Today we’d like to introduce you to Desmond E. Dennis.
Hi Desmond E., thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
(Thank you so much for having me!) I’m a 29-year-old Jamaican content creator and performing artist. I’ve been acting, directing, and “creating” long before I was old enough to recognize that I was doing so or understand the significance.
I grew up in the church where I often performed with the children’s choir. Whenever I was asked to preach for Children’s Service, I’d devise skits or sketches because I wanted to be more relatable to my peers.
In Grade 3, during Friday morning ‘mixed-grade devotions’, I directed my batchmates through re-enactments of the most popular local TV ads and acquired some popularity among my peers for accuracy and creative flair. I recognized then that when I staged these pieces or performed in them, it made the audience feel good.
It was the desire to continue to make people feel good that served as my motivation all the way through high school.
While attending Glenmuir High School, my gifts were first recognized when I represented the Pawsey house in Eisteddfod — an inter-house performing arts competition. After amassing the highest points in the speech competition, I was invited to join the school’s performing arts groups which, altogether, set the foundation for my creative life as an all-round performer and as a writer/director. Throughout my tenure, I competed in the national multidisciplinary arts competitions organized by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC). There, I copped medals and national trophies with the school’s speech group as well as the festival choir.
I became a member of the University Dramatic Arts Society (UDAS) upon matriculating to The University of the West Indies (Mona). In my third year, while serving as the society’s president, I made the decision to pursue a career in the cultural and creative industries. It was at that time, too, many local directors and producers became familiar with my work.
Through consistent success at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts-hosted Tallawah Tertiary Dramatic Arts Festival, bagging multiple awards for acting, writing, directing, lighting, multimedia and sound design, I received invitations to perform in and stage productions commercially.
Since then, I’ve picked up multiple nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Actor Boy Awards — the premier adjudicating body for local theater productions — and, in 2017, I secured the trophy for Best Actor in a Lead Role for my work in Maya Wilkinson’s Heist.
In 2018, I landed the role of ‘Young Anansi’ in Season 2, Episode 11 — The Creator — of Marvel’s Luke Cage.
More recently, I’ve booked roles in a number of locally-produced short films, penned and directed a few others, and I am currently in the process of developing a few TV and Web series for the emerging digital media team Apeiron Digital Pro, where I am the Chief Content Writer.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has absolutely NOT been an easy or fairly smooth road by any stretch of the imagination. As a young creative, in a space where careers in the arts are labelled ‘non-traditional’ and ‘unviable’, the concern of where the next job is coming from is a very real one.
For a time, much of the work I did was pro bono. I took them on to gain any amount of exposure they’d yield. This, of course, meant I was working but not earning.
Then, when the jobs started coming in, I had to work even harder to raise my chances of getting more work. Sometimes, I’d deliberately overbook myself — just so I’d be able to pay the bills — and then figure out how to juggle three productions happening roughly at the same time while trying to maintain the high standard of work I set for myself. This eventually led to burnout. But I kept going because I knew this was my God-given purpose, and the work was being done and done well.
At other times, my decision to pursue this career path affected my relationships with loved ones who could not understand my insistence on remaining in such a ‘volatile’ field. The separation led me down the road of depression, which I’ve never truly gotten rid of, but which I’m learning to better manage.
Easy? Smooth? No.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My areas of specialization are acting, writing, and directing. Among these, I don’t (currently) have a preference.
Of the three, though, I’m most widely recognised as a character actor with a penchant for physically demanding roles.
As a writer, I’m no less agile. My body of work also includes poetry, blogs, one and two-act plays, and short form documentaries. I’ve done a bit of copywriting for a few local companies as well.
I have the least experience with directing for commercial audiences, but I like to think directing is my strong suit. I’m extremely proud of the fact that although I’m not formally trained in theater arts — yet! I’m currently running a fundraising campaign to pursue an MA in Directing in the UK next fall — I’ve been able to consistently produce work at a high standard, both as a performance artist and as a creative, and I am developing a body of work which celebrates the stories of my people and the rich cultural heritage of my homeland Jamaica. To date, my portfolio includes several short plays, a few short films and documentaries, and a music video.
I like to introduce myself as a content creator and performing artist because, really, I dabble in a bit of everything creative, and these two titles are broad enough to include my other creative pursuits. Main three aside, I am actively working on becoming a proficient photographer, painter, lighting designer, beat maker, singer, dancer and copy editor.
What sets me apart: my determination and work ethic, the fact that I’m solutions and detail-oriented, and that I have tonnes of cutting-edge concepts. Always.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What’s not to like?! My top likes, though, are:
- The pace — everything’s fast! Trying to match the pace of the city of Kingston, somehow, helps with my productivity.
- The cityscape — the view from any of our lookout points is breathtaking!
Contact Info:
- Email: actorboy876@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actorboy876
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/actorboy876
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/actorboy876
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC3uO4sKu-_cMEv8gg1HUfew
- Other: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-desmond-get-to-lamda?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=chat&utm_source=WhatsApp-visit
Image Credits
Ryan Esson Mikhail Henry Shanice Ebanks Desmond E. Dennis
