Behind the ART – Run The Red x Emperor x Ben “10” Nguyen

Mid December 2018, Emperor and Run The Red (RTR) in collaboration with Ben “Ben 10” Nguyen, former UFC fighter, set out on their most ambitious project yet. Commissioned by Art By Emperor (ABE!), the goal was to show the world what kind of production quality Emperor x RTR are capable of, as well as promote and showcase Ben. The film seeked to highlight what kind of dedication and intense training fighters must endure to prepare themselves for the uphill battle that is stepping into a cage.

Director Alex Greaves gave us a glimpse into the creative direction for the film, saying:

“Since the early days of Emperor, Huynh (Creative Director) and I had always talked about the importance of evoking emotion in the work that we did. When we set out to make this film, we knew we wanted to inspire the viewer. Because of this, we decided we wanted to really get in the head of the fighter on screen and show the viewer what real dedication looked like. In doing so, the piece took on this gritty, almost experimental feel to try and give a heightened sense that the audience were right there amongst the action, (hopefully) inspiring them in the process.”

But shooting a film of this quality did not come without challenges. Greaves references time constraints and lack of budget as obstacles that were faced by the RTR and Emperor crew during production. However the team soon turned these weaknesses into strengths.

“From the get go, we’d set out to make a high concept film with no budget, which meant we needed to work with what we already had. On paper, that’s a pretty daunting idea, but a lot of the time those limitations help you hone in on what you’re actually trying to make. We knew we had a sweet location and access to a world class fighter in Ben 10, so we worked the concept around those advantages, and I think it really paid off in the finished piece.” 

RTR and Emperor worked collaboratively to create the film, sharing ideas, creative direction and on set workload. Together, the two teams produced a cohesive film, Greaves had this to say about the collaboration and shooting process.

“Working with Emperor throughout the process was an absolute breeze. You could feel that the whole team were all working towards the same goal, which made all the difference in putting the project together. Films are made by solving one problem after another until you have a finished piece sitting in front of you, so the process is all the more enjoyable when you have a team that gels and can figure out their problems quickly and effectively together.”

The shoot lasted roughly 10 hours and went late into the night, however Ben showed resilience throughout and kept shooting without the slightest complaint. After the shoot he said:

“It wasn’t my first rodeo, I’ve done 14 hours all day in the sun shoots so this was a breeze. The shots were well planned out and I knew they were going to turn out well and it was better than I thought.”

Showing absolute professionalism throughout production, Ben returned praise to the Emperor and Run The Red crew for their style and work ethic.

“Really efficient, straight forward, and fun. Every shot was planned and scheduled and we pretty much hit every shot with the allotted time. Everyone knew how to be serious and when to let loose and have fun which goes by my motto of “Have fun while being the best””.

All in all, 2019 is shaping up to be a very exciting year, so stay tuned for more from ABE!, Run The Red, Emperor and Ben Nguyen’s new endeavour in RIZIN.

 

Follow Art By Emperor!:
Facebook – ABE!
Instagram – ABE!

Follow Run The Red:
Website – RTR
Instagram – RTR

Follow Ben “10” Nguyen:
Facebook – BenX
Instagram – BenX

 

5 Social Media Tips for Athletes

In today’s technological age, social media has become essential for athletes to promote themselves as well as maintain and create new relationships with potential coaches, sponsors, matchmakers as well as keeping up with fans. Many athletes struggle with day to day posting for Instagram and Facebook so scroll down for some quick tips to maintain the quality of your content and overall brand. 

1. Be Professional
As an athlete, your name, your persona and everything related to it is your livelihood. You are the brand. Being professional in your posts, messages and comments creates great credibility and makes you more approachable by potential sponsors and fans.

2. Research Yourself
Hand in hand with being professional, researching your own social media is very important. Go through your current social media platforms and put yourself in the shoes of a fan or sponsor. Is there anything they might think is questionable? Have you given them a way to contact you? You can also use self-research as a method to see what kinds of posts are working with your audience and what is not, make sure you experiment to find the right formula!

3. Don’t Pass Up Good Content
It can be very hard to get good content as an athlete, it’s very hard to train and take photos at the same time. If the opportunity arises, ask someone to take photos for you! Or even better, hire a photographer to compile a good amount of photos and post them over time. Good content is the cornerstone to building a good social media following.

4. Engage Your Followers
Comments and messages are great ways for fans to contact you, ask questions and generally find out more about you. Make sure you take some time out of your day to reply to some of your fans! It shows a lighter side of you and will leave your fans happy.

5. Be Consistent
Much like your training, consistency is key. It can be hard to create good content between large events, to counteract this, save up multiple photos from one event and trickle them onto your social media platforms. Good training shots are also very valuable because it lets your fans behind the scenes to see how you manage to perform well.

Damien Brown, accomplished UFC veteran and friend of Emperor had issues with his social media like many athletes do. So Emperor created a detailed social media strategy coupled with professional content creation to help boost Damien’s following and audience engagement.

I think the importance of social media is obvious to everyone, but I never truly understood the importance of the content quality. Since using Emperor, it is obvious to me how much more reach and exposure quality content can get. I’m very grateful for Emperor’s work towards my business and image. – Damien Brown

By following these tips, you can start to create a more cohesive online personality and continue to grow your social media brand. If you’re having issues with your social media account, it is always recommended to talk to one of Emperor’s digital & marketing consultants. We can create a detailed social media strategy tailored to your audience.

Jackie & Jake Smith

WHAT WE DID

Wedding coverage at Tugan, Queensland.

THE COUPLE

Jackie & Jake Smith