The Dare Dreamer Movement by Julene Fleurmond

The dreams you dream, the ones deeply rooted in you, were placed in you for a reason. Don’t give up rising toward them, don’t let discouragement keep you on the ground. Continue to dream brightly and soar boldly, and the momentum of your efforts will take you airborne…

Dare to live your life with resilience and boldness. For who can live the dreams you’ve dreamed more brilliantly than you?

– Dreamfleur

On January 12, 2010, thousands of lives were lost, buildings destroyed and many injured and in desperate need of aid after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the small nation of Haiti. I want to encourage you to both pray and send your support to help those affected. This news is very close to my heart as a Haitian American, as I have several family members there and I know many others feeling helpless and trying to make sense out of confusion. Let’s continue pray for peace in the hearts that are hurting and put action and love behind our faith.

How You Can Help:

Visit A Home in Haiti for information on how you can help build schools and orphanages in Haiti. Currently they are doing their first construction project – “the largest home and school for severely disabled orphans with cerebral palsy, autism, and more in all of Haiti.” Watch the video below chronicling some of their recent work:

For all you aspiring screenwriters out there, here’s an opportunity that can give you hands-on experience in writing for television, the Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship Program. The submission period is between January 2, 2010 and February 28, 2010. You can find out more at http://www.nickwriting.com and follow them at http://twitter.com/NickWriting.

I found out about the opportunity late last year entered at the last moment with a spec script for the Nickelodeon show “True Jackson VP”. Though I didn’t win, just the process of writing the script was alot of fun, and a great way to exercise and stretch your writing skills. You can purchase or download a free trial of the software Final Draft to format your script, it really helps to get the layout correct.

About the Fellowship – From the Website

Developed to broaden Nickelodeon’s outreach efforts, the Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship is designed to attract, develop and staff writers with diverse backgrounds and experiences on Nickelodeon Network productions.

Operating in a three-phased structure, the Fellowship provides a salaried position for up to one year and offers hands-on experience writing spec scripts and pitching story ideas in both live action and animation television.

This three-phased structure allows fellows an opportunity to nurture relationships with creators, network executives, line producers, head writers, showrunners and story editors.

As part of their script writing, each fellow will be assigned to an Executive in Charge of Production and have an opportunity to write a spec script for an on-air Nickelodeon show.

In addition, all fellows are integrated into the activities of both the development and production departments. This allows the fellows an opportunity to attend storyboard pitches, notes meetings, records, table reads, show pitches and show tapings, all while being exposed to top creators and key production crews.

I recently posted about Alyson Stoner on my youth site Dreamer ENT. She is 16-years-old and a talented young actress, dancer and singer whose starred in music videos, Disney movies like Camp Rock and shows like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Alyson really strives to motivate other young people to make the most of their lives, and I love this post from her blog where shared some relevant inspiration:

“It pains my heart to see my generation lying around, using their teen years as an excusable “transition-phase” so they can avoid taking on responsibilities before it’s necessary. This period is intended to be the launching pad for our futures! Do you think that the less-than-convicted habits you’re forming and apathetic character you’re developing will magically transform into a successful adulthood without any action taken by you? Friends, we’re setting ourselves up for mediocrity…”

“…Dare to dream. We have an imagination for a reason. Write down your wildest dreams and then create an action plan to make it happen. Stay focused on improving your character and skills (instead of nit-packing others’ flaws) so you’ll be prepared to fly when the opportunity arises. You were created to do amazing things, and I’m not going to let you fail. You are strong. You are valued. You are loved, and you are gifted. Do not waste your life…”

That’s some great and powerful advice for even adults! You can read the full blog post on her official website by clicking here.

Here’s a video of Alyson talking about her vision for her music, and how she looks up to artists like India Arie, Stevie Wonder and others who have substance and passion in their music. This motivated young lady is really grounded and inspiring.

Have you seen Disney’s newest film the The Princess and the Frog yet? I love how the movie inspires young people, but especially represents a breakthrough of role models for African American girls.

Check out these interviews of Anika Noni Rose, who plays ‘Princess Tiana’, and hear what she thinks about the film and her role:

“…I think that the heart of the film is the thought that you should always follow your dreams, always. Whatever it is that your heart most wants and makes your pulse race faster- when you find it go for it…”

– Anika Noni Rose, who plays the Princess Tiana in Disney’s the The Princess and the Frog

Anika is a wonderful actress who has appeared on both Broadway and in films like Dream Girls. She says she also always wanted to play a Disney character. Here’s what she told young journalist Chris Yandek about her childhood dream in a recent interview (click here to listen):

“I dreamed of being a Disney voice. I did not have the aspirations to be a princess like actively, but I just wanted to be a voice. So I didn’t care if I was a kitten or like a leaf or shoelace. I just wanted to be in a Disney movie so badly from when I was very, very little, I was very – I feel like Disney has sort of been the soundtrack to my life. I can remember points in my life in the movies that are with that time or a situation or how I felt in the theater. Fantasia was my first movie…”
– Anika Noni Rose

Check out the cool videos below that give a behind the scenes look at Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation and more:
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