We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ren Cinema a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

I was 16 years old in high school, around that time I was very into making YouTube. I was in a very niche scene where people would edit video montages to Super Smash Bros for the WiiU. I went by the name “Stratus” and made some videos for my own channel, and two other channels called “False Hope” and “DMG”. I started to gain some views and traction through the Internet and grew that relationship with the audience through Discord, which became a business ground for me to work with other players, and frankly to meet some friends. There was a person who played the game at tournaments who went by Itheta, commissioned me to make a montage video featuring him and other professional players who focused on a character called Little Mac. I made a lot of videos at that time but this was the first time I was making money from it, and it means a lot especially coming from basically a stranger who just like my work. The video took two months and I got paid like $70 I think LMAO! I might’ve gotten tipped more but it was so long ago, all I remember is feeling so proud of the outcome and having that drive to try and make it part of my career. So I cherish it a lot, reminds me of why I have cinema in my name

Ren, 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 got to the industry at a pretty young age. I started to play the drums with my brother at eight, and after a few years, we started to perform in front of other people and being a house band. I’ve basically did that for six years, played on TV a few times, or playing with local talent ant venues, I then stopped playing the drums to focus on video editing. I was into film and growing my love for it while I was in the band and found an avenue that resonated with me. I became a student and grew my skills as an editor and that led me to UArts and Drexel University; which I am about to graduate with a bachelors in film and television with a minor in animation. But my love for music didn’t stop once I stopped playing the drums, I started to rap more and slowly learned how to produce during the pandemic. I go by the name Ren Cinema now, taking inspiration from rappers like Kanye West and Tyler, The Creator but also from other musical influences that I grew up with like EDM, Funk, 80s/90s rock, etc.

Over the last four years I’ve performed at a lot of venues throughout Philadelphia and outside of Philadelphia, hosted my own shows and collaboration projects with a large amount of different artists in the city. I’m currently blending my love for a film and music together with my senior thesis titled “HELLO USA! We, The People Gotta Get A Crib” Which has been in the works for the last three years, at least conceptually. I just like to help people with my music and art, whether it’s from talking about different perspectives, or using my resources at college to help give the Philly art scene a space to create and showcase their work, I find a lot of pride in helping my fellow man in the most fun and energetic way possible. Anything with Ren Cinema apart of it is gonna look like nothing you’ll see around you today.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

It’s very dumb to me, if I’m being honest. It’s a hard concept to wrap my head around, even with looking things up myself and having people explain it to me. While I like the idea of having new ways to artist to make money from their work, most of the time I see grifters use it to take money from the people and that never sat right with me. So I don’t really support it or recommend it.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

While my social media is still extremely small in comparison to other artists, I believe what helped me was just treating your followers and supporters like people and interact with them. It’s not really my brand to be aloof and mysterious, so I like to talk to my supporters and let them know that I see them. So when I do things, I actually see support from my people. I wanna grow a cult like following, where even if the world doesn’t see me, my people will do ride for me; and that doesn’t grow without some form of real connection

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hyperfollow.com/rencinema?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZcKbDSliedmOPiO9MHC87_CWVwcxH1HvvGLcWIm3NrtUF5BOE3T7Xwu0I_aem_QnKIfdDhWo6KMHKaVbQ4jgI’m
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rencinema/profilecard/?igsh=MXVyeXh0eGsxam9zdA==
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ren-hatcher-72b667237?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: https://x.com/renncinema?s=21
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@rencinema?si=gqpktBqcaPySx7oa
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/jGW8GR35Qs6A18Yp6