Yourcinemafilms.com | Filmmaker, youth coach and campaigner Amani Simpson shares how his films and projects have impacted people’s lives and being pushed into writing during lockdown for his latest film ‘Save Me’
Are you ready for the truth? | Yourcinemafilms.com
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Are you ready for the truth? | Yourcinemafilms.com
Follow us on socials:
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00:00 Now everyone's making it in film and TV, but we don't really know how.
00:05 Here we uncover the truth.
00:07 Welcome to the Your Cinema Podcast.
00:09 Welcome to the Your Cinema Podcast this week where we explore the truth about film, TV, theatre
00:18 and hear it directly from those who are smashing it in their areas.
00:22 This week we've got an award-winning filmmaker, youth coach, campaigner, activist.
00:29 He's the CEO of Aviard Inspires.
00:32 He's been featured on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Guardian, Bloomberg, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:39 He's an all-round great guy, inspiration, very supportive individual.
00:46 I know he's helped myself just with some other things outside of this.
00:51 I introduce to you guys and present to others Armani Simpson.
00:57 What's going on, bro?
00:58 Thank you, my brother. How are you, man?
01:00 I'm good. I'm good. I'm good.
01:02 And I'm super happy to have you on the pod this week.
01:07 I'm going to go straight in, right?
01:10 And I think what's amazing about you and your story and your journey, right, is your success has been phenomenal.
01:20 You know, like when people plan and they're so excited about a new project or something they're going to do
01:26 and they're like, yeah, cool, I'm going to put this out.
01:28 It's going to get a million views and then I'm going to go here and then I'm going to go there.
01:31 And you're like, okay, maybe you haven't really thought about it.
01:35 But your story has literally been that, that ideal plan, right?
01:41 And I wanted to know, like, how has the past four years been for you?
01:47 That's a great question, Ro.
01:51 How have they been?
01:53 It's been mind-blowing, man. It's been mind-blowing.
01:55 It's been very humbling, very revealing as well.
02:01 You know, it's taught me a lot about myself.
02:04 It's taught me a lot about my trauma and how I deal with things and what I want to do in the world
02:09 and, you know, why I was essentially chosen to do this work.
02:13 And so, yeah, it's been a journey, man. It's been a journey.
02:17 I'm in the best place I've ever been in my life.
02:22 Yeah, just, I could sit here, I could probably do a whole podcast about the blessings that I've had over the last few years, man.
02:31 And I'm sure we'll unpack some, so yeah.
02:33 Wow. Do you know what?
02:35 You have given an answer that I didn't expect, right?
02:39 You almost said, part of what you said was the opposite to what it can look like on the socials, right?
02:52 And the two words that stuck out to me, you said humble.
02:56 You've been humbled and it's been quite revealing.
03:00 Yeah.
03:01 Could you unpack that a little bit?
03:04 Yeah, 100%.
03:05 With the humbling, I think what it's done is that it's, number one, it showed me the glory of God, bro.
03:12 You know, I'm a man of faith and, you know, I pray hard, bro. Pray hard, man.
03:16 Like I live by the saying, pray like it's up to God and work like it's up to you.
03:20 And God has not let me down.
03:22 So I put work in and I just get through balls left, right and centre.
03:27 And like, you know, I'm a top goal scorer by God's grace.
03:29 You know what I'm saying?
03:30 I think it's humbling as well to just see how your work is affecting other people.
03:38 And not just, oh yeah, I liked your thing, I liked it.
03:42 It's actually like meeting people that are saying because of your intervention, because of hearing your story, because of your film, because of the project that you did, you've actually set my life on a different pathway.
03:53 That is a different feeling.
03:56 Like we did a, I do a project with Goldman Sachs and Hogan Lovells and Mentivity called the Armani Project, an employability project with black teenagers in need of a second chance.
04:06 And we just finished it last week.
04:08 We finished the second cohort and we gave them a chance to all speak about how the project had affected them.
04:14 And it was, I was near to tears, man, because you've got these young people that are just saying that without the space that myself and my team have created, they could have been dead in jail, you know, physically, like six months before meeting us.
04:27 That's where they would have been.
04:28 And we've given them a sense of hope.
04:30 Like that's, it's a game changer.
04:32 And then revealing, because I think also it's taught me a lot about how I, how I operate.
04:38 So I was a young man that was bullied in school and I didn't have great friendships when I was growing up.
04:43 I had some people around me, but I probably struggled to maintain really authentic and, and, and equal backwards and forwards in terms of energy friendships.
