Career Area: Film and Video

  • Sam Sokolow

    Sam Sokolow

    “Make something. Follow your gut. And remember, everything, success or failure, is a learning experience.”

    Sam Sokolow is a two-time Emmy-nominated film and television producer who recently relocated to Greenville, South Carolina after 23 years in Los Angeles and a childhood in New York City. Now focused on building a slate of independent films from the South, Sokolow is also helping develop the Clemson Film School and working on global workforce training for emerging film markets. His mission is to empower storytellers and creatives through mentorship, opportunity, and industry experience.

    Interview

    Transcript

    Lexi Raines  00:00 

    Sam, okay, so first, I just want you to give like a little introduction of yourself. What do you do for work, and where are you currently working from? 

    Sam Sokolow  00:09 

    Sure. My name is Sam Sokolow. I am a producer of Film and Television. I’m a two time Emmy nominated producer who, after 23 years in Los Angeles and growing up in New York City, has now moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where I am building a slate of independent films. I am working to help build the Clemson film school, and I’m still running my production company from here, as well as working on a global workforce development program that I helped build to help train crew to work in emerging markets, which are skills I certainly want to bring to South Carolina. 

    Lexi Raines  00:46 

    Yeah that- and that’s awesome. So you said you’ve lived in LA. So what does working in- what does working in Greenville like, or in South Carolina in general, what’s one thing that you have loved about working here? 

    Sam Sokolow  01:01 

    There are many things I love about working in Greenville. One, most of the time I feel like I’m in the middle of a Hallmark movie. Absolutely beautiful, and it is, and I and I say quaint in the best way, coming out of big cities like New York and Los Angeles. This is a perfect place for me right now. My wife is from the upstate of South Carolina. She’s from Gaffney, South Carolina, and we moved here for the best reasons in the world, which was love. To be near her family, and when you do those things, I think miracles happen around you, and so all of the things that I’m working on right now to help bring production to South Carolina and develop production in South Carolina are really motivated by love and by being in the right place that I’m supposed to be in life right now, but bringing my unique skill set from a from a career, you know, in Hollywood, in New York, making movies and TV shows. 

    Lexi Raines  01:54 

    Yeah that’s- that’s awesome. So would you say that that’s one aspect that South Carolina like brings to your work, or what would you say its unique influences on you compared to like anywhere else? 

    Sam Sokolow  02:07 

    Well, at the end of the day, we’re storytellers. How we execute those stories is modified project to project. I’ve told stories for very, very little money, and I’ve told stories for astronomical sums of money in studio deals with companies like Disney, but at the end of the day, it’s about great storytelling and one thing that I have found in my, you know, 25 plus years of coming to the upstate of South Carolina is that this place is, you know, teaming with great storytellers and whether those storytellers tell their stories in journalistic fashions, whether they write books, poems, essays, short stories, make YouTube videos, as my wife does on her YouTube channel, the Southern Women channel. It’s about authentic storytelling that can also connect with universal themes, so that people locally can appreciate them, and people you know globally can appreciate them. Because we live in a remarkable time right now where there’s only one territory left and it’s the whole world at once. Yeah. So the opportunity to be a part of an emerging market like South Carolina, and hope to help facilitate the remarkable storytellers here tell their stories on screen, is extremely exciting and gets me up every morning with a tremendous amount of ambition and enthusiasm and there are a lot of talented people in the state of South Carolina, I think it’s a hidden gem. So, you know, again, if I can help facilitate some of those storytellers and- and some of those stories then, then it’ll be a true blessing. 

    Lexi Raines  03:54 

    Yeah that’s- that’s an amazing to hear, and that’s such- you’re bringing such wonderful opportunities to South Carolina. So, I’ve actually heard that there’s like, a really, like, big and close knitted filmmaking hub in Greenville that I didn’t know about before. How would you describe that local community? 

    Sam Sokolow  04:15 

    It’s a, it’s a, I would describe the Greenville production community, to paraphrase Shakespeare, you know, “she may be small, but she is mighty”. There are very talented people here, cinematographers, grips, you know, directors, assistant directors, certainly writers and I think that tapping into that talent is something that I’m in a constant state of trying to do because, you know, being a producer and- and having had the fortune of producing some pretty big things in my career, it’s a very unique skill set, and I think that producers, while not everyone understands what they do. Are, are organizing? Can we? Can we? Can be a part of organizing the- the talent that’s already there. So, you know, I’m not here to put my own thoughts or process into play or attempt to do that. I’m here to try to learn and discover and harness the energy that’s here, and again, see if my experience as a producer can- can help some great stories be made here, and hopefully made by local artists, filmmakers, writers, directors, and exported to the world. So, the South Carolina stories and attitude and wonder can be felt by everyone the way I feel it, you know, by getting to live here now. 

    Lexi Raines  05:43 

    Yeah, that is- that’s awesome. That’s so amazing. So how would you define your professional or personal successes and like your creative endeavors, since you have shifted to kind of helping people along in their paths? 

    Sam Sokolow  06:02 

    You know, when you have a career in the arts, I think that you’re always looking ahead to the next project, as we say, swimming to the next buoy in the ocean. And, you know, I’ve been very fortunate to work on amazing projects my whole career, and at different levels. So, when I was in New York, it was more independent films and commercials. When I moved to Los Angeles, I got involved in larger television series, and eventually global, you know, shows that really had a massive impact. And now that I’m in South Carolina again, I’m not bringing my own preconceived ideas of what it should be. I’m trying to harness the energy here and see if I can be a supportive force. Again, there are a lot of different ways to think of a producer, and I certainly have many definitions and many facets that I go through when doing a project, from development through production, through delivery, then distribution and marketing. I mean, you’re sort of there for the whole life cycle of a project. But ultimately, I distill the job of being a producer down to putting creative people in a position to do their best work. Yeah, and I can come here and put creative people in a position to do their best work, then I’m doing my job that I’ve been fortunate to learn over many, many years of trial and effort, and, you know, failure and success. And, you know, learn by doing this. This, this job, I think, for everyone that works in filmed entertainment, to a large degree, is you learn by doing. You can get trained, certainly, and you can get the education, but once you step on set, that’s where you take your training and you’re in your education, put it to work and begin to learn by doing and by- by the real world experiences that you have and- and so I’m just hoping to bring that experience and good energy and support to the to the creatives here that I am fortunate to meet and hopefully work with. 

    Lexi Raines  08:09 

    Yeah, it’s- it’s amazing that you can give that to people, because I know there are so many people that in like smaller states that don’t have that type of guidance to look to. When you first started your journey in film, what was, what was your biggest fear to first starting out with that? 

    Sam Sokolow  08:31 

    I’ve wanted to do this as long as I can remember. I was what’s called the latch key kid growing up in New York. My parents both worked. My brother and sister were older than me, so I came home most days from school, and sort of was on my own, and movies were my imaginary friend. Movies were my escape. Movies were my babysitter, and so I’ve loved movies and dust as well television and storytelling on screen my entire life. So, I try to keep things very positive, but honest to goodness. My biggest fear was not getting to do it. My biggest fear was failing in my attempts to actually work in the industry and be a part of projects. That was what drove me to never quitting, to being, you know, really stick to it, to having something that I think everyone needs in this industry, which is perseverance. And I have a deep well of perseverance, because not doing this was the worst thing I can imagine. You know, you know, could I have been a lawyer, a doctor, or the politician or whatever, perhaps. But I think that, you know, going back to the original, original, original, sort of caveman days, you know, there are people who go out or cave people who go out and kill dinosaurs, and they’re those who guard the cave. And then there are people in the back drawing on the wall and creating a sense of entertainment. Storytelling, continuity and storytelling, to me, is the bedrock of society and the bedrock of continual society. And so not being a storyteller was the scariest thing. And so again, I’m very blessed to have had a supportive family, to have had a supportive people around me, but, but really, my only fear was not doing it. 

    Lexi Raines  10:24 

    Yes, and obviously, you’ve become so successful being nominated for the Emmys, that’s like mind blowing. That’s absolutely awesome. Was- was this like a defining moment in your creative journey, or do you have one, like, was there a particular project you worked on that had a significant impact on you. 

    Sam Sokolow  10:45 

    I think there are many projects that have impacts on you as you go through time. Yes, and with each achievement, you have earned the right and what I would say, the internal credibility to reach for the next rung on the ladder. You know, I’ve done projects; when I- I made an independent feature when I was in my 20s in New York, that was like the- the very definition of the labor of love, the fall on the sword, the kind of, you know, throw all caution to the wind. And when we got that film made, I thought that was the most definitional moment of my career. Yeah, when the film didn’t get the distribution deal that we had hoped, and we sort of somehow ended up with it, literally like sitting in boxes in an apartment, I thought that was the other kind of definitional moment of my career. Then we created a paradigm and became the first filmmakers to ever self-distribute a movie using the internet? Yeah, that’s got a tremendous amount of national and in some cases, international attention. And I thought that was a defining moment, you know, so that that the goal is to keep working, and the goal is to keep trying, and the goal is to keep stretching yourself, to try to, you know, do bigger projects or more significant projects as you see them. And that definition is different for everyone. But certainly, when I got nominated for the first Emmy, it was, without question, a feeling to kind of use the allegory of the hero’s journey of slaying a dragon. I went out to Hollywood, I- I broke into an industry I’d never been in before. I only knew at the time my brother and my best friend, even- even Julia, my wife, who was my fiance at the time, was still in New York. It was a very kind of caution, again, caution to the wind. I hope it works out experience and to have built a career there and built the relationships and built the company that I built and achieved those things, I would say that getting nominated for the Emmy was certainly a significant moment that allows me to kind of step back and be like, wow, look, look what, look what happened. It was pretty remarkable. But even that is a collaborative experience, you know, I didn’t get nominated for an Emmy. I mean, technically, I did, but we got nominated for an Emmy, the creative team on that show, and that year, you know, Jeffrey rush got nominated for Best Actor, and there were, you know, there were 10 nominations from the technical side. So it was, it was being able to work with people of that caliber that I think, for me, was more exciting and more meaningful than the accolade. But the accolade certainly is, is pretty astounding. And, you know, frankly, pretty cool. 

