Becoming the Iron Imager, bringing the belt back home to London and the LA experience!

Tags:

2018, benztown, benztown branding, Brad Leask, Capital FM, imaging, iron imager, LA, London, Los Angeles, NOVA, pro tools, promo, sam wickens, UK, US, World Wide radio Summit, WWRS

Guys, this was a death match :)…I never felt the decision has been so close. Brad and Sam created an Imaging firework within an hour with predefined elements they did not know – right that is the concept of Iron Imager, but it is incredibly complicated. After Sam got back to London in one piece after celebrating his title with Brad and the benz crew I took the chance to pick his brain about learnings, the LA experience and what might already have changed for him.

Sam, Congrats!!! Mate, I cant be happier as your story is kind of a modern fary tail.
Why, I just insert the FB post from Ash, so everyone understands Sam’s story a bit better.

After proving himself worthy of a fulltime job – today, he’s the winner of the Benztown Branding Iron Imager.

Enter Sam

1. How do you feel winning the title iron Imager and bringing the belt back to the UK?

It’s something that is still sinking in – I still can’t believe I made the shortlist let alone the final. It’s incredible to get recognition from my peers in the industry who I have so much respect for, people who have been doing this for a very long time and are incredibly talented. Brad is one of those guys who I look up to and it’s great to compete against someone with so much talent – it pushed me that bit further.

2. How did the actual contest feel? How was it?

My heart was racing and I was very nervous. For the first few minutes, it didn’t feel real – I almost forgot how to use ProTools with all the nerves! As time went by, the creative ideas started to kick in and everything started to flow. As Ashey Bard said to me: “You make promos every single day, so go make another one.” That was good advice – I treated it like any promo I would make at work, gave it my all and tried to be as creative as possible in sixty minutes whilst paying attention to all the little details.

3. What has been the biggest challenge during the competition?

The biggest challenge by far was having the composure to keep going when I felt like things weren’t working. There were so many directions I could have taken the promo – with a huge amount of options given to me in the work parts. At one point I looked over to Brad who was moving so fast and I thought ‘Man, I’ve got no chance’ but I just kept going and tried to just pretend I was back at work making another promo like I do every day. Using a smaller screen was also a challenge, as I’m used to working on a iMac.

4. LA? WWRS ? BENZ crew? Could you describe your experience altogether?

LA is a great place – I loved every minute of it from Hollywood to Venice Beach. I barely scratched the surface as it’s such a huge city, I’m excited to go back next year and see more. WWRS was a great networking opportunity for me, I met some great people from the industry and learned a lot from areas of the business that I usually wouldn’t have as much involvement in at work. The Benztown crew are a great bunch of guys and gals, I loved spending time with them and I’m so thankful for their hospitality and showing me a great time. I can’t wait to do it all again next year with the brigade.

5. What did you learn and what areas you need to focus improving defending the title next year?

I’ve learned that sixty minutes isn’t a lot of time! I know now what sort of tools Benztown can provide me with and what to expect next year in terms of content. I’m hoping that if I continue developing as I am then I’ll be someone hard to beat next year, plus I plan on using a newer laptop – so that will help.

6. Anything you want to tell Brad ?

Brad and I spent a lot of time together whilst in LA. Probably an abnormal amount of time considering we were competing against each other! He’s a good lad and we had a lot of laughs and good times together in the week we were there. See you in oz this summer mate!

7. Who would be a great contender next year?

Anyone! If you’re passionate and love imaging then enter! I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d come this far in this competition and if you believe you’re good enough then that’s already half the battle over with. Me getting this far really is a testament to Capital and the team that taught me everything I know. If one of the boys from the team ending up being in the final, that would be incredible.