On Creative Assemblies: The Spark Podcast, our mission is to amplify Nashville’s diverse creative voices, foster growth through shared journeys, and inspire a city that thrives on collaboration.And now, here’s The Spark.Welcome back to The Spark.I’m your host, Mark Scrivener, and today I am joined by Scott Brooks, the president of AAF Nashville, and also post-production supervisor for GS&F.Uh, Scott, it’s great to have you on the show.I’m excited because we haven’t ever met before.Well, actually, we have, but it was just recently.Mm-hmm.And, uh, after talking to you, I was like, God, I have to get him on the show, 1, to talk about your background and everything you’ve been through with GS&F, but also, uh, just being the president of AAF this year and, you know, everything you’ve poured into that organization over the last few years.So, uh, would love to get into it, so thanks for being a part of the show.It’s great to have you here.Thanks, Mark.Happy to be here.Yeah, man.Well, um, hey, maybe just take us back to 1999- Mm-hmmwhen you started with GS&F.There aren’t a lot of people that stick with companies as long as you have, and I’m really excited to, like, dig into your journey through that.Well, thank you.Um, yeah, it, it was my first job outside of graduation and, uh, the freelancing- Mm-hmmhere in Nashville.And, um, uh, luckily, I, I found the right place.Um, but yeah, I started in ’99, and, uh, was one of the 2 people that, uh, co-founded our interactive division.you know, the ’99, there weren’t a lot of websites.Mm-hmm.Uh, we worked on early Bridgestone and, um, Provence Breads was my first Addy win, um, uh, doing their website.Oh, wow.I miss them, by the way.Yeah.Um, but anyway, uh, yeah, I started doing, uh, websites, but I was also doing CD-ROMs and kiosks and things like that.And, um, yeah, I enjoyed it.Um, but you know, things kind of changed over time, but, uh, the internet was the Wild West back then.Yeah.And you could do all kinds of things.I mean, we were just talking about ki- an EPK that you all had done- Yeahyou know, uh, in Flash, you know?It was, it was just an interesting time, and it- Hmmwas very exciting to be on the front of it, kind of a pioneer.What, um, I mean, I guess, you know, what gave you the idea that interactive was worth building back then, and how’d you convince them that, hey, we wanna lean into this?Yeah.Well, uh, it was the novelty of it that drew me in.Uh, people weren’t, not a lot of people that I was even in school with were working on websites and doing animation and things like that, and it was design that moves, uh, motion design, early days.Mm-hmm.And I was really excited about that.I love graphic design, but being able to move that stuff around and make it, uh, enhance it, make it more interesting, uh, for people- Yeahand more compelling is what I really liked.And I was able to show my portfolio and, you know, they got excited about it.Uh, Roland Givens was the creative director at the time, uh, near and dear to my heart.dear friends.And yeah, he hired me.Uh, my interview lasted 25 minutes, and then I was hired.It just doesn’t happen like that.On the spot?On the spot.Yeah, he just went, uh, to talk to the CEO about price, came back and offered me the job and gave me a tour that day.It was, it was wonderful.The place believed in me.Yeah.And, uh, it, that moment built so much loyalty from me.Uh, I was there to do my very best for him, for Roland, and for the rest of the company.It was very important to me to, to earn my keep there- Yeah’cause I really appreciated that.It touched me.Man, I’ve, um, I’ve heard so many great things about Roland over the years and, uh, that’s a great story.Did he just say, “Hey, sit here for a minute.I’ll be right back,” and- Yeah, “I’ll go talk to Jeff”he came back with the offer?And came back with an offer.And it was, it was good.I liked that offer, and that was all I needed at the time.Yeah.Mm-hmm.In the ear- I guess before GS&F and going to school, I mean- Mm-hmmwhere w- Tell us how you got all those skills to be able to step in there and be that confident that, hey- Surethis is the direction we’re gonna go.Well, I, uh, went to school at Memphis College of Art.RIP Memphis College of Art, 2020 was its last year.It was over 100 years old there in Memphis in Overton Park.Uh, but I went to school there, and, uh, I was able to get an internship in New York.It was part of a group of schools, and I worked for Dennis Interactive, which did Maxim magazine and their website, and, uh, they also did Blender Magazine.I don’t know if you’re familiar ’cause it was way back when.But it was the first and last CD-ROM magazine, and it was a music magazine.And I got to do their last version of that magazine, and I got to do, uh, some weird, uh, Flash, uh, games and things on, um, Maxim’s website at the time.So I learned a lot of skills in that, uh, fall semester there, uh, with Dennis Interactive, and I was able to come back, and, you know, I felt really good about the work, and I was able to, bring that stuff to the table at GS&F, so we started off pretty strong.Yeah.Well, you, um, you know, interactive, nobody knew what that meant back in the day.Mm-hmm.And you kinda coined it at GS&F.Mm-hmm.So, you know, over that, you know, over the, let’s just say close to 30 years of being there- Mm-hmmdoing this, I know you’ve seen an evolution, and we talked a lot about, you know, Flash in the early days and- Mm-hmmSteve Jobs came out and killed that at 1 point.But there’s been a lot of different pivots that you all, or that Interactive has made- Mm-hmmand that ultimately you all had to make.talk us through some of those bigger pivots that you’ve seen in the interactive space.Sure.Uh, you know, what was most exciting, uh, to me about interactive work, new media, transmedia, it’s gone through so many changes- Mm-hmmuh, was the fact that, you know, there weren’t a lot of rules, and so we were kind of setting our own rules, putting stuff out there people hadn’t seen before.Uh, then, uh, Web 2.0 came around, all the style sheets, and everything started to get boxed in, and I felt it was confining.And to me, and I started looking into other things I can do with Flash- Mm-hmmand, and moving into, say, After Effects and animation and video.Every project was unique, and I, I actually