Quiet On The Set…Lights, Camera, Action!

Are you in control of your destiny or are you just another pawn on the chess board of life or maybe an extra in someone else’s blockbuster movie.

I was recently on a plane with one of my good friends and they responded, Kev, ‘All of the above’, when I posed these very questions. Truth be told, in many ways I don’t disagree. You see we should play different roles for the people we love. Some need our supportive role. Some need our inspirational energy and most importantly all need for us to be truth sayers and faith prayers. But at the end of the day, we all want to be free, so bet your life I’ve chosen to take control of me. So Quiet on My set…Lights, Camera, Action.

Making the most of your life starts with you. It’s time for you to direct your own movie. 2009 should have given you every reason to ‘Press Reset’ and stop being an extra in someone else’s film. Again, Quiet on the set…Lights, Camera, Action. But before you start directing, have you written your script? Have you screened your cast? What roles are permanent, what roles are just supporting members or actors/actresses, people of the past? Sequel, prequel or independent film? The great thing about your life movie is the choice is yours again. Some people get written in, some people get written out. Sometimes pre-production takes way to long, sometimes we say forget it, I’m going to do without. The choice is yours.

Another decade is upon us and I’m tired of seeing the same old people, doing the same old things. Just because you’re comfortable or everybody knows your name. Where is the risk or innovation? The uncomfortable feeling and the pain? What got you to where you are in the first place was something different from the same?

So, Quiet on Your set…Lights, Camera, Action! Your job is not your movie, it is just another scene on your set. Don’t forget, your friends and foes are just characters on the set that you direct. Your family keeps you grounded in a way, but never should they limit your scope or creativity on who, what, when and is your next shoot day. Ask my friend Norman Lear, What made ‘Good Times’, good times or inspired Alex Haley’s ‘Roots’? Why Spike Lee said “Do The Right Thing” against all the hate. Why it took Denzel Washington and Oprah to show us our first “Great Debate”. Tyler Perry created his own lane and never let there be doubt. Why some chose to show America the beautiful, he chose to show our America without. Without the glitz, glamour, fame or money. He chose to show family first and preferred rainy days, before they got sunny. No blockbuster budget needed, just everyday honesty and truth. You see a play could make for a great movie if the director is afforded the opportunity to get his ‘Foot Loose’. Showing those who didn’t believe at first, that sometimes we are really our worst, enemy that is.

Not willing to step out on faith. Yeah, we all should have had our “August Rush” discovering something that was truly meant to be. ‘Krush Groove’, ‘Cadillac Records’ or simply the ‘Dream Girls’ that came in three.

So, get inspired young America, lets show the world what we got from India to China, to South Africa and Haiti…. it’s now our time to plot.

So Quiet on Your set…Lights, Camera, Action!

There’s another ‘Invictus’ or ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ movie that has not been made, there’s even ‘Seven Pounds’, a ‘Blindside’, or an ‘Avatar’ and shows lik