Inkflow provides strategic communications counsel to Left of Bang Entertainment, which is led by actor, film producer, comedian, and social entrepreneur Brian Hooks to give at-risk youth an alternative to gangs by involving them in film productions and potential career opportunities.
Brian’s media appearance in the video below reflects Inkflow’s messaging in the one-pager for media and prospective investors that appears on this page just under the video.
Introduction to Left of Bang Entertainment
If you could, would you have saved the lives of the 17 Los Angeles children ages 12-17 who died by gunshot in the last year?*
Obviously, that can’t happen now, but together with Left of Bang Entertainment, you can start saving lives in 2020. Left of Bang provides an alternative for youth who are at risk of joining the hundreds of LA gangs. Instead of shooting each other with guns, they will shoot movies together.
Brian Hooks founded Left of Bang to share with youth the film-making expertise that helped him turn the $100,000 needed to produce his film titled “Nothing 2 Lose” into $3 million+ in gross receipts. Of course, no price can be placed on a child’s life, but these figures legitimize the business structure underlying Left of Bang’s social-impact mission.
Left of Bang will achieve that mission by putting at-risk youth to work in all phases of production, distribution and marketing of Hooks’ next film, “Relationship Goals.” The romantic comedy will seek theatrical release in the first quarter of 2021, serving an urban audience hungry for such stories. Unlike the Blaxpoitation films that glorified violence, Left of Bang provides a message of hope and inspiration that echoes the organization’s mission of keeping youth out of gangs (i.e., keeping them “Left of Bang”).
Brian Hooks’ street cred straddles the worlds of the urban film consumers he already has delighted and the world of power-brokers he has met on set, including Oprah Winfrey, Warren Beatty, Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Vin Diesel, and Kevin Hart. His film-making, stand-up comedy, and standing in the community have opened the doors at Banning High School and Crenshaw High School to identify and assess the first 10 youth for the program. Additional youth candidate identification, assessment and recruitment will occur within the Santa Monica and LA high school districts.
Hooks’ hook? His understanding and articulation of the fact that many youth join gangs simply for a sense of community: “When I think about the same inner-city kids that enjoy the films I make, joining a gang, picking up a gun and committing a violent act, it breaks my heart. But if those kids can choose between joining a gang committed to crime and violence or joining a group of actors and entertainment professionals that they recognize from films they’ve seen, and they believe that these actors and entertainment professionals are committed to helping them grow and develop, which group do you think they would choose to join?”
Now, we put that question to you. Will you join Left of Bang in its mission to save young lives in Los Angeles? If so, please see the reverse for additional information on investment opportunities with Left of Bang Entertainment, LLC.
inkflowcommunications.com 