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I came, I saw, I conquered! I went to Bulgaria with my Young Mayor and Advisor team to spread youth democracy and keep the affiliated links we have in that country strong. I spent a cold miserable week in Eastern Europe, where first of all we stayed in the capital, Sofia, which is full of bright lights, advertising and graffiti – not to mention beautiful women! Then we spent a few days in Gorna, which is a village up in the mountains and also the set of a scary movie! OK, that last bit isn’t true, but what with the isolated woods and odd noises in the night, I was not impressed!
This trip was very significant to me, not least because I came up with an idea along with three of my colleagues that we think is going to be massive for youth politics… but I can’t tell anyone what it is yet in case someone tries to steal it! Let’s just say I am giving it three to four years before I’m shaking Barack Obama’s hand; he is such an inspiration to me, and seeing him win made me feel that anything is possible.
My acting has been hit so hard by financial difficulties that it’s becoming more and more unlikely that I will be able to fulfil my desire to go to America to pursue my acting. However, I am not disheartened because of the next business that I’m working on; I plan to use it as the stepping stone to sort my finances out once and for all. However, if there is anyone out there willing to support me, please stand up! I plan to use my ability as best I can so, whether it’s now or in 10 years time, I'll still work hard to achieve what I desire the most.
As you may have read on my last blog, a friend took me away for my birthday; now that I am back in London I have been very busy with the Young Mayor and Advisor team, working on our conference for the young people of Lewisham. We have also been voting for the next new Young Mayor of Lewisham, and many schools have had their polling stations filled with young people, getting their votes in. I was at a school called St Dunstan’s, who have two candidates representing their school. The candidates have had the opportunity to speak about their manifesto – what they would bring to the table as a Young Mayor. Soon I will be counting all the votes and announcing the new Young Mayor of Lewisham, which if I was young enough should have been me! It’s something I regret not running for at the time.
I recently went to the Nestlé factory in York to meet some top executives, explaining the importance of healthy eating and the link with the charity 4Children, which is a foundation about healthy eating and being fit led by Anne Longfield OBE. It was a great experience, not least because I had the pleasure of tasting chocolate, but there was too much – makes me wonder how people can work at the factory for a living!
As you might well know I am spending the year generating funds for my course at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. I went to a conference in Waterloo run by the Njoya Foundation, which inspires young black boys to make connections and learn form successful black men. I met a guy called Beyonder who is a multimedia artist and was amazingly helpful. I explained my situation and he made an instant call to a friend called Mark Anderson about the possibility of meeting a woman who would be of great help and advice to me. Fortunately it was Mark’s birthday and the lady was attending, so he invited me to his do to meet her.
The lady in question was Vanessa R Emilen, who is a celebrity marketing director. She advised me on what I should be doing from now until when I go to New York, explaining that I need to make connections, have a good American accent and generally be prepared, because there have been a lot of knock-backs to black British actors trying to make it in the United States. However, while I understand that there is talent among older, black British actors, I don't think the time was right then – I do think the time is right now, as we are showing our dominance in Hollywood by winning Oscars and forever being up for nomination.
I am more positive on my outlook for the future because Beyonder was so helpful to me – he even offered to interview me for his website when it’s finished, as he has a page on future talent. I will talk about that more in my blogs to come!
Yesterday was my birthday! I'm 20 now and it feels a bit weird not being a teenager anymore! I had an interview with The Voice - which calls itself Britain's best black newspaper - to print a story about my achievement on getting into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. It was a good experience; the story was published on 8 September and has a photo of me and my story. As you will see if you pick it up, I was having a bad hair day!
My work with the Young Advisors is going well. I have a plan to create a children’s theatre show for all the primary schools and secondary schools in Lewisham, from Years 3 to 8. This is going to be a long procedure, but my fellow Young Advisors and the Young Mayor all support the idea. I have learnt that primary school children are not really taken out to watch theatre, and I feel it’s an experience they all should receive. I want to provide theatre for the kids where they can be free to express themselves and interact with the show and not feel that they have to be quiet because the teachers have said so. I hope to start my production in time for Christmas, as I feel this is a great time to start it, what with that Christmas feeling and the New Year to look forward to.
I have been speaking at a few conferences with MPs and councillors, explaining why I think it's important that they involve young people in politics and how young people hold the key to the future, using the Young Mayors and Young Advisors as a perfect example.
Oh, and there has been slow progress with my filming but I hope to pick it all up in the next few weeks after I come back from a five-day trip in Malaga for my birthday, a friend’s treat! Said friend, Ivanno, is going to get a serious holiday when I make it big!
