How Airrack's Videos Get Made

This weekend we’re diving into the world of video production. A producer is typically a catch-all term for the person who manages all the parts that go into making a video. While that varies depending on content—whether producing a daily talk show like Good Mythical Morning or videos that can take months to produce like MrBeast’s challenges—they involve similar high-level tasks such as setting the film schedule, budget, securing location, props, and staff, and making sure everything meets expectations.

“We’re spending up to $30k on videos, and if you have that kind of card you have to make sure that the creator trusts you and doesn’t have to micromanage you to make the right decisions,” Hayden Trowbridge, Airrack’s lead producer, told us.

Trowbridge has been producing for Airrack for over a year, and shares that as a producer, you have to solve problems that have no written solutions.

“With the Spider Man video, I had only three days to produce it. We had to figure out—how do I climb a building for under $15,000? And that’s only one bit in the video. It’s putting all the pieces together,” Trowbridge said. “When things are getting done at a high level, there are so many balls that can be dropped—it’s figuring out how to problem solve and not take no as an answer.”

Trowbridge is 19 years old and dropped out of college last year to work with the creator full-time. He shared with us how he got the position, and advice he’d give to others who want to work with a major creator.

This is a part of a series where we highlight the faces that make up the creator economy—getting a detailed look at the people and operations behind some of our favorite creators, and what it takes to make videos for millions of followers.

The following responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.

How he got here:

When I was 16 I started going to a place in Venice called the Good Work House. It’s a three-story office building where a bunch of creators and entrepreneurs and creative types all come to gather and enjoy music and connection.

There, I was introduced to Yes Theory by BC Serna, who was one of their best friends. That led to me graduating high school realizing I wanted to work with creative types and help them build stuff.

I did a year of online community college and a mentor of mine, Donovan, who I met in high school and is now one of the biggest poetry TikTokers in the world, suggested I send a cold email. So I cold emailed Zack Honarvar, Airrack’s manager, after Airrack had just hit 1 million subscribers.

I did a two-week trial with them and I’ve been working there ever since. It’s been a year and a month. I was production coordinator, producer, executive producer, production assistant—basically everything up until February, when we hired another person for the production team.

The skills that are really important are people skills and building trust with your creator. Being good with people, being able to interact with the team and put all the pieces together from creative to budget to brand deals—you have to make sure all that’s integrated into one place.

Career goals:

In five years, when I'm 24 or 25, I may want to go back to school if my interests change. But as of right now, I don't see myself going back because I think I'm actually making an impact with the work that I'm already doing without any extended period of traditional education.

Long-term career-goal-wise, it’s always been on my heart to work with high-level individuals and help them be successful, be the guy that people can call when they need help, because the creator thing is so new. It’s exciting and I want to see if it’s for me as I enjoy problem solving and helping people.

Best advice:

When it comes to emails, keep it to two sentences. State who you are and what you can do, then attach a project of some sort. If you want to work as a thumbnail designer for a creator, attach personalized thumbnails for their video that you’ve recreated.

The easiest way to access a creator is through their community of friends. Networking in person is the most underrated tool. Even though we have digital access, physical interaction is so much more important. The only reason I have the job that I have is that I was going to events where all these other people were gathering.

Our Take

Despite the creator economy being a new, digital-first industry, many classic work tenants hold true—mentorship can cultivate a strong work ethic, and in-person networking can pay off.

Seek guidance and IRL facetime with local creators in your area. Though we’re more digitally connected than ever, nothing accelerates relationship trust and growth faster than in-person time spent.

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🤝 CREATOR SUPPORT

Publish Press readers share a problem they're facing and creators Colin & Samir respond with their advice.

Facing a creator problem you want help with? Share it here→

🔥 PRESS WORTHY

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• Lifestyle creator Brittany Vasseur shares how she overcame anxiety around YouTube.

• TikTok introduces screen time limits.

• James Blake’s latest album takes inspiration from Lofi Girl.

Our condolences are with the friends and family of Cooper Noriega. We hope to continue his work spreading mental health awareness—on July 16th, a nationwide mental health hotline is launching in the US, accessible by dialing 9-8-8.