enjoyed that a lot.Uh, with websites, it got to the point where you build the website and you’re just maintaining the website, and I found that really boring, to be honest.Yeah.I really need, uh, novelty, uh, new projects, new types of projects all the time, and the agency’s been great for that, but that’sThey allowed me to explore and transition more into the video space and animation space than web space.Yeah.For some of the younger folks that may be listening that may not know the early days of That Interactive, like, what were some of the first platforms that you were building sites out on- Mm-hmmyou know, in 1999?Gosh, uh, yeah, I was hand-coding HTML to start, and then we were using, um, you know, uh, Adobe had, um, what, Dreamweaver and things like that- Mmthat we were kind of doing, uh, some enhanced code in.I have no idea what people are using now.If you asked me to build a website, it would be very, very bad.I would tell you that.but yeah, we’ve seen, you know, all of these transitions where 2 of us were building websites.Uh, I was doing most of the, uh, the build-outs of the site, but all the back end was done by the, the guy who was big on programming, and then we grew to about 3 people and 5 people, and our dev division is huge now.Okay.You know, it shrunk a bit, uh, post-COVID as, as everybody had to go through those contractions, but I mean, we have a lot of devs.We have UX people.Uh, to start, you had to do, you had to be the art director, the UX person, and the programmer for the most part, and you can’t, can’t do that so much anymore.Yeah.It, it’s hard to do.The one, the one man, one woman band that can do it all.Mm-hmm.You know, I, I feel like I can be that on what I do now, uh, but, you know, I, I am uncomfortable behind a camera.Uh, but on the post side, you know, give me some footage and let’s talk through, you know, a storyboard and everything, and I can build something out pretty well.Yeah.But, uh, it is harder on the, side.And plus, you, now you have, uh, phones and tablets and all of that stuff, the responsive design and everything, uh, was becoming a thing just as I was transitioning out, and I’m kinda glad I did.That’s a lot.Yeah.There’s a bunch that goes into it, for sure.There is.Well, you know, just the agency world is not always the easiest.I mean, you have, you know, clients come and go.Mm-hmm.You’ve got people come and go, you know.I’m sure through the time you’ve been at GS&F, there had to have been a time where- Mm-hmmyou thought about leaving.And- And where the grass was greener?Yeah, maybe just what kept you there?Well, you know, um, I was looking, I think it was around 2004, 2005, just as things were kind of transitioning on the website of things.And, um, the, the types ofWe were primarily B2B at the time.Mm-hmm.And I was like, “You know, maybe a more consumer-focused agency would be for me.”There was, I can’t even remember their name, an agency out of Louisville who was doing all the YUM Foods websites and stuff, and they were doing funky things.And I was like, “Maybe I’ll, you know, check in with them.”And I got an offer, and I liked it, but you know, I, I guess I chickened out.I’m like, “I really wanna stay here in Nashville.”It’s hard to leave Nashville- Yeahuh, once you, uh, come here.and a lot of people who are moving in to work with us and things, they stay, you know?They think they’re gonna leave in a, a couple of years, but they stay around Nashville orbit because it’s such a comfortable place to go.And, uh, but yeah, I love Nashville, and I love, uh, staying with GS&F, and I’m at to the point where I’ve got, what, 4 years, uh, before I retire.In 2030’ll be my last year.I’ll, I’ll be- Okay62, and and I wanna stick around there and be, be a nice success story for them, and it be one for me.And yeah, we’re gonna, uh, liquidate all of our assets and move to Greece.Really?That’s it.Some- That’s, you’ve already got it all planned out.Yeah, we gotWell, at least the, the basic plans.But yeah.Um, there’s a company called International Living, and um, you can get on their site and become a member, and they, it gives you access to all kinds of stats and info on every city in every country in the world, and you can kind of see what the cost of living and everything is.And um, it’s a great easy-to-live-in space.And uh, my wife and I love to travel so much that it’d be a great home base to be able to travel the rest of Europe without having to plan and pay for flights and all the hotels and things like that.So, uh, sorry to go on a tangent there.No, no, no.But, uh- I think a lot of people are-but that’s the plan.We’re excited about ita lot of people are envious and living through you on this one, so like that’s amazing, and Greece would not be a bad place to go.Nah, we’ve, uh, we’ve been there before.We fell in love with it, fell in love with the people.They’re very giving, very, patient, uh, which, you know, we’re gonna learn Greek as best we can before we go.If you’re gonna go and live there, you should do your due diligence, and I hope that they’re very patient with me and my, my bad Greek, but we’ll get better at it.Yeah.But yeah, we’re looking forward to it.That’s awesome.Well, over the years, I mean, you’ve kinda turned into somewhat of a unicorn in that, uh, you know, interactive is now video- Mm-hmmand content and still web and digital and- Mm-hmmeverything’s coming together.But you know, just going back to the video, which is really how we were founded is a video company.Mm-hmm.You know, you’ve directed some independent short films- Mm-hmmout there, and you’ve done, you know, served as a VFX supervisor, you know.What, what, um, like where is your passion lie with just in this interactive space today?It’s all about storytelling.Yeah.Um, and I don’t really see a, a line between, uh, work in-house and, you know, uh, working on a friend’s short film and things like that.You know, it’s just working with narrative and, you know, kind of visual problem-solving.It’s fun, and it teaches you a lot.Uh, the first, uh, major film I worked on with a friend of mine, I had to do so much motion tracking and things like that, and I was okay with it, but I was great when I was done because, you know, there was a lot of scenes where this, uh, mad scientist was, he’s, he, he’s creating a Frankenstein of