Vans Warped Tour was known for putting on unforgettable shows, but the tour’s 2016 Orlando stop was downright momentous for Christian Jeric Trono. The Media Communications grad talked his way into the festival to sharpen his video production skills by filming bands like Sleeping with Sirens and Coldrain for free. He didn’t know it at the time, but the final version of his video would kickstart his career as a videographer. Today, Christian is pursuing music-related videography and working on video content at VaynerMedia, an international social media digital agency.

Christian started filming and editing videos when he was growing up in Thailand. He found out about Full Sail from a United States-focused college event and decided to head to Florida and earn his bachelor’s in Media Communications. Once he arrived on campus, Christian made the most of his time in the United States by creating as many videos as he could and networking as much as possible.

“I had a limited time. So, every opportunity that came with Full Sail, like meeting speakers or the founders of certain things, I knew that was probably the only time I would meet them. I tried to introduce myself and I think I owe a lot to that mindset. And I think Full Sail really drilled that in me to go for it and network,” he says.

His experience with Vans Warped Tour is a perfect example of how his passion and tenacity helped Christian get ahead. Towards the end of his time at Full Sail, Christian found out that the tour’s founder, Kevin Lyman, was walking around campus. Christian tracked Kevin down, introduced himself, and asked for an opportunity to help out while the festival was in town. Kevin rewarded Christian with a media pass, and Christian shot as many clips as he could. He sent his final edit over to Kevin, who posted it on the tour’s official Facebook page and tagged Christian.

“It was really surreal,” Christian recalls. “I used that as a stepping stone to the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival. I told them, ‘Hey look, Vans Warped Tour let me do this.’ And they gave me a media pass. I found the official people there who were hired to do what I was doing for free, and I networked… I met Jay Sansone, the founder of Human Being Media, made another video that got uploaded, and I asked him to give me some editing jobs. My first paycheck after graduating from Full Sail was editing a two-hour video of concert footage for around $1,200.”

Christian’s portfolio from the music festivals helped him land video internships at companies in New York, like Billboard and Complex Networks. When he returned to Asia, he pursued freelance projects and worked at Mixmag Asia as a Digital Content Executive before landing a role as a content creator in VaynerMedia’s new Asia-Pacific branch in 2021. The full-time position is helping Christian gain valuable experience at a major ad agency as he continues to pursue passion projects on the side.

“I think it really has to come from the heart,” Christian says of his success. “You’ve got to really like what you do in the process and the satisfaction that you get from it. I get fulfilled after being part of a big project that I couldn't do on my own or just impressing myself, doing things that I didn't think I could do or manifesting things and making them happen. If you're the type of person that has that in the first place, don't worry because it's already in you.”