Meet Bria DéShaun | Producer and Film Editor

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

Hi Bria, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
It’s interesting because I always, in a sense, been a creative person. When I was younger I danced, sang, starred in the school play as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, I wrote stories and scripts in my free time at school. It seemed like every other weekend I was begging my mom to take me to Joann’s Fabrics so I can do an arts and crafts projects. So needless to say, thanks to my parents, I was always allowed to live my life in a creative and artistic way.

But I didn’t consider my creative gifts as a career until it was time to make those big decisions and answer these life altering questions my senior year of high school. “What do you want to study in college?” and “What do you want to do when you get older?”

At that time, my senior year of high school, when those questions were being asked; I was chief editor of the school magazine and the main video editor for the school news. I would come to school early and stay at school late to do page layout designs for the magazine and edit a recap video of last week’s school events. Whenever I turned my projects in both for the magazine and for the school news my teacher was so impressed with me and I could never forget the sense of achievement and success I had felt when people would watch my videos that I edited. And then it hit me. Finally, I had the answer to those questions mentioned above. “I want to work in entertainment.”

The way I saw it was if I came to school early and stayed at school late to work on these projects that i’ve been thinking about all day in class and was also fulfilled from the response of people who would be the audience of this work, this is something that 1. I am passionate and gifted about and 2. this is something that I can build a career off of.

It was a no brainer for me after that. I decided to go to Hampton University and study journalism with a minor in cinema studies. I started my YouTube channel and created a brand around my name, accént, and the rest is history.

All throughout college I was “the girl with the camera”. I vlogged, did recap and promo videos for different organizations for some cash. Then I had the opportunity to direct a short film my junior year and then a stage play my senior year. I started a production company, Studio 19, with my sister. She wrote and directed and I filmed and edited.

Then an opportunity came to intern with Paramount Pictures in their marketing department which led to, by the Grace of God, a full time position at Paramount Pictures in that same department.

So needless to say, pursuing a creative career has always been in my cards. In just the time that I have been taking my creative self seriously, I have experienced in MANY ways what that creative career can look like. Whether it be in editing, directing, writing, singing, acting, creative marketing, producing. In every aspect of the word I am a creative. So the question becomes why not leverage that creative gift into a career? And the answer to that is “Yeah, why not.”

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Currently, I work at Paramount Pictures in the international digital media marketing department. Before I got this position I was an intern for the same team. There is truth when people say “stay in contact with your manger!” You never know when positions are open and how qualified you are for a job when stay in contact with certain people.

It’s funny because I am still figuring out where I fit in professionally. There are so many things I am learning about the entertainment industry and about myself as a professional.

Right now the lesson that I am learning is patience. I am learning that things that you want take time to get. I cannot rush the journey that I am in to get to the next level. There are qualities and attributes that are crucial to have in where I want to be but they cannot be obtain if I rush the journey to get them.

I am learning that I am the only one running my race. No one else can run my race and I cannot run someone else’s. I have to stay in my lane and focus on me in order to win. It’s so easy to look at my peers and see all the amazing things that they are doing and feel discouraged. But I have to remind myself, they probably had to go through hell and high water to get to where they are now. I did not see all the work, the sacrifices, the tears that they have put into what they have now. And in doing that, comparing yourself to others, will keep you from moving forward in your own race. Comparison is a thief of joy.

I say all of this to say this. As a professional, at least for me, as long as I am operating in my purpose, which is to assist other creatives in making their projects as successful as it could be while impacting the culture, than I am winning. That’s the goal I have in every project that I am apart of whether it be for myself of for others.

We are all unique and offer something very special to this world. Which is what the goal of my brand ,accént, is. The definition of accent is to give prominence of emphasis to. So the brand and my life goal is to remind people that their story is meant to give an accent to this world.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ha- I love this. I’ve only been in LA a little over a year so I am still getting out of my tourist phase. However, below is what I enjoy as well as the friends who have come to visit as well.

You can’t leave LA without experiencing a live event. Whether that be a concert or seeing a sports game.

If you are lucky to catch a DJ set from Soulection, definitely go! If you love music and get a lil groove you’d love it.

Continental Club on Wednesday for Brown Sugar night. Perch for drinks is super fun too (my Dad LOVES Perch when he visits).

Either Black Market Flea or Black on the Block on the weekend, to get a little shopping in.

Runyon Canyon or Lake Hollywood trail on Saturday morning for a little hike.

If we are looking for somewhere to eat, I’d go to Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen or Bludso’s BBQ! Can’t forget about street tacos.

This is kind of random, but I like to drive around in Bel Air to look at houses. It’s truly inspiring!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First, shoutout God, for blessing me with a creative gift to impact others. Though I am aware of this gift I would NOT have the ounce of confidence to use it without my extensive support system.

Shoutout to my Mom for supporting me. Always being the first person to read something I wrote or watch something that I edited. Almost nothing that I post goes public without her seeing it first. But she has been a huge motivator and a great support system for me. My Dad, as well! He, too is always there to give me that extra push to continue to move forward.

Shoutout to Hampton University, for nurturing me into the confident Black woman, I am today. That campus is so special to me because those people, especially the ones that I have shared my highs and lows with, allowed me to be who I am. As soon as I stepped foot on campus I was welcomed with love and support. They allowed me to really explore who I was as a creative. Them just simply waving hi to the camera meant a lot to me. Without them, I guarantee you, there would be no Bria DéShaun. Simple.

And to my sister who is my creative partner in crime, Lizzie Allen. The potential she saw in me to become successful in this industry carries me. Because of her, I am reminded to be relentless and to take up space in every room that I enter because I am there for a reason.

Website: https://briadickerson.wixsite.com/briadeshaun

Instagram: briadeshaun

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bria-dickerson-52291b177/

Youtube: briadeshaun

Image Credits
Kris Anderson (purple dress)