SB INFLUENCERS Archives - SB Magazine

SPOT LIGHT: THREE-DIMENSIONAL TALENT JOHNNY BOSTON

SB Magazine — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 21:36:58 +0000

The first movie I ever saw was The Lion King. I will never forget it. I was … well, I can’t remember how old I was, but what I DO remember was being in awe of everything. For a long time after I saw The Lion King, I thought every movie was animated. I just thought someone drew Tom Hanks.

So, I have an imagination. My bad.

Of course, not all movies are animated. But some of the best ones are. Johnny Boston’s favorite movies are.

“Ever since I was ten and saw the first How to Train Your Dragon movie, I knew I wanted to work in animation,” he says.

Johnny was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but has called Shreveport home since he was 11. After graduating from Caddo Magnet High School, he went to Louisiana Tech to become a dentist like his Uncle Chris. Before long, Johnny realized he was passionate about something else. Or maybe his family realized it before he did.

“My family convinced me not to pursue dentistry,” Johnny says, “because they knew I didn’t really care about it.”

Instead, Johnny pursued a degree from The Digital Media Institute (DMI) here in Shreveport.

“He was always a real creative child growing up,” Johnny’s grandmother Nancy Cosse says. “In the beginning, we all saw his creativity and knew this would be the perfect thing for him.”

Johnny says the accelerated year spent at DMI really shaped his foundation. He cut his teeth (dentistry?) in the 24-hour computer lab they had at the time: sometimes, he was in there from 8 a.m. until 3 a.m.

“Canes and energy drinks got me through,” he says.

The long hours paid off. After DMI, Johnny was accepted into the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Games, and Animation in Los Angeles. Gnomon is one of Forbes’ America’s Top Colleges for 2023 and is touted as the “MIT of visual effects” by Fast Company Magazine.

Johnny just graduated in September with a Bachelor of Fine Arts: 3D Generalist degree. And he loves California.

“The thing about Los Angeles is that’s where all the artists are,” he says. “So much of our culture is shaped out of what comes out of California.”

Johnny studied all aspects of 3D, but sculpting and texturing were his focus.

“I want to move towards making fantastical creatures for movies and games,” says the Gnomon grad. “My goal is to do art and get paid to do it and let that be my life.”

Since graduating, Johnny has been sending out his work to prospective employers. So far, he has found freelance work making music videos for clubs in Los Angeles. Eventually, he wants to collaborate with his old DMI friends or possibly do an animated film for the Film Prize here in Shreveport. He would also love to work for DreamWorks one day.

Johnny is grateful to have so much support from his family.

“They are always the first to see my work,” he says.

But it’s not all work for Johnny. In his downtime, he loves making music with his electric ukulele and hiking with his friends.

“All of my friends are super into music and hiking,” he says. “They have vibrant lives. They let me be a part of this,” he says.

That humility is one of the many things that makes Johnny likable. I look forward to seeing what he creates next.

Especially if it’s in 3D.

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SB Influencer: Zhailon Levingston

SB Magazine — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 23:52:38 +0000

The Neon Lights are Bright

By Ursula Brantley

A child rarely knows for certain what they want to be when they grow up. It usually changes from day to day. Since his South Highlands days, Shreveport native and Broadway director Zhailon Levingston knew what he wanted out of life. He earnestly pursued his passion until those dreams became a reality. Levingston was exposed to the arts early in life and fell in love with theatre. His mother made sure he regularly experienced The Strand, he was active in school productions, and he was part of community theatre all over the SBC. Community theatres like Mahogany Ensemble Theatre, Peter Pan Players, Extensions of Excellence, The Shreveport Little Theatre, and Stage Center all helped nurture his creative spirit. “Being in community theatre, being in Caddo Parish Public Schools. I was lucky to go to schools that all had arts programs. They were in many ways the only reason I knew what many things were creatively”, says Levingston. He always loved the arts, but he never knew you could make a career from the arts.

His 5th-grade year was a turning point in his young life. “That year, I learned what a dot.com was. I googled Broadway.com, and this whole world opened to me. From 5th grade on, I knew that’s where I wanted to work”. After graduating from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, he obtained his equity card much sooner than anticipated. Levingston stepped out on faith and moved to New York with three suitcases and his last professional check. Levingston’s faith has been the foundation upon which his career has been built. Says Levingston, “I didn’t have a traditional path. I didn’t go through a pipeline that was set up for me to be a director, so all I had was my faith. Faith, for me, is the thing that gets you from the couch to the door. It doesn’t necessarily promise what’s going to be on the other side of the door, but it compels you to move closer to it. For many years in my career and still now, I’m moved by what compels me. I trust that on the other side of that, God is taking me to something that is for me”.

