Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Davis.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Brandon. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born into a family with an entertainment background in 1996 in Los Angeles where I have lived my entire life. My mother is a producer and my father is an entertainment lawyer and writer. My acting career began in 1999 with commercials and tv spots in both English and Spanish. My family on my mother’s side came from Mexico and my father’s side is of Jewish-European descent. I grew up bi-lingual with Spanish being my first learned language. My multicultural household always held influence on my art. My first introduction to film appreciation was when I was around 7-10 years old watching period piece movies that were based in the 1950’s and 60’s such as Tom Hanks’ “That Thing You Do!” (1996) or “Goodfellas” (1990) and comedies of the 1960’s such as Jerry Lewis’ The Nutty Professor”(1963) & “The Party” with Peter Sellers (1968), or Mel Brooks “The Producers.” (1968) This Influenced my desire to perform satire and fueled my acting bug as well as a deep love for history. It also would forever instill my eye as a director due to my attention to detail. With a desire for comedy, I started with improv at the L.A. Connection Comedy’s Theatre in Sherman Oaks where I learned how to hone my character work and comedic skill.
Eventually moving onto Groundlings and Second City where I learned sketch comedy and writing. I took a break through high school with acting and decided to go into my hobby of buying and fixing up classic cars to make some dough on the side. I started at 16 years old with my first car a 1964 Cadillac Deville. I scraped together some money from my bar mitzvah and from some jobs I did. I Eventually I would go through almost 50 cars all at different times. This brought me into the world of becoming a picture car coordinator through a friend who runs a picture car company for classic cars at 18 Years Old. I did that on an off in high school and still do it to this day. I was an advisor to Tarantino’s picture car team for “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood” in 2018 Helping them replicate and gain information on one of their star cars in the film: a 1959 Ford Galxie 500 driven by Tex Watson and the Manson girls in the film (and in real life). A good family friend of mine is the owner of the actual “Manson” car as well as 50-60 other cars of which I curate part-time for him. We offered Tarantino the real car at first but they declined due to the actors being too freaked out by the car. They decided to replicate it and with our help did so perfectly. I was also involved with filming on some of the Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd, & Scenes where they shut down the 101 freeway. I still rent my personal classic vehicles to film and television shows for rentals and have used my own in my film as well! When I graduated high school decided to go to New York Film Academy in 2016 where I produced, wrote, co-directed, and starred in my first 22 minutes short “Badge of Honor” which is set in Los Angeles in 1952. It tells the story of honest Police officer Russell Sterling who is paired with a racist and corrupt partner witnessing him kill an innocent man and testifying against him. This was a different approach for me as it was a dramatic film rather than a comedy.
It was my first venture and a challenging start to my career. Having 45 extras, many classic cars, period appropriate locations, costuming, and props were an exciting and demanding part of my work but the attention to detail is what I truly love. I am an expert on Vintage clothing as well and have a personal collection of more than 100 pieces from suits to bowling shirts. I used this knowledge to meticulously dress my extras properly in appropriate clothing from 1947-52 which would have been correct for the era. The biggest thrill was blocking off a major city street with permits and to have my own group of classic cars drive up and down a street in historic Highland Park where great films like “Reservoir Dogs” were shot. After the film, I decided to pursue my focus on crime drama which I am working on in my latest upcoming mini-series project which is true story based in the early 1970’s. My goal in my career is to create period-piece films. I want to tell interesting stories from the turn of the century all the way up to the 1980’s. I’ve always been fascinated with the times before me specifically the 1940’s-1960’s. I have been told that I am an “old soul” and bring that into my work. It is with great pleasure that I announce that “Badge of Honor” was picked up for distribution by Shorts TV International and will be available to view on DirecTV. I graduated in February 2019 with a Bachelors Degree and I am now venturing into work as a director and have been attached to direct another “untitled project” that is set in the 1800’s-1950’s. It has funding and will be shooting in 2020. Richard Grieco is one of the Stars attached. I am also developing and producing another period piece mini-series that I am aiming to pitch very soon. I truly love what I do! I’m hoping to work with many creatives to make some truly great stories come alive on the big and small screen.
Has it been a smooth road?
As an independent producer, finding funding is always a challenge. I learned from an early age by seeing my Mom do deals that when someone says no it opens up opportunity for others to say yes. One door opens and another closes. It’s the nature of the game and has always been like that in Hollywood. When I couldn’t get funding for my film through any fundraising sites or outside investors, I sold my 1965 Buick Riviera which I rented for “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” and self-funded “Badge of Honor.” It was amazing being able to be on set with my Buick in front of a great director like Quentin Tarantino and then use that same vehicle to fund my own period piece film. We did “Badge of Honor” for under $20,000 and it is very period correct from the LAPD Uniforms to the lucky strike cigarettes I smoked in the film. “The Business” sometimes can get overwhelming and cause discouragement and negativity, being an independent filmmaker and actor teaches you to really ride the wave, but being around the business and living in LA my entire life you learn to stay positive and bring gratitude to every experience. It’s an amazing thing to be a storyteller! Networking in Los Angeles can definitely make you feel like a small fish in a big pond but when it comes to the entertainment community all it takes is that one Person to see something great in you so don’t give up!
Please tell us about Emerald Star Entertainment.
I am currently Vice President Of Emerald Star Entertainment. We specialize in production of independent film and television. We are proud that we are a family company between Mother, Father, & Sons. My brother Nick is in game development so we are working on collaborating to develop complex video-games that have a good story. As a family whenever we go out to dinner together we always pitch ideas with each other whether we even pitch each other at the supermarket! We are always looking for fresh and new talent to collaborate with in order to tell a compelling story!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is my city. I was born here, I love it and I’ll never leave it. I will say that it is difficult especially when you are an independent. I’ve had many friends over the years who have packed up and headed home due to giving up on a short timeline for success. If you truly want to succeed, I would give it at least 5 years to really focus and work on your strengths whether it’s acting or set designing. There is something for everybody here! But if you are just moving here from out of state but don’t give up so quickly! Although they may not be giving out movie deals at LAX The best thing you can do is give it your all! Patience is definitely key. Rejection offers a form of protection. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be but then all of a sudden your dream project falls into your lap. The worst people can do is say no, but after that no another door will open and you can revel in your success!
Contact Info:
- Address: 916-C W Burbank Blvd #197 Burbank Cal 91506
- Phone: 3105623459
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/brandon_davis_official?igshid=1jb63c96au4wd
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/brandon.davis.9809672
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