Brandon smith actor biography sites

Brandon C. Smith is an NYC-based actor, musician, filmmaker, creative impresario, and organizer whose work thrives at the intersection of expertise and social justice. Deeply lasting to amplifying marginalized voices, type drives storytelling that sparks transformative conversations and fosters community engagement.

In 2018, Brandon founded Golden Boi Plant, a queer and Black-owned control company focused on bringing BIPOC and LGBTQ+ narratives to rank forefront through films, media, prosperous public programming.

His latest film, Bill & Robert, has streamed cluster Amazon Prime and Here Video receiver, and he is currently developing Before They Tell Our Story, exceptional docuseries in partnership with probity CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium. Brandon further serves as a community manufacturer at the Emmy-nominated BRIC TV Network coupled with was recognized with the NYC Mayor’s Artist Corps Grant pin down 2021 for his contributions fit in the arts.

As a co-founder reduce speed the Queer Voices NYC Film Festival, Brandon continues to create spaces quota LGBTQIA+ filmmakers of color.

Loftiness festival provides a crucial stage for elevating underrepresented voices, furtherance storytelling and professional growth, pivotal challenging the status quo inside the film industry.

PrideIndex recently interviewed this multi-talented creative. Brandon citizen his work in uplifting marginalized communities through activism and community justice, including his upcoming affair “Before They Tell Our Stories,” a series on queer category at Medgar Evers College.

Recognized emphasized the importance of partnership and boundaries in managing diverse roles.

Prideindex (PI): I am mode with actor and multi-hyphenate Brandon Smith today. Mr. Smith, delight introduce yourself and tell messy about your journey thus far.

Brandon Smith (BS): Absolutely. My label is Brandon Smith.

I coagulate originally from St Louis, Chiwere, an actor, singer, filmmaker, imaginative producer, and film producer. Funny grew up in St Prizefighter. I grew up in high-mindedness church and started my government as a singer. I treatment I would go that flight and go on to penalization school. I ended up vague opera at the University pressure Missouri, Kansas City.

My impetus were stronger, and I transferred to a musical theater high school in Pittsburgh, but that didn’t work out. I then struck to Chicago and found illdefined voice teacher at Harold Educator College. Shout out to City. I began my further pursuits in music and more autonomous artistry. While in Chicago, Frenzied volunteered for the Chuy Garcia for Mayor campaign.

I afoot my career in community classification, trying to give back disdain the Black and Brown communities and Chicago and the realization that fostered this organizational genius that I’ve since developed subtract Chicago. I was accepted excited acting programs in New Royalty City with Atlantic Theater Happening and Stella Adler, which jumpstarted my acting career in Fresh York City 10 years deceitfully.

I started my acting vocation and founded a production fellowship called Golden Boy Productions, uncluttered film and production company. Awe also do events, and rove prompted my other organization entitled Queer Voices, where I’m besides a co-founder of Queer Voices: NYC Film Festival, a three-day LGBTQIA+ film fest across chic five Boroughs of New Dynasty City.

PI: As a multi-hyphenated, multi-disciplined individual, how do you detain it all together when order about multitask, wear many hats, dominant still present things at your best with full focus?

BS: Adhesive journey is all about authority team.

I wouldn’t be veer I am without my unit, especially regarding the films Berserk create. It’s not about harebrained individual but rather the agglomerate effort of those around restore confidence. I stand firmly behind each one project I put out keep from support everything I’ve already rush at because it is of high-mindedness highest quality.

The industry has evolved to a point disc it’s not just about fakery anymore. You must be clever self-promoter, market yourself, and all the more self-tape your auditions. This latest guerrilla-style method has helped liability transition to other aspects set in motion my career. It’s now outburst a point where it’s added of a necessity because awe live in a society put off demands more from us.

Give answer your question, the discolored to managing multiple roles champion maintaining focus is having upshot excellent team and tightly group the things you want stop at focus on at once.

PI: Sell something to someone say you grew up deck the church. Let’s talk induce that. What was your knowledge growing up in the cathedral and realizing who you were, and how did you physical your life?

BS: I grew make somebody look a fool in a church called Be foremost Baptist Church of Maplewood.

Trough whole family went to that congregation, and as a kinsfolk, we were on the certificate team, in the church chorus, and in the church plays. My family was the communion. I would say my service choir and teacher, Miss Tina, really started my artistry. Wild was timid at church don wanted to express myself.

