A CONVERSATION WITH: GERALD
This blog is part of our series, A Conversation WITH. As a media organization, we highlight members of our team - past and present - that have done awesome work with Wide Angle, while also pursuing their own creative goals.
Gerald - he/him pronouns - is a former Wide Angle Penn North Library and high school student. He has served 13 years in the armed forces. He is currently at Fort Campbell Army Base in Kentucky and living in Tennessee. Gerald also has a passion for writing and is working on a fantasy novel.
Current read: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Song on repeat: “Slow Motion” by PHOX
Favorite spot in Baltimore: The dock area with the benches down in Fells Point
In high school, Gerald loved to skateboard every day with his friends.
Can you tell me a little bit about your connection to Wide Angle? What programs did you participate in?
When I joined in 2007, Wide Angle was a lot younger and smaller than they are now. I participated in the multimedia program and made a short film, doc style, about a black soldier from WWII. He had come back and was denied some of the benefits. I remember digging into my own creativity in a way that I hadn’t before. I wanted the film to be near animated style and turned my characters into more of a silhouette so that I could do different voice overs. I really felt good about how the project turned out.
Gerald (right) and two of his closest friends at a Fire Academy Graduation.
What type of work do you do now?
I’ve been in the army for 13 years now. There’s a long, dark story that led me here. Obviously it was an opportunity for a lower class, below the poverty line kid to get out of the city and get out of my comfort zone. Right now I’m at Fort Campbell Army Base in Kentucky and living in Tennessee.
What surprises you most about what you do?
The variety of people and the massively different walks of life that people come from. How we all come together when there's that one common goal to work towards.
Are you working on any creative projects?
I have a few wannabe novels. I always wanted to do it for myself. The working titles of my novels are Cat & Canary and No Hero, a fantasy novel about a girl who gets framed for murdering her king. She goes on the run and with her she takes a young prince whose life is endangered as well.
I think people should be more okay with their work not being their passion. Work should pay the bills and not drain your soul. Your art and your passion should drive you, motivate you, and even give you a little bit of anxiety as you look down the barrel of starting and finishing it. Too many people let their work steal their passion. I might have fallen victim to that a bit, too.
How have your experiences at WAYM impacted you afterwards?
Actually more than I would’ve thought. There was a lot of teamwork and big group brainstorming. One day I had to learn how to accept that my idea wasn't the best in the room. I learned that if you take the same energy and love into someone else’s idea, it can turn out even better than your own.
A lot of what I learned in the program helped me become a creative problem solver. We would be working on a project and learning the software at the same time. When you’ve got a few tricks on a tight timeline you get real creative on how to solve any problems.
Also, I have a much bigger appreciation for the behind the scenes movies, storytelling, and multimedia overall. I’d consider myself a modern movie buff.
What’s one film you think everyone should see?
Just one! Man.. my top number one I’ve seen a million times - young me - V for Vendetta. It’s a kind of superhero flick before Marvel really took off. It’s a big political thing. I feel like it could still speak to a lot of people. Super recently I’d say, Everything Everywhere All at Once. There’s a character that delivers a big end-of-movie speech to sum up the moral of the story. It’s something to aspire to and emphasizes that you don’t need to be so in control for everything to be okay. I’m going to squeeze in one more because I’m such a fan of animation, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is definitely a must see if you like animation!
What do you hope current students gain from the program?
A confidence in creativity - same as I did. That confidence that you can figure it out - especially as artists and creatives - and know when something is done. There was a thing that I realized when I was younger, perfection is an opinion and imperfection is a fact. You can be working on a project and as a creative, as your harshest critic, you’ll find yourself working on something far beyond your deadline and feeling like it’ll never be done or there’s more you can do. Sometimes it is done or it’s not going to be your initial dream, but it’s still great and deserves to be seen rather than this internal project that you’re storing away.
Gerald and his wife with their two boys.
What tips do you have for current students?
Listen to your teachers, trust that freedom, and make the most out of it and appreciate it while you're there. I made some lifelong friends at Wide Angle.
What is the place where you feel most yourself?
Here in my little game room. All my little gamer lights and posters and things - it’s my safe space.
What is something about yourself you could totally brag about but usually don’t?
That list has narrowed down as of recently, I’ve come into a self-appreciation phase. I take pride in my leadership abilities. I realized that as I transitioned from a leadership position and saw how difficult it was for a lot of people to pick up all of the pieces that I was doing. As a leader, I pay attention to people’s strengths and weaknesses. I try to get them in the right place to thrive in their strengths and also have a secondary goal in something that they’re weak in so that they can learn with their weaknesses but still have the confidence in working with their strengths. I pride myself on group dynamics and that was one thing that I got a taste of when I was younger working on group projects at Wide Angle.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Hannah Shaw is the Communications Manager at WAYM. She is a multidisciplinary designer and received her BS in Marketing from UMD and MA in Social Design from MICA.