Ronny Watson is a senior at Emerson College, currently attending the school’s Los Angeles program. He’s a Media Arts major, and he’s helping us out here at The StageCrafts with social media marketing this semester!
Hey Ronny!
Hey!
Where are you from?
I’m from south Jersey, right outside Philly.
What are you studying at Emerson? How has your experience there contributed to your career goals?
I’m wrapping up my degree in Visual Media Arts this semester. I’ve had the opportunity to work on a bunch of student-led productions in essentially every possible role, so I feel like I’m entering the industry with some great working-general filmmaking knowledge.
So, what brought you to this point in your educational journey?
First, actually committing to Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, I saw myself pursuing a career in the sports media industry. I spent two years there, beat reporting for the women’s soccer team and producing for live sports shows. Meanwhile, I was still majoring in film and falling further in love with movies than I ever had. Slowly, film started to become a priority as I discovered that- despite my life-long love of sports- I actually far more enjoy interacting with it as a fan rather than as a journalist. Spring of my sophomore year I pulled the trigger on transferring to Emerson and began seriously pursuing a career in the film industry. I spent three semesters there gaining experience on set, and grinding in the trenches of production on several diverse student films and projects. Meanwhile, I began taking my screen-writing seriously, and slowly learned how to hit a gear with it I hadn’t before. Today I feel I can take some solace in feeling I really know what my calling is.
What made you want to intern with Stagecrafts and what are you aiming to learn?
Marketing, especially in the performance art space has always been something that’s been super intriguing to me. A lot of my prior experience with social media marketing has come working with student films in the Emerson community. In general I love taking part in artist spaces, and I’ve already had the opportunity to meet some super cool people in the local LA artist community.
Ronny Watson, Photo Credit: Self
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Ideally, I’d love to find myself in a space where I have some form of creative freedom in whatever I’m doing. Whether that be writing films, television, or something entirely different, I just want to be in a position where I can influence others like my favorite artists have done for me.
What are some of your favorite places in LA so far?
Only being really settled in here for about three weeks now, I still have a lot of the city I’m still looking to explore. However, I’ve gotten the chance to go to the awesome Vista Theater in West Hollywood. I’m super excited to get to some other cinemas around the city such as the New Beverly and The Egyptian. I’ve also discovered some awesome food spots, but none more enlightening to my tastebuds than the independent taco stands populating every other block.
What do you like to do outside of school and work?
Outside of watching and tracking everything sports and film, I love music almost just as much. I’ve been playing guitar for almost five years now, and have put together a pretty awesome record collection- mainly consisting of some classic rock stuff.
What’s some of your favorite media?
My favorite movie ever is probably Laurence of Arabia- which I was fortunate enough to catch in theaters for the first time last summer. Also, Bong Joon-Ho’s amazing crime/mystery thriller: Memories of Murder is up there. My favorite show ever is easily the Sopranos, but more recently I got around to seeing Baby Reindeer on Netflix which is awesome. Three of my favorite albums ever are The Bends by Radiohead, Shed by Title Fight, and Low End Theory by Tribe Called Quest. The Last of Us series and Red Dead Redemption 2 are my favorite games ever.
Who are some of your biggest artistic influences?
Paul Thomas Anderson will always be one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to writing. I tend to lean to the more off-beat/eccentric side of noir and comedy stuff and his work scratches that itch like no one else for me. Horror is my other big genre when it comes to film- Ari Aster (!), and his takes on generational trauma, in particular, has influenced my taste in movies like no other working director. To quickly name some others: Kurosawa, Damien Chazelle, Rose Glass, Jordan Peele, Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Edgar Wright, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa have all also truly had an impact on my life. Additionally- William Gay, Denis Johnson, Yukio Mishima, and Joyce Carol Oates are some authors who I feel have really shaped my voice as a writer over the past couple years.
Awesome! Thank you for your time today!
No problem!
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