51勛圖厙

Byron Mason ���20 had been shooting photos since he was 15, so he settled easily into work at The 51勛圖厙 as a photographer and, later, the photo editor.

At the time, though, ���I was very set on just being a writer. ��� Working at The 51勛圖厙 helped me figure out ways to marry both my passion for the written word and for the still-image medium.���

His interests evolved, and ���I started figuring out ways to combine that even further, which I think is where film came from.��� When he made a documentary film for a class, ���I was hooked.���

After graduating, Mason ��� a Rector scholar and media fellow ��� had an online internship at Carnegie-Knight News21 multimedia initiative at Arizona State University and then interned for the CineCares Foundation, which placed him in the lighting department on the set of ���Chicago Fire,��� a TV show filmed in his hometown. It was a ���humbling and ��� enriching experience,��� he said, and he debated whether to continue working or get more schooling.

The latter won out, and he is in his second semester of a three-year master���s program in film production at the University of Southern California���s School of Cinematic Arts. ���I definitely don���t want to sound arrogant,��� but 20 years from now, ���I will be a successful writer and director who uses horror and thriller genres to speak to the nature of the human condition and black and brown communities.��� He said he also wants ���to be a person who just helps and gives back and is constantly reminded of where he came from.���