Meet Keisha Ansley of Kwit! Street Films in Wilshire Center/ Koreatown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keisha Ansley.

Keisha, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve always been a writer.

In elementary school, I started writing poetry. By middle school, I’d branched out to short stories, and in high school, I fell in love with ntozake shange and wrote one-act plays. Eventually, I started writing scripts.

I graduated from Florida State’s College of Motion Picture Arts (which is one of the best film schools in the country). I spent a few months working in radio and co-directing/ producing an indie TV show with Lamont Pierré of ArtHouse Digital before moving to Los Angeles to pursue writing and directing.

During the first couple of years in LA, I worked in reality TV and on awards shows before landing an assistant job at FilmNation, where I supported producer Aaron Ryder (Memento, The Founder, Arrival) and Hulu’s Beatrice Springborn. I was there for two years before I applied for the Director’s Guild of America Trainee Program, which trains people to be Assistant Directors in film and television. True story: while in this program and waiting to be staffed, i ran out of money and I found myself applying for food stamps and loans to pay my bills. My personal life was also not stable at that time. I was at a low point that made me reflect on responsibility, money management, and self-reliance. It made me incredibly focused on getting my money up, and I lost sight of what I wanted for myself as an artist/ creator.

Around 2016, I couldn’t deny that I was unhappy and burnt out on my current path. I got really real with myself. I’d moved to Los Angeles to write and direct, yet I hadn’t made a single film in years and I wasn’t consistently writing. It wasn’t that I hated my job, it was just that I’d rather be doing something else. I’d rather be creating. That was the year I buckled down and started telling everyone what I wanted (a closed mouth doesn’t get fed, right?). An actress friend of mine told me that it took about four years to transition from one part of the business to another, and an AD friend of mine told me that the lovely part about our business was that you could be anything you wanted to be. It just so happens that they both turned out to be right.

I knew I wanted to write, and that directing would come a little later. Over the next couple of years, I wrote three specs, five pilots, a feature, and a handful of shorts. During that time, Matt Fuller directed a pilot presentation based on one of my scripts, and I directed a short, Nirvana, Love and Alcohol, that premiered on Valentine’s Day at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. I produced a music video in the desert. I left my high-paying job and took a job as a writers’ assistant on ABC’s blackish. Last month, I started the Disney writing program, which aims to staff writers on shows on networks ranging from Disney to ABC to FX. I’m currently writing a drama pilot centered on mental health — something that is incredibly, undeniable important — and tinkering with a high school thriller about a girl who has been wronged and seeks to settle the score.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a winding road. There are always obstacles. For the longest time, one of the biggest obstacles was having money to create what was on the page. Once I had money, it was finding the time. Also, it takes time to be great. It’s all a learning process, and you will make mistakes. Each thing builds on the next to make you better. You’re gifted with a finite amount of innate talent before you really have to hone your skills if you want to stand out.

I started in this business with the philosophy that I have to rack up a bunch of nos to get to my yeses. ‘No’ doesn’t bother me. I mean, rejection might hurt in the moment, but ultimately ‘no’ just means try again — try another person, another approach, another way. You have to be unstoppable.

The biggest roadblock is usually your mind. Your priorities, focus and hustle essentially determine what your career will look like. Where you put your intention and attention is what you ultimately bring into the world. This is true for your entire life.

As tough as it’s been at times, I’m profoundly grateful for the experiences I’ve had and the friends I’ve met along the way.

I’ve been incredibly blessed on this road.

Kwit! Street Films – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I primarily write and direct and will occasionally produce. On my last couple of projects, I’ve partnered with visionary cinematographer/producer/director Dwayne Coote.

What really sets us apart is that our styles complement and we examine stories, shots, and concepts from different angles, which ensures that all bases are covered. Nothing slips through the cracks with us.

I’m most proud of the way that we collaborate to bring ideas out of our heads into the world and from paper to screen — on often miniscule budgets.

We make magic happen with the resources we have, and it’s always an enlivening challenge to create at the highest level possible. In this business, that specific dynamic – creating within the confines of a budget — never goes away.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I have two. The first is when I took a leap of faith and moved over to the writers’ room on blackish. The second was when I was accepted into the Disney writers program. I’m most excited about what’s to come.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @kansley.pd

Image Credit:
Lamont Pierre, Keisha Ansley

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