For DeRozan, the leap from sports to storytelling wasn’t as unlikely as it sounds. “The parallels are that sports can also be broken down into 3 acts,” he explains. “They have desired outcomes, conflicts, and then adjustments that lead to a resolution.” He credits his athletic background for instilling the discipline that now fuels his creative hustle. “My sports career has helped me as an actor because I learned the value of hard work, having a process to achieve an outcome, and being able to manage loss/rejection.”
In 2017, DeRozan launched his production company, Videohead Films, with a clear mission: to tell stories that matter and to create opportunities for his peers. “The vision was to produce and tell stories that were important to me, to employ my friends in the industry and progress toward feature opportunities,” he says. That vision has since evolved. “I have written the feature script for Celebrity and will begin pitching it later this year.”
His breakout short Pure earned widespread festival praise and marked a pivotal moment in his artistic journey. “Pure was my first—as a writer, producer and lead actor,” he recalls. “The experience of taking an idea and grinding through the process of getting it made, then seeing it on the big screen was something I’ll never forget. My confidence grew because I’d completed something that at times felt impossible, but I was also humbled because I realized how much I had to learn.”
Humbled, but never hesitant, DeRozan continued pushing boundaries with shorts like Black Face, The Color Happy, and Hillside Avenue, often wearing multiple hats on each production. “When you self-produce, you have to do so much of the work yourself, so I had to learn new skills and rely on help from others,” he says. “Each one of these hats inform the others in different ways. I learned so much about auditioning when I had to cast my film. I learned about working with actors when I was directing, and writing helped me understand storytelling more deeply.”
His filmography is as genre-fluid as his résumé—ranging from biting comedy (Dirty White) to chilling horror (Very Frightening Tales) to hard-hitting social drama (Black Face). “Comedy makes me feel the best, drama challenges and inspires me, and horror probably excites me the most,” DeRozan says. “I believe my voice is maintained because the heart of the story and characters is consistent, regardless of the genre.”
And yet, some of his most meaningful roles have been when he steps into stories he didn’t write. “Honestly, when I get to step into someone else’s story I feel enriched because I get to do what I moved to LA to do—act,” he says. “In those moments I feel like a little kid getting to live out his dreams in real time.”
Born in Oakland, raised in the Midwest, and biracial, DeRozan brings lived experience into every frame. “Nothing was easy about where I came from or how I grew up, so my characters often reflect that in some ways,” he says. “For me, that includes identity. It’s something I used to shy away from when I was younger. Now, I embrace it. It’s one of my superpowers for sure.”
His latest shorts—Black Face, Eye Witness, Long Claw, and the aforementioned Celebrity—are proof of his fearless approach to tackling provocative subjects in a compact form. “My process is to focus on the subject matter, then find the best character to represent it,” he explains. “Then I decide what portion of the story will raise questions, challenge the status quo or inspire conversation.”
With representation from Aqua Talent and Storm Management, DeRozan is now poised to leap into longer formats. “For me, taking that leap is about timing and experience, and the time is now,” he confirms. “I’m currently pitching Magic, my first feature script, and have another one right behind it. The latest is the feature script for Celebrity, a short film that we shot in Amsterdam.”
While he’s open to collaboration, creative control remains important to him—when it’s earned. “The only way to retain complete artistic control is to do it all yourself,” he admits. “But at the end of the day, I have to choose my battles and make decisions about what I can and cannot live without.”
Brian DeRozan isn’t chasing trends. He’s building worlds. And in an industry hungry for authentic storytelling, his voice is not just relevant—it’s essential.
