Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy Rashad Brown.
Jeremy Rashad Brown, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It was fall 2000. I had just started my sixth grade year at Turner Middle School in Waxahachie and had been cast as Beast in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ – my first role ever. After that opening night performance on that small classroom stage, I was bitten by the acting bug. From that point on, my passion for acting and storytelling continued to grow. Fast-forward 20 years later, the effects of that initial artistic bite have flourished into a career of, not only acting, but also writing, directing, and producing – especially surrounding the topics of social justice for Black bodies and the social intersections within.
Has it been a smooth road?
Any person who devoutly pursues their dreams and passions rarely has a smooth road. Simply because nothing worth having will be easily attained. Supplement that fact with being a full-time, empathetic, artist and you have a road of hurt, rejection, heartache, along with mental health and financial dilemmas that seem to hit you harder than most.
I decided to become a full-time artist, as well as a business owner, on February 1, 2018. That was the day I was laid-off from my job of six years. Even while working a full-time career, I was still pursuing and working as an actor and producer in my personal time. After being laid-off from my stable job, times were difficult. I was able to use the severance I received from my former employer to support myself, but those were finite means. There were times where I did not know when and where my rent was coming from. On top of that, I was still trying to build my start-up company, Brown Boy Productions (BBP).
Even through all of that uncertainty, I remained focused and motivated to achieve the goals I set for myself; even to this day, I have to continue to be resilient and determined.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Brown Boy Productions story.
I converted BBP into Brown Boy Productions, LLC, which is now a multimedia holding company that umbrella’s other companies and organizations that produce under-represented stories and content while supporting marginalized communities. At the moment, our current companies and their specialties include:
Brown Boy Productions – film/video content creation and theatre production company;
ATX Black Box Office (launching April 2020) – marketing and outreach entity that promotes Austin-area Black theatre artists and productions; and
CineStage (in development) – a streaming platform of cinematic HD, original onstage performances.
In June 2018, the Austin Scottish Rite Theatre commissioned me to write a youth play for Black History Month 2019. I decided to adapt and update the Brother’s Grimm fairy tale Rapunzel and named it, RAP UNZEL. The lead character, Reginald “Rap” Unzel III, was a nine year old who personified Black Boy Joy, all the while rocking a super high top fade. Rap and his widowed mother, Maji, recently lost their beloved Reginald Unzel Jr. In order to heal and continue to thrive, they move to a new neighborhood the following summer for a fresh start. During this transition, Rap encounters some neighborhood bullies. Maji is now a single mother, and she does not want her only child to get hurt or tainted by those bullies. This fear leads Maji to make him stay in his room for the duration of the summer; however, being in his room does not stop Rap from making a new friend from his window and spreading the love, joy, and music that is inside of him.
RAP UNZEL was a major hit. So much so, that The Radical Buffoons in New Orleans, LA caught wind of the story and produced a lively, remounted version in December 2019.
Even though Brown Boy Productions did not produce RAP UNZEL, it is still a work that we are the proudest of to date. We filmed interviews with the actors, community leaders, and partnered with applicable community-engaged organizations to maximize outreach efforts. This was more than just a play. It was a bold representation that railed against the stereotypes of the stoic, hyper-masculine, monolithic perception of Black boys and men in America. The children, and adults, who I wrote RAP UNZEL for, came out in the droves to see it. That was only made possible with my company’s skilled promotion and outreach efforts.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Streaming is becoming KWEEN. By 2023, the on-demand market is expected to hit subscriber numbers of 236.6 million in the US and 732 million globally… that’s just in three years! Simultaneously, theatre attendance has gone down steadily since 2000 by 5% a year, on average. I plan to ride the tidal wave of streaming while still preserving the nuances of theatre with CineStage.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.
jeremyrashadbrown.com - Phone: (512) 765-5686
- Email: Brownboyprod@gmail.com
- Instagram: JeremyRashadBrown
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/
jeremyrashadbrown - Twitter: @jeremyrashad
Image Credit:
Jeremy Rashad Brown
DHill Photography
Kathy Whitaker
Steve Rogers
Errich Peterson
Alan Ray
Juju Smith
Molly Humphrey
Chris Marroy
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