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“Everyone who is trying to pursue anything, you only get one shot. One opportunity sometimes, you have to make it happen. If you have to call off work, whatever it is, you have to make it happen” —Kamal Smith
COVER STORY
From The Stage To The Screen
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Dez Cortez Positively Dez
Fall Fashion @Styledby_Jo
Shawn Blanchard Relentlessly Changing the Lives of the Youth Don Snipes Getting Out of The Rat Race & Making It Happen
FROM THE EDITOR Fall has arrived and as the leaves age into those rich colors of yellow, brown, orange and autumn greens, so much creative energy cognitively engages me. Colors can be closely associated with creativity because it can put one in an artistic state of mind. Imagine yourself sitting in front of a blank canvas with every shade imaginable, what would you paint? What would you be inspired to construct? How would you want the world to view your masterpiece? Now, visualize that blank canvass being you, every morning you wake up! Envision explosive colors! Bold strokes of genius with every move you make! Splashes with pigments that highlight your highest accomplishments! Maneuver your brush to reflect a perfect picture of your best you, living your best life! Don’t be afraid to be who you are. Don’t be afraid to be your creative self. Trust your inner inhibitions and go forth effortlessly into your destiny. Paint the world with a color of you! This is the Creative Issue of Top Flight Magazine and this time the motivational focus is to encourage you to be the innovative, ingenious, prolific visionary that may be lying dormant. Wake your creative spirit up, just as Kamal Smith did when he decided to tunnel through his imagination to create characters and story-lines for his plays, movies and now the sitcom, “Because We’re Men”. Smith invited two fellow thespians to join him on his artistic journey, Dez Cortez- Crenshaw and Don Snipes, as they chronicle comedic events in the lives of Max, Q and Lance on the show. Take notes from the motivational Youth Services Director for the city of Detroit (and work-out instructor) Shawn Blanchard, as he creates more opportunities for kids and teens. Press forward, with an unyielding force to undertake your difficulties and overcome your obstacles. Mix your passion with your talent and add a pinch of creativity to your formula for success! Don’t remiss to keep a clear mind, which will allow your creative thoughts to flow fluid and free. As your ideas begin to foam about, get a clean sheet of paper so you can write your plans, make them clear and get motivated! Journalistically yours,
Chief Editor Cryss Walker Managing Editor Britney Embry Editorial Director Ryan Whaley Photography Michael Vandiver Contributing Writers Antoine Moore Bria Brown Eric Thompson Leslie Fields DeMario Browning Mohammed Luwemba Art Director Tyrone Owens, Jr.
Cryss Walker Chief Editor @iamtopflight topflightmag@gmail.com
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cre路a路tive (adjective) 1. relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.
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Positively Dez... By: Dasja Thomas
“M
y biggest accomplishments, I would say are being awarded a full athletic scholarship to a Division I university and completing over 10 plays, five movies and a sitcom before 30”, says Dez Cortez. Born and raised in Highland Park, Michigan, Dez Cortez Crenshaw didn’t think acting would be in his future. Football was his passion and he knew football as a career would take him far. He played for the Motor City Jaguars as a kid and U of D Jesuit in high school. Shortly after, he played for the Chippewas at Central Michigan University. Unfortunately, everything changed when he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in college; it slowly ended his dreams to play pro football. With roles in movies like Loud Pack, Why Do Men Cheat, Til Death, and more, Cortez was just starting to get his feet wet. He linked up with up with Kamal Smith (the creator of the MyTv20 sitcom “Because We’re Men”) when he was doing some under-study work in his first play “Love Is”. He made a great impression on Kamal because there after Kamal and Dez made a pack to work together in the future. Kamal kept his promise when he decided to offer Dez Cortez a starring role in his new sitcom, starring Max (Kamal Smith), Lance (Don Snipes) and Q (Dez Cortez). They’re three best friends who live, work and go through life together. Season one of “Because
We’re Men” kicked off September 8, 2013. Although season one went well, it had its glitches here and there and Kamal and the cast wanted more! They decided to try again with a season two with a bigger budget, more guest appearances and more creativity this go ‘round. What makes this sitcom so fresh and different? Well Cortez says, “We don’t have to resort to any negativity or violence, we just want to stay positive and keep our audience laughing”. He loves that he gets to connect with his fans every week, when they allow him in their homes every Sunday. Just knowing that he’s making someone laugh or leaving a positive impact on their life means the world to Cortez and makes all the long days and nights of rehearsal worth wild!
