The interview starts with me asking him to introduce himself.
I’m Drew Ferguson, class of 2012. I’m the Director of Creative Video for the Dallas Cowboys. And, essentially, what that is is: I run a team of guys – about seven of us now – that essentially do the content for every department in the entire organization plus all of our partners with the Dallas Cowboys. So, we do all the content for the marketing department, the corporate partnership department, the cheerleaders, all of Jerry’s companies, all the stuff for football operations for the stadium, for brand marketing, and… yeah, basically everybody.
I found Drew through his Instagram reels, and I decided to share this with him. I describe a post explaining color-grading and the software he uses to make his videos. I share that I sent the video to my boyfriend, and express how much we loved the content. He gives a soft smile and thanks me.
I know that you mentioned that you attended A&M, so what was your major and what kind of things were you involved in at the time?
Sure. Yeah, I had a pretty unconventional path, I’d say. I actually [was] a transfer student to A&M. So I went to T-camp. I was right across the road at Blinn. So I think after a year at Blinn, I transferred to A&M. And, I was basically going into the Viz[ualization] program. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it.
I nod my head in confirmation.
But yeah. And I was taking classes, basically, at the architecture building. We shared a lot of classes with them. And then I realized there’s a lot of math…
We both chuckle at this.
… in that line of work. Not that I’m terrible at it, you know, I’ve gotten all A’s in math, but it’s just something I knew I wasn’t going to want to suffer through for four years. So yeah. Yeah, I still have a passion. I actually got my start in motion graphics and animation in Silicon Valley after college, but during my time at A&M, I knew I was going to transition out. So I essentially joined our equivalent of RTF or radio television film, which is telecommunications and Media Studies.
Okay, perfect!
I minored in film also while at A&M. As far as clubs, I tried to get into 12th man productions. I had zero experience, so it made sense why they didn’t want me. And, then, I tried to get in some other programs around just 12 Man athletics and stuff like that, but it just wasn’t gonna happen. I literally didn’t touch the camera until after college. So I had like, ‘Yeah, I’m a hard worker’ on my resume but every kid is that goes to A&M!
So yeah, but I did do a small couple of internships. One was with ESPN, basically coil and cable for basketball games. I would just follow the camera guy’s coil cable. There was other stuff, like bringing coffee to people… just general PA stuff. And then I was lucky enough to get two other internships. One that led me out to the Cannes International Film Festival in France, where I interned for roughly two weeks. Kind of same thing: PA work with a company out there. But it was nice to go to a couple of red carpet premieres, meet a lot of people. It was sweet.
And then like I’d say several months after that, I got into another internship program – this is all A&M in my senior year – with William Morris Endeavor, which is kind of like one of the largest talent agencies in the world. They are kind of like a competitor with CAA. And I was at the Toronto International Film Festival and basically kind of did the same thing: a lot of PA work. And, yeah, [I] met a lot of different people, celebrities, attended a bunch of different premieres. It was great.
Okay, cool. Okay, well, that’s a lot! Yeah, it is hard to get into, like the 12th Man Productions and the 12th Man Athletic world. But that is interesting. You had so many internships, um, and then also the experiences you got from those internships!
So, could you describe the kind of the skills that you got from those internships, and then how that kind of tied into whatever passions you had some time?
Sure, I think, and I tell this, because I do a lot of mentorship sessions and folks that reach out to me like, one thing I took away from A&M is just: it costs nothing to be kind. And I think, my time at A&M, I experienced nothing but kindness. It’s kind of weird because it’s hard for other people to look in at A&M because they only see it as a cult. But for me, I’m just like, it genuinely was just a really nice place for people that cared about the university and cared about each other.
Like, there’s definitely something bigger than yourself, you know?
But anyways, one thing I took away with all these different internships, and it’s honestly a huge reason I think why I’ve been able to kind of try so many different things and meet so many different people, is that I really got a chance to develop my soft skills at all these different internships. I think that’s a really hard thing for a lot of creatives trying to get in the industry to understand. At a minimum, you owe the industry your creative talents. But to propel yourself forward, you really have to have solid soft skills, because so much of this world is not just sports… it’s corporate. You work for a corporation, so you’re expected to have good integrity, be punctual, be able to carry a conversation and an etiquette that makes sense for that environment. Be able to pitch even if you’re a creative, you know what I mean? Because that’s part of soft skills. It’s kind of crazy that you don’t really think about it.
