Simon Clark is young man, but has already made a name for himself as a filmmaker and director in Omaha. Coming from a family of public relations and media experts who own Clark Creative Group, it’s no surprise he’s inherited an eye for imagery.
“I would say the hands-on experience of growing up on my dad’s commercial sets gave me inspiration to be a director,” he began. “The reason why I like this industry and job is because I love people’s stories, and I love brand stories.”
At 25, Clark has already worked on projects with clients across the nation. This is a high achievement, having just graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2021.
His college experience is a familiar one, especially for creatives…meaning he shuffled his major on a few occasions, like most young adults not exactly knowing what they want to do. It calls to mind a memorable quote from the MTV classic Daria: “My goal is not to wake up at 40 with the bitter realization that I’ve wasted my life in a job I hate because I was forced to decide on a career in my teens.”
Starting with music technology, he tried journalism his sophomore year but eventually landed on general studies during his last semester. In the interim, Simon worked at his family’s company before going solo in February 2020; Simon Clark Productions was born.
Using his experience from Clark Creative Group, he now develops advertising campaigns and music videos.
“Music videos are my favorite project coming from a music project,” he says. “I was a drummer [for Clark & Company], now I make music.”
One frequent collaborator for his musical ventures is Mendon Hale, a country musician based in Nashville. So far, Clark has directed and produced three music videos for Hale.
In Hale’s Hands on the Heartland, Clark captured Hale with a western Nebraska agrarian dreamscape as a backdrop, a veritable army of extras in support. It reads as a statement about working-class people in the small towns dotting the Midwest.
Clark did have an inspired undertone for this project.
“Growing up in the Midwest, I feel there are a lot of misconceptions about Nebraska,” Clark said.
Closer to home, Clark has worked with Boyd Redinbaugh, owner of The Simple Man, a store that specializes in men’s apparel, accessories, and grooming supplies.
Redinbaugh and Clark met years ago at a barber shop, only later coming together to strategize on how to enhance The Simple Man’s social media presence.
“The reason why I chose to work with Simon is, number one, he’s a local person,” Redinbaugh said. “Beyond that, he’s really creative, super flexible, and has a good eye for lighting. He keeps things fresh for me. He knows the current atmosphere and mood for social media.”
The collaboration originally began with Clark producing monthly video segments featuring tip videos or learning how to mix a cocktail.
Scrolling through The Simple Man’s Instagram page, the mood Clark captures is what local men’s fashion is known for: comfort, ease, muted colors… and lots of flannels.
One of Clark’s more recent projects is his nonprofit called The Broccoli Creative Collective—a platform designed to connect, promote, and grow a community for creatives in the Omaha metro.
He founded Broccoli in 2018 after realizing there was a need for local creatives to connect and support each other on a shared platform. Especially helpful for artists, Broccoli frequently does giveaways, photoshoots, and videos. Perhaps most importantly, it’s free to use.
Clark isn’t too concerned with what he’d like to do in the long-term or what dream project he’d love to work on, but he wants to keep growing and eventually open his own studio one day. Lucky for him, he has the better part of a lifetime to get there.
Visit simonclark.productions for more information.
This article originally appeared in the October 2022 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.