sitcoms of all kinds. He wants to start doing his own independent films as well. Cortez says he has a desire to give actors and actresses a chance to be seen and heard. Although Cortez has been acting for more than 10 years, he is just getting started. At age 31 he is engaged and has four children. From speaking for congress in Washington D.C and accepting the Freedom Works Award, to a PBS documentary on his life, Cortez has and will continue to make a name for himself, impacting lives all over the world! “I want to be known as the super positive, super talented man that dedicated his life to the advancement of other super positive people, my goal is for my family to be comfortable and happy”.
Three years from now, Cortez plans on starring in more movies, improving his skills and traveling to California more to work on bigger projects to create a bigger buzz for himself. Cortez believes that his talent and personality will change “the acting game” all together! He loves Meryl Streep and would love to work with 50 Cent or Idris Elba because of how versatile they are. Although plays are what he enjoys the most (because their live and up close and personal) he wants to be a master of all trades; which includes movies, plays and
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“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” –Edward de Bono
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Fall La! La! Layers, Textures & Tones Styled by Joyce Winston @styledbyjo
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The Creative Mind of Kamal Smith By: Bria Brown
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nventive, original, experimental and clever; these are some attributes you think of when describing someone that’s creative. Being creative is more than having talents such as writing, drawing and designing, but crafting your skills in a way no one has seen before. Marita Cheng once said, “A nation that doesn’t create is forced to just consume. And for the nation that does create, the sky is the limit.” Kamal Smith, known for his hit plays and now for his television show, ‘Because We’re Men’ on TV20 has not only accepted his creative gene but has constructed it to make him successful.
Smith admits when he was younger he imagined he would be in the entertainment industry but for all the wrong reasons, “I didn’t really choose the life of acting, writing and directing it just kind of came out of nowhere to be honest. Originally growing up from the age of 14 to 25 I was pursuing music, I was a singer and still am. When you’re young you’re like, ‘Oh I want to be on TV, I want to be rich, I want to have a Lamborghini,’ and all that stuff. My ambitions and the images in my head, the sky was the limit.” People always hear that phrase ‘the sky is the limit,’ and
me,” said Smith. Because Smith has so many talents, it would seem as though to focus on one, the others would have to take a back seat for a while. Smith doesn’t view it this way but, instead says “It’s about utilizing your gifts in the appropriate time”. It’s what he likes to call ‘The Jamie Foxx Affect.’ “He pretty much went the same route, he used to sing at first, then went to comedy and used comedy to bring back his music. Once something is your heart, you never leave it. I think my stars are aligning in that same realm, I still write music, I still record music, it’s just not
“I didn’t really choose the life of acting, writing and directing it just kind of came out of nowhere to be honest. Originally growing up from the age of 14 to 25 I was pursuing music, I was a singer and still am. When you’re young you’re like, ‘Oh I want to be on TV, I want to be rich, I want to have a Lamborghini,’ and all that stuff. My ambitions and the images in my head, the sky was the limit.” Kamal says that throughout his life, this visionary has always remained humble and attributes that to keeping grounded people around him and his mother has helped with that. “I’m still the same person. I don’t have a choice to be, my mom will still whoop me, literally, if I ever got the big head. There is no point to have an arrogance, this is all just an opportunity given to me and I’m fortunate and I will never take that for granted because this could all change and be gone tomorrow. I’ll definitely never change,” said the mastermind.