    Lexi Raines  13:41 

    Yeah for sure. So you seem like you obviously, you have so much experience in this. I’m sure people have tried to put in their two cents into your career. What is the best and worst advice you’ve received? 

    Sam Sokolow  13:59 

    The best advice that I received was that you don’t aim for money in the creative arts. You aim for relative moments and to be a part of moments that that capture people’s imaginations or get a certain amount of attention and become a certain level of success that, again, allow you to go up to the next rung in the ladder. Because, you know, as a- as a producer, I want to work with the best talent in the world. You know, that’s the goal, world class talent. And so if I was aiming just for money, I may not have achieved or taken some of the risks that I took that allowed me to achieve things that allowed me to go up that ladder. So, working for moments, being a part of something relative, always thinking, how can we do something that cuts through? How can we do something that really connects with an audience that taught me to focus? On the work and the creative idea and process and quality of something, and give the things you’re a part of an opportunity to become relevant, and then the opportunities and things like money follow. So that was the best advice I would say to anybody that wants to be a filmmaker or be in this industry, make things,? you know. Don’t just wait to get chosen. Don’t just wait to get picked, take agency of your career, of your experience, and make a short film, write a script, do something that gets noticed, because we’re in the visual arts, and if you have visibility and getting to do the art, kind of follows. So that was the best advice I was given. The worst advice that I was given, honestly, it, I don’t think I can nail one particular thing down. It’s sort of in, you know, I would say that there were moments where my gut told me to do something, and I allowed a representative, an agent, a manager, a lawyer, to tell me that’s probably not going to work. Yeah, and when I, when I took the advice of others that something wouldn’t work and didn’t execute something that my gut was telling me to do more than not, I would see some version of it become a success. You know, not in every case. This is not a business, a patent, 1000 for sure, but I would see that and say I should have just followed my gut. So it was less about, I think, sweeping advice that was like bad advice, yeah, which is, I think it was in the moment, listening to whoever was in my ear at any given moment that talked me out of following my heart and my gut, and so I learned over time, to follow my heart and my gut, and as one of my other producing mentors said to me, do the things that you believe in, and I promise that you know, 10 years from now, there’ll be plenty of people lined up to tell you if you were right or wrong. 

    Lexi Raines  16:57 

    Yeah, I think those are good words to live by, because you truly never know until you’ve gone out and you’ve tried it, so- 

    Sam Sokolow 17:06 

    Exactly, I don’t look at anything like a failure. Everything is a learning experience. Everything is a learning experience. So, you know, I try not to think about things in the terms of successes and failures. I try to think in the terms of, what did I learn, what did we experience? And, you know, again, you have a lot more failure, quote, unquote, than you do success in the industry. I’ve put 20 TV shows on the air. I’ve been a part of making half a dozen films. You know, these are all incredible experiences and achievements, of course but to get there, I’ve probably tried 300 things, so there’s 275 things that never quite made it, yeah, but, but I’ve learned from every single thing that that we tried. 

    Lexi Raines  17:59 

    Yeah, I think that’s extremely valuable. So, can you walk me through a typical work day for you, like, what does your process look like, and what do you, what’s kind of expected from you on a daily basis?  

    Sam Sokolow  18:15 

    It’s a great question. On a daily basis, I- I wear several hats. And- excuse me- 

    Lexi Raines 

    You’re good. 

    Sam Sokolow 

    On a daily basis, I wear several hats. And the number one thing that I’ve learned is to be present, so that whatever I’m doing, I’m completely present for and right now I am only here talking to you. This is, this is what I’m doing. When we’re done, I will move on to something else and be present for that. So any given day, I even just- taking today as an example: I woke up early. I had a 90 minute meeting with a writer in the UK, in England, with a producing partner in Iceland on a global television series that we’re developing. We hope it becomes a global series, but it has the potential to be. I did some of that while driving to Clemson. I then taught film production courses at Clemson, which I’m extremely passionate about, to help build the Clemson film program. Help- help South Carolina again, go up and weight class itself, which isn’t going to happen because I wanted to it’s going to happen because great young talent is emerging here. And put in that effort and energy, and I love teaching. Then on my way back to Greenville, I had a few other business calls. And then once I got to Greenville, I put all my energy into this, you know, global workforce training program that I do with a company called Stage 32 and in that, I’ve been going back and forth, literally, with film commissions and some studios in Austria, in Uganda. Bucha. I had an exchange with the film commissioner in Croatia. So, you know, I think it’s seeing the- the world as open right now, but again, trying very hard to focus locally on developing things. But in any given day, I will develop. I will work on the projects that I’m producing. I will work on educating people here in the state of South Carolina, I will work on building the Clemson film school, and I’ll work on this, you know, incredible global training project to help people all over the world get the skills they need to work in the industry as- as it’s emerging all over the place. Yeah, it sounds like, but they’re, they’re busy days, but they’re exciting days. And what I will say on a very personal note is that working from Greenville is an absolute joy, and in New York and Los Angeles, there’s more external pressure and external noise, and I find that I’m more effective here in focusing on each thing that I’m trying to do. Zoom has changed the world. So nobody cares where I am as much as what I can bring to any given opportunity, or- or- or aproject or initiative. So, you know, it’s wonderful to be in Greenville and kind of have this calm around me, but, but be doing, you know, probably the most exciting work I’ve, I’ve ever done, including, you know, two seasons of genius that have, that have happened since I’ve been here. 

    Lexi Raines  21:33 

    Yeah, and that’s that’s so good to hear. So it sounds like you obviously have so much going on at all times. How do you create, like, a healthy work life balance where you’re able to maintain kind of like your professional life and also just your personal life? 

    Sam Sokolow  21:53 

    You know, maintaining a healthy work life balance is not the easiest thing in the world, and sometimes you certainly put more emphasis on work at times, and then you have to make a point of, you know, either having set date nights with, you know, my wife, or making sure that we get in the car and go spend a day with her family, or I hop on a plane and go up and spend a weekend in New York with my mom and my brother and taking vacations when we can. And when those things happen, get out of the house and do things, hiking a little bit, getting into nature here has been really wonderful. I try to have a little bit of balance in every day, you know. And- and by having a little bit of balance in every day, then, then- then you end up in balance in life. But I, you know, I meditate, I- I have my own, you know, spiritual, you know, experience that I am deeply into and- but I love the work and so from the outside looking in. You know, others might think that I maybe work too much, but to me, this is such a reward to get to do this work. I-I’m not a hobbyist. I don’t, I don’t really- I’m not going to bake sourdough bread or make a ship in a bottle. I’d rather spend that time helping somebody make a short film or reading a script or- or again, helping Clemson with new opportunity, helping the Film Commission in South Carolina try to achieve whatever goals they have, helping, you know, people around the world get the skills they need to work in this industry. So it’s not always easy. You do have to really be disciplined to take time off and to and to make sure that you do smell the roses and- and cultivate a really healthy personal life. And I’m lucky. I’ve got some really wonderful friends. I’ve got a great family and- and I have a wife who I love so dearly that I’m in South Carolina now. 

    Lexi Raines  23:56 

    Yeah. So what are some, like, habits that you have developed throughout your career that you think would be beneficial for others wanting to join your field? 

    Sam Sokolow  24:10 

    It depends on what they want to do, but immersing yourself in what you want to do while sounding so obvious, I think that there’s a there’s a sense that the arts and filmed entertainment is some type of magic and- and is some artistic experience, which it is, but on some level, that is like, can feel a little unattainable. But when I graduated from film school myself, I did not get a bachelor of the arts. I got a Bachelor of Science, and that always reminds me that this is a science, this is a craft, and you have to apply yourself to the craft. So if you want to be a producer, you know, go online, Google “What does a producer do?” Google things about the things that- that- that make a producer. I know how to manage a budget. I know how to do cost reporting. I know how to manage a crew of people on the creative side and the business side. If you want to be a cinematographer. Study cinematography, shoot things, get a camera, take the camera apart, put the camera back together. You know, don’t, don’t, kind of sit around dreaming about things. Be active. Yes, meet, meet your dreams halfway. Don’t, don’t expect somebody to just knock on the door and hand them to you. Study work. If you want to be a screenwriter, awesome. Read screenplays. You can download screenplays right now off the internet for almost any movie, -there’s- there- you can go on sites and download all the Oscar nominated movies right now, the scripts, read the scripts, then watch the movie, see what choices were made by the by the director and by the creative team and the production designer and the costume designer and the hair designer to all be a part of telling that story. So, I really think it’s about immersing yourself in the things that you want to do and just trying to learn as much as you can about them. And those are things that every individual can control. If you want to be an actor, study acting, get into acting class, put in the time, get- get better at your craft, get, you know, build your reservoir of- of- of tools so that you can be a strong actor. And then, by being an acting class, you may meet other actors that invite you to be in a film, be in a short, be in a play. You know, I think, I think you have to get into the community that you want to be in, and you have to kind of commit yourself to learning and- and- and experiencing the things that you want to do and learn from them. So, yeah, I’m just a real believer in self-studying and self-motivation, and- and, and, and we live in a moment now with the internet where everything’s at your fingertips, so you can learn about anything, and you can learn about and then apply those things yourself. So, you know, I think that the best advice I can give people is think about the things that you want to do, and you don’t have to do one thing. I have a friend in Los Angeles who, you know, we refer to as the Swiss Army knife. He’s a professional grade editor. He’s a professional grade line producer, which is someone who makes budgets and handles the money. He’s an accomplished producer. He’s in the Writers Guild of America. He’s a writer, and he’s given himself the opportunity to always work by mastering multiple crafts. And so I think ultimately, we’re crafts people, and when you’re a crafts person, you know, study the craft, do the craft, and everything else will happen. 

