By Kelsi Peace, Managing Editor
This year has been a year of firsts for alumnus Randy Brewer, (’93). In 2007, his work as a producer earned him the longest No. 1 running video in Country Music Television history and the first country music video nominated for an MTV Music Video Award, to name just a few firsts.
“It is really neat to have those opportunities and to be blessed with that kind of recognition,” Brewer said. “For me, you do that, you win an award and it’s exciting. And then it’s like, ‘What can we do next? What’s something else we can conquer?'”
Brewer knows about taking the next step -since graduating from ACU, he worked in Los Angeles on commercial projects and produced videos at a company in Nashville, Tenn., before founding his own production company, Revolution Pictures, in 1997.
“It kind of just happened,” Brewer said. “It was a God thing. I can dream bigger, having my own company. I don’t have any walls from somebody saying, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ It’s definitely more exciting; you have more freedom.”
Brewer’s Nashville-based company has garnered 18 Telly Awards, five Emmys, two Billboard Magazine Awards, a Dove Award, a BDA Gold Award and MTV’s Indie Music Video of the Year.
Brewer has worked with Kelly Clarkson, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood and Mat Kearney, who premiered Brewer’s video on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.
“Working with the American Idols, that was really cool for me,” Brewer said.
Before adding Clarkson and Underwood as his clients, Brewer said he aimed to shoot videos for Christian artists Michael W. Smith or Steven Curtis Chapman. He still hasn’t, but a transition into the country music arena found him working with Underwood, first on “Jesus Take the Wheel,” and more recently on “Before He Cheats,” which is now up for Video of the Year and a CMA award. The video also earned Revolution Pictures an MTV music video award nomination, which Brewer said he is most excited about.
Brewer said the video he recently shot for Kelly Clarkson was an effects video, which took two months to produce – far longer than usual. A typical video at Revolution Pictures takes two to three weeks, Brewer said, and in August and September, the company turned out 22 videos.
With the CMAs slated for next week, Brewer is already looking to other horizons. He said he is working to develop his commercial division, which presents a different challenge and a larger budget. Brewer also said he is looking at opportunities in reality TV, and after about 10 years with his company, he can finally dictate the videos he personally produces and the projects he works with.
“You kind of get to the point where you can pick and chose, which is nice.”
Perhaps another first waits in Brewer’s future.
