it’s 1993 I’m at a juvenile detention
facility in Highland Park called
optimist youth home I’m about to teach a
screenwriting workshop to 30 teenage
boys I’m a little nervous
these kids are locked up for rape
assault and attempted murder class
starts off pretty smoothly
the boys are into the story which is
about two rival gang members that end up
at the same detention camp one of them
is black and the other Latino the boys
are trying to impress me by showing off
their bullet wounds before we break for
dinner
I suggest that the story should have a
happy ending as powerful latino gang
leader protests spouting profanity we
would never do that we would fight to
the death we break for dinner
my friend Wanda Patterson who got me
through all the red tape so that i could
teach there reminds me that this should
be the kids story and I shouldn’t be
imposing my own goals I realized that
she’s absolutely right so when we return
for dinner I tell the kids hey you’re
going to have it exactly the way you
want it the story’s going to end just
the way you want it but it’s too late
Ricardo the tough gang leader and his
friends have boycotted my workshop and
none of them returned flashback exterior
Costa Rican jungle I’m working as a
script supervisor on a movie and one of
the most lush jungles in Costa Rica
surrounded by pristine beaches and
terrified of all the gigantic spiders
freaking out I’m writing detailed notes
for the editor and I remind an actor
that the gun should be in his left hand
and not his right hand I feel bored
exposition I’ve led an amazing life I
got to travel all over the world living
in exotic locations working with movie
stars and famous directors as a script
supervisor movies aren’t shot in
chronological order the way you see them
so for instance we might shoot all of
the scenes in
restaurant during one day then it’s up
to the editor to cut them throughout
different times in the story it’s the
script supervisors job to make sure that
all the continuity matches so we are in
charge of all the continuity to make
sure that when you watch it you don’t
see something like a glass of water with
one moment it’s half-full in the next
minute it’s full all of those little
details we also run lines with the
actors and we remind the director of any
shots they may need now I had this
phenomenal job and I loved it and I got
to live in exotic places for months at a
time like Russia and Argentina working
with Sean Connery Gregory Peck Julia
Roberts and many other people but you
know after 20 years I became frustrated
I began to feel like this job was not my
highest calling and these feelings began
to grow on me because over a period of
time I became burned-out it didn’t seem
so important of whether an actress’s
button on her shirt should be open or
closed I needed to make a bigger
flashback exterior streets of East LA
I’m working on a movie called my family
it’s Tuesday night at 3 in the morning
there are two brothers ages 8 and 11
hanging out with the film crew I’m
shocked I say where are your parents the
eight-year-old says I don’t know where
my mother is
and my father he don’t give a bleep I
just can’t believe this so I do some
research I discovered that not only is
Los Angeles one of the wealthiest and
most glamorous cities in the world we
have one of the highest poverty rates in
the nation we have 45,000 gang members
living in our city and did you know that
LA has more homeless children and foster
kids than anywhere else in the entire
country I call these kids that Forgotten
children because they’re tucked away in
shelters foster group homes jails mental
health clinics under the radar of the
public eye I had to do something
position I grew up in a wonderful
suburban neighborhood in Long Island New
York
and my parents were terrific they gave
me everything I needed including putting
me through college at Boston University
I was so grateful for their love and
support and so I felt compelled to pay
this forward and the memory of these two
brothers in the middle of the night kept
haunting me now I’m also a writer I’ve
been writing since I was seven years old
and screenwriting is especially my
passion I’ve written more than 20
screenplays a couple of them have been
produced with named actors and I’ve had
a number of my scripts optioned so
that’s when I came up with the story
about the two rival gang members ending
up at the same detention camp I called
all the different probation facilities
in LA County and I volunteered to teach
my screenwriting workshop none of the
probation officers ever got back to me
they just ignored me now in 1992 some of
you may remember we had the riots and
our city was in chaos and a number of
people wanted to help and make a
difference
so I joined a volunteer group and that’s
where I met my friend Wanda Patterson
remember the woman who got me through
the red tape an optimist back to
interior optimist Youth home my class is
moving along but I’m crushed because
Ricardo and his friends never returned I
feel like a total failure because I’ve
let them down so I reach out to Edward
James Olmos his company some of you may
know him he’s a huge star you started
and Stand and Deliver in many other
films and I’d worked on two movies with
him they sent over an actor named Danny
Harrow to visit my workshop Ricardo and
his friends immediately returned
especially when they find out that the
script is going to end exactly the way
they want it the two gang leaders do
