For each day in the month of February, the Committee will be highlighting African-American members, both past and present, and their accomplishments. We look forward to showing the contributions and influences African-Americans have had on the industry.
Name: Gershon Hinkson
What’s your job? Picture Editor
List the credits you’re most proud of. As often as I’ve tried to answer that question, I can’t. Each credit has fulfilled me on one level or another and I believe that this is the thing that I’m most proud of.
What are you working on right now? I am working with director Doug Liman and a very talented post-production team on what is shaping up to be the ground breaking sci-fi feature “Chaos Walking.”
Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? My grandmother is my biggest influence and mentor. She was the embodiment of selflessness. It is from her example that I get my relentless work ethic, my loyalty and my commitment to what I do.
What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? I am re-reading “A Brief History of Seven Killings” by Marlon James (it’s that good), “The Creature From Jekyl Island” by G. Edward Griffin, “Easy Rider, Raging Bulls” by Peter Biskind, “Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living” and “Baracoon” by Zora Neale Hurston. I am watching “Chef’s Table,” “Abstract: The Art of Design,” “Outsider,” “The Breakfast Club podcast,” “God Father of Harlem,” and “Grand Designs.” I’m excited about “Chaos Walking,” “McMillions,” “No Time To Die,” “Bad Boys For Life,” “Morbius,” “In The Heights,” “Westside Story,” “Infinite,” “Tenet” and “Soul.”
What would be your superhero name? Tony Stark and Luke Cage made this one easy for me — I’d use my real name.
What are your Black History Month memories, and what cultural or historical impacts have they had on your life? Visiting the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 1990, during Black History Month, is a great memory for me. Located at 135th Street and Malcolm X Blvd in Harlem, NY, the archives, the manuscripts the rare books, the art, the history and the scholarship on Black culture that the center curates opened a world to me that I am so fortunate to have found. To identify myself within the context of an entire Diaspora – and not just accomplished celebrities, family or neighbors – granted me such a remarkable view of the scale in which people, that look like me, have contributed to civilization. That experience instilled a confidence in me that I continue to carry in every aspect of my life.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Be kind to others.
If you could time travel, when would you go and why? I’d go back in time to the moment right before it was decided that people should be persecuted for their differences and shut that whole mess down. Our differences allow us access to so many experiences and perspectives that grant us a higher understanding of the world that we must all live in together.
What’s a little known fact about you? What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? A little known fact about me is that I created a short film festival. I created it as part of an effort to bolster economic development in the City of Easton, where I live. Short films from notable industry talents such as Academy Award Winner Roger Ross Williams, Danny DeVito and Matthew Modine have screened their shorts at the festival. Directors such as Doug Liman, Garry Ross and Morgan Spurlock have led filmmaking seminars at the festival. For more info, you can visit moviesatthemill.com. I guess one of my hidden talents is the ability to identify and cultivate a synergy between community, artists, local government and private industry.
What would be your dream project to work on? My dream project would be one that encouraged people to be their best selves, advanced the art form and did at least half of our post-production in the Caribbean.
