Forbes Under 30: Columbus brothers Julien and Justen Turner Building Hollywood in Ohio

Posted by: Grace Brezine on Tuesday, July 18, 2023

By Grace Brezine, Greater Cleveland Partnership

Columbus brothers Julien and Justen Turner haven’t let being from the Midwest, or their youth, hinder their quest to turn their filmmaking dreams into reality.   

Julien, 25, and Justen, 21, have been named to the Forbes Under 30 list for 2023 for cofounding their own production company, Dreadhead Films, and the success they have had with their narrative short films. Just a few years into their career, they have partnered with companies lincluding Beats by Dre, Nike, Amazon, Air Jordan, Adobe and others to create and shoot narrative campaigns – and they are just getting started.   

The two were stunned when they saw that they had made the list – finding out in a group chat.  “I clicked on the link and saw our faces,” says Julien.  “We've been able to leverage that.” 

They have already earned several honors beyond Forbes, including Webbys for Best Video Campaign in Advertising and Best Video Campaign for their Nike x Social Status campaign, as well as the gold award for New Director of the Year at 2023's The Shots Americas Awards.

The brothers’ personal history inspired them to not only pursue their dreams, but to use their talent, passion and platform to educate their audience. They call this the “Turner brothers twist” -- seen in all of their films. 

“Our perspective has been heavily influenced by our experience…We were in both majority and minority environments…transitioning to Central Ohio [from Champaign, IL] where we joined spaces where we were often the only minorities in the space, being able to see the flip side of the coin.  In a lot of our work, we often try to infuse some type of commentary on it or just address and educate the audience,” Julien explains. 

*Julien, left, and Justen Turner have found success being true to their vision -and roots. (All photos courtesy of the Turner brothers)*

The brothers were exposed to the power of film early in life. Their parents always had VHS cameras, and some of their first memories of filmmaking are playing around with iMovie on their mom’s old iMac.  

“We would go into iMovie and use the transitions to make it look like we had superpowers. We’d make it look like we disappeared, teleported and stuff like that because we were always interested in sci fi and fantasy. I think having access to those types of software inspired us to keep creating,” recalls Justen.  

*The Turners grew up playing sports - and making films.*

Both Julien and Justen view growing up and producing most of their work in the Midwest, instead of a major city like LA or Atlanta, as an asset.   

“It definitely gave us a unique perspective that creatively helped us develop our voice without a lot of outside influence. Our parents aren’t in the film industry. We don’t have any people in our family or close to us that have been in the film industry,” says Julien.  

Starting in the business so young was a challenge – but they never gave up. 

“Because we got started about 10 years ago, we’ve always kind of had to navigate being the youngest, which is both a gift and a curse. But as we get older, it’s less of either. There are a lot of times where we weren’t able to cash in on opportunities because of our age,” says Justen. 

The name for their company, Dreadhead Films, is rooted in their past. 

“We saw ‘Karate Kid’ and it was the first time we had seen a young Black man in a blockbuster film, globally, with the big afro. He had the braids, too -- that inspired Justen to grow out his hair,” says Julien. “That was what sparked the idea that you could tell stories for a living and really inspire people. And from there, we kind of ran with it and when we needed to create a name for our company, we made good out of this story. So that’s where Dreadhead Films comes from, and it stuck.” 

Despite its distance from the action of Hollywood and other major entertainment industry cities, Julien and Justen both plan to stay in Ohio. They are especially inspired by what Tyler Perry has done for Atlanta , transforming it into a major city for filmmaking. They hope to do something similar for Ohio.   

“As projects and remote work become more and more normal, we plan on staying here and being able to attract jobs and attract projects. And being able to keep the money, keep seeing the revenue and keep the opportunities where we truly care and in the place that allowed us to grow our vision,” says Julien.  

In the next five years or so, the Turner brothers plan to build onto their film studio in Columbus and bring longer-form narrative projects to the area. Besides continuing to pursue their own dreams, they want to support filmmakers in the Midwest by acting as a resource for young talent in this industry. They are currently in conversations for a debut feature film, which should be announced soon.   

Their success is inspiring – and a reminder to never give up. 

“If you do something every day, if you make progress every day in the right direction, it’s inevitable that you’ll get there,” Julien concludes. 