04:54 A lot of the time I give a lot.
04:56 And what it's done for me is with this new sense of achievement and new sense of fame or success or whatever you want to call it.
05:03 It's made me reflect on whether or not it's ego that I'm doing all this for.
05:10 And it's made me really do work.
05:12 I've done my therapy around it.
05:13 And of course, it's nice to hear people praise you when you haven't lived a life where people have praised you a lot for the stuff that you do.
05:20 But then, you know, do you go into places expecting that?
05:24 Or do you, you know, are you going into a place where it's now about, yeah, look at me and look at the work I'm doing?
05:30 Or is it like, literally, as I always say, is it by God's grace that I'm here?
05:33 So it's definitely revealed a lot about me.
05:36 And I think probably in the earlier years, there was moments where I really struggled with being more extrovert than I naturally am.
05:43 I'm more of an introvert.
05:44 And so being out there and exposed and telling people your story, again, it made me just build a sense of self-awareness.
05:51 So, yeah, humbling and revealing is, that's what I would say, my bro.
05:56 - Man, I love that so much.
05:58 Wow.
05:59 This is amazing.
06:00 And you know what, thanks for your vulnerability in terms of, like, revealing that because we, the things that you spoke about were the internal things that you were dealing with.
06:13 But when you see someone doing well and you want their success to continue and you're celebrating them and you're giving them all the adulation as we all have, you don't realize what's going on on the inside.
06:29 And like, how can you, do you know what I mean?
06:31 - Yeah, because, no, no, thank you for the space.
06:35 Because ultimately when you meet people, you always put your best foot forward.
06:38 You know, how are you doing?
06:39 Yeah, bro, man's all right.
06:40 You know, yeah, I'm trying to be like you fam, all of that stuff.
06:43 But I always try and give space to, like, to be honest and say, yeah, no, today's a bit difficult.
06:48 Obviously, you can't tell everyone your business, but we're trusted people.
06:52 I definitely am open to being, you know, to being vulnerable, at least enough for you to see that today's not the best day.
06:58 Maybe not tell you the detail and vice versa to do that for people when I meet them, because maybe I'm the kindest face they've seen today.
07:04 And in that space, maybe they needed me to give them a sense of encouragement.
07:08 So I just walk through life trying to serve people and obviously not letting people take you for an idiot, because that's not how we deal with the things over here.
07:16 But, you know, it's that service mentality with a little bit of street smart and you can't run rings around me type of thing.
07:24 You know what I'm saying? A good balance.
07:27 I love that, right, because there's this, like what you mentioned, right, is definitely part of, like, the social conversation around being honest and mental health.
07:40 Where it's like, oh, it's when people when people meet each other and they say, oh, yeah, cool, I'm doing all right.
07:47 But then it's like, but are you? But then I think what and I mentioned this on another pod with someone, right, where it was CJ Beckford.
07:57 He explained and did he had that amazing balance that you have, right, of not sharing, like the whole thing of like, ah, this is what happened.
08:12 Also, like being able to say, you know what, I've had better days or whichever, like just that balance of being vulnerable, but also wearing a mask,
08:25 which I find amazing because, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's yeah, I just find it amazing.
08:29 It takes it takes it takes practice and intentionality.
08:32 And yeah, ultimately, I have to be aware of myself and I have to be kind to myself in the process of being kind to other people,
08:40 because we sometimes put everyone else first and forget about us and being poured into.
08:45 So, you know, I can't pour out into people unless I'm pouring from a full cup or a cup that is constantly being replenished.
08:51 And that comes from lots of different things. But I definitely have to prioritise my mental health and my well-being because I give a lot to the world.
08:59 And I'm always going to give a lot. But if I don't safeguard myself and, you know, the things that I love, you know,
09:06 the world will chew you up and spit you out and then, you know, say you didn't do enough. And I'm not on that.
09:11 So, oh, man, this is a therapy session. I love this. I love this.
09:17 You know, so we're speaking of a day. Right. And I know like you started off in in property and what you're doing now is completely like not property, let's say.
09:30 Yeah. Anyway, what what made you take the leap into into this side of things?
09:37 It was. It was the promise I made in the back of the ambulance.
09:41 So when I got stabbed, for those that maybe don't know my film, my story, sorry, I got stabbed when I was 21 and had a near death experience.
09:51 I spoke to God in the back of an ambulance and just said, if you give me another chance, I'm going to live for you and steer young people away from darkness.
