8Mill Productions

Micheal Wheaton and I have a powerful, introspective conversation on not only show business, but also about life in general. This man has accomplished amazing things both in show business and in his personal life with self-discovery.

David Kayles and I Speak on Freedom, Entrepreneurship, Doing What You Love, and More! Also, we delve into the falsehood of the black lives matter movement and how it's negatively affecting us and creating further division. Yeah, we went there!  

How to find David: 

Kim Aquino interviews me on his show and I speak on dropping out of college to go all in on my business, the defining moments in my filmmaking career, advice that I would give to other entrepreneurs and creatives, and more! Tune into this jam packed interview to get lots of value and laughs.

R. J. Atkins was born June 10, 1978 as Rickey Atkins, Jr. in Palestine, TX to Rickey Atkins, Sr, and Nancy Glover (née Starr). He was raised in Palestine by his paternal grandparents, the late Ira and Ruth Atkins.  R. J. is the oldest of three brothers, with one brother residing in Houston, TX and the other in Austin, TX. R.J. discovered and developed his love and talent for acting, as a young child having appeared in several church plays as a member of Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, and taking classes such as Theatre Arts, Public Speaking, and Drama, starting in the 7th grade at Palestine Middle School and continuing through his years at Palestine High School. After graduating high school in 1996, R.J. entered the workforce for a year before enlisting in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer in late 1997. He trained and served in various capacities at military installations in Missouri, Texas, California, Louisiana, and Georgia and also served in combat in Baghdad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004-2005. R.J. was honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant in May 2011 after serving in numerous capacities from squad dismount to administrative sergeant between the Regular Army and Army National Guard. After military service, R.J. relocated to San Antonio, TX and tried his hand at various professions such as correctional officer, truck driver, dispatcher, government contract specialist before becoming a special education teacher and securing a teaching position with the Aldine Independent School District in Houston in mid 2016. Two years later, R.J. rekindled his love for acting and hit the ground running, appearing in several productions around the Houston area to include, but not limited to feature films, short films, theatre, and commercials. He continues pursuing his talents and perfecting his craft to this day, taking acting classes, attending workshops and auditions, and networking with other like-minded artists and performers. R.J. is the founder and chairman of Every Effort, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization benefiting at-risk youth, Veterans, and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, the founding president of R.J. Atkins Entertainment & Ventures, LLC, a media conglomerate engaged in various business interests, and the co-founder/executive vice president of 4141 Productions, Inc., a film production company created to bring the freshest and most untouched creative content to the big screen and networks. He is the proud father of three adult daughters, Abrianna, Kianna, and Deianna, and loving grandfather of a grandson and granddaughter, Zavion and Nova. He resides in the suburbs of Houston and is represented by Neal Hamil Agency.

How to find R.J. Atkins: 

Amanda Garcia is a talented filmmaker, actress, and video artist. This is a jam packed episode full of insight, laughs, life lessons, and more. Enjoy! The video version of this podcast is available on my youtube channel "8Mill Productions TV! By the way, this is the debut episode for season 2!

Most people have the perception that being a content creator is all fun and games, but the truth is that it requires a lot of sacrifice, dedication, focus, hard work, and consistency.

Links to articles:

Here are the points that I touched on in this podcast episode:

• Resourcefulness
• Empathy for other creators
• Creating for myself
• Creating what I want to express despite what others think.
• Taking time for self care
• Prioritizing my time

Be honest: are you a bitter and angry creative/person? Don't bullshit yourself from the life you want as a creative.

I can't stress this enough: TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! You always come first!

For business inquiries, email me at 8millproductions@gmail.com

Make sure to subscribe, rate and review, and share this episode with whom you feel needs to hear this message!

WARNING: I get really raw and real in this episode and tell the truth about the dysfunction of the industry. If you can't handle that, I suggest not listening to this episode!

For business inquiries, email me at 8millproductions@gmail.com

 For business inquiries, email me at 8millproductions@gmail.com

 Make sure subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast!

Dave McClain bio: Dave McClain is an award-winning actor, experienced voice-over artist, published writer and rising cinematographer and filmmaker living in the Houston area. Dave has worked all over eastern and central Texas and has acted in several dozen screen projects, as a character actor or as the lead or co-lead, in feature films, award-winning short films, commercials, industrials, TV shows, webisodes and music videos since he began acting professionally in July 2016. Dave also has extensive theater experience. He has acted in plays in several states and Europe, performed at the AACT National Theater Festival and he has written, directed and produced a variety of theatrical and video productions.   

Dave was born and raised in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, as the oldest of six children and he raised two children, William & Savannah. Dave graduated Magna Cum Laude from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and was a high school history teacher in Chesapeake, Virginia for seven years. He then served for 20 years in the U.S. Army as a broadcast journalist and public affairs soldier/supervisor, training and serving throughout the U.S. and in Europe and deploying to Iraq, Jordan and Haiti. In late 2015, Dave “retired” to the suburbs of Houston with his wife, Elizabeth, and devoted himself to a career in the arts. Dave’s other interests include movies, trivia, politics, sports, photography and travel.

For business inquiries, email me at 8millproductions@gmail.com

Houston Film Industry Meetup Group- http://meetu.ps/c/1G1q/vwbcl/f

My social Media:

Dominique is a filmmaker, producer, director, writer, actor, photographer, and business owner. He owns the company "Postman Legacy Productions LLC."

You can contact via his email (Dpostell21@gmail.com) and his social media:

Instagram (Business): Postmanlegacyproductionsllc

Instagram (Personal): Dpostellofficial

Twitter: Therealpostman

Diego Atkinson is an up and coming filmmaker, screenwriter, Director, and novelist. He got into this career path because he always had Ideas and would constantly come up with stories. He got obsessed with movies, especially the works of Paul Thomas Anderson, Quinton Tarantino, Michele Haneke, Denis Villeneuve, Stanley kubric, and David lynch. He wants to get involved and be a part of that world and make an impact. He’s interested in exploring concepts about transcendence, the third eye, and cosmic horror. He’s Currently working on making a concept into a show dealing with these themes, but doesn’t want to give too much away because its not made yet. He’s currently a student at HCC and plans to transfer to the University of Houston to get a degree in video production. Now let’s get this party started!

For business inquiries, email me at 8milproductions at gmail.com

Kirby was born and raised in Houston Texas with a drive to go into the production world. Her passion of filmmaking and photography started off at the tender age of 14 when she had a small digital camera. Through the years Kirby fell in love with editing and anything that involves cameras, making people happy,and helping people to fulfill their dreams.

 Kirby has worked on several films, photoshoots, tv shows, edited, interviewed, and worked in HBO and big names such as Mathew Knowles, Mayor Sylvester Turner, The Houston Rockets and Jordan Sparks. Her Goal is to create and inspire many.

For business inquiries, email me at 8millproductions@gmail.com

Kirby's social media:

Instagram: @nextjj

Snapchat: @nextjj

Facebook: Kirby Kirby Kirby

In this episode, I discuss my story on how I got started in my creative career. There are lots of golden nuggets, so go ahead and dig in!

For business inquiries, email me at 8millproductions@gmail.com

The gear I used to make this episode:

In this episode, I discuss training your talent and why it is important.

The gear I used to make this podcast:

Are you a rich artist or starving artist? Let's find out!

The Mission of this podcast is to empower artists, creatives, and entertainers to take charge of their careers and pave their own way.

The gear I used to record this episode: