We were lucky to catch up with Kim Cameron recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kim, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
My animated feature films which are based on my children’s book series called Seaper Powers. It was all inspired when I met a little girl during a tour in the Caribbean. She and I had a conversation about our favorite sealife in the ocean. She was 8 maybe 9 years old and told me Octopus was her favorite. That amused me because I had expected a dolphin or starfish. She asked if I knew any songs about octopui. That, in turn, inspired the writing of ‘Mr. Octopus’ which then lead to the creation of the first book in my children’s book series, which has brought me to the creation of two animated feature films.
Not only do I think telling these stories is important to me, but I believe we place too much pressure on children today. We have forgotten how important it is to just be a kid. Kids should be able to freely develop their creative sides and focus on adventure rather than solving all the world problems before they turn 10. These stories are intended to inspire creativity, imagination and the power of being adventurous. I also believe, if we encourage creativity, and thinking creativity, we can develop incredible future leaders, artists, writers and inventors.
Kim, 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 have been in music since I was in the 2nd grade playing the clarinet, and marching in bands. I took on musical theater in high school and then parked myself in a cover band for years while I slaved in the corporate world. After too many glass ceilings and realizing what I really loved was music, I launched my own music entertainment label in 2008 and began the first journey of touring internationally and writing a song catalogue, now over 450 songs strong. The second part of journey was the creation of my children’s book series, now 5 books strong. I have been able to tour to various elementary schools across the country with puppets in my back pocket. And, now, the third part of my journey has involved Directing, Producing and writing animated feature films. I have just completed my 2nd one and find myself addicted.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
They need to realize art is not free. People consume music the same way they do the news. It’s become the norm that music is free. And while subscription services are helping, the amount of free music out there is driving down the income to pay the music creators. The same principle applies to shows. One live show may only be 1 hour’s worth of music, but the rehearsal, set up, take down, song selection and coordination is hours, upon hours of work before that 1 hour show. If musicians were paid truly hourly for their work, you would see a dramatic difference in how people view / attend live music events. It no longer would be considered something in the background.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
You constantly challenge yourself to write, perform, creative something no one has ever done. Now, that is not always possible, but it forces you to jump out of the normal and think differently. That’s what innovators do…I see creatives thinking along those same lines.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kimcameronmusic.com; www.seaperpowers.com; www.sidefxpartners.com
- Instagram: kimcameronmusic
- Facebook: kimcameronmusicpage
- Linkedin: kimcameronmusic
- Twitter: sidefxband
- Youtube: kimcameronmusic
Image Credits
kate.gql, karyn Peska