We caught up with the brilliant and insightful La’Don Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
La’Don, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
When I first got to college I was lost about what I wanted to do in life and by extension I was lost about why I was even at college. Although I was confused on what I wanted to pursue in life I did know that I always had a slight interest in creating and had small dreams of doing “something” like YouTube or vine or TikTok (whatever platform was big at the moment) and that I would enjoy myself whenever I would write out a small script and create a short video on my phone (although I wouldn’t post most of these skits). So although I was mostly lost on what I did want to do, I did know that I didn’t want to go straight into the working field immediately after graduating so I decided to go to Savannah State University in August of 2021. And it wasn’t long before I started struggling both academically and socially as a student. I would spend my first school semester doing unproductive activities day after day while putting academics as a second focus and this led me to spring of 2022 where I would spend a lot of my time in my dorm hanging out with my friends and while hanging out one day I was approached by a member of the school’s theater organization: “Players By The Sea” (also known as PBTS) who asked us if we were was interested in helping PBTS work the lights for one of their upcoming show: “Ida B. ‘n The lynching Tree” by Carolyn Nur Wistrand. And while I was originally reluctant to take up the opportunity, I said yes out of curiosity which is something I will forever be thankful for agreeing to because throughout the days of the show where I would spend the time talking with three cast and crew and seeing how the story went from a idea and then to become a beautiful performance loved by people, and it was after that time spent with the organization I eventually joined Players By The Sea in the Spring of 2022 and would go on to make my acting debut in the 30 minute play titled: “Cut!” By: Ed Monk where I would play 2 small roles in the production and after the summer I would come back to the organization as Mr. Players By The Sea (an executive board position) and would perform the same show “Cut!” in the fall of 2022 but would now be the leading male role in the show. But after doing the same show twice and having other creative differences with members of the organization I decided to take my own try at creating a stage-play, seeing as there weren’t any plays being put on for my HBCU that I felt properly related to how student and people in general my age feel, which led me to create a 12 minute short production titled “A Christmas Story” which plot centers on a potluck that takes place at the home of a couple who get robbed the night before by their friend named “Pookie” who came in the night before and stole their thanksgiving chicken but unfortunately knocks the boyfriend out while making his escape. The show premiered on December 4th of 2022 at a local church in Savannah, a detail I didn’t know until the day before so I was misled on the audience I would perform for (it being an older conservative audience of 12 church elders versus the college students I anticipated) which would lead to the performance being met with a bad reception. Even with the reception not being the best the fact that I completed a show amazed me as I have never done something like it before, so after writing my next show over the winter break and holding auditions for my next show I would eventually premier my first full length show: “Just Another SSU Friday” in April of 2023. It was an 80 minute production based off of the ice cube production “Friday” and centered on a young man named Devontae who decided to attend a party and while there he receives a update from his professor letting him know that he has a 0 in a huge exam because he missed it by going to the party instead, and the rest of the story is based on Devontae trying to get his grade back to passing before the semester ends. The show was performed at Savannah State to great success with the student body, attracting over 300 students to come watch. And after the success of the show I was excited to take my newfound writing passion to another level by challenging myself to produce at least 3 stories within the upcoming 2023-2024 school year and over the summer I went to work writing what would be my next 2 stories. “Chrysalis” was a 45 minute romance/comedy production that premiered in October of 2023 & “Save SSU: A Christmas Special” which was a 105 minute long comedy/musical production. Through the trying process of producing the two highly successful shows (Chrysalis gaining a audience of 350 and Save SSU gaining a audience of almost 500) I gained immense insight into managing teams by myself as a producer but after my success in comedy I decided to write a more serious story and during the winter break between last semester (Fall 2023) and this semester (Sprint 2024) I wrote my latest story: “The Ballad Of The Black Heart”. The story was a 135 minute long drama that was based in the late 1960’s & early 1970’s in Cincinnati Ohio, focusing on a young struggling man named Larry Earl, who has to leave behind his family due to being drafted to the Vietnam war and when he returns home with a heroin addiction he finds out that his father and brother have passed away and now it is up to him to step up and be the man that his family needs him to be, and he does that with the help of the local chapter of the Black Panther Party. It was in between me finishing “Save SSU: A Christmas Special” and creating “The Ballad of the Black Heart” where I was advised by peers to put a title upon my business’ name since by that point I had long considered what I was doing to be my passion and it was at that point which I named the business “Don The Artist Production Company”.
La’Don, 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?
Hello! My name is La’Don L. Williams and I am a writer, actor, director, and producer. I haven’t recently finished a successful 4 day showing of my fifth original stage-play: “The Ballad Of The Black Heart” and I am in the process of producing my 6th original stage-play : “More Bounce To The Ounce” as well as writing my first feature film (which will be produced in the upcoming school year 2024-2025.
I got into the theater/film industry through my school organization: “Players By The Sea” where I would start out as a actor and would eventually go on to become vice president of the organization and write/direct over 8 individual projects and eventually start my own production company: “Don The Artist Productions”.
Don The Artist Production Company focuses on scriptwriting and the production of theatrical productions and films, as well as writing and producing in collaboration with other organizations and companies and consulting partners on their projects.
One of the things that I am most proud of in my time as a writer/producer I finishing up two stage plays in one semester and over the one month break I had during winter break I produced a 85 long page show which happened to be my longest show yet and one of the main things I want any potential clients or followers of my work to know is that I am only getting started in this craft of mine and I am here to learn from everyone.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I had to unlearn was that I couldn’t be angry with others due to my own incompetence. And this is something that I consistently have struggled to unlearn through the process of my first few shows where I would forget something that would come back to hurt me later down in the production process, and due to that my attitude towards my coworkers would change and I’ll be more distant due to being upset, so I had to unlearn that foul lesson with the help of my reoccurring directors: Amarria Brewer & T’oinne Pinckney.
The backstory to my anger issue was because of the anger I would feel when I felt abandoned by my father and mother. After my father left while I was in middle school my mom started to work much more, which left me to be the responsible one at home so whenever I would mess up I would be in trouble and would have nobody else to blame for my anger other than my younger brother even though he was innocent so that’s where I would say the trend started.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I would say to never be caught in a situation where you are seen as incompetent, because once your team has that view of you it will be very hard for you to bring them back to your side. So regardless of if your managing a team in the entertainment industry or in the food industry you have to know what you’re doing and how to do it but also in that regard you need to know yourself and know your weakness so that you can have people in your team who add balance by being strong in the parts where you are weak.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontstressdon_?igsh=cTZpeTA2MG5kejc5&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100020269507927&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/la-don-williams-148460237?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/slaughtershotz?igsh=MW91NHB3enhxcm1sNg== Image 1, 3, 4 & 5