09:58 And since then, been made into a film, which is what you were speaking about before a few years ago, made that with Javan Waig and did really well.
10:05 But ultimately, prior to that and leading up to that, I was working in property and I was away from that promise.
10:11 And I was probably a bit more insular in the way that I was.
10:16 I was navigating the world. And then a young person walked past my office and it's someone I had some kind of interactions with because his school was around the corner.
10:25 So him and his boys used to come and hail us in the morning. But this day, he had his hood up.
10:30 And I just remember seeing him out of the corner of my eye when I was on the phone to a client and something in my spirit just said, go and talk to him.
10:36 And do you know what? Ultimately, the reason I'm here now is because of obedience, bro.
10:40 I'm going to be honest with you. Whenever I hear, and they say when the spirit moves, when you get that little prompt, when you're conscious,
10:48 or, you know, I believe it's the Holy Spirit and God, like when I get that prompt, it just moves me to do something.
10:54 And I just felt moved to go and talk to him. And I just ran out to the shop and just engaged him.
10:59 And he just said he'd been expelled from sixth form. He didn't know what he was going to do. He was really disappointed in himself.
11:04 And I was in a position to give him work experience. Right. And I just I didn't even think about it.
11:10 Just the words came out of my mouth before I even thought about the logistics of it.
11:13 And I just said, do you want some work experience? And, you know, have you got a suit? Have you got a laptop?
11:18 Do you know anything about property? And just seeing the way that he lit up at the sense that someone had given him a second chance,
11:24 took me back to what my original mentor Fusion did for me when I was 16.
11:30 And so being able to pay that forward and then spending more time around young people and volunteering and working with other organisations.
11:38 Yeah, it just it just helped me to see that this is something I want to do full time because making money for rich people is not fulfilling.
11:46 It's not fulfilling. You're a component of their success in the sense of like you're replaceable.
11:55 Do you know what I'm saying? You're not you're not integral to what they do.
11:58 I'm an estate agent. And as I was saying to you the other day, there's hundreds of thousands of estate agents.
12:02 There's probably about 10 on most high streets. Right. So if I don't do the job, they'll just go to somebody else.
12:09 Whereas I am the only person in some cases that has given a young person a second chance or given them the attention
12:15 or given them that sense of hope. That to me is a very, very big responsibility.
12:22 And so to be able to live my life and do that full time and to make a service and a business out of that is important because,
12:29 you know, it allows me to be sustainable and not have to constantly rely on grant funding or all of these different things.
12:35 And, you know, you just have different ways of of of making an impact.
12:39 And this is just the way that I've chosen. You know what I'm saying? I love that.
12:45 So you've you've you know, you've had that prompting. The Holy Spirit has told you, you know, go and speak to that that young person.
12:52 And through, I guess, continuing to follow follow those steps, you landed in this amazing opportunity and situation to create a film.
13:04 Yeah. With people who you have a decent footprint. Right. And the films come out.
13:11 So when Armani first came out. Right. What was what was the impact that you saw?
13:18 Because I know you're very big on that. So, yeah. What was the impact that you saw?
13:24 I think firstly, it was a new narrative around knife crime.
13:29 I think a lot of the knife crime films that had come up before that were maybe a bit more from.
13:35 I don't know. I just I just think it was different. I think this was maybe it was a bit more from the angle of the person that is on paper, the perpetrator.
13:42 Even though I believe everybody in the situation is most likely a victim.
13:46 But this one was specific from my perspective as the person that had been stabbed.
13:51 And it was very much spoken word speaking about my pain, my my my sense of like, you know, my lack of feeling like I'd achieved anything and, you know, crying out for help.
14:03 And I think that related to a lot of different people at different stages in their life.
14:08 I think also the fact that, you know, it's a prayer. I think sometimes people forget that it's a prayer.
14:13 It's a conversation with God where I start off very angry and say, why could you why did you let this happen?
14:19 You know, and then it essentially goes to a place where it's like, no, but I believe in you.
14:23 And I think that's humanity. And I think there's lots of people, a friend of mine, Jacob Ciprio, who is an actor as well, gave me a quote.
14:31 I said at the beginning of the film, and he said, in dark times, every man half believes.
14:36 And that to me is just like exactly what we wanted to put across with the film.
14:41 So I think it's hit people on different levels, filmmakers as well.
14:46 I think Sawyer as an example, a case study of how you can make a film that could go out and not just be online, but actually go and do work in the community.
