Meet Christopher Purnell | Multimedia Producer

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

Hi Christopher, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I give my gratitude to one cartoon and one cartoon only….”DRAGONBALL Z”. lol In 5th grade, I watched one episode and I saw a frame of the character “Bulma” and I paused the VCR and said “let me see if I can redraw this…” One hour later I was impressed by what I was able to recreate by just looking at the TV. From there, I tried to find any and every DRAGONBALL Z picture to redraw. My parents noticed that I became good at drawing and invested the little money that they had and bought me my first sketchpad and colored pencils. In high school I started airbrushing t-shirts and jeans. I loved the reactions I would get from people admiring my art. It was never about the money for me, I’m just looking for the greatest way to express myself and my artwork has been the vehicle for me to do so.

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.
Being from Philadelphia, I was taught at a young age, the meaning of HUSTLE and WORK ETHIC. My mother always told me “wear as many hats as you can because you never know when you’ll be needed”. And I was able to incorporate that philosophy into my art. I graduated from the Art Institute of Philadelphia with my Bachelor’s of Science degree in Media Arts & Animation. So I don’t just draw only, I do photography, graphic design, motion graphics/animation, and video editing. I’m really a one-stop-shop for creative services. When I moved to LA in 2013, I came in with this unique skillset to simply get a job. I moved to LA ready to pay my dues and run the gauntlet that we call “The Entertainment Industry”. There were nights where I couch surfed, slept in offices and even a storage unit that wasn’t mine, I hustled for food, got “the run-around” from flaky people. So yeah, it definitely wasn’t a walk in the park. But for me, all I needed to see was the mountains when I left my place of sleep and I had all the motivation I needed to keep going. My father told me, “let your work speak for you” and it was that mindset that allowed to be in the spaces rubbing elbows and working with some prominent folks in the industry. They would see my work from someone else and they would want it too. Similar to how I hustled airbrushed t-shirts in high school.

Some of the lessons that I’ve learned has been, self-sufficiency is THE BEST way to go. People are going to let you down 99% of the time, so if you need something done, do it yourself. Believe it or not, it’s easier to create your own lane than to follow in someone else’s.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m a huge foodie and I gotta show MAD LOVE to my brown brothers and sisters from south of the border. Give me a taco truck and I’m good to go for life. Hell, I lowkey lived off of Mexican food for the first 2 years of living in LA.

Food:
– Zermenos in Hollywood
– The taco truck that comes out at night on the corner of Santa Monica & Vine
– Dulan’s in Inglewood
– Cabo Cantina in Hollywood
– Quarters in Koreatown (Koreans fry chicken better than black folks, YEAH I SAID IT! Don’t debate me, I’m tired)
– Boo’s Philly in Silverlake (authentic cheesesteaks from actual Philadelphians)
– Dagwoods in Santa Monica (THE BEST PIZZA IN LA)
– Bruxie Waffles (This place blows Roscoe’s out the water! You can debate me on this one, I want the smoke lol)

Hang out:
– Pacific Palisades Park in Santa Monica
– Santa Monica Pier
– Amsterdam Cafe in NoHo
– Walking around Los Feliz/Thaitown
– Drobe’s Stogies in Inglewood

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Man, where do I begin… I want to shoutout my parents first and foremost. They sacrificed a heluva lot for me as well as my little sister. Then, I really want to shoutout my mentors, my uncle Calvin Purnell Jr., Zo Williams, David York, thank you for your wisdom and really taking me up under your wings. I want to shoutout my grandmother Mary Steed to really teaching me the true meaning of serving others. I want to shoutout my brothers David Griffin, David Kane, Beweh Willor, Dallas Daniels Jr. and Chris Arnold for being the ones I know I can lean on. I want to shoutout my business partner and big sis Inga Humphrey for giving me my first production opportunity when I moved to LA, and even my cousin Whitney Taber for letting me crash on her couch. Last but not least I want to shoutout my great friend La’Quitia Denson for recommending me for this article.

Website: https://www.chrispystudios.com

Instagram: @chrispystudios

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherepurnell/

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChW93qTOIeuWc3jB5geNNXw

Other: I serve as a board member for a non-profit organization called The Art of Cinema Excellence https://www.acexfoundation.org https://www.acexnetwork.com

Image Credits
Image #2 – Jasmine Williams Image #3 – Chris & Brittany Booker Image #7 – Jimmy & Daphnir Joisil Image #8 – Harmony Upchurch