The Craft Of Branded Content and Passing The Baton w/ Maria Taylor

Host Deja A. Ross sits down with cinematographer, branded content creator and founder Maria Taylor to discuss how to break into creating content for brands and her passion for teaching the next generation of storytellers. 

Guest links: https://www.wearecreativemedia.org/home

                      https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0999228/?ref_=vp_close

Show website: https://www.craftedandcreative.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to Crafted and Creative, a podcast meant to uplift and engage BIPOC creatives who are on their journey of making a social impact and creating a lasting legacy. The show's mission is to create community and a sense of guidance for those that are looking to do the same through their artistry. Today's guest is Change Agent and Business Owner Maria Taylor. Maria is CEO of the media company Crashing Waves Pictures and the nonprofit organization Creative Media Group. Maria has over 15 years of experience as a filmmaker and industry professional. She teaches the technical side of cinematography and is one of the very few women of color with the title Cinematographer. Her work throughout media reflects the narrative on how we do business behind the lens and empowering content creators from BIPOC and LGBTQ communities. And lastly, I have the pleasure of calling her mentor. So I'm so excited and so happy you agreed to do this. I've been secretly calculated. I'm gonna have to sit down and like interview her and like really get into it. So thank you, Maria, for joining me.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Thank you so much. Wow, you know, it's funny because you it's very seldom that you hear your own bio like read out loud. So I was like, that I did all that awesome. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

No problem, no problem. So, what got you into being a filmmaker, being this multi-hyphenet artist we know today?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Wow. Um, you know, I actually started as a as a producer and producing my own content and as an actor working in um, you know, various uh projects, and I realized that the narrative is driven by the person with the camera and and driven by the person who wrote the piece. And I really felt like that was important to see us in that space. Um, and I wanted to be intentional on creating stories that I felt like represented us in a real way. Um, and there was this quote that I heard that resonated so deeply. It said, nothing about us without us, right? And I was like, that that resonated with me because so many times we hear stories or see stories that are told by people that you know don't look like us, and I felt like representation was really important. So I shifted my efforts into you know producing content and then understanding the technical side of filmmaking and camera operations.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Was there a particular project that that pivot moment happened for you? You know, when you were producing and you were acting, was there like a particular moment that you're like, no, I absolutely have to be a part of this change?

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Uh it was, it was, it was kind of just gradual because I realized that more and more, the more sets that I was on, the more I started to realize, you know, we didn't see ourselves in that space on the other side of the lens. Um, so for me, I really wanted to shift from waiting for someone to choose me to choosing myself and creating the projects that I wanted to be in and taking more ownership of that. Um, so you know, as an actor, when I started as an actor, I was waiting for the phone to ring. And I said, Well, I didn't want to do that, you know. And then I realized that the budget doesn't come through the actors, it comes through the production company and the media house. So my travel show is what I started with. It was called What's New with Maria Taylor, and I kind of wanted to be like a travel guru, but you know, create my own narrative and and and you know, do my own thing. And I was specific about my shots and how I wanted that to look. So I just started being proactive and producing that show and you know, finding uh the restaurants that I wanted to go to or the festivals and you know, figuring out who those people were. And this was before LinkedIn, y'all. So, you know, like you next gen folks have it real easy with this internet. You could find and get to whoever you want to get to, but I had to go school, you know, like literally just pick up the phone and work figure out a way to get to what I needed to get to, but um, it made me really uh tactful and and resilient and appreciative of the process.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Now, going, like you said, you things were different back then. Were you like going to these events and like pitching yourself? Did you feel like you had to create a certain brand around yourself to get people to buy into what you were trying to create?