But those internships definitely helped me because I was working with talent and clientele and stuff like that that were obviously a million ranks ahead of me in life. But I didn’t want to be seen as an intern, I wanted to just be seen as a professional. So yeah, I think it really taught me a lot about just owning up to those soft skills and developing them.
Do you think you would place more value in those internships than you would say, like, your schoolwork? I mean, of course, your schoolwork is important, but just kind of: what’s the difference between what you get from those two different components of “getting a degree?”
You know, I don’t know if you want to put this in the paper.
We laugh.
But I would say the majority of what I do now was learned after college. What I got at A&M was a really great experience that again, really helped me enhance my soft skills. You know, the courses I took at A&M really kept me structured and organized. And, I think that that’s a huge reason why I’m so successful. Because everything that I do now for my work comes down to being organized and setting myself up for success before I even start anything.
And, I mean, that probably has ties to just A&M in general, you know? Everything creative came after A&M, because I didn’t get into any programs, or, you know, shooting programs or anything like that. I was in SWAMP, which is screenwriting, acting, and movie production club at A&M. And I did swamp I think, for one year.
Okay!
But, um, yeah, that’s about the extent of creative stuff I did while at A&M.
Okay, so once you left A&M, what was your game plan at the time? And then how did that go for you?
So, after A&M, much like everybody that is trying to get a job out of college, it was very difficult. You know, I didn’t have four to five years experience. I feel like that never changes, regardless of generation. But what I did have was a really solid resume because of the resources at A&M. They have, I don’t know if it’s still called the annex, but?
They do! Yes, yeah.
Okay! But, yeah, they had resources and people to help you out over there to kind of look over your resume and structure it. That helped a lot with just basically setting me up for HR companies with these different places I was applying to looking for a certain structure. So I was already ahead of the game in that sense.
Yeah. And I had some solid background and experience just through those internships. I didn’t have actual production, but I did have really good internships. I had a really well structured letter. And for some of these companies, where GPA mattered, I had a 3.9. So for all intents and purposes, it was a good resume and the demo reel will come with it.
Okay. So then, in between graduating A&M and your current job, I know that you said you went somewhere and you developed your first couple of skills there.
So right after A&M, I took a job out in Silicon Valley in Menlo Park. I’m from the Bay Area originally. So one trick that I basically had to do because no companies would basically take any calls is I had used my dad’s address in California. So whenever I was applying for places on the West Coast, I was using my dad’s address, and lucky enough I did get a call. So that helped! But yeah, so the first job I took was very light motion graphics work. I was working out of PowerPoint, essentially doing really rudimentary type of animations for a medical plan company. But then at some point, you know, after the first year, there was a need to learn a higher form of animation. Specifically motion graphics with After Effects.
They were kind of looking to see if anybody knew it. And, you know, I kind of volunteered myself saying, Yeah, I know it! I didn’t really know it. So I dove in After Effects and literally taught it to myself in a little over a week.
And that was basically good enough to pass by and get done what they were trying to get done.
And then throughout the away, we kind of invested more resources into training and education. So I was able to do more advanced stuff through the company, because they were helping us out and paying for it. And then eventually, there was a need for video integration with motion graphics and animation. And again, I kind of volunteer myself saying, ‘Yeah, of course, I know video’. I really didn’t, I have a camera that could shoot video and photo, which is what I pitched and basically kind of did the same thing.
I went to YouTube for a week straight and just kind of learned it. And it was passable, until I really need to learn some more advanced stuff. And, again, having an addictive type personality, I just kept learning it on my own on the weekends.
Okay, wow!
So eventually, I transitioned back to Texas. My girlfriend (who’s now my wife) and I both moved to Silicon Valley to work. And now we moved back to Texas, because we knew we kind of wanted to start a family and get married, and it just wasn’t gonna be possible in California. So when I came back to Texas, I took a job doing some virtual reality work, essentially working with a guy that I knew back in the Bay Area. He was starting a new company in Texas, and he needed some help getting started. So again, [I] didn’t know much virtual reality stuff, but kind of taught myself that and did that for a solid while. And then there was a need by a company for a graphic designer. You know, I applied, having no graphic design experience. But I ended up getting the job. And I think about after eight months, I was leading a team of six.
