Live Card Breaking

For over a decade, I’ve been telling stories as a creative director, filmmaker, and podcaster—working across advertising, feature films, and social campaigns. But the landscape of film and media has shifted fast. AI, changing consumer habits, and the rise of social platforms have reshaped how stories get made and consumed. In between freelance projects—or sometimes in the gaps—I found myself ripping cards part-time. For the uninitiated, it’s opening packs of sports cards on a live stream—equal parts podcast, DJ set, and sports broadcast, shaken up with bartender energy. And every card we pull goes straight back to those who bought into the break.

What started as a side hustle quickly became something more. Collecting with my son, inspired by our love for soccer and tennis, pulled me deeper into what collectors call the Hobby—the world of sports card collecting. And make no mistake: this isn’t just a passion play—it’s an economic wave. Sports Illustrated projects the sports trading card sector will grow from $14.9B in 2024 to $52.1B by 2034, a 14.9% CAGR. After nine months of part-time card breaking, it became clear: it was time to unleash my skill set within the Hobby.

That’s why I’m excited about Hit Seekers. This is a growth-minded team with real momentum—named Greater Cincinnati’s fastest-growing company in 2022, and ranked No. 46 on Inc. Magazine’s 2025 Inc. Regionals: Southeast list. That’s not just impressive—it’s a signal of where this company is headed.

We’re not operating in a vacuum. The card collectibles world is still booming, years after the pandemic’s resurgence kickstarted the craze. As Sports Business Journal put it,

“the world of card collectibles is still booming after the pandemic-charged uprising in 2020.”

Then there’s the jaw-dropper: Shark Tank investor Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary recently joined a group to acquire a 2007–08 Jordan-Kobe logoman card for ≈ $12.9 million. He’s even called the card hobby “a classroom for entrepreneurship,” saying kids and adults alike are learning to weigh investments, risk, and timing.

All of this underlines why I’m here: moving into sports cards isn’t a career change, it’s a remix of storytelling, energy, and connection. The arena has changed, but it’s still the same pitch.

directed by Brandon Faris