Keeping A Positive Mindset Fuels Creativity

I hadn’t seen my friend Logan in a while, so I was looking forward to catching up when we met up for lunch recently. We’re both writer/directors, so I always enjoy sharing my new ideas with him and finding out what exciting new projects he’s working on.

When Logan mentioned a disappointing incident involving Jeremy, a mutual friend of ours who had a reputation for making promises and not following through, I commiserated. Jeremy had backed out at the last minute on a project I'd asked him to help me with. 

Logan told me that, similar to my experience, Jeremy had stood him up when he’d agreed to help Logan out with a short film. Jeremy was supposed to hold the boom mic for the sound recordist. But when Jeremy flaked out, the sound recordist had to do it all himself and as a result, the short film ended up with muffled dialogue. And the actors had moved on to other projects and were unavailable to re-record their lines in time for a film festival deadline Logan had been hoping to make.

Logan was understandably upset, but as he ranted and raved about how Jeremy had ruined his chances at getting into the prestigious festival and derailed his career, I began to feel uncomfortable. The longer Logan went on, his tirade devolved from simply blowing off steam to borderline character assassination. Sure, Jeremy’s actions had been selfish and irresponsible, but it’s not as though it was a life-or-death situation.

When Logan finally concluded his rant, I felt physically drained. Being on the receiving end of such negativity would sap anyone’s energy. When Logan suggested getting together again,  I hesitated. His incessant complaining ‒ no matter how justified ‒ made me reconsider hanging out with him. But I went ahead and set a date to meet up again so as not to hurt his obviously fragile feelings.

A couple days later, I ran into another filmmaker friend who also knows Logan. When I mentioned that I had just seen him, she commented, "He's a nice guy overall, but wow. He seems so bitter."

Ironically, by going on endlessly about how he was wronged, Logan was alienating the very people who could help him out when someone like Jeremy flakes out. 

This story illustrates the importance of maintaining a positive mindset. Learning how to regroup from betrayals and survive bad situations is necessary in general, but is especially important for creative types. For creativity to flourish, you have to keep your head clear. And it's hard to do that if your mind is clouded with vengeful thoughts and nonstop ruminating about the injustice of it all.

Of course there are examples of brooding geniuses whose brilliant work reflected their dark outlook. But Edgar Allan Poe aside, most of us benefit from managing our moods and striving for optimism.

The following are some ways that I deal with stress and try to keep negativity at bay. I'd love to hear how you cope, so please feel free to let me know by leaving a comment or emailing me at chrisbournea@gmail.com.

Pray or meditate. I'm very spiritual, but you don't have to subscribe to any particular belief system to simply close your eyes and breathe deeply. When practiced consistently, meditating can help you get centered.

Journal. Sometimes just getting your thoughts down on paper and keeping a private journal where no one can judge you is therapeutic. 

Listen to music. The old adage that "music soothes the savage beast" is absolutely true. Putting on soft music such as classic, jazz or new age can calm your nerves. Or, listen to loud rock or hip-hop to help you purge your rage and get it out of your system.

Exercise. Just taking a walk, doing a couple of laps around the block, can clear your head.

Listen to inspirational videos or podcasts. There are an infinite number of resources available on the Internet. YouTube alone is a cornucopia of self-help videos. One of my favorites is Noah Elkrief. One of his best videos is "How to Never Get Angry - Anger Management for Everyone." 

Indulge yourself. Although it's important to take care of yourself and eat healthy, get enough sleep, et cetera, there's nothing wrong with indulging yourself every once in a while when you're going through stress. Binge-watching trashy TV and eating junk food are certainly better alternatives than constantly going off and ruining your relationships! 

Instead Of Hitting The Snooze Button, Here's How I Start My Day

If you’re like me and you’re an artist with a day job, Monday can be especially difficult. And that’s because weekends are the time to get caught up on creative work. 

So often, weekends are taken up with errands and trying to maintain a social life by catching up with family and friends. So come Monday, I sometimes beat myself up for everything I didn’t get accomplished over the weekend. 

What I have started doing to combat the Monday blues is listening to motivational videos on YouTube. One of my favorite channels is operated by entrepreneur Tom Bilyeu.

