My dad, Big Richie, has no photographs of himself as a child. His first photo is from when he’s 17 years old. No baby photos. Nothing. The combination of growing up with 12 siblings and a house fire when he was 12 years old meant few pieces of tangible memorabilia.
That was not the case when he raised his children. Having kids in the 90s, my dad was fascinated with digital video cameras. His joy in capturing mundane daily events manifested in me seeing beauty in the simple moments. He encouraged my friends and me to use the camera to make movies — we were theater kids going to an artsy public school. We would design the set, create a story, and perform our movie in our basement. We didn’t have a computer, so the film was all-in-one cut — quite avant-garde for 1999.
Creating a visible finished product out of what started as an idea caused immense joy, laughter and pride. I knew I found a bit of magic, and it has yet to loosen its hold on me.
There were never enough accessories when I was in Middle School.
My dad and I were at a family dinner when I was 11 years old.
He supported me through all my phases, and still does — even if he doesn’t quite understand.
I lead thoughtful brands who want to elevate themselves to become more memorable, understandable, and personable.
The brand philosophy: Deveney Williams LLC
What I’m about:
-
Visual Storyteller
With a straightforward story ready to be executed, I use multimedia tools to engage viewers. I drive emotions to maintain engagement, entertain, educate and motive the audience into action. Making an impact through the work is why I bother getting up every day to do this. The written word is timeless, but combining the power of photography, videography, animation and design makes the story we create untouchable.
-
Multimedia Producer
This is where my type-A personality takes over and goes into cruise control to ensure everything is running smoothly. I plan, research, produce, schedule, manage, scout, edit, write, organize, recruit — everything and anything needed to make the project succeed. As a producer, I make sure your life is effortless as I handle all the details. No sweat. Clean spreadsheets and coordinated lists make me sleep easy at night.
-
Art Director
From the first "hello!" to the "it's a wrap!" I work with my clients to understand and develop their creative endeavors into strategic concepts. Every part of the project comes down to who the audience is, why we're speaking to them, and the best way to get their attention. From there, we know what market to hit to get our results. Keeping the standards high— quality over quantity, my friend— I look to approach every project with a fresh perspective to create the attention-grabbing content needed for an overstimulating world.
-
Idea Generator
Sometimes you know what you want, and sometimes you can't quite express how to get to your end goal. No sweat, Dev's imagination is here. We will collaborate in an ideation session to find the best way to tell your story. It's an exhilarating creative challenge for me to find multiple ways to express the same concept through different stories and finally find that golden nugget. I love discovering new innovative ways of doing things to make exceptional experiences for my clients.
-
Resiliently Restorative
Growing up in a family of six kids with my dad jumping from his plumber in the day and paper-route at night, and then into bootstrapping his first business, I am familiar with making something work out of nothing. Figuring out what is wrong and problem-solving with what is around are my primal roots. As a creative, I constantly acquire new knowledge to heighten my skillset and bring innovative solutions to my clients.
-
Hype Woman
When you come into my studio, or we're connecting through the metaverse, I make sure that everyone feels comfortable, worthy and empowered to express themselves. Cozy, safe, and fun are always the vibes I bring into my job every day. Because if we're not enjoying ourselves creating incredible work, what are we even doing?
The official bio.
I have a B.A. in Visual Communications from the University of South Carolina and an M.A. in Journalism from Georgetown, making my creative powers in understanding, telling, and visualizing the nuances of storytelling.
I prioritize working with brands that want to disrupt the beauty standard, empower people to move, and educate our communities locally and nationally. I’ve ran my business Deveney Williams LLC officially for three years and running.
Currently based in Boston and will travel nationally and internationally for my clients. Industry experience: Media, Health, FinTech, Non-Profit. Open to more ;)
