the ideas company
Film . Music Festivals . Project Management . Documentary . Events
Santa Barbara
the ideas company
Film . Music Festivals . Project Management . Documentary . Events
Santa Barbara
First of all, a big "thank you" to our Clients ....
Why did these companies hire us? Well, sitting at the junction of marketing, music, video and events, Brainstorm Creative has been helping companies develop compelling stories around their brands for over thirty years. We have helped launch spaceships, computer chips, airlines and hotels. We have given audiences goose-bumps, rocked them with laughter and brought them to cheers. We know how to create concerts and tell stories that make you and your brand shine, and we’ll send your audience home whistling your tune.
“Brainstorm Creative provides some of the best creative thinking I’ve seen in the industry. You can always count on them to come up with the “big idea” that’s required to set you apart in today’s marketplace”. Lisa Busby – The George P. Johnson Company
“We have been very impressed with Brainstorm. They are smart, highly creative and a pleasure to work with.” Diane Merrick – VP Marketing, Cisco Systems
MUSIC FESTIVALS
Brainstorm Creative Produces Extraordinary Live Music Events
MUSIC FESTIVALS
Brainstorm Creative Produces Extraordinary Live Music Events
Where World-Class Artists Meet World-Class Production
Brainstorm produces large-scale live music events with the precision of a touring promoter and the soul of a mission-driven organization. From concept to curtain call, our team manages every element required to deliver complex, high-profile concerts that meet the expectations of world-class artists, discerning audiences, major sponsors, and public-safety partners.
Our capability spans creative vision, technical execution, and operational logistics. We design compelling event concepts and experiences, then execute them through end-to-end production management—stage and site design, sound and lighting systems, video and broadcast readiness, power, permitting, safety planning, and on-site operations. We are fluent in producing outdoor, non-traditional venues, including private estates and destination locations, while maintaining broadcast-level production standards.
Artist relations are a core strength. We directly secure and manage headline and supporting talent, handle contracts and riders, coordinate travel and hospitality, and create environments where artists feel supported, respected, and excited to perform. This trust allows us to attract top-tier performers and deliver seamless, drama-free shows.
On the audience side, we create premium guest experiences—from general admission through multi-tier VIP programs—integrating hospitality, sponsor activations, and thoughtful crowd flow. Our events are designed to feel immersive, elevated, and intentional, not transactional.
What truly differentiates us is our ability to combine concert-level production value with disciplined governance and mission alignment. We operate with rigorous budgeting, risk management, and stakeholder coordination, while still delivering the energy, emotion, and polish of a world-class live music experience.
In short: we don’t just put on concerts—we produce destination-worthy live music events that are operationally sound, creatively powerful, and unforgettable for artists, audiences, and partners alike.
History
The origins of Brainstorm’s live music experience can be traced to the now legendary Kick Ash Bash, a spectacular concert for 4,500 heroic First Responders, following the Thomas Fire and debris-flow that struck Montecito in 2018. Put together in just six weeks by Executive Producer Kirsten Cavendish Weston Smith, the ten-hour event was a ground-up green-field build, and was headlined by Katy Perry, with sets by David Foster, David Crosby, The Doors, Kenny Loggins, Alan Parsons and many more. In 2026 we will - for the fifth consecutive year - be staging the main One805LIVE! event on September 26th, at the oceanside estate of Kevin Costner in Santa Barbara. We are adept at doing a ground up build on this spectacular green-field oceanside site. One805LIVE! is produced to the highest standard, overseen by Executive Producer Kirsten Cavendish Weston-Smith, with a team including Music Supervisor Alan Parsons, veteran music video producer Bruce Spears, and and Mick Treadwell (lead staging producer for Live Nation Las Vegas).
Brainstorm has worked with all the following artists:
One805LIVE! Performers: (In alphabetical order)
Jeff (Skunk) Baxter, Joe Bonamassa, David Crosby, Elliot Easton (The Cars), John Fogerty, Good Charlotte, The Fray, David Foster, Macy Gray, Thelma Houston, Laurence Juber, Robbie Krieger (The Doors), Maroon 5, Michael McDonald, Katherine McPhee, Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx, David Pack (Ambrosia), Wally Palmar (The Romantics), Alan Parsons, Katy Perry, Glenn Phillips, Wilson Phillips, Pink, Darius Rucker (& Hootie), Danny Seraphine (Chicago), Al Stewart, Steve Vai, Tricia Yearwood.
Ideas On Film
Brainstorm Creative produces film and video all over the world
Ideas On Film
Brainstorm Creative produces film and video all over the world
Shooting on everything from Imax and 35mm to drones, Arri’s and GoPro's, Brainstorm Creative has worked in over 40 countries, creating branded content, TV spots, feature film, dramatic short-films, VNR's, web-video, documentaries, aerial footage, animation, product videos and testimonials. We have been held-up at gunpoint by rebels in the Yucatan, charged by elephants in Africa and suffered altitude sickness in the Himalayas. We have worked in the urban canyons of the worlds great cities, on glaciers, down mines and atop rain-forest canopies. We have filmed in deserts, jungles, underwater and under-cover. We have flown hundreds of hours of aerials, been dropped by helicopter into the aftermath of natural disasters, tossed like corks on the stormy seas of the South Pacific and shivered at 30 below in the Arctic circle – all in the pursuit of the compelling stories we tell for our clients across the globe.
“Brainstorm Creative delivers the goods. They made everything so easy and produced the most beautiful aerial footage I have ever seen for Virgin America’s launch.” Gareth Edmondson-Jones – Virgin America
Ideas Alive
Brainstorm Creative Produces Events
Ideas Alive
Brainstorm Creative Produces Events
We bring ideas alive with skillful and experienced project management. We don’t do boring. Brainstorm Creative has turned 5,000 Microsoft sales-people into a single interactive musical instrument, integrated laminar-flow water jets into an executive presentation and were using digital face-tracking animation way back in 1992 (before the internet even - how about that?). Be it the roll out of the worlds first commercial space program for Virgin Galactic, a road-show around South Africa for General Motors, or creating a pop-up of the Parisian nightclub “Buddah Bar” for one night (in Geneva) for 200 CEO’s, you can rely on Brainstorm Creative for everything. From concept, technical management and budgeting, to creative content, set-design, and staging. Always original, always creative and always reliable, we will bring your project to life and send your audience home surprised, informed and inspired.
“When I think of the events we created together, they rank among the work of which I am proudest. Our collaboration with Brainstorm Creative was always creative and exciting. They quickly “got” what we were trying to say and challenged us with ever better ideas about how to say it. From idea to execution, a first rate outfit.” Larry Lang – VP Service Provider Marketing, Cisco Systems