Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Charles Kennedy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Charles, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I get my work ethic from my parents. I’m the son of two Jamaican immigrants and they worked for every single thing they had. After my dad passed away, I watched my mom work 2-3 jobs and hustle like crazy to keep everything together in the house. Hard work is all I know, and I’m thankful I had such hard working parents to set the example for me.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a cinematographer, photographer and director based in Livonia, Michigan. Currently my focus has been on cinematography as I’ve shot a wide range of productions from narrative shorts, features, documentaries and commercials. It’s an extremely exciting time right now as I was recently accepted into the ASC Vision Mentorship program and I get to be a protege under one of the best image-makers we’ve had in our industry. My journey to this point hasn’t been a straight forward one, and its cool to come to a place now where I have found where my voice really is and create work that can come straight from my heart and soul.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think the one of the most important qualities that impactful for me was to do the extra work outside of the classroom. When I was in college, we’d have our in class projects but I always would take those skills and try to work on them doing my own stuff. I did many short films and skits using the skills I learned in school and made them work for what I ultimately wanted to do. Secondly, I think patience is huge. This is a marathon, not a sprint. When you look at the success of people in the film industry, a lot of them had to work and wait years until they got their chance to really prove themselves. Waiting doesn’t mean it’ll just happen for you over time, you have to put in the work and refine your skills tirelessly to keep rising. I learned that early. Lastly, I think being unafraid to take chances is very important. I wouldn’t be where I’m at now if I didn’t step outside of myself and try something or reach out to someone I didn’t know. I tell people all the time that if I didn’t learn how to take risks, I’d still be living at home with my mom. My advice to anyone early in their career to embrace the three qualities I mentioned above but to also learn to be a constant evaluator of self. What I mean by that is constantly work to improve. Areas where you think you’re good, polish them and be great. Areas where you don’t think you’re strong, work at them and turn the weaknesses into strengths. If you aren’t constantly checking in with yourself you’ll make room for comparing to what other people are doing and that’s a recipe for stagnation and depression.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
The biggest area of growth for me has been my preparation for projects. I used to rely a lot on my skill to get me through shoots but it wasn’t until last summer when I realized that my skill can only take me so far, the prep is what makes the great ones great. I recently shot a narrative feature in July and it is some of my best/favorite work because I had months to prepare and thankful me and the team were able to execute the plan at a high level.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.charleskennedyjr.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ckennedyjr
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ckennedyjr
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user5622511