Bilyeu is a co-founder of Quest Nutrition (the company's high-protein, low-sugar Quest bars are to die for) and has branched into the arts with his Impact Theory media company. Bilyeu's YouTube channel features in-depth interviews with high achievers in many different industries, from health and wellness to technology to education.

Although he's not a journalist by trade, Bilyeu is a great interviewer. He asks thought-provoking questions and is an excellent listener. He never talks over his guests and gives them his full attention as they expound on the philosophies that have enabled them to excel in their fields and help others.

One of my all-time favorite interviews that Bilyeu has conducted is with motivational speaker Mel Robbins. Her 5 Second Rule has truly transformed my life and has helped me kick the habit of procrastinating (or at least get it under control). Click here to watch that interview. 

Of course, Bilyeu is just one of dozens of motivational channels out there on YouTube and the Internet as a whole. But his is certainly one of the best. 

So next Monday morning, instead of hitting the snooze button, pull up a motivational video and use it as fuel to set the tone for your week. 

'The Heritage' Chronicles History of Black Athletes And Social Justice

I’m a lifelong Ohioan and everyone in the Buckeye State is buzzing about LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Los Angeles Lakers. Aside from his indisputable accomplishments on the court, James' legacy includes leading a new generation of athletes who speak out on social justice issues, as the new book "The Heritage" chronicles.

Penned by award-winning African-American journalist Howard Bryant of ESPN, "The Heritage" is a fascinating look at exactly what the book's subtitle refers to: "Black Athletes, A Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism."

"It used to be that politics and sports were as separate from one another as church and state," as the synopsis of "The Heritage" relates. "The ballfield was an escape from the world's worst problems, top athletes were treated like heroes, and cheering for the home team was as easy and innocent as hot dogs and beer.  'No news on the sports page' was a governing principle in newsrooms."

Fast forward to the 21st century and "sports and politics are decidedly intertwined," as is the central thesis of "The Heritage."

Among those leading the charge of modern-day sports superstars who use their fame to draw attention to social justice issues are LeBron James. The epilogue of "The Heritage" describes James' prominent role in activism:

As the old cliche goes, "the player with the biggest number of zeroes on his paycheck shapes the culture. Today, that player is LeBron James. James does not hide from his liberal politics. ... James pledged over $40 million to send children from his hometown of Akron to college. ... LeBron has done what [Michael] Jordan did not. He gave cover to the athletes without his talent or bank account to be more vocal politically. He sent the message that being politically active should not be radical, but commonplace."

Bryant notes that James was among the most vocal celebrities in the early days of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014. In this regard, Bryant argues, James picked up the mantle from Muhammad Ali:  the most talented player in the game speaking out and risking his livelihood to bring much-needed awareness to an issue affecting his people.

The title of the book, "The Heritage," refers to the history of black athletes using their fame and resources to advance civil rights and other progressive causes, in the tradition of Ali, Jackie Robinson and college football great-turned-entertainer Paul Robeson.  

I found the subject matter Bryant explores in the book of particular interest. Not because I'm a sports fan ‒ I know next to nothing about football, baseball or basketball.

"The Heritage" intrigued me because I came across many of the issues Bryant addresses while I was making the documentary "Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring."  The movie chronicles brave black female athletes like Babs Wingo, Ethel Johnson, Marva Scott and Ramona Isbell, who triumphed over racism and sexism in the 1950s, '60s and '70s to become world champions in a sport dominated by white men. 

As Bryant observes in "The Heritage," black women athletes are the unsung heroes of social justice activism. Much attention has been focused on the bold moves of men like LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick, but in many cases, black women have been just as outspoken ‒ sometimes even more so.

As Bryant describes in "The Heritage," female basketball stars in the WNBA took a bolder stance than their male counterparts in the NBA when it came to protesting police brutality.  And Bryant draws the conclusion that the women were emboldened by the fact that they basically had nothing to lose. The WNBA players were already severely underpaid compared to their male counterparts, making only about $60,000 on average per season, vs. $6 million per season for NBA players. 