don’t realize they are limiting themselves, if you put your all into your craft, the sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning. “What matters to me now is that people love my work and they get something out of it. That’s the most important thing. I’m not sure what level of plateau this is all going to lead me to, but to be on television right here in Detroit and to have people approach me and tell me ‘Hey I love your show man, keep doing your thing,‘ that means a lot to me. So if I can be an inspiration to a city that needs inspiration more than any other city in the United States of America, that’s good enough for
my season for music right now.” In 2009, Smith acted in a play called ‘I Remember Way Back When’ and played a character named, ‘Pops.’ The holiday play generated a lot of buzz and the audience loved Pops, which Smith paid homage to his father with the character’s mannerisms. Jokingly, he and his partners decided to come up with a sitcom and name it ”Pops”. Smith’s mom was even on board with the idea. The ambitious writer knew he was on to something and later birthed the title ‘Because We’re Men’ and began writing episodes for it. “I typically
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feed off of titles, I remember thinking of the title first before I wrote the script.” He also admitted the title answers questions that a lot of women might have about men. “If women could just understand why we do things, there is no reason it’s because we’re men- there is no way to explain things. Women look for a rocket science reason for why we do the dumb things we do. There is no reason. We do it because we’re men.” Smith admits that when the opportunity came to pitch the show, he knew nothing about television. After pitching ‘Because We’re Men’ to a television station felt good to Smith and he believed it was his time. “You know you have to play the whole wait
time. “Everyone who is trying to pursue anything, you only get one shot. One opportunity sometimes, you have to make it happen. If you have to call off work, whatever it is, you have to make it happen” said Smith. After attending the networking event, Smith reveals he wasn’t nervous but was unsure about how to pitch his idea to Bangura. While conversing with Bangura, he was compelled by his inspirational life story. At the end of their conversation, Smith almost forgot why he wanted to speak with Bangura, “You know I was like wow, thanks David it was nice meeting you. I didn’t even pitch my idea, then I said, ‘Wait, wait, wait. No, I was here
through one door but all you need is that one door to open.” To come up with an episode Smith’s writing techniques may seem odd to some, “I write backwards. I know where I want to go.” For instance, this season Smith wanted to capture the holiday season, something he didn’t do in season one. “In every episode there is a message at the end and I’m intentional about that.” With Smith’s writing, he believes everyone can relate to his show because he doesn’t write scenarios too fictional, he keeps that bit of reality. If you stay true to your craft, you grow from it. In season one, ‘Because We’re Men’ was shot in a
“Everything just got bigger, more people believed in the journey and just wanted to be apart. Even the shots we got were different. Season one, you had more wide shots, but again that’s just studying and knowing your craft and understanding television itself.” game, but after so long you just know they aren’t feeling it for whatever reason.” A year or two before this, Lee Thomas, anchor for Fox 2 News gave Smith the title of ‘The Detroit Tyler Perry.’ “To this day I know it’s kind of like an honor but I don’t want to be anybody but me. I don’t want to be the ‘Detroit Tyler Perry’ I want to be the Detroit Kamal Smith. With that in my mind, I didn’t want to do a ‘Madea’ type thing.” Moving forward to 2011, Smith received a call from a good friend who said that David Bangura, president of TV 20, would be at a networking event in Detroit. He knew this was his
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for a reason. ‘So I have this TV show’...”- from there Smith made sure to keep in contact with Bangura. “I had to make sure he knew who I was.” At the time, slots weren’t available for the show, but again Smith stayed persistent for one year and in 2012, two weeks after his birthday, he received an email from Bangura saying a slot was open. “I made it happen. We shot a season in six days. We got it ready and packaged off for September 8, 2013, the premier and season one of ‘Because We’re Men.’ At the end of the day it’s just following up on what you want, not taking no for an answer. It didn’t come
house and now season two has its own set. “Everything just got bigger, more people believed in the journey and just wanted to be apart. Even the shots we got were different. Season one, you had more wide shots, but again that’s just studying and knowing your craft and understanding television itself.” What Kamal Smith started in Detroit is more than a local television show, it’s a movement. Being persistent, believing in his dream, learning and researching his craft all played a part in the reason why ‘Because We’re Men’ is successful today. “We have to show force in this city” Smith stated. He added, “My
hope and prayer is that if you see me, then you know you can do it, whatever you want to do. You know this guy right here graduated from Cass Tech, used to live in the hood on the east side, I’m still that same guy. I went out there and I did it.”
for the future, Smith says, “Next year, just know, history possibly can be made. That’s all I can tell you right now.” Kamal Smith is always two steps ahead of the game, who knows where he’ll
go next. Through planning and creativity, it may be safe to say that he’ll go far!
