Gregory “ILL” Williams (born 1987; Indianapolis, Indiana), is an American music video and film director of African American descent. ILL first displayed his artistry by recording and producing his own music. reverbnation/illav ILL was born and raised on the Westside of Indianapolis, Indiana in a area of the city know as “Hardpart” to a single parent household, along with 4 siblings(2 sisters and 2 brothers). “My mother did the best she could on her own, and it was not easy, there were a lot of cold and hungry nights.” ILL began writing and performing songs at the age of 8 as a way to escape the realities of poverty, he also began leaning towards the streets for moral and financial support, but he was unaware of the many challenges that would present themselves. ILLs family moved around a lot, mostly from one “hood” to the next, and attended many schools during his childhood years. ILL was a very bright student and often excelled and stood out when he took test and if assigned a class project, but was lured in by the fast money he was missing while at school. In 2003, ILL attended Lawrence Central High School as a freshman for 6 months before he decided to drop out. “Dropping out of high school was one of, if not the worst decisions I made in my life.” Pursuing a career as a rapper, ILL was hit with the harsh reality that not every rapper is really as successful as they lead you on to believe, but that had no impact on his ambition. ILL continued to pursue a career in music, and set out to learn as much as possible about the industry. He learned how to record, mix, produce, and edit his own music. In 2008, during a studio session, ILL noticed there was a video editing session going on and he immediately began taking interest in it. ILL began interning for a local video production company where he was presented with the opportunity to film his first video for a local rap group “Trillogy” in the Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. “From the first time I had a camera in my hand, doors began to open up for me. I knew a ton of local artist that needed visuals to go along with their music, I linked up with an artist by the name of Lil Scooty (MRC), they had the strongest independent movement in the city at the time, with no visuals. We went half on a Canon Vixia Hv40 and the rest was history.” Between 2009 and 2011, ILL shot directed and edited over 75 independent music videos. In 2011, ILL enrolled in school at the art institute of Atlanta for Video Production and in March of 2012, his independent short film entitled “HOPE” won best drama in a school completion called Campus Movie Fest, and was selected for viewing in Hollywood June 2012. “My main goal right now is to stay focused and to take a positive advantage of every opportunity presented to me.”
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 19:45:19 +0000
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