In the "Lady Wrestler" documentary, wrestling legend Ethel Johnson recounts a harrowing incident when she and another African-American female wrestler took a stand in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in the '50s. She and her colleague forfeited their pay and opted not to take the mat when the event's white promoters refused to let in black patrons due to the Jim Crow segregation at the time.

Johnson and her peers didn't necessarily consider themselves activists, but, like the WNBA players, they felt they had nothing to lose. Not only were the working conditions in Tuscaloosa humiliating, their lives were threatened by members of the "White Citizens' Council" who opposed integration and threatened to lynch Johnson and her colleague.  

So while activism may be viewed as the domain of men, African-American women, in particular, have always been borne a heavy load. 

Anyone who has an interest in black history, sports history, politics and social justice will find "The Heritage" a compelling read. As Bryant relates, there has never been a consensus in the United States about what role, if any, athletes should play in politics ‒ even among the athletes themselves.

Some athletes have chosen the "shut up and play" path, with the most glaring example being O.J. Simpson. During his NFL career, Simpson famously declared, "I'm not black, I'm O.J." Others like LeBron James have chosen to raise their voices, speak out and put their money where their mouth is. 

"The Heritage" is a timely book in a highly polarized time. 

   

Suzanne Lyons Course Is A True Master Class In Moviemaking

If you're interested in making movies, I recommend the Suzanne Lyons online film production course that is available through the Indie Film Hustle Syndicate.

Lyons is a producer with numerous credits to her name, from sci-fi movies like "Time Toys" to horror movies like "Séance." This online course is truly a master class in which Lyons breaks down every aspect of filmmaking, from pre-production to casting to finding a line producer, which is someone who outlines all the costs of a production.

An especially helpful section of the course explains how to find investors to finance your movie. Lyons tells an interesting story about how you should never judge a book by its cover. 

In the anecdote, Lyons relates how an actor friend of hers kept asking about the latest movie she was producing. Lyons assumed that the actor, who works on and off like most of his peers, didn't have any money to invest.

Fortunately, the actor was persistent and revealed that he had been making money by flipping houses and was very interested in investing in Lyons' movie. So you should leave no stone un-turned when seeking out investors, as Lyons explains.

One of the things I really like the most about Lyons' master class is that each session is broken down into bite-size chunks. Each session is only five to 15 minutes long. A few are little bit longer, up to about 30 minutes. 

I like the small session sizes, because a lot of online courses with longer sessions are tedious to sit through. If you're like me, you're a busy person who listens to podcasts, webinars and courses while multitasking. And who has the time or attention span to sit through a course or webinar that goes on for an hour or longer? 

The bite-size chunks of the Lyons master class enable you to move through the course quickly and digest the information at your own pace. It's easy to go back and find sections that you want to make notes about, since you only have to rewind through sessions that are a few minutes apiece. 

Earlier, I mentioned that the course is available through the Indie Film Hustle Syndicate. This is a company run by filmmaker Alex Ferrari ("This Is Meg") that features a website, a podcast and numerous online courses like this master class with Lyons.

Ferrari makes an appearance in Lyons' master class. He leads an informative session about post-production and "deliverables," which are the aspects of your film that are needed in order to present your movie theatrically and to release it on DVD, Blu-ray and online streaming services. Ferrari breaks  down all those costs, and it is extremely helpful.

If you haven't checked out the Indie Film Hustle website and podcast, I would highly recommend doing so by clicking this link. Many of the courses, like the Lyons film production master class, are offered at an affordable price. And many of the resources, like the articles on the website and the podcast, are totally free. The Indie Film Hustle is a treasure trove of support for us filmmakers who are forging our own path in a very competitive industry. 

I give Lyons' master class five stars out of five. The main reason that I decided to take the class is because I'm about to embark on filming a new movie. The film I wrote and plan to direct is titled "Things Are Tough All Over," a fictional story of an African-American family struggling to keep their heads above water during the Great Recession of 2008. 

Before I set out to film "Things Are Tough All Over," I figured I needed a refresher course on film production. The other full-length movie that I produced, the documentary "Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring," was filmed and edited over several years. So I needed a crash course on how to produce a film in a compressed amount of time. 