sorts.And, uh, he had all these computer monitors with all this stuff on ’em, and you know, and all that, all that work, you know, kind of refined my skills a bit, so I was happy to have that.Um, I did the 48 Hour Film Festival with some friends from work, uh, years ago in, uh, around, around 2014, and we were able to get a whole lot done and have a really polished piece considering you’re doing it in 48 hours because we had to work so hard on pitch videos in the agency space.Okay.When you’re turning things around over a weekend, I was like, “Let’s try this.”Mm-hmm.And it was fun.We got Audience Favorite.Yeah.Yeah.It was a good time.That’s amazing.Yeah.But yeah, it’s all fun.Well, you know, you, uh, you know GS&F, one of the big agencies in town.Mm-hmm.Very highly respected.There’s probably a lot of agencies that, uh, reach out to you from a video standpoint, web, “Hey, Scott, I’d love to work with you.”Yeah.Like, and I know you’ve partnered, collaborated with other agencies in the past.And maybe it’d be good for the audience to hear, like- Mm-hmmhow did you select those partners?Who were some of the best partners that you’ve had along the way?N- maybe not names- Mm-hmmbut just what, what did they do that maybe others didn’t do?Yeah.The, uh, well, the production houses that we partner with, uh, are invaluable You know, um, our videographer and myself, we can only do so much.Mm-hmm.And especially if the project is really big, and if it has good money behind it, yes, we’re gonna definitely work with a production house.But I mean, we love Gear 7.We’re big fans- Okayof Gear and all of their components.They’re- Mm-hmmyou know, they’re multifaceted.Uh, we’ve, we’ve, uh, used them on big Bridgestone videos where they have to have a crane car and all of that.And it’s like there’s no way we could pull that stuff off.So I think our production partners are invaluable.Um, so yeah.Um, and it’s not just Gear 7.Um, we had a huge project at, uh, View Studios for a client- Okayseveral years back, uh, using the volume and being able to use those big volumes, and it’s kind of a game changer as to, uh, how, how great your production value can look.Mm-hmm.Yeah.But yeah, that was fun, and it was a projectUh, we hadn’t used one before, so, uh, the business is still novel for me, uh, on a yearly basis.I, I have never been bored.Like I say, around 2004, 2005 when I started looking, I thought I was bored, but it was on me to find, you know, the, uh, new avenues within my agency to grow.Yeah.And they’ve always encouraged that, so I’m happy I’ve stayed there for that reason.Well, you’ve mentioned Gear 7.They’re great- Mm-hmmto work with.We’ve done some work with them in the past too.But, uh, you know, when, when you pick a partner- Mm-hmmlike what is, what are the most important things?Well, definitely a spirit of collaboration.I think we’re all looking for that.Whether we’re bringing in someone, we’re hiring someone, or we’re looking to partner with somebody, they need to have that spirit of collaboration.We don’t want them to do everything on their own.They need to be good listeners- Mm-hmmum, so they can understand the vision.Uh, they need to be smart enough to like figure out the, the crazy briefs that we put in front of them.Um, you know, but mainly it, it’s all about being collaborative, you know, and that willingness to kind of like work with us and figure things out.Uh, you know, we’ve, we’ve got scripts, and we have a plan, but we also wanna play a little bit too.Mm-hmm.And, and that spirit of play I think is important in this business.Like hey, we’ve got ideas, but bring in your ideas- Mm-hmmtoo, and let’s mold them together.Absolutely.Yeah.Yeah.Well, um, you know, I guess now that you’ve, you know, you’ve been doing this for a while, you’re leading people- Mm-hmmyou know, how do you balance that from the business side of the business to also not lose that creative edge that you’ve had all along the way?Mm-hmm.Um, well, I, think I have probably held myself back, uh, from any kind of executive level in my agency because I don’t want to let go of the craft of it.Uh, and I think that, um, you know, being hands-on is important for me, and I have no regrets.Um, but I think making sure that w- uh, I am getting in there and, you know, being a part of a collaborative effort, uh, it, it is definitely fulfilling for me.Yeah.So more staying towards the creative side than ever like leaning into the executive side of like managing, you know, people, the, the whole agency, you know, all of that.Right.Uh, I try to lead, um, more by, you know, by action than anything else.Uh, and I love mentorship.Uh, that means a lot to me, and I think that that’s what’s drawn me to AAF as well.I wanna be able to knowledge share, and I, I want to be able to help guide young people.And, uh, and, and I’ve found that that’s very fulfilling on the AAF side of things, and I do that at work as well.You know, we, umLike most agencies, we hire people, a lot of them right out of school, if we’re not hiring in, you know, larger top-tier positions.And being able to help, you know, help them learn, uh, with what I’ve learned over the years is very fulfilling- Yeahyou know, help, uh, help them grow.But I tell you, it’s the younger students right out of school who come in with the craziest ideas.Mm-hmm.They don’t know any better.I didn’t when I got- Mm-hmmout of school.And I love collaborating with every level of, uh, creative talent in the agency.Yeah.Man, that’s so great to hear.Mm-hmm.And I mean, you leaned in a little bit to the AAF- Mm-hmmand you’ve been in it for years.You’ve done, you know, you’ve been the, uh, Director of Student Engagement all the way to now President.Mm-hmm.And, you know, you and I met at a dinner, and I was like, “God, I gotta get to know Scott a little better.”Mm-hmm.Uh, at that, after that dinner just because, you know, you were so engaged.I loved hearing, you know, the stuff you were sharing, but you helped pull that dinner together with about 14 agency owners that I don’t know how you did it.Like, I don’t know how you pulled this room together.Mm-hmm.I was honored to be in the room with some other amazing, you know, CEOs and agency folks and, um, but, you know, becoming that president, doing that- Mm-hmmlike, what, why has that been important to, like, pull