It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Roodley Merilo is a 20-year-old poet from New London, CT, who began his poetry career in 2021. Since then, he has been featured on Fox 61 News, was The Word New Haven’s 2022 Youth Slam Champion, and won a spot on CT’s youth slam team, going on to compete in the 2023 Brave New Voices competition in San Francisco. Roodley is more than a poet, he’s a storyteller and film student who intends to share those stories he’s most passionate about.

DANCER

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

VIOLINIST

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

PAINTER

Jasmine Nikole is an award-winning artist whose vivid, emotionally-charged paintings are more than just works of art—they are powerful stories of identity healing, and empowerment. Through her bold use of color and intimate portraits of Black women, Jasmine creates art that speaks to the deepest parts of the soul. Each piece serves as a reflection of the resilience, beauty, and complexity of the Black experience, inviting viewers to connect with their own truths and heal from the societal limitations they’ve been forced to endure.

PRODUCER

Kimolee Eryn is a multidisciplinary artist turned producer. As a high school student, Kimolee’s art class self-portrait was displayed in the Wadsworth Atheneum by way of the Hartford Youth Art Renaissance program. