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

Hi Doryan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wanted to work on content that I was interested in, as well as my own content. Having my own production company allows me to have more of that flexibility to control the content that I work on.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a cinematographer & editor. I am part owner of MADHouse productions with my partner Mackleen Desravines. We are very diverse in the content that we create. We’ve done everything from, feature films, short films, corporate & product commercials, talk shows & web series. That diversity sets us apart from other production companies in my opinion. I’m really excited about what we have in store coming up this year. We have a lot of opportunities on the horizon. The content that myself & Mackleen are creating is crazy. We’re in a great creative space right now. It has been a long process for me to get to this point & I still have a long way to go. I graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta in December 2011. Since then I have worked my way up starting as a PA for commercials, reality shows, & web series. I just wanted experience so I was doing a lot of free work & low paid work, which I expected would be the case coming out of college. Eventually I became a DP & editor for a couple of internet networks, I also worked as an assistant editor for another company. I just kept grinding and taking on opportunities as they came. One of the main challenges with that was money. There have been times where I’m working & building my resume but I’m not making any money. I still have bills & I need to support myself. I still believed in myself but I think there comes a time in most artists career where you feel like other people don’t believe in you. Why won’t these people give me a shot? Then you start feeling like, well maybe I’m not as good as I think. Some self doubt starts to creep in. I also dealt with trusting in people that I probably shouldn’t have trusted in & got taking advantage of. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that, when you have a talent, there will always be people that will try to use you for your talent without having your best interest at heart. All of this though is part of the learning process, & what has helped my get to where I am today. On top of owning my own business, I work for Turner Broadcasting as a highlights editor for NBA TV. 5 years ago I thought it was impossible to get hired at Turner. Everything I’ve gone through in this industry, the ups & downs, have gotten me to this point.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Atlanta so there is always something to do here. One of my favorite places in the city is Little 5 points. It’s like this indy, artsy area in Atlanta with great food, bars, music stores etc. Everybody is really friendly around there too. It’s something there for just about everybody. Also Atlantic station is another place I take a friend from out of town too. Like little 5 points, there is great food there, and plenty of places to shop & clubs there as well. The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
They’re a lot of people that deserve credit for my story, from college professors, colleagues & friends. My family deserves the most credit. I don’t know where I’d be without the support of my mom. It hasn’t always been easy because I’ve relied on her a lot throughout the process of trying to figure things out with my career & she could have very well have been non supportive & told me to just focus on getting a full time job & put my dreams to the side for now. She never did that. I’ve always felt she always believed in me & that’s been one of my main driving forces. Also my better half, Mackleen Desravines. She always pushes me, and is always in my corner. She’s the main one that’s opened up my business mind, and has encouraged me to think bigger.

Website: https://www.madfilmhouse.com
Instagram: @madfilmhouse
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doryan-sparkman-1684ab45/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doryan.sparkman.5
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-a6aefpLY4L7LAQVyJw7aA
Other: https://www.dsparkmanshots.com

Image Credits
Aaron Crawford Silas Poe

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