Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marvin Dejon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Marvin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
I am a writer before I am anything else, however I’m not an author in the sense that I want to write books for a living. I am, however, an auteur filmmaker because I want to see my idea from initial inception on the page to the final credits rolling in front of a paying/streaming audience. Having been in numerous partnerships, I’ve decided to take a singular approach to filmmaking now and pursue my career on my own terms.
Marvin, 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 writing since I was in the 2nd grade, mainly doing fan fiction versions of shows I grew up watching. Through this, I developed a love for television which increased my desire to learn all things about that world and how to create it from the writers room down to the final edit. I knew I wanted to be in that world, so my first step was to go to KD Studio just after high school graduation. From there I have been learning in the field, producing several stage plays under the moniker Nivram Productions, then transitioned into web series under the name Indie Black. Through those experience and with the trying experience of directing a church choir in my late teens and early twenties, I stumbled into filmmaking fully able to create feature films. I am not a cinephile by any mean and I wasn’t one of those kids that loved going to movies with friends, but through learning the craft of writing and perfecting it, I’ve found that film is the best and most independent way to tell stories.
My focus as a filmmaker is to create a stories so good that my people get lost in the world I’ve created as a way to allow them to take a short break from the realities of their day to day life. My stories are layered and well told by design and I will always focus on the highest quality so that my people don’t feel cheated having spent their time and/or money on my work.
In summer 2023, I will have two projects, Lovers Revenge and Cruel Ambition, released on national streaming platforms, and I am immensely proud of both of these projects because I was able to create them with minimal team and minimal budget while still being high quality enough to be promoted on national streaming platforms. While I am proud of my content on YouTube (No+1/Grey- @marvindejon), these projects and subsequent future projects will have a larger reach to diverse audiences.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I feel my creative journey is fueled by the desire to create great stories that feature regular black people going through extraordinary circumstances. In the past, I feel black storytelling pigeonholed in the civil rights struggle, slavery, or gang/criminal activity. While I don’t negate those stories as part of the black American experience, I do want to focus my stories on those of us trying to make it while being black. Right now, most creatives focus on the marketplace and what will sell or get them quick notoriety, so a lot of black filmmakers are focusing on stories in genres like sci-fi or horror which are still stories that need to be told, but I feel there’s a gaping hole in black representation in drama, mystery, and black comedy that I aim to help fill.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that I get to see people react to something that just came to me as a thought. Even though the work is tiring at times, the joy of seeing someone connect to something that was just rolling around in my head is the best feeling.
Contact Info:
- Website: marvindejon.com
- Instagram: @marvindejon
- Facebook: facebook.com/nivramtv
- Twitter: @marvindejon
- Youtube: @marvindejon
Image Credits
Van Simpson Marvin Dejon Latisha Nyembo