It's rare that anyone comes up with an idea in the media that can be considered 100 percent original these days. Let's face reality, most concepts have been tried and some worn out before they were even categorized. The life span of a new idea or venture tends to be short-lived and quickly retired to a status of "normal." This spans all media: magazines, websites, videos and, in most respects, music. So what keeps the passion and entertainment factor alive? Is it the person with the concept? Or maybe the content they envision or possibly a sweet mixture of both?
This subject came up on a weekend road trip from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Iowa City, Iowa. As my travel partner pro racer Zac Willett and I rolled across Interstate 74, we discussed all types of things to pass the time on a dark, rainy eight-hour trip. Our adventure was leading us to the premier of Carpe Diem 4. The new video was the sixth full-length production by creator Brad Phillips, CEO of Premis Industries. At some point during our caffeine-induced energy, the question was raised about the differences in all the ATV videos on the market. Basically we discussed our favorites and why we liked specific movies. And, like so many other conversations, we kept dabbling further away from the original question until we finally reached a completely different subject matter. What started as idle chatter ended up in a note-taking conversation about creativity and Phillips the person.
Brad has been around ATV racing for a long time. His career started around 1996 racing locally, followed up quickly with the GNC motocross series. He continued racing till about 2004. In the meantime Brad became a full-time student at the University of Iowa. He graduated in 2006, majoring in business management and entrepreneurialism. He has since been involved in book publishing on the subject and is considered one of the top ATV feature film producers. At 26, Brad is a household name in ATV racing families and fans of ATV riding around the world.
Phillips has created and produced the successful Carpe Diem series, and in 2006 released the first ATV documentary entitled, Beating the Odds, that highlighted a week in the life of several privateer racers. It was his attempt to show the world what struggles many up-and-coming racers deal with on a daily basis. So how does Brad feel about all this and about the industry as a whole? I sat down with him at a local restaurant and spent the next few hours really getting to know him.