We were lucky to catch up with Beej Burton recently and have shared our conversation below.
Beej, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
When I was in the early stages of development, the pursuit of the entertainment industry was not something that was particularly supported in my family. No one had experience to be able to properly support me or the dreams that I had to do what I do in this industry. When I started out, I was constantly comparing myself to people who were way more advanced and had far better resources than I was able to provide for myself. All I had was an iPhone 6 and the willingness to learn. I ultimately pursued this as a means to distract me from the tough times I naturally faced in life as a young newly-wed 25 year-old black man living in North Ga. This was my escape and I wanted to be better, I just wasn’t sure how. I was listening to a church sermon about a year into me committing to my craft and the summary of the message was “All you have is all you need.” When I first started out, I was only making $1816 a month and had to support my family off of that. From the rent, down to the student loan payments and power bill and everything in between. Trying to balance that and not lose my mind, content creation was supposed to be my out, and it was. I created what I could with what I had, and eventually it started to grow. MY skills in the kinds of videos I made, the relationships I developed from people who have seen my content, and even the resources I’ve procured to create my content. The growth I experienced was influenced by my desire to be better despite how my circumstances looked and the humility expressed to learn to utilize what I had to the best of my ability. This led to the naming of my studio company 1816 Studios. As I reflected on where it was I came from, and where it was I could go and am going, it became clear to me that I need to act as a beacon to encourage others who are in the same boat as I was to continue, to pursue, and to preserve despite what it is that they feel like they don’t have, because at the end of the day, “All you have, is all you need.”
Beej, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My brand is all about encouragement, representation, and inspiration to dream, to live, to feel and embrace in purpose. We live in a world now that is so focused strictly on the mindset that your worth is wrapped up in the amount of money that you can make before you hit a particular age or the amount of possessions that you can obtain while still calling yourself young. There are so many stressors that exist in the world and as a creative I felt like it is my duty with this brand to provide an alternative mindset to that method of thinking. My belief is that we live in a world of potential vs. purpose where we are always constantly striving to reach our potential when we often times forget that we have a purpose for existence. My brand focuses on the pursuit of purpose by exploring the many avenues that content creation can offer such as film-making, voice-over acting, videography, photography, graphic design, screenplay writing, and much more. My brand provides resource to those who are seeking to start in this community of creatives and is unsure of where to start or how to establish a relationship. It serves as a beacon of support to the creative who is unsure of themselves or their self worth as well as extends its hand for collaboration and the encouragement of teamwork because it is my firm belief that we were not put on this earth to do everything by ourselves.
I believe what sets me apart from other brands is simply that, me. I believe that everyone provides a unique perspective to what it is that we do, especially as creatives. Otherwise there would be one originator and the rest are copies. There are no two people on this earth that are the same which means that we all have something different to bring to the table. I am most proud of the consistency and dedication that I have given to my creative life. I am also proud of the expansion of creative avenues that my talent and discipline has granted me access to achieve over the years to have experience and knowledge in more than just one particular method of creative expression. I originally started off with only knowing how to create short 15-30 second videos that I wanted to be funny, but it grew over time to creating longer content, which meant that I needed to write more to plan out what that content would look like, this also meant that I needed to work with other people who had more knowledge than I did when it came to creating and directing. From that it led to me needing to know more about lighting and set design and how to tell a compelling story and organize and edit and really capture the moment as it happened on set. From there, it grew to different methods of me being able to tell the story. Whether that be through film, or a vlog, or even a podcast. It all started with a man, $25 and his iPhone 6.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The goal I have developed from my creative journey has always been to encourage, motivate, and inspire others to be the best version of themselves and embrace the inner creative that exists within them which is done through the achievement of purpose. The achievement of purpose resonates so heavy with me because I feel like in this world we lose sight of what is important because the focus has always been shifted to maximize potential versus reaching purpose. When we live attempting to reach our potential we oftentimes over look the other things that are supposed to matter to us, like the achievements that we received in pursuit of maximizing our potential. We would never take the time to appreciate the good things that come to us. In reaching purpose we understand that there is reason for why the things that happen turned out the way they did. This is something that I feel is reflected and has been reflected throughout my journey.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
This may sound simple, but honestly, I underestimated the power of the resource a good DM can be. Some of the greatest moments of growth came from me asking questions from people who I felt had experience in the field I work in and aspire to do more work in. I had this fear of being shut down and being made a fool of or a mockery that I would often times talk myself out of it. Me saying this does not mean that I have never been told “no”. However, I have made some of my strongest partnerships and relationships in my areas of expertise because I took advantage of this resource. I encourage you to utilize it (Properly) and watch what comes of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.beejlyclipstv.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beej_ly
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beejlyclipstv
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugene-burton-2b85789a/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/beej_ly
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/beejlyclipstv
- Other: linktr.ee/beej_ly