DARREN DOANE
agency production brand strategy
data ai workflow consulting photography
design socials punk rock paradigm get stuff done
EST 1990
DIRECTOR
BLINK 182 SHINEDOWN
ZAC BROWN JASON MRAZ
KID ROCK VAN MORRISON DEFTONES AWOLNATION
MXPX ADTR UNCLE KRACKER
CAMPAIGNS
TOYOTA HURLEY NIKE JBL YAMAHA SONY AMAZON
A NEW EARTH PROJECT
TEVA CROSSFIT AMPEG
DAVID BAHNSEN
PRIME VIDEO SERIES
REPURPOSED BANE-WELKER
JOURNEY TO A NEW EARTH
THEY GROW UP FAST
BRAND STRATEGY
ATLANTIC PACKAGING HURLEY SIERRA ALTER TRADING FENNEC
ARMORED REPUBLIC CNC
I’m Darren Doane. I came up in the 1990s MTV generation, literally in the van, stapling flyers, filming in clubs, and learning to earn attention the hard way. Working with independent labels and the emo/hardcore/punk/metal scenes across college towns and underground circuits, a scrappy production outfit grew into culture‑shaping work: Blink‑182, Pennywise, Warped Tour—then Shinedown, Kid Rock, the Zac Brown Band, Van Morrison, and Jason Mraz. That momentum moved me from videos into full‑stack creative, live releases, compilations, photography, and campaign architecture. Founders Bob Hurley and Paul Gomez brought me inside Hurley to rethink surf and skate from the brand side: connect sport, music, and youth culture so imagery, story, and product spoke the same language. From there came launches and campaigns with Toyota, Yamaha, and Nike. From the first Phantom boardshort to relaunching the Toyota Sequoia. The through‑line wasn’t flash; it was authenticity, rule‑breaking craft, and speaking to people the way they actually hear. Even managed to make a bunch of feature films, with three theatrical releases grossing over 10M in the boxoffice. Which isn't bad for a few indie films. So I know a few things about investments, budgeting, expectations, reviews and rolling out a project across the country.
Today, through Doane Creative, I bring that builder’s mindset to film production, commercial campaigns, social media systems, and brand consulting. I’m fluent from docuseries on Amazon Prime to TikTok‑speed content, with AI woven through capture, edit, and analysis so we move fast and learn faster. My world ranges from small‑pharma startups to regulated categories like the firearms industry, commodities and data, because it’s all punk rock: understand the subculture you’re trying to reach and communicate with clarity. In heavy industry, we’ve helped leaders such as Sierra International Machinery, Alter Trading, and Atlantic Packaging’s A New Earth Project build initiatives that turn recycled metals and packaging into credible, compelling narratives, helping companies discover and articulate who they are.
Direct Line — Family Room, Global Network
I run a family‑room business. My wife and kids are part of making things happen every day, that keeps us scrappy, accountable, and human. Around that core is a bench I’ve built over three decades: business owners and founders, CEOs of billion‑dollar companies, artists and filmmakers, street level hustlers, directors and producers, copywriters, data analysts, and AI/LLM frontrunners, the people who actually do the work. For every project, I assemble a custom team from that network: surgical, senior, and aligned to outcomes. No bloated org chart—just the right specialists plugged in at the right moment so we move fast and deliver real value.
I’m easy to reach because speed matters. It’s my phone and my email, no gatekeepers, no “info@.” Text or call, and if we’re aligned we keep the thread going until the work ships. Want to see the range? Search “Darren Doane” on YouTube. For long‑form, check our docuseries work on Amazon Prime. Looking for a specific style or category? Tell me what lane you’re in and I’ll send you a link. Per project, I bring in the best people in the world to build the right thing, fast. Let’s get in the van and go.
Call/Text: 805-427-5700
Email: darrendoane@gmail.com
DIRECTOR
SOCIAL STRATEGY
“Your social media content strategy should be second only to balancing the checkbook.”
—Gary Vaynerchuk
Most businesses didn’t sign up to be film studios, and asking marketing to act like an in‑house digital creative agency only burns out good teams. Content‑as‑a‑Service is how we come alongside as a force multiplier: we install the system, shoulder the daily content load, and feed every department with assets that actually move the needle. It’s simply not realistic for a CMO or a lean marketing group to conceive, capture, edit, and publish at the volume today demands: series, interviews, podcasts, shorts, long‑form, and then learn from the data in real time. We’ve done this craft for 30 years, and we’ve run it explicitly in the social/content trenches for the last seven; we built the workflow so you don’t have to. Expecting interns or a couple of hires to become a full media operation is insanity; we remove the insanity. We bring senior producers, editors, writers, and AI‑enabled analysts, people we’ve worked with around the world, to assemble the right team for your project, fast. Your internal leaders keep leading while we publish daily, then surface what over‑indexes as your ad‑ready creative so marketing and advertising can pour gas on the winners. If you’re a CMO or head of marketing who knows the workload is impossible, that’s the point: we make it possible, reliable, accountable, and built to ship.
RELAX
CONTENT AS SERVICE
SERVICE
We install a publishing system inside your company, so you show up every day, on the right platforms, with content that feeds the whole funnel.
Core Positioning
Doane Creative is film craft + content ops: we turn your people, product, and place into a consistent content engine that makes you visible and credible while handing marketing a steady stream of winners to scale.
