Today we’d like to introduce you to Zaryn Sidhu.
Zaryn, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I joined a break-dance group in 2007/2008 and we trained to compete in underground competitions, it was about 14 of us. After about 2 years the group went their separate ways and a few members stayed around and we decided to make a group to do shows. At the time, one of the dancers Kos (an original founder of No Bodies Crew) was an emcee who would frequently work private events on the weekends so we thought we could do shows at events at make some side cash.
About 6 months later, we received our first lead. Kos mentioned it but told me he passed because the client did not want to pay the $250/dancer rate Kos asked for. Kos then told me if I wanted to negotiate them he would give me their number. As a 21 year old college student who was lost, I could not think of a scarier situation then negotiating with someone else. I decided to call anyways, an ended up accepting a low $50/dancer rate… I saw it as an opportunity to get some cash to invest into what would become NBDS Production one day.
We did two amazing shows and earned $300 which was all funneled into business cards, a terrible website, and crew shirts.
Turns out the website had some good online visibility and with that and a few entertainment companies looking for new acts we started gaining traction in the South Florida industry.
It wasn’t long before I realized that we reached our cap in the private events industry in terms of our rate, as the talent began to be more polished, the performances with greater production and entertainment value and therefore the cost of our productions increased. We shifted all of our marketing efforts to establish what started as a dance crew called No Bodies Crew into the leader of Urban Entertainment in South Florida, providing entertainment to over 450+ productions since 2007. We added additional urban acts such as Graffiti Art, Flash Mobs, custom services, etc.
The great part of this business is that most of the talent that works with us I have personally known through the underground dance scene as long as 15 years, so there are deep relationships. We are personally very vested in the underground hip hop scene in South Florida and actively support and throw events (such as @MaadNoise a quarterly throwback hip hop dance party hosted at 1306 Miami, free to all attendees) to help connect the local dance scene and give back.
The brand has become very established in the Florida Meetings & Events industry, as we have produced entertainment for brands such as: Walmart, Kraft Foods, Macy’s, Conde Nast, Uni First, Gartner, AutoNation, MassMutual, Mercedes Benz, and McKinsey Consulting to name a few.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The brand struggled as it has transitioned in the active core talent over the years due to injuries, team members that became detached from the vision & values of NBDS, and people who have left Miami for bigger and better things in LA. Through this process I have found that reaching out to active entertainers from other underground crews has proven to be the key to build a team of the most elite underground urban talent that South Florida has to offer.
Please tell us about NBDS Productions.
We specialize in Urban Entertainment for Corporate Meetings/Events, and service the Film & TV industry as well, with our talent being featured in a plethora of commercials, and being active touring dancers for major Latin artists and other projects.
What sets us apart is our ability of consistently delivering an interactive urban experience that is both exciting and engaging.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing. I feel that everything has unfolded how it has. In the sense that we have learned from our mistakes and still continue to grow. Can’t ask for much more than that.
Pricing:
- Our standard acts start at $2,500, we also offer custom options starting at $5k
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nbdsproductions.com
- Phone: 800-606-5134
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/nbdsproductions
- Facebook: facebook.com/nbdsproductions
- Twitter: twitter.com/nbdsproductions
Image Credit:
VMA Studios
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