Taking Lyons' master class, combined with all the resources at the Indie Film Hustle, will absolutely help you do that. 

This Is Who I Am And Why I Do What I Do

In this post, I describe what motivates me to tell stories on the page, onscreen and onstage.

I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I can remember. I credit my mom, Shelly, with instilling in me a love of writing and creativity.

My mom is a writer herself and has written short stories and poems since she was a kid. As a youth, she wrote a novel titled “To a Wild Rose,” which she says is eerily similar to my novel, “The Chloe Chronicles.” 

In my mom’s novel, “To a Wild Rose,” a young woman sits down at a Parisian sidewalk cafe and begins recounting her life story to an interviewer.

My novel, “The Chloe Chronicles,” centers on a beautiful, mixed-race woman whose story begins with her upbringing in Paris.

What makes the similarity in the stories my mom and I wrote so eerie is that I never read my mom’s unpublished novel. The  only copy of the typewritten manuscript was misplaced long before I was born.

In addition to my mom’s encouragement, I draw inspiration from pop culture. Like a lot of Generation X kids, I grew up on movies and television. 

I spent a lot of time over my maternal grandparents’ house as a kid. My Daddy Bob and Nanaugh Pearl were ahead of their time. In the early 1980s ‒ it may have  even been the late ‘70s ‒ they got cable television. Growing up, I spent countless hours glued to the floor-model TV in their finished basement watching movies on HBO,  Showtime and The Movie Channel. I did so much channel-surfing that I wore out several remote controls. 

The stories that really spoke to me were movies like “La Bamba,” “Flashdance” and “Purple Rain” about young people of color pursuing dreams in the arts. “Purple Rain” struck such a chord (pun intended) in me as a preteen that Prince continues to be my favorite musical artist of all time.

I was always inspired by multifaceted, creative people like Prince, Quincy Jones, Debbie Allen and Maya Angelou ‒ innovators who would jump from medium to medium and genre to genre.

I never understood why artists are supposed to limit themselves to just one “category.” Prince was a musical genius who became a movie star. Jones is a composer, but he also produced movies and founded the magazine Vibe. Allen is a dancer/choreographer, but she also became a director and producer. Angelou is famous for her poetry and memoirs like “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," but she made the leap into movie directing later in life. 

I remember seeing Angelou's directorial debut, 1998’s “Down in the Delta,” at the Drexel Theatre, a popular arthouse cinema in my hometown. I was inspired that a writer could successfully segue into filmmaking. I continue to be inspired by multidimensional artists who transcend genres.

Conventional wisdom would tell me to stick to one project in a specific genre, but I have so many stories that I want to tell that take the form of various media.

The major projects I’m working on this year are stories in different formats: the documentary “Lady Wrestler: TheAmazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring” and a re-release of my novel “The Chloe Chronicles” with some juicy new plot twists. 

I am also working on a new, fictional movie titled “Things Are Tough All Over” about a middle-class African-American family struggling to keep their heads above water during the Great Recession of 2008.

I have dozens of concepts for stage productions as well. At some point, I plan to revive my 2013 play, "The Springtime of Our Lives." In the urban drama, teen lovers Gary and Denise cope with an unexpected pregnancy while battling class differences and family instability. 

I hope you will join me on this journey to tell stories, whether on film, in print or on the stage. And I hope you find these stories inspiring.

For updates on my projects, please visit my website, Chrisbournea.com, and leave me your email address so we can stay in touch. 

New Book Explains 'Crowdsourcing'

If you're a writer and filmmaker like me, you absolutely have to read Richard Botto's "Crowdsourcing for Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd." This book should be required reading not only for filmmakers and writers, but for any creative type.

Richard Botto is himself a writer screenwriter and actor. He is also the founder of Stage 32, which is basically the LinkedIn for creative types.

Crowdsourcing, as Botto explains, has a long history that goes back before the Internet and other modern technology existed. A lot of people confuse crowdsourcing with crowdfunding, as Botto describes in the book. Crowdfunding ‒ using platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo to raise money for projects ‒ is simply one form of crowdsourcing. 

So what is the definition of crowdsourcing? Crowdsourcing is identifying your audience and finding ways to engage with them.

