Justin Amatucci — CLUBELEVEN

Stepping back from soccer helped Justin rediscover himself.

Like many of us, he’d always dreamed of playing in college – maybe even pro at some point – but he never envisioned it giving him a fulfilling purpose beyond the pitch. Today, he’s one of the most talented video creators on the North American soccer scene, where he’s brought a fresh new perspective to telling stories of the beautiful game through Free Game Compendium. In just one year, he’s created multiple projects for himself, while also working for the likes of David Alaba, Charlotte FC, RSC Anderlecht, Red Bulls, Paramount+, and others.

Looking back, it feels as if that’s what he was destined to do all along.

Growing up in a small Florida town, he spent his childhood years sharing his love for the sport with others and converting friends and family into supporters.

“I’m pretty much a ‘first-generation’ soccer player and supporter,” he reflects. “I never really had anyone else to get me into it. I went to Epcot Center when I was little, saw a Chelsea jersey at the store for some reason, and they became my team. That’s really how I fell in love with the sport.”

Insightfully, he adds that “the growth of soccer here in the US kind of exploded at the right time” in his life. And he wouldn’t be wrong.

“When you’re young it’s easy to wake up early on the weekends and turn on the TV,” he says. “I would just tune into Fox Soccer at the time and sit down to watch all the games. I gradually got my family involved too. I downloaded all the soccer news apps, and eventually, my dad got them too. So then we were able to have conversations about what was going on with soccer around the world and bond that way. My brothers then started choosing their own Premier League teams, and it was great to share that as a family. I’m sure many others from my generation had similar experiences across the country. Those days of sharing the beauty of the game are still with me today.”

His love for the sport wasn’t only focused on what was going on abroad, though. Justin was also fascinated by what was going on in his own backyard, and those experiences would go on to shape his passion for soccer.

“Right around that time, Orlando City got started in USL, and my family and I would go to games all the time. I had season tickets all the way up until they got to MLS. There were probably just a couple of thousand people at every game, and I was one of them.”

“After practice, my friends and I would finish playing, and our parents would just take us to the stadium. The Citrus Bowl had big concrete areas, so we would bring our balls and play in the concourse. Sometimes we’d barely even watch the games. But it was great to be able to have that in our city – a place to support our local team and also meet up and play as kids. I also got to walk out with the team as a mascot, and I was a ball boy too. All those things meant so much to me when I was little, and it only made me love the sport even more. It was so important.”

Those seminal experiences would soon turn into dreams of one day playing in college. Justin’s days were consumed by training to make that goal a reality.

“I always wanted to play in college while I was growing up,” he says. “In my senior year of high school, I was so dedicated to going D1. But I ended up having to decide between going into debt to play for schools out-of-state or taking a scholarship for a school in-state. I just had to be realistic about my chances to play at a high level, and thankfully, I had the foresight to see that maybe I should take another path. I also blew out my ACL, though, which did break my hopes of playing. But that also helped me just focus completely on the next chapter.”

“It’s funny that when you grow up playing, people always tell you you gotta have a plan B,” he adds. “But you can’t imagine a life doing anything else. It really took a brutal injury to set me on a different path and think about what to do outside of playing.”

Fortunately, Justin had another passion just as important as soccer. He’d also been working on it almost as long as he’d been playing the sport.

“I started doing video stuff within the confines of school,” he remembers. “I made videos for my news media class, and it was crazy getting to record all these wild things in the afternoon and then seeing the final product shown to the whole school the next morning. I loved working on those video projects so much, but it was completely separate from soccer. I never even thought about combining them.”

“I would spend weeks working on these stupid little short videos of us dancing around or doing interviews. No one would spend that much time on them, but I would tinker with them the whole day. I loved the whole process, but I had no end goal in sight with those videos. I just did it for fun. It took me getting hurt and having to reevaluate everything, to finally go back to it.”

Justin couldn’t help but think, “What’s next? What do I really love doing? What’s going to bring me joy in the long term?”

And that’s what brought him back to making videos. It was something that he knew he would love doing now and also ten years down the road. It was a crucial moment in Justin’s life, and he felt he’d finally found his purpose.

