The 10:10 CREATIVE

They say Nashville is a 10-year town, in that it takes a decade to really make one’s mark. But for the 10:10 Creative, it’s happening much faster. Headed up by the husband-and-wife team of Steve and Dani Jawn, the film and TV production company has been making waves since its founders arrived in Music City eight years ago.

It’s where Dani and Steve (“Director Steve” to those in the know) hail from that defines their outside-the-box artistic approach — the notoriously hardscrabble Delaware County, located in the shadow of Philadelphia. Even more underdog than Philly itself, “Delco” fosters a never-give-up spirit in its natives, a trait that has helped the couple persevere and succeed in a business littered with failed careers.

Through hard work and unrelenting hustle, the 10:10 Creative has become a sought-after creative partner, working with some of Nashville’s most buzzed-about artists: songwriters Rachel Wammack, Travis Meadows and Christian Lopez, country-radio star Brett Young and singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw. The 10:10 Creative has earned four CMT Music Award nominations including one for Old Dominion’s music video for “No Such Thing As a Broken Heart”, a colorful multi-media romp set inside a video game that turned the idea of what a music video can be upside-down. Steve and Dani’s video for Old Dominion’s “Break Up With Him” was equally unconventional: paying note-perfect homage to Back to the Future by placing the band members in the film’s pivotal Enchantment Under the Sea dance scene.

The 10:10 Creative — named after a DIY talk show that Dani produced as a kid — doesn’t only work within Nashville’s internationally recognized country industry. They’ve created content and special projects for a diverse roster of acts like Truth and Salvage Company, Los Colognes, Intergalactix and on-the-verge songwriter Shawn Lacy, whom Steve met while soundtracking his guerrilla-style “Entourage-for-losers” web series Little Hollywood. The 10:10 Creative has also been the official production company for the Nashville “Live on the Green” summer music festival and for Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Fest. Director Steve first met the Swingers actor while serving as a production assistant for Vaughn’s company in Los Angeles.

Perpetually creating, Steve and Dani are currently in pre-production for their feature film GONE LIKE THE NIGHT, a musical featuring Nashville singer-songwriter Shawn Lacy. They are also set to film the docu-style WE’RE STILL ALIVE, about a group of 40-somethings who reunite to re-create one epic high-school weekend step-by-step.

The couple divides their time between Los Angeles and Nashville.

-Joe Hudak, Senior Editor, Rolling Stone