14:58 So lots of filmmakers reached out to me and were like, hey, can we can we kind of pick your brain on how you have gone and got commissions from the council or gone into schools or done all of these things?
15:09 And so, yeah, it just it was just listen, I wish I could take credit, man.
15:14 I wish I could take credit. First and foremost, you know, God did what he needed to do.
15:18 But then also the people around it. So, you know, your Percy's, your Jovan Wade's, your Purcell Asquots, your Richard Catter's, your Ricardo McCleary Campbell,
15:31 like all of these people, the whole Little Drops, all the production team, everyone else that came around it without those people sitting there, the Million Youth Media team, without all of these people and everyone getting behind it, the film wouldn't have had the impact.
15:45 So I'm just as it's my story, but I'm a component of everybody's success, man.
15:50 This is this is this is all of us. You know what I mean?
15:53 I love that. I love and you know what I love the the the reference to the community that was a part of really putting it together before the community and audience that received it and helped and helped propel it.
16:10 And you know what? So even on that, I forgot, and everybody that crowdfunded, we crowdfunded that movie.
16:15 A lot of people don't know that. So we crowdfunded. I went to churches. I went to youth groups.
16:20 I went to corporate organisations and we said, this is the vision for this film because we didn't have the money at the time to do it.
16:27 There was lots of other components to where we were at as a team and the community got behind the vision.
16:33 So I can't sit here and say this is just me. It wasn't money out of my pocket and I'm deciding to do it.
16:39 I was I was being obedient and then I just executed on what I knew best.
16:44 And the rest is up to what, you know, what God did and what the community did.
16:48 So, yeah, man, that's that's where we're at. That's where we are.
16:51 I love that. I love that. So when when the film came out, right, and you're seeing people react and people are coming up to you and and sharing how it's impacted them.
17:03 Did that open your eyes to something that you didn't realise about how to reach people, especially being on this new trajectory of like, I want to be more involved?
17:14 Yeah, spot on. Like I didn't, bro. I went to an event.
17:23 To find out about social media and that's how I met Jovan.
17:26 I went to an event to work out how because these guys were doing stuff with like the wall,
17:30 they were the wall of comedy and they were doing stuff with Uni Lad and I went to this event to find out how are these guys doing numbers and making Facebook ads work and all of these things.
17:40 I got no idea about that. So it was a completely new world to me.
17:44 And then they did Shairo's story one, two and three and I guess changed the way that people engaged.
17:50 You know, I'd say they pioneered to a certain extent the way that people engage with those types of stories, especially that year.
17:55 That was the biggest series of that 18 months. And then off the back of that, our film came up.
18:02 And so I think there was there was that kind of tailwind of, OK, cool.
18:07 So this Jovan guy that we've seen in Shairo's story, oh, he's playing another film.
18:11 I think there was a number of people that probably were like, Shairo's story four, is it limited?
18:16 And I'll take it. I always laugh. I'll take it. But then what they found was something different.
18:21 And, yeah, essentially it just showed me that when we started to see those numbers, me and Jay, we prayed before it went out.
18:27 And when it started to do numbers, I think it did 100 and something in the first day, 100,000 the first day, then 300,000,
18:34 then like 600,000 or 700,000 and then a million. And we're just sitting there going, brah.
18:41 This is this is unreal. And then to see it become an asset that has obviously sat on the Million Youth Media platform that has loads of other amazing videos.
18:52 And it just keeps accumulating views. Every so often I just go back and be like, oh, my God, we're on two million.
18:56 All my days, like three million. Oh, my gosh. Like literally a couple of weeks ago, four million.
19:00 So, you know, it's just it's just unreal to know that you can create something on such a small budget with so much heart, so much intention.
19:08 And it just gets scaled. I've had American. I've spoken internationally off the bat. It's crazy, bro.
19:14 Listen. Obedience. Obedience, bro. Trust me.
19:22 You know what? It's what what you said is amazing, right? Because you followed you followed what was in your heart and you created from where you were at.
19:35 And that compounded eventually, which I guess is is a great testament to like, you know what?
19:44 You don't have to be at Giovanna Purcell's level to just make your idea.
19:51 Like it can start from wherever and it can travel through pursuing that.
19:57 You might you might end up bumping into a Giovanna Purcell or you might make the project and then it goes like whichever way is whichever way.
20:05 But I love that you were like, look, I didn't know. I just I didn't know how to even like navigate this social media landscape, let alone making content.
20:15 I was just I need to make get this idea or I need to be in this space and I need to start somewhere.