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah, I mean, you and and I'll say this, and this really applies to I think uh a multitude of uh businesses, you need to create the thing that you want people to uh see or buy or buy into. So for me, I wanted to go to all of these festivals, like food festivals. I'm big foodie. I'm like, I need to eat all the small lights. So but I can't just shoot my shot without having some sort of proof of concept, right? The content to to show you that I can do the thing that um that I'm selling. So I I shot it myself. I had some friends that owned a restaurant in Midtown, and one of my buddies that I went to uh acting class with was actually a uh director, and he had a camera, and I said, Listen, I don't have no money. So, well, we can go over here, and I just need you to record this uh content for me and I'll figure out how to edit. And we just did like a barter, and I shot the piece, and it was uh it was okay, the audio was a little crazy, the light was a little crazy, but I was able to deliver uh some sort of uh you know thing, a tangible thing that they could look at. And I got my first festival, which was uh food and wine festival in New York, and that and then I said now that because don't open the door for me, I'm I'm gonna go up all up in there, and I was in there and I was interviewing um chefs, and then that got me the next one and the next one and the next one.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Wow, wow, that's so crazy. You really do just have to kind of start, you know, where it's like, I don't have no, I don't have no money. I'm just gonna, you know, log into Zoom if you're able to log in, I would I would love it. Um, with that, how did that go from like creating your projects to now doing branded content?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

And yeah, well, so that became just kind of a uh a natural uh transgression uh for me because I I always wanted to work with the brands because I realized the brands have the budgets and they have the big dollars. I mean, you see McDonald's everywhere, you see their commercials everywhere. And then I started to understand uh the advertising and the marketing dollars that are allocated to those brands each quarter. So each quarter, a brand has a certain amount of money that they're gonna spend on advertising to us, the consumers, and then marketing whatever that advertising asset is, whether it's a commercial or photography or a billboard or whatever, they put money behind that because they need people to buy their stuff. So I realize that if I am the content creator or the producer, I can figure out how to tap into those markets and build those relationships and produce that content for those brands. Um, and really just, you know, not being like a creep about it, but investigate. You know, you gotta get you got to dig around and find out who those contacts are and who those people are and get very intentional and very deliberate on uh sourcing that information.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Now, when you're working with branded content, it it is different from the storytelling that you would do with a a narrative project or a documentary or a lifestyle show. What is like the first thing you kind of look at to try to figure out how to hook the audience in or how to essentially sell this product?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Well, the good thing about branded content is that the brand tells you exactly what they want and they're very specific on what works for them. So they have collected data and metrics on say McDonald's has the best fries. We know this because, you know, all of our East Coast markets, every time somebody orders uh number one, it comes with fries. They know what makes their fries the best, you know, and they have people for that. So we start with what's called a client brief. And this is basically a document that has all of this data on there and what they would like the consumer to know about their fries. They're hot, amazing, and delicious. You can get it in 30 seconds. So that gives us kind of a roadmap and a blueprint. And then we as the creatives and the production company have to turn those words into something really powerful and fun to look at. And we do that by having conversations on, you know, what that asset will look like, and we get feedback through our discovery call. So we go through kind of like a back and forth uh think tank on what that commercial piece would look like.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

And how do you feel like you can maintain some type of creative control in that, you know, because you are working with data, you are working with large brands, and like you said, they know their product, you know, they're studying their audiences. So how do you feel like you could fit your voice and your mark into giving them their product?

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Uh, you do it gently, very gently, because it's their it's their baby, right? It's their prize, it's their brand, and you really are uh of a creative vendor, you know, work for hire, and you want to make sure that you're easy to work with, right? So you don't want to be, you know, too uh assertive with your ideas because you want to make sure that you can work well with others. That's how you get asked back to the table and realize that it is a community, it's it is a cipher. So, you know, I'm not gonna go up uh against McDonald's and tell them that you know what, I don't think we should highlight the fries, we should talk about that six-piece chicken nuggets cancel. So you have to be able to absorb what it is that they need and then uh put it back in in a space that is is fresh and creative and and looks good.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Yeah, and I think that's the thing too when I was studying um with the one school with marketing, trying to figure out how to still be creative and still feel like I can create this thing for this brand, um, especially black voices and like black uh or brands in general love to use like black culture essentially to reach younger audiences. Did you ever feel a time where you felt like you conflicted working with the brand or um you know utilizing something from the the culture to like help sell this thing? Because I know there's a lot of like artist responsibility that sometimes we might feel when creating something.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Yeah, I think I think it's as long as you're true to the culture, you know, that is important. And who better to know that than us, right? So, you know, sometimes the brands are removed from the culture because they operate in different spaces. You're talking about, you know, C-suite executives that aren't, you know, in the places and spaces that we're in. It's funny because um I'm gonna be hosting a conference with a group of uh high school students on on branded content, and I had to make sure that I can speak their language. So I had to go on Google Chat and say, what is it that y'all talk about? Like what's your verbiage? And they were saying all kinds of mid and six I still don't know what that means.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