    Lexi Raines  27:46 

    I completely agree. I feel like so many people, they think that the most successful people are only these creative geniuses that have had this, this burst of creativity. But there’s so much more to that, to it than that. There’s, like, every aspect of it outside of that, marketing yourself, networking, learning how to budget, like you were saying, basically. So I think people, I think people will find a lot of good advice from that. 

    Sam Sokolow  28:17 

    Well, yeah. I mean, look, ultimately, and I don’t want to sound like brash or anything, but the difference between amateurs and professionals in the arts is really the difference between people who start stuff and people who finish stuff. And if you can become a finisher, get your film done, get your script done, you know, put it out there in the world, even if you just put it on YouTube and share it with people to see and get see, get feedback, finish things. You know, being a professional producer for all the years I was in Hollywood, especially working in television, you know, these weren’t independent projects that I could get back to later. I mean, this was like, deliver on time and on budget and- and, and you have to deliver a finished thing. And so all of the things I’ve been talking about always come back down to me as- as learning how to finish finishing the great divider of people that that want to do things and people that are doing it. And so, it’s, it’s not to me again, it’s not very complicated. It’s just finish the script you’re writing. Don’t get to page 40 and write another one. Don’t get to page 40 and start rewriting it from page one again. Get to the end, finish of something, and then go back and look at the edit and keep working on it. But finishing is the ultimate goal, I think, for anybody that wants to work professionally in this world. And if you finish something, the great news is you can then start the next thing and apply everything you learn from the thing that you finished. But if you don’t finish things, you can easily get bogged down and lose a lot of time and momentum and then feel like I can never get anything done. And you know, there’s no perfection. There’s no perfection. I mean, Francis Ford Coppola just recut God Father Three again. You watch the movie, Empire Strikes Back and there are continuity issues. There’s no such thing as perfection, but finishing and exposing your work to an audience is, is, is the is, to me, the coolest thing in the world. And you know, not everybody’s going to like everything you do. Some people might really not like something that you do. That’s okay, but finishing is really the key. So I- I hope that people in South Carolina continue to create, continue to start, and really continue to finish, and get the work out there. 

    Lexi Raines  30:36 

    Yeah. So do you have any questions that you wish you were asked today? 

    Sam Sokolow  30:47 

    Hmm, it’s a good question. I don’t believe I do. I mean, if you feel that I’ve answered the questions that that this, this opportunity to talk to you, you know was about then, then I feel pretty good about it. You know? Again, there I’m I can talk about this all day long. I love teaching and I love the I love talking about the process, but at the end of the day, it’s the doing. And so instead of answering more questions, you know, hopefully we’ll do a lot of things that people will hear about and see and enjoy and- and you know, continue to look at South Carolina as this great place that great stories come from. 

    Lexi Raines  31:32 

    Thank you so much. I think that people are definitely going to get so much from this interview. I think you had so much amazing advice, so much so many good stories that people can take and just digest on their own. So my last question for you is, do you have a creative in South Carolina that you’d like to nominate to be interviewed? 

    Sam Sokolow 31:58 

    Ah, can I get back to you on that?  

    Lexi Raines 

    Yes, you can, yes 

    Sam Sokolow 

    Because I don’t. I mean, I will, but I don’t, I don’t for something like this. I don’t like to nominate people that I have not asked if they want to do it.  

    Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, you’re completely good. Yeah. 

    Sam Sokolow 

    I want to make sure that who I nominate says yes and- and isn’t too busy or into some other things, or maybe this isn’t their jam. So give me, you know, pop me a note, maybe again on Monday or Tuesday. I’ll talk to a few folks and there, I mean again, I’ve met some extraordinary creative energies down here. I have two at the very top of my head, one in the film industry and one of the music industry but let me, let me put a feeler out to them and see if they’re if they’re game. 

    Lexi Raines  32:44 

    Okay. Thank you so much again. This interview has been so amazing, like, even just on a personal level, like, your advice means a lot. So yeah, I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. 

    Sam Sokolow  32:59 

    You too, appreciate you making the time work. And, you know, reach out if there’s anything else I can do. And awesome. Alright, well, I’ll let you know about nominating somebody. And if you wouldn’t mind, whenever my interview does drop, if you can just pop me a note and a link, I’ll share it with a bunch of people. 

    Lexi Raines  33:14 

    Yeah I definitely, will definitely do that. Love it. 

    Sam Sokolow 33:17 

    Alright Lexi, awesome yourself. And great Friday night and we’ll be talking. We’re in touch. Thank you. 

    Lexi Raines  33:22 

    Thank you too.  

    Sam Sokolow 

    All right. Take care. Bye. 

  • Eugene Rocco Utley

    Eugene Rocco Utley

    “I would rather fail at pursuing a passion that I love rather than playing it safe, and never truly pursuing it.” 

    Eugene Rocco Utley is a freelance creative professional based in Myrtle Beach. By day, he manages marketing and advertising for Coastal Carolina National Bank (CCNB), blending strategic communication with local insight. Outside his 9-to-5, Utley pursues freelance work in film production, with experience in both commercial and narrative projects.

    Interview

    Transcript

    Lexi Raines  00:00 

    First, just give a little introduction of yourself. What do you do and where are you currently working from? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley  00:06 

    Yeah, so my name is Eugene Rocco. I was born and raised in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I went to Clemson University for undergrad, but I also did a couple years at Coastal Carolina University. Right now, I’m still stationed in Myrtle Beach, working locally, as I currently work for CCNB, Coastal Carolina National Bank for my nine to five job. So, I do all their marketing and advertising there and then on the side, in freelance, I work with film production and commercial work and narrative work. 

    Lexi Raines  00:39 

    Okay, that’s awesome. So how long have you been doing freelance videography and filmmaking?  

    Eugene Rocco Utley  00:50 

    So, I’ve worked with freelance videography and filmmaking ever since just getting right out of college. I was just doing, I did my first couple of film projects while at college, and then was able to, just as soon as I graduate, was just doing as many jobs as I can while working a serving job. Then, I started just doing my own little producing, seeing just whatever projects I could create for little to no budget, and just kind of growing my network from there as much as I could, while also working with jobs more nine to five pertaining to the film world. 

    Lexi Raines  01:22 

    Yeah, that’s awesome. So, you said that you have lived in South Carolina your entire life. What’s one thing that you love about working as a creative in South Carolina?  

    Eugene Rocco Utley   01:36 

    One thing that I really love about the South Carolina creative community is the fact that we have such, I think, a very versatile market around here for any kind of creatives. You’re able to find a lot of very passionate people who are really able to have a range of talents or credits to their name. It’s something where it’s still a very growing area, especially relative to any other gigantic states like New York or California, but here, it’s something where everyone kind of is still having a voice to prove and there’s still so much that whenever you get to create your network with people, they’re willing to really go the extra mile and work with you. And you just can find so many different kinds of communities just through that kind of shared passion? 

    Lexi Raines  02:22 

    Yeah, I’ve actually interviewed a few other filmmakers, and they said the around the same thing, they just said that the community is just so willing to collaborate, and y’all are all just excited, excited to be here. Yeah? So what does South Carolina bring to your work? Does it have like, any unique influences on you compared to being anywhere else. 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   02:52 

    Yeah, well, I think that there’s a lot of diversity of work here that you are able to find. So like, you’re able to find like different markets that offer different ranges of work. I’m not sure if that answers your question, but like, for example, I’ve worked in Greenville areas while I was close to Clemson. I still travel up that way, and there’s a very potent market for creatives there, especially with filmmaking and a very growing area, especially since it’s so close to areas like Atlanta, Asheville, Charlotte etc, you’re able to find a lot of business work there as well. Around the coastal regions, you’re able to find a lot more local work and very strong, tightly knit communities of work. Here in Columbia, you’re able to be very commercial business focused. Well, if you even go to like the low country or like Aiken area closer towards, like the Georgia borderline, you’re able to find a lot of really small, like, I said, kind of like around here, like very tightly knit groups, but it’s very home oriented. So there’s just a lot of different ways that you’re able to find different markets that you can thrive in as a creative that are just completely just pertain to different parts of the region of the state. So you do definitely have a lot of versatility of options and just which directions you want to go within the state itself, which is very nice. 

    Lexi Raines  04:08 

    Yeah, that’s awesome. I didn’t know that there are so many different types of filmmaking that relies so much like on your area. So, you said you’re located in Myrtle Beach now, yes, correct. So how would you describe the local creative community here? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   04:29 

    Yeah, in particular to here, I would say there’s, there’s a lot of people. It’s very closely knit, I think, where there was someone that I just happened to work with on a film project where I was paying and doing grip work for them, just like on the side, and then less than a year later, I reached out to them, and they’re working on a DP for a project that I was creating, and I still work with that person pretty regularly. So, it’s something where it’s not a gigantic area for filmmaking, for particular but once you find people, it helps, because you’re kept in mind, whenever they do have a project turn up, and we’ve worked with multiple projects together, and there are plenty of other people I could say the same for of just how many times you’ll find yourself kind of crossing paths with them again around here. 