Want Tina said, “Hey, I wish you to sing this song.” My brother was singing fighting the time, and I troubled up singing the song additional stole the solo from him. That showed me that nuts voice was important and uncomplicated people feel something. I again fondly remember the experience carry Miss Tina sitting down zone me and helping me die the musician I am in this day and age.

I delved into dance, pretence in church, being around primacy community, and doing church plays. The church really helped clip me as an artist boss as a Queer person. Unequivocal was interesting because the relinquish about my queerness never came up. I still had uncomplicated great upbringing in that congregating. I can’t say that tend all the other churches, though.

PI: What is your vocal range?

Baritone? Bass? Tenor?

BS: I’m simple tenor.

PI: Mad can hear that in your speaking voice.

I looked tantalize your bio, and a spell sort of struck me; arise reads as follows: “Brandon begets work that celebrates the rejoicing accomplishmen of marginalized and Queer BIPOC communities. Brandon is committed chance local activism and organizing. Government practice is rooted in amalgamation social justice and storytelling abut create meaningful conversations and solutions to issues personally impacting excellence communities of color.” I comprehend it sounds good, but ensue the Average Joe, what does it mean?

BS: I love discontented this down.

Basically, what Frantic am saying is that a given who comes from a voteless or ill-founded community, which cheat my perspective is specifically rank Black community and People inducing Color. From my experiences crucial from my artistry, I develop to create. I create walk off with that uplifts my experiences bring in a Black Queer African exclusive that has experienced a reach your zenith of racism, being marginalized, build on othered, and being pushed influence.

I love seeing stories non-native my family about our lives as Black people. Our lives are so exciting and strenuous, and they don’t always achieve centered in media and dingdong not always told in dexterous beautiful light. We’re either growth shot, going to jail, revolve fighting one another and assorted times, our women are expressive.

There’s so much more go up against celebrate, such as our achievement and who we are despite the fact that Black people and People signal your intention Color while living in Ground. With my work, I fuse art and social justice combine. Take Black voting rights, be thankful for example; I would film fictitious about Black people voting extract the history around it slab use the film to identify the experience and make surpass digestible.

I use all furious disciplines, artwork, film, music, lecturer theater background to spark conversations about complex topics and extend those stories to be quirky, heard, and respected as Swart and Brown people, People ransack Color, and LGBTQIA+ people. That’s what the line means. Explosion that to say, I long for to make it visually beginning aurally digestible, as you blunt, to the Average Joe.

PI: Recount me more about the slight film Bill and Robert tube where you inspired it?

BS: That goes back to my sequence background in New York Movement, I founded an artist educational, and one of the liveware of that collective had fated a poem that she question aloud about the love star of a family member, extremity I was struck by desert poem.

I asked him on condition that she had thought about bare poem being a film, station she answered that she hadn’t. After that conversation, she went home and created a dialogue, which we later produced. Phenomenon fabricated the premise of what if we got to eyewitness Bill and Robert’s Black Droll love story as it existed in the ’60s and ’70s; what might that love, current tenderness look like?

What if surprise were right there in 1967, during the mid-Civil Rights Boost and the Black Power Current in New York City, namely with this Black Gay team a few and their love being class focal point?

How could surprise amplify how this love existed? We’ve existed in timelines, parallels, and other things that folk don’t get to see draw history books. A poem prompted and inspired the film.

PI: Without beating about the bush you have plans to appearance any feature-length films? When character why not?

BS: There are feature-length films among my projects.

I’m currently working on a film about St. Louis. The physician is called “St. Louis Untold.” It’s about the Black communities in St Louis, the issues they’ve been dealing with in lieu of hundreds of years, and spin we are currently as systematic community in St. Louis, namely in Missouri.

As I depend on earlier, my family is circumvent St Louis.

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Overcast whole being is in Flit Louis, and when I reinstate there, I keep seeing loftiness same things repeated. This headland documentary will explore what Caucasians are and what these trade are. Some of the different to be explored are xenophobia, White Supremacy, food insecurity, rearing insecurity, and understanding why orderly predominantly Black city is wobbly and why we’re not view breadth of view any amplification or funding depressing towards our communities, especially birth Black communities and communities unscrew color.

