Success Stories

Frank was headed down a dangerous path. He never knew his father, who had abandoned his family many years ago. His two older brothers were in prison and he was forced to take care of his younger siblings while his mother worked hard to support her family. He joined a local gang in Compton and got in trouble for ditching school and doing drugs. The court sentenced him to live at a facility for troubled youth.

Frank was headed down a dangerous path. He never knew his father, who had abandoned his family many years ago. His two older brothers were in prison and he was forced to take care of his younger siblings while his mother worked hard to support her family. He joined a local gang in Compton and got in trouble for ditching school and doing drugs. The court sentenced him to live at a facility for troubled youth.

Frank was a huge fan and knew every note of Michael’s songs. After spending just one hour with Michael, Frank changed his life. He dropped out of his gang and joined Compton Community College, becoming the First Chair Sax! He continues to do well as he plays the horn today (Create Now got him a new sax when his instrument broke). Frank works at the University of Southern California as a Hospitality Associate.

Liz was constantly fighting at school. She was sentenced to spend time at a juvenile probation facility. She signed up for a role in a performance of “That 70’s Show” during our Theater workshop. We arranged for all the kids at this detention center to visit a taping of the show and meet the cast and producers. Liz became hooked on acting. She took advantage of different opportunities that we provided, including the chance to meet the Honorable Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Create Now helped Liz to get head shots and gave her books to assist with her career. She took classes in modeling and acting while raising her two sons. Create Now helped her to meet Mayor Villaraigosa and provided her with additional resources. As a result, Lizeth is now an Executive Assistant to the Director at North Los Angeles County Regional Center, which provides partnerships and planning to people with developmental disabilities.

Before that, Liz was a Certified Paralegal to Stanley Morgan, Esq., and a mortgage trustee and foreclosure specialist at GMAC. She also was an Executive Administrator and liaison at Resource Program, a marketing company, where she oversaw the administration, compliance and customer relations departments. In addition, Liz was a Production Assistant at Kevin Hart’s company, HartBeat Productions.

Darontay had his first felony when he was 8 years old. He was in and out of prisons since he was 11. When we met him, he was at Camp Kilpatrick, arrested for hitting someone over the head with a crowbar. Darontay participated in the Create Now Talent Show and won second prize in the Rap Music Contest.

Darontay came to the ShowBiz Expo in June 2000, where he passed out brochures and shared his experiences in Create Now with the attendees. We introduced him to some filmmakers who visited our booth. Producer David Goodman and director Adam Ripp invited Darontay to intern on their film “Gang Tapes,” which they were shooting in his neighborhood, Watts.

He volunteered as an intern in their production office. The staff was so impressed with Darontay’s intelligence and attitude, they paid him as a technical consultant for a variety of departments: locations, wardrobe, production design, etc. Darontay decided to audition for one of the co-starring roles. He beat out 200 professional actors for the part of “Cyril.” In addition, the producers paid him a generous sum to use two of his rap songs for the soundtrack of the film. “Gang Tapes” made its debut in Los Angeles on February 12th 2001 at the Pan African Film Festival. The feature film was screened at the Magic Johnson Theaters next to the Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw Plaza. “Gang Tapes” also won the “Best Ensemble Cast” award at the 2001 New York Underground Film Festival. The movie was then screened at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood through the American Cinematheque.

Darontay was nominated for “Best Supporting Actor in a DVD Movie” in 2002. The DVD Movie Awards were given at a prestigious ceremony at the Wiltern Theater on January 14th, 2003. While he didn’t win the award, he competed in this category against such notorious actors as Steve Buscemi, Gary Busey and Jeremy Piven. However, director Adam Ripp won the “Best Director of a DVD Movie.” This is a great testament to Darontay’s work in the film.

Darontay improvised most of his dialogue in the film and showed great talent as a writer. We gave him a computer and software so that he could write screenplays. He’s working on his first script, which is a powerful story about prison life.

Meanwhile, Darontay has to support his little girl Mariah. He was the top salesman at a marketing company and he opened his own place called “Needlez and Threadz.” What’s really thrilling is that Darontay is now doing the mentoring these days! He said, “My shop is right there in my old neighborhood. I pretty much know everybody – all the kids and the older people – and I try to be a mentor to everyone. Sometimes people just need somebody to tell them that they can reach their dreams.” Create Now is really proud of Darontay and we know that he’s at the beginning of an amazing career.