We were lucky to catch up with Kevin Huckabee recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kevin, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
That all depends on your definition of success which has changed for me a handful of times. It used to be about reaching the highest accolades and winning awards when I was young and then, as I got older, became about providing sustainability with what I love to do financially. Lately it’s been about realizing the stories and ideas I have at their highest potential. That meaning, not settling for lesser qualities of production or taking shortcuts. Who knows what it will be next, but to be successful you have to unequivocally believe in what you’re doing and have the flexibility to alter your plans while pursuing your vision to take full advantage of every opportunity. Especially with how fast everything changes nowadays. It could be as simple as changing the font In a lower third to be more noticeable or as intricate as restructuring an entire way of shooting and editing a promo to be short enough to keep the attention of viewers, but retain the meeting of a story. I’d like to ultimately confide in the idea that success is constantly pushing yourself to reach personal milestones of growth and gratification based on processing the thoughts and emotions you’ve digested from deep within yourself and great creative minds. Then, spitting them back beautifully at the world around you.
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 have been making videos since I was thirteen and gradually began more professional wedding videos and music videos in my early 20’s. I attended the Musician Institute program in 2010 in Hollywood, CA, then returned to Dallas, TX where I managed the rock band Midnight Empire for three years, worked as a videographer for Chewy.com for four years, and currently freelance as a videographer. Almost full circle it would seem with a pinch more experience and gear. I’ve spent a great deal of my time and resources developing an IP called “The Gate Monster”. In six years I’ve created a comic book, novel, feature screenplay, GTA mod, and Crypt TV short film. The most striking of it all has to be the live action creature suit of the Gate Monster. I’m currently crowdfunding for a short series featuring character NFTs for purchase. In between, I shoot and edit weekly promos for a lifestyle club and freelance. I pride myself in bringing out the true essence and stories of my clients and relating them to the audience they seek to reach. It’s less about finding hot trends and figuring out what people want and more about figuring out what is at the heart of your product or service and how it really resonates with people. It’s important to look and sound as good as you actually are. So that’s what I do. When it comes to the content I create for myself like with The Gate Monster I strive to make something that I’d want to watch. Simple as that. In order to do that though takes a lot of resources and commitment from more than just myself. It takes a ridiculous amount of time energy and effort to build something that resonates with people and is also from a core place within yourself. Honestly, I’m probably just stubborn, but that get’s the job done too.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I lived in Hollywood, Ca for a couple of years, and I did so under some pretty rough circumstances. That sounds like a familiar story actually. In my case, I didn’t have a car, I had very little money, and I did a terrible job of taking care of my physical health. I walked everywhere for miles at a time, barely stopped to eat or drink enough water I would stay up shooting and editing for 16 to 24 hour stents. I worked with the Director of how to train your Dragon on a Sigur Rós documentary, with 3-D cameras and workflow and flew to Las Vegas for day shoots. I had some great opportunities, but they came at a cost. I discovered the severity of panic attacks and bipolar depression. When I arrived I weighed 230 pounds. When I sold everything and took a train back to Dallas, TX I weighed 140 pounds. On the bright side I decided to focus on helping my best friend fulfill his potential with his rock band Midnight Empire. By shifting this need to be the best possible thing for myself and use my experience with producing videos to brand a band and grant them opportunities by booking gigs across the country, shooting music videos, securing press in publications like The Dallas Morning News and licensing music on television oddly relaxed me. It also taught me a variety of lessons that translated directly to video projects such as negotiating performance rates, merchandise design and sales, vehicle rentals, tour scheduling, event management and hospitality. I knew I didn’t want to do it forever, but I also recognized the importance of the lessons I learned and the opportunity to relish helping someone I cared about take an important step. And yeah, there were some badass parties.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
NFTs can be very confusing, but potentially valuable. I’ve never been one to invest in the stock market or trading, but once I began learning about NFTs I immediately recognized the potential to generate both income and awareness for creative properties. Artists can mint their photos, music, videos, or pretty much any kind of media on the blockchain for sale or trade on markets like OpenSea. The first tweet sold for 2.9 million. It requires a fair amount of knowledge with cryptocurrency, digital wallets and the market, but once you work through the basics you can provide mini versions of ownerships for fans and collectors. The best part is the original owner of the NFT can receive a selected percentage of every sale after the first. That equals passive income to fund more creative endeavors. Value is attributed by the level of attention people invest into something and it would appear NFTs are garnering a hefty amount of intention. We may soon be buying metaverse NFT clothes and goods before too long like games already offer with in app purchases today.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegatemonster/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/thegatemonster
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/kevinhuckabee
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/thegatemonster
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/TheGateMonster
Image Credits
Vohny Figueroa & Kevin Huckabee