20:22 I love the fact that you started somewhere and it's ended up here.
20:27 100% bro. I remember the conversation we had that that tipped it and made this happen is that Giovanna had just got the job that I guess he's been doing for the last few years in America as Cyborg in Doom Patrol.
20:40 And we were just so amazed and so proud of him.
20:44 And then it suddenly dawned on us that he's probably going to go to America and not come back.
20:48 And I remember I remember sitting in a meeting with him and Percy and he was just like, lads, if we don't do this now, it's not going to happen.
20:56 And I remember the next question. I'm very solution focused. And I said, what what do you need?
21:00 And he said, we need a producer. And I said, what does a producer do?
21:04 And I'm someone that if I probably got a little bit of an addictive personality when it comes to putting my mind to doing something, because I just lock in.
21:11 And once I'm locked in, like it's like it's between me and the other person, you know what I'm saying?
21:18 And and yeah, I just I just researched it.
21:21 And he just said, you need someone like project management and bringing things together.
21:25 And I do that. I've done that. I've done events. I've done network. I've done stuff.
21:29 And I just used all of these skills that I didn't realize. And that's ultimately how I got into film.
21:34 I've never made a film before, man. And brought the people together.
21:38 And again, a whole masterclass could be done on how we made this film and and all of the different things and elements that made it happen.
21:44 And so to then go on and now off the back of that, have written and directed another film like I just can't.
21:51 I there's no my route is not going to be everybody's route.
21:55 And I'm very blessed to be where I am and who I am and have seen the things that I've seen.
22:01 But I feel very blessed that off the back of that situation, the film did so well.
22:07 And then it opened up doors for me to do other things and to do other things on a good level.
22:11 Hopefully, not hopefully, I always do things with excellence. So, you know, that's yeah, man, that's that's it.
22:18 That's it.
22:21 So like and you reference this right transitioning from like a producing role to like write a director on Save Me.
22:29 Yeah. What I guess, why did you make that transition?
22:34 Yeah, I didn't believe I could write Save Me. I think I said that when I when we did when you came to the screen in the other day.
22:41 I didn't believe I could write or direct Save Me. All I was going to do is stay in my zone and my lane and kind of produce it.
22:48 When the when the council came and said we want to make a film, I was going to produce it.
22:52 And even that was probably a stretch because I hadn't really ever done that for anybody else.
22:57 But then lockdown happened and I'd asked someone else to write the script based on my my beats and my notes.
23:06 And it just wasn't landing the way I wanted it to. And I think they just encouraged me and said, why don't you try and write?
23:13 And I was like, oh, yeah, but, you know, it's not really my thing. I didn't really feel confident in doing it.
23:17 But then, yeah, again, that personality kicked in and I bought loads of books, you know, Save the Cat, all of these different books,
23:24 like all of these books to do screenwriting, reached out to some of my people that I'd met, you know, like Ajani,
23:31 obviously Percy and Jovan and all of these different people that I just had been blessed to know and just said, I'm writing this thing.
23:38 Can you guys give me some feedback? And again, it just it just it just happened.
23:44 I just put the work in and then I decided I was going to direct it.
23:47 And I did some master classes and again spoke to other directors, worked out what I needed to do, read loads of books,
23:53 watched loads of interviews. And then I was just like, I'm going to try it.
23:56 And I think that the other person that was really like key and saved me was Ola Christian, who runs LVILLE.
24:02 And Ola was, again, he's one of my brothers, but I guess in the space of being in the industry was a mentor,
24:08 similar to how Jovan was for me and Purcell was for me, because he showed me how to navigate the space.
24:16 And he protected me as my EP and as my casting director. He protected me and he he helped me,
24:21 gave me the tips before we went into rooms or before we went on set.
24:25 Or if I was struggling, there was one day I was really just struggling with some pressure on the final day of shooting.
24:32 And he just pulled me to the side and said, what do you need, bro?
24:35 And I just, yeah, I'm completely. Yeah, just blessed to have a network of love around me.
24:43 And that's a protected space. It's not just any and anybody that can come around what we're doing,
24:48 but those that do, it's love and we do stuff and we challenge and we grow and we move forward.
24:54 So that's what I've got, man. That's what we are.
24:56 I love that, man. This, yeah, this is this. Yeah, this is this is amazing.
25:03 So like your partners, right, in the other projects that you do, they're no joke.
25:10 It's like upper echelon stuff. We've got Goldman Sachs, the Home Office, NCS.
