We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Johny Dedyuk. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Johny below.
Hi Johny , thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
im a full time artist – dancer, choreographer, cinematographer . Work in the entertainment industry , sometimes as a dancer on big events ,sometimes I get a chance to choreograph music videos and live shows such as Opening for Cardi B , Imagine Dragons ,Music video for Hollywood Undead etc. and sometimes I just behind the camera or director monitor directing Music video , all of that brings me lots of joy !
I think it all comes to hard work and your mindset, once you know where you wanna be and realize where you at right now you kinda see the pin points of how to get where you want . I was lucky enough to meet great people who also helped me to get booked many different cool projects as well as I was introduced to the talent agency that I love working with .
It’s not gonna happen in one day def not)) there is a plenty of tough days , it takes years and that is ok , I feel like nowadays people are struggling with patience , everyone wants to have everything overnight , but unfortunately it is rare occasion, usually it takes time to build, to show off and to not give up your dreams, and yes there were moments when I was depressed of hearing no and not getting the results that I want , and sometimes this still happens , not so often but happens, I just learned to shift focus to some positive and production things and it does help .
I think the only thing that I could’ve sped up is the learning English sooner and hang out within the industry people so I can meet them , talk to them and who knows where I could’ve been by now =) but hey I also enjoying the journey , result is great but the journey makes the memories and moments that makes your life colorful
Johny , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I was born in Russia and ive been dancing since I was 7 years old , then around 13 I watched one of the performances from Battle of The Year and I was blown away , immediately wanted to learn all those cool break dance moves, and after that I think around when I was 14/15 I watched movie “You Got Served” and thats it , I wanted to dance like them, with them , all those music videos that missy Elliot produced was on repeat ! and at some point I moved to Moscow to chase bigger dreams and bigger opportunities , working with celebs and trying to establish my name out there !
it was hard at first new city , I dont know anyone and I haven’t had much money in the pocket, at first I lived in the dance studio for couple months , then spent sometime renting an apt and after time back to another dance studio , ive decided that I can live in the studio and save some money so I can go to LA for summertime and take some dance classes , and ive been doing that for almost 4 years, Every time when I got back to Moscow from LA I was so inspired by the time ive spent in LA so my dance career was getting better , at some point I got invited to be a choreographer for one of the major dance TV shows , and after that got invited to choreograph opening ceremony for WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AQUA GAMES FINA 2015 and that is pretty much opened the door for me to move to LA and apply for GREEN CARD straight like that without any problems, finally felt like all that hard work paid off ,
And then after I moved to LA I had to start everything from the beginning , as no one knows me here , different rules , culture, language, it was overwhelming , first thing I went to ESL school (English second Language) and learned how to speak , write emails all that stuff, then started submitting myself to everything , all the dance jobs, background jobs, worked a lil bit in moving company , it was crazy , and now it is better and easier as some people can vouch for me and my professionalism , but still to this day im looking for more projects for opportunities , trying to grow , to learn something new everyday , and one of the things that ive learned is how to film.
During COVID shutdown ive realize that there is nothing else I know except how to put together a dance show , opening number, dance piece for music video….so ive been thinking what else I can do and back in the days I used to film and edit my dance videos, and I was like maybe its time to take things more seriously , so I got myself a camera and started learning all the technical side about cameras lenses ,exposure, new editing apps and couple years later once the pandemic was over om shooting music videos and social media content for brands, for different companies , musician bands and artists, and that is also so much fun to me ! I realized that I love everything that comes to creating something creative =))))) So now I run small production company called DeProduction and were delivering professional videos for litteraly anyone , and the team Is amazing im grateful to work with like minded people !
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I think its simply being free, like your mind is free and can produce a million different creative ideas , and if you can monetize it and bring it to life that is incredible ! Your basically your own boss all you have to do is to know what client wants and communicate well !
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
maybe make once a year or twice a year som sorta local talent convention where everyone can display their craft and talk to everyone who is interested , tell them what exactly they do and all that stuff, and maybe do a lil showcase at the end of the day where people can see everything in action if you’re musician , singer, dancer, choreographer , actor you get a chance to showcase you’re talent , I think that would be pretty cool !
Contact Info:
- Website: still in progress
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnydchoreography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnyD90/
- Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/deproduction1/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JohnyD1
- Yelp: https://www.youtube.com/@deproduction1
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/pPffwGz3a33U6a9C9
Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/alevtina.visual_arts/