Future Entrepreneur: Storytellers
Date Published: 5/03/2018
Future Entrepreneurs: Let Your Journey Turn You into a Storyteller
“I know my roots and I cannot forget the journey I made.â€
~Maria Sharapova, tennis champion/author
This week we will follow up on a popular post by request. I’ve written about diversity several times with entrepreneurs and writers in mind. We received first-rate feedback on this post and Insta story just before the Oscars with Dr. Andre Aciman and #CMBYN: https://thewishwallfoundation.org/desideri/inspiration-from-oscar-week
I know Alfonzo Words from Twitter and we’ve shared some candid insights on the journey from writer to author, and in placing more value in self-worth. He has an enthusiastic vibe that I think you’ll enjoy:
http://alfonzowords.blogspot.com/2016/07/cover-reveal-shine-through-noise.html
And that’s an excellent point: Enthusiasm can do a lot to carry us through! My wish for you this week is to let your journey turn you into a storyteller from darkness to insight and enthusiasm to light bulb moments. This story has global appeal. Please read on some great characters and an offer for our friends in South Africa (or those able to travel!).
Cheers, Akasha Lin
~~~
Buenos Dias!
Guess who's going to watch a private screening of Love, Simon WITH LASIZWE https://www.instagram.com/lasizwe !!!
This guy! Aaaaannnd! Guess who's coming with me, I've partnered with Phenomenal Media [https://twitter.com/phenom_media] to take some amazing fans and followers with me! :D
I'm giving away two double tickets to come watch Love, Simon with Lasizwe and me on the 5th of May at Rosebank, Mall - The Zone! Popcorn and drinks will be provided! so all you gotta do is rock up there with your bubbly smiles and personalities.
This movie only officially releases in South Africa on the 29th of June, so now's your chance to watch it before everyone else does at this exclusive event with Lasizwe
Here's the Trailer to give you a taste of the awesomeness that will be provided:
Love, Simon Trailer +25M views https://youtu.be/E0cbWdlQg_8
Love, Simon is an upcoming American teen comedy-drama directed by Greg Berlanti and based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The film stars Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Miles Heizer, Keiynan Lonsdale, Logan Miller, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel and Tony Hale. Robinson stars as Simon, a 17-year-old closeted gay high school student forced to balance his friends, his family, his email pen pal Blue, and the boy threatening to reveal his true sexuality to the whole school.
Next, check out the DEEP AF vid I posted with so much feels I just had to share it! It's a scene between Simon and his mom, played by the undeniably talented Jennifer Garner:
BEST. MOM SPEECH. EVER!
Love, Simon | Exhale | Official Clip 2018 +94k views
https://www.facebook.com/Alfonzowords/videos/2012033179062723/
Join our Facebook Group to help support this movie and its release in South Africa
Love, Simon in South Africa
https://www.facebook.com/groups/243706852866447/
If you've seen my social media posts lately you'll Know how much of a fanatic FANTA-tastic fan I've become over this movie. I love the look and feel of it, the characters and storyline premise. I believe it to be a real change agent for this country. It's a fun-loving, family oriented movie that's sure to have you cheering along at the end and super relatable to so many different people for so many different reasons.
To give you a scope of the International LOVE for this movie I asked the fans HOW many times they've watched this in the cinemas already. From the 166 participants and counting, in the survey, the movie has been seen 706 times so far by them with the average of 5 times per person around the world. The highest count watched so far has been around 24-25 times!
Watch the Experience!
Chaz Harris, a Wellington-based filmmaker, writer and co-author of LGBTQ fairytales Promised Land and Maiden Voyage had this to say about the movie:
““THIS IS MY TWILIGHT YOU GUYS!â€
I say Twilight only to illustrate the magnitude of teen angst and butterflies I felt. It’s the closest comparison I can think of to describe the levels of fandom the book awoke within me.
Many are quick to dismiss the calls for more mainstream queer representation in cinema. Detractors often question why something has to be gay/queer, or why it matters. A particularly tone-deaf piece about Love, Simon even questioned if high school teens today even need a movie like this (because nobody hates queer people anymore, right?). Others say: who cares?
Teenage Chaz would’ve cared, teenage Chaz who was called gay and queer in such a way he believed it must be a terrible thing to be and worth running away from. I think I ran all the way to the age of 17 before I finally stopped and came out to myself. Even though I knew in my early teens, it took me that long to finally say the words out loud.
There’s a scene in the movie where Simon can’t even bring himself to say it himself and it nailed so much of what it was like for me. It was just one of many “That’s exactly what it’s like!†moments on screen. I don’t think the power of that can be understated.
For most of my teens, I convinced myself that being gay was a phase. Even worse, the attitudes of my peers made me hope it was. It made me deny what was happening to me – that I liked boys. I was so fraught with angst and denial and trying to distract myself from it all to survive, I never got to experience the kind of high school romance I saw portrayed in movies.
The reason I’m saying all of this is to make it clear why this film is so important – and particularly so for people like me who never got to see one like it when we were teenagers. It’s already had a significant impact in America, giving many young people the courage to come out after its opening weekend. As Simon would say, “It’s a holy freaking huge awesome deal!â€
I’m so much more jazzed up to watch this movie NOW after reading that.
© Enricoh Alfonzo ~ Alfonzo Words
Thank you Enricoh for your enthusiasm, authenticity and offer!
I believe I’ll share news with you and our readers about my next book covers soon. And if I can make it to your event I will.
Cheers & keep shining bright!
