When you play by the BOOC, you play to win.

Richmond natives Bevin Brown, Chris Scholar, and Drew Ashby are doing just that as winners of South by Southwest’s 2023 Audience Award in the Music Videos Competition.

Their video “HER” by Drew Ashby won in SXSW’s Film & TV Festival category.

Directed by Ms. Brown and Mr. Scholar, Mr. Ashby’s instrumental visual for “HER” is described as a young man’s pursuit of purpose and romance. It reflects Mr. Ashby’s eclectic style and the creative content of BOOC, a Richmond and Los Angeles based production company that gives voice to underrepresented communities by providing Black-owned original content.

How did they get here? It all started at home. Ms. Brown and Mr. Ashby are the children of Terri Seay-Anderson and jazz musician Ashby Anderson, founders of the Richmond Youth Jazz Guild.

Music, of course, was a staple in their home, but so were their dad’s tender pieces of advice.

“My dad is full of quotes,” Ms. Brown said. “He would say ‘Proper planning prevents problems.’”

Their parents’ words, business etiquette, and encouragement of their creative muscles certainly carried into their careers. Ms. Brown credits her parents with helping to establish a guide for a building a successful business.

“I would always see them switch things up,” she said. “The way that they marketed or packaged [themselves]. The way that they would story tell. I knew going into business you always have to be malleable and willing to change. I think that’s had an impact on me when it comes to growing BOOC and being patient because things take time.”

Music is at their roots and is internalized as a spiritual experience. Mr. Ashby says you have to feel the music when you play. “My dad would say when you are performing, you should almost feel like you will shed a tear,” said Mr. Ashby.

Mr. Scholar also comes from a creative home; his father is a choir director and his brother a dancer. Watching them helped him develop his own taste for music. Being an artist himself, Mr. Scholar understood that it was important to not limit his abilities and make sure that he is useful. “Anything I did, I explored creatively,” said Mr. Scholar. “I always wanted to be useful in any situation. When you become useful, you can be helpful to others.”

Ms. Brown and Mr. Scholar initially met at First African Baptist Church and reunited as students at Virginia Commonwealth University. They’ve been married for two years and living in Los Angeles for five years. Expanding the family affair, they brought Mr. Ashby aboard as their artist to help him create more music.

With the SXSW award, it adds to the growing list of accomplishments of BOOC.

They have notable credits for writing “Rule the World “ for 2 Chainz featuring Arianna Grande, “Sorry” for Chris Brown, have been nominated by Country Music Television for their directing on “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly, and have directed both the 2022 and 2023 Black Future Maker campaign for AT&T.

When asked what this award means for the company, Mr. Scholar said it gives them validation. “SXSW is a very curated and respected space, so for us to win an award, our peers will look at us like, ‘Oh wow, their art is respected,’” Mr. Scholar said.

“Just being apart [of SXSW] has invited a whole new wave of community that we didn’t have before,” Ms. Brown said. “And that community helps us dive deeper into our craft.”

Rounding out the year, the trio will move forward with releas- ing Mr. Ashby’s body of work. His next single is titled “Souf”. BOOC will continue working with their other artists Gal, Big Chalice and Mr. Scholar, and tell narratives on their YouTube channel, By The BOOC.