Alan Brown is an alum of the Class of 1988. He is highly accomplished and worked at NFL Films for much of his career. Brown helped elevate NFL Films to what it is today. Now, Alan Brown is volunteering his time in various ways, including mentoring Emerson students. Check out this interview now!
The following is the caption timecode transcript. It’s for your convenience (Control F) and accessibility.
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What sparked my interest in communication
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probably was my love of film,
also theater.
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I was acting a lot in high school, and I really enjoyed the performing arts
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or visual arts and decided that I would pursue that.
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Although not really having any idea
where that would lead.
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When I got to Emerson College,
I really learned a lot
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about interpersonal communication.
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And Vito Silvestri
taught a class in public speaking.
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Also, there was a lot of studying
of physical behaviors
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when speaking to people, kind of like
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nonverbal communication or body language
that was hugely important
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and applicable
to every meeting that you’re in,
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every interview,
every time you meet somebody.
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Finding ways to disarm them and get them comfortable to work with you
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and communicate that you want to work with people via your body language.
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I learned that at Emerson,
and then there was also
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the best class I
ever took, which didn’t have
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much bearing on my career.
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But worth noting was the history of jazz with Tony Cennamo.
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Today, it was, to this day, just the best class
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I ever took.
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I wasn’t a great student.
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I wish I applied myself more,
but I was not a school.
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I wasn’t a classroom learner.
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I was always somebody
that would learn by trial and error.
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And I felt that Emerson
kind of understood that aspect
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of a student too. That students
when they get their hands
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into the medium that they want to work with or they want to create.
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And so it’s important
that an institution gives students
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space to create and be themselves
and find their own voice.
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And Emerson did that.
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I decided a couple of years ago
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to get involved in mentoring students
at Emerson.
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I retired from NFL Films
in the fall of ‘21,
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and I decided that
I want to take time for myself
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because I have a neuromuscular disease that’s left me in a wheelchair.
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So, I decided, you know, I want to put my energy towards preserving my health
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and also towards
helping up-and-coming students
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so that they can navigate their path,
find their voice,
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learn, or be informed of the intricacies of finding their path
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in this career, and also the resources
that are available to them.
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And it’s been really fulfilling.
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I find that the Emerson student
is highly motivated, and they want to
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hop right in and
get involved, which is all commendable.
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That’s been really rewarding,
and I look forward
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to doing more of that.
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I spent my career
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at NFL Films where I started as a P.A.
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and worked my way up through the company.
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I did leave for a little bit to go freelance because I wanted to learn
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more about what the real industry was like because
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NFL Films was mom and pop
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and very parochial.
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It did its own thing.
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We had so many family traits
or things that we did
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that were different than the outside
or the real production world
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or the future of commercial production
or documentary production world.
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We were really lacking
in, I think, organization.
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So I came in, and I always thought of myself as a creative person.
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But through freelancing
and working my way in the industry,
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I realized that I was somebody
that was able to bridge the creative
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and business worlds,
or the creative and logistical world.
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Like, ‘I want to show up
at this location and shoot something.
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It’s more than just showing up.
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You need to plan for everything, and NFL Films really wasn’t doing that.
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And then I kind of showed them how it works in the real production world,
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how you organize, and,
you know, you basically prepare.
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You pre-pro and that’s everything
in production: thinking through
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what it is that you want to do in order to achieve a creative goal.
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And knowing that you’ve only got so much time, so much money,
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so many people, and, you know, so much of
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you only have X amount of days of rent, this gear, that gear,
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and it needs to be delivered
and edited final product by X day.
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So you need to navigate all those things and maintain that creative integrity
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and also do the production that meets both
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the timeline, the delivery deadline,
and also the fiscal goals.
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So I found value in being able
to understand the creative process
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and translating that to
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how to get it done safely
and within the time,
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and where, and comply
with releases, and insurance, and
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all that stuff.
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You know, you’re kind of looking out for the best interest of the production.
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And so I took that very seriously.
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NFL Films, because they had more support out in the field and more organization,
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it helped everybody.
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It helped our stuff look better.
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It helped everybody understand the scope of work
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and what was going to be done,
what was needed to be done.
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Every department had an opportunity to weigh in, so nobody was surprised
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when a job or a production
needed to get done.
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It wasn’t like that before.
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It was.
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It was kind of crazy.
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We’ve done amazing work at films, and I’m really proud of the work I’ve done there.
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So really, what’s next for me
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is giving back, volunteering for various organizations
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that are important,
and also doing this mentorship
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with Emerson
has been tremendously rewarding.
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I look forward to doing more of it.
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I find the students to be professional
beyond their years
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and also have a desire
to contribute and grow. So
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thank you.
