Rising Star Jeff Knite of Dark Knites Entertainment On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

Everybody thinks if they just make a great film, people will magically know that their film exists and flock to it. Wrong! You have to learn how to attract viewers, by using social media, hiring a publicist and doing articles like this one, because if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it… It doesn’t make a sound.

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jeff Knite.

Jeff Knite was born and raised in Bronx, New York. He began acting in his early 20’s. He immediately landed a big role in the film Boricua’s Bond (2000), co-starring with legendary rapper Big Pun. He then got cast in Manito (2002), a film that went on to win the best film at the Tribeca Film Festival and Special Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The following year he snagged a role in the critically acclaimed film Raising Victor Vargas (2003), which was shown at Sundance, Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals, just to name a few. Jeff Knite eventually moved on to filmmaking. He’s produced 10 short films that were shown in various film festivals, including Some Wounds (2004), which premiered at Urbanworld Film Festival, in front of the Tom Cruise/Jamie Foxx film Collateral (2004). It also appeared at the New York International Latino Film Festival that same year, sponsored by HBO. From 2010 to 2011 he produced and directed 6 Doritos Commercials. Jeff Knite also produced a feature film entitled The Businessman (2014), and has directed three short films. American Pirates (2017) was the first feature film he directed, and Waiting For Howard Stern (2018) was his first Documentary Film. Last year Gravitas Ventures released Jeff Knite’s Smash Hit film The Covid Killer, a Horror Crime Thriller. The film became an instant cult classic amongst Horror fans and currently holds an 87% Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score and spawned the sequel he is currently working on called The Omicron Killer.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I was born and raised in Bronx, New York. In the ’80s and early ’90s, my dad worked for a big modeling agency called Wilhelmina Models. He would bring me to work a lot, so I got to meet a lot of famous people at the time, like Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Sylvester Stallone, Cindy Crawford, Ronald Reagan, just to name a few. To this day I still have a photo of my Dad playing choking Robin Williams (LOL).

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

Being around all those celebrities at such a young age got me dreaming about being an actor. It just seems so cool. I would get paid to be a different person all the time. To me, it was awesome. So I began acting in my early 20’s, around 1997.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

The year was 2004. I made a film with my then filmmaking partner Val Lik called Some Wounds. We spent about a year being rejected by every film festival. Finally, Val asked me if he could cut the film shorter and submit it to this big film festival called Urbanworld, so I said what the heck. What do I have to lose? It was being sponsored by HBO so I was excited. We waited for weeks to see if our film was accepted and then we finally got an email saying that the film was accepted. We were ecstatic!. When we finally met the Film Festival founder Stacy Spikes, he tells us that our film actually got rejected by submissions but it wound up on his coffee table and he kicked it over by accident one Sunday morning and then picked it up and out of curiosity decided to watch it. He loved it and put it in the film festival. Our film played in front of the film premiere of Collateral, starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett. We got to meet them and walk down the red carpet. It was Awesome!

It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I shot a short film in 105 degrees weather with an 85-year-old man that looked like Sant Clause. He passed out and almost died. He left the set angry and never returned. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Don’t hire little old punks who can’t take the heat.. LOL.. just kidding. The lesson I learned that day and also the days I filmed in extreme cold temperatures is.. Find out what the weather will be like before filming. Try to film in the spring or fall. Those are the best times because if your cast and crew are uncomfortable, nothing will turn out right.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

The Omicron Killer for sure. It’s about a serial killer so jealous of another serial killer who died 2 years earlier but gets more exposure, that he goes on a murdering rampage to prove he’s numero uno.

I’m also working on a film called Krazy Klowny. I don’t want to give any details on that project at this time.

But just know.. It’s going to be big.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

This is the business of failure. Most fail. Few succeed. And even fewer become legends.

If you can’t take the heat. Get the f — k out of the kitchen.

This business will eat you alive. I guess my main piece of advice would be to actually learn the business.

Everybody thinks if they just make a great film, people will magically know that their film exists and flock to it.

Wrong! You have to learn how to attract viewers, by using social media, hiring a publicist and doing articles like this one, because if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it... It doesn’t make a sound.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television?

The world is made up of so many different people. It just makes sense morally and financially to want to include all of these different people. It also makes a more fun experience. Stories are always far more interesting when dealing with different cultures and personalities. It’s a no-brainer.

How can that potentially affect our culture?

I feel like a lot of people, not from the city are brought up in their little communities and they sometimes never see someone outside of their culture and can be afraid of people because of what they see in the news, but then they would watch a show like let’s say Ms. Marvel, who is about a teenage Pakistani girl whose coming to grips with her adolescence and her place in the world and they might be like, she’s not so different than me. I like her. It could change that person's whole perception on life, which in the long run could result in less hate and anger in the world.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

I wish someone told me to go to college, because I would have been way more successful and at a much earlier age if I would have stayed in school..

Stay in School.. Period.

There are no other 4 things.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Rest. I’ve burnt out quite a few times and it’s not pretty.

Take weekends off. Take random days off and tell yourself to not check your phone too often those days, or not at all. Your mind needs to be clear sometimes. Too much media is no good for the soul.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would mandate that landlords across the world could not charge more than $500 rent for any apartment.

Too many people are struggling because they can’t pay rent. If Rent was cheaper, everything else would fall into place.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Brandon Carraha.. No Story.. He Knows.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Scarlett Johansson, because she is Awesome.

How can our readers follow you online?

https://www.youtube.com/c/DarkKnitesentertainment

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!