So yeah, and then after that, I left that job to work with companies all over the Dallas metroplex, being able to offer services in graphic design, motion graphics, video…
I just, I got kind of lucky because I had applied to this cowboy thing. And I thought it was like, just shoot for a game or something like that. But what it ended up actually being was, they’re looking for somebody like me that had all these different skill sets that could kind of create a department. The department would create all these videos for all their partners. The partners of the Dallas Cowboys, like the big partners you know – AT&T or Miller Lite or Sleep Number – all have contractual video assets built into the deal year to year.
Yeah, no, so not only somebody that could create and go and execute, but somebody that also knew how to pitch new ideas, generate revenue, and create content that they could sell. So that’s essentially what I did.
You know, I interviewed on and off for roughly four or five months and ended up getting the job offer at the end of it, and then kind of started building my team. I think after about two and a half years, after we did such great work (me and just one intern at the time), the company saw a real need for the production we were creating across the entire organization. So they let me essentially build a new department called Creative Video, which essentially serves as an in house agency. And I think at this point now have about seven cinematographer and editors on my team.
So this team didn’t exist before you got there basically?
He nods his head.
Okay, so then how did that go for you? Do you find it easy to lead people creatively, and what was that dynamic like for you guys?
Yeah. So, for me, if you were to ask me what my greatest strength is, I wouldn’t even say I’m a great colorist or great cinematographer, or anything like that. I would say the best trait I do have is focus, like I could probably edit for 45 hours straight, with no sleep, and just work at the same capacities. When I start, I get so locked in on whatever I’m trying to do or accomplish that it’s hard for me to let go. And I know, sometimes I need to just step aside because it’s probably good to get some sleep.
We both laugh at his comment.
But I know, like, if I can do that, anybody can do that. Like, they may not be at that point yet.
But, I- I have a passion for instilling passion. If that makes sense?
No, yeah, totally!
So especially for things that, you know, I’m invested in. So for folks that want to be on my team, you know, there’s a likeness, they’re invested in the same type of thing that I’m in. So I want to see that drive also in them. So, every job I’ve ever taken, I’ve always led some type of team in some way. And, you know, I’ve been fortunate to give many promotions along the way. I’ve so far never had to fire anybody, because I’ve just been able to lead very passionate and hardworking people.
Yeah, but yeah, for me, I don’t find it hard. And I come from a military background. So that’s a plus for going to A&M. For me, again, it comes down to that structure aspect of my life. So for me, growing up in that military style background, it was never about, you know, winning by myself, it was always kind of winning with the team.
Okay, and so what is it like, when you were looking for people? What were you looking for within a teammate, basically?
So at the end of the day – I actually just mentioned this on a podcast I was on – I just want to know that at your core, you’re a good person, and that you have the body of work to pursue this interest in this career. Because I can teach you all the skill sets needed for the job.
I could care less where you went to college. This is probably not what most people want to hear, especially parents, but it’s true.
There are some innate qualities that you can’t really teach! But for the most part, like, I can get somebody 95% of the way there, but what I can’t teach is trying to get you to be a good person, you know, at your heart.
No, that makes sense! You’re gonna want everyone to have drive around you!
So for you guys, now I know everyday may not look the same, but do you have a typical day-to-day when it comes to the job? Especially like, in season? What does that look like for you?
Sure. I would say no day is ever the same. But I think that’s kind of beautiful. I think that’s obviously a big reason why we enjoy what we do. Because I think routine is fantastic. I’m as successful as I am because I have routines in my life. But I think, yeah, sticking to one routine all the time is never good. I think too much of anything is not a good thing. So for me, and I think a lot of my team as well, we love to embrace the chaos that comes with working in the profession that we work in. Because we’re never just shooting football.
You know, football is actually a small component of our business. It’s only 17 weeks a year, if you think about it, for the regular season. And then postseasons is only a few more. So for the rest of the year, we have everything else that we need to do. So we could be working on a documentary one week, we could be working on corporate partner sponsored videos, we could be shooting in Mexico with the cheerleaders, we could be shooting marketing campaigns for the star or the stadium tours like… it’s just always different.
I kind of want to highlight that this is something that you’re passionate about. And I want to know, would you say that this fulfills your passions and how much of a creative outlet do you and your team get working together?
Yeah, no, that’s a great question.
For me, I played sports my entire life – played in high school and I played rec sports at A&M in college. So, like, sports have always been with me. Likewise, everybody on my team has played sports at a high level.