“Everyone who is trying to pursue anything, you only get one shot. One opportunity sometimes, you have to make it happen. If you have to call off work, whatever it is, you have to make it happen” Because We’re Men isn’t the only thing that keeps him busy. On October 17, 18 and 19 Smith has a new play called ‘Rules to the Game’, which is a story of the ‘dos and don’ts’ in relationships told from both perspectives of a male and female. Along with a hilarious script, audiences will enjoy the talented cast. “This cast for the most part in a sense are rookies, which is what I wanted. I didn’t want to use the same cast.” As
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“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat other.” –Ayn Rand
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Shawn Blanchard Relentlessly Changing the Lives of the Youth By Cryss Walker
“G
o hard for what you want. Be an animal at everything! That’s my thing. I like to just look at all situations and understand that you can just be an animal about anything you want to be! Relentless! You see this, you want this, you go get that. Period…,” echoed Shawn Blanchard who grew up in the Chicago- Wyoming area on the west side of Detroit. He attended Mackenzie High School, where he says he was the class treasurer and stellar student by day, but found himself surrounded by
distributors in the city. “He’s in federal prison with a life sentence right now, and that was my role model…. allegedly he’s one of the most notorious… but I know him to be a very kind, loving big bro who showed me the ropes on a lot of things in life that made me want to be a man of excellence.”
negative influences after class. “It’s interesting because you grow up in this neighborhood and you see the things that you like …there’s all these shiny things. It’s the cars, it’s the girls, it’s the clothes, and you want to be like all the other guys that has all those things. Those are the hood stars, those are the guys that you look up to”. Blanchard has seven brothers and stated that he had bright eyes for his big brother who was known as one of the most infamous drug
grandmother’s words meant a lot to him because she was a reliable person in his life. The young Shawn would make his grandmother smile every report card marking because he would bring home all A’s. As he reflected on thoughts of his loving and sweet grandmother, Blanchard would beam with joy. “I love her so much…what she said was law in my world… since she showed so much consistency, I just leaned on her for all things. What she said, I believed it and now I
Blanchard was raised by his grandmother who saw potential in him as a young child. His grandmother instilled confidence in him and told him that he was handsome and smart. Blanchard said that his
have to act it out”. When his grandmother passed away (during middle school) he said that he had no rules while living with his grandfather, but remained diligent in his school work, because his grandmother’s words stuck with him. Blanchard remembered how his big brother encouraged him to be a “boss” and make a way for himself in the world, so he enrolled at the University of Michigan and got a degree in Mathematics and Economics. Now, he teaches mathematics at the University of Michigan.
He also launched a work-out class with two of his friends, Armond Harris and Terrance Thompson. The movement, known as “Run This Town”, is a creative way to network and workout. The team calls it “Networking-Out”. The class went from a few people and grew to hundreds. Blanchard then began to work on the Duggan campaign (for then Mayor-Elect Mike Duggan). Mayor Duggan appointed Blanchard as the Director of
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Youth Services for the city of Detroit. One of Blanchard’s initiatives includes an elementary soccer league with 44 teams, 18 schools- with approximately 700 children participating in the athletic program. Another effort in the works is to create 5,000 jobs for teens by next summer to help students with financial literacy, job etiquette training and mentors. Blanchard says he is inspired to lead the youth because of the environment he grew up in, as he remembers his humble beginnings off Chicago and Wyoming Streets. “A lot of times people become successful and they do their thing, but I don’t see a lot of
people become successful with what they’re doing and reach back and make other people just like that. Let’s duplicate! Let’s make more! I want to make a gang of little soldiers.” Blanchard says his mind is focused on results and says that results can become addictive. He states that he can be more useful and creative by listening to motivational speeches and sermons. Blanchard says that by doing this he can keep his mind focused on the positive and steer away from negativity. This is the type of mental practice that he wants to instill in the youth. “You have to envision where you are going
to be…you have to think of the totality of who you want to be as a person. What do you want to have as a person? What type of influence do you have? How do you make people feel? Who is this individual that you want to be? Now that we have this whole picture, this painting, this Picasso, this being that you want to be… now you have to backwards plan and say, ‘well this is how I’m going to get here, this is how I am going to arrive!’…”.