“It clicked that maybe I could bring all my passions together. I wanted to combine soccer, videography, and music all into one thing. It felt like a perfect little package that not many people seemed to be doing at the time. It felt so personal to me, but then I got to see that others really liked that style too. It was so awesome to see that something that felt so personal to me, was also something that tons of other people around the country and the world could relate to as well.”

“I’ve found that even if your art seems crazy in your mind, it’s amazing how many people are out there waiting to see that exact thing you’re dreaming about. That’s the beauty of creating in the soccer space.”

But combining all his passions wasn’t a straightforward journey. Like it is for many creators in the soccer space, it took some time before Justin fully took the plunge.

“I was about to enter college as a film major, and a week before classes started, I decided to switch to marketing. I hated it from the jump, so I started to think about what I really wanted to do with my life. I just kept going back to my dreams as a kid. I loved the old Nike World Cup commercials, and I was just rewatching all of those great ones from the early 2000s. It’s always been my dream to direct one of those, so I decided to switch to advertising.”

Justin soon realized advertising didn’t necessarily tie into his dreams of producing films, but it was too late for another change in his studies. Still, he continued to explore filmmaking on the side with the hopes that maybe he could learn by himself.

“I knew I had to learn how to make videos, so I borrowed my mom’s old camera, and I would just find any excuse to go out and film. I would ask my friends to model, or ask to sit in on recording sessions, local band shows, anything. If anyone was willing to get in front of a camera, I was there ready to film. I was also in Photoshop every day just practicing, practicing, practicing.”

Soon after graduating, he found a job at an advertising agency, and that was a pivotal moment to show him what path he should really follow.

“I didn’t feel like I wanted to climb the ladder at an agency and earn a higher-level position in that field. If I was going to have a job, I wanted to have my ideas shared – not just do the grunt work. Even though I loved my time at that agency, and I learned so much about the industry, it seemed like my ideas would just get passed on. I didn’t want to do that anymore, so I started creating things for myself. I was learning things on my own and getting my hands on anything that could help me get better at video creation. I found so many resources, and I just outlined a checklist of things I had to accomplish to build my own brand step by step.”

“I focused heavily on creating my own visual style, reaching people in different areas, and making things that meet all the senses. When you look at Freegame, you see a strong visual identity in the mixed media stuff, there’s music involved, and I’ve also released embroidered pinnies to tap into the tactile sense. I want everything to come together for the senses. So all of that has always been in the back of my mind, and that’s how I’ve approached things. It gives purpose to anything I create.”

When it comes to his creative process, Justin tried many approaches, but it all kept coming back to one particular style: frame-by-frame animation. Today, it’s what helped set his projects apart.

“The first program I ever really learned how to use was Photoshop. In there, you can create GIFs, which is pretty much frame-by-frame animating. That’s the only thing I knew to make motion on a screen. Soon after, I found myself cutting out actual frames from either prints or drawings, taking a picture with my iPhone, and sequencing together an animation that way.

That influenced a lot of the process I have today. The beauty of it was that all of this was happening during quarantine, so I was just trying to kill time. It was the best thing to do because it takes so long. Now, I’ve learned how to use DaVinci or Premiere Pro to expedite the process, and there are loads of other programs to do this type of mixed-media animation.”

Aside from a unique technical process, Justin has also found a way to draw inspiration from other areas of his life to help with his video projects.

“When it comes to inspiration, I love being able to work in the soccer space because there isn’t really a roadmap yet. You’re forced to pull inspiration from other disciplines, and one of my favorite ones is music. With music, for example, I love the idea of how songs build up to a chorus, then crash back down, and then steadily reach the chorus again. It’s like a rollercoaster, and everything flows with intent, which is something I’ve really tried to incorporate into my videos. I love the idea of building tension and releasing it. I know music artists think about this when writing songs, and I like to take that approach with my videos too. It’s really cool that soccer allows us to pull these things from other forms of art and make them our own,” he says.

Music has not only helped Justin structure his videos in a particular way, but it’s also what helps him flesh out ideas from the jump.

