HERE’S a sneak peek into the moves of an ambitious, up-and-coming videographer, who, in his own words, “intends to change the way music videos are made in Guyana.” An ambitious statement, but 25-year-old local videographer and music video director Kenatta Chester has, in the last two-and-a- half years proven that he is a force to reckon with in the music industry. Known by most as ‘Director Kenny’, Kenatta has so far placed his signature on well-known local videos such as the Golden Children video (A collaborative effort with videographer/photographer, Jay Carter), Jumo Primo’s ‘157’, and ‘Stamina’ videos, which latter has gained in popularity regionally, and Jackie Jaxx’s ‘Mashannal’ video, as well as her soon-to-be-released and highly anticipated ‘Guyana’ video.
Kennata says that since he started working on music videos, he’s been met with much positive response with regards to the quality of his work.
“People say that the quality is better, and that we are getting on a regionally acceptable level with our music videos,” he told The Buzz.
The young director said that the vision for his music videos usually comes with close collaboration with the artists themselves, as well as detailed research into techniques and other methods being used both regionally and internationally.
Added to state-of-the-art equipment used during production, the results show music videos that indeed mirror the quality of regional work.
“This is a passion for me; it is certainly a dream. I have worked with a lot of popular local artists, but I don’t tell myself that I have reached the top. I would say I’m progressing,” Kenatta said, adding that his greatest achievement would be to work with Adele, as he believes that the concepts and style of her videos match his work.
He’s currently working on a few exciting projects, including another music video for Jomo, called ‘Guyanese Summer’.
Without giving away too much, he stated that the video is expected to gain as much regional recognition as ‘Stamina’ did.