25:17 Like there are loads. And I wanted to know, right,
25:22 like what do you feel is the main reason that the doors have been opened so widely for you?
25:30 Who said the doors have been opened widely for me, bro?
25:33 And this is amazing. It could be misconceptions, but I'm just saying like from the press to the partners that you have,
25:44 it's yeah, it's a lot, man.
25:47 I appreciate that. Do you know what? It's a relationship game, man.
25:50 I'll be honest. It's a relationship game and it's about delivering when you get that fruit ball.
25:54 Listen, the reason why we talk about great strikers, if you want to use the football analogy,
25:58 because they score goals and they keep scoring goals and they're prolific and you can rely on them to score in the times that you need it.
26:05 And I just try and pride myself on being a great striker, a great teammate, you know,
26:09 someone that is able to link up, play if you want to use that football analogy and just get it done.
26:14 And so I think that's who people want to work with. And so I wouldn't say that it's easy.
26:18 It's not like I'm again using the football analogy. It's not like I'm getting call ups to every single game.
26:22 And I still got to work hard in training and show my skill set and show that I'm on it and, you know,
26:30 still waiting for people to reply to emails. But I'm relentless with the pursuit of what I'm trying to do.
26:38 Relentless with it. You know, the fortune is in the follow up.
26:41 I've got systems around me that enable me to follow up with people.
26:44 If I link you at a party or an event and you're like, yeah, here's my email.
26:47 I'm emailing you four or five times until we sit down because that's what I'm on.
26:52 That's how you have to be like. No one's giving you anything. Everyone's busy.
26:55 Everyone's got priority and nobody cares. I'll be honest with you. Everyone's got priorities.
27:00 Nobody cares. No one's waiting for your opportunity. No one's waiting for you to come and change.
27:05 It's not, they're not waiting. It's not that. And I think because I was in sales in property before,
27:11 I realized that if you want it, you've got to go and get it. If you want it, like the closing of a deal is the difference between me and my family eating.
27:21 Like that's, you know, me and my family moving forward, my daughter being able to go to whatever school she wants to go to when she's older.
27:27 My wife being able to, you know, have the freedom to do whatever she wants to do.
27:31 Me having time like I've got to go and get that in the world. No one's waiting to give that to me.
27:36 So, yeah, I just I wouldn't say that the doors are open for me like that.
27:40 I go and you give me a shot, you give me an opportunity, you introduce me to the room. I make the most of that room.
27:45 There's a clip on my Instagram where I interview, I met Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx.
27:51 And I knew that I was going to meet them because Lord Hastings is my patron and mentor and he was doing an event.
27:57 But I prepared. Success is when opportunity meets preparation. Right. And I prepared.
28:02 I knew I was going to meet them. I knew there was going to be a chance to ask questions.
28:05 So I read the room and I look for that perfect moment to ask the question. I was the first out of the gate.
28:10 Put my hand up, ask my question and ask for a picture. Whereas everyone else, they weren't really initially probably going to ask for pictures.
28:16 But I said, I want a picture for my vision board so that when you're in my film, I can show you.
28:20 Remember when we met in Parliament? Remember where we've come from?
28:23 And that boldness is what essentially is is helped me to get to where I am now.
28:28 So, yeah, no one's no one's waiting for me. My reputation is great.
28:31 But lots of people talk about you. Not many people call you and say, hey, bro, here's an opportunity until you've compounded years and years and years.
28:39 And you're the go to guy. But until then, I keep working. And even then I'll still work, bro. You get me?
28:44 So that's that's the mindset. No one cares.
28:48 Oh my days. I love that. That was just the motivational clip in itself.
28:54 You know, the piano music behind it. I love it.
28:59 I mentioned you put in the Michael B. Jordan clip as well, man. That's the one.
29:05 You know what? I love that because it's true. And I love that correction of like, hold on, wait, have the doors been opened?
29:11 Because it's cool. There's favour, but you you're you're taking actions and the favour is following your, like you said, like it's in the follow up.
29:21 Pray like it's up to God and work like it's up to you. Enough people just, oh Lord, open the door.
29:26 I always use the analogy and story of if I'm running for the train and I run late, I'm running late for the train and I've woken up late.
29:33 My alarm's gone off late. Try and know I might leave my house without washing and brushing my teeth.
29:38 Like not not saying this is happening in real life, but as an example, because if I need to get that train,
29:43 I will have breath mints on the way to the station and doing what I need to do to fresh myself up.
