William Franklin Deloney, a multi-talented individual, was born in Houston, Texas, but his formative years were spent in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he developed a profound appreciation for folklore. Growing up in the South, he was fascinated by the tales of outlaws, ghosts, and monster tornadoes shared by charismatic storytellers.
As a child, Will's fascination with presentation and patter as an art form led him to begin performing magic for friends, family, and birthday parties in the late 1980s. This early interest in magic would later transform into a passion for filmmaking, much like the renowned French magician-turned-filmmaker Georges Méliès.
In 2004, Will earned a Master's Degree in immersive media from Indiana University, where he led an Advanced Documentary Production class that won an Emmy Award for the John Mellencamp documentary "Trouble No More". This achievement was followed by a fellowship with The International Radio and Television Society, which placed him with the NY Times/Discovery Channel to produce a 3-hour Discovery Spotlight special about the 2004 Democratic and Republican conventions.
The experience of working on this project, which involved incorporating footage into the show just hours before airing, proved invaluable in preparing Will for his future role as a story producer on the series "My First Time in the Winter Olympics", for which he won his second Emmy in 2010.
While living in New York City, Will attended a screening of selected works by folklorist filmmaker Alan Lomax at the Film Forum in Manhattan. Lomax, who had spent his career recording and documenting songs for the Library of Congress, had visited farms, prisons, and rural communities across the globe. The raw field recordings and unedited footage witnessed on the big screen had an immediate and profound impact on Will, inspiring him to embark on his own mission to document and record authentic stories and music in the spirit of preserving cultural equity.
With over 20 years of experience producing and directing television, motion pictures, and documentaries, Will Deloney is a positive force in the creative community. As the Executive Director for Pixelated Ideas, he collaborates with international creative professionals to explore and capture culture-defining stories that attract diverse audiences.
