Benilde-St. Margaret’s is full of a wide variety of students with fascinating passions and interests. On top of sports, clubs, and other activities, a select number of ambitious learners have worked hard to start their own businesses outside of BSM walls.
Senior Will Bransford discovered a passion for filming two years ago after experimenting with a drone. He enjoyed flying it around Lake Harriet, capturing short landscape videos in the meantime. After some research, Bransford purchased camera equipment and began building a brand where he could profit off his newfound hobby. “I thought that there could be some money to be made in the freelance industry. So from there, I bought equipment and just kind of started doing free work and eventually built up to where I am now,” Bransford said.
While shaping his brand, Bransford took inspiration from other successful companies. He sketched ideas and contacted a graphic designer to bring his name and logo to life. “I knew I wanted a catchy name that people could remember that wasn’t my name. And I thought of the name Lyrical Lemonade (a multi-media company) was a perfect example. So I was on the drawing board for a couple days, and thought that cinema cereal could do the exact same thing,” Bransford said.
To jumpstart Cinema Cereal, Bransford filmed free gym promos and worked hard to develop his editing skills. Promoting his content to TikTok and Instagram helped him gain recognition and move into more paid commercial work. Over time, Bransford raised his prices and gained consistent business from athletes and small companies. As his following and talent grew, he attained the opportunity to work with notable personalities and teams at the D1 college football level. “I worked with many different teams and honestly industries, but for some of the exciting ones such as Colorado Boulder football [and] Dylan Wright, who is a wide receiver for TCU,” Bransford said.
Working mostly independently, Bransford has recently acquired some contractors to the team to work on marketing Cinema Cereal. He has big goals in mind and is excited for the future where he will continue to grow his business at college. He ultimately wants to build a great reputation in the commercial space and hopes to collaborate with big-name celebrities. “A dream collaboration for me would be making some videos for Bradley Martin (bodybuilding YouTube sensation). I started off with gym videography, so I think coming back to my roots and making something for the father of gym YouTube would be a great honor,” Bransford said.