kill each other but I had a bittersweet
epilogue where their two younger
brothers bring some hope by playing
together we do a final read-through of
the screenplay and I noticed that some
of these tough gang members are trying
to fight their tears many of these kids
have learned to read and write through
my workshop
a number of them want to return to
school and even applied to college as
for Ricardo he has gang tattoos removed
from his neck in his hand I’m so pumped
up I can’t believe I made a difference
in these kids lives and I’m hooked I got
to do it again so based on my success
I’m able to teach a second screen
writing workshop this time at a co-ed
detention center in the valley and I get
the same results I share my story and
experiences with another screenwriter
she calls me the next week and she says
my professor Leslie Stevens that the
American Film Institute wants to give
you $5,000 to start a nonprofit
organization I don’t even know what a
non-profit is because the entertainment
industry is definitely for-profit but
I’m so excited and intrigued by this so
in 1996 I become the founder and
executive director of create now the
name stands for the fact that creativity
is crucial for our world otherwise our
lives would be so bleak and colorless
and all we have is the present moment
because the past is behind us and who
knows what the future is going to bring
all we have is now that was 20 years ago
and create now has served 37,000 youth
it’s so exhilarating to me and I would
much rather be doing this than working
in as a script supervisor what create
now does is we provide arts mentoring
and education to thousands of kids that
are in trouble or at risk throughout
Southern California we match writers
artists musicians and dancers to
implement arts programs many people ask
why the arts well studies have shown
that the arts increase our brain neurons
in addition they motivate kids to stay
in school did you know that 50% of our
inner-city youth drop out every year the
arts also accelerate test results and
they’re incredibly therapeutic they
reduce anxiety and they increase
confidence in self-esteem and Los
Angeles is the arts capital of the world
we generate almost a million jobs a year
in the arts yay give ourselves a hand so
not only are we helping these children
to heal and to express themselves were
also helping them to get out of poverty
we had many success stories so cut to
Frank Trujillo Frank grew up in the
foster system and he was on probation
for gang activity his passion was to
play the saxophone we were able to give
him a one-hour lesson with Michael
Lynton
who’s one of the top jazz saxophonists
in the world after that class Frank
joined Compton Community College and
he was featured on a national TV show on
Telemundo that happens every year hosted
by Gloria Estefan and he got to perform
with one of the top Mexican bands frank
said that his success was because nobody
especially a man had ever encouraged him
to follow his dreams and be persistent
cut – Tasha Caulfield
Tasha grew up in the Crenshaw district
with a dysfunctional and abusive family
she began running away from home between
the ages of 12 and 15 and she was in
nine different detention centers between
that time she took our TV writing
workshop and bonded with her mentor I
found her to be incredibly bright and
funny and determined so I also mentored
her and I gave her additional resources
as a result Tasha got a scholarship from
Warner Brothers and graduated from USC
that’s not all she’s performed stand-up
comedy all around the country she
produced and directed a feature
documentary about stand-up she’s working
now on her second documentary she’s
published three books written a number
of scripts and she just got her real
estate license
Tasha is actually here with us today so
Tasha would you stand up let’s give her
I’m so incredibly proud of her what I’ve
learned is that while the arts are
impactful it’s really the relationships
that kids form with positive adult role
models through mentoring that makes the
biggest impact just taking a child or a
group of kids to the beach or the park
or Boeing can have a profound effect the
kids just want to be heard and know that
people care now many people think that
mentoring is traditionally one-on-one
mentoring but many of us have busy
schedules and there’s all kinds of
mentoring like team mentoring or family
mentoring and what they’ve also
discovered is that volunteering in
whatever capacity for whatever group you
want to donate your time to has
incredible impact on you it increases
your endorphins it makes you feel good
it improves your health it also improves
your relationships with family neighbors
friends and it ripples out to the whole
community
you know while it was incredibly
exciting for me to travel around the
world with movie stars to exotic
countries getting paid lots of money I
wouldn’t trade it for the world because
it doesn’t hold a candle to the work
that I have done through create now to
touch all of these children’s lives I
have to pinch myself sometimes and there
have been many times when I almost gave
up but I couldn’t I couldn’t I just
couldn’t give up and I encourage each of
you every one of us has something
special to offer what is it that you are
passionate about what is it that you
would do for free because it’s play it’s
not work and when you discover what that
is act on it and if you can help kids
along the way do it
now fade-out thank you so much [Applause]