Conversations with Chrishaun Williams

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chrishaun Williams.

Chrishaun, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
“You were always gifted” my mother Angela would say. My name is Chrishaun Williams born on the wave block of Lansing Michigan. As I got older I began to feel a certain feeling within my soul that was reaching my conscience coaching & leading me on to my destinations. I have always been musically inclined. I can hear a melody within music and recite it on my piano or saxophone by ear. I was eight years old when I first heard my father‘s voice for the first time. It was very brief under 30 seconds and he was cursing and yelling at me & telling me to “ give my mama back the damn phone”. That crushed my soul and my older brother Dwayne brought me down the stairs to his bedroom and let me know that it’s gonna be OK and introduced me to a coping skill as he played Jay-Z who had a song by the name of “daddy where have you been”. That led me into making my first rap, called “aye dad”. From the age of eight I’ve had visions that I was gonna be a major rapper and I was coming up with music that was out of the ordinary. It was a gift from God speaking to me through my pain and observations of life to speak to someone who relates. I was so weird reading dictionaries when other kids in school was reading other books or reading their textbooks.I was trying to learn words that I didn’t know and feed my brain to make better music. I invested into my own studio and invested time in watching tutorials on how to mix and master music. I had another key to my collection which was to create my own music and also record it in the studio on my own. As I got older, so did the competition so I had to think outside the box of what I could do differently that no one else is doing to advance my career as a rapper. I don’t wanna sound crazy but it’s like I always felt like a silent voice was leading me to my direction even though I can’t really describe what type of voice it is it was always something telling me to do something and it was always showing me what will happen if I do that within my imaginations. I would pursue that direction that was giving out and literally see the results of the vision at the end. That showed me Gods power and I always kept faith even in the rain.
I was shooting music videos,mastering the craft, watching tutorials on how to shoot videos,taking a risk on buying a camera that I didn’t even know how to work.I just knew God said look you get this camera and it’s gonna lead you to broader doors you never had access to. It did exactly that it led me to build more opportunities . I went from shooting my own music videos to being in Detroit, Michigan shooting rappers that had a big buzz around our region in which made a name for myself. I began telling stories within my music videos, giving me the upper hand on the competition who was shooting basic level music videos the same way. My company Bandamount Pictures at the time began to be successful but I still felt incomplete as if I was not fulfilling my purpose. as I got older, life got harder, and I still felt defeated being in the streets. Caught up with people with no aspirations can make you feel that way. I was tired of being in the streets and I had to find a way out, but I knew shooting music videos was not gonna be the path that was meant for me to go. It was hard to get out of the streets when every day you’re basically documenting the streets with the camera putting yourself in harms way. i’m trying to be positive. The people around me was negative and negative and a positive equals a negative. The influence from the society that I was in almost caused me a bulk of my life either in prison or six feet under. I made a dumb decision and it caused me to relocate myself out of state and also my state of mind. Everything happens for a reason so I got down to Atlanta and met my cousin Aaron sanders who was into acting & he was telling me how there’s an acting class with an audit and I should come. I’ve always been into creating content with my camera, but I didn’t know exactly how to do it. I was just doing it. My cousin stated it was gonna be just a two hour audit and to try it out. I got that feeling inside that said to take the risk it might change my life . So I got myself prepped up and ready, and I went to the free audit. It was a class instructed by Troy Rowland and a angel who is now in heaven, Tonya Rowland. She was amazing Tonya taught me to create real time into imaginary circumstances. I recited that in my head for years & made sure I understood the meaning so whenever I get a role, I take heed of what she said and I go into any role as the character & become that character until cut. I love method acting. It was then when I decided hey if I want to get out the streets, I gotta leave these street routines that I’m comfortable with alone & find a way to get uncomfortable learning something new to love and have a passion for. That’s the only way I can become what I vision so I stopped shooting music videos. I began to have a love for creating stories and actually being the one to show the story off as the actor. I began to love the feedback from people that was more positive and more helpful than what I was getting when I was a rapper posting new music. So I stuck to it and I did what I always did which was hear the direction of where I was gonna go next from the inside voice. It led me to buying a hollywood tier camera. It was then when I decided to take a risk on another camera that I had no idea on using. I just knew if I bought this camera it was gonna lead me too being able to make a quality film that people will look at and enjoy. I bought the camera, watched every tutorial that I could on the specs of the camera, looked at every short film that was made from other directors of the same camera. I wanted to be great at this so I didn’t waste time on anything but becoming a filmmaker and perfecting my acting career. I started making short films and they would be like three pages long, maybe five and I would cast actors who I met within my acting class, but we already had the chemistry so I would cast them to be in my short film and go out and just shoot content. I directed and wrote I’d say about 10 short films before I actually decided to put my all into a script and create a feature film. Shooting my feature film
TOTS Tricked Out The Streets
was a very big challenge in my life. I believe the biggest challenge was being the leading actor within the film. The director operating the camera, the guy putting up the lights, the audio engineer, putting the microphones on the actors and setting up the boom mic and also the coach on set getting the cast to say the words of the script in the way I envisioned it.
It took two years to create my first feature film and the whole two years I was living in my car. No support system here in Georgia so everything that needed to be done was on me so I felt like I had no choice, but to make this movie to get to my next level in life. I get asked the question a lot. What do I wanna be a director or an actor ? Honestly, I want to be a master of both. I want to impact people lives as an actor. I want to impact people lives as a director. I want to give back to people of need
I want to change the outside worlds perspectives when they see my character , I want to change the actors who don’t have a chance to finally get a chance to show the world what’s meant to be shown. I have a gift from God. God hasn’t separated me from anyone in this world everyone has a gift. Some people can’t reach it so God put tools and utensils in the hands of others to get to the hands of others who can’t have the access. I feel like I’m a vessel and I feel like God has given me a purpose in life to be able to be that 1% out of 100 that will cause a positive impact to the society.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Living in my car trying to finish a half way through movie with 32 speaking roles and a loss of a job wondering how I’m gonna eat today or even get $5 in gas to stay out the hot sun and keep the A/C on. The struggle was real along with keeping the motivation to go to the gym at 5am just to make it in the shower and to work when I did have a job as a mental health therapist for adolescence and adults. When i was in the hospitals I was a mental health tech restraining mental health patients at 7am until 7:30pm. Just to clock out and be cold at night in the car to have to do the same routine the next day.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an actor and director of the company Bandamount Cinematics.I never knew there were separate roles behind the scenes in production. All my life living in the Midwest I’ve thought of just one person creating a whole movie. I never knew it took a team so I learned every role within production. I am growing myself a fanbase as an actor on movies and social media content . I am in a tubi movie that I produced myself by the name of TOTS Tricked Out The Streets. I am proud that I was able to create something as a black man from a ratchet upbringing and make it into a master piece all on my own with faith and a plan. What sets me apart from others is my creativity and my pain. I’ve been through so much pain and losses you wouldn’t imagine how I can still smile and have any sanity. I have a created brain that can do anything i fully put focus on.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In 5 to 10 years I see my industry blessing the lives of Gods chosen ones. I see a big shift in my communication skills and ability to obtain big assets through financial stability. I see myself on set with Micheal b Jordan , Will smith and many more sharing my story with the world and becoming a necessity for mankind.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tiktok.com/@chrishaunontv?_r=1&_t=ZT-96Xm44HnFBV
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrishaunontv?igsh=dDJ1MmRob3B3dHpo
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/chrishaun.williams.9
• Twitter: https://x.com/eorgibanda?s=21
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCOmqrY2Rt4Yf4ll0Z92MAzw
• Other: https://link.tubi.tv/hAnvrUoRj3b