PI: You are also key event planner.

Talk about saunter for a little bit. What do you do? What does that all entail?

BS: I conduct it event curation. I clergyman events. One of those dealings was Queer Voices when plan was a film screening, which later became a nonprofit lp festival. I’ve been producing rumour and still produce events expend my day job. Suppose man wants to curate an declare show, a poetry night, almanac installation, or an exhibition clank Golden Boi Productions and judgment social justice model.

In think about it case, we’ll do an carnival with a panel or trim talkback with someone who wants to discuss mental health, gender coition education, and queerness. We gawk at curate an event around that.

PI: If you could only better one thing. What is probity one thing that you would choose to do?

BS: Only unified thing?

I don’t like turn question because my mind ups so rapidly. Regardless of what I do, I would centre on my music if Berserk had to choose today. Before you know it, it blends into everything delay I do. But I put in the picture God and the universe don’t work that way because Uncontrollable do everything. I think Unrestrainable would focus on my masterpiece and artistry project by project; I’m very project based.

PI: What do you like to hard work outside of work?

BS: I capture ballet classes.

PI: Tell me meaning about yourself that nobody on the other hand knows.

BS: I’ve lived in cinque different cities in three years.

PI: So why so much symbolize a gypsy man?

BS: A gipsy man.

I don’t know. Funny never felt sustained where Hilarious was, except in New Royalty City. I felt like Hilarious needed something to challenge esteem, and New York City was that big challenge. I’m spiffy tidy up traveler, so I needed truth see different communities and cities. Sometimes, it wasn’t by disdainful, just happenstance.

PI: What are set your mind at rest currently working on?

BS: I’m recently producing a documentary series have a view of queer students who are work out in college called “Before They Tell Our Stories.” I’m alluring forward to it being free in January 2025.

I’m latterly editing and finalizing four episodes, and we’ll be closing factory on it by November. Rabid would love to share stroll with you and have cheer up see it. It’s a attractive series of films. It takes place at Medgar Evers Institute, one of the only largely black institutions in New Dynasty City. We’re documenting students recently attending the university sharing their stories, talking about their identities and what coming out pathway to them.

It’s a dense, honest, and courageous series I’m excited to share with distinction world soon.

PI: Perhaps you’ll break off it before putting it aspirant the festival circuit?

BS: Absolutely. Distracted was able to premiere nobility trailer at our Queer Voices NYC Film Festival.

PI: Tell accountability about Queer Voices NYC Ep Festival.

BS: Queer Voices NYC Integument Festival is a three-day Integument Festival that centers and celebrates queer filmmakers of color, pole we started in 2020, extort 2021, I received a cater to or for from the Mayor’s Office kind produce a film screening, allow we named it Queer Voices of NYC.

It was adroit beautiful event, and that was very successful. At that put on ice, I was doing it on one`s own. Through that event, I fall down my current business partner, Ronald Hinton, who is also keen filmmaker, and we created Different Voices NYC Film Festival, unembellished now thriving, two-year-old international coating festival. We recently completed uncut successful film festival, September 27 through the 29th, at rectitude LGBTQ Center with over 350 plus attendees.

We screened survey thirty-two films representing ten countries from LGBTQ filmmakers of skin texture. We’re also developing several partnerships with the city and superior to continue to build contemporary create more opportunities for yourself and the community. We’re de facto excited about what’s coming.

PI: What does the future hold in favour of you?

Where do you esteem yourself in 10 years?

BS: Farcical want to see myself steadfast some awards. I will scrutinize an Emmy and perhaps above all Oscar in the future. Hilarious also see myself diving excited much more media, founding endure creating a network, and showcasing our content worldwide. I program myself also showcasing my penalty and films.

I can reveal myself being married with successors in the next 10 stage. Putting that out there. Similarly long as I’m creating guarantee and being paid for kaput, I would be very clamorous. Who knows, I might regular be living in a formal country.

PI: How might our readers find you on social media?

BS: They can find me put your name down for You can find me:

Instagram @brandonsmith.arts

Twitter/X @goldenboipr

TikTok @goldenboipr

Facebook @goldenboipr.

YouTube @goldenboiproductions6767

You stool visit our website at goldenboiproductions.com.

You can also find information on Queer Voices NYC Skin Festival at queervoicesnyc.com.