We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andre Griffith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Andre, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I come from a family of musicians and artists. So, naturally i was going to pick up something. I started in piano when I was 7, but it wasn’t until 15,16 years old that i started to DJ and produce music. That was the moment when I knew I had a shot in the entertainment business.
Andre, 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 entry into the industry honestly came by evolution. When around the time I started DJing and producing music was the time i started to really go to church seriously. At some point in 2000 I met a guy who wanted to pursue Christian Hip Hop. The concept was foreign to me because I have always associated church music with Choirs. But After seeing a group called Cross Movement on BET’s ‘Rap City’ it clicked that it was possible.
I produced a number of songs and we ended up auditioning for ‘McDonald’s GospelFest’ an Emmy nominated Televised Gospel celebration and competition. We got in our first year, won our second year, then the networking started. Next thing you know we were touring the country and opening for some of the biggest names in CHH.
This ultimately lead to an offer to have my own radio show on one of the local radio stations here in New Haven, CT (WNHU). I really wasn’t content on the ‘local’ aspect and since we were in the dawn of social media I used my MySpace page to get people across the country to tune in via the station’s website.
That lead to bigger names in gospel seeing me as a legitimate media outlet, and all of a sudden I realized that I had more contact with the record labels as a radio personality than I did as a normal artist. so for the next 9 years I went hard in that area. Hitting award shows, working the red carpet. and even adding a video element to my presentation.
I started a show called The Zone, which was a CHH version of BET’s Rap City that took off right before the DMCA hit the social media platforms. Using the notoriety from radio I was able to secure the big names in music to appear on the show, showcasing world premieres and introducing new artists to a bigger audience.
All of this came to a breaking point once I realized that… I WASN’T GETTING PAID FOR ANY OF THIS… All of these mediums and great ideas were never supported financially. I started my own radio station (C1 Radio), and was doing all of this working a day job, using vacation days to go to NYC for interviews and events, and using favors for film crews and photographers to create the content.
Eventually the favors ran out, and my wife and I were left with figuring out how to continue without the necessary tools and equipment to do so. She told me “Let’s just buy a camera and figure it out”. so we did just that, and BOY, was it rough in the beginning.
In 2017 we decided to let the radio station go. We ended up acquiring some decent cameras of our own, my wife, TeQoa, started to pursue photography as a ‘Weekend Warrior’, and we moved from the music industry to shooting weddings.
Although being a wedding videographer was exciting, it was really a training ground for me and something I really couldn’t see myself doing as a job. I started working at Yale School of Drama handling their Digital Technology Dept. and found myself surrounded by nothing but creatives. This was the environment I needed to be in. Actors, Directors, Set Designers, etc. Seeing an empty stage one day then a week later that empty stage transformed to something magnificent was awe inspiring. I knew at that moment that there was greater for me to achieve.
One of my Co-workers was the head of marketing for a regional fight promotion (CES) and gave me an opportunity to film and do some highlight reels for the company which ultimately ended up as an associate producer. I would not only film and edit highlight reels, but pre-fight interviews, and commercials that would eventually end up airing on the UFC’s streaming service UFC Fightpass. This gave me the confidence I would need for what was next to come.
COVID-19 hit, and amidst all of that were the unjust killings by police happening all over the country. at the point where protests were happening in almost every major city, I’m not an activist, I know going out and chanting and holding signs is not my thing, BUT I AM a Black Man. I needed to let my voice be heard. The Summer of 2020 I wrote a treatment and took it to one of the stage management students at YSD and asked him to help me produce it into a short film.
Making this film with the cast and crew we had was everything to me. To the point where now my career path was solidified and the goal has never been clearer. Film production has now become the focus of C1 Media. Recent credits include the short film ‘The Promotion’ on Amazon Prime, which won the Independent Shorts Award for Best Drama Short (2020), Best Acting Duo award and IMDB honorable mention for Best first-time director at the International Film Festival, LA, 2020. ‘Cleared’ (2022) won Best Drama at the Paris Film awards and New York Movie Awards. C1 Media specializes in creating commercials, films, and promotional videos catering to a worldwide audience. Other credits include “Theatre Hoppers”, a movie review show, commercials for companies such as GAT Sport, TigerLyfe Energy Drink, promotional videos for WNBA, Motown Gospel, RCA Records. Music Videos for MNRK Music, and live theater filming production for David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Make room for the ‘little guy’. Celebrities are going to get support no matter what, because of who they are. But before they were the stars they are now, most of them were hungry artists like a lot of us in this space. Discovery starts with giving us “Smaller” creatives a chance.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is to make art that speaks to me, and to my intended audience. Not every presentation has to have a “Message”. but a good story. I’m in the business of storytelling. I want to pause your world for a moment to pull you into the world of that story.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.c1network.com/
- Instagram: @CrazyOne373 @C1_Media
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/c1tvchannel
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-griffith-04409737/
- Twitter: @CrazyOne373
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c1_Media
Image Credits
TeQoa Griffith / Blaq Pearl Photography