Today we’d like to introduce you to Tevin Keith.
Hi Tevin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was never really the popular person. I was the outcast that would get overlooked while sitting in front lol. I used to want to rap and pop music in high school at J. O. Johnson High in Huntsville, AL. I wanted it so much that I started filling the gaps and creating the opportunities myself like learning audio and video production and hosting events. II was wearing a lot of hats and tried to start my own label and manager other artists. Ultimately, our level of determination and dedication didn’t match and when they all left the team, I was stuck with a lot of equipment and knowledge. So I used it. I started shooting music videos for other artists and doing that for extra income beside my day job repairing AC units. Everything was smooth but I was ignoring and turning down more serious video projects because I had kids and a whole family to provide for. I literally turned down a chance to shoot with some artists in Atlanta that were signed to one of T.I.’s subsidiary label because I didn’t t want to miss work. That same week I was working on a unit that had been sitting in repair for almost a month when the compressor inside exploded in front of us. This resulted in me having to go to the ER. By the time I was able to return to work I was called into the office and told that I was being terminated because they counted the days I was out due to the explosion as absences. I literally just smiled, and I didn’t understand why myself in the moment but once I got to my car, I realized that it was time to take a risk. So, I made some calls and took the gig in Atlanta and it’s been up since! I’ve worked on set with OWN for Love & Marriage, VH1 for Love & Hiphop ATL, Shot a documentary series with the Mrs. D and DD4L and I’ve even worked with BLACKED for some of their adult content.
And just a side note but I was in band too and I was very well known by my senior year because I was the drum major but I never realized that people knew me as my nick name T.K.(Tevin Keith) including my teachers. I literally almost didn’t graduate because 1 of my teachers never knew my real name and marked me absent every day. Stupid right? But that started my new name as a creative, “Nobody Knows Tevin Keith”. That grew into my current business name which is “Directed By Nobody”.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
No journey to success is smooth and since I’m nowhere near the point that the universe intended for me to reach, I’m still going over a lot of bumps and dips. My first attempt at having a production crew was when I involved my white brother, Rave Wolfe, on the photography side. He’s very talented in his own urban exploration style of photography but as brother sibling rivalry played a part in our issues. That and my ego honestly. It would be times where my grind was more consistent than his and not because he didn’t want it but life was hitting him hard on his side of the family and respectfully we just went our separate ways business wise but we still collaborate to this day and it’s all love. Being a travel friend filmmaker makes things hard. A lot of my clients come to me off my work solely because its expensive to pay for a video alone but adding travel and stay usually runs clients off. So I’m thankful my work speaks for itself and that a lot of my clientele feels I’m worth their investment. This business requires a lot of time and honestly my love life takes the biggest hit due to this. I’ve been homeless and slept in my studio because me and my children’s mother were bumping heads over my long hours and late nights coming home. The models and the suggestive situations I was placed in due to the nature of the content I would shoot put a strain on women in my life and tested their comfortability. A lot of great entrepreneurs and hustlers go through this both men and women. It’s always hard to balance what you love with who you love, you know.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a cinematic storyteller first and foremost. I shoot music videos, short films, weddings and more but I always try to put my story telling talent to use. My niche is being able to create a story from nothing. I followed my creative big bro. Dave Bullen of Designs For Life CO, one day around downtown and turned a random day into a cinematic vlog chronicle a fake love between him and an employee at an ax throwing business lol. I’m known for making everything a movie and keeping it entertaining and engaging while sliding deep subliminal meanings and messages in every now and then. I’m also #teamcanon especially on the cinema side. I know a lot of people hear music videos and thing immediately RED or ARRI but I don’t have that kind of money to own and maintain those brands though I use them on bigger sets when the client’s budget allows us to rent cameras packages. Canon just gives me reliability with great ergonomics and color. It just feels better to me. Expensive doesn’t mean better, it means more outcome, less income at time. But I feel I’m know for my work and the experience of working with me behind that. I gave a lot of local artist their first experience of what a real creative process is when it comes to video. Anyone can make a good looking video with effects, models, guns, drugs and money. But if your music is more than that, and it is because you as an artist regardless of your past are more than that, your visuals would vary and represent that. That’s what I do instead focusing on creating a fake image of you. That’s a cover and I rather tell the story within the pages of the book to the best of my creative talent.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I feel like the biggest lesson from all of this is was to focus on one of my greatest God-given talents which is creating. And I don’t mean creating treatments or videos or events but creating paths to progress in life. Creating opportunities when you are surrounded by none. We can always deal the cards we’re dealt or we can create our own game and play by our own rules. Life isn’t what you make, it’s what you create every day you wake up.
Pricing:
- 1200 For half day Music Video
- 2000 For a full day Music Video
- Custom rates for projects with budgets ready.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.directedbynobody.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nobodyknowstevinkeith/
Image Credits
Mike & Jen Bothur of Bother Visuals @Bothur_Visuals