29:48 But I need to get that train. But then if I'm not doing everything in my power,
29:51 I can't even access the fact that God might have slowed down the train and given me an extra 30 seconds.
29:57 The amount of train, the amount of times I've just made the train because I've sprinted that last like 100 metres,
30:04 just made it before the door shut and literally the door licked me in my head as I'm going through.
30:09 Right. That's the praying like it's up to God and working like it's up to you.
30:13 And that just is a constant thing. It's not coming to you. No one's waiting.
30:16 It's not going to find you in your house if you want it to happen. Go out and get it. Simple.
30:20 That's my that's my mantra. I love that. I love that.
30:25 So given given like some of the spaces that you're in with like councils and government, etc.
30:33 What do you think is like the biggest misconception about how to solve the issues we see with people across the UK?
30:43 Biggest misconception, I would probably say, is that lots of people try and blame young people.
30:50 I think there's lots of things, but that's the thing that comes to mind straight away.
30:53 Lots of people try and blame young people. Yes, we've all got choices.
30:56 But, you know, as I always say when I do my talks,
31:00 like everyone everyone's got a set of cards that are given to them at the beginning of their life.
31:05 And they're completely at random. No child is asked to be born into poverty or be born into a household of abuse
31:10 or be born into race, race, race, kind of racist environments to be born.
31:18 They don't have those choices. And so when we look at young people, we judge them and we over criminalize them
31:24 and we make it seem like they are completely to blame.
31:28 You have to look at the context. You have to look at the trauma. You have to look at the adverse childhood experiences.
31:33 And again, it's not to make excuses. Everyone has choices.
31:37 But your choices feel a lot more limited when you've got all of those odds stacked against you.
31:42 And when you start seeing people doing robberies or doing certain things or moving in a certain way,
31:46 I don't think there's enough grace, enough love, enough empathy to use them.
31:51 I'll be honest with you. I think a lot of people try and demonize them.
31:54 And ultimately they're growing up in a world that we created as adults and then the adults before us created.
32:01 So I think that's it. And also I think that, you know, someone highlighted to me before
32:06 is that, you know, this is an industry, right?
32:09 There's people that get funded millions, billions of pounds to help solve youth crime and do interventions.
32:16 It's an industry. So there's lots of people that come and act as if they've got the whole solution.
32:20 And so I would say the other thing to that is that this is a joint up approach.
32:24 We need to work with every single person, every agency, every stakeholder around young people,
32:29 including government, including the police, including parents, including schools, including the young people themselves,
32:34 including the industries like music, games, all of these things in order to make sure that the environment is set up for young people to thrive.
32:43 If it's not an authentic wraparound approach and joint up approach,
32:46 then we can't blame young people that fall through the cracks of one element of that thing.
32:50 It has to be a complete circle around them.
32:53 Otherwise, that one little hole in the fence is the thing that they'll find.
32:58 And be like, oh, that looks interesting. And then before you know it, they're on a mad thing.
33:02 So those are the two things, man. That's what I would say.
33:05 I love that. That's yeah, that's such a great analogy, because it's not, I guess if we look at it statistically,
33:12 it's not the majority of young people, people in society that are committing the crimes, etc.
33:19 But there is a minority. And it's like, OK, what what are those those those cracks in terms of like a bottle that's leaking water?
33:29 You've still got the majority of the water, but there's some.
33:32 And yeah, most young people in the UK are law abiding citizens.
33:37 They go to college, they get on with what they're doing.
33:39 I think the stats, obviously, when you're working out what the problem is,
33:42 you focus more on the numbers of what's not working and that gets amplified.
33:48 But we don't celebrate the youths that are just getting on with it.
33:51 How many of us grew up in proximity to crime and violence or grew up with a mad thing in our house that didn't go down that way?
33:58 There's so many of us that made choices that we were going to be productive and we were going to change our lives.
34:04 Like there's a saying that, oh, there's a story again, you know, talking stories.
34:07 And there's there was these two siblings and they grew up with a mum that was on alcohol, alcohol abuse.
34:16 And when they got older, one of the siblings became an alcoholic and the other sibling became a multimillionaire, successful family, very stable, etc.
34:25 They did an interview and they said to the sibling, hey, like, you know, that was an alcoholic.
34:30 Why did you become an alcoholic? Oh, my mum was an alcoholic. What did you expect?
34:33 And they asked the person that had the family and the stability, why didn't you become an alcoholic?