people together?Well, I, I think, you know, the AAF used to be a different thing.When I first started in the late ’90s, early 2000s, you’d go to the ADDYs, and it would be full of people, and they were black tie, and it was a thing.Mm-hmm.But at the same time, you’d, you’d have, uh, rowdy people from Bohan shouting across the room, uh, at people from Buntin, and that friendly rivalry was all over the place.It got a little wild, to be honest.Yeah.And one of those people was probably Greg, and more power to him because it, it was exciting.And, and, uh, I think certainly post-COVID, uh, we, we lost members across the United States.Being president, I am, uh, part of a council of presidents, and, uh, we meet every month, and I get to kind of hear, uh, the status of, uh, AAF as a whole, and we’re all healing now.But we went through a big transition, and, uh, uh, even, like, uh, ADDY, uh, memberships and, uh, the amount of people who, uh, who were participating in the awards was starting to dwindle, and we’re all starting to grow back now.Uh, but part of growth, and that’s the reason I kind of stepped in, is it needs to happen here, and we needed to get these agency leaders together for the first of what I hope is many dinners at where we can all talk and, uh, see that it’s, it’s all common space and, uh, you know, we’re, we’re all part of this big tapestry that is the creative community here in, uh, Nashville.Yeah.And, and I think we’re going to continue.I mean, uh, we’ve, we’ve set up this what, uh, what, it, what is it?Snapchat?No.Mm-hmm.It’s, uh, what is the, uh- Oh, goshthe thing we’re talking on?The, uh- It’s the first time I’ve ever used it.Yeah, I, umYou know what?I haven’t even signed up yet.WhatsApp.That’s it.Yeah, we’ve, we’ve set up a WhatsApp where all the, the, the leaders can speak to one another, and I hope we can grow that a little bit.Yeah.I’ve got, uh, friends at The Mayor who weren’t able to come, and we’ll see if we can bring them in as well.But I wanna grow AAF and the community certainly before I leave it- Yeahwhich is, you know, several years from now.Uh, but I wanna grow it so I can leave things better than I found them.I’m an Eagle Scout, for what that’s worth, and that’s just one of the, the things that stuck with me going through Scouts is to be able to leave things better than you found them.Yeah.I hope that I leave GS&F better than I found it, and I hope that, uh, AAF can grow to where you all are talking without that necessity of, you know, uh, a central space.You know, I’d love to see, uh, agencies collaborate withI’m good friends with Michael Hutsell.He, uh, I’m very proud of him.Uh, he worked at GS&F and then started his own business af- you know, left GS&F to do that.Mm-hmm.And, uh, Fox Fuel’s doing really well, and, um, you know, he and I were speaking about that.Uh, it’d be a wonderful thing to see more agencies say, “Hey, wait a second.This is an area where we’re weak, and we know, say, Fox Fuel does this very well.Let’s talk to Michael and see if they’d be interested in collaborating.”Some crazy RFP comes in.You can strengthen your odds of winning that business- Totallyif you can say that you are, you know, at your best at all of these levels because you’ve got these partnerships that you’ve already discussed, so I hope to see that.Man, that, uh, that thinking of abundance is what I’ve really appreciated about you.And, you know, just in that group is that every agency goes through basically the exact same problems.It’s not like anybody’s unique, and everybody’s been through it.It’s true.And if they just open up a little bit to share with each other, they almost feel as though, “Man, I’m not a failure in this.”Like, hey, everybody has dealt with this at 1 point in time.And, uh, you know, that’s what I’ve appreciated about having, like, David Bohan on the show.Mm-hmm.And he’s shared things that, you know, it’s like, oh, man, just, you know, the ups and downs of his agency along the way.And hopefully we’ll get Greg on here too to, you know, share about his experience of growing up in the agency world and ultimately le- leading, you know, GS&F.But it’s those stories that help everybody, like, grow, and I just, I mean, it’s the whole reason that we started this.I just love meeting other creatives in town and- Mm-hmmbecoming friends, and, you know, it’s like a rising tide raises all ships.Agreed.And if everybody Manages from that philosophy, God, the amount of winning we could do would be extraordinary.Mm-hmm.And I appreciate you leading that charge with AAF Nashville and everything you’re doing in the community, so thank you.But, and you know, it’s kinda interesting though that you in the agency, you know, “Hey, I love the creative.I’m not sure that I wanna take on this big, big role of- Mm-hmmyou know, managing the agency.”But you have no problem stepping into AAF, which is a big agency, managing a bunch of different people you don’t know- Yeahas well, and having to lead it.Yeah, it’s, it’s kind of wild that I have this e- extra side, this extra facet- Mm-hmmum, that I didn’t know, uh, that I needed to have.But i- there’s a fulfilling quality to being able to come in and try to, you know, get more people involved in AAF and get better speakers and better, uh, events that more of the creative community would want to join.And, uh, I think we’re on the, on the cusp of getting more of that.We had a really great event at Gear7, uh, last year, where it was, uh, it was more of a live case study.So, Alex Goulart from Firekite, he was there.Mm-hmm.And he had built the project, uh, with Gear7, and we met in their studios, and they were able to talk about it.They got the, uh, client, who I think is in Canada, uh, they got him on the screen to talk a bit about it, and then they showed it, and then they talked about behind the scenes and all the things they had to do to make this spot happen.And it was really great, and we had a, uh, really high viewership.A lot of people came, and the networking was natural.Networking events just make me shrivel.Uh, just the fact that a- all I’m gonna do is go and walk around and-and, you know, have a beer and- Mm-hmmtry to find people to talk to.I get real uncomfortable.I’m an, uh, introverted extrovert or- Yeahextroverted introvert.Ambivert, I guess they call them.But I