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Meet Michael Rhone

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Rhone.

Michael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, I’ve always been creative. I went to a performing arts Elementary School in Southeast San Diego that focused on drama and dance (shout out VP), where I had the opportunity to really explore my creativity. Having small roles in school plays and being in the dance performances was a really good outlet for me as a kid.

The older I got, the more I needed to express my creativity. After leaving the performing arts school, my only creative outlet for a long time was writing poetry. Eventually, the poetry turned into music which I eventually began recording and really fell in love with. My senior year of high school, I took a video production class. The teacher of my class (shout out to Mr. Coppo) actually graduated from NYU and really knew his stuff.

That year in his class I got to learn a lot about both basic small film making and creative storytelling, and I loved it! So much so that my parents bought me a video camera and I’d make videos at home that were mostly prank videos and reels of my friends, brothers and I doing basketball tricks and dunking on lowered hoops. I’m not sure what happened to that camera, if it got broken or if it simply got lost but it disappeared and I never really saw it again after I graduated from high school. However, I was still writing and recording music and that was enough of a creative outlet for me, but after a while, even that stopped.

I really had no creative outlet for a while other than the poetry writing that I’d do from time to time. Eventually, that writing turned from poetry to short stories and I started to feel the need to turn those stories into films… so I bought a camera. But I didn’t feel like I was good enough to yet to start filming my own projects so I started looking for places to practice. My love for basketball led me to the high school basketball gyms. It was really challenging at first but I started to get the hang of it and began having a lot of fun with it. During this current season when LeBron James son played a game here in San Diego I was able to get a nice shot of him that LeBron James himself actually posted on his page. In 2017 I heard about this new basketball organization here in town, the San Diego Kings.

I came to a few games and in the summer before their 2nd season, I met the co-owner Abe Muheize and spoke to him about coming out to film and take pictures at their games. That was back in 2018 and since then I’ve been blessed to become apart of their media team, travel and go on road trips and provide content while at local community events. While doing that, I was introduced to the opportunity of working at KUSI on their very popular football program ‘Prep Pigskin Report’, covering high school football games, filming interviews and putting together highlight packages to be aired on Friday nights after the games.

I really learned a lot while doing that and plan on returning next season. Since picking up the camera, I’ve also had the opportunity to work at different events around the city, weddings, real estate, and private parties and events. I’ve also worked on and have done my own creative projects that you can find on my Instagram @Michael.flix. Last year I started a podcast with my older brother called The FamilyRoom Podcast that I am having a lot of fun doing. Other than being able to have my own little platform to freely express myself, it gives me the opportunity to really produce.

While creating the podcast content, actively engaging in conversation with my brother, I’m controlling the audio levels and making sure the sound is good, while also monitoring the cameras and making sure the video is good. Then once we wrap for the day, I get to edit everything, it can be tedious at times, but creating my own little show and finding ways to make it better and up the quality is always fun!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Yes, its been a relatively smooth road. Things happen that can be discouraging. Some times work is slow, sometimes you get your hopes up about a job or an opportunity and it falls through and it gets you down, but it comes with the game. You take it for what it is and you keep moving forward.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m a photographer, content creator and podcaster. I take photos, shoot film, and create things. I’d have to say I’m most proud of my podcast at this point. We’ve been able to find ways to make it better over time and its a lot of fun. The audio is everywhere you can find podcasts and the video can be found on YouTube.

I think what sets me apart is that my interest are wide so it widens my creativity. I don’t want to just take pictures and capture video, I want to tell stories, through my lens and from my prospective and share my POV.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success by happiness. If you are doing what you love and you have feeling of fulfillment, I’d say you are successful.

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