But it’s never something I ever saw myself really getting into. Especially in the creative world for me, you’re thinking of just photography, or shooting weddings, or music videos, or small movies. Sports cinematography is such a niche and the community is actually really small. So for us to be able to shoot sports, in the way that we do and the quality that we do is a dream. This is on top of being able to be able to work on documentaries, mini series, and promo in national commercial spots. Like you get to handle every genre of content. You get to work with every facet of production. But you know, the stakes aren’t as high as a, you know, $250 million film, you know what I mean?
Yes! Yeah.
Like you get in, you get to work with people that are in the trenches with you and understand what needs to get done, and have really good camaraderie.
And I do!
Just to take a small break from the questions, I really I enjoy what you’re saying about the amount of freedom you kind of get. Not to make it sound like it’s like a free-for-all or that you get to do whatever you’d like, obviously, but like there’s always a goal, and a vision. But I think it’s so interesting how you, throughout this entire time we’re talking, went into it with the mentality that you could learn to do it.
A lot of people, instead of taking a chance and just doing it, they’re going to take more time to go ahead and learn it completely. And worry about it before being like, “okay, yeah, I’m qualified.”
So I think it’s so interesting how you’re talking about: I know that I was capable of doing it, and anyone could do it as long as they really truly desire to. And I really, really enjoy hearing that. Because I don’t know, when you were at A&M, how big sport management was or media was at the time or how popular it was.But I know that it’s really popular right now on campus. And a lot of students are worried about knowing how to do everything right now. And kind of panicking when they don’t get an opportunity to go ahead and start off something because like you mentioned, a lot of people want to apply to 12th Man Productions. And not everyone has the experience to be on the team.
And it kind of just feels like: well, I guess I’ll never learn and I’m going to graduate in a year, so I’m never gonna do it! So I think people are really going to appreciate hearing what you have to say about it, especially because you have such an important position. You get to have such an outlet, and a creative space to do something super impactful. And I think people are gonna feel really encouraged by it. I’m really glad to hear you say that.
Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Yeah, in terms of sports management, like it was definitely a thing. But it had not yet exploded into what it is across all campuses. And I think like for me along my journey, and just everything I’ve done, what I’ve come to really learn and find out is there are no rules to success in life. Like you’re, you know, you’re the barrier or you’re the road to your own success. So sometimes it’s hard. To be honest, I myself live with imposter syndrome every day.
I know, I do a lot of cool shit. And I work with a lot of cool people, but like, I only know what I know. And I don’t know what I don’t, so some days, that’s a great thing. And some other days it terrifies me. But, you know, at the end of the day I try to just think of it as: I’m just super fortunate to be able to do what I do and and just know that, like, if I want to do something else in life, I can just do it.
Yeah, sometimes you’ll see it on IG too, or people that you know, like sometimes people will get internships or work with certain programs or players that have like, zero experience and it shows and you’re just like, “How the heck like do they get that?” Like I know, I have way better background and experience but sometimes it’s just putting yourself out there and saying that you can do it. A lot of these places that are hiring, it’s either like, “Hey, do you know somebody that can do this?” and it’s a word of mouth thing, or it’s just, “Hey, this is the first person that hit me up through a DM, do you want to give them a shot?”
I then shift the conversation to some of his accomplishments during his current position.
So, I know that you did that Lamb series. Is there anything you want to share about doing that? What was that like? And was it exciting for you? And how long did that take? Were you proud of what you did?
Yeah, I honestly often credit that series as my team’s big break. It’s kind of the reason, I think, why we were able to create a new video department. At the time, I was working at corporate partnerships and this was a contractual partner piece, right, for Sleep Number. Um, nobody really gave us a game plan. This was peak Covid.
We chuckle.
I think we were all at home, me and my team, and losing our minds. Because, we couldn’t shoot. We were only editing Web-X videos and stuff – it was just awful! So, we were like, “there’s gotta be a way we can do something creatively”. So, what we did was take some online courses and random filmmaking courses like that. And we ended up making or writing out a script on something around our draft pick. And, you know, there were no real like barriers which was kind of surprising during Covid, so we kind of just did this thing. We told PR what we were planning on doing. We contacted everybody, from his mom to his high school. Everyone was just so down to do it! Again, it kind of goes back to the ‘no rules to success’. We just wanted to try something different, and it ended up being like such a crazy thing. I think all three episodes combined got over 1 million views in less than a month. We were like, “Holy sh*t this is nuts!” None of us had ever really created anything like this before. We had never created a series or anything like that before. This was the first of its kind. And, yeah, it just kind of exploded. It was just me, another full-timer, and a part-timer. We drove down to Houston, to Louisiana, the swamps, and back to Dallas. It was all filmed in like two or three days.