Akasha Lin
Akasha Lin Garnier
Author, Branding Expert, Filmmaker
http://www.akashagarnier.com for The Wishwall Foundation
Read more from Future Entrepreneurs:
https://thewishwallfoundation.org/future-entrepreneurs
“I know my roots and I cannot forget the journey I made.â€
~Maria Sharapova, tennis champion/author
This week we will follow up on a popular post by request. I’ve written about diversity several times with entrepreneurs and writers in mind. We received first-rate feedback on this post and Insta story just before the Oscars with Dr. Andre Aciman and #CMBYN: https://thewishwallfoundation.org/desideri/inspiration-from-oscar-week
I know Alfonzo Words from Twitter and we’ve shared some candid insights on the journey from writer to author, and in placing more value in self-worth. He has an enthusiastic vibe that I think you’ll enjoy:
http://alfonzowords.blogspot.com/2016/07/cover-reveal-shine-through-noise.html
And that’s an excellent point: Enthusiasm can do a lot to carry us through! My wish for you this week is to let your journey turn you into a storyteller from darkness to insight and enthusiasm to light bulb moments. This story has global appeal. Please read on some great characters and an offer for our friends in South Africa (or those able to travel!).
Cheers, Akasha Lin
~~~
Buenos Dias!
Guess who's going to watch a private screening of Love, Simon WITH LASIZWE https://www.instagram.com/lasizwe !!!
This guy! Aaaaannnd! Guess who's coming with me, I've partnered with Phenomenal Media [https://twitter.com/phenom_media] to take some amazing fans and followers with me! :D
I'm giving away two double tickets to come watch Love, Simon with Lasizwe and me on the 5th of May at Rosebank, Mall - The Zone! Popcorn and drinks will be provided! so all you gotta do is rock up there with your bubbly smiles and personalities.
This movie only officially releases in South Africa on the 29th of June, so now's your chance to watch it before everyone else does at this exclusive event with Lasizwe
Here's the Trailer to give you a taste of the awesomeness that will be provided:
Love, Simon Trailer +25M views https://youtu.be/E0cbWdlQg_8
Love, Simon is an upcoming American teen comedy-drama directed by Greg Berlanti and based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The film stars Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Miles Heizer, Keiynan Lonsdale, Logan Miller, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel and Tony Hale. Robinson stars as Simon, a 17-year-old closeted gay high school student forced to balance his friends, his family, his email pen pal Blue, and the boy threatening to reveal his true sexuality to the whole school.
Next, check out the DEEP AF vid I posted with so much feels I just had to share it! It's a scene between Simon and his mom, played by the undeniably talented Jennifer Garner:
BEST. MOM SPEECH. EVER!
Love, Simon | Exhale | Official Clip 2018 +94k views
https://www.facebook.com/Alfonzowords/videos/2012033179062723/
Join our Facebook Group to help support this movie and its release in South Africa
Love, Simon in South Africa
https://www.facebook.com/groups/243706852866447/
If you've seen my social media posts lately you'll Know how much of a fanatic FANTA-tastic fan I've become over this movie. I love the look and feel of it, the characters and storyline premise. I believe it to be a real change agent for this country. It's a fun-loving, family oriented movie that's sure to have you cheering along at the end and super relatable to so many different people for so many different reasons.
To give you a scope of the International LOVE for this movie I asked the fans HOW many times they've watched this in the cinemas already. From the 166 participants and counting, in the survey, the movie has been seen 706 times so far by them with the average of 5 times per person around the world. The highest count watched so far has been around 24-25 times!
Watch the Experience!
Chaz Harris, a Wellington-based filmmaker, writer and co-author of LGBTQ fairytales Promised Land and Maiden Voyage had this to say about the movie:
““THIS IS MY TWILIGHT YOU GUYS!â€
I say Twilight only to illustrate the magnitude of teen angst and butterflies I felt. It’s the closest comparison I can think of to describe the levels of fandom the book awoke within me.
Many are quick to dismiss the calls for more mainstream queer representation in cinema. Detractors often question why something has to be gay/queer, or why it matters. A particularly tone-deaf piece about Love, Simon even questioned if high school teens today even need a movie like this (because nobody hates queer people anymore, right?). Others say: who cares?
Teenage Chaz would’ve cared, teenage Chaz who was called gay and queer in such a way he believed it must be a terrible thing to be and worth running away from. I think I ran all the way to the age of 17 before I finally stopped and came out to myself. Even though I knew in my early teens, it took me that long to finally say the words out loud.
There’s a scene in the movie where Simon can’t even bring himself to say it himself and it nailed so much of what it was like for me. It was just one of many “That’s exactly what it’s like!†moments on screen. I don’t think the power of that can be understated.
For most of my teens, I convinced myself that being gay was a phase. Even worse, the attitudes of my peers made me hope it was. It made me deny what was happening to me – that I liked boys. I was so fraught with angst and denial and trying to distract myself from it all to survive, I never got to experience the kind of high school romance I saw portrayed in movies.
The reason I’m saying all of this is to make it clear why this film is so important – and particularly so for people like me who never got to see one like it when we were teenagers. It’s already had a significant impact in America, giving many young people the courage to come out after its opening weekend. As Simon would say, “It’s a holy freaking huge awesome deal!â€
I’m so much more jazzed up to watch this movie NOW after reading that.
© Enricoh Alfonzo ~ Alfonzo Words
Thank you Enricoh for your enthusiasm, authenticity and offer!
I believe I’ll share news with you and our readers about my next book covers soon. And if I can make it to your event I will.
Cheers & keep shining bright!
Akasha Lin
Akasha Lin Garnier
Author, Branding Expert, Filmmaker
http://www.akashagarnier.com for The Wishwall Foundation
Read more from Future Entrepreneurs:
https://thewishwallfoundation.org/future-entrepreneurs
