From Finance to Final Cut: Craig T. Williams on Building Films—and Community—From the Ground Up
- Taylor Durham
- Jul 16
- 3 min read
When Craig T. Williams quit his Chase Bank training program after just three months, he had no idea a stray production-assistant gig would launch a two-decade film career. “I lasted the summer in finance, taught tennis for cash, and kind of floated,” he laughs. “Then a friend said, ‘Come be a PA.’ I didn’t even know what a PA was.”
That leap—and the global travel that preceded it—sharpened his sense of story. Backpacking coaches kept asking the Harlem native how many times he’d been shot. “Their view of Black Americans were villains or victims. I thought, "We have to tell better stories.”
Williams found both creative partner and life partner on set: actress-director Rosalyn Coleman. The pair fell in love, married, and used their wedding gift money to buy a Canon GL-1 camcorder. “Two grand, mini-DV tapes, Final Cut 1 on eight CDs—eight hours to install,” he recalls. The couple became early digital adopters, even headlining Apple’s first in-store “Made on a Mac” showcase.
“I lasted the summer in finance, taught tennis for cash, and kind of floated,” he laughs. “Then a friend said, ‘Come be a PA.’ I didn’t even know what a PA was.”
Since then they’ve produced more than 50 projects together, from festival shorts to branded content. Williams’ business instincts—rooted in his Morehouse finance degree—guide every budget line. “This is an expensive hobby,” he tells emerging filmmakers. “Know where each dollar matters. Sometimes the story needs a star; sometimes it needs a killer DP. But nobody works for free.”
That pragmatism was hard-earned. His first self-funded short cost $60,000 had eight Manhattan locations in four days. “I moved a 40-person crew from 79th Street on the west side to Fifth Avenue on the east side, on a Friday afternoon—never again.” The next film? One apartment, five actors, two shooting days, $5,000.
Yet craft is only half the mission. Williams is outspoken about representation. “My bipolar-road-trip drama isn’t ‘niche’ because it has Black leads,” he says. “Mental illness touches everyone.” He’s blunt about Hollywood gatekeeping but refuses to wait for permission: “If a rich aunt doesn’t die mid-shoot, this is the money we have—so how do we shoot on it?”
“I lasted the summer in finance, taught tennis for cash, and kind of floated,” he laughs. “Then a friend said, ‘Come be a PA.’ I didn’t even know what a PA was.”
For passionate creatives, Williams proves you can bootstrap without compromising vision—just write the Empire State Building scene first, then problem-solve.
For philanthropic allies, his catalog shows how culturally nuanced stories resonate across communities.
For industry advocates, he offers reliability: 20 years of on-time, on-budget shoots—and an Apple Store pedigree to boot.
Asked for the single lesson he’d tattoo on a young filmmaker’s forearm, he doesn’t hesitate: “Relationships and craft, every day. The rest is noise.” Expect that mantra—and his hallmark New-York-grit storytelling—to fuel many more films from the couple who turned wedding checks into a lifelong production studio.
At Snarky Elephant Productions, we’ve embedded the idea of shifting established standards and changing company cultures into our DNA. Snarky Elephant focuses exclusively on producing content about and by underrepresented groups, especially groups with the least amount of representation in film. We are dedicated to providing equal pay and equal representation among crew and employees. For more information, contact us at info@snarkyelephant.com or visit us at snarkyelephant.com
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