W. Wesley Henderson’s ‘WatchACTV’ Is A Game-Changer In Digital Content Creation
The term “Black Hollywood'' gets tossed around often in Atlanta. With so many people acting, directing, and producing their own content, it becomes easy to get overwhelmed by the immense amount of talent Atlanta offers, especially within the Black and Brown LGBTQ+ community. Creatives are staking their claim on the vast abundance of representation and visibility. Though, sometimes the voices become oversaturated with one-dimensional characters and repetitive stories. This is where content creator W. Wesley Henderson enters the conversation.
With his own streaming network, WatchACTV (aka Aconnectiontv), the Atlanta-based writer, director, and producer has been engaging audiences with his specific brand of content for years. Henderson’s roots reach back to the infancy of YouTube before it became a powerhouse within the online content creation realm, but before then Henderson was a young Black gay kid trying to make sense of what set him apart from the other kids in his neighborhood.
“I started off in Hartford, Connecticut, as a little Black boy that knew that he was different. But I was different in a way that I wasn’t accepted in the world,” says Henderson.
He recalls being aided by a few cousins whom he hid behind for protection from those who didn’t understand him. But Henderson, a bold and outspoken voice within the Black LGBTQ+ community, decided early on that he needed to find a way to express himself.
“I figured out a lane for me or carved out a lane for me that was acceptable, which was the art lane or the entertainment lane. I became an artist in high school,” he says.
Although many attend college after high school, Henderson took a hard pass, opting to pursue his passions. He created a beloved character that paid homage to some very special people in his life.
“Way back then I was calling it a network before I even could dream of owning a network or doing my own network, ‘cause I wanted it to be an amalgamation of sorts. All different types of things wrapped up under one umbrella.”
“I just started doing YouTube, and I created a character named Mona Samone that was a creation out of three personalities I know; Kiana, who was a good old friend of mine. Tiffany, who is still my friend after twenty-seven years. And my mom. Those three women make up Mona Samone.”
After the success of Mona’s character increased his subscription numbers, Henderson began pushing out tons of content, and eventually, his YouTube channel was transformed into the foundation for AconnectionTV. However, none of it was by accident. Henderson was manifesting his long-term goals years before the network came to fruition in 2018.
“Way back then I was calling it a network before I even could dream of owning a network or doing my own network, ‘cause I wanted it to be an amalgamation of sorts. All different types of things wrapped up under one umbrella,” says Henderson.
Even the name of the network was created from a previous project that dealt with issues of family ties, acceptance, and the human experience.
“I wrote a script called Adopted Connection,” says Henderson. “It’s a story about two men, one gay one straight, and the mother of the straight son adopts a gay son, and throughout their childhood, they didn’t know what sexual orientation was. They lived their lives as brothers and didn’t know the gay son was adopted… until the mom passes away. The mother discloses to the sons that the gay son was adopted, and then the gay son comes out as gay to the straight brother,” he says.
From this script, Henderson credits his friend Mike Ifill, the actor who portrayed the straight brother in the Adopted Connection project as the person who helped him build the foundation for the network by assisting with creating its mission statement.
Adopting Similar Connections Despite Our Differences
Despite the constant flow of creativity during that time, Henderson will be the first to admit he wasn’t prepared to step into the fullness of his muse. He credits his time working a nine-to-five as the main hindrance to actualizing what he started. Although he was garnering much acclaim and popularity with his YouTube channel, it wasn’t paying the bills. Then, divine intervention stepped in and he ended up losing his full-time position. With his back against the wall, he took another leap of faith and decided it was time to leave New York for a new adventure.
“I moved to Florida in hopes of finally moving to Atlanta, and in 2017 I finally made a way for me to move to Atlanta from Florida, and since I’ve been in Atlanta I’ve been in the entertainment space,” says Henderson.
“I’ve not worked a nine-to-five since I’ve been here and I don’t want to work another nine-to-five,” he says with a slick laugh as he rapidly knocks on wood.
“There’s so many fascinating things that I’ve watched in my life that have allowed me to know you can do any and everything you want to. ”
Fast forward to 2021 and WatchActv is now an award-winning network featuring a growing team of actors, writers, and creatives working to provide quality content to the masses. One show, in particular, the Henderson-penned melodrama The Mister (in which he also stars) has been receiving accolades since it premiered in 2019. That same year The Mister also received the distinct honor of winning New York Pride Service’s awards for Soundtrack of the Year and Actor of the Year, which was awarded to Henderson. ACTV also snagged the award for Studio of the Year as well. Still, even with those accomplishments, Henderson sometimes feels overwhelmed by the pressure of constantly creating content for everyone.
“Because I am Black and gay, everyone wants me to produce Black and gay content, but that’s not what I grew up on,” he says.
“There’s so many fascinating things that I’ve watched in my life that have allowed me to know you can do any and everything you want to. Hopefully, the people will accept it. Black people aren’t a monolith. Gay Black people aren’t monolithic. We’re all different. And we all bring different things to entertainment.”
Henderson has his eyes set upon producing content for the culture for many years to come.
“I want to be sitting comfortably with over two million subscribers. I want to create an entertainment platform that allows for all shades of brown to create whatever story they want.”
He pauses, then chuckles.
“I tell myself all the time if I ever won the lottery, it would be to create a company that could provide that. For kids like myself back in the day when all I wanted to see was me on TV.”
Ben Robinson III is a writer from Philadelphia. Discovering his love for writing at a very early age Ben has written for both the stage and screen, self published multiple books and performed his poetry in various places around the country and internationally. Follow his journey on Instgram @bentheoutspoken or contact him at writer.benrobinson@gmail.com.