Max Gilberg discovered his passion for cinematography and filmmaking in the sixth grade. Growing up in Marin County, California, Max remembers making videos on his iPad at a young age and quickly becoming fascinated by the opportunity to creatively tell stories through videos. This was just the beginning. It was during his time in high school—where he started filming sports and producing shows for the school's television program—that he unearthed the perfect avenue to combine his love for sports and film. He hasn't looked back since. From photography to videography to social media branding, Max has immersed himself in the world of content creation over the past few years; and worked with elite professionals and organizations in the sports industry such as Scottie Barnes, Jordan Poole, DeAndre Hopkins, Unlimited Potential Basketball, and UNINTERRUPTED. Honing in on his commitment to produce eye-catching, innovative content, Max is excited to continue helping athletes grow their brands in the years to come while giving others insight into his work and personal journey as a creative in the space.
Diving into your journey early on, you mentioned that you discovered your passion for videography at an early age. From there, how did you then find your way into sports?
Yeah, good question! My high school had a TV station, so from there I just started filming sports for the TV station and that's kind of how everything took off. It's been great, honestly. It's the dream career for me. I've always been into sports, so molding my 2 passions for film and sports into one has just been a dream. It's been awesome, I enjoy it so much.
As you embarked on this journey, what were some challenges that you faced early on and how did you work to overcome them?
Starting off, it's hard to kind of see the path of getting to professional athletes. I was just working with high school and college athletes, and it's tough to see how you can make it into a career. For me, grinding every day, making more and more videos, and seeing myself improve helped me along the way. It showed (me) that I could really do this and make it into a full-time career.
Let's talk branding! How did you get started building your personal brand in the space?
I think social media is the biggest thing. I'm just now kind of realizing the potential that TikTok has with posting these videos in the last couple of months. That has really shown me that social media is the biggest thing in reaching a whole new audience and showing people what you can really create. TikTok has been great. I think Instagram is also great to build up a portfolio of posts and stuff; but TikTok is a whole new audience. You can see the reach of people from all over the world seeing my work for the first time, and it’s awesome just to see that. Also, networking in person. I lived in LA for the last year before I was in Toronto, and just meeting people in person, talking with them, and telling them my story and how I got to where I am now was definitely a big thing for my success. You know, you meet someone in the sports world, they introduce you to someone else, and then from there it just builds up.
You worked as a Digital Media Producer with Unlimited Potential Basketball. Could you share more with us about your journey there?