I don't even know what that means. I'm a woman of a certain age, so I don't know, but I had to make sure that I did my homework, right? So you want to uh gently suggest to brands like this is actually what we do, and this is actually what we say, but also, you know, uh make sure that you're respectful of what their narrative needs to be for their sales and marketing.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yeah, I feel like it's definitely a balance because it's true that you know, black culture is American culture, you know, and we do consume, we do buy things, and it's important for us to also be represented. Um, aside from that, when you are actually on the day shooting and things happen, sometimes maybe the camera might not be working and people are stressed. How do you like to lead your sets um in terms of like dealing with the high pressure?

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Um, for us, we are as prepared as possible. Pre-production, pre-production, pre-production. Get it all the way together before you get to set. Because when you get to set, it's showtime. Um, we like to do a lot of test shots, we like to do a lot of audio and a sound check. Um, we'll probably go on to the set or on to the location before we get there because you know it's it's like an event, it's like a wedding. You only get one shot at that, you know, and especially when people are are, you know, giving you uh their dollars, you want to make sure you are as ready as possible. Um, but we're at the point now where you know we know what to do because we're specialists. So all that trial and error stuff happened, you know, back like when I told you when I shot that thing when I was 20, the lighting and audio was messed. But that really comes from being uh hands-on and then taking the time on your own to do your own passion projects too. And you can mess that up because nobody gave you money for that. That's just what you love. So when you get to something that you know somebody has commissioned you for, you know what you're doing because you've been working and rehearsing on your own.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's true. It comes with the growth. Sometimes I feel like, oh man, will it ever get better? You know, even working with this podcast, things are always going wrong on the day of, but I have to be patient because growth does happen. Um, now, how do you apply that with uh teaching um the youth? You know, you do a lot of work with high school students that are interested in film. How do you translate um maintaining artistic integrity with working with um branded content as a beginner?

SPEAKER_01 14:11

How do I maintain artistic integrity? Um you know, you don't you don't want to do anything that you don't feel good about, but I've never thankfully been in you know a situation like that. I think just continuing to make sure you have a dialogue, you know, with with all parties, you know, and making sure everybody feels good about it. But that that happens, you know, way in advance with your storyboarding and your script or or uh the client brief as we discussed. So by the time you get on set, you know what it is that you're doing. But I will say that there are three projects. There is the project you conceptualized in your in your brain and storyboarded for and wrote. There's a project that you can actually execute with the limitations of maybe talent or locations that you couldn't get into or the rain or the whatever. And then there's the piece that gets chopped up on the editing floor. You know, that can be a different project too. So I think being able to adjust through all of those different stages is something that uh is very helpful in the long run. And as far as our young people are concerned, we bring them through all of those stages, right? We make sure that they're right there with us as production assistants or you know, storyboarding, or you know, bring them in on the edit so they can see that all of these different variables uh can happen at any given moment, and you just have to make sure you're you know able to able to pivot and adjust.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

And with that, you know, you say you're taking them through the different phases of filmmaking and creating a project. Your students have gone on to work with, you know, big brands like NBC Universal and um different studios. How do you it are there other qualities you feel like you have to give them in order to be industry ready?

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Um experience, really. And it's just hands-on, real-world experience, you know, and and congratulations to you because shooting this podcast means you have taken ownership of what it is that you want to do. And then you'll learn through this process what that entails. So by the time you're booked on Sirius or whatever, you know, this manifest greatness, whatever your landing is, you're ready to go because you you wore all of the hats and you've done all the things, and you've adjusted the levels and your lighting and your, you know, so uh our young people are able to get into those spaces because they have real-world experience. And in my opinion, that's the only way.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

And we since everything has changed and we mentioned this earlier, like with all the TikToks and all the like new, you know, slang, everything's changing. Are and there's you know, filmmaking is is changing because we have verticals now, we have all this other other stuff is happening. Do you feel like there's an essential quality of filmmaking that someone that's new to it should be able to maintain on top of all the other um elements?

