Production company Invisible Collective has signed the Turner Brothers–a directorial duo consisting of 20-year-old Justen and 24-year-old Julien–for representation spanning commercials, branded content and music videos.
Known for their recent collaborations with Beats by Dre and Nike, the Turner Brothers bring a lively, melodic voice to Invisible Collective, as they center Black stories and play with tempo, humor, movement and color. This marks their first official signing with a production company. The brothers continue to maintain Dreadhead Films for select film projects.
“When our co-founder Steven Love, Jr. first shared their reel, I was blown away, knowing they conceived, shot, and edited the pieces themselves,” said Tracie Norfleet, Invisible Collective’s managing director. “They have all the hallmarks of the greatest directors I’ve worked with in my career–smart, clear communicators with a deep respect for the filmmaking process and an outsized passion to move people with their visual stories. Mark my words: these guys are going the distance.”
Full-blown creatives, the Turner Brothers started collaborating from a very young age as musicians, then filmmakers. The brothers started small, casting neighborhood kids in budget sci-fi flicks they fundraised for by mowing lawns, while quickly tapping into a natural gift for playful, stylish, and competition-winning visual storytelling that led them to form Dreadhead Films.
“Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid, rocking braids, was the first time we saw someone who looked like us on screen,” said Justen. “We’ve been chasing the goosebumps we got from that film ever since.”
In 2017, on the heels of one of their projects going viral, Sesame Street asked the brothers to provide a short film for their 50th season, making them the youngest ever filmmakers to contribute to the show. From there, the Turner Brothers’ rise has been meteoric, leading to prominent narrative collaborations with Beats by Dre, Air Jordan, Nike and Adidas, the presentation of a TED talk about uncovering your superhuman boldness through filmmaking, and a spot on the 2022 Forbes 30 under 30 list, which highlights only the best and brightest talent in 20 industries.
Last year, their 2022 Nike x Social Status campaign “Free Lunch” earned them a Webby, but their current favorite film is “Recess”, the second installment of the three-part short film series. The comedic narrative short follows a teenage basketball player through his action-packed and often hilarious life, lacing in engaging point-of-view shots, animated movement, and over-the-top energy.
“In two years we’ve done eight short films in promotion of Nike, Jordan, and Airship shoe drops, which has led us more into the commercial space,” said Julien. “The Social Status short films have lots of characters, humor, and were really fun to shoot.”
Julien added, “We have such a comfortable, authentic relationship with Invisible,” said Julien. “We’re confident they will support us in making the work we want to make at the scale we’ve always dreamt of.”
