We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Billy Tighe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Billy, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I began my journey as an artist with the help of countless educators, family members, friends and mentors. I’m still learning and evolving and I make mistakes all the time. What’s most engaging about being an artist is that the learning is never done. We’re always seeking new ways to harness our skills and effectively communicate our vision. I’m sure there are countless ways I could have sped up my learning process. Taking more classes, paying more attention in the classes I did take. Mostly, taking better advantage of the many opportunities I didn’t see clearly when I was experiencing them. I do think though that the growing process for artists is intentionally slow and riddled with disappointment. Part of creating a unique point of view as an artist is through life experience and gaining perspective on the human condition. That comes with lots of failure, squandered opportunities and moments of personal defeat or growth. I believe the most essential skill for growth is the ability to assess your own work fairly and the desire to improve that work honestly. Way easier said than done. My biggest obstacle will always be myself. It’s cliche, but nothing gets in my way more than my own ego. Whether thats fear out of embracing a new creative idea or stubbornness that my work is better than how it’s being critiqued, both create noise and stifle the opportunity to grow.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I would be happy to share a little about myself. I grew up in GA and moved to NY after college to pursue a career as a Broadway performer. During this time I was fortunate to perform on Broadway, the West End, National Tours, Off-Broadway and many of the country’s most prestigious regional theaters. I made my Broadway debut in the Tony award winning revival of PIPPIN and starred as Elder Price in the West End production of THE BOOK OF MORMON. I’ve toured North America in five Broadway National Tours including: JM Barrie in FINDING NEVERLAND, Fiyero in WICKED, Jean-Michel in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, Elder Price in THE BOOK OF MORMON and DIRTY DANCING. I played Anthony Hope in the critically acclaimed, immersive Off-Broadway production of SWEENEY TODD at Barrow Street and recently originated roles in the upcoming Broadway-aimed productions of HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL and THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS.

As a theatre director and arts educator I’ve worked with various companies nationwide on live events and educational programming. I’m currently the co-director of City Springs Pre-Professional Company in Sandy Springs and the cofounder of KBT Productions; a boutique production company that specializes in directing, photography and live performance. We love to work with individuals who want to elevate their audition skills, navigate song analysis or train their acting fundamentals. Our focus is always on creating a grounded performance that utilizes the artists strengths and unique perspective.

While out on tour I took up photography as a way to document my travels and as a creative outlet that wasn’t connected to my performing job. It grew to be a hobby and over time turned into a business. Photography has always been an enjoyable way to unite a clients vision with my technical understanding of the camera. I enjoy solving that puzzle for them and helping bring their vision to life. We specialize in headshots, lifestyle, portraiture of families, and individuals seeking a comfortable, creative and collaborative experience capturing life’s most real and raw moments.

Kristine and Billy are newly relocated to the Atlanta area and look forward to meeting new families and faces in the south.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are many rewarding aspects to being an artist. Our lives are filled with adventure. I think at my core the thing that I find most rewarding is using my creativity to impact others. Every role I’ve played has provided me an opportunity to learn something about myself. The same goes for photography. Every photoshoot is a unique collaborative experience where I learn something about the client and my own creative process trying to capture that. I’m constantly learning and that is extremely humbling and rewarding.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Absolutely! The internet is an incredible place for learning. I’m old enough to remember the old days of going to the library and looking through stacks of sheet music to find something to sing for an audition. Now you can just open up a browser and print something out 2 minutes later. As a small business owner I think YouTube has been the best resource for me. When I first picked up a professional camera in 2016 I used YouTube as my only educational platform. I’m sure I could have learned it faster had I taken a course somewhere, but I got the education for free and it allowed me to troubleshoot my journey through learning the camera. Now I primarily use YouTube as a creative tool to learn about compositional techniques, color grading and advanced editing processes. As my artistic and business needs have shifted the platform has still been able to provide me educational content that has been significantly impactful in our process.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kbtproductionsphotography.com
• Instagram: kbtproductionsphotography
• Facebook: KBT Productions Photography