Deon Taylor is a prolific writer, self-taught filmmaker, director and idea generator. He is the founder of the independent film production company, Hidden Empire Film Group. He runs HEFG with his partner and visionary producer, Roxanne Avent Taylor, and businessman and philanthropist Robert F. Smith.
Taylor talks with rolling out about his career in production, the things he’s learned throughout his journey, and his new series with Kenny “The Jet” Smith titled “The Pathway.”
How did you know that being a producer was the right thing for you?
I thought basketball would be my life. As I’m living that life, I didn’t realize that in my pastime, I love film. I go to every movie, I watch every movie, and I could recite every movie. I didn’t realize that until later in life, God was showing me that’s what I’m supposed to do. But before he showed me that, it was my path of basketball, and the bumps and the bruises, being knocked down, and trying to figure out how do you get to the league, and all those things that allow me to actually become a filmmaker, because had I not gotten that knowledge of being coached and knowing about winning, losing, and working with others, then I don’t think I would have been open enough to receive that idea.
What is some advice you would give to soemonelooking to get into production?
I tried to make it my mission in life to tell people that don’t kill yourself, be wise, but at the same time, don’t be afraid. Take a chance on you. The one thing I want to do is help us break that analogy and curse of being able to reinvent yourself. This is real in the Black community. Just because you set out to be something this way, that may actually be a role for you to get to something else. You don’t have to just say, “I’m this.” You can always keep reinventing yourself. Actors reinvent themselves, directors reinvent themselves, and businesses reinvent themselves.
Tell us about your show, “The Pathway.”
If you’re a basketball fan, or if you’re just a fan of seeing how people struggle and build and get to where they’re going, then this will turn you on. If there was a show about how you can become a filmmaker by yourself, or a show how you become a journalist by yourself, and someone had a camera around these people, you’ll be like, “Man, I want to see how they did what they did.” That’s exactly what this show is. Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green are these explosive, dynamic, young kids that’s trying to make it to the NBA, and it highlights what they’re going through. It’s not just them slam dunking the ball, it’s about family, what car to get, and the drama of can you be one of 500 out of a million to make it to the NBA.
