Life & Work with Brandon Sims

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Sims. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It all began when I was 12. 

As a kid, I never knew that I could be creative. I remember discovering YouTube back in early 2009, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. A place where you can create almost anything you want and people can watch it. From that point on, I wanted to get into making my own videos. It was at that time that I found my passion. 

My dad lent me this old camcorder and I just fell in love. I always thought it was so amazing to be able to record something in the present and then be able to watch your past in the future. This was my only creative outlet, so I stuck with it. 

In 2010, a tragedy happened in my family that changed my life forever. My mom passed away when I was 13. This moment shifted my outlook on life and how to go about it. It also made me grow up faster. I learned from this experience that life is unpredictable and short. Nothing is guaranteed, so try not to take life for granted. Be grateful for the good things you do have. This experience caused me to mature significantly. I learned how to deal with life’s situations and gained an understanding that everything happens for a reason, even if we never understand why. Despite the fact that this tragic event altered my life, my passion for videography helped me cope. 

During high school, I was insecure about people finding out that I liked making videos. I thought I would have gotten made fun of because of it. I remember in 10th grade building up the courage to finally tell one of my friends, and I was so nervous. I told him what I was doing, and I instantly thought he was going to laugh at me or call me lame, but he actually thought it was really cool. From that point on, I came to the realization that I couldn’t be afraid to be myself. If someone didn’t accept me for what I love, then it wouldn’t phase me. I gained new confidence in myself and in my work. 

In 2016, I graduated from Specs Howards School of Digital Media Arts with a Digital Media Arts certificate. I’ve been honing my skills for years. For a while, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do with my hobby. I was making YouTube videos for a while on various different YouTube channels but never gained too much success. I even stepped away from videography in 2018 and some of 2019 to try and figure out what I wanted to do in life. Nothing I tried made me feel as fulfilled as making videos did. So, in mid-2019, I picked my camera back up and I started YouTube again. I tried to no avail. I felt stuck. In 2020, when the pandemic happened, I had time to reflect. Thinking about how I can turn my hobby into a career because I did not want to stay at the dead-end job I was working at. In June 2020, I got my first music video gig for $100. That moment felt surreal because, even though that wasn’t much money, just the feeling of getting paid for videography was great. 

I battled with the thought of quitting my full-time job and diving all the way into videography. It was such a scary reality to think about leaving my secure job to jump fully into my passion without knowing if it’d work or not. It was getting so hard to balance my job and shooting music videos. I contemplated this decision for the rest of 2020 up until March of 2021. I finally came to the realization that if I don’t take this chance now, I may never have another one, so I did what I felt was best for me and put my 2 weeks in. Since then, I decided to turn my hobby into a career and I haven’t looked back since. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well, being honest, this transition has not been a smooth one. It is hard to go from getting a guaranteed check every 2 weeks to not knowing when your next payment will be. Especially in a world where prices on everything are constantly going up. I can say that I am happy. I love what I do, despite the challenges that come with it. There were plenty of issues with working a dead-end job too, so I just see it as I’d rather have these problems here rather than have those problems there. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a freelance videographer based in Detroit, MI. I also edit, direct, and PA (production assist). I am mainly known for the music videos that I make for underground artists here. Something I’m most proud of would be the fact that I can do what I love to do for a living. A project that I am very proud of right now is my first big production music video called “Hold on Me” by an artist named Rees RP. It was my first time directing/shooting a music video with a crew. We had an interpretive dancer and a makeup artist as well, with a really dope idea that got executed perfectly. I think what sets me apart from others is my personality and my shooting style. There are a lot of run and gun videos made here in Detroit, but I prefer more story-driven/cinematic videos. Even if I am shooting a run & gun video, I will make a fusion, adding some elements of cinematography in there as well. 

What were you like growing up?
Honestly, I’m not too different from when I was a kid until now. I just got older. I have always loved video games and videos. I still watch YouTube all the time and play video games. I don’t play them as much as I used to, but I like to play them when I get the chance. Personality-wise, I feel like I’m still the same. I’ve always been a people person, observant, mature, kind of quiet, and a cool nerd. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vytalityvisions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vytalityvisions/?hl=bn