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Yeah, I mean, I absolutely love all of the different um ways in which creatives are putting out content, but the fundamentals are the same, right? Like your audio has to be clear, your lighting has to be fantastic. If you can get um, you know, a three-point lighting set up, like right now, I can see, you know, you have your key light coming from wherever you're sitting in front of your window or whatever, you know, you want uh a motivated light, and then you want a backlight, say like here, for example, in this uh hallway space, if you had some light coming up through there, you'd go, oh, there's a hole. And if you could do a contrast lighting, so what I like to do also here on um your iPhone on the color wheel, I'll show you that. But here that is, you know, how you alternate your color. So, for example, if you're wearing blue, I'd like to see more orange in the space, or if you're wearing yellow, I like to see more purple in the space, right? So the color wheel will help you um offset uh and be creative with with your coloring. And then I also just like to make sure I'm as polished as possible. And and whomever else is uh on the set or in the shot is as polished as possible. So those three three, there's probably a few more things, but those are like the core fundamentals for whatever it is you're shooting. Is it's funny because a friend of mine started shooting more content on her own and it looked great, everything was great. Audio. I said, Where's your mic? You know, you all the way back there. You know, so those those key fundamental things are what you need for whatever sort of content you're gonna put out.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Do you feel like there's any like beginner mistakes you see when you're especially you're doing these workshops, you're having people come in? Um, what's the most common mistake or thing that you're seeing with students?

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Um, I I will say audio for sure, and lighting for sure, and also framing, uh composition. You know, uh for example, I'm sitting here in my bedroom. You know, these things are not ideal, but I'm in my house today. But, you know, like when I first sat down at the computer, I had this going on. And oh, and my ceiling fan. Like I wouldn't want to take a call, you know, like this. So even those small little framing adjustments like that look a little bit better. So, you know, try to line up your framing, your composition as as as best as you can, get your lighting as as best as you can, um, you know, get your audio as best as you can. That's how you can kind of tell like the novice from the specialist.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

And how important for you has been uh collaboration, working with others on projects, in addition to teaching, but also working with your partner and working with other people. How important has that been for you as a filmmaker?

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Uh for me, collaboration is key. You know, I am a big believer in the term relationships are currency. I think it's really, really important to nurture and maintain relationships, especially as artists, as a creative, um, because you will find that it is more challenging to go at it as a party of one. So for us, we are very intentional about cultivating relationships with um, you know, like-minded individuals or organizations that have similar alignment, you know, and it's just like you know, your your group of friends, right? It's like, hey, you know, we want to hang out and do the same thing. You want to do that with people that uh understand you and you understand them and in exchange you care about the same thing, you know, and then it's more fun too.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Yeah, definitely. I definitely agree. I'm happy I could be in spaces to like network with you and learn from you and be able to like create things like this. Um, and so what has been your favorite project or brand to work on so far?

