CHICAGO (WLS) — Anthony Williams is breaking barriers with his filmmaking.
“Fear immobilizes people, but I refuse to be bound by it,” Williams expressed. “While I acknowledge its presence, I push past fear and refuse to be held back by it.”
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Originally hailing from Arkansas, Williams currently resides in Chicago. He relocated to Los Angeles in pursuit of an acting career but found himself discontented with Hollywood’s lack of diverse and original storytelling.
“I was like, ‘there’s nothing out here that represents who I am as a Black person, or as a queer person, or as anything,'” Williams said.
In 2009, he moved to North Carolina, where he started his production company, Second Glance Productions.
“I took a leap of faith, and really kind of believed in myself, and said, ‘I’m just going to do what I know,'” he said.
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Throughout his journey, Williams has produced several short films, including “Absolutely Positive,” which explores the lives of four individuals anxiously awaiting their HIV test outcomes. This film garnered attention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the White House, leading to Williams receiving an invitation to the 2013 White House National HIV/AIDS Strategy Convention.
“To find myself in that room, with those individuals, who made those decisions for our country was just astounding,” Williams said. “To this day, I’m like, ‘how did I end up in that room?’ But, I’m grateful that I did because it really kind of sent my career off into where I am today.”
Williams also produced a feature film, “Thicker Than Blood”, that explores the dynamics of a son coming home after a long separation from his family. The film, which opened in 2017, continues to win awards, including six nominations and two wins for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress at this year’s World Music and Independent Film Festival.
Now, however, Williams is turning his focus from scripted storytelling to documentary film. His new series, “It’s Not You, It’s Me”, follows three single LGBTQ+ men of color as they reenter the dating world after dealing with various traumas in their personal lives. As they go on dates, they also attend solo and group therapy sessions with Prem Pahwa, a licensed psychotherapist, sex therapist and professor.
“When I saw the call for the docuseries and I was reading through what they were looking for, I was like, ‘ah, they’re describing me.’ And so it’s actually work that I’ve been doing for 25 years,” Pahwa said.
Pahwa discussed a myriad of issues with the men involved in the docuseries, including faith, age, HIV status, substance abuse and more.
“I feel as if this documentary serves as an example to the queer community that you don’t have to ascribe to what people say that you are,” Williams said. “You don’t have to hide under a rock because people are trying to push you under there.”
One element of Williams’ filmmaking that stands out is his commitment to showcasing diverse voices.
“There’s too much representation of white people everywhere. Everywhere we go, we see white people. Can we get a break?” Williams joked. “Not in a bad sense, but you know, there are different people out here. It’s important to me that there was intersectionality in this documentary because no one walking the face of the Earth is one thing.”
Williams sees his filmmaking as a form of activism because it allows him to live authentically and share his story with the world.
“I feel it’s very important in real life, but also in, you know, the stories that we’re doing,” he said.
Williams encourages folks of all backgrounds to watch his docuseries, which recently received a grant from Open Television, the Emmy-nominated streaming platform where the series will debut later this year.
“This show has a queer slant, but it is not just for the queer community,” Williams said. “If you take out the queer slant, you really realize that this show is a show about relationships, and it’s just a show about communication, and it’s a show about human connection.”
Williams hopes his stories empower others to find their voice, however that may look for them.
“We can navigate topics in special and unique ways to get people talking, to get conversations started,” he said. “And to get people out of this space of fear, to be able to move past it.”
Visit www.instagram.com/secondglancepro for updates on “It’s Not You, It’s Me” and Williams’ other projects.
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