Meet Abwon

Today the Artistry has the privilege of interviewing filmmaker and media personality Abwon. The Irvington, NJ native started out as a recording artist before transitioning to media and production as well as launching his own company “Moonlight Media LLC”. With different projects such as short films, music videos and reality TV, Abwon has been keeping himself busy. A star on the rise, proving that he is definitely someone we should keep an eye on.

Pyro Da Arsonist: When did your music career start and what led you to that path?

Abwon: Music was always a passion of mine, when I was growing up I’ve always wanted to be involved in the creation process no matter what role I was in.

Pyro: When did you decide to expand into media and production and how did launching your own media company come about?

Abwon: I’ve always done video production, but at first it was just for fun, I didn’t care about lighting or sound or anything like that. I just wanted to be on camera and express myself. So I wasn’t creating any new music at the time and I decided to start my Youtube channel. A couple of my film reviews went viral and that’s when I started really taking media production seriously. After a few months, I started my interview series ‘Face2Face’ and my now business partner Jen and I had a conversation one night like, let’s just start this company, we’re already heading in that direction. I come from a family of successful business owners, so it was inevitable for me. A few weeks later Moonlight Media LLC was born, and the rest Is history.

Pyro: You won an award for your short film “Errands”. What was your reaction when you first found out you were up for the award and how was your short film brought to their attention?

Abwon: So when we finished production on Errands I told everyone we weren’t going to show anyone this movie, we were only going to submit it to film festivals and then have a one time premiere and that was it. I know festivals are extremely difficult to get into, I wasn’t even thinking about winning honestly. I told myself if I made it to at least one festival then that’s a W. Right now, Errands already has 5 nominations with 1 win which is crazy to me in a good way. Everything’s a bit surreal, but I’ve never doubted my ability. At the same time accolades are nice so I’m not complaining. The trophy will be here in a few weeks, you know it’s real at that point.

Pyro: Besides the award you also had one of your videos garner 3.5 Million Views. Which one do you feel is the bigger accomplishment?

Abwon: Definitely Errands. When I first started my Top5 series those videos were going viral left and right, but I didn’t put much effort into them, and I didn’t care about the production value they were just for entertainment purposes. Errands I wrote, directed, and produced. It took maybe 2 months for preparation, and it’s based on something I went through, so I was way more hands on with it. People lick ice cream out of the freezer in supermarkets and get millions of views, but they can’tsay they’ve won an award for a film they’ve made. It just hits different when you know it’s something people respect and hold to higher standards.

Pyro: Tell us about your show “The Cinematics” and how did it get picked up by the Hall Mills Network on Roku?

Abwon: My business partner Jen and I started that as a Youtube show. We discuss news in the film industry, upcoming films, trailer reviews, and we have our own respective segments as well. HallMillsNetwork was looking for new content for their channel, so I sent them one of the episodes we did to Grimm, one of the owners of the Network. He immediately called me excited about it and after the paperwork was handled, the Cinematics went to the next level. Shout out to Big Vegg too, he’s the producer. We also accept music to curate our episodes, so any artists or producers looking for more exposure can contact our musical director at ElijahMajestic@gmail.com. All genres are welcomed.

Pyro: You signed a co-production deal for an upcoming TV Show “Only At Jay’s” starring Fetty Wap. How did that come about?

Abwon: My Youtube started gaining some traction and someone hit me up asking if I was interested in producing a reality show. I didn’tknow much about the family that wanted to do it, I was just told they have celebrity clientele and they’ve been in Paterson for years and do a lot of good for the community. We setup a meeting and that’s when I found out Fetty’s involvement with them. I wouldn’t say Fetty’s the star he’s just a featured guest. I don’t want to take away from the importance of the family, anyone who lives in Paterson or frequently visits knows who they are.

Pyro: What is one of the most memorable interviews you have conducted?

Abwon: Definitely Ron Savage, the IG Comedian. He was on his way to stardom and I’m not saying that just because I interviewed him. Everyone I interview, I stay in contact with them and keep up to date with everything they’re doing and vice versa. He DMed me one day saying he was ready to post the interview and he gave me the date he wanted it to drop. The day the interview dropped he passed away. RIP to him.

Pyro: What advice would you give to independent artists or any other person starting their brand or business on how to use media to their advantage?

Abwon: Know your audience, don’t clout chase, and stop making excuses.

Pyro: Are there any other projects that you’re working on that you can share with us?

Abwon: I’m working on a grocery list of projects so I’ll try and narrow them down. My second film ‘Feed’ will be releasing this summer, I Assistant Directed a film titled ‘Moonless Nights’ starring Justin Hurtt-Dunkley from Mare of Easttown on HBO that will be released soon, I’m Executive Producing a musical project with Trini The Body that’s in the works, and my 3^rd film ‘Daily Bread’ will be starting pre-production in the fall. At the very least you can still tap into my Youtube channel and check out my individual content.

Thank you for sitting down with us. We appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to let us and our readers know more about you.

You can follow his work

Only At Jay’s TV Show Trailer: