Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to DeShon Washington Jr. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
DeShon , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Sixth grade is when I truly began to lean into my creative side knowing one day I wanted create movies and tv shows. I knew that I wanted to both write and draw for them. That school year I decided to write my first movie script. I would write it during class in this green composition notebook instead of paying attention. The script was called “The Road” and was about three friends going on a road trip (where absolutely everything goes wrong) to see Kanye West perform at Coachella. Now, for the next part of the story I need you to take into account that.
- I was in sixth grade so I had a very juvenile sense of humor
- My favorite show and movies at the time were “South Park”, “Superbad”, and “National Lampoon’s: Vacation”.
- I went to a Traditional school. (Uniforms, strict rules etc.)
I can’t remember a lot about the script but that it was VERY raunchy and the language was VERY foul. I let a friend of mine read it, and he loved it. He then let a friend of his read it, who then let a friend of theirs read it and so on and so on. It got to the point where a good percentage of my fellow sixth graders were passing around this green composition notebook and reading this story. I was loving every bit of this.
One day in class my friends get to passing the script around again, but are way too loud about it. My teacher notices and asks us to bring the notebook to her. My heart sank, the notebook literally has “The Road: Written by Dj Washington” written right on the cover so of course I’m going to be the one taking the heat. We bring the book to her and she tells us to go take our seats. The rest of class I see her reading it. I’m in my chair just wincing the entire time. I know she’s going to send me downstairs to the principals, call my parents etc. When the bell rings everyone leaves but she calls me over to her desk. She looks at me with a stern face then says “DeShon, don’t bring this out in my class ever again” she then hands me back the notebook. After that she gave a little smile and said “this was good though, keep creating”. I was shocked, but more than ever I was encouraged. A grown up had read my work and actually enjoyed it!
I suspected that even though the script was so disgusting and vile, she was able to let it slide because under all of that, there was a surprising level of heart coming from a 11 year old that grounded it. The friends in the story weren’t going on a road trip just because they wanted to see Kanye at Coachella, but because one of their friends had cancer, and seeing Kanye live was always the top thing on his bucket list. They wanted to give him this experience before he passed away. They were going to miss him.
It was story about the inevitably of change and having to let go. That we can love someone and let them go and that our physical separation doesn’t diminish the realness or beauty of that relationship. All of those themes hit very close to home at that time and hit even closer now.
There are so many kind things that people have done for me but I felt this would be best to share for this creative interview.
DeShon , 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?
Movies are dreams that you never forget. I’ve been a cinephile ever since I was a kid and that hasn’t changed a bit. Right now I focus mainly on animation. Animation is a beautiful medium for storytelling and at my future studio “West EndNovation Studios” I want to help elevate this medium even further. Yes, I want my future works to be visual technological marvels but what’s most important to me about the works I make or help make will be the story and characters.
I want the works of my studio to be innovative. I never want ideas to be inside the box. I want them to be hip and a breath of fresh air. At the same time I never want the works to become egotistical or pretentious. “Atlanta”, “Community”, “Pixar” and 90’s “The Simpsons” is a huge influence to me. I want West EndNovation Studios to do for film and television what “ The College Dropout” did for Hip-Hop. In all honesty, a big goal is to mess up movies and television as you know it…….but with heart. I can only describe the tone as “silly but meaningful” or “absurd but heartbreaking”. I feel it’s important that the stories and characters that you meet to feel real, three dimensional and complex. They’ll be hilarious, thought provoking, flawed and wonder evoking. I don’t really want an anchor point for any sense of normalcy, this way the comedy never comes from the reaction to the insane but the recognition of it. Anything can happen. All opinions will be stated, all voices will be heard. Most importantly, I want people to feel seen. I want viewing experiences to feel real and organic by having you learn things with characters and not just from them. Awards and money isn’t important to me. What’s most important to me is that people leave from viewing my films/shows wanting to be the best version of themselves. Outside looking in, the films/shows may seem like they’re just about superheroes, families, kids, assassins, fantasy creatures, angels etc. (you’ll see). When you finally sit down and watch them you’ll learn that they are all relatable and universal. These characters are going through life and struggling with same things we struggle with. Things like change, death, fear of the unknown, envy, existential crisis etc. The stories center around these fictitious characters in these fictitious worlds, but at the end of the day they’re really just stories about us.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Life is hard. Humanity needs catharsis. It needs a warm cathartic hug. It needs good cathartic laughs. It needs a good cathartic cry. It needs to feel that it’s perfectly okay to sometimes not feel okay. That’s what I want to help give with my work. Sure there’ll be violence, profanity, and heavy themes, but it’ll be grounded by a big heart empathy, and burning optimism.
If you look at the designs of my characters, a professional might tell you that they’re asymmetrical or that they don’t follow the traditional rules of character designs. They’ll probably say that they’re flawed, not good enough to be seen by the world and need some work. Well to me, that’s exactly what makes them beautiful and deserve nothing more than to be seen. To me, those critiques reflect humanity. We’re all flawed humans that need some work, but those flaws are what make each of us beautiful. Life is too short and crazy to spend it worrying about what other people think. To me, “innovation” is all about not changing yourself to belong but, belonging to those who take you as you are. All your flaws, all your fears, all your mistakes. That’s what West EndNovation will do. I want it to find people that will take it as it is, rather than changing for mass appeal. West EndNovation is about being yourself because at West EndNovation, you’re already accepted. It’s the place for the crazy, the weird, the flawed and the broken. It’s a place for all of us.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think that it’s important for society to just remember and understand all the incredibly hard work, passion and heart that goes into making the art that you love. We sort of live in this new binge model generation where everyone quickly absorbs and eats everything up then instantly wants more. I think it’s important everyone gives creatives the time and space to make quality art and not quantitative art. This goes for big time artists and small ones. Simply just liking things we post on social media, commenting on them or sharing them only take one second and go such a very long way for us and our confidence. It means the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.behance.net/gallery/152779405/Studio-Portfolio
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/west.endnovation.studios/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deshon-washington-jr-957aa7110
Image Credits
All images property of West EndNovation Studios