Being a creative isn’t about mastering some set of arbitrary skills to earn an academic degree, it’s all about taping into one’s innate ability to be, well, creative. That’s something that defines the Madbury Club to a tee. The collective of eight likeminded individuals — which includes Phillip T. Annand, Ellington Hammond, Bryan Stevenson, Marcus Arman, Vinny Picone, Hyun Kim, Tone Tone and Peter Hironaka — is more SoHo than Madison Avenue and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
While a majority of its members grew up in New Jersey, the Madbury Club realized that their land of opportunity existed outside of their immediate surroundings. Taking a carpe diem approach, they took their big dreams and ideas across the river and set up shop in the Big Apple. Today, the team of self-made men operates from a Brooklyn home base, where they create marketing strategies, curate looks for fashion styling and direct ads for big brands the likes of Nike and Timberland.
Since kicking down the proverbial door, Madbury Club has been sought out by major ad agencies, including DigitasLBi, because of their innovative ideas and fresh perspectives. Most recently, Sprint tapped the collective to produce a three-minute feature on Orlando Magic rookie Victor Oladipo as part of “The Crossover” campaign, which premiered during NBA All-Star Weekend.
As word of the millennials’ knack for staying ahead of most trends grows, the Madbury Club continues to fill voids in the marketplace like caulk thanks to their constant and consistent innovation. With their list of accomplishments expanding exponentially, the Madbury Club seemed perfect additions to the Gentleman’s Project, a campaign, sponsored by Hennessy Black, that exposes readers to trailblazers in their respective fields. Hip-Hop Wired hooked up with Madbury Club members Ellington Hammond, Bryan Stevenson, and Vinny Picone at their Bed-Stuy headquarters to talk all things creative and then some.
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Photo: Margarita Corporan
