Brook Linder

Let’s put it down right now: Brook Linder has the branded content hit of the year, with his weekly promos for Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney. Vimeo put it out as its own thing, and once you turn on the compilation of promos, you can’t turn it off. It’ll be running on repeat in your head. I warned you.

We go deep in this episode in getting banned from Springfield, Missouri high schools, not just for his film crew but every film crew afterwards, early Kickstarter, what it’s like making branded content, and so much more. As Brook says, let’s go ham.

In this episode, Brook and I talk about:

• Those epic John Mulaney ads (so rewatchable) and why they are the branded success of the year;
• How hard was it for him to give up editing;
• Did his viral success surprise him or was it just the culmination of all the work he put in?
• How shooting on film can be a crutch;
• The expectations when brands call him and how it differs from his personal aesthetic; 
• What music video shoots are really like;
• His origin story — fellow Missourian!;
• His first short, GHOUL SCHOOL (2013), its Kickstarter campaign, and the film that got him kicked out of filming in the Springfield high school system (and everyone else going forward);
• How he does brand work and getting his name out there without pissing his clients off;
• The possibility of an AI Brook Linder video?
• Whether this viral success has helped him with his own projects;
• His new documentary on the band, someone still lives you boris yeltsin, and their trip to Russia;
• How much we love watching trailers but the economics of it — it’s tough!

Brook’s Indie Film Highlight: ARCADIAN (2024) dir. by Benjamin Brewer

Memorable Quotes:

“ We'd blow up a classroom, right? Go ham, and the school would kick us out. “

“ You need to empower an editor and say, Hey look, you gotta make this yours. You gotta tell the story that makes sense to you and not work with the bones of whatever I thought I was gonna do.”

“ I have used film instead of having a very clear concept. I'm a music video guy, so there's a lot of flash involved. Okay. So I've used film when I thought eh, can I be a filmy vibe?”

“Some artists really want them and because it feels if you don't have a music video, you aren't minted in some way.”

Links:

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