    Lexi Raines  05:17 

    Yeah, that’s awesome that y’all can all stay in contact like that. So how would you define professional or personal successes in, like, your creative endeavors? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   05:31 

    So,I think when you’re saying creative successes, are you referring mainly to, like, just in personal work, or how it relates to personal successes if that makes sense? 

    Lexi Raines  05:45 

    Yeah, like just in your life, in films, you’ve worked on stuff like that. 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   05:53 

    Okay, yeah, so, yeah, I can give two answers to that, where there’s, there’s a lot of in my work professionally in terms of defining just the work I do as a business. I think any kind of successes I find is whenever someone wants to just work together twice, whether it’s a client that I’ve served and they’ve just been happy with what I’ve been able to deliver, if it’s been a creative that I’ve been able to work with, just any time where you know you, you go out above and beyond the first time, so much that it creates it where they want to work with you again, and there’s someone that you’re happy to be in collaboration with, whether client to professional or professional to professional. It’s always just really great to have that kind of goal of just having made a good enough impression the first time that you’re, you’re kept top of mind, and you’re worth something to them. 

    Lexi Raines  06:44 

    Yeah, I feel like so much as, like, working as a creative has, it has so much to do with networking and what you’re able to do with that. 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   06:53 

    Yeah, absolutely, there’s so much that I think is important to the just any sort of creative process where you have to be worried about, not worry, but like you have to be constantly in mind of the network around you and just the people that you’re working with, and always making sure that you’re keeping them in mind with the field and then artistically. I think one thing I would also say is, even though you have to keep other people in mind, whatever you’re doing through your artistry and your passion, and it has to be something that you have to be gratified with at the end of the day. And I think that’s an important part where there’s a constant balance between making sure you’re having a strong network of people, but also still making sure that it’s all for you at the end of the day, especially just because, you know, creative work is very hard. It’s hard to find a lot of external validation through it a lot of times. So there’s a lot that you have to find internally of the pride of your works, I think. 

    Lexi Raines  07:47 

    Yeah. So, you said that you have been doing this kind of stuff since college. What was your biggest fear when you first decided to pursue filmmaking? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   08:02 

    Yeah, I think just there’s a taken risk of instability whenever you, whenever you take it on, because whenever you do any kind of freelance work, there’s a liberty and a curse to it, of you’re always going to be reaping what you sell,  how much you’re taking in is all accounting of how much you’re able to find work, how much you’re able to get that work in. And it’s something where it’s like you can always find the work no matter how much you put into it. But there’s a lot that you’re not going to be finding people just immediately coming to you out of college, or seeing that you have, oh, you have a website set up, or you have this set up. There’s a lot of grass rooting your business or your freelance work or anything like that. And I’ve been fortunate enough to where I’ve been working with a nine to five for about two years now I’ve been able to work with a creative adjacent field of working in marketing that’s given me the ability to work with passion projects or external freelance work on edge, so that fear of instability is definitely not there right now. So, I’m very grateful for that aspect is a privilege, for sure, but um, having just that known as a, a taken risk was a big thing in terms of pursuing this field for sure.  

    Lexi Raines  09:20 

    Can you describe a defining moment that you had in your creative journey so far? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   09:26 

    Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think one of a huge defining moment for me was, um, there was a project that I made about, I wouldn’t, I want to say two years back, it was a little short film called A B, and that was a huge pivoting point of my artistic career, of just being able to it was my, I think, second professional project that I did a film festival circuit with, and it was the one that I felt the most internal and external change with externally. It was the one that I think I had my premiere with back in like. October of 2023 so just over a year ago, and it was something where I didn’t really feel like I was known, really within the community. And that was a project that went from my first showing a place outside of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina or in the Carolinas, but my first big showing elsewhere to it ended up winning the festival there and got into a bunch. It kind of just had this, like big chain reaction of getting into other festivals and ended up having a pretty big tour around the Carolinas, which I was extremely grateful for. And it was something that just kind of gave a lot of momentum into kind of the network that I was wanting to establish and being able to make a lot of great connections with people. But it was also something where it kind of correlated with an internal journey of success, and it was something where the whole project is about kind of the mental health of artists and learning to kind of find yourself through art, rather than defining yourself as a person or as an artist, learning that you’re both and having to take care of yourself as a person, because that’s the artist that you want to be anyway. So just kind of making a project that was about that struggle of mental health for artists of that put either too much pressure on them or don’t see that they should treat themselves as a person, because I think sometimes that’s a toxic mindset that exists within creative worlds making a project that kind of focus on that balance that you have to find in life as an artist, between your art and life was a big aspect for me, and I think it was around that time where I decided, like, I would rather be, I would rather fail at pursuing a passion that I love, rather than playing it safe and never truly pursuing it. And just around that time was whenever it had its premiere and had just the great success that did follow it so it that, I think is a big just aspect of where I am right now, that I’m very grateful for that project and just the path that’s paved so far. 

    Lexi Raines  12:09 

    Yeah, congratulations. That seems like, also like such a full circle moment. And I feel like that’s definitely very true. And like, you’re saying, a lot of creatives struggle with that and like, burn out, but I think that’s an amazing piece of advice. So also on that note, what is the best and worst advice that you’ve ever received? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   12:37 

    Best and Worst? Best, I would say it’s a super nice minute one for just writing, but I think it carries a kind of applicable weight to anywhere when writing, use note cards, not entire sheet of paper. It’s something that I love because it gives you so much flexibility with your writing. And there’s so many times where I know a lot of creatives within even their respective field, have some sort of creative block. Like everyone knows writer’s block for a writer is just the worst. So it was something where doing that kind of gave a lot more freedom to just kind of write out notes, kind of plan and feel like what I was writing didn’t have much pressure to it, as if I was writing it on entirely blank sheet of paper, and I use it constantly for outlining and planning, and it’s something that I think is something to apply to any aspect of a creative field where don’t put so much pressure on yourself to get it right the first time, make sure you’re creating liberties in the creative process, that anything can be written down and thrown away at any time, anything can stick or not stick, anything can be ignored then returned to later. I think that there’s just so much abilities of being able to understand the fluidity of the creative process, and I think that that kind of piece of note card advice was a huge aspect of helping me understand to not put as much pressure on myself as an artist. Worst piece of advice, this is, this is a tougher one, I’ll admit, because I try to not let these stick to me, I guess. But I would say, not necessarily, like a single piece of advice but just a mindset that I’ve like seen throughout is a lot of people kind of think that art needs to be something that like you make your entire life like it has to be your obsession to make it, and it’s something where you have to be passionate about it, because it is very tough, and there’s absolutely aspects that you have to have sacrifices in your life with it, and sacrificing time or efforts, anything like that. But I think that there are so many people who almost focus way too much on just the artistic process and being like, too much of like the obsessed artists kind of feel. And I think that there’s so much where, not only for your sake, but also the sake of your art, that so many people are so focused on like, Okay, but how can we create this? This that you almost forget that with any sort of artistic field, you need to be saying something. And in order to say something and have views on your life, you have to be going out and experiencing life. And there are so many people that I know who kind of get paged in, held into just making, just generic projects over and over that have either been seen constantly or are just little like skittish projects because they’re not wanting to do something important with their projects, or they don’t go out to life and experience life, so they have something to reflect in themselves. And I just think making your entire life about art is something that is far too dangerous for people, and not only for the respect of yourself, but also the respect of your art. 

    Lexi Raines  15:48 

    Yeah, I feel like that is a very profound piece of advice as well, because I just feel like there’s so many elements to being a professional creative, besides just having that creativity, there’s, like, all the logistical sides, the business side, so much from it. So, do you have like, a typical work day? Like, could you walk us through? What is a typical work day? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   16:19 

    Yeah, absolutely, it definitely varies between what my nine to five marketing work looks like versus my creative writing or onset work. In terms of what my nine to five marketing advertising work, it could be something where I could be going in, taking photographs for new employees, handling just any sort of merchandise, orders, business card orders, working on graphics, doing any sort of social media management, either updating social media calendars or designing posts, etc. 90% of my life there is between Adobe and Excel, and it’s a great job, but it definitely has a lot more to be, I guess, it has a much more of a predictable work day for sure, as for whenever it’s like writing or filmmaking, my writing process usually is existing on the weekends, where I’ll usually wake up, go to a coffee shop in the morning, try to write for about four or five hours, Six if I can get a good day in, then I’ll just kind of go on a walk, step away for a bit, either grab lunch somewhere, or just kind of clear my head. And then once I get back in the evening, just try to do some outlining for what I’m going to write the next day. And then if there’s anything producing wise, I need to be taken care of, or focusing on just responding to emails, doing any sort of planning there. So just kind of getting the creative juices flowing in the morning, and then using evenings for the kind of management aspects of either producing any freelance work, etc, and then just always kind of leaving a little bit to be excited to be writing about the next day. If that makes sense. 

