Jourdyhn Williams was exposed to the creative arts pretty early on in her life. Her earliest memory of actively participating in the field is of her father taking her out to weekly movies and discussing them later. This experience was formative in helping her understand where she belonged in the creative process. “He was exposing us to different genres,” she explains, “and the way I feel coming out of a movie theater — I want to be a part of the process that creates that experience for others.” She realized after exploring the field further that she wanted to be on the business and production side of the industry.
While she is still figuring out which part of the business and production process she wants to pursue, her time as an Assistant at Creative Artists Agency is helping her through the process. “ We do get a lot of exposure because our clients are writers, producers so as an assistant I do get the opportunity to do the kind of stuff development would do,” she elaborates. As someone who doesn’t have formal training in the industry, she has immersed herself in building her network and creating foundational experiences for herself. As a professional, she is open-minded about her place in the industry and sure about the kind of impact she wants to make. “Knowing as little as I did about the entertainment industry when I first started out I was confused about how I was going to bridge my major with what I wanted to do,” she explains, “but that’s where the open-mindedness comes from. I had to learn the fact that my undergraduate experiences could be beneficial for me if I leaned in and applied them.” This helped her understand what value systems she wanted to associate herself with. Above all other things, she believes that it is absolutely necessary for her to be a part of a collaborative space that fosters teamwork and authentic storytelling.
Another one of her passions is developing youth to be a part of the creative arts and improving diversity and inclusion practices. During her time in the MSLCE program, she has been involved in classes that have pushed her to reflect and reach out to people and think more concretely about what she wants to do next.
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Article by Priyanshi Katare