Check Out Kenneth Forrester’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Forrester.

Hi Kenneth, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I have been blessed with a plethora of influences over the years. All of which shaped my artistic pursuits in one way or another. Amazing people, experiences, (good and bad) unforgettable performances, etc. So, I’ll roll the dice and pick one. Cassette tapes. Yep, those horribly unreliable fossils many readers are probably googling what the hell they are right now. When I was about 6 or 7 years old, my brother Keith bought me my first boom box with a cassette player/recorder built in. It was “state of the art” 90’s gear with a built-in mic made for recording voice memos etc. When I found out I could record my voice, I started making up stories. My own little radio theater plays with sound FX and all. I played all the characters and sometimes would commission friends to join me in making some come alive. Before every improvised episode of “The Adventures of Kenneth” I would drop the handle of the cassette player down on the body of the boom box like a slate and say, “ACTION!” I did this consistently for almost 10 years until I started learning how to edit on a computer in 2001. I even got new cassette decks that allowed me to overlay my voice so it could sound like the characters I was voicing were talking to one another. I was a homeschooled kid with some time in between when I was done with my lessons and when my friends got home. So, I spent most of that time recording and telling stories. This was the most consistent form of storytelling I had, and I was always striving to make them better and better every time I recorded one. To this day, as a performer and storyteller these old cassette tapes were how I first learned how to express myself.

Alright, 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?
Film-wise, absolutely not. But like I always say, nothing good or worth having is ever too easy. I’ve Had a lot of failed projects over the years, worn many hats, and had many disappointments. But it taught me a lot of things. Compromise being key among them. As an independent artist, we don’t have the luxury of being primadonna auteurs. We need a team. A team you can trust and who trusts you. Once you can get in the trenches with and take the enemy out one shot at a time. If I may toot my horn, I am very good at finding a good team!

Personally, absolutely not. We must be wildflowers in the dark against all odds. I’ve lived through childhood abuse, my parents divorced when I was a teen, homelessness, losing friends to suicide or drugs, lost family members to freak accidents or cancer, and I battle depression to this day. I have used film as a vehicle to help express or deal with many of these traumatic events. Just this year I lost my baby cousin to an accident the odds of which are 1 in 100,000. Sky diving. Doing something she genuinely loved doing. She just graduated with a psychology degree, was engaged, and bought a new house. We as a family are absolutely crushed and will never really understand it. But she was always so encouraging of all my creative ventures and was such a wonderful example to everyone around her. In honor of her, I must keep creating, I must strive to inspire wonder in a world full of noise. An excerpt of a poem I wrote about her reads, “We don’t need answers to live, we only need that light you carried. So light the torches of your hearts. Set aflame those bonds of the devil. Come together. Love one another. For her. Be better. Be stronger. Be wildflowers growing in the darkness.”

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have worked all the jobs a film requires over the years, but I’d say I specialize in editing, working with & teaching actors. Directing and producing are where I’ve been the most successful. What am I known for? I mean, I could try to answer that, but I’d much prefer to hear that from my peers. Can anyone ever fully know themselves as they are known? I’ve had people tell me they want to see my work again and that it looked like a “real movie.” Whatever that means. Or “I loved the poetry in your film.” I think I am most proud of remembering talent I’ve met over the years that I know can do well and giving them opportunities to prove it. What sets me apart? I would be nothing without my team. I’d be nowhere without my wife Kaitlyn, my beautiful baby girl Freya, my family, my friends and one of my best friends and co-founder of the company Barna Lumpkin. What sets Mobocracy apart as a group is consistently over the years always hiring a diverse group of amazing storytellers who desire nothing more than to make screen poetry with us. Barna and I make up The Bezalel Bothers. Together as a director’s duo and as producers we have been producing compelling films since 2010. I am proud of my team for our recent film Rock Island Woman that is sweeping the festival circuit right now and doing very well.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Risk, faith, love, and wonder. It is a risk to seek love or desire, faith to love, faith to let someone love you, and wonder to keep it alive. We live in a world full of information but lacking in the things that matter the most. As people and especially as artists, it is our duty to reinvigorate these passions in the world. To redirect the noisy dissonance back to a clear and encouraging melody. Or to make people so aware of that dissonance that they can no longer ignore it.

Speaking of things that matter the most to me and helping future generations, I am a dad of a 19-month-old daughter. What matters to me is that she is encouraged to cultivate her imagination. To learn how to learn. To learn how to love her neighbor and to feed the hungry. Most of all, I want her to call me when she is old enough to be on her own. To still want to call me just because or to ask for advice. What matters the most to me is that I am a good father to my baby girl, a good husband to my loving wife, and a good person and lover to all else whom I love.

Lastly, it matters to me that artists get a voice. I would like to thank everyone at Voyage ATL for giving artists like myself a chance to be heard and to help grow my audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: mobocracyfilms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anarchistpreacher/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kenneth.b.forrester/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH71opVR79KaYW42e5UDCZQ
• Other: kennethforrester.com

Image Credits
Jason Vail https://www.jasonvailphotography.com/