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Rugged Buc Lab Content Studio now serving students

JOHNSON CITY — The East Tennessee State University Research Corporation announced the addition of four industry advisors to its team as well as the creation of Rugged Buc Labs Content Studio (RBL).

The new advisors include Scott Andrew, Ty Warren, Anthony Haney-Jardine and Jason Thompson. They will offer their support for ETSU Research Corporation initiatives as well as mentor ETSU students in the RBL.

Andrew is the co-founder and CEO of Rugged American Spirits, the holding company for Tennessee Hills as well as the founder and CEO of Retail Service Systems. Andrew is the author of the “Rugged Entrepreneur: What Every Disruptive Leader Should Know” published in 2020. He currently serves ETSU’s College of Business and Technology as an advisor and through the Andrew CBAT Leadership Academy. Andrew will serve as an advisor to RBL and to the Appalachian Highlands Center for Innovation, a partnership with Ballad Health.

Warren served as head of production for Netflix from 2016-2021, where he oversaw Netflix original projects such as “Stranger Things,” “13 Reasons Why” and “Making a Murderer.” He previously worked as executive vice president of physical production for Legendary Pictures, as well as senior vice president of production for DreamWorks Pictures. A Harvard graduate, Warren is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the boards of directors for Cinespace Film Studios as well as a technology committee advisor for ARRI camera systems.

Haney-Jardine, also known as Chusy, has received worldwide recognition for his film work at Sundance, Cannes and New York festivals. His company, Plan A Films, is a completely minority-owned film and media production company. Plan A has produced over 150-pieces of branded content for clients as diverse as Gatorade, Kellogg’s, Wendy’s, Microsoft, Toyota, US Bank, NAPA Auto, Stella Artois, Tennessee Tourism and Disney with branded content work and films winning global awards such as the Cannes Lions, Clios, ADC Gold Cube, Sundance and Effie awards.

Thompson is the co-founder and CEO of 33 Sticks, an analytics boutique that provides business advisory services to Fortune 500 companies, early-stage startups and marketing agencies. In addition to being an experienced analyst and entrepreneur, Thompson is the author of the analytics children’s book “A is for Analytics.”

“We are thrilled to have Scott, Ty, Chusy and Jason on board as advisors to the Research Corporation as we continue our innovation-focused mission. They are highly accomplished people who truly want to make a difference,” said David Golden, CEO of the ETSU Research Corporation. “Powered by the Research Corporation, Rugged Buc Lab and the Appalachian Highlands Center for Innovation will help connect and convene world-class innovators in our Region as well as drive project ideation, partnership and execution across our Region and beyond.”

Golden expressed these platforms will present incredible student experiential learning opportunities, with advisors who bring global experience to the research corporation.

“We are very appreciative of their willingness and dedication to enhancing the prosperity of our region and the world,” Golden added.

RBL is an interdisciplinary brand content studio created to serve as an experiential learning media and marketing lab for ETSU students. RBL students apply strategies in media content creation, social media management, digital marketing as well as analytics to meet organizational goals. Partners such as HubSpot and Brand Storytelling add additional support through technology access and mentoring. RBL will focus on telling and promoting stories of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Appalachian Highlands.

“The goal of RBL is to create workforce development opportunities that engage students from various ETSU disciplines as well as create and amplify stories that drive regional growth,” said Dr. Stephen Marshall, professor and CMO of the ETSU Research Corporation. “Universities must focus on workforce development and RBL gives students a platform to work on real campaigns delivering real career outcomes. Universities missing the opportunity to put more emphasis on experiential learning will be way behind.”

RBL and the industry advisors all serve and work under the umbrella of the ETSU Research Corporation. For more information, visit etsuresearchcorporation.org/.