“Go hard for what you want. Be an animal at everything! That’s my thing. I like to just look at all situations and understand that you can just be an animal about anything you want to be! Relentless! You see this, you want this, you go get that. Period…” –Shawn Blanchard
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“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul”
—Elder Uchtdorf
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Don Snipes: Getting Out of The Rat Race and Making It Happen! By: Leslie Fields Nothing can stifle creativity, nothing can stop the endless ways to creatively express how you feel through art and nothing can stop someone from pursuing what they love. From Fenkell Street to the forefront, Don Snipes is making his presence known in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes. Snipes is a go-getter and there’s no doubt about it. “No matter how much technology changes, whether you have a budget or don’t have a budget, at the end of the day, being on the creative side of things will always be in demand. If you have a good story you’re good and you have to understand how to manifest it and make it happen,” Snipes said. That’s exactly what Snipes has been continually doing with his career, making things happen by any means necessary. “You’ll know what your passion is when you have a burning desire for it,” explained Snipes when it comes to pursuing your dreams. Ever since, Snipes has had that burning desire for something more than a nine to five. He hasn’t stopped pursuing his dreams. Don Snipes went from leaving his job of four years with a construction company, to directing Doughboyz Cashout’s music video “Low Key Chick” then to stage plays, that’s what he has been passionate about since his days at Cooley High School. Snipes has always had a desire to become an actor but has stumbled upon other
roles within the industry as well. Currently, Snipes is doing what most creative people do, wearing many hats.
Kamal Smith, who asked him to be a part of the cast in the sitcom “Because We’re Men”. Snipes says he was eager to join.
“I knew it was my passion when I didn’t care about the money that I was getting from it or what my peers would think of me,” Snipes said. Because of the actor’s unstoppable attitude, he continues to thrive on stage as well as TV. Recently he directed “A Mother’s Cry” which stared Angie Stone and Deelishis. He also co-directed and starred in Atlanta’s Black Theater Festival, and Snipes also co-starred in “Danger At My Door” which stars Vivica Fox.
On the show Snipes plays Lance. Lance lives and works with two other guys, Maxwell (Kamal Smith) and Q (Dez Cortez). The show takes viewers on a comedic journey through their relationships and their lives. “Because We’re Men” is currently in its second season and airs every Sunday at 5:00pm on TV20 Detroit.
By becoming an actor Snipes explained how it has helped him discover more of himself. “I’m a shy person but acting is my outlet,” said Snipes. Through art, he continues to find many different outlets after starting the “Project Theater Company”, with three other gentlemen. Currently, he is writing his own sit-com to add to his list of accomplishments.
Don Snipes is definitely someone to keep your eye on. Although those Fenkell days are behind him, the spirit of creativity still lives inside of him and is reflected through his work.
By taking control of his dreams, Snipes realizes that before he was content. “It’s so easy to get stuck in a rat race. A rat race is getting a job and paying your bills.” Snipes said he stays motivated by being around like-minded individuals. “Just because someone has on the uniform doesn’t mean that they can play the game,” said Snipes. Don Snipes is suited-up and ready to continue perfecting his craft and people are taking notice. His work got the attention of writer 28 IAMTOPFLIGHT.COM
“To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong.” —Joseph Chilton Pearce
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