Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to William Grosse. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
William, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
There were a few moments that lead me down this path: – Watching The Magic Flute as a kid
– Watching Psycho
– Watching Vertigo
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am, above all, a creative person. The trait that I believe has done the most for me in my creative endeavors is curiosity. Before applying to film school, I was completely self-taught in filmmaking, and my curiosity was what allowed me learn so quickly. Now, I am a sophomore at USC and am loving the opportunity to live and breathe film.
My curiosity lead me, additionally, to music: I have played the piano since I was a kid, but decided I would learn to compose a few years ago so I could score a short film I was making. Now, I have scored several projects for other USC students as well as all of my own since then. A new development of my interests is that of songwriting, which I began learning in a Songwriting 1 class at USC. Despite having written my first song with lyrics in September, I have now (as of 12/11/23) written 14 songs!
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
To put it in a sentence: society cannot be taught that creativity free and unimportant. This is happening, for example, through Spotify’s further lowering of the rates they pay their artists. Creativity is something special that each person can share with the world. People should be encouraged more to explore this part of themselves; becoming an artist ideally shouldn’t be a massive financial risk. Creativity should be VALUED. And people should do their best to expand their range of art that they consume (in music, film, TV, etc.).
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being an artist, for me, is the fulfillment I get from it. Because fulfillment is the goal of life, right? Creating stories, films, and music brings me so much excitement, I can’t get anywhere else. Having the ability to surprise myself with what I can come up with and help others on their creative journey brings me fulfillment.
