Today we’d like to introduce you to Devon Edwards.
Hi Devon, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story if you will started after high school while serving in the military. I served in the Navy for three years and after a racial incident, I decided to get out and return home to the Southside of Chicago. It was a short stint at home because after a few months, life continued to happen and I decided to go back into the service and joined the Army where I spent 13 years and after returning home from a tour overseas in support of Operation Iraqi/Enduring Freedom I decided to join the Air Force where I retired with a medical retirement. It was after a mandatory physical that it was found that I had some unexplained ailments. I was diagnosed with Lupus and Stage IV Kidney Failure. After a long battle with the illness and through sound advice from a close friend, I decided to attend film school Columbia College Chicago and earned an undergraduate degree in Cinematic Arts & Science. During my first semester, I attended a Gospel Concert where the artist Mali Music was performing at a local church. There was a gentleman on stage running around with a camera that caught my eye. Rather I should say caused my distraction from the concert because the entire time I was focused in on him wondering what it was that he was doing. After the concert, I asked him what was all that about with him on the stage and that is where is informed me that it was part of a music video that he shooting for the artist. We found out through our conversation that we both attended the same college and that he dropped out to start his own company entitled “Dreams On Screen” and he invited me to Detroit where he was shooting a feature film entitled “Blessed and Cursed” with other well known gospel artist and I said yes. I drove to Detroit and worked on this feature as an Assistant Editor, where I knew nothing about editing at the time, but the main editor took some time and showed me a few things and I began cutting scenes for this film as the dailies came in. That kicked it all off for me to include a trip to the Sundance Film Festival for the first time and being able to meet one of my idols Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay. EPIC!
I became a part of several organizations to include Veterans In Media & Entertainment, The Storytellers Session, Warner Media Action to Access, Hollywood Professional Association, WGF Writers Program for Veterans, hillman Grad Mentorship, just to name a few.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It was not a smooth road at all. The key factor that made this a real struggle and determination for me was the fact that I was at that time still doing chemotherapy. After I retired from the military in 2007, I was given five years to live with the severity of my illness. I was doing chemo a couple of times a month, in and out of the hospital, days held hostage to the bed in pure pain and sickness. Not to mention I was missing weeks of school and trying my best to learn a new skill in my mid 30’s. Times had gotten so hard for me mentally that I attempted suicide by trying to swallow a 9mm bullet, but the gun jammed as I pull the trigger. God definitely spared my life cause I hear him as clear as day say to me that “This sickness was not unto death!” That was an eye-opening moment for me. I had to really trust in my faith that I would make it and that the things that I was dealing with were merely temporary. I lived in Chicago and there was still a particular navigation of the streets from things that transpired in my younger days as a former street gang member. This was also during the time that I was taking care of my mother who was battling Alzheimer’s disease and my wife and daughter were both fighting Multiple Sclerosis. I had to take a breath just to type that!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I always refer to myself as such, My “Clark Kent” is a Post Production Coordinator, but my “Superman” is Writer and Director with a dash of Producer. I started my career as an Editor for church concerts, inspirational films, and music videos. I even spent some time as a camera operator and Jib Operator. I would definitely be considered a multi-hyphenate. Just as in the military, we train up and learn a little about everyone’s position. This was to allow us the ability to continue forward with our mission in the unfortunate event that one of us went down in battle. We would just do a lateral shift and everyone would move up and the mission would continue.
I am most known for my ability to connect people and my establishment of relationships within the industry. I am one who is an extreme extrovert and love talking to people and hate the fact that a lot of times we get together to Network just to Notwork. I pool people together and provide them with the resources that they need in the people around them or that I personally know. I am known as the Unofficial Mayor of Sundance Film Festival because of the many years I have spent volunteering and working at the festival. I am proud of the award that I received in 2020 from the Sundance Institute “The Gayle Stevens Award” in recognition of the hard work and dedication I gave and supported the festival with. I am most proud of winning Filmmaker of the Year award in 2013 for one of my short films “The Past You Can’t Escape” which I am rewriting and reshooting it. With all that I have learned over the years, I feel that I have a responsibility to revisit that story and give it a renewed voice and include things that I missed in my early years as a creative.
What sets me apart from the rest is my tenacity and ability to make connections and get in rooms. This industry is not based off of pure skill but mainly personality and that I have a ton of and because of my military background makes me a trustworthy individual with integrity surpassed by none.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Those that are starting out I would say embrace the fear and I mean every part of it. Fear is the thing that holds many of us back from achieving those things that we know that we are capable of. I would say turn a deaf ear to the naysayers because they will always say you can’t do something based off of what they themselves cannot do and they love to project.
Make yourself available. You gotta get out there and meet and greet folks and be intentional about what you want. Closed mouths don’t get fed. There are many who are still trying to figure it all out and this is something that you CANNOT do alone. This much like many things in life is a collaborative process. It’s a saying that I would always say and that is “You don’t know what you don’t know, until you know you don’t know it!” It takes more than a YouTube video or pages from a book to learn something. You have to actually do the practical as opposed to just learning the aesthetics.
Lastly, I would say make all the mistakes you can. We learn to become better creatives by the mistakes that we make and trust that it is okay to make them. Be completely honest with yourself and don’t pretend.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.truetribeproductions.com
- Instagram: devonjedwards/truetribeproductions
- Other: imdb.me/devonjedwards
Image Credits
Gianna Dorsey
