible. At the same time, we’ve built a production infrastructure that allows agencies and clients to know that when they bring us an ambitious idea, we can figure out how to execute it.

Post-production has always been a significant part of what we do. More recently, we gave that side of the business its own identity with the launch of FastFollow, our dedicated post-production brand spanning editorial, finishing, and post. It allows us to more clearly showcase a capability we’ve been building for years, while offering agencies and brands the flexibility to work with us for production and post together or as standalone services.

We’re also looking forward at hybrid live-action and AI production, always with the philosophy that new technology should support and expand the filmmaker’s creative vision rather than replace it.

I’m probably most proud of the relationships we’ve built. We’ve had the opportunity to work with Fortune 500 companies, major advertising agency networks, independent agencies, and some incredibly talented creative people. A lot of those relationships have grown across multiple projects and years, which means a great deal to us.

Ultimately, we want ARIS to be a place where great directors want to build their careers and where agencies and brands want to bring their best ideas. We take the work seriously, but try not to take ourselves too seriously. We want to be collaborative, approachable, nimble, and always pushing ourselves to be the best at what we do.

How do you think about luck?
Luck will always play a part, whether we like it or not. One of our first agency clients came to us almost entirely by chance. I was working out of a co-working space, and the person sitting at the desk behind me had a friend who suddenly needed film production ASAP. He literally turned around, asked if I could help, and made the introduction.

That introduction led to a project, which led to significant repeat work and ultimately helped grow the business. The opportunity came down to something as random as where I happened to be sitting that day.

But I also think luck only gets you so far. I had spent years working in film and television and building the experience necessary to deliver when that opportunity arrived. The referral may have been luck; the agency coming back again and again wasn’t. That came from doing great work and being prepared when the door opened.

The same idea applies to bad luck. COVID was an enormous disruption, and now AI is creating another period of uncertainty and change across our industry. You can’t control those things, but you can control how you respond to them. COVID ultimately made us a more resilient and nimble company, and today we’re actively learning how to incorporate AI thoughtfully and responsibly in ways that support and elevate our directors.

Ultimately, I think luck creates opportunities and obstacles. Preparation determines what you do with them. We try to approach both the good and the bad the same way: stay prepared, stay adaptable, and make the most of whatever comes through the door.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.weareARIS.com, www.FastFollowPost.com
• Instagram: @wearearis, @fastfollowpost
• Facebook: @wearearis
• LinkedIn: @wearearis
• Youtube: @wearearis

Image Credits
Greg Bassenian