2011 Youth Entrepreneur of the Year - Brandon Deyo - The Mars Reel

On June 16, 2011, Brandon Deyo, a senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, MD, was named the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year for Greater Washington by Ernst & Young and Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area. Brandon, who is 19, was honored for founding The Mars Reel, an online sports entertainment and video production service.

As an avid high school basketball player, Brandon searched for a company that would film his games to increase his chances of being seen by college coaches. Upon finding none that would, Brandon founded The Mars Reel in February 2010 with partners Bradley Deyo and Greg Goldfarb to create videos for himself and his friends. He received such a positive response from colleges that other high school athletes began seeking out his services, quickly transforming The Mars Reel from a personal project into a full-fledged business.

Today, The Mars Reel films, edits, and publishes a wide variety of online videos, including game highlights, recruitment videos, mini-documentaries, short films, commercials, and promotional videos. The company publishes its videos for free via YouTube, and generates its profits from both online advertising and commissions from video production projects. In just over a year of operation, The Mars Reel has attracted over 4,200 subscribers on YouTube and its videos have been viewed more than 1.1 million times. Brandon will enroll in Howard University next fall to major in Economics and minor in Entrepreneurship. To learn more about The Mars Reel, visit www.TheMarsReel.com.

For more information about the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Competition, please visit www.myJA.org/students/yeoty/.

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