Inspiring Conversations with Brayden Smith of Concentrated Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brayden Smith.

Brayden, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
After moving ten times between 1st and 11th grade, I decided enough was enough. At 16, I told my parents, who live in different states, that I was moving out to Los Angeles to stay with my dad. My mom was heartbroken. She spent most of my childhood raising two boys who took the first chance they could to stay with the man who left her for a Hollywood dream. Sorry mom. I did not share that dream with my dad at first. Instead, the arts and entertainment became a symbolic enemy for two years. Suddenly, as I turned 18 and felt the crushing weight of my first “real” breakup, I had a vision of where my future would go. Award shows, bringing my mom to a red carpet, it was all as clear as my name in lights! Of course, life gets in the way; we experienced a global pandemic and now an industry strike. I adapted and found a home in the volatile cannabis industry, working with one of the largest names in the legal market.

One of the biggest things I noticed during the last two years is that for an industry that has a lot of its roots wrapped in the ground near Hollywood, Cannabis doesn’t often get creative. With the launch of Concentrated Productions, I hope to be apart of that shift, a change in the right direction where ads for cannabis aren’t a play on old stereotypes that keep the industry so stigmatized. By bringing Hollywood techniques to a budding industry, we gain valuable experience as a creative team and have the opportunity to drive real changes. While I may not be where I want to be as a filmmaker, I’ve learned throughout the years it’s not about the destination but how you get there. I have made thousands of friends and memories in over a dozen different states, I’m now the last of my family still living in LA, and now I’ve co-founded a business. I’ve followed the path I could so that now I can walk the path I want.

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?
Aside from getting in my own way (who doesn’t), my family’s economic situation, the global pandemic of COVID-19, and a failed studio attempt at a University were some of the biggest obstacles I’ve faced. After I dropped out of film school, I found my way through the cannabis industry. After my dad got another divorce, my brother and I took up a job offer from a friend selling alarm systems in the South. It was a hard-knock university in sales and one of my biggest challenges in life. I thought I had done enough and was ready to re-launch myself into the Los Angeles climate. I moved back in the Fall of 2019 and probably don’t need to say much about the challenges of 2020.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Concentrated Productions?
We are an up-and-coming trio of creative professionals who are dedicating their skills to the cannabis industry. We feel strongly that part of the industry’s formula for success is better media, and we can help with that. I have fought the stigma on my own for years, coming from a family that has more or less survived on the cannabis plant. Most people have an image set in stone of the negative effects of cannabis, but once you start to see people like you in ads doing the same things you love to do, that stone starts to crumble.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I spent the last couple of years being frustrated that I wasn’t in a better position in life and blaming everything I could until it felt like I couldn’t get out of my situation anymore. Lean on your friends and family, ask for help, and believe in yourself. You’ll never get to your destination if you stop moving forward entirely. It won’t always feel like the right path, or even a path at all, but when you come out on the other side, people will look at it to try and replicate your steps. Take pride in the fact that they will never walk the same path as you and that only you were strong enough to make it out. And when you start to see our names, just know it took a lot of effort that you’ll never see. It wasn’t overnight, and it wasn’t someone else’s path. You can still make your dreams a reality.

Contact Info:

• Website: Concentrated.productions
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/braydensmedia