    Lexi Raines  17:57 

    Yes, that makes a lot of sense. So, you definitely have to kind of juggle your nine to five and then your writing and filmmaking. What are some habits that you’ve developed that you would think would be beneficial to others wanting to do what you do? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   18:20 

    Definitely, I think just prioritizing time management, I think there are so many times where, I mean, it’s something that I’ve had to really nail down ever since, uh, graduating and getting into the workforce, of just kind of having to learn that balance. Because I know that jumping between nine to five and freelance work and creative projects, it is very time consuming, still leaving time for myself. And I think a good way that I did that is I love being able to journal, and I love being able to just kind of, at the end of the day, just write down what my day looked like. What did I do? How much time did I put into this, and not even necessarily setting crazy goals for yourself, but just being able to look at, you know, what your day look like on paper, is always a big thing. Like, are you happy with the amount of time that you focus on these projects, as opposed to this? Are you focusing? Are you relaxing too much, or on your phone too much? Or are you not giving enough time for yourself and it’s just all work, and you’re not giving any time to step away, and just being able to have that ability to look back on your day in writing, I think was just something that helped a ton with time management, because if you make it too much of like trying to set it as like a goal for yourself ahead of time, it feels like a task, and it feels like you’re holding yourself back from doing other things, but just allowing yourself to intuitively look at what your day looks like. And like, are you satisfied with what that day was? Helps kind of cut out a lot of the fluff of the day. Of like, if a weekend I just spent too much time bed rotting, or if it was like, I spent way too much time focusing on just this one project and not the projects I need to be doing. And just like that kind of stuff, I think is always a very important thing to do when you’re learning to balance time management and you’re just balancing time between work, life, art, etc, 

    Lexi Raines  20:09 

    I would agree. I feel like I’ve recently started journaling myself, and I feel like just having that however long you’re doing it 30 minutes of just self reflection of the day, your week, your weekend. I think it’s super healthy. I think it’s super, super beneficial. 

    Eugene Rocco Utley  20:30 

    Absolutely. Yeah. 

    Lexi Raines  20:33 

    So, do you have any questions that you wish you were asked today? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   20:41 

    Cool. I mean, they’re all great questions. I I always love just hearing kind of about people’s like, if there’s ever a failure that someone has learned from because I think everyone has it, whether you’re creative or not, something where something just didn’t go right, and it’s just like, how do I kind of get back from this? How did I solve this? I think it’s just always a great way, especially for other people, to kind of, like, figure out what they would have done in this scenario, or, know, kind of like the pitfalls that people can sometimes run into, and how can I avoid this ahead of time? And then I just think it’s also a great way to know that. You know, failures are something to learn from. They’re not just failures. 

    Lexi Raines  21:25 

    So, what’s a failure? A failure that you’ve learned from? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   21:30 

    Throwing it back at me? Shoot, let me think. I mean, I’ve definitely had just too much of, like, generic things, like, just, like, too much focusing on, like, one project, or too much where I’ve, like, put too much effort into a project that I’m not going to get the biggest skill from, if that makes sense, or, yeah, those are all very generic things I’m trying to think of, like a good specific time of, like, oh, I messed this up. I think one of the biggest things was just a lot of my time, especially in college, was a lot of kind of waiting for the things to come to me. Like, there was a lot of times where my college studies were really great in all the fields, but I always was just kind of waiting for a time where it’s like, okay, it’s going to get to this class, and I’m going to finally learn how to make film or make films, or, like, learn how to properly run with a marketing company, or do this or that, or and there was just, like, a lot of setbacks that I think happened, whether it was just like, oh, I wasn’t going to get as much from that class as I thought I would, or there was COVID that kind of kept a lot of the hands on practices of the filmmaking world that I wanted to have. And by my senior year was the time where I was like, okay, if I’m going to be learning it, it’s going to be because I’m going out and doing it myself. And I just found some like-minded creatives and just like, hey, let’s just make some projects together and just see what happens. And we started making projects, and we’re very like-minded in that, and it really was a great just way to kind of shake off the rust of what should have been more sharpened before. So, I would say just not having that sort of self-initiative was a big problem at the beginning of my career that I finally learned to shake off and kind of, you know, no better time to finally start than now. 

    Lexi Raines  23:37 

    I would completely agree with that. I’ve faced that myself, like sometimes you just have to, you have to go out and get what you want. So absolutely, it’s really important. And so finally, my last question for you today is, do you have a creative based in South Carolina that you’d like to nominate to be interviewed? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley   23:57 

    Ooh, based in South Carolina. Okay, do we want one more towards the coast or just in South Carolina? 

    Lexi Raines  24:04 

    Anywhere, really, it can be anywhere in South Carolina.  

    Eugene Rocco Utley   24:11 

    Okay, I’m trying to think. I have a couple of people I can just rattle off. And if any stick, there was a precious person who I think actually went to CCU, yeah, Brooks Leibee, or I hope I’m saying his last name, right? But he is a composer. He’s actually the person that, whenever I was talking about like someone I paid for and then he ended up doing cam work for me. It’s something where his main focus is actually composing. He, like I said, he is super versatile, and he’s a great testament to someone who’s just knowledgeable all around and how that embodies a lot of South Carolina creatives. So, he could absolutely attest to that of just being someone who is very knowledgeable around the board and just what it’s like to be a South Carolina artist. And a couple other people I can just think to rattle off. There’s a writer director in Greenville, South Carolina, Robert Isaac, super great guy, super nice. And he’s just like, done some of like the funniest projects I’ve seen in a while on but has also done some really, like strong productions of just like, the smallest things that, like any other artist would think, wouldn’t like, would think, is like a three out of four project. He makes that like a 10 out of 10 project. So those would be the two that I would definitely call out he’s so, yeah, awesome. 

    Lexi Raines  25:37 

    And then how do you spell Brook’s last name? 

    Eugene Rocco Utley  25:41 

    L, e, i, b, e, e, 

    Lexi Raines  25:46 

    Okay, awesome. Okay, um, thank you so much for your time. I’ve really enjoyed this interview. I think you, you’ve got given a lot of good advice. I think your experiences will definitely really help.  

    Eugene Rocco Utley  25:59 

    Lexi, thanks so much. 

    Lexi Raines  26:05 

    Yeah, of course, have a good day. Thank you.  

    Eugene Rocco Utley  26:11 

    You as well. Thank you. Bye. 

  • Rhodes Farrell

    Rhodes Farrell

    “Do 1% better every time.”

    Rhodes Farrell, a videographer based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, offers healthy habits to generate inspiration and build skills that are beneficial not only to filmmakers, but to any creative. 

    Interview

    Transcript

    Lexi 00:00

    My name is Lexi, so I’ll be interviewing you today for the Athenaeum Press for a little project we’re doing called Uncharted. And basically it’ll be professional creatives giving advice to students. And yeah, so first, just give us a little introduction of yourself. What do you do for work, and where are you currently working from? 

    Rhodes Farrell 00:27

    Yeah, I’m a videographer, and I do that full time. I came from, like, audio world, and then a AV and then video kind of took hold of me, and I fell in love with that. So I didn’t go through school for that. Particularly. I was in audio, but we moved out here in 2018, and that’s when I went full time, and it’s been great. But I’m in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and loving it. It’s a really great town. 

    Lexi 00:59

    So, yeah, okay, awesome. So how long have you been working like doing this creatively? Are you doing this full time or part time? 

    Rhodes Farrell 01:14

    Yeah, so full time, I tried to make it part of my job. I was technical director at a couple different churches and other jobs before that, so I always tried to include videography, yes, but when we moved in here in 2018 from Atlanta, I just went full time into it, and haven’t looked back. And so I guess full time was it now close to seven years, six or seven years, but I’ve been doing videos since high school, so 20, yeah, ish years. 

    Lexi 01:47

    So you said you moved to South Carolina in 2018 is there anything that you love, like, specifically about working in South Carolina as a videographer? 

    Rhodes Farrell 02:06

    I’m kind of grateful I moved away from Atlanta, because this is, you know, I didn’t feel like a small fish in a big pond kind of thing out here I could, you know, stretch my wings a little bit More, or be the the decent size fish and the decent sized pond, I really want to put it, but yeah, so it’s it’s worked out really well. I wasn’t 100% sure that Spartanburg would support filmmaking full time, but surprisingly, it has been. And even more so. 

    Lexi 02:39

    That’s amazing. So what does South Carolina like bring to your work, and what is its unique influences on you, if it has? 

    Rhodes Farrell 02:51  

    My people are here. I guess Spartanburg coming into it. They’ve just got arts all over the place. Same thing with Greenville, I’ve been able to set up a community called Film Bar, and that’s just filled with hundreds of people in the upstate that are just in filmmaking, whether they’re acting or voiceover, or they just do sound, or they just do lights or whatever. They have some role in filmmaking, and I’ve gotten to know not all of them, but a pretty good number of them. So it’s been really great to have that connection where it might have been more cutthroat in other areas. Yeah, that’s awesome, because there’s a it just seems like there’s a clear ladder to climb here, if that makes any sense, but yeah. 

    Lexi 03:40

    So I actually never knew that Greenville and the Spartanburg area were such big areas for filmmaking, but I’ve actually heard a lot about Greenville and that area, so I feel like that’s awesome. Yeah. So how would you describe the local community? 

    Rhodes Farrell 04:05

    Well, I mean, with film bar, I mean, that’s kind of my wheelhouse. Is we started it three years ago, and it’s technically 1700 people on Facebook, but I’ve only met 400 or so of them, which is still a good number, and they’re just constantly working on different projects and doing things and trying different things. And so it’s great that we have that community, that people can, you know, because it’s, it’s a very collaborative artwork for, you know, narrative short films, or even for commercials, you have to have more than just one person generally. So it’s good to have those connections there, but it’s just really diverse. I mean, like I was saying all the different roles that you have in filmmaking, yes, you get a large collection of brains and smarts and creatives. 

    Lexi 04:55

    I feel like it’s also so special that you’ve been really a big person in bringing everybody together with film bar. So that’s amazing. So how would you define professional versus personal success in your creative endeavors? 

    Rhodes Farrell 05:15

    Well, I my slogan or quote or whatever. It’s a Disney quote, but “Keep moving forward.” There’s just so many things to be creative with. You just keep moving on to the next project. And some people like to stick with the project and do a festival run and stuff like that. But I’m always keen to work on the next thing. I don’t know why, but, but also just 1% better. That’s another one. If I did 10 podcasts last year, I want to do 11 this year. So I want to just incrementally get better and better and do more and more and and find more success that way. 

