Geek of the Week: Royce Adkins
What are some geeky activities you partake in?
Playing video games, reading books, and comics… Watching cartoons and Sci-fi movies.
What is your Hogwarts house and why?
Hufflepuff according to a quiz I took, but I’d say Ravenclaw because I always felt it was the dopest name.
Okay, so knowing you’re not the only entertainer* in your family – did you always kind of feel like you’d go into the industry as well?
I knew I wanted to be part of the industry – but from behind the camera. I love movies and how they’re made. I have no interest in performing but [rather] being [a] part of creating and constructing the movie from the ground up.
*Royce’s sister and father are both performers.
Was there a certain time or moment you recall where you realized that filmmaking was what you wanted to do?
I remember my parents taking me to see Toy Story in theatres when I was a kid and afterwards I knew I wanted to be a storyteller of some kind. I didn’t fully decide I wanted to be a filmmaker until college.
So, I know you’ve got a series of your own that you’re working on. Can you give us the name and a little summary or logline of what it’s about?
I have a comic book series I’m working on called, Legend of Althea – about a girl who has an artificial heart transplant and obtains the ability to heal people, but at a cost to herself. It originally started as a short film but [I] decided to turn it into a comic book as it would be less expensive and because of the virus and 2020 acting a fool.
What inspired that idea?
First inspiration was an online game called City of Heroes where you could create your own hero and [I was] doing a bunch of missions with people online…I played a healer and was responsible for keeping my team alive and I just always had a blast playing that role so I thought it would be cool to put a healing character as the main focus rather than a supporting role. Second inspiration was an article I read about someone who had a heart transplant and began having feelings and memories of their donor. I thought it was cool how that type of connection could happen. So I combined those two inspirations and out came Legend of Althea.
Are there any artists, filmmakers, or the like that inspire you?
Yes, so many! Akira Toriyama because Dragonball Z was life-changing for me as a kid. Stan Lee because, duh…it’s Stan Lee. Dwayne McDuffie for his part in creating Milestone Comics. Chris Miller and Phil Lord for all their amazing animated films from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs to Into The Spider-Verse. Ryan Coogler, Robert Zemeckis, Bryan Konietzko, and Michael Dante DiMartino for giving us Avatar: The Last Airbender. I know it’s a random group but those came up off the top of my head.
Do you have a favorite inspirational quote? Who said or wrote it?
“If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou
Who would you absolutely love to work with?
Good questions. I’ve never actually thought about that… I guess directing a movie with Denzel Washington would be pretty cool!
What would you like your impact to be – rather what do you want people to think when they see your work?
I hope when people see my work they see a reflection of the world we live in. My goal is to help spread diversity in all my projects in as many ways as possible. So I aim for all my work to represent how things should be and that we’re all in it together!
Where to find Royce on Social Media:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
YouTube
