Life & Work with Brian Loschiavo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Loschiavo.

Hi Brian, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My Nashville story began in 2012 when I was working as a producer for Disney/ABC Television Group. I produced and directed a behind-the-music series for the show Nashville as well as content around the CMA Awards and specials. As a songwriter and filmmaker, I fell in love with the city’s embrace of both creative communities.

In 2014, a colleague at ABC, Jeff Molyneaux, decided to move his family to Nashville. A year later, he approached me with the idea for us to start a full-service production company together. The timing was perfect, so my wife and I moved to Nashville, and Riverside Entertainment was born.

We always wanted to have a presence in Los Angeles, to not fully cut ties with that community, so we approached another ABC colleague, Pastor Alvarado, to join us, and a year later, he founded our West Coast office.

In the past eight years, we’ve grown our teams in both cities and expanded from commercial and promo to film and television. We’ve done commercial and branded work for the likes of Cadillac, Nike, Google, Sony, and Hyundai. We’ve done promos for ABC, NBC, Hulu, Netflix, MTV, FX and Showtime. Our first feature film, BLUEBIRD, a documentary about The Bluebird Cafe, premiered at SXSW and was the number 1 documentary on iTunes.

We’re three seasons into the Nashville-based home renovation show MAKING MODERN WITH BROOKE + BRICE on Magnolia Network, and our first scripted feature, MANODROME, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody, was just released by Lionsgate in November 2023. We have also been named the top production company on INC 5000’s list of fastest-growing private companies in America.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s never a completely smooth journey running a small business, but all things considered, we’ve been very fortunate. We’ve had loyal, repeat clients and a steady stream of quality work. The two biggest challenges we’ve faced were COVID and the double labor strike in Hollywood. But despite those headwinds, we were able to pivot, reprioritize internal resources, and not only sustain but grow.

I would say the other personal struggle was starting a family while building a startup. Both of my children were born in the 8 years since we started the company. The first was born while I was producing and directing our first movie, and the second during production on the second season of our television series. It’s always hard to manage a work-life balance, especially when you’re running a company.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My primary career is running Riverside Entertainment and its development division, but at my core, I’m creative. I produced, directed, and edited our documentary, BLUEBIRD, co-directed a feature documentary about the band Midland, and currently have two feature films that I’ve co-written that Riverside is producing.

My second creative passion is songwriting. While working on the show NASHVILLE, I was exposed to the incredible community of songwriters in Nashville and beyond who wrote for the show. Eventually, I was able to begin collaborating with them, and three songs that I co-wrote were eventually featured on the show. I’ve also had other songs cut by artists and featured in commercial campaigns.

What does success mean to you?
While it’s certainly nice to live comfortably and have the financial means to support your family, I define success as being paid to do what you love while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: riverside-ent.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riverside.ent/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-loschiavo-1a69791b

Image Credits
Christy Hunter