creative spotlight: Ruel Smith
In transition.
It’s a phrase I think a lot of us creatives can identify with. I know a good many folks, myself included, who are still working on turning a creative passion of theirs into a full-time career. As just about anyone who has done it will tell you, it takes a lot of hard work.
Enter Ruel Smith, a guy I’ve had the privilege of working with in the past. Here’s a guy who is doing it right. He’s putting in the work and facing the challenges head-on. Whether or not you’re working on a career in film like Ruel, I know you’ll find some real gems of wisdom here.
Tell us a bit about yourself:
Hey Aaron, first I want to say thanks for choosing me to be interviewed.
I'm Ruel Smith. I was born and raised on the caribbean island of Jamaica. I moved to the United States for High School where I attended the Cicely Tyson Performing & Fine Arts HS in, NJ. I fell in love with Animation and pursued it as a major in college at the School Of Visual Arts in NYC. After graduating I moved to LA where I have spent the last 15+ years as an animator. Currently I am transitioning from animation to being a Writer/Director for the next phase of my creative career and I couldn't be more excited!
Tell us about your favorite creative activities
My favorite creative activities mainly surround storytelling: Writing, Filmmaking, BTS or On Set Photography. I love watching movies and attending Filmmaker Q&A screenings. Last year (2019) I attended about 38 In theatre movie screenings and about 25 of those were Q&A Screenings with the Director, Actors or Producers. I love Writing, Traveling & Shooting. Visiting city's around the world, taking in their culture, then finding a nice cafe or lounge to sit and work on my screenplays. I also love capturing that city's culture through photography and filming.
When do you find it easiest to be creative?
Generally I find it easy to be creative in the mornings, especially writing. One of the first things in my day when it's fresh. I am a sucker for an amazing view. Hi-Rise cityscapes, out in nature surrounded by mountains and valleys, or beautiful ocean views. There are triggers I set up to inspire my creative process. I will book a writing or creative retreat as a vacation in a city like Vancouver, San Fran, Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Mexico with a hi-rise hotel or beach front for a long weekend. Just to work on a screenplay idea. The natural beaches in areas like Playa Del Carmen and Tulum, of Mexico are great areas that inspired my creativity a lot in 2018. At that time I was writing a new screenplay.
What has been the greatest challenge for you when it comes to creativity?
The greatest challenge for me in being creative is the funding and getting my ideas made. Filmmaking can be a long and expensive process that sometimes requires a sizable team. This is specifically true if you are trying to make a full length feature film. We all have a billion dollars in our imagination to construct the most amazing stories but when it comes time to bring that idea to life, that can be a daunting task.
One of the challenges right now is trying to make my first feature film. You want to find that right balance where the idea is logistically minimal to pull off but is still engaging for the audience to watch. I'm currently writing a screenplay that has about 5 actors and 5 locations and it's been a challenge to keep it to just that.
One last thing I must add to this is another great challenge is blocking out the peer pressure and outside noise of what you should create, how you should create it and what people will think of it. For a while, isolating the outside noise and building the internal confidence around the stories I am interested took work. Confidence from within is sometimes hard to build but very important.
Where do you look for inspiration?
I look for inspiration mainly in two categories.
1) I have a small list of filmmakers and artists whose works and creativity I deeply admire. I am a huge fan of Tarantino, Nolan, Fincher, and Alfonso Cuaron. I'm always watching their films as well as their Interviews on how they made their films or came up as a filmmaker. A large source of my inspiration is from those guys currently. I love Brandon Stranton's work with "Humans Of New York" Just a guy walking the NYC streets taking photos and meeting people and the stories grew into a cultural movement. I love street artists Banksy and French street Artist JR. Their works are always thought provoking in my opinion.
2) Filmmakers that are currently rising to the challenge and making films, telling stories. I try to catch all the new films coming out of the major film festivals every year. I love hearing them discuss their films and using it to fuel my journey to make my first feature film.
What is one suggestion you would give to someone who wants to further develop their creativity?
This is something I have been thinking about a lot recently. I think the number one suggestion is: the WHY and the HOW are way more important than the WHAT. Specifically, the WHY is more important than the WHAT. We often get caught up in WHAT we want to do but a more important question is WHY do you want to do it.
As a creative in a world where art and creativity is at peak commercialism and virality, I see a lot of creatives just do things for the wrong reason and as a result they don't last. If the WHY you are doing something isn't strong enough, WHAT you are doing won't last or be as impactful as you hoped.
I knew I wanted to be a storyteller, specifically a filmmaker, but I think what prolonged me from truly doing it is my WHY; that I wanted to be a Director wasn't strong enough. That also is an internal search. Once I developed my WHY and it felt rooted, everything made clearer sense to me.
Where can people find you or your work?
The easiest place people can follow me or find my work is my website and my instagram.
IG: ReelRuel