Wow, really? Didn’t you guys win an Emmy for it?
Yep! The first of many. It was so awesome.
I think that is just so cool. To think about the fact that you guys did it so quickly and with such a small team, that must have been really rewarding. It was a cool series. It was awesome.
On top of that, will you kind of explain the schedule release also? Was that kind of the same thing?
Yeah, sure! So, the schedule release kind of came out of nowhere. We got confirmation that Post [Malone] was down to do something, because his dad used to work for the Cowboys, so he’s got ties to the Cowboys. And, honestly, I think this was a result of Lamb, which is why I credit it with everything. But, they wanted that level of production done for the schedule release! So, me, Connor McMahon, and Ben Fallin – the three of us got in a room and started working on a storyboard and a script of what it should be. We kind of developed this concept around Post Malone being this mailman – or Postman rather – and basically trying to work his way to Jerry to deliver the schedule. It was just like this wild story pitch that, again, one of those things where you create something, like a storyboard, and on the day of production nothing goes to plan.
And you’ve got to be okay with it. It’s more often than not that’s the way it works. So, yeah, Post, luckily he got there early. But, Jerry, he basically had to go on first instead of last. So, we had to shift the entire production around. We needed both of them together to view all of their parts, before we could film Post separately doing his own parts.
Okay, okay! That’s interesting to know.
Yeah, it was just another wild crazy experience that kind of came out of nowhere. But, again, there are no rules to success. It’s just, we took the time to storyboard this out and figure out exactly how we wanted to shoot this. We had about two or three production dates before the actual shoot where we ran through the entire timing of it all, shot-for-shot on all the shots we wanted to get. [We] brought the footage into Resolve to do some color work to test out the colors we were looking to get. It was just an awesome source of collaboration.
Yeah, no, that sounds so exciting. And, I’m sure that you guys were really proud of what you guys did!
Yeah, for sure.
I remember seeing it, and, when preparing for this interview I remember being like, “Oh my gosh! I didn’t know that he was behind this!” It really is interesting, because all of the details on how it came to be and the fact that the team is also so new, is just so interesting!
He smiles and nods encouragingly at this.
Well, I just want to ask if you have any sort of advice for any aggies right now whether they are recently graduated or in the middle of school just about being passionate and letting that drive their careers?
Yeah! I’ll try to keep this as condense as possible, just because it’s a really long answer.
It’s going to be really challenging for a lot of folks in college. There’s just so much going on in your classes on top of trying to work to support yourself, trying to be involved in clubs, trying to do volunteer work, and just trying to do everything you can to set yourself up for after college. Where I think a lot of the stress for a lot of folks comes from is their grades. Don’t get me wrong, I had really good grades in college, but I almost wish I had spent more time invested in actual work that was going to be applicable to the jobs I was applying to. So, what I would suggest is try to find a good balance into finding those opportunities. And, think outside the box! For example, a lot of people want to work with athletes or in the industry but don’t know how. But, for example, every athlete has some sort of foundation or charity set up. Try to contact their foundation director and ask, “Hey! Do you need any help or assistance?” Because, that’s not only a direct access to that director and everybody else that they manage, like other foundations, but to the player themself. Then, hopefully, there’s word-of-mouth to get you on a team. Because, they’re like, “they do really great work for so-and-so’s foundation, they can do really great work for your foundation”. There’s just so many different routes, you don’t have to try to take the route that everybody knows about.
I then go on to agree with Drew and share how much I love the message he is sending to panicking college students. I extend my thanks to him and ask him smaller questions about the industry and such.
What I find most important about this interview is seeing the “I can do anything” attitude driving success. As an aggie, we are constantly surrounded by impressive students and alumni! It’s easy for us to wonder if we are doing insignificant work compared to our peers, but Drew highlights the importance of taking matters into your own hands and trusting your process. There’s a beautiful work ethic to be obtained in Aggieland, but there’s even more growth that will happen after graduation.
Keep finding new passions, Ags. Keep those close to you.
Keep learning new soft and hard skills.
And most importantly, keep putting yourselves in uncomfortable learning situations.