0:00:05.728,0:00:09.991 I want you, for a moment,[br]to look at your life as a movie. 0:00:10.224,0:00:11.444 As a young child - 0:00:11.444,0:00:13.745 when I thought[br]about the movie of my life - 0:00:13.745,0:00:16.468 I'm the middle child of three boys 0:00:16.468,0:00:20.059 and one of the few African-American[br]executives in Hollywood. 0:00:20.059,0:00:24.076 Well, when I go back and look at my life,[br]when I was young growing up in the church, 0:00:24.076,0:00:27.240 they said, "DeVon, [br]you can't go into Hollywood. 0:00:27.240,0:00:30.005 That's the devil's playground;[br]that's Sodom and Gomorrah." 0:00:30.005,0:00:34.975 But I said, "I believe God is calling me[br]in the movie of my life into Hollywood 0:00:34.975,0:00:38.230 to tell stories[br]that can change the world." 0:00:38.230,0:00:41.512 "But DeVon, if you go to Hollywood,[br]you're going to lose your faith. 0:00:41.512,0:00:42.578 Don't you understand 0:00:42.578,0:00:45.579 that that is a town[br]that does not respect who you are 0:00:45.579,0:00:46.931 or the God you serve?" 0:00:47.141,0:00:49.756 But as a young child,[br]I would say, "Wait a minute. 0:00:49.756,0:00:53.090 You're teaching me in the Bible[br]that faith allows me to do all things 0:00:53.090,0:00:55.834 and I can do all things through Christ[br]who strengthens me. 0:00:55.834,0:00:56.790 But all of a sudden, 0:00:56.790,0:00:59.787 I get to the gates of Hollywood[br]and the power of God stops? 0:00:59.787,0:01:03.566 Tell me, What am I supposed to believe? 0:01:03.566,0:01:07.291 Does faith work or does fear work? 0:01:07.291,0:01:11.510 Because you're telling me intellectually[br]that faith is supposed to guide me, 0:01:11.510,0:01:13.936 but then you're teaching[br]me to practice fear 0:01:13.936,0:01:16.978 the moment I get outside[br]the doors of the church." 0:01:17.423,0:01:21.169 So you can only imagine as a young boy,[br]when you get smart with your elders, 0:01:21.169,0:01:23.418 they say, "Boy, don't you[br]get smart with me." 0:01:23.598,0:01:25.568 And I said, "I'm not trying to get smart. 0:01:25.568,0:01:28.328 I'm just trying to understand[br]what is the path in life 0:01:28.328,0:01:30.675 that is going to lead to success." 0:01:30.675,0:01:32.219 And so as a young child, I said, 0:01:32.219,0:01:35.656 "Listen, I've watched these movies[br]like 'Rocky' and 'Back to the Future.' 0:01:35.656,0:01:40.128 What I loved about 'Rocky'[br]is that he thought he was a bum. 0:01:40.440,0:01:42.744 And when he got the chance[br]to fight Apollo Creed, 0:01:42.744,0:01:44.299 what was his number one goal? 0:01:44.299,0:01:46.779 He said, 'I don't even care if I win. 0:01:46.779,0:01:50.510 I just want to go the distance.'" 0:01:50.919,0:01:53.985 When I would see movies like that[br]as a kid, I said, "That's me." 0:01:53.985,0:01:55.405 You know, as a middle child - 0:01:55.405,0:01:56.984 Any middle children in the house? 0:01:56.984,0:01:59.027 Okay, we'll have[br]a support group after this. 0:01:59.027,0:02:01.883 Alright, you know we need[br]a little extra care and counseling 0:02:02.332,0:02:05.139 because the older one,[br]my older brother, he was the oldest, 0:02:05.139,0:02:06.780 and my youngest was the baby, 0:02:06.780,0:02:09.643 and here I am, the middle child,[br]kind of put off to the side. 0:02:09.643,0:02:13.109 But when I would see films,[br]I would get inspired. 0:02:13.109,0:02:14.105 And I said, 0:02:14.105,0:02:17.907 "I want to be able to make movies[br]that can absolutely touch people 0:02:17.907,0:02:20.409 in the way that 'Rocky'[br]and 'The Color Purple' 0:02:20.409,0:02:22.527 and 'Back to the Future' did for me." 0:02:22.527,0:02:23.860 But I had to make a choice. 0:02:23.860,0:02:26.581 I said, "Am I going to go against[br]what I'm being taught 0:02:27.391,0:02:29.852 and follow where God's voice[br]is leading me? 0:02:29.852,0:02:32.677 Or am I going to follow [br]those who may be ill-equipped 0:02:32.677,0:02:34.317 to develop my movie 0:02:34.317,0:02:37.285 and become what they think [br]my story should be?" 0:02:37.615,0:02:38.616 Well, at a young age, 0:02:38.616,0:02:41.614 I said, "I have to believe[br]that God is the director of my story, 0:02:41.614,0:02:44.229 and I'm going to follow[br]Him to the industry." 