Why We Exist
Most companies don’t lack a story, they lack a system; assets sit idle, cadence is missing, and teams are stretched trying to be a studio; we fix that with a clear editorial plan and disciplined, daily publishing.
What Makes Us Different
30+ years from punk clubs to global brands, founder‑optional voice, minimal disruption via tight capture days, organic performance used as R&D for paid, and fluency from Amazon Prime to TikTok with AI woven through the workflow.
Operating System
We install in 30 days (Month 1 audit + setup); from Month 2 we publish 2–3 posts/day across two core platforms, deliver a weekly Signal Pack of over‑indexers (your ad‑ready creative), run monthly strategy reviews, and, once the engine hums, layer in long‑form, add platforms, and build quarterly series.
BILLION DOLLAR BRANDS
deserve authenticity
Darren Doane x John Sacco? We are an unlikely combination that big industry didn’t know it needed: punk‑rock grit meets industrial‑scale storytelling. For more than a decade we’ve worked side‑by‑side, bridging the factory floor and the boardroom, proving that recycled metals, steel, and commodities carry stories every bit as human and high‑stakes as any glossy consumer brand. Our collaboration balances speed and substance, getting things done while bringing a personal, non‑corporate touch to “big industry” narratives. The Amazon Prime docuseries Repurposed is our calling card: authentic, on‑site storytelling that spotlights players like SSAB, Alter Trading, SA Recycling, and Toyota, and shows the public what insiders already know, that this world is gritty, innovative, and vital. We don’t stage the truth; we frame it. Big industry can trust us to deliver films that pass compliance, respect the work, and still hit like culture, compelling, credible, and impossible to ignore.
THE BIG STORY
CONSULTING
Need clear answers this week? I offer one‑hour, no‑BS strategy calls (phone or Zoom) to cut through the fog and tell you exactly what to do next. Bring the messy questions: rethink your marketing org, how to work with creatives, fold content & social into what you already ship, docuseries or YouTube plan, production budgets that make sense, role comp ranges (CMO, Head of Marketing, Social Strategist, interns, videographers, editors), AI vs. Google Ads search strategy, LLM workflows by department, tools to adopt, tools to ignore. I’ve been doing the work for 30 years (the last seven neck‑deep in social), and I’ll give you straight answers, budget realities, and the fastest path to traction.
What you get (in one hour): clear direction, specific budget/comp benchmarks, a 30/60/90 next‑steps list, and—if useful—warm intros to my network: founders, filmmakers, producers, copywriters, data pros, and AI/LLM specialists across disciplines. If the problem needs extra muscle, I can pull a senior specialist into the call or set a follow‑up with the right person. No bloat. Just the right people at the right moment.
Guarantee: If 15–20 minutes in I can’t help, I stop the clock—no charge. If we finish and you didn’t get real value, money‑back. Simple.
BRAND AUDIT
30‑Day Brand Audit — what it is and why it matters
Our 30‑day Brand Audit is a one‑time, high‑signal diagnostic that gives owners and CMOs the thing they rarely get: fast clarity you can act on. Instead of a thick binder, you leave with a simple operating picture, what story you’re really telling, which platforms deserve priority, where your organic content already over‑indexes, and how to turn that signal into paid performance. We map strengths across people, product, place, process, proof, and point‑of‑view; pressure‑test beliefs about brand and “what’s on‑brand”; and define what you’ll do (and won’t) so execution stops stalling. It’s valuable on its own or as Step One into our Content‑as‑a‑Service: the audit de‑risks spend, aligns leadership, and replaces opinions with a cadence, a calendar, and a plan to ship.
Across the month we move like this, conversation first, experiments second, decisions last. Week One is intake and interviews: we pull platforms and analytics, talk with leadership/marketing/sales/ops, and capture the honest constraints to establish a baseline brief. Week Two is audit and analysis: we review performance patterns, technical hygiene (from pixels to GBP), category listening, and competitor signals to choose the “keeper” platforms and publish your first weekly Signal Pack of over‑indexers. Week Three is prototypes and tests: a light capture day (or remote coaching) to create real posts, thumbnails, hooks, voice options, and ad‑ready cutdowns so you can feel the system working. Week Four is synthesis and plan: a 30/60/90 roadmap with an editorial calendar, approvals and roles, measurement framework, resource plan (internal vs. external), governance guardrails, and a practical starter kit of templates and prompts. When we’re done, you know exactly what to say, where to say it, who presses publish, and how to scale what the market proves works.
SPEAKING GIGS
I’m available for speaking. I really enjoy it. Part history lesson, part field manual. From crawling into the van with underground bands and inventing the DIY playbook to directing culture‑shaping music videos and global brand campaigns, I connect the dots between the history of music videos, the evolution of cinematic communication, and why social media is the new punk‑rock underground that can reach the whole world by tomorrow morning. Available to speak at high schools, colleges, workshops, panels, private groups, and national conventions, blending mosh‑pit energy with boardroom clarity: how to get things done, enjoy the process, and produce creative that works. Expect real stories and practical takeaways, drawn from time with artists, stars, musicians, corporate leaders, and business owners that your audience can use the same day. If you want me at your event, reach out and let’s make something memorable.