We recently connected with Robert Coppage III and have shared our conversation below.
Robert, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I can wholeheartedly tell you that I trust God’s timing. My passion for acting and creating film has burned since my childhood. In elementary I went from doing plays at the school, to getting a paid to act with professionals in local KC theater. By the time I was in middle school I was already editing my own commercials and TV shows on my step dads camcorder. I used to love watching myself on our big screen in the living room. Being a kid from Wyandotte County I felt like that was the only way I could see myself on TV. The camcorder started getting old and my parents got me a new one that ended up getting thrown down the stairs at my friend’s house. Luckily our school had given us laptops with a program on it called iMovie, that made editing easy and fun for me.
The love for my work has always been there and I’d say I’ve just been constantly practicing. I’ve never really stopped, I only keep gaining experience and more opportunities. It’s all very fun to me. I’m glad I started when I did. I’m blessed that more things are coming my way to do.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Around 5 years ago I noticed that there weren’t alot of options for people in KC who weren’t white. Most classes and workshops and training were not catering to minority groups. Personally, I learned improv at 12 y/o in a room full of cool older white people at the Alcott Arts Center. I wanted to create an experience for people who don’t identify as white males. We created Tribe University and I began training people in THIS community in improv. The response was amazing. After that, people started to ask me if I could help them cast projects because of all of the students I’d come across with diverse looks and features. It fit so perfectly that it just made sense to keep training the actors and then finding them work.
I want to keep the actor working and paid in KC. If they want to teach I give them money to cover classes and teach my lessons from Tribe. If they fit a certain look or have a certain skill set I will get them in movies or short films or even stage plays. There is no limit. People like me are constantly working now. It’s been amazing to see and be a part of.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Get behind the people who are innovative. Get behind and support people with new ideas and great passion. In many cases people in KC are ok with working a full time job outside of their artistic career. I’d like to see everyone who is able actually living off of their creativity and art. So support the small beginnings. And for the artists, just don’t stop. Continue to network and work with other folks who do what you do, and folks who can do what you can not.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My ultimate goal is to never hear young people of color say that being an actor is not a realistic occupation or something to pursue. I want to be a part of creating those jobs and opportunities. KC can look like ATL, it could look like LA as far as the work. We have talent on the crew side and on casting side. There are ways to get paid as an artist, we just need to create them.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tribeuniversity.org
- Instagram: Treyster_tre
- Facebook: Robert E. Coppage III
- Youtube: BlackHookahKC