Mason Richards

In preparation for writing this artist statement, I sat at my computer staring blankly at the screen. Then I sat on my sofa with pen and paper in hand. I read through old journals to figure out the best way to describe myself as an artist. I wanted it to be extraordinary. I played Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and Kanye West’s CD and re-read excerpts from Aristotle’s The Rhetoric and The Poetics, and came up with nothing. Then, in the middle of a musical riff by Miles Davis and after looking at the picture that I had unknowingly scribbled on my notepad, I realized that that the best way to describe about my artistic self is to simply do just that. For as long as I can remember, I have been a creative spirit. Now, at this juncture of my life, the most natural trajectory is to parlay my talents, knowledge and creative vision into filmmaking, more specifically, film directing. With this, my first and only choice for graduate school is the Film Directing program offered at Cal Arts. It is the most ideal environment for me to further grow and develop my talents as an artist and as a director.

My undergraduate degrees from Vanderbilt University in English: Intellectual History and Human & Organizational Development, combined with my theatrical background and life experiences makes me an excellent candidate for the MFA program in Film Directing at CalArts. I have stories to tell and I have a natural talent for directing, having worked as an actor for many years. In time and through specific experiences, I have discovered that it is one thing to work as an actor, however, I find myself more fascinated by the work of a director. I believe that the director has greater depth and responsibility in telling a story. Moreover, I am interested in learning and mastering all of the creative and technical aspects of telling and story on film from beginning to end.

My First Time

I grew up in Brooklyn, and as a young man, I was a shy kid with a slight stuttering problem. I was a visionary. Basically, I was able to see things and write about them before I can act them out. In short, my interpersonal skills were marginal, however, my mind raced. At age 13, I was a straight –A student and the founder and Editor-And-Chief of a teen magazine called Teen Lines which was successfully distributed to public schools throughout the New York City area. With all my involvement with youth leadership I was invited to an improv workshop at the well-known Circle in a Square Theatre in Manhattan. This was daunting for me because though I harbored secret desires to perform, I just didn’t know how to play it out. Then, when I was randomly thrown a topic of “peanut butter and jelly” to improvise a scene and then a song on the same topic, I gagged, but by the end, I was a changed kid. This was the first moment in my life that I decided to pursue a career in the arts.

I subsequently signed up for acting classes, got an agent, and starting working immediately as an actor. I became a member of a very prominent theater company called The CityKids Repertory. It was a youth empowerment organization founded by Laurie Meadoff where the focus was arts-education. In CityKids, I soared. We traveled throughout the country performing original pieces which we had workshopped, improvised and wrote as a group. It was also in CityKids that I met some of my life friends, discovered my inner voice, which cured my stuttering, and recognized the power of the arts to impact the world.

Transition

Life started to set in. At age 14, I dropped out of high school in full pursuit of a career in the arts. I found myself running around New York City with a headshots in my backpack to auditions, taking dance classes and voice lessons. I had done a commercial and joined the Screen Actor’s Guild. Things were great. Eventually the harsh reality of my family life began to affect the way I saw the world and my place in it. My stepfather was diagnosed with manic depressive disorder which made my family life very tremulous. I felt like I was living the perfect artist’s life in New York City, however, I knew that things needed to change. I felt like I had to do more with my life to help out my family. My family emigrated from Guyana, South America when I was age 7 in pursuit of a better life. My parents both worked two jobs to provide for myself and my siblings and I felt like I could do more to actualize what they told us about the American dream. I found out about an amazing organization called The Posse Foundation which offers full academic leadership scholarships to some of the top universities in the country. I jumped at the opportunity. I took my G.E.D. and SATs in the same month and after a very rigorous selection process, I was accepted to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Vanderbilt

It was at Vanderbilt that I truly began to find the balance between any artistic and intellectual self. I realized that I did not have to necessarily separate the two. I believe that as human beings were are all a sum of our experiences. Moreover, I believe that all of my life experiences have shaped the character and the man that I am today. At Vandy, I directed my first full length production of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” among other projects. I also had the opportunity to intern at the Black Filmmaker Foundation in New York City and was blessed with the opportunity to work as a production assistant with one of my heroes in film: Spike Lee on his film Get on the Bus. All of these experiences have moved me closer to actualizing my true artistic self and quenched my thirst for further knowledge in the craft of storytelling and film.

CalArts

I firmly believe that the Masters Program in Film Directing at CalArts is part of my natural trajectory in the direction of further growth and success in the arts. I have a strong understanding of dramatic structure and an unyielding passion for the arts. In short, I am an artist who dreams in color, and though at times I may see the world in black and white, I trust my heart and creative intellect to find the balance. I welcome the opportunity to learn from the best.