This week I have been directing my project for MTV. I have decided to call my film “Young People: The hidden truth”. It is about the positive aspects of young people, showing what they are doing with their talents and abilities, as well as their involvement in the community, school and study.
I filmed some people from my Young Mayors group which went really well; it felt good directing the film, deciding on the angles I wanted and what material I needed to go into the film. I feel I'm getting a better understanding and prospective through the eye of the lens. Over the next few weeks I'm going to put the finishing touches to it by filming an old school friend (who is a 100m prospect for the 2012 Olympics) and another friend who is a dancer from my old college, the BRIT School.
I had an amazing meeting about the American academy I want to study at. I was told by Diane (the lady who is helping me with my funding) about a guy she wants me to work with who is a well-known short film director and producer. Ray Winstone and Richard Blackwood are getting involved in his next film, so I was very interested. I was then introduced to a guy who teaches out in America and he gave me some advice and said having this year out is a bonus because I can use it to my advantage to get ahead in preparation for going to New York next year.
I'm making a book full of characters to take with me to America. I'm going to watch and study films and actors to gain further knowledge and understanding, and try to further myself in creating my owns style of acting. I'm also going to be observing a lot of people’s behaviour and mannerisms to help create my characters.
Yesterday I went paintballing with my Young Advisor group from lewisham and that was great fun. As I was team captain my team just had to win (because I'm competitive like that) and we did, 4-1 – I was well pleased! At some points I had to go into Rambo mode because people where too scared of being hit, but my aim was deadly and a few people left the place with bruises!
Hey people! I've not long come back from an amazing trip to the Czech Republic. I was out there for 12 days with my Young Mayor's project. We met up with a group in Prague who do similar work to us, as well as a group from Bulgaria. We had the opportunity to have a taste of life and culture in Prague, and we also met up with the British Embassy and other organisations to have meetings discussing various things.
For me this was the third time I been to Prague. It is like a second home to me, the culture, the food, the women... The clubs were great too, although Czech men really can't dance. It’s quite embarrassing actually so I had to show them a few things, but the atmosphere was electric!
Now I'm back I’ve been working on a project for MTV called BOOM, whereby local youth groups can upload videos on the site to be seen by anyone and everyone. I’m making a video about the positive aspects of young people. As we all know, gun, knife and gang crime is highlighted a lot across the media, so I’ve decided to create a video that shows not just the talent that young people have today but also the good things that young people are doing.
Lastly I've had to defer my place at the acting school in New York due to the expense of it all, which is quite annoying. I plan to spend the year generating the funds I need to so I can go out there and do my thing. Anyone want to help? My friends have suggested that I go on Dragons' Den, tell them they can have a cut of my earnings for the first five years when I make it big time! What do you think? Anyway, because I really think I can make something of myself out there in the acting world my financial situation is frustrating because it’s slowing me down. Hopefully next October I will be able to go and make a good impression when I’m out there.
Next week I'll let you know what I’ve been doing, my future plans and whether I get any further with the Dragons' Den plan!
My name Liam Webber, I’m 19 and I live in south-east London. I've just finished my last year at the BRIT School (yes, Amy Winehouse did go there, God help her), in a new year 14 course which involves being in a theatre company.
As a teenager growing up in the borough of Lewisham, I wanted to be involved in bettering my community, so I decided to become a part of a group called the Young Advisors. I have been with them for over four years now and our job is to try to make a difference to young people’s lives in Lewisham. Every year we get a budget of around £25,000 to spend on helping to make an impact to our community. In recent years we have set up band spaces for musicians to have a place where they can make music, created cricket tournaments for the primary schools of the borough and made international links with organisations like ours in other countries.
Czech Republic is one of our closet links and we have been out there for meetings with them. I also especially like the girls there, I didn’t realise how beautiful they were and I enjoy going back every time! I do work as well, don’t get me wrong, but it’s good to mingle and practise my Czech…
I have also been accepted into a drama school in New York called the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA). It’s a very good school for acting and has strong links with TV and film: Danny DeVito, Kim Cattrall, Paul Rudd, Armand Assante all attended. I am in the process of raising my fees; it’s very hard work and draining, because my family (mum and five siblings, well five rugrats really) are not in the best of financial positions, but that hasn’t put me off. Who knows, I could be the first black James Bond!
I have been writing letters to charities and famous people, and I have recently sent out invites to people to come and watch my show and possibly sponsor me if they like the work I have produced. I have this amazing opportunity to further my career in acting and I’m doing my best to make this opportunity a reality.
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