    Lexi 05:52

    Yeah, that’s awesome. It’s always good to be looking for something to grow. So what was your biggest fear when you decided to pursue filmmaking professionally? 

    Rhodes Farrell 06:04

    Like I said, the Spartanburg being a small town, I wasn’t sure it could, if I would get enough work or whatever, but it took a while to get there. But it’s, it’s definitely proven itself. 

    Lexi 06:21

    Yeah, that’s awesome.  Okay, and then can you please describe like a defining moment in your creative journey? Like, was there a particular project that made a significant impact on you, or was something that, like you produced that you believe really showed your creativity? 

    Rhodes Farrell  06:39

    I did win the indie grants, which is through the film commission for a short film last year. So we got $30,000 to shoot a short film that’s amazing. Partnered with my friend who wrote it and directed it, I was a producer on it, pulled in a bunch of people on a project. We had 40 people most days, and I think we had a bunch of background one day. So we had up to 60 or 70 people one day, and just just pulling all that together was a ton of fun to do, and it’s actually gonna show at Beaver Film Festival first, and then the Greenville Reels Film Festival second. But they’re not announcing the name, so we can save our premier status for festival. We end up going to so exciting. And so that was a big one, that was a really fun project to be awarded and get to do. And then film bar really has been a huge turning point for me. I started it just because I wanted a few friends, and then it’s huge, grown so much so, and that’s just changed, a lot of access points for me to be able to have that weight behind me, to talk to people and stuff like that. 

    Lexi 07:54

    So on your whole journey, what has been the best and worst advice that you’ve ever received? 

    Rhodes Farrell 08:03

    Oh gosh, I have like, hundreds of little slogans or nuggets or whatever from all kinds of various places. Some of the ones I really love are from the Imagineering workbooks, stuff like that, the Disney theme of things. But one, I would say, pretend you’re an expert. That’s a great one. Kind of fake a team make it, so to speak, and then don’t use your head as a filing cabinet. That’s a really good one too. Yeah, I write stuff down now way more than I used to. It’s like, Oh, y’all remember that note doesn’t work? Yeah, when the worst one was probably just sign it. Don’t just sign a contract. You get in sticky situations. Technically, I heard that first with our house, when we’re trying to buy a house out here and they’re like, oh, just sign the contracts, like, but I don’t know what this means. Yeah, so, but I’ve heard it from other times, for other places. 

    Lexi 09:08

    I feel like that is some good advice. Just like all around you don’t want to get into anything without knowing… 

    Rhodes Farrell 09:15

    Well, you just forget the bad and the bad advice. 

    Lexi 09:19

    I think that’s good on its, I think that’s a good piece of advice, like on its own, because I feel like if you are remembering all this bad advice and negative comments, you’re just gonna get bogged down by it. So okay, so can you walk me through like a typical workday for you, what does your process look like, and what do you kind of like expect from yourself on a daily basis? 

    Rhodes Farrell 09:48

    There’s not really a typical day in filmmaking as a freelancer, maybe, if you’re in a corporate world, you might have more of a typical day. But there’s a typical process, which is kind of like, you know, you’re doing cold emails, you’re finding the client, and then you they call you back, you do all the pre production stuff, the brainstorming, and then you set some dates for finding talent, locations you know, to film whenever you get all your footage. Then you have two to four weeks of editing, depending on the project. Social media turns around a lot faster and present them with that, and hopefully they do the next video. So that’s that’s kind of just the process, but in a typical day, I’ll answer a lot of feedback from different things. I’m on a lot of the reading reels, Film Festival board. I do film bar, and I do YouTube and podcasts, and then there’s marketing myself and work. So there’s a lot of different variables that go in. 

    Lexi 10:57

    That sounds like a lot to juggle. 

    Rhodes Farrell 11:01

    Yeah, I’m actually working on doing an AV install, which is throwback to what I used to do, but I’m helping the museum install stuff. So it’s a very different than my normal day, but it’s just what it is to be freelance, I suppose. 

    Lexi 11:15

    Yeah, so with freelance, how do you how do you create, like, a good work life balance, where you’re able to, like, maintain everything? 

    Rhodes Farrell 11:29

    The biggest answer for that is probably my wife. She is a teacher, and she takes care of so much, takes care of me and allows me to be able to do this. So that’s, that’s a big part of it. So shout out to Emmy. I love her. But being encouraging to clients to kind of take a creative step, not a leap. You don’t want to push them too far, too fast. Some of them are all up for it, but just, you know, slowly, give them a little bit of nudge to hey, let’s do try something a little edgy that you may not be totally comfortable with. Getting out of that comfort zone is a great spot to be. And then the other thing I’d say is, like, learn public speaking. How to start a conversation in conversation, small talk, doing that with film. Barb to go from person to person, kind of have those conversations you and editing. You kind of learn how to narrow down your communication to the most useful nuggets and be quick about things. Yeah, last one is learn business and marketing and keep things simple. Because it’s if you don’t know how to do that for yourself, then you’re stuck.  

    Lexi 12:44

    Yeah, yeah. I feel like, I feel like that is very good advice. I feel like that there’s a lot of moving aspects in every part of a creative career. So you’ve kind of already described some of them, but what are some habits that you think would be beneficial to others wanting to get into videography, filmmaking and stuff in that realm. 

    Rhodes Farrell 13:18

    Just like any artist will tell you, who can go out and practice your thing, I would say, find a community. If you can find people to do this with, whether it’s just you and your siblings or you and your best friend just go out and start doing stuff together. And there’s so many stories of filmmakers that have say, Oh, I’ve got these YouTube videos of I guess, in this day of age, YouTube videos, you know that no one sees anymore because I took them down, but they’re just silly little things that people went out and did, but that that’s what made them fall in love with it. So keep doing those things that make you fall in love with it, and just find your community. 

    Lexi 14:02

    That’s, I think that’s really beautiful, because I feel like fear holds so many people back from what they really want to do. 

    Rhodes Farrell 14:12

    But, yeah, I have a great quote for that too. 

    Lexi 14:15

    Yeah, go ahead. 

    Rhodes Farrell 14:19  

    Let me find it. It’s from, it’s from Walt Disney. Sometimes I wonder if common sense isn’t just another way of saying fear, and fear, too often, spells failure, Walt Disney. 

    Lexi 14:32

    I think that’s really fitting. That’s a good one for sure. So do you have any questions that you wish that you were asked. 

    Rhodes Farrell 14:46

    I do lots of interviews myself, doing videos, stuff like that, so I like to ask the question like: What are your other hobbies do you have? Or if you had a TED talk, what would be what would it be about? 

    Lexi 14:59

    So, if you had a TED talk, what would yours be about? 

    Rhodes Farrell 15:05

    Public speaking? Probably for one, just being able to get out there and talk and how to hold a microphone. I don’t know why that gets me, but,yeah, that would probably be one of and then my other hobbies, I do leather working, just because my hobby was filmmaking and then became a job, so I needed something else, so I do leather working for fun. My wife is an art teacher, so we do crafts all the time. She does ceramics. And then we recently got our scuba license, so I’m trying to do more of that. That’s very fun. Incorporate that in my videography as well. 

    Lexi 15:50

    Yeah, I feel like that opens up a lot of, like, good shots that you could have that’s super cool. 

    Rhodes Farrell 15:56

    And just wildlife in general, if I can film wildlife, that’s a good day. 

  • Rhodes Farrell

    Rhodes Farrell

    “Do 1% better every time.”

    Rhodes Farrell, a videographer based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, offers healthy habits to generate inspiration and build skills that are beneficial not only to filmmakers, but to any creative.

    About

    Farrell describes the South Carolina filmmaking community with warmth, explaining that moving to South Carolina from Atlanta, Georgia has allowed him to “stretch [his] wings”. Despite still being competitive, the filmmaking community in South Carolina genuinely wishes each other well and Farrell says that “it’s been really great to have that connection where it might have been more cutthroat in other areas.” Farrell has also gotten to know many people in the business in South Carolina and believes that they are good people.

    Farrell draws on many Disney quotes for inspiration but also gives good advice himself. Farrell emphasizes the importance of fully reading contracts so that a person can know with one percent certainty what they are signing up for and says “don’t just sign a contract. You get in sticky situations.” Farrell is also a strong believer in the “fake it until you make it” rationale, as he believes it instills a certain amount of confidence in a person.

    A final piece of advice that Farrell gives is the importance of learning the skill of public speaking. Public speaking and small talk are a huge proponent of networking and being able to understand those around you, including potential clients: “you kind of learn how to narrow down your communication to the most useful nuggets and be quick about things”

  • Daniel Kline

    Daniel Kline

    “Just jump in and just do it and learn along the way. Don’t wait until you’re don’t. Don’t wait until you feel ready.”

    Daniel Kline is a fitness coach and writer/producer for Starling media in Conway, South Carolina. Daniel has been professionally making films for two years now and offers great advice for those entering a career in the arts. 

    Interview

    Transcript

    Lexi Raines | 00:01 

    First, just give a little introduction of yourself. What do you? Who are you? What do you do for work, and where are you currently working from?  

    Daniel Kline | 00:09 

    Yeah. So my name is Daniel Kline. I am from Conway, South Carolina, and I, as far as work goes, I’m kind of doing two things as most artists are doing. I, my main job is, I’m a fitness coach, but my creative job is, I’m a writer and producer for Starling Media.  

    Lexi Raines | 00:31 

    Yeah, that’s awesome. And, so how long have you been working for, you said Starlight Media?  