need to ha- I need to have a role in things, or I need to be, uh, in a situation like that where we’re all learning together.I m- I get excited about that.But yeah, just walking around and finding someone to talk to, I just feel like something’s missing, and what’s missing is, is the meat of, you know, the event.Uh, so we’re gonna do more of that.Um, Michael Carpenter, uh, out of, um, Memphis, his company, um, did the, um, the design, everything, um, for Hattie B’s.Uh, they did all the branding, the interiors, everything for Hattie B’s.He’s gonna come and speak, I believe, in September.We’re working on that.Uh, but I’m, I’m very excited to get, get him in, and we’ll do more things like that where we can have people talk about things we’re more interested in.Yeah.You know?So we’ll see where it goes.And I, I know that you just, um, you just recruited our newly appointed president of the agency, Josh Moquin, to, uh, be on the, uh, AAF board, and I think he’s gonna be, uh, helping out with the awards show, which is, uh- Yeahawesome, and he’s excited about it, so, you know, thanks for getting him involved.Thanks for getting us involved and, um- Yeahyou know, that’s a coup to you on the leadership of recruiting other people into this, you know, into this community.Well, I’m excited that you all are interested ’cause I, you know, part of that growth of, uh, AAF is getting people from other agencies on the board.And, you know, the more people from other agencies we can get, the more they’re gonna speak to people from other agencies to get them involved in membership.That’s what I hope will happen.And, um, we’re gonna have a full board this year.Um, we were missing a couple of key members and, uh, last year, and I had to spend a lot of time filling in those gaps.What I really wanna be able to do is sit and, have coffee with people from other agencies who are not yet a part of it and just discuss, “What has held you back?Uh, what would bring you in?”And start adopting those things and get people in so when I’m gone, they’re the ones talking it up.You know?And it’ll just keep growing.Well, let’s stick with that for just one second.And, uh, let me ask you, like, in, you know, when, right before you leave AAF-like, what is itLike, what does success look like in your eyes?Gosh, success would be we’ve, you know, say we’ve grown by another 30 to 50%.We’ve got a whole lot more membership from agencies who weren’t a part of it when I stepped in.And, um, yeah, that’d be the main piece of success, and that we have a really great, uh, roster of programs.Our, our events calendar is solid and compelling.Yeah.That would make me very happy.Hmm.Well, when you, umI guess you talk to a lot of students.You’ve been involved.Mm-hmm.I love hearing you love growing, you know- Mm-hmmnew, new folks that are getting into this industry.Like, what do you, what do you think are the most important characteristics of somebody coming out of college today that you go, “I can mold this person”?Yeah.They, uh, they, obviously they have to have, uh, you know, good work, but of course they would.Um, they have to have really great work.They have to ha- be, uh, willing to understand that they don’t know everything, uh, and know that, um, you know, there’s still a lot to learn, and be excited about that, you know?And when I was in college, I was just a sponge.I was really excited.Mm-hmm.Every course I took, I was learning new things.Every project that, uh, that came in front of me, um, you know, was a challenge, and I love that.I love to see that in a student, and them be able to talk about the challenges when we’re looking at the work.Yes, it looks great.What were your challenges, and how did you overcome them?What did you learn, you know?What do you think, uh, you could’ve done better?Hearing them just speak about the work, uh, you learn aBut yeah, that willingness to just jump in and know that there’s a ton of things that you still gotta learn, uh, but not be, you know, not be worried about that.We have, let’s say fearlessness would be the key.Yeah.We have a lot of fearless young people coming right out of school who are just ready to go, uh, more than there used to be, you know?That- Mm-hmm.I, I, I think that schools, the programs are really great now.Um, when I was in school forever ago, um, we were doing one-off projects.This is the project.You gotta do the wine label.This guy needs a new- Mm-hmmnew wine label.Now, you know, the, students are doing full campaigns, and there’s a whole lot more that they’re putting into it, and it’s just very robust.Um, I’m surprised, and, and it makes sense, you know, but they’re able to think on a much broader level about the work than I was able to, because I wasn’t given those type of projects.Um, MTSU, uh, just had a, the last event we had at GSNF’s, uh, Cummins Station space.We’re moving, by the way, if you didn’t know.We can talk about that in a second.That’s the one now.Yeah, that’s a great, um, s- yeah.Yeah.Uh, but the last, uh, we had there, uh, in our space was MTSU’s portfolio review at our space, and the work was all campaign based.It was amazing.Every student- Okayum, and it was more than just one type of campaign.It was a, it was a lot of different work.It was a rich body of work.And, you know, if we’d had the space, I’d have been, uh, raising my hand and going to Greg and saying, “There’s a four, three or 4 students we really need to get in and talk to.”But, you know, right now we didn’t have the space, uh, because, because we’re moving.Um, we’re gonna be in, uh, 5 City uh, Charlotte here.Okay.And August 1st is when we open our doors.So we’ve been through about 2 months, uh, of an in between.Everybody’s working from home.Yeah.How, how involved are you with the, like, design of the new space?’Cause you guys had a super cool space in- Oh, well, well th-Cummins Station.Thank you.Uh, well, uh, in the old space, uh, the, the last piece we built out was our studio, and I got to be fully involved with that- Okayand pick the color palettes and things, and it was really fun.Mm-hmm.Um, I have been, um, collaborating with, uh, with Greg and his wife Brooke, who does, uh, interiors and a lot of- Okaydifferent things, uh, with Honor.Um, I’ve been collaborating with them on the color palette and what these different rooms might be, ’cause it’s a different kind of space.Um, the last space was too big and too small for us post-COVID.It wasn’t, it didn’t fit right.It was like, uh, an old jacket that you love, but just doesn’t f- feel comfortable anymore.It just doesn’t fit like it used to.Uh, so the new space, uh, is gonna be very new and, uh, a lot of open areas.People can just run off and collab in.Um, for the most part we’ll be all working in a central area, and then we can just run off and, and break out as necessary to do things.And there’s a whole other floor of our space, uh, that is like a common area, um, that has a big old patio and stuff- Wowand our WiFi reaches.It’ll be interesting.And that One City area, um, have you been out there- Mm-hmmand seen Sandbar- Yeahwhere people are out there just playing beach volleyball- Yeah, mm-hmmout the window.It’s a great area.Yeah, it’s a beautiful area, so I’m excited about it.The possibilities are really, really neat.So yeah, we’re gonna be there probably about 3 years before we figure out what kind of space we wanna buy.We’re in a transitional phase.It’s very exciting, but- Yeahyou know, we don’t wanna commit to anything, ’cause how are we gonna work in 3 or 4 years?We don’t know yet.So I like the fact that leadership was smart enough to find us a great space that feels new, and it’s full of energy, lots of options as to where and how you wanna work, uh, and you know, until we can figure out what we wanna do in that next phase.But you are not locked in there for so long that, uh, and you can’t evolve into what’s next for GS&F.Yeah, we ca- we have a lease that we can easily walk from, uh, if the right thing presents itself.Yeah.Hmm.So it was smart.They did a lot of work.They, they worked for about a year on finding us just the right place is gonna fit right.And they, and we can make it what we want.Yeah.So I’m excited.Now, are you guys gonna have a, uh, open house for the community or agency community?I’m gonna push for it.Yeah.Yeah.I wanna push for it, uh, ’cause I think it, it’s a neat space, neat area, so I’ll see what we can do.I’d, I’d would love to at least start with, uh, the AAF Agency Crawl ’cause I think the students, it’s gonna be a very different space than they’ve seen elsewhere.Certainly very different than the old GS&F, which I love, but you know, 13 years is a long time.Yeah.Things don’t feel the same after that much time if you don’t have the, you know, the, the reasons to change them out.And we weighed all those options.Uh, you know, we could have stayed and, and made it different, but it wasn’t the right use of our money, I don’t think.Mm-hmm.Well, Cummins Station’s a great place to, uh, have a space.Mm-hmm.In fact, I mean, you know, I’ve had a lot of history over in Cummins Station from running, um, an agency over there called CJ Advertising up on the 5th floor- I remember CJ.Yeahuh, for a long, long time, uh, there helping Arnie grow it from- Mm-hmmyou know, 20 people to I think we ended up with about 85 when I left to launch Snapshot.Mm-hmm.And then we ultimately moved back over to Cummins Station to be on the 5th floor, and that’s where we launched, uh, well, we launched it over in East Nashville, but- Mm-hmmwe went back over there a couple years after we had outgrown the little bitty space we launched in over here.Mm-hmm.And then, you know, ultimately came back to East Nashville to, uh, you know, where we’re at today, so.But we spent five and a half years, and it was amazing and inspiring- Mm-hmmto see you all move in there.And I think you were down the hall from, like, Revive Health too, and- Yeahum, so a lot of agency community in that building.Yeah, and then there was a tattoo parlor down the- Mm-hmmhall as well.It was an interesting time in 2013 when we moved there.Uh, we had, you had Cinco de Mayo.Mm-hmm.RIP Cinco de Mayo.When they left, we had to go.Yeah.You know, everybody just had to go.You gotta have your Mexican joint.But, uh, yeah, we had, what was it, Black 13 or whatever.And it always smelled like hot apple pie pass Black 13.They did, uh, some of the best tattoos in the city I hear.Yeah.Many of our people went down there and got, uh, tattoos on their lunch breaks and stuff.Yeah.It was fun.So I mean, you know, it’ll become something else, Cummins Station will.Uh, you know, I’m, part of me’s sad to leave it, but, uh, that’s a transitional space it’s, as well.Mm-hmm.I mean, so many things have come and gone in, in the small time we were there.Um, so we’ll see what happens with it, you know?Yeah.Well, you know, you’ve worked with some great leaders along the way, Roland, you know, Jeff- Mm-hmmuh, you know, now Greg, um, so you’ve seen a lot of, like, leadership over there.And you know, one thing I’ll tell you, real quick story is- Mm-hmmthat, uh, 2 stories about, uh, Jeff.Mm-hmm.Um, you know, once when I was at CJ, um, you know, um, you all may have had a bigger client that, uh, may have cut back a little bit.And, uh, I was so impressed ’cause we were interviewing for, like, some positions that we were looking for.Mm-hmm.And Jeff personally called me up, and he said, “Hey, Mark, like, this just happened.Like, I wanna tell you who, like, the, we’ve got great folks.”Mm-hmm.”Here’s some people.If I can give you any background on them, I really want all my people to find a place, a great place to work.”And, you know, and that’s the agency world.It’s unfortunate- Mmbut sometimes that happens.And I get it, but I was so impressed that the actual CEO would reach out, not knowing me- Mmbut to say that.And then, you know, a few years later, you know, as we launched Snapshot and we were looking for new business, we got introduced to somebody on, uh, like, one of your biggest clients over there, and- Mm-hmmthey said, “Hey, let me introduce you to Jeff, and let’s all go grab lunch because you may be able to do some work together at some point.”And, uh, he came and, um, met us for lunch, uh, with, uh, I think it was, may have been, you know, one of the COO or CEO of- MmLP Building Products.Mm-hmm.And, um, and it was like, man, I’m thankful to be able to get this introduction.And so, uh, but he was just very, very great guy and very gracious, and walked away from that.And know your experience with Roland- Mm-hmmthat you shared, and now Greg.You’ve been with Greg for a while now as he’s taken over the leadership of the agency.Yeah.And everybody speaks so highly of him, that we’ve had on the show in the past.So, you know, just you’ve seen a lot.I guess, um, uh, the question would be, like, you know, what, what have you taken from each one of them that’s really shaped who you are?Yeah, there’s, you know, Roland, uh, Kerry Oliver was, uh, between Roland and Greg, and he was wonderful.He was a mentor as well.I’ve, I’ve been very lucky to have nothing but great mentorship from our creative directors.And, uh, when Greg came in in 2011, um, I heard him before I saw him.He was down the hall getting some art directors really fired up about some work.I’m like, “What is going on?”Go down there and meet him.He’s just, he was so full of energy, and, um, it was just, he was the right person at the right time.He got everybody, like, you know, really hyper-focused on the type of great work that the agency is continuing to do.Mm-hmm.Um, but yeah, he’s, he’s been a great friend.Uh, you know, I’ve, I’ve been there a very long time, and, um, I’m of the age where I ha- have now lost both of my parents while working y- at GS&F, and he’s, he’s the first person to always come in and check on me and ask me- Wow”What do you need?”Uh, he’s a, he’s a dear friend along with being a great leader and mentor and, and, uh, partner.We s- we still work on some pitch videos, you know, directly together.Yeah.And, uh, because we just kind of know each other, we can riff off one another and, and get these things built very quickly.And I don’t know, it’s nice.He, he’s a great partner and great friend, and he’s always been there for me, and the least I can do is, is the same for him.Yeah.Well, we’ve had, uh, Chuck Creasy on the show, too, and- Mm-hmmyou know, when, uh, Chuck talked about some of the most creative people he ever worked with, you know, he mentioned Greg, too, and- Yeahum, so, you know, I, it’s great to hear- Yeahuh, all this.And I guess, you know, as we start to kinda wind down the episode- Mm-hmmis there anything, uh, and I know you wanna share some creative inspiration, but is there anything maybe that I didn’t ask you that you wanna share about GS&F or about, uh, AAF?Um, well, Nashville in general.I’m, I am lucky that my parents moved here in, uh, the early ’80s, and, uh, you know, I finished up school and things here.And, um, I don’t know.I, I fell in love with the city.I’m gonna miss it when we move, uh, in a few years.But, uh, this has been the greatest place for me to kind of grow and find myself and find my path.Um, and GS&F has been also a great place to help me find my path.Mm-hmm.’Cause I started building websites, and I’d, you know, I couldn’t build a website today, for sure.But, uh, they let me find these new areas, uh, you know, creative areas to explore.And, uh, and I am still a valuable member there, and, and I appreciate them for that, giving me that space and grace to constantly kind of evolve and shift and find what makes me happy while still making our clients happy and make good work for them.Yeah.Well, you shouted out to, uh, Michael Hutsle, too, and Huts is- Mm-hmmI think one of the more creative folks in town.Now that I know you, like, I can’t imagine that collaboration if you guys just did a fun project together, what you 2 might come up with.Well, yeah, uh, Michael, um, he and I had coffee, gosh, back in the winter.Yeah.And, um, we were just talking.And, you know, I mentioned the fact that, uh, you know, we need an agency to do, uh, AAF’s, uh, c- new campaign for the awards, ’cause it’s always a big thing.And he totally raised his hand, so, uh, Fox Fuel’s gonna be doing- Oh, manthat campaign.So we’ll startYou know, it’s a lot of work, and I let him know as much.He knows, though.Yeah.Uh, but yeah, it’s a lot of work ’cause it’s gonna be a lot of social, and then they’ve gotta do the, uh, the winners books, and we want those books the day of, so when you come to the event, you’re walking out with those things, ’cause that’s, that’s the way it used to be.And we’ve changed it, and, uh, last year, last 2 years, uh, we’ve been able to have those winners books on hand as people are leaving, uh, the building.So he knows all that, and I’m excited to see the, the work that they’re gonna do.He, he really wants to do something cool.Yeah.And I’m like, “I’ll stand out of your way.Let’s just see what you do.”That’s awesome.Yeah.God, I can’t imagine what it’s gonna be like, and we’re excited to be a part of it, too- Oh, it’s gonna be greatuh, in a little way.So- Yeahyeah.Well, um, you know, I know you brought some inspirational things that, uh, you know, really get you fired up.And- YeahI don’t wanna miss the opportunity to learn a little bit more, especially if it can touch a student that might wanna lean into some of this thoughts too.S- sure.It, it, it’s a mixed bag of stuff.Um, but I will show you.These are a, a bunch of books.I, I still buyYeahbut, uh, a lot of books, uh, that have had, um, either the books or the subjects within the books have meant a lot to me as I’ve grown up and, uh, and found my way.Uh, one of the first, and since this is at the top, this is theIs this where I show it?Yeah.This is the official Bat book.Um, the first television show I remember watching, and I was 3 years old, was Batman.The colors and the music and the action, everything just really, uh, got me excited.And, uh, and yeah, I literally remember the episode and everything.But, uh, this book covers every single episode.You get to find, uh, out every holy word that, uh, Robin ever said, uh, all the ridiculous things.Yeah.But anyway, uh, this is just the graphic look and the punch of Batman.To this day, I still love the TV show, uh, just because it was so fun and it really touched me, touched something- Yeahwhen I was a kid.Like I say, I was 3 years old, and I, I remember.Inspired you.Yeah, it was really fun.Yeah.Um, and then this is the, uh, the Dada Almanac.Um, the, I was a art history minor in school.I’m going back to get my, uh, master’s after I’m done with, um, with AAF.Um, because we’re moving to Greece, I want to be able to, uh, go and visit ancient ruins and- Oh, wowbe able to tell my wife, “This is why this temple’s facing east,” things like that.Um, but, uh, I was a art history minor in college and the, the Dadaists were, you know, they