Watch the video interview on Youtube here
Antoine: Hello guys, this is Antoine Allen.
Lester: And I’m Lester Greene.
Antoine: This is Unscripted…
Lester: Conversations.
Act Like You Love Yourself
Antoine: This is our first podcast series. We started this series to give the film community a different view, a different outlook. Our first episode is called Act Like You Love Yourself. It’s also the new book by…
Lester: Lester Green called…
Antoine: Act Like You Love Yourself. And the reason why we call it Act Like You love Yourself because in the film community I feel like we give so much to everybody else and we don’t look at ourselves.
As an actor, how many times to you go to the casting audition, put yourself out there, get so much rejection, just waiting for someone to give you that opportunity?
Lester: Opportunity.
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“…Instead for waiting for someone to tell us we’re great, instead of us chasing money, let’s attract money.”
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Antoine: And you know what, we did it differently? Now you don’t have to wait for nobody. Get your own camera, get your own film crew, shoot your own films. So this message is for anybody that are artists. You don’t have to wait for anybody, especially now. We have iPhones, we have cameras that are 4K and only costs $2,000.
So us…we came together and said you know what? Instead for waiting for someone to tell us we’re great, instead of us chasing money, let’s attract money. And this is a whole series about Act Like You Love Yourself.
Lester’s has got a book (Act Like You Love Yourself), he’s the author. Why did you start start your book? What made you want to start your book?
Lester: Well, I wanted to give a voice to all the people out there who are struggling being actors or just struggling in life. This book addresses various issues that will help you move forward in your life.
Check out Lester’s book on Amazon here
Antoine: Let’s talk about some topics in your book.
Lester: Okay, we can talk about the first topic. It’s called Life Is Too Short, right? It started with that because that’s where I met Antoine on the set of his feature film LIFE IS TOO SHORT. And he came to me and he saw something in me. And he said You know what Lester? Instead of waiting for people to cast you, why don’t we come together and work on our own short film? That gave birth to (roll footage) my very first produced short film.
Antoine: It’s actually airing on national TV right now.
Lester: CBS to be exact.
Antoine: Exactly.
Lester: And so that was all the validation that I needed. I created my own short film. He helped me cast the crew and the cast and we we’re off and running. That’s all it took once I got that first film under my belt, we haven’t stopped.
Antoine: Yeah. And the title LIFE IS TOO SHORT, it’s basically life is too short. You’re here today, gone tomorrow. I don’t want to die, I’m 37. I don’t want to die an old man full of regrets. There are so many people that live their life for so many years and they haven’t accomplished anything. They don’t have that internal happiness. What’s the next topic?
Lester: The next topic is called I Got The Power because obviously once you start gaining momentum and you start getting your stuff on national TV and you start getting into festivals and winning awards then you create that self power that comes from within.
Antoine: And I Got The Power is basically you do have the power. Sometimes you feel like if I don’t get into this big festival, if this big director don’t call me, what am I going to do? You have to realize we all have different paths. Just because you ain’t get your film in a big festival or in a big network there are other options, there are other outlets.
Being on Youtube, renting out movie theaters…I rent out a lot of theaters just to show my own film and I make a nice little income off of it. So it’s showing yourself worth and not doing the same…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
Watch the video interview on Youtube here
About Lester and Antoine:
Lester Greene majored in English/Journalism at Queens College, and he studied acting with the likes of Alec Baldwin (Southampton Theatre Conference), Peter Miner (Terry Schreiber Studios), Matt Newton, & Mary Boyer.
Lester starred in and produced two short films that aired on CBS (with director Antoine Allen & producer Emelyn Stuart). He also produced another short film, “I Got a Callback” with director Christopher Fox.
Lester landed several co-starring roles on Gotham, Power, Jon Glaser Loves Gear, 50 Central, I Am Homicide and Rachael Ray. He has also appeared in various commercials for Chase, Rogaine, AAO, FYI, Amazon, MTB Bank, Peeps Delights, Buzzfeed, Boost Mobile, Nike, Crown Royal, Brooks, AutoLenders and many more.
Lester has four music albums on I-tunes: “The Greenehouse Effect,” “Cocktails,” “No Bush, Straight Dicks” and “The Greene Room.”
Lester is in the process of shooting two films: “Control” by Gregg Dacosta and “The Last Fishing Trip” by Christopher Fox – and he’s getting ready to produce his very own feature film with Antoine Allen tentatively titled, “Emotional Killer.”
His new book, “Act Like You Love Yourself” is available on Amazon.
Award-winning filmmaker Antoine Allen had dreams like any other kid growing up, and it was those same dreams that allowed him to break through every obstacle in his path. Despite growing up poor in Jamaica, Queens, Allen was already rich with potential. Refusing to let this define his future, he moved forward with a passion, drive, and tireless dedication that has now become synonymous with the Antoine Allen brand.
Allen began his career in the music industry, successfully managing hip-hop artists for many years. During that time, he had several experiences that opened his eyes to the fact that he had more to offer. It was at this time that the phrase “dream big or don’t dream at all” really hit hard.
Forgoing the traditional film school route, he began educating himself on all creative, technical, and business aspects of the process and never looked back. Allen transformed himself into a successful writer, director, filmmaker and producer. He sold his first screenplay,
No Where Land an animated feature film in 2008. As an award-winning director, Allen has gone on to be involved in a variety of film and music video projects.
In the summer of 2010, Allen made his directorial debut with Split Decision a narrative short film exploring love, rejection and motivation, which he also wrote and produced. He took promotions into his own hands, launching a highly successful social media campaign. The trailer alone received over twenty-one thousand views on YouTube and countless ‘Likes’ on Facebook, all culminating in the Split Decision world premiere. The opening screening in New York City sold out. This should have come as no surprise since Allen sold out a premiere to a 3-minute music video that he had previously directed. On a personal level, the film allowed him to draw from his own experiences of beating the odds when life got tough, and was an experience that brought Allen full circle.
His most recent project, a full-length feature film Life Is Too Short (2015) premiered to another crop of sold out audiences and has been honored with multiple awards and film festivals selections.
Aside from pursuing his creative projects, Allen has devoted a great deal of his time inspiring, mentoring and giving back to his community by helping young entrepreneurs and artists achieve the bigger dreams that they have for themselves. This is a reflection of the extent and impact that one person can have within their surroundings.
CONNECT WITH ANTOINE ALLEN
CONNECT WITH LESTER GREENE
LINKS TO HELP FILMMAKERS GET THEIR SHORT FILMS ON TV OR CABLE
1 – Shorts.tv
2 – Badamitv.com
SUBMIT YOUR FILM TO ANTOINE ALLEN’S FILM FESTIVAL
Validateyourselffilmfestival.com
