Making things makes us happy.
Creative collaboration makes us happy.
It is a working process that spans an ever-widening variety of platforms, from print to video, installation to web advertising. It is a working attitude that finds creative opportunities in surprising places. Print campaigns turn into video promos. Video promos turn into web banners. We squeeze every bit of creative possibility out of every project. And that makes us happy.
We are producers, directors and editors of creative content. We love what we do and we can do it all over the world.
CHRIS BREN
Having started Picture Farm in 2003 as a producer of all things, Chris eventually gravitated toward the director’s chair where he currently wallows in creative happiness. He loves to talk about his favorites (Hendrix, Kubrick, Cocteau) and if pressed, he’ll share a sense of satisfaction pertaining to his enjoyment of the work that he has been able to create for a wide variety of customers. Whether its a guerilla-style film shoot in a remote and exotic mountain coffee village or an in-studio slow motion macro shot of a lipstick container, Chris only shifts his technical approach. His creative approach is total crew and client collaboration in the exciting process to achieve the best result possible.
Chris lives with his wife and son within walking distance from Picture Farm. Its through his wife’s nationality, he has developed an inexplicable passion for everything to do with Argentine futbol. When he’s not working or celebrating (suffering) the latest soccer results, he heads to a remote hut on a beach somewhere on planet Earth to unplug with his beloved family.
BEN FREEDMAN
Arriving in NY in early 1997 having decided to come to America to make movies, Ben Freedman very quickly became a waiter. He then quite slowly, by means of some screamingly bad short films found himself producing a real film, Marc SInger’s documentary “Dark Days” which won 3 prizes at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000. It was the first project to be made under the Picture Farm banner. As the realisation dawned on him that an independent producer needs monastic patience, unnatural luck or a trust fund, and that none of those three things were available, Ben moved the film endeavors to the side burner. He teamed up with Chris Bren and began to steer Picture Farm towards the world of advertising. Since then Ben has travelled the world working with a tremendous array of clients, and harbors only a slight nagging guilt about the size of the carbon footprint he has left behind.
Ben is more and more active on the feature film side with a number of projects in development. He lives with his family 200 vertical feet from the Picture Farm office and thoroughly enjoys the 45 second commute at the beginning and end of each day.
TODD STEWART
Todd Stewart’s ’78 Volvo sedan broke down for good in the spring of 1997, effectively ending his career as a Bay Area substitute teacher. Bandying about, looking for alternative employment, he found himself as a teleprompter operator in a local television station. Improbably finding his niche in the moving image, he rose through the ranks to cameraman and floor director before turning his attentions to photo graduate school. Once there, he realized the stillness of things were still not for him, as doors opened once again into the realm of rhythm, sound and motion. Since, he has worked steadily in the New York advertising world, editing broadcast commercials, branded films and online campaigns at Blue Rock, Consulate and now Picture Farm for Budweiser, Converse, Levi’s, Motorola, Verizon, McDonald’s, Revlon, L’Oreal, ESPN and a host of others. He has had the opportunity to work with such directors as Sam Mendes, Ryan McGinley, Mert & Marcus, Henry-Alex Rubin, David Frankham, Philip Andelman, Jake Nava, Jonathan Krisel, Max Malkin, Bram Van Riet, Bruce Weber and Marilyn Minter among many more.
Todd’s personal life consists of managing a host of personal shortcomings, including but not limited to: surfing, soccer, reading travelogues, riding his bicycle, playing his ukulele and spending far more time than is professionally responsible with his family and friends.
Picture Farm
338 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11249
o: 718 218 8001
f: 718 218 8004
contact@picturefarmpro.com
Picture Farm is represented by The Garden Party for Creative Digital Capture. Please contact Laura Beckwith at The Garden Party.
The Garden Party
491 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012
o: 646 747 4068
laura@thegardenpartynyc.com