When he first arrived in New York, he had no job and slept on a broken couch in the middle of a blizzard. Eventually, he found a job selling Broadway tickets on the street. Despite struggling and hustling, he was grateful to be able to pursue his dreams. It wasn’t long before doors began to open, and he knew that directing was his calling. In his words, to be someone who makes spaces happen and not just occupies the spaces themselves. His campaign, Words on White, began as a way to contribute to the conversation of race in America after the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. This guerilla-style theatre that he did in the streets, in the parks, outside of churches, and at schools became his backdoor into the industry. Words on White provided space for all types of individuals to have uncomfortable conversations and allowed him to meet other directors, actors, and writers whom Levingston held in high regard.

Levingston’s extensive portfolio is incredibly impressive. He made his directorial debut on Broadway in 2021 as the resident director of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. That same year, he made history as the youngest Black director on Broadway as the director of Chicken and Biscuits. His other credits include The Exonerated at Columbia Law School, Mother of Pearl at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and Hadestown in South Korea. Levingston is also a board member and co-creator of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition at Columbia and has worked with Idina Menzel’s A Broader Way Foundation. The first weekend in January 2023, he helped bring The Color Purple to life at Shreveport’s Marjorie Lyons Playhouse. For him, creating something for the community that molded him was a different type of gratitude and felt more personal than his Broadway debut. Levingston will be back in Shreveport in December to act in the production Top Dog, Underdog with Shreveport actor Michael Thomas. The production will open the first weekend of 2024 at the Marjorie Lyons Playhouse. For all the aspiring creatives, Zahilon’s advises, “It will always be hard. You’re always going to be learning. It’s always going to feel overwhelming, but if you’re supposed to do this, then this is what you have to do”.

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SB INFLUENCERS: LANDAN MATRIANO-LIM

SB Magazine — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 15:28:37 +0000

By Seva May

What do you do when you’ve spent most of your life in a gymnastics program competing with a medal-winning team and suddenly it ends? Just like that, during your senior year of high school, you’re packing your bags for the state competition and a phone call brings the trip to a screeching halt. COVID-19 brought an end to so many hopes and dreams. But it didn’t stop Landan Matriano-Lim from pursuing another passion that had captured his imagination since he was 11—driving fast cars. Extremely fast cars.

It all began for Landon when his father, Allan Matriano-Lim bought a sports car. In his quest to find a place to drive it without getting a speeding fine, he discovered that a track in New Orleans was opened for such “hobbies.” Next to that track was a Kart track where Landon spent much of his time racing karts. Faster than your ordinary go-carts, Kart racing gave Landon a taste of what driving a real race car would be like, and he loved it. His competitive spirit would be satisfied, he could make money, and racing could take him all over the globe.

Landon’s first real race car was a yellow Lotus Elise which he would sometimes drive to his high school (Loyola College Prep) when he wasn’t in his Jeep. He took dual enrollment classes through LSUS while in high school which allowed him to finish college in three years with a double major in management and marketing. Because he was 21 when he began this journey, (apparently on the old side for a beginner) he was determined to catch up with the other, younger racers he was competing with.

Landon succeeded by turning some heads in club racing and making some good impressions at the racing camps. Formula Racing takes commitment, physical fitness, a sharp mind, and a strong foundation of driving skills. Drivers may take years of climbing the racing ladder to go from Formula 4 to Formula 1 with two levels in between. Landon had to first test with a racing team coached by former racing professionals. He was assessed on his driving technique, his speed, and his level of confidence. The coaches didn’t just rely on what they could see. The cars are equipped with data systems that measure the G-force, the turn speeds, and even how many times the brakes are used. Landon passed the tests and was signed by Jensen Global Advisors for the 2023 racing season competing in the Formula 4 United States Championship. JBA has a long history of developing young race car drivers. Team principal Eric Jensen said of Landan, “He immediately impressed setting competitive lap times on day one. Given his record of winning in the NASA prototype cars, we expect that Landan will immediately be able to challenge for points and top-five finishes.”

Officials won’t just let you go willy-nilly around the track. After all, this is a very dangerous sport. Drivers must qualify to go forward. A typical Formula 4 weekend involves test and qualifying sessions and three 30-minute races. With about four hours of track time at each event, Landan is working his way up that ladder. He’s finishing 15th through 19th in most of his races in a field of 30 racers.

Landan is working with a sport he absolutely loves. “My ultimate goal is to be a paid driver, to have a team behind me that works on the car and puts their trust in me as the driver to put the entire team on the podium.” Judging by his work ethic so far, and how great he looks in his driving gear, we believe Landan will make it to the finish line with no problem.

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