A portion of my character can be defined by the organisations I've either lead and/or participated in throughout the coarse of my collegiate matriculation and community involvement with my production company. By the time I was a junior in college, I was highly active in various student organisations at Florida A&M and Florida State University. My Alma Mater of course is FAMU but the University's are so close its almost an crime not to take advantage of both campuses. My main attendance frequencies were with the Haitian Cultural Club of Tallahassee and the Caribbean Student Association. During my senior I served as the president of the Haitian Cultural Club. Today, I give much credit to that organization for teaching me the fundamentals of how to operate a business and most importantly how to manage and organize people.
Less then a year and a half after graduating from college, I officially established Motown Maurice Productions, Inc., a video/photography company built for preserving memories with excellence and serving Tampa Bay's local community in socially minded partnerships. With that state of mind, I established numerous relationships with community focused organizations. Between 2004-2010 I was the official photographer/videogragher for the DSI Black Pages, The Tampa Bay Organization of Black Affairs (TOBA), The Tampa Black Heritage Festival and more.
My affinity for social and cultural community driven organisations has influenced and impacted me in more ways then I know how to describe. Community involvement and partnerships have been a significant part of my business related endeavors over the past decade. Then came Hollywood. As most of my followers know, I relocated to Los Angeles, CA, September 19, 2010 and I quickly noticed the deficiency of black organizations/cultural festivities in this city. October 26th of last year, I finally took a trip to the University of Southern California with the intentions sitting in a few of my favorite student meetings. I was stunned to find the absence of a Black Student Union or even a Caribbean Student Association. At the most, I believe there's a Black Student Film Group but I don't recall noticing it on the university's website. A colleague of mine told me about it and invited previously.
I've meet a handful of African American's in Hollywood but I've made very few strong connections. We're present in this city but we're unbelievably scattered. The thought of a centrally located hub for us seemed more and more like a figment of my imagination as the days went by. In a recent conversation, I posed the question, "Where is Black Hollywood?" Obviously there are several annual African American related film festivals but outside of that, I knew of nothing I could attend frequently.
Early this month, my tainted perception slightly began to change. When I received the invite to view the movie Dysfunction Friends by Corey Grant, not only did I thoroughly enjoy the experience, something inside of said, "Hello, Is It Me Your Looking For?" Around the same time, if not the same day, I received a Facebook invite from gentlemen named J.R. Pittman. The connection with J.R and I is a prime representation of my favorite quote throughout my blog. That quote is, "Everything Always Come Around Full Circle." I had the opportunity to audition for J.R Pittman's Casting Company February 17, 2011. The audition was for a Discovery program called the Survivalist Show.
Like many other auditions, I was partly certain I would get selected for the show but that never happened. Besides that, my interactions with J.R were delightful. He was very professional and he exchanged a lot of positive energy. That's probably why I thought I would get the selected. J.R's energy was radiant and impressionable compared to several other audition experiences I've had. Moreover, almost a year later (last month) he sent out a mass email that lead to us being Facebook friends. The immediate day after I viewed Dysfunctional Friends I saw J.R. on line at the AMC City Walk theatres getting ready to see the movie for himself. I approached him and I was pleased to know he remembered me by name. In our conversation, I acknowledged his Facebook invite to an upcoming event and my confirmation of attendance. J.R. was in line to also see Dysfunctional Friends and support the people he knew in the cast.
 |
| Motown Maurice & J.R Pittman |
Since I joined Facebook back in 2008, I rarely showed much attention to its event invites. Emails and personal invites is what got me to places. However, this particular invite to a meeting social called M.O.C.I.T.I lured me in like a fish on a hook. I figured if J.R. Pittman and Corey Grant were confirmed to attend, this is the place I needed to be at. The information on the website and Facebook page was also inciting.
 |
| Men of Color In the Industry (MOCITI) |
Men of Color in the Industry.
MOCITI is an outreach organization whose mission is to provide a support network and business vehicle for men of color in the entertainment industry. We are a service organization that believes we are to serve mankind.
This is the first networking organization of it's kind geared towards men of color in the entertainment industry including but not limited to actors, directors, producers, writers, casting directors, agents, photographers, entertainment lawyers, composers, music producers,performers.
Visit: Mociti.org
Initially, I took the observant and reserved approach. I didn't interact with too many people in the beginning because I was laying out the site. I tend to do that in new environments. I believe its always important to know the climate and temperature of new surroundings. Thus, it didn't take me long to realize I found a key component for my quest. I strongly believe that MOCITI is significantly vital to solving one of the puzzles in my adventure. Therefore, I am now steps closer to claiming my throne in Late Night Television.
Throughout the duration of the meeting, unity and camaraderie permeated from wall to wall, from brother to brother and even from sister to brother. Since today's meeting took place on Valentine Day MOCITI thought it was appropriate to have the ladies join. The meetings are traditionally all men.
 |
| MOCITI Social Meeting at Terell Moore Gallery , 1221 S. Hope St. Los Angeles, CA |
 |
| J.R. Pittman greets everyone ever so kindly. |
Before the event started I noticed a familiar face. I said, in my head, "That's Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince." Finally I thought, I can get the opinion from someone who has worked with Will Smith. People tell me I look like Will Smith/Fresh Prince so much, I just knew James Avery would finally clear things up once and for all. I never did ask him that question but I sure enjoyed him as a guest speaker. His passion and knowledge of black history and theatre is inspiring. When James Avery speaks, its all inclusive. He educated the audience with early lessons in African American theatre then we traveled to Africa and back to America seamlessly.
 |
| Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome American's Favorite Uncle James Avery. |
 |
| James Avery aka Uncle Phil speaks. |
I only managed to record portions of his James Avery's message but its enough to capture the essence the wisdom he shared with the crowd.
(Video # 1) James Avery Speaks
M.O.C.I.T.I is a great organization. I absolutely love what they are about. The Valentine's event was truly inspirational & I enjoyed every moment of it. Everyone was absolutely lovely. Thank you for inviting me to this wonderful networking event Motown Maurice.
ReplyDeletewe are very grateful to everyone that came out to share and celebrate with us.
ReplyDeletejon covington