Striking Out On Their Own: Ditmas Park Artist Couple Turn Passion Projects Into Successful Businesses

Brynn Elliott Watkins, founder of a revenue-generating lifestyle blog called Being Elliott, and her husband Aaron Craig of production company We Are Films, are a dynamic, creative and sometimes fearless couple working in the world of elite fashion, music celebrity and international travel. They’ve made films in African Safari ‘glamping’ camps with lions roaming around; they’ve shot scenes and styled sets for Sufjan Stevens and even had a wedding in Iceland.But Brynn and Aaron are also just a young couple living in Ditmas Park, eating at Cafe Madeline sometimes three times a week.“I love it here because it’s so chill, Cafe Madeline is my favorite restaurant and it’s so close! We go here so much it’s insane,” Brynn said.Aaron, a Texas native, moved to Ditmas Park almost five years ago, and gradually gained a bigger share of the apartment on Argyle Road where he lived with friends. He fell for Brynn after they met at a rooftop party in Williamsburg, and when they married two years later Aaron brought her home to Argyle Road from her pad on the Upper East Side and made her a Ditmas Park girl.

“I had never heard of [Ditmas Park] before, but the first place I went to was Oxcart. It was snowing outside, and [the restauraunt] had a really nice atmosphere. I’ve been here ever since,” said Aaron as we sat at a back table at Cafe Madeline.

To match a neighborhood they love, Brynn and Aaron have built an autonomous freelance lifestyle doing the creative work they love. “Our schedules mix so we get to travel a lot together. Brynn can work from anywhere, and sometimes being abroad helps her run the blog,” said Aaron.

But they weren’t always living the dream. Brynn started her career in corporate fashion, but quickly realized it wasn’t as fulfilling as she’s always hoped.“The [corporate fashion world]  was very stiff, with a lot of drama in the workplace I didn’t like. I’m not that kind of person. So I went out of my own and tried the freelance life, and did some smaller projects that helped me gain momentum,” Brynn said.

Work comes to Brynn from a number of sources — wardrobe styling for commercial products, styling clients, editorials in magazines, and creative consulting for brands. “It’s a lot of social media focus, content creation for social media channels, I could be wearing their product or make content with their product,” she said.

And of course, there’s her elegant and acclaimed lifestyle blog, Being Elliott, which got a boost after Brynn casually won an award that set her apart in the fashion world.

“In 2013, she won the ‘Internationally Best Dressed’ award from Vanity Fair,” Aaron interrupted, glowing with pride. Among other publicity appearances, she was featured in print version of Vanity Fair, and E! News on TV.

As a person who lives and breathes fashion, winning this award was almost an afterthought for Brynn. “I saw that the contest was going on really late, and put one photo up. The next day I got an email from the editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair saying ‘we really liked your photo, can you submit 5 more.’ I submitted things I thought looked really strong,” she said.

“I didn’t even know she had applied, it was a random late night thing that she did,” Aaron said. “My reaction was,  ‘I can’t believe this is happening right now!'”

Aaron’s career also took off from the momentum he built in small steps. “After college, I kept on working on little fun projects here and there,” he said. “My brother went to film school and we started collaborating. We’d create things and put them on Facebook to showcase our work, and we started getting calls from people after we made a Squarespace site. It is kind of weird, we didn’t expect to get work from this.”

Now, We Are Films is a full-time business for Aaron, with all the artistic and personal challenges that come along with running a creative company. “Every time we put out a video it’s nerve-wracking because it’s my company. If people don’t like this then it’s a reflection on me,” he said.

Aaron and Brynn get to not only live side by side but work side by side as well.

“I run We Are Films, and we do everything from music videos to documentaries to films and commercials. Brynn gets to help out a lot with wardrobe styling, and I get to help her a lot in her work, too,” Aaron said. For example, he shot video and photos for Brynn’s project where she reviewed a ‘Glamping’ experience in Capetown, on the grounds of an African Safari.

“It’s like glamping with uncaged animals — a lion or elephant could just walk up to your campsite,” she said.

Brynn then collaborated on Aaron’s favorite project to date: A feature documentary called Round Up, directed by musician Sufjan Stevens.

“We shot and edited the feature documentary about a Rodeo out in Oregon,” said Aaron. “My brother is a cinematographer and he worked on it too. It premiered and sold out at BAM. It was set to a live score, and it was really powerful to see. That was really fun, and also fun to be able to work with Brynn.”

“We work together a lot, but that was the first really big project we’ve done together,” she responded, noting that she worked on the scenes shot in Upstate New York and Dumbo. “I did on-set styling. I had to talk to the wardrobe designer and do a lot of coordinating, measuring, and running around to Chinatown to hunt for accessories and wardrobe things.”

For Aaron, the project was a nonstop surprise. “Sufjan Stevens is a lot funnier than I had imagined!” said Aaron. “He loves making good work. We did a complete edit of the whole video and it took a couple months, but when we finished he was like ‘okay, this is really good. So now that we know the content like the back of our hand, let’s stop and stretch, then do it again.” I was like, what? I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. But when we did the re-edit of the film, we knew what we wanted to capture,” he said.

Since then, Aaron has worked with Stevens on music videos and live concerts. “There’s a team of extraordinary people working with Sufjan,” he said.

The couple has also worked together on music videos for bands like Son Lux and The Wild Wild. One of Brynn’s favorite projects is the styling for a music video for the Wild Wild, where Brynn styled children as adults. “When you really bring out a side of them, Brynn takes it to a whole other level and it’s really cool to see,” said Aaron.

And as for advice for artists looking to break out into the freelance lifestyle?

“At the beginning, you can’t be afraid of taking on things for little or no money to build your portfolio,” Brynn advises. “I wasn’t immediately making money from the lifestyle blog. Connect with other creatives and just glean things from them.”

“If you’re in the corporate world, work on projects during your free time,” Aaron added. “Don’t work on things that you’re not proud of. Then eventually you’ll get known for the great things you’re working on and can spend more time.”