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Oh, oh man, you know, we uh we're blessed to have been able to work on some really incredible projects. I will say my favorite so far, and we have some exciting things coming up for 2026, was our summit in London. You know, and this is also the power of manifestation and really, really doing whatever it is. You got to be mindful of what you tell your brain. Because if you tell your brain that you can do it and and you really focus on that, you can absolutely do it. I was saying to myself, you know, I would love to take our program um overseas and do more things um on a global scale. And uh sorry, I gotta charge my computer, but where do I begin? I begin where I have relationships. So we have relationships in London, and we reached out to a community partner there, similar organization to ours. What they do is they support. Young people that are seeking asylum through the arts. And these young people come from all over the country. They come from uh Kyrgyzstan and uh Saudi and Singapore, and they are a creative collective of young people that are artists. And I reached out to their executive director and I said, we want to shoot a commercial in the UK, and we want to onboard maybe five to ten of your young people to support us as production assistants on the shoot, and we'll figure out who the brand, uh, the client is gonna be. And then it turned out uh that we we shot the piece in Brixton. And Brixton is this really cool, like swaggy neighborhood in in London, in central London. It's giving like Williamsburg vibes or like Winwood vibes. It's like, where do artists and cool kids hang out? And actually, we went out this time and we said, let's kind of flip it and not be so structured. Let's let our young people decide what this piece should be. It's got to be two minutes, but here we are in the middle of Brixton. What should we talk about? And they're like, why don't we talk about the culture of Brixton and all of these artists? And, you know, there are stalls of people, you know, drinking tea from Morocco and and artists like, you know, painting mural art and eating, you know, uh little roties, and it's just like a super vibe. So my partner and I said, Okay, well, let's find three people to talk to about why they love Brixton, and that's your assignment. So you've got 15 minutes to just go out, get to peep. So this one gentleman was uh he was uh selling juice, but not just any juice, it was like ginger, refreshing. He was like into wellness, and you know, he's like chewing on a sugar cane, like true rasta, but he was passionate about what he did. So we interviewed him and he talked about you know his passion for his brand. Um, the second woman had a tea shop, and she was talking about um her tea and why tea is like wellness for her and she uses it instead of medicine. And then there was a third person there, and he was into like fashion and culture. So it came together so beautifully because it was it was from the young people that had the foresight to say, we want to choose people that are are engaging and are interesting and have like a like a special thing to them, and they naturally went and they and they shot the piece. So after we shot the piece, came together beautifully because all of the colors and all of that uh creatively looked really well. We screened it at the Soho House. Soho House has a look a few locations in in London, and then they got to come to the screen. And you're talking about young people that have left their country for you know very, very uh traumatic reasons, and now they're coming to a place where they get to get dressed up and they get to invite their friends and and they feel proud of their work. And it was actually very emotional because you know, they came and they're like, wow, this is amazing and so beautiful and fancy, and people are here to see something that I made, that I did, and that I'm proud of. And then we got you know some behind-the-scenes shots and talked to them about why the project was so important. So that for me was you know, um, one of the most uh fun projects because you know it wasn't about me, it wasn't about our organization, it was about them, and it was about just providing a platform for them to shine, and that was just super dope.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

That's amazing. And it's you know, I used to teach, and as someone that loves teaching, it's amazing when you see someone find their passion in real time or be passionate about something and be up being able to share it. Um, is there a piece of advice that you would want to leave someone with, you know, a young filmmaker, someone that's interested in working with brands and building a branded content business?

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Uh yeah, I would say get specific. Get specific and set your short-term goals and your long-term goals. Um, you know, I mentor a bunch of young people from all over the country, and that's the first thing I say. I said, long term, what what is it that you want to do? Um, and then short term, what can we do to kind of help get you there? Um, so be specific, but also be intentional and show up for yourself, you know. So I can only do so much, you know, by mentoring you and helping to guide you and give you suggestions, but you also have to show up for yourself. So I'm so proud of you, Deja, for showing up for yourself and this amazing platform that you've created. Just kudos to you.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Thank you. Thank you. Um, now what's next for you? Any other workshops coming up? Any other film projects? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

So we're really excited. We're actually shooting a narrative piece here uh in Miami that we go into principal photography next week. We're really excited about our Hue Summit and to partner with some local brands uh in New York, some brand partners, and just continuing to onboard our young people who are super, super talented. Um, we're doing more things on an international scale now. So we've put you know some core markets on on our radar, like Japan and back to London. Maybe we can do some things in in Barcelona. So I'll say this you know, dream big, you know, whatever it is that you want to do as an artist. Sky is absolutely the limit, you know, go all the way with it. But like I said, be intentional, be deliberate, and be specific.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Wonderful. And where can people find you?

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Well, you can find me wherever you can find me online, uh yeah, creative media group. That's our Instagram, and we are creativemedia.org. Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Thank you again, Maria. Thank you so much. All right, thank you guys for watching this episode of Crafted It Creative, and I will see you in the next episode.