“It all starts with music. When I listen to music, I always visualize a music video, or I picture how a player or soccer moment would tie into it. I hear words or lyrics and imagine how they would connect. I like going on bike rides in the mornings while listening to music. I usually ride for three hours, and I just imagine things in my head. I zone out, and then by the time I’m back, I usually have a good idea of what to do. With a few of my latest client projects, it’s been different, though, because I’m limited when it comes to the music I’m allowed to use. So I like to start those videos by thinking of one moment or one cool technique I want to explore and build everything out from there. At the end of the day, it all depends. I never try to force things when creating because inspiration comes in many different forms. When it comes it comes, and most of us can feel it when it arrives.”

Aside from music, looking back at his older work has also helped Justin find fuel to grow as a creator. “I always like looking at my old work because time gives you perspective on how you can improve,” he says.

“That’s how you progress. If you want to improve and hone your style, your ambition should always be higher than your ability. That’s how I’ve tried to approach things, and that’s what’s helped my execution get better little by little. I like to keep moving and chasing after that next ‘taste’ level.”

Part of reaching that next level has also been working on client projects for various soccer players, clubs, and brands.

“I only started doing work for clients last year, and it can be scary at first because you get imposter syndrome. At first, I was caught up in making sure they would like it and just focused solely on how it could be amazing for them. But I’ve come to realize that at the end of the day, they’re coming to you for you and your ideas. They already think you’re doing something cool, so it’s good to trust your gut and erase the thought that you have to please somebody else. Your opinion is worth something. So as long as I’m making something that I’m super proud of, then I feel like I don’t have to worry too much about how the client is going to react. All my videos reflect me and my creativity, so I’ve learned that I should trust myself. Hopefully, I can always make something that I like and that they like too.”

One of the most rewarding experiences of working with different clients was getting to complete a project for his childhood hero David Alaba.

“I played left-back as a kid, and I grew up watching Alaba at Bayern,” Justin remembers fondly. “I would practice free kicks for hours just trying to hit it like he does. One day, I was out on my usual morning run – brainstorming ideas – and I got a DM from a creative director who works with Alaba. He asked me if I was interested in making a video for Alaba, and I soon as I read the message, I sprinted home. I’ve never run that fast in my life. That project really helped me learn to just trust myself. I was second-guessing myself, but I went for it and stuck to who I am as a video creator. They loved the final product, and it was one of the best experiences I’ve had so far. I like going back and doing videos with older players because I feel like I can relive those memories from when I was a kid. I can keep those moments alive for a little bit longer.”

Looking towards the future, Justin has many goals he’d like to achieve, especially after such a successful past year. Whether it’s creating long-form films, BTS content of his process, or other endeavors, Justin’s goal is to help build a closer relationship with his audience and foster a tight-knit community.

“At the end of the day, this is a labor of love. I’m not doing it for views or anything like that. I’m just doing it because I love it. On top of that, people have reached out and told me that my work has helped inspire them, and that means the world to me. In the end, that’s why I do it. I wanted to do something I love and in the process, inspire others on their own journeys.”

If there’s one piece of advice Justin emphasizes for others who’d like to get into the soccer space, it’s to simply love the process of creating and never be afraid to learn on your own.

“You shouldn’t be afraid to just learn. Everything is at our fingertips these days, but you just have to take that first step. On top of that, you have to create with good intentions. I’d already had a job before starting Freegame, so I had the opportunity to create what I really wanted to see out there, rather than chasing virality or making money. So I think it’s important for anyone who’s just starting to know that you’re not going to be jumping into something that’s going to instantly make you rich or famous. That’s never been my intention. I was always just doing it because I loved it and because I wanted to contribute something to the soccer world. I remember getting home from my 9-5 internship, going to online classes, and then working on my videos from nine to midnight. No one was forcing me, but I just loved it. Creating should make you happy and fulfilled. That should be the priority, and I think that's what keeps many of us working on all these projects day in and day out.”

“It’s almost like practicing soccer. Even when you’re tired, sore, or frustrated, you still go out and practice because you love it and you want to improve. It’s the same thing as a creator. It’s tough to keep pushing consistently, but if you love it, you’ll push through.

“Someday you’ll look back at all those small steps you took every day, and you’ll see how far you’ve come.”