34:38 So my mum was an alcoholic. What did you expect?
34:42 So we have choices. Right. And there's there's there's things that we do.
34:45 But yeah, man, we've got to we've got to give these kids grace, man.
34:49 We've got to work with them and make sure that they have as many opportunities to see different pathways, to try different things.
34:56 And just to be children, you know, we adultify, especially black children.
35:01 We adultify them. We kind of, you know, we just make them grow up so quick.
35:06 But man, bring back the days where, you know, it's just it's just innocence.
35:10 But we can't. The world's too broken for that, man. Kids are growing up too quick nowadays, man.
35:16 You know, I love that. I love that. I've got one final question.
35:21 Yeah. Given the impact that you're making on on the world, on society.
35:27 And I mean that in a genuine way that you can see just from the comments on on on like your work and like your films,
35:33 that people are actually making decisions based off of, you know,
35:39 interacting with your content or less a largely influence, you know, just that small mindset shift that can, you know,
35:49 be a one degree change, but in the long term, it's like a thousand degrees because they continue on that.
35:55 Right. What what changes would you like to see in the media in the future?
36:01 Good question. In an ideal world, in an ideal world, I'd love for all content creators to have some kind of compass,
36:11 if you want to call it moral compass, some kind of compass around what they're putting into the world and who's going to and who's going to engage with that.
36:19 Art is available for everybody. It should be. There shouldn't be filters on art.
36:22 But I think. There's some things that especially young people are being able to consume really, really easily that they shouldn't.
36:31 And I think because people are making money from it and because they're they've made it right and whatever,
36:38 they've turned their life around, they're then kind of profiled as role models.
36:42 But, yeah, I just think I think when you're in that position, especially if you if you have been raised in a particular way and have certain internal.
36:51 Yeah. Reflections, I think I think you could probably work out that some of the stuff I'm saying or promoting is probably not best for this particular audience,
37:00 even though my label, my my studio or whatever wants me to make that I've probably got a duty of care to do something different.
37:09 And I would also say we need new narratives. You know, I'm conscious that that I make at the moment I make films that are about trauma and about,
37:19 you know, the pains that young people have. But obviously all the stuff that I do has got a call to action and it's about starting conversation.
37:26 I think we need narratives that are just about joy. And just about the other nuances of the black experience and the other perspectives that we don't always get to see.
37:39 I'm a massive fan of things like, you know, your Top Boys and your Blue Stories because of the narrative that they bring out in terms of.
37:48 They're humanising the mandem. You know what I'm saying? They're humanising it. It's not just the, you know, oh, yeah, we're just aggressive.
37:55 You're giving us backstory. The challenge that you've got is that those types of things get pushed without a wraparound conversation.
38:03 And I don't think that's that's right to put those up because these are people's realities.
38:07 And there's a lot of people that live in proximity to it that want to emulate that because they think that that's the prevailing narrative.
38:13 But if you were to structure those conversations and give people an opportunity to unpack it and be like, well, but actually, do you want to end up like Sully and Deshaun?
38:22 Do you? No, not really. All right, cool. So here's something else that you can do.
38:27 And I just think and also if it's again, like, you know, I love Bel-Air. Bel-Air, you know, I think is a great show of black excellence.
38:35 People that have gone on to, I mean, there's loads of shows. Bel-Air is a great show for me, family, my wife and kids.
38:42 All of these things that we have the ability to create in our generation. It's not even like, oh, bring back those days.
38:47 Like go and create it. Go and create it. You know, there's enough people that have platform, that have people watching to say, oh, what do you what do you want to do next?
38:57 These are the things that we should bring. And then we as a community need to get behind it because they commission things that sell and get viewership.
39:04 So that's what we need in media. Amen. I love it. Thank you so much, my bro.
39:11 It's a pleasure catching up with you. And I love the work that you're doing and the heart behind it.
39:16 And yeah, man, we're here pushing and supporting you. Thank you. And yeah, big up yourself as well, man.
39:21 I remember when you started and, you know, just to just the intentionality behind what you're doing, you know, equally, you know, I'm excited for the next decade and how it, you know, how the platform becomes a statement platform in the industry.
39:40 You know, giving a particular perspective and asking the questions because, you know, we know, you know, I know a bit of the backstory and I know that it's easier not to do things like this.
39:50 Right. But you're pushing and I look forward to seeing it manifest into whatever you prayed for, my bro. Amen. Thank you, man.
39:57 Amen.
39:58 (upbeat music)
40:00 you