Kevin Watley has been an integral part of the Institute for Creative Technologies for fifteen years, contributing to the organization’s evolution through both his creative vision and his facilities expertise. Watley has just wrapped directing and editing the 2025 ICT Interns video, the latest in a series he’s been producing since 2011. In the following Q&A, our head of communications, S.C. Stuart, asks Watley about his experiences at ICT, and the intersection of craft, technology, and storytelling that defines his work.
Q: Fifteen years is a big milestone. Looking back, what first drew you to ICT, and what has kept you here?
A: Working in 3D and visual effects my research into HDR technology brought my attention to ICT and discovering the work of the Vision and Graphics Lab first drew me here
Q: Your work has spanned everything from facilities to filmmaking. How do you see those worlds connecting?
A: For me personally, everything is composition. Putting all the pieces together in such a way to make the whole greater than the sum of their parts. Facilities work encompasses a great variety of seemingly disparate activities: Just like filmmaking. In filmmaking, many aspects come together to empower the audience to focus on the main thing, the story. In facilities management, various tasks and functions handle the necessary operational infrastructure, allowing ICT professionals to focus on what’s most important: the research.
Q: You’ve been part of both day-to-day operations and some of ICT’s biggest events. Which moment or project stands out most strongly for you?
A: The 25th Anniversary gave me a moment to pause and reflect on the areas ICT has helped pioneer—from computer graphics that brought comic book narratives to life, to VR/AR technology and human-computer interaction.
Q: You’ve created films, shorts, and music both at ICT and independently. How has ICT shaped or influenced your creative practice?
A: Working at ICT is like living in science fiction. This is a place where it becomes science fact. I’ve always loved science fiction and technology and just being in the atmosphere keeps one mindful of the capacity we as humans have to learn, to adapt, to create, and thereby shape the future. That is a major theme that I want to impress upon anyone who partakes of anything I create.
Q: The internship videos you’ve produced over the years for ICT have become something of a tradition. What did you want those to capture most about the place?
A: I wanted to capture a bit of the wonder, a bit of the wow… “the possibilities are great”-ness of ICT. By default, we normalize our everyday environment. Interfacing with those who have a fresh perspective can remind us of the special things we overlook just because they are always there.
Q: How do you balance the practical side of facilities work with the artistic side of media production?
A: Facilities work and media production work are both boots on the ground project management. The hard part is tracking multiple moving parts, assessing priorities, and trying to make note of, and tend to, the little things that keep the big things going.
Q: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen at ICT since you started?
A: The biggest thing is just seeing technology that nobody knows about become technology that everyone’s talking about and knowing that a good portion of it passed through ICT.
Q: You once stepped in as acting facilities manager during ICT’s busiest event schedule ever. What did that period teach you?
A: When thrown in the fire, if you remember to breathe, keep your wits about you, keep moving forward swiftly from goal to goal, you probably won’t die. You might get burned. But most likely, it won’t be lethal.
Q: ICT thrives on collaboration. What have you learned from working alongside researchers, technologists, and other creative staff?
A: Teams do it better. Multiple points of view from diverse angles give your vision depth and perspective. This depth and perspective allows you not just to see, but to see with understanding. And seeing with understanding is the basis of innovation.
Q: After 15 years, what continues to inspire you here?
A: Seeing the future manifest before my eyes. And it’s funny because ironically you sometimes don’t realize it until someone is raving about that “new thing” that you saw come together 5 years ago. It’s like being in a group that secretly changed the world.
Q: If you could design the perfect project at ICT blending your media and facilities expertise, what would it look like?
A: Probably a science fiction themed music video short that paints a vision of a future world by incorporating the science we do at ICT in an entertaining way…a delicious sizzle reel to point back to the steak. And, to bring the steak to the table, I’d add a behind the scenes documentary that highlights the actual research and the scientists doing it.
Q: What advice would you give someone just starting out at ICT today?
A: Wow, I’ve asked that question many, many, times in the intern video interviews. And the best answer is: “Talk to people around you. Meet those who work in other labs / areas, and take interest in what they do.” There is a world of expertise here; and you never know who you’ll meet. For a while I felt as if I could have done a much better job of that when I started here. But, then, looking back over these past 15 years, I’ve met astronauts, 3-star generals, GRAMMY winners (Donald Glover), maverick entrepreneurs (Palmer Luckey – who worked at ICT in 2010), and at least two of THE AVENGERS (Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr). Hmm… maybe I’m doing better than I thought.
Select Credits:
Producer/Director: The PEH (Nin-jah-city Productions), “Internal Affairs,” “Summer Internship Experience” (USC/ICT)
Editor: ReZolver (Dramatic Series Pilot), KiddzTalk (Talk Show Pilot, ShotGetter Productions)
Director of Photography: King Green Electronic Press Kit
Camera Operator: SXSW Live Performance Video, Blood Moon: Malik Yusef’s Hollywood Birthday Celebration
Assistant to FX Coordinator/FX Artist: Chevy Malibu/Mary J. Blige Commercial, Sport Authority Campaign, “Just Fine”Mary J. Blige Music Video, “Wish Upon A Dog Star”Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party Music Video (w/VFX Kroma)
FX Artist: Virtual Jerry Jones Installation for Dallas Cowboys AT&T Stadium (w/ One on one)
Realtime 3D Technician: VMtv.com – MTV’s MMOG (w/Extra Large Technology)