By Raynard Churchwell
As we reflect on our 2022-23 graduates, we brim with anticipation as we await the accomplishments of our freshly minted Film, Media & Theatre degree recipients.
One of these students is FMT’s own Robert Williams. Williams has been a Panther for two years and has taken his passion for film to great heights.
Williams finished his GSU career by earning 1st place in this year’s Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference (GSURC) for his film “Black Joy.”
The movie depicts the story of a young African American male student who is a writing major at a university. While the young man is trying to write his thesis project on good stories in the black community, he runs into the stereotypes that the black community faces in films such as crime, drugs, drama, etc. Throughout this, his quest is to find a thesis that depicts black joy.
“When I found out I won, I was happy and excited,” Williams explained. “I wasn’t even supposed the show that film, so I was glad it won, and I am forever grateful. I felt good to know that the hard work myself, my friend Eddie, my friend Cameron, and my actors Justin, Ian, and Kay put in paid off.”
“The film was based on my personal experience,” Williams said. “We were working on making a film for a final, I knew I wanted to make a cool black story. While I sat back and did my research, I noticed that I was seeing a lot of the same negative themes. I wanted to be a person to change that narrative.”
Growing up in a military family, Williams spent most of his childhood in Jacksonville, Florida.
“Growing up in Jacksonville was pretty cool,” Williams explained. “I was able to connect with all types of kids around my age. Since my father was in the Navy, I lived on the military base. I was able to make friends from different cultures and backgrounds. I learned to accept and appreciate all types of people from this.”
It was also during his childhood that Williams realized his passion for film.
“I saw my mom perform in a play at church one time,” Williams said. “It was an eye-opening experience for me, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. After this, my dad put me on the camera at our church and it piqued my interest even more.”
This passion would continue to stay with Williams throughout his youth. When it was time for college, Williams discovered Georgia State University from a family member and knew it was the place for him.
“After high school, I spent two years at St. Johns River State, a junior college in Orange Park, Florida,” Williams said. “Once junior college ended, I was planning to stay in Florida and go to UCF of Florida State. But my cousin told me I should check out Georgia State and told me she was going to. I also heard about all the cool stuff being filmed in the heart of Atlanta, which inspired me to come to Georgia State.”
Williams described his experience at GSU as fun and exciting. He described how the Film, Media & Theatre program has helped him improve his filmmaking craft.
“I would say my experience was very fun because we got to have access to a lot of equipment and connect with classmates on group projects,” Williams said. “The professors encourage you to find your voice and find your story. They challenged me to put my best effort out there and I’ll be forever appreciative of that. “
During his time in the film program, Williams was a member of the GSU Film Club and the Georgia Film Academy. He says these two organizations help to push him to new heights and brought him joy.
“The Georgia Film Academy was one of the most fun things I ever did,” Williams said. “Meeting some of the industry people and connecting with them was very helpful. The Film Club was helpful also because it helped me get to know my peers and make new friends.”
As Williams prepared to walk across the stage for graduation, he says they are a few key lessons he has learned during his time as a panther.
“One of the biggest things that I’ve learned regarding film is that time is so precious,” Williams said. “Sometimes you have all the time in the world to make something and sometimes you don’t. Either way it goes you have to find a way to make it happen. You have to utilize whatever time you have.”
“Some other things I learned is that I am very creative and the importance of networking,” Williams said. “I didn’t realize that I could be one of the creative minds behind a film before I got here. In the film world, you have to put yourself out there and connect with people because you’ll never know who you will meet. Market yourself and your brand. You’ll never know who or what could happen.”
Williams plans to continue to pursue acting and dance work. In a few years, his goal is to pitch some movie/show ideas to some of the top film companies in the industry.