Meet Sean Sorensen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Sorensen.

Hi Sean, 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.
It all started back in 2010 when I graduated a semester early from High school. I moved to the closest big city which at the time was Omaha Nebraska. I followed my passion for music by being a singer/songwriter for a variety of local bands from 2010 – 2014 until a few of us from different local bands got together to create Devil In The Details which is still together today. In the early years of starting to tour in 2010, I borrowed point-and-shoot cameras from friends to capture tour behind the scenes and other content simply for the band. Not knowing that I would find such love for it later on.

When Devil started to gain momentum and tour more is when I bought my first DSLR camera. A Canon Rebel 2Ti I believe. It did okay for both video and photo and was a great tool for me to learn on. In about 2015 I really started to realize how much I loved the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating an artist/look for an artist. After being a part of the process for my own band’s album artwork, music videos, social content, marketing, and other social branding necessities. I decided I wanted to then learn all I could about graphic design and video/cinematography. With no money/time for formal schooling, I could only use the tools that were easily accessible. Such as a Youtube or ‘Youtube University”, skillshare, and master classes. My favorite tool to use for learning is getting project work files, and templates and learning how and why they are set up to achieve the final look. I was lucky enough to have a friend (Justin Bryant at 1126 Art Studios) that I could call for all my graphic design questions.

I focused on personal projects and taking photos of friends and or low-pressure sessions to find my style in photography and videography. I did a couple of low-budget music videos for my band and it really just progressed from there. From there I was on The Vans Warped Tour twice. Once for my band and once for taking photos and videos for another band. One of the greatest experiences ever. That taught me how to edit quickly for fast turnarounds. While freelancing I was also taking on graphic design freelance. At times turn out 10 – 15 T-shirt designs a day. Learning shortcuts was essential haha.

In 2018 I moved to Nashville with my girlfriend now fiance so we could both pursue our interest in the music world. We felt Nashville was the right move for us rather than LA as Nashville has been a booming spot and is easily comparable to LA without the ocean. Shortly after moving, I found freelance work in doing behind the scenes for Evolve Studios for their projects “Neville Longbottom and The Black Witch” and the 2020 “Monday Night Football commercial return of Hank Williams Junior”. That helped stack my resume with the experience needed to land my current position at Big Machine Label Group. There I would hand in hand with a great creative crew to help create full album rollout material for the artists on our roster with their releases. My position duties include shooting visualizer performances, behind the scenes, photos on set, editing trailers, lyric videos, performance visualizers, interviews, and other important social needs.

I could ramble forever but this is a quick summary of how I have gotten to where I am today.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
About as smooth as a gravel road. I feel like that is common though in this industry. My ups and downs include personal struggles and financial worries. I feel fortunate to have the job I do. Primarily through the pandemic when so many out there in our field did not.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in building social looks and content for developing new artists and season artists. I love being able to do the whole rollout to give a cohesive look to the album or single. It’s a blast to be at the start of the treatment and storyboarding process. I am proud of this work and how it brought our team a few different Davey Awards. One Silver for the lyric video “Take Me Away” by Ayron Jones, Gold for Thomas Rhett’s ” Where We Started” and Gold for Jackson Dean’s “Greenbroke”. Jackson has been my favorite project thus far. I was able to spend some time with JD as we shot his media and photo days in New Mexico. Three days of nonstop content really brought the vibe for Jackson. It really encompassed JD’s personality and brought out the special moments we needed to help push their Pre-Orders for the album and post-release.

I was able to pull together this nice, modern, western look for the trailer that gave great insight into what the album was about. I really want to make movie trailers one day so this helps with that. Since that album’s release, we have gotten Jackson Dean to number 1 for “Don’t Come Lookin'” I would hate to say what sets me apart. There are so many good editors and teams out there in Nashville. What makes the difference is how much I can do by myself. I can add to any team. I hope to one day start my own creative team but that’s all hopes and dreams.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
That I use to race dirtbikes as a sport till I was about 13. All over the country with my Father. I am from a small town In Iowa.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.inspiredfilmstudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sean_isinspired/
• Facebook: Inspired Film Studios | Omaha NE – Facebook https://m.facebook.com › Inspired Film Studios
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXqmPv6jOjY&list=PL6YKto6HnRCoh67h0_L7dpNUSDxDnJkOt