0:02:44.229,0:02:46.757 And so here I am,[br]an 18-year-old young man, 0:02:46.757,0:02:49.100 got into the University[br]of Southern California. 0:02:49.100,0:02:51.328 I go in for my first internship interview 0:02:51.328,0:02:53.657 at the management company[br]that manages Will Smith. 0:02:53.657,0:02:55.904 I'm literally about to get[br]my foot in the door. 0:02:55.904,0:02:57.963 At the end of the interview,[br]the lady says, 0:02:57.963,0:03:00.805 "DeVon, is there anything else[br]you want us to know?" 0:03:00.805,0:03:02.855 And right there, [br]God is speaking in my ear. 0:03:02.855,0:03:04.683 He said, "Tell her about the Sabbath." 0:03:04.683,0:03:06.406 Now you must understand something. 0:03:06.406,0:03:08.495 As a Christian, I grew up[br]observing Sabbath: 0:03:08.495,0:03:11.600 Friday night sundown through[br]Saturday night sundown, I don't work. 0:03:11.600,0:03:15.201 It's the day that I take off[br]for observance, rest, and restoration. 0:03:15.201,0:03:18.541 I'm there in the internship interview[br]about to get my foot in the door, 0:03:18.541,0:03:19.430 Hollywood, 0:03:19.430,0:03:21.438 and God says,[br]"Tell her about the Sabbath." 0:03:21.438,0:03:25.193 I said, "Lord, after I get the internship,[br]I'll tell her all about the Sabbath." 0:03:25.193,0:03:25.982 (Laughter) 0:03:25.982,0:03:28.269 You know how we are:[br]we love to get what we want, 0:03:28.269,0:03:30.422 and then we'll start moving [br]the pieces around 0:03:30.422,0:03:32.343 about what we can and cannot do. 0:03:32.343,0:03:34.175 But after a moment of silence, I said, 0:03:34.175,0:03:36.404 "Well, I can not take this internship 0:03:36.404,0:03:38.922 if it requires me to work on the Sabbath." 0:03:39.264,0:03:41.589 And it was quiet, just like it is now. 0:03:42.206,0:03:43.640 And after a moment of silence, 0:03:43.640,0:03:46.379 she said, "DeVon, don't worry.[br]We can work around that." 0:03:46.379,0:03:48.408 What that taught me in that moment 0:03:48.408,0:03:52.447 is that it's not about just the door[br]of opportunity opening in your scene; 0:03:52.504,0:03:54.727 it's about how you walk through the door. 0:03:54.921,0:03:56.674 Because every door that opens 0:03:56.674,0:03:59.531 that does not allow you[br]to fit your faith and who you are, 0:03:59.531,0:04:01.901 I argue it is not a door to go through. 0:04:02.090,0:04:03.395 You have to understand 0:04:03.395,0:04:05.212 that when you are walking in your path 0:04:05.212,0:04:07.352 and you are walking[br]in the movie of your life, 0:04:07.352,0:04:10.185 the scenes in your life[br]will conform around you 0:04:10.185,0:04:14.330 if you have enough faith [br]to be exactly who God created you to be. 0:04:14.330,0:04:18.276 I don't buy into this idea[br]that you have to compromise who you are, 0:04:18.276,0:04:19.650 compromise what you believe. 0:04:19.650,0:04:22.331 As a matter of fact,[br]be even more bold than who you are, 0:04:22.331,0:04:23.982 more bold than who you believe, 0:04:23.982,0:04:26.029 because you are the hero[br]of your own story, 0:04:26.029,0:04:30.365 and if you don't believe your story -[br]guess what? - ain't nobody else going to. 0:04:30.365,0:04:33.472 C'mon, yeah. You give yourself[br]a round of applause on that one. 0:04:33.472,0:04:35.242 (Applause) 0:04:36.642,0:04:37.984 But here's the challenge: 0:04:37.984,0:04:41.086 We get into scenes of our life[br]where we want to give up hope. 0:04:41.344,0:04:42.553 As a studio executive, 0:04:42.553,0:04:45.519 one of the things I do[br]is develop scripts into movies. 