We recently connected with Kenan Floyd and have shared our conversation below.

Kenan, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was 6 years old I already had a vivid imagination. I built detailed train sets with my dad. My family used to take summer vacation drives across country when I was younger, so I got to see Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, and the Grand Canyon. We had family in Florida so got to visit Disney World and Busch Gardens. Going to the movies and watching my favorite films on VHS simply fueled the fire. The turning point came when our vacations switched from Disney World to Universal Studios Florida when it opened in the 90s. Whatever they were doing, I knew, in my little mind, I wanted to do. I began to obsess over the mechanics of making movies, animations, puppets, animatronics, and got my hands on any books that taught me how. I knew I wanted to do something creative with my life, I just had to figure out what and how.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a Southern Gentleman, originally from Mobile, Alabama, raised in Central Pennsylvania in the birthplace of Little League Baseball and a graduate of Penn State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Information Technology. I originally wanted to go to film school but went for tech instead because the school was closer to where my parents lived. Eventually, I moved to New York City where I took part time work to pursue a career in writing and comedy. After working freelance on a few short scripting gigs, I moved to LA to pursue screenwriting and filmmaking full time. However, when that all fell apart, I had to use my Computer Science degree and was employed in the Visual Effects Industry for 8 years as tech support, system administrator, and pipeline engineer. From there, I regained interest in the creative side and made connections with other artists in the visual effects industry to create our own projects. I started my own production company called Dangerously Awkward Productions which focuses on Black stories in the Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, and Comedy space. It culminated in a sci fi short film I produced called “Angel Prime”. In 2023, it was featured at 4 film festivals: HollyShorts Film Festival, Indie Night Film Festival, Boston Sci Fi Film Festival, and the Newark International Film Festival and won the award for Best Visual Effects.

We are now in pre-production on an animated short, a web series, and my own stand up comedy special!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think society should let go of politicizing art and policing artists’ expressions. Art has always been a way to reflect the current society that we live in but for some reason we have become extremely protective of the atrocities that are happening that we want to protect them from criticism more than stopping the actual atrocities themselves. Allow artists to express themselves freely and not being scared of backlash or worried about views or followers is the best way for the greatest art to be created.

It will encourage more people to tap into their creative side and our society can flourish even more.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I want to give young Black children affirming representation in the fantasy, science fiction, scientific, comedy, and educational space. These were hobbies I was interested in as a child so it’s not a stretch for me to focus all of my efforts in creating worlds that children like me can thrive in.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kenanjeromefloyd.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kenanjfloyd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kenanjeromefloyd
• Twitter: https://www.x.com/kenanjfloyd/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kenanjeromefloyd/

Image Credits
Arthur Hamilton, Hamilton Images