Meet Kelsie Key & Brey Browne | Co-Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelsie Key & Brey Browne and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelsie and Brey, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As filmmakers and creatives, we decided to start our own business after working together for several years. We met on the Hulu/Freeform series, Cruel Summer during the pandemic. Over time, we worked on many commercials and various productions together before I, Kelsie Key, took a job as the Creative Director for Dallas-based nonprofit, EarthX. During my time working there, I often hired Brey to help me edit promotional videos, graphic designs, create branding, and we collaborated of various campaigns. We realized we had incredible synergy and made some fantastic collateral together. Last fall, in 2023, my son had his first shot at being a starter for the Aledo Bearcats pee wee football team. We decided to capture some highlight reels and mid-way through the season we found ourselves creating a documentary together. This really catapulted our decision to take a risk and start our business. Our film, Bearcats: We’re Still Here, will be premiering at the Dallas International Film Festival on April 27th at the historic Texas Theatre in Dallas.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We both have very different paths that led us here. For Brey Browne, he always knew he was born to be a filmmaker, he has been creating films since he was in high school. In college, with the support of his family and friends, he directed many short films, many that ended up going to various film festivals across the country. Later on Brey would move to DFW where he continued pursuing his passions. Since then he has worked on over 200 various projects including films, television series, commercials, and live events as a producer, editor and art department set dresser.

For Kelsie Key, she has a different path that led her here. At the age of 14, she began nurturing her love of photography. She shot her first wedding at the age of 15 and went on to photograph many concerts, weddings, portraits and more. She had plans to go to nursing school, but after becoming a mother, she decided she wanted to pursue her passion for the arts instead. She heard an ad on the radio for a show that needed extras, she applied and went on set. Her very first day on set, someone asked if anyone knew any “PAs” (production assistants). She immediately raised her hand and said “I’m a PA!” (even though she had in fact, never been a PA) and to be honest, the rest is history. From there, she fell in love with everything production. She said yes to every opportunity thrown her way, and eventually went on to become an Assistant Director and later on a producer. It’s been over a decade and she hasn’t looked back since. She was truly in the right place at the right time, and was willing to take a chance on this unconventional career. She also has over 200 credits to her name in television, film, commercial and live events. She would later on become the Creative Director for Dallas based nonprofit, EarthX.

Collectively, we both agree that even though this career takes a lot of work and is certainly not easy at times, it is absolutely where we are meant to be.

We have learned to say yes to every opportunity, to always be willing to learn, and to lead by example and keep the energy as positive as possible.

For us, our brand is called “Something from Nothing Productions” because we have learned to be resourceful, and to truly make something out of nothing. Several of our collaborations have come from having very limited resources, but finding a way to make it great. We love story telling and hope to continue to empower brands, people, and just about anyone, to tell their story. No idea is too big or too small for us.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We have so many places in DFW that we love.

We would absolutely take them to start off their trip in Dallas. We would head to see our friends at the 4DWN Skate park, a place doing so much work to give back to the community, then we would grab some food over at Casa Del Vegano before heading to Texas Theatre to watch a film!

We would definitely make another day out of going to the Dallas Arboretum and another day at Meow Wolf!

We live in Fort Worth, so a lot of our time would be spent there! We would definitely have to catch a live music show at Tulips, grab a drink at Tarantula Tiki Lounge and Nickel City in Southside and we would definitely be sure to stop into Morgan Mercantile for some awesome Fort Worth Merch.

We’d have to be sure to spend some time at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens as well.

Lastly, we would definitely go for a hike at Eagle Mountain, our absolute favorite trails in Fort Worth!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people who helped us get here, it may take up 2 pages!

I would say first and foremost, we would like to shout out to our families and close friends, specifically our parents, who have always supported and nourished our love for making things. They have consistently encouraged us to follow our dreams.

Also, to anyone who has ever taken a chance on us by offering us opportunities throughout our career, thank you.

Website: https://sfn-productions.com

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Image Credits
Something from Nothing Productions