Kyle McKenzie

Production Executive

As a teenager…

I grew up in rural North Wales, raised by a single mother. I had very few opportunities to take part in creative activities and money was always a struggle. There were some sports teams, which I enjoyed, but ever since I was little, my real passion had been to make movies. The only places where I could learn how to do this were over an hour away and too expensive for my family to afford. I ended up finding ways to create my own fun, making home-made videos with my friends, using an old camera. I also spent a lot of time “loitering” on the beach and around my home town.

I hadn’t quite found myself yet. I was quite good at a lot of school subjects, but was too confident for my own good and ended up not putting in the effort I should have into my school work. A couple of bad grades in my GCSEs gave me a bit of a wake-up call, motivating me to focus more in my A-Levels.

 

After school…

I knew I wanted to head straight to university! I had always planned to study film at university, which is exactly what I did. It was a big difference from my school. I was no longer a big fish in a small pond, I was a small fish in a big pond. There were people surrounding me every day who were smarter than me, worked harder than me, were more sociable than me and were from different walks of life. This was a shock at first, however, I soon learned that as long as I was doing the best that I could do- other people’s stories couldn’t directly effect on mine.

 

Now I’m…

more comfortable with who I am as a person. My journey through high school and university has led to me becoming the person that I want to be. I am so proud to have been involved with E2M since 2019. It is an organisation with such a pure cause. I regularly wonder about what fantastic things E2M would have done for me if it was around when I was a teenager. I don’t think it would have taken me going off to university to learn about who I am. And now, being able to witness first-hand the impact E2M is having on young people gaining confidence in who they are, I feel an incredible sense of pride that I can be a part of that.

5 bits of advice to my teenage self…

  • It's so easy to be kind to others and it can make all the difference to someone you're with
  • The power of positivity is a wonderful thing! Approach tasks with a smile and a can-do attitude, and who knows? You might just enjoy yourself
  • There might always be someone you feel is "better" than you… that’s okay! Use them as motivation to improve! But don’t get yourself down by comparing yourself to others. Be the best person you can be!
  • Set goals and let them motivate you. If you aim high, you will elevate your work to try to meet that standard
  • Have fun! What's the sense in doing anything if you don't enjoy it?

Are you interested in joining the E2M team?

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