Meet Kesime | Executive Creative Director and Director

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

Hi Kesime, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
So I’m kinda from all over the place. I was born in Canada, raised in nearly equal parts in Jamaica, Canada, Atlanta. Moved to New York (yay) to go to Columbia (boo) and then made New York my home for the next few years. Then eventually followed the siren’s song to Los Angeles.

I think living in all of these different places has made me incredibly adaptable. I feel like I’m able to enter any room and find a way to connect with just about anybody there. Living and breathing some many different cultures has given me a broad understanding of the human experience, what connects us and what divides us. I think it is the reason why my mind has stayed so flexible and open to learning new things, new environments, new developments.

The impact of having had all of these disparate cultures a part of my experience is that it has made me a lifelong student of culture and an amateur anthropologist. I’ve had to become fluent in many different languages – both literally and figuratively.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art has many tendrils. By trade, I’m an Executive Creative Director in TV marketing, a Director and a writer.
The writer side of me is very internally-directed. Since childhood, putting pen to paper has been a process of self-discovery. It’s always a delightful surprise when I find that something I wrote resonates with others. That’s the inherent gift of creating – starting from the personal and finding a connection to the larger world, and therefore, community.

The TV marketing side of things may not seem to be ‘art’ with a capital A to some but I strongly disagree. I’ve found through my work in the corporate world (for Disney, Paramount, Discovery and others) that my true superpower is my ability to synthesize. Meaning that I’m able to take the separate elements that make up a marketing campaign – business objectives, market positioning, target audience, media strategy, overarching concept, etc – and blend these elements together organically. So that the resulting campaign reflects all of the above and feels whole and larger than the sum of its parts.

As a Director, I’m part seer, part hypnotist, part performer, and part ringleader. Out of all the kinds of work I do, I love directing the most.
There’s nothing more gratifying than collaborating with a group of artists and craftspeople to create a finely-tuned, carefully choreographed three-ring circus (but without the clowns).

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
A science show at the Griffith Observatory, dinner at Dunsmoor and drinks at the Capri Club. Keep it east side and easy!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people that get credit and recognition in my story. Too many to name here but I’ll try to shout out some of the folks who have always championed and supported me in my career thus far: Tom Ascheim, Tricia Melton , Karey Burke, Jamila Hunter. These are some of the greatest creative executives in this industry and they’ve always been kind and willing to bring me into conversations and empower me to take risks and try new things. Thank you to them for their encouragement and for the opportunities.
Since heading out as a freelance Creative Director and Director in 2023, I’ve been lucky to have worked with some great partners and clients. Among them: Sharita Petersen (Paramount), Wayne Arthur (Kaleide), Leonard Rosely Samuels (Zayde Creative), Niara Simon-Hollis (Tastemade) Jonathan Glatzer, showrunner of the upcoming AMC series The Audacity.

Big shout out to Kenny Gravillis and the whole team at Gravillis for creating the Black Marketers in Hollywood organization. Thank you for creating this warm, supportive venue for us to gather, connect and celebrate our wins.

Another big shout out to Dashiek Woodard and Eileen Rasnake and the entire team at Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts and Sciences (aka G.E.M.A, fka Promax) for continuing to provide a solid web of networks for the creative marketing community. Particularly through these past few years of upheaval in our industry, I’m grateful for the opportunities that G.E.M.A. has provided for us to continue bridge-building, mentoring and staying engaged in the shifting sands.

Website: http://kesimebernard.com

Instagram: @kesime

Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/kesimebernard