Keani White is a major in Film & Media Production, with a minor in Communication. As he is graduating in May, I thought I would ask him a few questions about the future. As seniors, everyone knows we loooove those questions, so get to know the Idaho boy with a West Coast state of mind!
What have you done over the last 4 years that helped create a future after college for your major?
Prior to my junior year. I had applied to transfer to a California school; Arizona wasn’t working out, but I wasn’t accepted. It was then that I made the decision not only continue to attend ASU but I also decided to join the programming and activities board. In a short year I was able to move from the Marketing Department intern to the departments director. As the Marketing Director of ASU’s Programming and activities board I supplied the print and digital marketing for the 5th most prominent student run organization at ASU. I oversaw the marketing department and managed its recruitment events, the overall event promotion for the organization, and strengthened PAB specific branding. During this time I was also spearheaded the wide scale print marketing for ASU’s Fall Welcome Concert featuring Gavin DeGraw and aided in celebrity meet and greets for Carolina Liar and Scotty McCrery. I received a lot of diverse experiences that will help in my development of a strong career in the future. My position as Marketing Director led me to two other entertainment marketing positions that have expanded my capabilities as a film major. This past November I was given the position of Marketing Coordinator of ASU Devilpalooza 2014 that is the largest spring event (concert and carnival) on the ASU academic calendar. I generated the wide-scale print marketing campaign for Capital Cities and ZZ Ward as well as facilitated the launch of a social media campaign via Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, and Facebook for 72,000 students and the event. I became the design assistant to the senior marketing designer for ASU Educational Outreach and Student Services and attended an internship program at the Cannes Film Festival the same summer. As the design assistant I have assisted in the creation of advertising and promotional pieces for ASU Health Services, Men’s Basketball, Sun Devil Football, Greek Life, and the Residential Housing Association. I helped create the print & social media campaign branding for ASU Preparatory Academy through a Tax Credit donation online video initiative. Also, I helped to construct student interview videos for ASU Residential Life electronic move-in packet. Finally I attended my summer program with The Creative Mind Group at the Cannes Film Festival. It was here were I was able to network with real industry professionals, make contacts, see how the film market works, and mingle with the stars. While I was there, I was able to have the first college film I produced and directed, Independence Day (2012), be included in the Cannes Short Film Corner. I also coordinated, as the Director of Photography, the successful 3rd place short film win with Handle Bars (2013) in the Campus Movie Fest + We Made it in Cannes competition. So I guess you can see, I’ve done a lot in a short two years, but have set myself up for many years.
What are your plans after graduation?
Well, I could make everyone happy and end up on a reality TV Show. A classy one of course, like a The Hills spin-off (cough, cough The Valley). All jokes aside, I’d either like to take a year off and experience the culture of Greece, or hit the ground running and start paying my dues towards a career in the entertainment industry. Maybe it’s cliché that most college grads fantasize about taking a year off to travel, but I think if I did it, I would get a visa for a year, find a small thankful job and just live and experience a year in a life completely different than mine. However, on a more realistic side, my solid plan is to transition from the Valley of the Sun to the City of Angels with a few friends to land a job with a network television station. I think eventually in life I would love to work in the writer’s room or as a show runner for ABC, NBC, Bravo, or maybe even E! That’s my dream at least, as for now I am pleasantly happy starting out as an industry professional’s assistant, a network marketing coordinator, or a writer’s assistant. They say your twenties are for the mistakes, your thirties are for the stories, and your forties are to teach the lessons. That’s what I’ll do after graduation. The anxiety of not knowing what’s next for me is terrible but it also gives me the freedom to see what happens.
What do you do in your free time?
Most people would have something interesting to say, but rarely do they ever say I don’t know. So yeah, I don’t know. I feel that once you reach your senior year, your hobbies, at least mine, have become your major. Four years ago, my free time [was my] number one passtime: film. Shooting shorts messing around with my buddies and the equipment we rented from the AD Lab was my adolescent. Now, producing short films, editing footage, and writing scripts is my job. Don’t get me wrong, I still make time for the spontaneous GoPro adventure here and there. I’ve been working on a Series Bible for a pilot I’ve been writing, which makes my roommates laugh. So hopefully I have something great. In the hopes of avoiding the curse of sounding nostalgic, I will say that I spend my free time enjoying the simple things with my close friends. I’ve found a hidden talent and passion for still photography, both digital and film. Film is a bit more exciting as you never know what you’ve captured until the negatives hit the solution. Also thrifting, but actual thrifting. Prior to [the] infamous song, I could spend hours scrapping through racks and bins at the local Savers for something special that no one else has. I once got vintage neon Patagonia Fleece for 12 dollars; those things tend to run upwards from $300. The search is the best part; the pay off of finally finding something is an accomplishment that doesn’t come around often.
Where are you from and how has that shaped you?
Although many find it hard to believe, I was born and raised in Boise, Idaho with a diverse background. My father is African American and my mother is Hawaiian, Filipino, and Chinese. I think being raised in a small town, by a multicultural couple and as a young gay man, has not only taught me to be resilient but it has shaped me into a self reflective guru, striving for the next best thing. I think I am overly ambitious, but growing up in suburbia and always having to travel to see something amazing has that effect on people. I’m from a place where the summers are dry, the winters are long, the people wave and smile at everyone that passes, and if you don’t ski or play a sport you’re not quite understood. It wasn’t until I came to Arizona that I discovered how the greatest place on earth, the city of trees where the potatoes are abundant, that I realized that it has molded me into a young man that I am proud to simply call: me.