    Daniel Kline | 00:40 

    Starling media, like the bird. Yeah, yes. So that’s Starling media is actually it’s my thing. I, I’ve been making films like professionally, both creatively and I’ve done a couple of commercial things, but I’ve been doing film for about two years now, although Starling media was started back in November, so it’s still pretty fresh. But yeah, I’ve been doing film professionally for about two years, but total about four years. First two years was mostly learning.  

    Lexi Raines | 01:14 

    Yeah, that’s awesome. So you said you’re from Conway. So what is one thing that you like working as a creative in South Carolina? Because I know some people, they tend to think that if you want to be a creative professional, you’re going to have to move out of South Carolina. You’re going to have to move somewhere bigger. What does South Carolina give to you that somewhere else wouldn’t?  

    Daniel Kline | 01:40 

    I think South Carolina is actually a really great place to be a filmmaker, because one of the largest hubs in the world for filmmaking is Atlanta, which is practically our back door. I mean, it’s a little bit further for us because, you know, or at least makes them in Conway, but, I mean, it’s, yeah, we got Atlanta right in our back door, which means a lot of, a lot of film companies are, you know, they do kind of like sub out in a bunch of different areas that are nearby. So like, Charleston is close to us, Wilmington is close to us. And actually, most of the work that I do is up in Greenville, which is about an hour and a half from Atlanta, and so we get a lot of, like, Atlanta productions that film in Greenville as well. So I think we’re, like, we’re at a really great position to, you know, have, like, a really affordable living and, you know, also be very close to where the action’s at.  

    Lexi Raines | 02:37 

    Yeah, that’s amazing. So I’ve actually heard a lot of filmmakers and producers, there is a big hub for that in Greenville right now. So how would you describe the professional community up there?  

    Daniel Kline | 02:56 

    Oh, gosh. I absolutely love my filmmaking friends. I mean, I’ve met producers, I’ve met filmmakers that are kind of on both sides, so it’s not 100% but the community that I’ve, I’ve met, and I’ve worked with, and I’ve really, you know, dug roots with, there are some of the kindest, most giving people. Like, they freely give their time. We, we pretty much exchange time, like, I’ll work on your project if you work on mine. And everyone really gives 100%, sometimes 110%, and it’s just a really fantastic community, and I’m just, I love being part of it, and they welcome me as a local, even though I’m three hours away.  

    Lexi Raines | 03:38 

    Yeah, South Carolina really is just like one big community. I feel like, no matter where you’re from, we’re all very close with each other, which is awesome. So kind of moving a little bit, how do you define your professional or personal successes in your creative endeavors?  

    Daniel Kline | 03:58 

    So as far as filmmakers go, there’s a lot of talented filmmakers out there. And, I mean, there’s a lot of talented filmmakers that are way more talented than I could ever hope to be. So I learned pretty early on that my why, my why is, what’s going to make me different. And so like professional success would, would, on the surface, be, you know, like having a successful film, you know, film that wins awards and everything but personal success. I, I’m really passionate about people, and I think if I’ve got an award winning film, but my film was a miserable experience to work on, then I failed. And so that’s, that’s kind of how I am choosing to define my success; is just being a team player, being a, creating a positive work environment, and also just creating a product that shows love. You know, when I say shows love, like you can tell that people loved it when they worked on it. And I think that, and I think that really shows in the final product as well.  

    Lexi Raines | 04:58 

    I completely agree. I- I’ve seen movies in the past that you can just tell the actors, the people on set, they weren’t super passionate or happy about it, but I feel like it always makes the biggest difference.   

    Daniel Kline | 05:12 

    Yeah, absolutely.  

    Lexi Raines | 05:13 

    Yeah, so you said that you’ve been making movies for a while now, seriously, and just outside of that, what was your biggest fear when you first decided to pursue this career?  

    Daniel Kline | 05:30 

    I think the easy answer would be fear of failure. But I’m going to dig a little deeper, and I’m going to say my biggest fear is creating a product that I think is great, and people not liking it. Like, if I look at the final product, I’m like, “alright, this is awesome. This is my best work”, and it just absolutely flops. I think that’s the biggest fear.  

    Lexi Raines | 05:53 

    Yeah, I feel like that is a- that’s a big fear for a lot of people. But, so on a more positive note, like, what’s a defining moment you’ve had in your creative journey? Like, was there a particular project that made a significant impact on you, or was it something you produced that really showcased your creativity?  

    Daniel Kline | 06:17 

    Yeah, so my- I would have to say that the most defining moment was probably my first project, my first short film. It was, it was that big step where I went from wanting to become a filmmaker to actually being a filmmaker. I took I’d been, I had spent like, two years learning. At that point, two years learning and not doing anything. And everyone was just saying, “Just do it. Just do it. Just, you know, just push through. You’ve got stuff, if you’ve got a phone, you can make a film,” and so we just did it. I wrote something that was accessible, that had like a little creative spin on it, and something that we could film like, pretty easily in a weekend, and we just put a lot of effort into it, and it was, it was pretty good. Like, it’s, it wasn’t like the best thing, and you can tell it was like our first thing ever. But I got to show it to our, my filmmaking community up in Greenville, and these are people who, like, work full time in it, and like, they, like, some of them were actually wowed by it. They were like, “wow! Like, who, who did this? Who, you know, who edited them?” Like, it’s, my brother edited it. He’s never edited anything in his life and it was just like, it, it ended up being such a really cool thing, because we just, we just did it, and it’s been entered into film festivals. We just won Best Short and Best Director for it couple months ago. And so it’s like it was a really defining moment, because it was just that moment where I realized, you know, we can do this.  

    Lexi Raines | 07:47 

    Yeah, that is amazing. That’s so special. Congratulations on that.  

    Daniel Kline | 07:52 

    Thank you.   

    Lexi Raines | 07:53 

    So, what is, while you were on this path, was there any like advice you received, like good advice, bad advice?  

    Daniel Kline | 08:05 

    That- the advice, the best advice that I received was, was just do it. There’s a lot of, there’s a lot of creative people, not just filmmakers, but there’s a lot of creative people who are afraid to take that first step, but I mean, really, there’s no reason- there’s no time like the present, and there’s no reason why you can’t, and especially if you’ve got a phone in your pocket, you can do most of your creative work to some capacity. And, so the best advice and the thing I always just tell people who ask me what to do, just do it. Just jump in and just do it and learn along the way. Don’t wait until you’re ready. Don’t wait until you feel ready.  

    Lexi Raines | 08:43 

    Yeah because- I feel that. Like you’ll never feel ready.  

    Daniel Kline | 08:48 

    Yeah, I had about a dozen people tell me that in a day, and I was like, “Okay, I get it. I get it.”  

    Lexi Raines | 08:55 

    Yeah, so along with “just do it” you obviously, you said you were a fitness instructor, so you have another job. How would you- How do you balance your day? Like walk us through a typical work day for you. That is an awesome, an awesome balance. So when you’re shifting into more of like, your creative mindset later in the day, what does your process look like for when like, you’re writing these movies, producing them, what does what does that process look like?  

    Daniel Kline | 09:11 

    Oh my gosh. So my day usually starts at 4am, which is rough. I’m not a morning person, but you know, I have to be, but no, my day usually starts at 4am and I just basically work between four and seven sessions. So my day, usually, my professional day usually ends around 11 or 12- 11am, or 12pm, so I mean, I’ve got the the last half of my day to do anything creative, you know, anything creative that I want and so it does allow for a lot of time, and, but- and the gym that I work at, they know, they know what I do. They know what I love to do, what I want to do and so, like, anytime there’s a project, I can freely take off and, you know, go pursue that. And I- So I, it’s a really awesome job to have, yeah.   

    Lexi Raines | 10:05 

    That is an awesome, an awesome balance. So when you’re shifting into more of life, your creative mindset later in the day, what does your process look like for when like, you’re writing these movies, producing them, what does that process look like?  

    Daniel Kline | 10:22 

    Yeah, you asked about writing and producing. I could, I could talk for hours about either so I’m going to choose one. I’m going to shorten it. I mean, writing, writing is, is just a bunch of planning. That’s all it is. It’s just a bunch of planning. You plan on conversations and everything, and then you write it out. So I’m actually going to shift to producing what my day looks like as a producer. It’s a lot of- it’s a lot of boring office work. It’s phone calls. It’s making sure that people’s schedules align. It’s making sure that money is where it needs to be. It’s filling out spreadsheets, creating spreadsheets. I like to use this website called Milanotes. I know a lot of people use it to, like, take notes and everything it’s, it’s where I like to have, like, a different- it’s basically like a giant virtual cork board that you can, like, put different files and draw different lines between things. It looks like a crazy conspiracy theorist board, but- that’s, but yeah, it’s basically just filling in information and just making sure that everyone’s caught up on everything.  

    Lexi Raines | 11:27 

    Yeah, so, that seems like a lot to juggle. What are some habits that you have, that you’ve developed that you think would be beneficial for others wanting to join this field?  

    Daniel Kline | 11:47 

    I think the- the best habit for people who are wanting to join the field, if they’re starting from scratch, the- probably the best thing that I did for myself, and I, like, I would absolutely recommend, is I keep this, this rolodex spreadsheet. I created- I created this spreadsheet that anytime I, I basically just got on set, anytime I could, like, I volunteered, I like, met people, shadowed people, and I spent, like, two years working on sets, different sets, without getting paid, just to, like, meet people. And so what I did was, every time I worked with somebody that I enjoyed with- enjoyed working with, and that I would want to work with again, someday, I would put their name, put their information in spreadsheet, put how I met them, and then, I also had a line that was like, this is the last date that I talked to them on, and I kept all of those dates within a month. And so, like, if it’s been about a month since I talked to somebody, I would text them say, like, “Hey, what are you working on? How are you doing?” and that spreadsheet quickly grew into, like, 100 lines. And that was 100 different connections that I you know, people that I kept in in contact with, and that, after about a year and a half of investment, that- that became work, like those people started calling me for- for work, and those became paid projects. And so, like, so, I mean, bottom line is, however you want to do it, like, find your community. Write down, write down a list of people that you want to work with and stick with those people.  