0:04:45.519,0:04:48.480 But there are some scripts[br]we develop for a very long time 0:04:48.480,0:04:50.887 and it never looks like[br]it's going to get made, 0:04:50.887,0:04:53.230 and we call this creative time[br]"development hell." 0:04:53.230,0:04:55.278 Some of you have been [br]in development hell, 0:04:55.278,0:04:57.153 because you had an idea for your life. 0:04:57.153,0:04:58.165 You've been trying, 0:04:58.165,0:05:01.116 you've been pushing to allow[br]that idea to get into production, 0:05:01.116,0:05:02.711 but you seem so far away from it 0:05:02.711,0:05:04.780 that you don't know[br]what you're going to do. 0:05:04.780,0:05:06.682 And in this moment, in development hell, 0:05:06.682,0:05:08.695 it is so tempting 0:05:08.695,0:05:13.102 to give up on the very idea[br]that brought you this far. 0:05:13.626,0:05:16.123 You must realize that in development hell, 0:05:16.123,0:05:19.649 when you're going through a time[br]where you're about to give up on yourself, 0:05:19.649,0:05:20.616 give up on your God, 0:05:20.616,0:05:23.257 give up on your friends,[br]your dreams and your beliefs, 0:05:23.257,0:05:26.319 this is when you have to go back[br]to the original idea 0:05:26.319,0:05:30.602 that motivated your life,[br]and hold on to it, and don't give up. 0:05:30.932,0:05:32.623 Because you know why? 0:05:32.623,0:05:35.187 Because it is just like[br]a scene of a movie. 0:05:35.187,0:05:38.298 There are some good scenes,[br]there are some bad scenes, 0:05:38.298,0:05:39.883 but if you keep walking forward, 0:05:39.883,0:05:40.870 guess what? 0:05:40.870,0:05:43.414 The hero always wins. 0:05:43.414,0:05:45.441 And you know what makes the story good? 0:05:45.441,0:05:47.566 The conflict the hero faces. 0:05:47.566,0:05:49.386 So when you go through bad scenes, 0:05:49.386,0:05:53.484 that must mean you are getting ready[br]to be prepared to be victorious. 0:05:53.484,0:05:54.548 You must know 0:05:54.548,0:05:57.918 that a bad scene with conflict[br]is not meant to take you down, 0:05:57.918,0:06:01.916 but it's meant to actually bring[br]out the hero in you and build you up. 0:06:01.916,0:06:05.572 If I could allow us to label this scene[br]that we're in right now, 0:06:05.812,0:06:06.839 I would call it: 0:06:06.839,0:06:09.057 "Locked up, but not locked down." 0:06:09.197,0:06:10.443 You must get this, 0:06:10.443,0:06:12.838 anyone who is in[br]Ironwood Prison right now: 0:06:12.838,0:06:14.547 You might be locked up, 0:06:14.727,0:06:19.320 but they don't have enough iron[br]in the universe to lock down your spirit. 0:06:19.320,0:06:21.272 You have to keep your spirit up. 0:06:21.272,0:06:22.751 You have to keep believing. 0:06:22.751,0:06:25.625 You have to know[br]that what you see is possible. 0:06:25.625,0:06:26.632 (Applause) 0:06:26.632,0:06:27.852 Do you know why? 0:06:27.852,0:06:32.427 Because in the movie of your life,[br]you will succeed. 0:06:32.427,0:06:36.857 Don't let your current circumstance[br]dictate your destiny, 0:06:36.857,0:06:38.201 because your destiny 0:06:38.201,0:06:41.116 will be set up in the moment[br]that you're in right now. 0:06:41.116,0:06:42.533 Yes, conflict will come, 0:06:42.533,0:06:43.721 but if you have faith, 0:06:43.721,0:06:46.089 if you like who looks back at you[br]in the mirror, 0:06:46.089,0:06:49.286 everybody that comes against you[br]going to have to step back and say, 0:06:49.286,0:06:50.228 "Wait a minute. 0:06:50.228,0:06:52.226 We didn't know they had that much power. 0:06:52.226,0:06:54.357 We might as well go ahead and let them out 0:06:54.357,0:06:57.836 because there are other people out there[br]who need the hero that's within." 0:06:57.836,0:07:01.189 When you're getting ready to give up[br]on your movie, step back and say, 0:07:01.189,0:07:03.560 "No, no, no, no, no.[br]This movie is still good." 0:07:03.560,0:07:07.579 It just might take[br]a little longer than you thought. 0:07:07.579,0:07:08.861 Don't be impatient. 0:07:08.861,0:07:10.798 Don't be getting so much anxiety. 0:07:10.798,0:07:11.986 Relax. 0:07:12.649,0:07:16.398 Because you are going to win in the end. 0:07:16.598,0:07:18.501 Thus saith the Lord.