My Biggest Lesson, Part 2: Brent Lang

Brent Lang joined Versus in March of 2023 as the director of client partnerships, focusing on entertainment and streaming. Before joining the award-winning creative and production studio he was at Compadre, where he recently served as the new business director after success in his previous roles as the director of business development and as a producer. Additionally, Lang worked for ABC Studios as a production coordinator, at Digital Kitchen as an associate producer, and spent several years as a freelance producer and writer working with a wide variety of clients like Buzzfeed and Fullscreen to perfect their streaming ads.

He has collaborated with top media brands (ESPN, Nickelodeon, NBC Sports, and more) on major sporting events, while also diving into the big-budget entertainment arena, successfully running campaigns for Amazon’s ‘Rings of Power’ and Paramount’s Star Trek Properties. 

In 2022 I was asked to write about the biggest lesson I’ve learned while working in the entertainment industry. Now one year and one company move later, I’ve added to my lessons that relationships matter! In my new role as director of client partnerships at Versus, a creative production studio, I’ve been tasked with expanding our entertainment and sports marketing footprint. This is something that has been near and dear to my heart since before I understood what brands were, back when I was munching on cereal and watching cartoons in pyjamas.

I mean honestly, who doesn’t remember being a kid and going absolutely feral for Disney’s One Saturday Morning cartoon block, or watching the adults go equally as bonkers when the NFL on CBS promos would start on Sunday? The thing both those properties had in common was amazing marketing campaigns. For those of us in the industry, we know that creative alone doesn’t make for a memorable marketing campaign. Behind the scenes they come to life through great working relationships and trust.

There are approximately a trillion and one relationships that make up the silky smooth web of entertainment out here in Hollywoodland and with our East Coast counterparts. For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus primarily on the relationships between studio creative marketing teams and their external vendors like Versus. Nurturing these relationships and developing a shorthand with clients make it possible for us to create unique and effective marketing campaigns. We learn brand rules and team values front to back, so we can find ways to bend them to get the most engaging creative. Of course, relationships work both ways and it’s imperative that the client is a good fit for us as much as we are a good fit for them. 

We all know relationships don’t just take care of themselves, they take work. Some are easier than others. I’m sure we’ve all got that friend you see once every two years and pick up right where you left off. Then there are others that you need to stay in constant contact with or you’ll sail right past each other like two ships on a foggy night. But with good communication and follow through we can build strong meaningful relationships that yield positive results. Or as a studio exec once put it to me, let’s “make money with our friends”. A big key to this statement is the last word, friends. 

What’s your definition of a friend? To me it’s someone I can count on for advice, I trust, and a person who I generally like being around. If I can check off even two of those three boxes, then I’m confident that the client and I will have a great working relationship. It’s like Mike Judge said in his cameo in Office Space “Look, people can get a cheeseburger anywhere, okay? They come to Chotchkie's for the atmosphere and the attitude.” It’s funny, because Mike Judge wrote it, and because it’s true. 

A long long time ago, before I was in client partnerships, I was an agency producer, a 'doer' if you will, and I’ve worked at a bunch of agencies. Most of ‘em say the same thing, we’re 360, soup to nuts, a turnkey solution, the whole enchilada, etc. Basically, a lot of people out there say they can do a lot of things, and partners need to trust that you can deliver on those promises. Because if you go around saying you’re Picasso, eventually someone’s gonna hand you a paintbrush. Of course, you can always go find a freelance Picasso and burn your margins to the ground, or you can try to fake it until you break it and hope no one notices. A big reason why I chose to join the team at Versus is from concepting to live action production and finishing, we know what we’re good at and we stick to our guns. 

Although I might not be considered a 'doer' anymore, or 'be able to dunk a basketball', I really enjoy developing a shorthand with people and building the kind of trust that gets us our Disney One Saturday Mornings. Because it’s a fantastical feeling to wake up excited about work knowing that I'm making the same types campaigns that used to juice me up as a kid, and getting to build the kind of relationships that enable me to make money with my friends. To that end, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t invite you to hit me up to learn more about my team at Versus and the awesome work we do. I’m on LinkedIn, Vsnyc.tv, Instagram, and I’m pretty sure my Myspace profile is still floating around somewhere in the universe. Who knows maybe you could be in my top five one day!!