Mastermedia Shares The Art of Storytelling

Graphic by James Gocke

The King’s College and Mastermedia International hosted an event called The Art of Storytelling on Saturday, Oct. 24, featuring guest speakers Louis Henry Mitchell, a character designer for Sesame Street, and Mark Pate, a professional illustrator. 

Jonathan Graham,Vice President of Mastermedia, moderated the event.

“The art of storytelling exists in every way we consume media today, and is essential for our culture,” Graham said. 

Throughout the event, guest speakers Mitchell and Pate answered questions about their experiences in the arena of art and storytelling.  

For the past 20 years, Mitchell has been the creative director and character designer for Sesame Street. He started his career in character design at age 17, working for the comic book artist Neal Adams.

Pate is a freelance illustrator of 10 years. In the second grade, Pate became interested in storytelling and illustration simply by flipping through pictures in comic books. He attended Dallas Theological School (DTS), which fostered his love for meaningful storytelling. 

“Going to DTS school allowed me to verbalize what my philosophy is, creating intentional stories,” Pate said. 

The panelists each touched on the fact that their support systems have been huge parts of their career journeys. 

“I’ve always had a really encouraging family and friends,” Pate said.

“People that support you are revealed to you. You don’t choose them, you gotta let God reveal them to you,” Mitchell said. 

Graham later asked the panelists how faith plays a role in their jobs. They said faith is essential to stay grounded in your career.

“Faith is more than the belief in a statement. Faith is a philosophy,” Pate said. 

The panelists shared tips for developing stories and characters.

“The key element in storytelling is to not try to rush the process. Let the ideas simmer for a long time,” Pate said.

Both panelists explained that stories are embedded in our culture, and characters are the foundation of a storyline. 

“You can’t develop a good character unless you have a story first and foremost,” Mitchell said. “The minute you see any character, the story has begun.” 

Toward the end of the event, Graham asked the guest speakers about recent projects they have been working on. 

Mitchell created the first character ever on Sesame Street with autism. Julie the muppet brought a new dynamic into the world of Sesame Street.

“God moved things together to create this character.” Mitchell said. “There was tremendous push-back, but I stood my ground and it was such a success.”

Pate recently illustrated a book called “Sing Like Never Before”, written by author and singer Justin Stoney.   

“You can get as good as you want at the thing you are doing, but if you don’t also cultivate the ability to interact with people and build relationships it is not going anywhere realistically,” Pate said.

“And that is why we are here tonight,” Graham said, “to encourage you, the next generation of media influencers, to provide you with a forum and shed light on the idea of visual art and the art of storytelling.”