Meet Addison Henderson | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Addison Henderson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Addison, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started my own film company when I was twenty-four years old. When I started making my own films and screen them the natural progression for me was to start my own company that could represent everything that I stood for as a filmmaker. Also, it gave me some professionalism when going out in the world and pitching myself as a filmmaker who should shoot your Commerical, music video, short film, etc… I grew up with two business minded mentors. My Uncle Jeff Friday created the American Black Film Festival. The festival 25 years later is probably the biggest film festival for black and brown voices in the world. When I was a young kid he would take me to his meetings when he was just getting everything started with the festival. This had a long lasting affect on me as a kid. It was also a driving force in my development as a filmmaker and actor. Now on the other side of that coin is my late great father Bishop William Henderson. My father was a world traveler and he would establish churches all across the globe. When I was of the age of understanding he would tell me all these stories of his exploits across the globe and all the wonderful things and harrowing accounts of his travel. Establishing churches is a business and I learned a great deal from my father in his work. Our home church in Buffalo, NY is on the national registry as one of the last stops on the underground railroad. My dad fought hard, for the recognition for the church and it taught me a lot about business and how to bring people together. These are the beginnings of my dive into the business world.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I like to consider myself an over all with a focus on film and television projects. I do have a documentary background as well. When I think about what sets me apart from others, I think back to my childhood and my formative years and the things I experienced and how it shaped me as an artist. Look, there are no two snow flakes alike, no two identical rain drops. All of us are different and have our own sensibilities. But the thing that sets me in my own lane is my spiritual mind mixed with my ability to fuse that into sci-fi and apocalyptic premises. I also work on projects that aren’t sci-fi but the concepts of redemption, finding peace, and search to understand who we are in all of my work and always have been. My mother and father are very spiritual people and that has been infused into which later became an integral part of my story telling style. I’m very proud that I’ve developed a style that is all my own, it has taken many years for this to come to fruition, and it’s still a learning process which also make me excited day after day. Everyday as a creative provides a new set of problems to solve which in my case I love to solve those problems. Because really these are life problems that are put in a pressure cooker of making a film. So, when creating art you learn a lot about yourself and you become better for it.

How did I get here? Well, when I think on my life and all the trials and tribulations to get to this moment, I often ask myself, “Would I do it again?” And every time the answer is yes. I tell people my life has about fifteen good movies waiting to be produced. Whenever I began to create a new film there is always a something in it that I’ve went through and can 100% identify with. When I began to tell stories that is how it started and that is how my artist life is currently constructed. My own personal cannon. Being connected to the material is how the emotion of it works for me. I don’t operate from any other way.

Was it easy? By no stretch of the imagination was it easy. Honestly It’s not easy for anyone to break into the entertainment industry. Sure some people have more opportunities than others but on the other side of the opportunity is the work. So being fit to do the work usually comes with being tireless in your work. Creating when nobody is patting you on the back. Creating when there is no money in the bank account. Creating when your last project wasn’t that great! Creating because you know that this it the only thing you were made to do. Through my almost 20 yr career I’ve faced many many challenges. The ups and downs can really knock you for a loop. But I stayed strong and kept fighting for my voice to be heard. I knew my voice needed to be heard and that’s what I fought for these last 20 years. My voice. This is how I overcome all the challenges in my life professionally. But It never gets easy, I have to fight everyday for my voice to be heard for other producers to understand why I am so passionate about a film or television show.

The Lessons I learned along the way is to always stay true to yourself. Have faith in what you are doing and if you believe in a higher power believe that your life has been guided here for a reason and what you are doing is making some sort of a difference that may just be a little part of something greater to come. Check the sequences to your life. make sure theses sequences add up and meditate on the things you want and make an active plan to go get them. These are things that I practice daily. I don’t always get it right but failing is something that taught me a lot about myself and it allows me to make decisions understanding that what I did last time didn’t work.

My brand and style is 100% a part of me as a human being. There is nothing fake about what I create as an artist, my work is birthed from the pain and joys of my life. It’s my belief is that every man should search for the higher calling and I believe that is infused into my work with great care and understanding of years of me searching. My award winning feature film Givers Of Death, is about a hitman trying t0 find peace during the apocalypse. So, that should give you a little bit about the type of films that I make.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I always tell people you could vacation in California for years and still not see everything. This is a beautiful state obviously. If I had a friend visiting her are some of things we would do.

– Switzer Falls: This is scary fun because I am fearful of heights but I did this amazing hike and ran straight towards my fears. I knew at the end of it a beautiful waterfall would be waiting for me.

– Los Angeles State Historic Park (China Town): Very peaceful open park where you can relax. It’s surround by 1.5 miles of dirt track. I just had a big water balloon fight there for me and my friends kids. Great urban park.

– Little Tokyo: I love ramen and sushi. Also, there are some very cool boutique clothing shops.

-Realization Center Malibu: beautiful place to go and relax and let nature talk to you.

-Rafi’s Lounge Malibu: This beautiful space over looks the ocean and the vibe is very chill and and zen. There is beer and wine on the menu and some amazing food. A great place to catch the sunset.

-Pirates Cove Beach: This beach is off the beaten path, it’s a beautiful location and there is a little mountain there where you can catch climbers practicing.

-Elbow Room: The best people in my opinion in town. Owned by a Buffalo, NY guy, I would have to say we make the best pizza in the country. It’s a fact. LOL. This place has cool vibes and it’s great to go catch a game there while enjoying the best pizza in town.

-Silver Lake Movie in the square: Cool vibes watch a classic while being surrounded by some great bars and restaurants. You can easily make a night of it.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate this story to the City of Buffalo, NY. This is my home, the place that gave me my soul and also my history.

There are many people who have played a role in my development and success. I would like this to be dedicated to my great father Bishop William Henderson and my great friend and mentor Chadwick Boseman.

Website: addisonhenderson.com

Instagram: realaddison

Linkedin: Addison Henderson

Twitter: realaddison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/addison716