    Lexi Raines | 13:26 

    Yeah, that’s actually a really, a really clever idea. I haven’t- I wouldn’t have even thought to do that. That’s so smart. So do you have any questions that you wish we would have been asked- we would have asked you?  

    Daniel Kline | 13:47 

    Oh, no, not really. I think that covers everything.  

    Lexi Raines | 13:50 

    Okay, awesome. And my last question for you today is, do you have a creative that you’d like to nominate to be interviewed?  

    Daniel Kline | 13:57 

    Hmm, well, I’ve got a whole Rolodex full of them. Yeah, I’ve got, I’ve got one. I think she’d be really cool person talk to. But Yasmine Lee.  

    Lexi Raines | 14:11 

    Yasmin Lee?  

    14:12 | Daniel Kline  

    Yeah.   

    Lexi Raines | 14:14 

    Awesome.   

    Daniel Kline | 14:15 

    She’s a filmmaker up in Greenville. She’s an Emmy Award winning person, really, yeah, she’s and she’s really cool. Worked with her several times.  

    Lexi Raines | 14:24 

    Okay, awesome. Yeah, send us, send us her information, and then, yeah, I will hear this if you can. Thank you so much for your time. It was really great interviewing you. I’m going to look into your work. You seem so passionate about everything, I’ll be looking for your name out there.   

    Daniel Kline | 14:46 

    Thanks. Appreciate it.  

    Lexi Raines | 14:48 

    Thank you so much for your time. I hope you have a good. rest of your day, stay safe in the snow. Supposed snow.  

    Daniel Kline | 14:59 

    Alrighty, bye.  

  • David Estrada

    David Estrada

    “I would define my creative success; I think it’s that I try to be as chaotically scheduled as possible.”

    David Estrada is the Director of Content Production at Cargo, a marketing firm based in Greenville, South Carolina. With degrees in both film and advertising from the University of Texas, Estrada blends creative direction with strategic thinking. He founded his own production company in Austin before transitioning into agency work, where he now leads cross-disciplinary teams. Passionate about film, media, and collaboration, Estrada emphasizes the importance of creative chaos and community in South Carolina’s upstate marketing scene. 

    About

    David Estrada is the director of content production at Cargo, a marketing firm based in Greenville, South Carolina, where he’s worked since 2016. He holds degrees in both film and advertising from the University of Texas, a combination that prepared him well for his multifaceted role. 

    Estrada values the creative community in upstate South Carolina, noting its strong network of professionals. “I like that there is a base, a very good baseline, of creative professionals and strategic professionals in upstate South Carolina… everybody kind of knows each other.” He began his career as a project manager, a role that gave him broad exposure to different disciplines and helped shape his collaborative approach. 

    A pivotal moment in Estrada’s creative journey came not on set but in a college advisor’s office. After taking two years off and considering a switch from film to advertising, a conversation with a career counselor convinced him to pursue both, an insight that set the course for his future. 

    Estrada defines creative success as being “undefinable,” embracing chaos and originality. But he’s also candid about the challenges. Financial instability is an unfortunate reality in the creative field, and he emphasizes the importance of understanding to market creatives as a business, talent alone isn’t enough. 

    The worst advice he ever received? “Don’t be so idealistic.” For Estrada, idealism is essential. Without hope, he says, there’s no point in doing creative work at all. 

  • Sam Sokolow

    Sam Sokolow

    “Make something. Follow your gut. And remember, everything, success or failure, is a learning experience.” 

    Sam Sokolow is a two-time Emmy-nominated film and television producer who recently relocated to Greenville, South Carolina after 23 years in Los Angeles and a childhood in New York City. Now focused on building a slate of independent films from the South, Sokolow is also helping develop the Clemson Film School and working on global workforce training for emerging film markets. His mission is to empower storytellers and creatives through mentorship, opportunity, and industry experience. 

    About

    After decades of producing major television and film projects in New York and Los Angeles, Sam Sokolow now calls Greenville, South Carolina home. With roots in big cities but a heart that is grounded in authentic storytelling, Sokolow brings a wealth of experience to the South’s emerging film industry. He’s not only producing independent films from Greenville but also working to build a foundation for the next generation through the Clemson Film School and a global workforce development initiative for training production crews. 

    “I feel like I’m in the middle of a Hallmark movie most days,” Sokolow says, describing Greenville’s charm and creative energy. For him, the big move was inspired by love, his wife is from nearby Gaffney, and it has led to a sense of purpose. “When you move for the right reasons, miracles happen around you.” 

    With a career spanning from indie features to large-scale studio productions, Sokolow understands the full life cycle of a project. But he defines his role as: “I put creative people in a position to do their best work.” Whether this is through cultivating local talent or producing globally relevant stories, he’s driven by a passion for storytelling and a determination for persistence. “My biggest fear was not getting to do this work,” he shares. “That fear kept me going.” 

    Sokolow is now committed to helping others take that same leap. “Don’t wait to be chosen,” he advises. “Make something. Follow your gut. And remember, everything, success or failure, is a learning experience.” 

  • Eugene Rocco Utley

    Eugene Rocco Utley

    “I would rather fail at pursuing a passion that I love rather than playing it safe, and never truly pursuing it.” 

    Eugene Rocco Utley is a freelance creative professional based in Myrtle Beach. By day, he manages marketing and advertising for Coastal Carolina National Bank (CCNB), blending strategic communication with local insight. Outside his 9-to-5, Utley pursues freelance work in film production, with experience in both commercial and narrative projects.

    About

    After studying at Clemson University, and shortly at Coastal Carolina, Eugene Rocco Utley now splits his time between a 9-to-5 role in marketing and advertising at Coastal Carolina National Bank (CCNB) and a robust freelance career in film production. From commercial shoots to creative narrative projects, he’s carved out a path that balances the professional with passion. 

    Though the freelance world can be uncertain, Utley embraces its challenges. “I would rather fail at pursing a passion that I love,” he says, “than play it safe and never truly pursue it.” His creative journey began right out of college, working on low-budget films and slowly building his network in South Carolina’s creative community, a space Utley describes as both “versatile” and “closely knit.” For Utley, success is defined not just by recognition but by collaboration: “If someone wants to work with you again, that’s a real success.” 

    A defining moment came when his short film A B gained significant recognition, marking as a pivoting point in his personal and professional career. The project, which explores the balance between mental health and artistic identity, reinforced Utley’s belief that “Failures are something to learn from, not just failures.” 

    Whether writing scripts or handling design work at the bank, Utley stresses the importance of time management and living a life outside of work. “You have to experience life to reflect on it,” he emphasizes. “You can’t define yourself only by your art.” His advice gives creatives to give yourself freedom in the process, use note cards, not full pages and face your fears head-on. 

  • Akai Shelise Jones

    Akai Shelise Jones

    “Keep creating, no matter what. So, use what you do in your personal time make it structured and professional, because it will translate to a career that’s awesome like this.”


    Akai Shelise Jones is the Visual Digital Media Director for the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, where she blends creativity with purpose to tell powerful stories of change.

    About

    As the Visual Digital Media Director for the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, Akai Shelise Jones is a one-woman creative powerhouse managing storytelling, strategy, and communications across the entire state. With a background in foster care social work, Akai brings deep compassion to her role showcasing the humanity and potential in the youth and staff who make up DJJ.

    Her days are anything but predictable. From documenting community graduations and capturing employee morale moments, to managing a full website migration and crafting digital campaigns, Akai does it all. She’s the creative force behind impactful internal and public-facing content, including the agency’s social media presence.

    But her work goes beyond design it’s about visibility. “Getting the right stories out,” she says, especially those of staff who’ve served for decades or young people ready to transform their lives, is the heart of her mission. One of her most meaningful projects, a video following a formerly incarcerated teen touring South Carolina State University, earned thousands of views and even more community impact.

    Akai’s advice to emerging creatives? Be bold, job shadow, and structure your personal creativity into professional frameworks. She urges young professionals to look past job titles, seek mentorship, and remember that every skill from TikTok videos to podcasting—has real-world value when refined with intention.

    For Akai, this isn’t just a job, it’s purpose-driven communication. And in her lens, every youth deserves a new narrative.

  • Daniel Kline

    Daniel Kline

    “Just jump in and just do it and learn along the way. Don’t wait until you’re don’t. Don’t wait until you feel ready.”

    Daniel Kline is a fitness coach and writer/producer for Starling media in Conway, South Carolina. Daniel has been professionally making films for two years now and offers great advice for those entering a career in the arts. 

    About

    Daniel Kline values working with people and the passion of filmmaking rather than receiving awards. He is really passionate about people, and says, “I think if I’ve got an award-winning film, but my film was a miserable experience to work on, then I failed.” He wants his product to show love.

    Kline’s most defining moment throughout his career was thanks to his first short film. After spending two years learning the ropes, Kline was urged to finally just go for it and make his own film. He says: “I wrote something that was accessible, that had like a little creative spin on it, and something that we could film like, pretty easily in a weekend…” Kline explains how his local filmmaking community in Greenville, S.C. were amazed at the film he had created, and that it had been entered into film festivals, and won Best Short and Best Director.

    Kline emphasizes the importance of organization, specifically using spreadsheets in a creative career, which he explains helps him stay organized. He also mentions the importance of noting people he enjoyed working with most throughout the community. This helps him to keep in touch, establish projects and nourish connections within his community.