My American Black Film Experience 2022 #ABFF
My ABFF EXPERIENCE 2022
Never in a million years did I think I would sit across the room and listen to Tri-Star’s President, Nicole Brown, or talk to Emmy-nominee CJ Faison, be a part of an intimate setting with Devon Franklin and Meryl Johnson, the VP and Digital Marketing for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (the Oscars, people!) Never did I think I could see up-close and personally Kahlana Barfield Brown (Beauty Expert), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball), Rikki Hughes (please google her, please), and Issa Rae. I walked up to Stacy Ike like she was my homegirl and vibed in the audience with Scott Evans from Access Hollywood.
Man…my experience at the American Black Film Festival was life-changing! But what made my experience, even more, life-changing was that I found my tribe. Everyone that I talked to was like-minded from the moment I walked into registration, to my last day driving to the airport. Y’all…I even have a new bestie. Like for real, who says that at 41 years old….hahahaha! But this girl will be in my life for a lifetime. Aggie – that’s her name. We hung out and challenged each other every moment we stood together, and we went mostly everywhere together. (Anytime you meet someone who listens to and read Myles Munroe’s books…they are a keeper).
New friend alert. Aggie came to my hotel room to make sure I go.
I betta put this pic up on the blog before she gets mad at me for the pic above… :)
There is so much to share with you, but I will focus on three things that challenged and changed me.
Susan Kelechi Watson (Beth from This is Us). From the Writers Room -Eboni Freeman (Black writer From the show) and Christiana Hooks (Black Producer from the show). We couldn’t take pics till the end so …the fight to get a good pic was real.
1) Get in the room. I remember thinking about buying the ticket. It wasn’t a cheap ticket. I had no one to go with when I purchased it, but it was a place that I could only imagine would be good for me since my goal is to build a digital media platform for girls struggling with body image (and to prevent body image). Buying the ticket got me in the room with industry people which granted me access to knowledge, revolutionary relationships, and exposure to a whole new world that I didn’t even know existed. Being originally from Mississippi, I remember thinking there has to be more. The ABFF experience taught me that opportunities are available all around you, but to receive access to it, you got to get in the room. I would have never gained the knowledge if I never bought the ticket. Many of the celebrities spoke about this as well. S/O to my twin sister for confirming this truth to me when I returned. She was supposed to go and thought I would be mad if she didn’t. Unafraid, I traveled to Miami Beach by myself to enjoy the conference and enjoy I did.
2) Embrace the room. By day three, my new friend, Aggie, made me go to the comedy show that started at 10 pm. If you know me, I go to bed at 8:47 pm. Yeah. Don’t judge me. I get up at 3ish am or 4 am to work on my dream before going to work. It’s a habit. Today, I got up at 2 am. Ha! I was that inspired to work coming from this trip. Going to bed early has its benefits. However, at the conference, going to bed early was and a no, no. Chilee….Aggie came to my room around 8ish pm and said, we’re going. So, I took a quick nap while she worked from her computer, and we left at 9:30 pm. The show was great, but it was what happened after the show that stood out. The auditorium was crowded. I walked out fast through the crowd when the show was over and headed quickly to the car, Aggie said, “Stop…stand still. Embrace the moment. This is the one time everyone who registered for the conference is in the room.” She was right. With so many events going on throughout the day, they had options on top of options. I stood still. In less than 2 minutes of standing still by her, people started walking up to her. This was her third year attending. She introduced me and they introduced their friends and then bystanders overheard us and joined the conversations. I embraced the moment and met some of the most amazing people on earth. I laughed, I listened. I learned. My only regret from that night is that she invited me to an after-party…it was around 1 am. Everyone outside was going, but I declined. I was like …Nah. My body was saying…hey…why are you still walking around. Get me in the bed. I found out later the next day that the after-party was at the W Hotel. I thought that they were saying go to a gloomy club. (They are all a little younger than me, so maybe I just assumed). I told Aggie later that next day, “Girl, I would have gone to that! I thought you mentioned club.” The W is where the industry people stayed and man….I’m still mad at myself. Dang, did I miss meeting my next hubby? Ha! But I learned the lesson to not just be in the room, but embrace the room. I can’t wait to see many of them again. I’m telling you all, with them, the world will be alright!
3) Be Yourself in the Room. I’m truly a serious person and my dreams are big. I saw a post that said in this for a decade. That’s so me – my dreams may take a while as I build and getting that understanding is me finally getting me. I’m that girl that likes to reflect, thinks, discuss, draw a plan of action and go for it. Heck, I do it for work, why not for me? With that said, my vision became clearer while being there. Many know that my company made the decision to build off of social media. It sounds crazy now and it may seem unreasonable, but we built the plan of action. One day all will see it because we have the footage of building. (insert wink). While at the conference, I noticed that everybody that was somebody is building or built from social media. Not all, but many. And to share contacts, it was mostly about asking “what’s your IG handle?” Several speakers talked about, preached about, encouraged and spoke on the new wave of social media. At one moment, I questioned if I was making the right move. After a few sessions, I sat with my new like-minded friend, Aggie. I mentioned to her my why of building off of social media and the plan in place to expand. (Be careful who you talk to when you’re going through an idk stage). When I shared with her my entire concept, her reaction was favorable. She got it right away. (See, this is why she is now a producer for my biggest project.) I gained my resolve back. I’m able to take the knowledge that I learned and still build within my realm. My dad once told me that when you go to the store, you don’t buy everything, you only take what’s needed and the things that you want. That’s what I did for the conference. I stayed true to my vision. Michael Ealy made mentioned that he was crazy enough to believe in himself. Another actor spoke on this as well. That resonated with me. I’m crazy enough to believe in my dream and that I don’t have to build it like others. I’m crazy enough to believe that I can disrupt the beauty industry by building an inner beauty industry all while staying true to who I am.
The Bel Air’s cast. Mr Scott, the moderator, did his thang! Coco Brown spoke on dark-skin beauty. Me - second row SCREAMING!
THE PROUD FAMILY SCREENING. Kyla Pratt, and JoMarie Payton (Harriet from Family Matters) I didn’t know she was Suga Mama. Don’t judge me. Listen…Jo Maria sung to us. Told us to BELIEVE!
Malinda (from Soul Food - BIRD) hosted this one. She did good. Who were the leading men? See next pic.
If you were there, you already know. OMG! hmmmm….again, the host held it down because…yeah…(for those who were there).
Guess what….I went out one night! Great people
When I finish posting this blog, I’m going to email ABFF to simply thank them. Now I’ve emailed about my complaints while I was there (because nothing is perfect), so it’s only fair to say thanks for the amazing experience. But just in case someone from the conference reads this…I just want to say “thank you to Jeff and Nicole Friday” for moving forward with your vision. Because of your obedience to your purpose and calling, I can produce mine in excellence.
This experience was amazing! Onward and upward. See you in 2023.
XOXO Chara