Artists in Faith
On Wednesday I received an email from a woman I’d met a few
months back. She was sharing an email about a conference she was going to
attend called the Merge Summit - a literal merging of entertainment and faith.
She had sent it out to her email list, and although I liked the idea, I
promptly set it aside—after forwarding it to some friends and went on the plan
for a big meeting that was going to happen next week. However, a few of my friends responded back
and asked if I were going to attend. Actually I hadn’t even opened the link,
but when I opened it, I immediately knew it was something I had to go to, and
that I had to find a way to pluck down my little $99 to hear some inspirational
words from people in the business about the link between God and entertainment.
Having attended, I am really glad that I did.
First, I want to speak a little about the co-founders. I
didn’t know Dr. Holly Carter who runs Relevé Entertainment, an entertainment
company which packages and produces family and faith-based entertainment (music
and film) and also produced this event. She’s the founder of the event but I
what I didn’t know – and here’s where doing your homework BEFORE an event becomes
important – is that when she worked in the studio system, she was behind great
hit black TV shows like The Prince of Bel Air, In Living Color and Martin, AND
is also quite a philanthropist. She was
a strong advocate for Obama’s presidential campaign and also threw together a
non-profit concert from Hurricane Katrina survivors back in the day. Here’s
also something that impressed me—she’s educated in both her fields—not only
does she have her MBA from USC but she also has her Doctorate of Divinity—thus
the Dr. in Dr. Holly Carter.
I had heard of Robi Reed in general but also knew her from
attending a previous conference, the LA IMIS back in June. She is a casting
director who is probably most well known for casting many of Spike Lees films
(Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, etc.) although her
IMD profile lists a whopping 63 titles and I’m sure that there are probably a
few more that are not on there. She was also behind the casting many smaller
indie films like Soul Food, and one of my personal faves, “Love Jones.” Now
she’s a VP of Casting and Talent at BET, but what I didn’t know is that Robi
has also been venturing into the producing world for over a decade and to her
credit, co-founding this event – which is in its 4th year - is quite
a production.
I was only at the event for the Friday as I couldn’t get out
of my commitments on Saturday, but I have to say how impressed I was with it. Watching
these two black women herald in this cast of angels in the entertainment
industry was quite the undertaking.
Often I feel that many Black events get a bad rap in the entertainment
industry because as people of color, we often fall into stereotypes. The food
is bad or not prepared to our liking, the venue is problematic or not quite up
to the standards of the guests involved, and the notorious CPT or colored
people time pushes the schedule so far behind.
But this was a very well organized event even if information was not
disseminated as easily as it could have been.
Registration tables were staffed by lovely women wearing
black and appropriate attire who sat behind letters that displayed where you
needed to go in line. There was a very nice doorman/greeter waiting for you to
point you in the right direction – thank you Dexter. And the Biltmore Hotel was
a really great venue set downtown. The only thing I might have recommended for
the Friday group is some written suggestions for places (beyond the hotel) to
eat nearby for those who live outside of LA (and those here who never venture
this side of town). Oh yes, and a networking room where folk could hang out and
just meet other people (forgive me if there was one but I did look for it). Consequently,
there were few interruptions by the stereotypes - but God loves them too! - who
often seem to emerge at events like this. I did cast a wary glance at the women
who pounded on the glass doors instead of following the signs to walk around to
the entrance. So perhaps these angels
brought with them a blessing because there were no unfortunate events to be covered
by press.
What really made the difference for this event - and
there truly seemed to be an air of if not religion, spiritualism - was a
culture of connectedness. I need to say that I don’t only mean acts like the
kind prayer with which Michael Elliot opened his excellent workshop on pitching–
and this is not to say that I am at all dismissing such a noble gesture as this;
however, what I am referring to is a sincere warmth and openness between
speakers and attendees. Even though I was only one out of 100’s of attendees, I
still felt that most of the speakers were genuine and sincere in their attempts
to keep it real for people who really want to break through and find themselves
on their way to finding success within the entertainment industry. Even if some
of the panel leaders did not ask the most interesting or thoughtful questions –
please know that I am not talking about the impassioned (and shaming if you had
not seen Sparkle) Debra Langford - all of the speakers seemed to communicate an
atmosphere which expressed that they were not here out of obligation, they were
here because they cared.
Holly came on stage when she was introducing the
trailblazing Suzanne de Passe and shared personal anecdotes about some of the
lessons she had learned, but I did not have the chance to hear Robi speak. I am
still damning myself for missing her Making of A Dream panel that was at 8:30AM–
ouch! But I remember the person who sat on the stage at LA IMIS and candidly
shared how all her success still prevented her from being able to be the best
casting director she wanted and how being pigeon-holed in the industry had
really affected her. Robi has a strong voice, but it seems to me she also has a
quiet strength and I could see that as I watched her coordinate an event by
hand – and that is no joke. Being on the phone, putting out fires as they
arise, making sure guests are accommodated and respected is a big deal – I know
because I have been there. Both Holly and Robi seemed to have devoted so much
time, energy, love and spirit to this endeavor because as far as I could see,
they were two black women who were working very, very hard to make a successful
event. That personally meant a lot to me.
I have to say that much of my initial reluctance about going
to the event probably stemmed from my personal resistance to religion. Too many rules and
not enough explanation, too much corruption and not enough understanding, too
much condemnation and not enough listening have really made it hard for me to
follow any institutional religion. For me boundaries are the opposite of
connectedness and yet every religion has them. But I know I am truly a
person of God when I hear someone speak an endearing personal truth and I feel
privileged to hear it. That is when my faith renews, and it feels like I am
reborn every time.
I want to congratulate and thank these two beautiful
life-affirming women of faith for taking the time to create an event
that was not for themselves but for their love of others. I am one of those
people who often wonder why there aren’t more people in the entertainment
industry who want to help others get where they need to go. I don’t really
understand the mentality that ‘if I had to struggle, everyone else should to.’
But I have to also check in with myself and remember that everyone can’t be or
can’t do everything. We are human. But it so uplifts me when we try.
One last note: Although all of the speakers were wonderful,
I want to give special thanks to Tia Brewer and Fonzworth Bentley for
taking the time to mark out specific paths for people to discover more
themselves so they can uncover their artistry. Inspiration is great and
important, but concrete steps help you get there. And to Zola Mashariki who
came even though she was sick and a new mommy with a newborn.