were the punk rockers of the art world back in the day.They wereIt was friendly anarchy, and I kind of take that spirit into my work every day.Uh, it’s like, “Okay, we, you want this, but then I think we can go veer off a little bit more, do, do this and see what happens.”So yeah, the, the Dada Almanac is important to me.Um, this one’s a fun one.Uh, this was a gift.Uh, I went to 3 years of junior college, Falls State, and, uh, my instructors at Falls State were top tier, as good as anyone I, uh, I had to learn from in art school.Um, but, uh, one of my instructors, her name was Claire Hampton, she, she read this book, uh, while we were drawing and painting, and, uh, I learned a lot.And the book is really excellent.It draws parallels between, uh, physics and, uh, science and the art world.At the time, um, Albert Einstein was, um, working on the theory of relativity.Uh, Pablo Picasso was discovering cubism, which with quantum physics you’re talking about parallel realities- Mm-hmmand, and fragmenting time, and it was happening in concurrence, and they were not speaking to one another.It’s just interesting how these things, and there’s many parallels, it’s so crazy, uh, how these things are happening right above us, and it’s certain people, you know, the, the elevated minds are just grabbing that stuff out of the ether and, and forging new paths and, and we’re learning new things at the same time, both in the art world and in the s- uh, world of science.Wow.So anyway- Well, Scott, I know we’re doing, uh, this on video and audio, but for- Mm-hmmthe folks that are listening- Mm-hmmyou know, we’re gonna drop all this into the show notes too, just so they can go, uh, check out some of these, uh, some of these books too.Oh, yeah.That’d be great.That’d be absolutely great.I’ll, I’ll be sure to, uh, get you links if you need them.Yeah.This one, Dr. Seuss, uh, obviously, uh, you know, that stuff as a, as a child, his drawings just blew my mind.And just the, the crazy wordplay, you know?In advertising, it’s all about the words and the images working together, and he was doing it all on his own.This was the first book he wrote, um, McElligot’s Pool, and, um, it’s very different from everything else.Um, I’ll show you, and I’ll be sure to show the camera here.He did it all in watercolor, and- Wowuh, it all, it became cost-prohibitive after he did this one book and they published it.The publishers are like, “We’re not making any money,” because the color plates are so complex.Um, so that’s why he has that beautiful limited palette after this book.Um- Wowyou know, it’s all reds, yellows, a lot of primaries and stuff.But in this, he was literally doing watercolors.And, um, we were in New Orleans, and there is a Dr. Seuss gallery there, and they had a big spread from McElligot’s Pool.Wow.It was huge.I’m like, oh, my gosh.I had no idea the artwork was so large.Uh, but it was beautiful to see that in person.But yeah, Dr. Seuss has always inspired me.Um, like I say, the, the words and, uh, the images together.When I was little, of course, you, The Grinch every year was something you looked forward to.But yeah, um, love Dr. Seuss.I won’t take up too much more of our time.Uh, this is, um, just the history of Raygun Magazine.David Carson was the man.Certainly when I was in college, uh, the fact that, you know, he would start his magazines and, uh, just throw all kinds of craziness on the page, you know.As far as magazines were concerned, even the layout of this book, uh- Yeahis justI have it upside down and it doesn’t matter.It’s David Carson.I can- WowI can hold it up upside down.But, uh, yeah, the way he would just, uh, ravage the page of his magazine spreads just blew my mind.There was one, um, one interview that was on, I think it was on the Cocteau twins, and he just used Wing Dings and Dingbats, uh, when he pasted the type in.You couldn’t even read the article.Somebody spent good time working on that article.But yeah, and it, but it was a beautiful piece of art.It’s just odd- Wowthe things he would do.And, uh, one last book.I hope this is entertaining for folks.Uh, but this is a book on Syd Mead.He was a total futurist.Uh, all of the, the look and feel of Blade Runner, the cars, he designed the cars in Blade Runner.He designed the cars in Tron.All kinds of things.Uh, Syd Mead’s one of the most interesting people, uh, in motion pictures.The things that he came up with, um, are just, just gorgeous.Wow, Scott.I think he even had to do, uhYeah, the, there was a Mission Impossible, uh, I think it was Mission Impossible III.Uh, they showed a machine that was, uh, making the 3D masks.He designed that machine.He just figured that out.Anyway, that stuff just blows my mind.Well, thanks for sharing.Yeah.I mean, that’s your inspiration, and- Mm-hmmyou know, it’s clear you are so creative, so passionate, and, uh, passionate about the Nashville community.We appreciate you, and appreciate you joining the show today- Yeahand all you’re doing for the community.Um, you know, thank you, and thanks for being a part of the show.Well, thank you, Mark.I appreciate you all thinking I’m, I’m worth having on here.Uh, I love this city.I love this community.If, uh, if, you know, if our conversation helps anybody or sparks questions, uh, that’s great.And, you know, if, ifFeel free to share my email address.Anyone who’s interested in talking to me further about anything I came up with, I’m happy to discuss it.Will do.Well, yeah, thank you.And thank you all for joining us today.We appreciate you coming in week in and week out.Uh, please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the show, just so we can get it out to more people.We’ll see you next week on The Spark.And that’s a wrap on this episode of The Spark from Creative Assembly.Thanks for spending time with us and exploring the minds shaping Nashville’s creative future.If you’re walking away more inspired, connected, or energized, that’s exactly the point.A big thank you to our sponsor, Snapshot, and the incredible team behind the scenes who make this show possible.Your support fuels every conversation and keeps collaboration alive.So if you haven’t already, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review.Thanks again for tuning in.Until next time, stay creative, stay curious, and keep that spark.