Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Friedman.
Hi Scott, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always dabbled in weird artistic pursuits even though I could never really draw very well. From crafting dioramas to making bad LEGO stop-motion films and breaking my parents’ video camera as a kid. My brother Jake and I eventually began to play around with Photoshop in the mid-90s as a way to make websites and thanks to the explosion of incredible film title sequences like Seven & Gattaca I fell in love with motion design as a way to blend my love for film and design.
After college, I landed a job creating graphics for film trailers, made an animated music video that got accepted into animation festivals around the world, and transitioned into freelance work doing motion graphics for commercials, broadcast graphics, and ad campaigns. Eventually, I started getting client work directly and with a loose plan and a grand vision, Jake and I took the leap and started Wildlife. We began with the goal of bringing together the beauty and craft of film, design & animation with the growing potential of interactive design and web experiences, betting that the future would be an incredible combination of all of these mediums.
It wasn’t easy but over time one project led to another and the two of us brought more talented people into the team, building on each past project and eventually growing Wildlife into a bustling company that pushes the boundaries of technology, storytelling, and experiences. It’s been a roller coaster ride of challenges, incredible achievements, lots of fun, and even more hard work over the past decade but it’s never been boring.
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?
Like any business, we’ve had to learn skills we were never really trained for and grow to overcome unexpected challenges. Working in any kind of production capacity means every project is different, surprises are always lurking and while we’re big believers in intensive planning, you’re never going to be able to avoid curveballs that require creative thinking and a calm approach to achieve great results.
From learning to deal with clients of varying temperaments to running the bookkeeping, letting go of control, finding the right people to hire, and providing support to the team through all the ups and downs of their personal lives — my brother and I have had the opportunity to develop as humans, creative thinkers, risk takers and leaders of an organization that goes way beyond the two of us.
Not every single project has gone perfectly but we’ve learned about the importance of strong client relationships, building a team that trusts each other, ensuring our clients are partners in the process, and remembering that clients have their fears and internal challenges that they’re dealing with and how important that perspective can be to making things go smoothly and keeping everyone happy as we make work that all in involved can be proud of.
Persistence, patience, passion, and fun are critical. Same goes for treating everyone with respect and creating an environment where people want to spend their time. This goes a long way for those times when the projects get tough, the timelines get tight and the pressure to deliver inevitably amps up.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Wildlife?
Wildlife is a digital agency built to deliver award-winning content, breakthrough interactive campaigns, and revenue shattering launches. We were built upon the belief that technology changes, story doesn’t. From our earliest days, we’ve taken a future-proof mindset to create powerful experiences and make things that people love and truly want to spend time with. This creative approach means we’re always pushing the boundaries of technology, looking for new ways to engage our audiences, and never fixated on a single medium or tool.
Our team is a diverse blend of designers, developers, animators, producers, strategists, writers, 3D artists, and makers who love what we do and continue to find new ways to create the kinds of things make us excited to wake up every morning and deliver incredible projects for our clients. This extends from entertainment campaigns and social content to immersive web experiences, VR, AR, animation, experiential activations, digital stunts, and everything in between.
We love taking chances and we’re equally comfortable up with insane ideas that seem almost impossible to build – and then building them ourselves – as well as developing effective strategies and creative solutions for some of the world’s biggest brands, taking them to new places and reaching their customers in compelling ways.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Learning to be OK with feeling uncomfortable has been the most important factor in the company’s growth. We’re constantly building things that have never been made before, trying things that break new ground, and pushing ourselves with new ideas that are equally thrilling, exciting, and scary. The ability to trust in the team and the process as we find new solutions and develop new production methods is what allows us to continue to produce work that drives conversation and gets people excited.
Above it all, we love what we do and everyone at Wildlife gets the chance to continue to push their skills, try new things and never stop learning.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.wildlife.la
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildlifela
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/wildlifela
