We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Keith Elgin Douglas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Keith Elgin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I think I first realized I wanted to pursue a professional career as an actor during rehearsals for my Senior Recital in college. My professor Douglas McKenzie chose ” A Raisin in the Sun” for the only two African American Theatre majors at my college, a private Catholic institution that had never had enough African American students to perform this play. He was ecstatic and so were we. I felt such a connection with the character of Walter Lee during rehearsals and performances that i knew in my soul I wanted to create and communicate as an actor for my entire life.

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

I began my professional career on the West Coast, primarily in theatre. I worked at smaller non- union theatres as well as the larger theatres in the Bay Area. EXITheatre in Don’t Explain and Spider and the Cleveland Valentine (I won a Drama Logue Award as Cleveland Valentine, so humbling) I worked at the Magic Theater at Fort Mason and Theatre on the Square – Off-Broadway Contract Theatres. I stopped acting when my mother’s health began to fail. She passed and my sister Mildred asked me to move to Georgia, she said it was the new Hollywood. I took a leap of faith and came to Atlanta. It wasn’t long until I realized how much I missed performing and how much I still love it. I have been blessed to have connected with some very creative and talented people.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I am one-third of a production company. @Bluejayproductionco along with @ethangreen and founder @jaymaurice. Our goal is to create and share industry-level, original film content. We have a team and plan to keep expanding and offering real work experience in film to new creatives and to bring the opportunities into schools where there may not be exposure to the film industry

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is learning the value of yourself and others in the creative process as an individual and as a part of the whole and the opportunity to share what you discover on your creative journey.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @keithelgindouglas @bluejayproductionco

Image Credits
Jose Navarro, Jalen Smith, Candace West