We creative types tend to make a lot of mistakes because a lot of what we do is trial and error. "Crowdsourcing for Filmmakers" will show you the mistakes you've been making and how to learn from them, especially in some of the case studies that Botto includes.

For example, there is a case study about the documentary "Mile... Mile & a Half" about a group of friends who happen to be filmmakers who got together to hike a 200-mile trail in California's Sierra Mountains. The filmmakers did everything right: they researched their target audience and identified dozens of groups of people who could be interested in the subject. 

The "Mile... Mile & a Half" crew consciously decided to zero in on just three groups of people who would be interested in the documentary's subject matter. They systematically engaged these groups through social media and on Kickstarter to raise nearly $100,000 to complete the documentary.

The really cool thing about "Crowdsourcing for Filmmakers" is that it includes tons of research about effective ways to engage audiences. The book explains how to use crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Seed and Spark, and more traditional crowdsourcing methods like networking in person and doing speaking engagements. 

If you're just starting out as a filmmaker ‒ maybe you're still in film school or you're just learning on your own how to make films ‒ or you're an actor or some other creative type, you should definitely read "Crowdsourcing for Filmmakers." You can learn how to build an audience and a network of professional contacts. 

And if you're like me, a filmmaker and writer who has already released several projects, the book will teach you new techniques and reinforce tried-and-true strategies to propel yourself forward. 

"Crowdsourcing for Filmmakers" should be required reading for every film school, drama school and even business school in the country. It's a must-read textbook and guide that you should have at your disposal, and I highly recommend it.

This Is Why Black Female Wrestlers Are Missing From History Books

I directed the new documentary "Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring." The 80-minute movie chronicles the little-known story of black female professional wrestlers who were internationally famous in the 1950s, '60s and '70s.

Wrestling legends Ethel Johnson (left) and 

her older sister Babs Wingo during

a match in the 1950s.

During question-and-answer sessions after screenings and in press interviews, people often ask me what I found most fascinating about these phenomenal women's stories. One thing I continue to find fascinating is that the reason why this story has been little-known for so long ‒ until now ‒ is that the women were often reluctant to talk about the wrestling business. The lady wrestlers were secretive even when they were in the business, but especially after they left the business.

In the documentary, I interviewed wrestling legends Ethel Johnson and Ramon Isbell as well as the children of the late Marva Scott. Interestingly enough, both Ethel and Ramona chose not to really talk about the fact they were wrestlers when they were in the business.

Ethel even shares that she made a conscious decision to not even tell her children that she was a wrestler. In the documentary, Ethel's daughter Shelly talks about how for the longest time, she didn't know her mother was a wrestler. She just assumed that her mother did some kind of work that required her to go away for a couple weeks at a time.

One day when Shelly was a kid, she and her friends were playing with the TV on in the background and her mother came on TV in a wrestling match. And of course Shelly and her friends started jumping up and down and screaming in excitement.

Ramona also was reluctant to talk about the fact that she was a wrestler, although her children did ultimately find out. 

Wrestling legends Ramona Isbell (left) and Ethel Johnson

reminisce over old times during an interview shoot 

for the documentary "Lady Wrestler."

However, Marva Scott not only told her children about the fact that she was a wrestler, she involved them in her training routine. In the documentary, Marva's adult children Kim Martin and James Black talk about how their mother would ride their bikes and Marva would wrestle with James to help her get ready for her matches in Japan and Australia and faraway places like that. 

Marva Scott is pictured on the bottom right in 

this vintage press clipping.

Marva would put a mattress in the basement and throw James around like a sparring partner. Kim talks about helping her mom make her elaborate costumes.

I found it really interesting that many of the African-American female wrestlers ‒ like Wonder Woman with her double identity Diana Prince ‒ kept their globe-trotting adventures a secret from the people in their everyday lives. 

But Marva was one of the few lady wrestlers who decided to be vocal about the fact that she was a wrestler and to involve her children in her training routine. 

If you want to find out more about "Lady Wrestler," upcoming screenings and the forthcoming DVD and streaming releases, visit Ladywrestlermovie.com. To watch the trailer, click here.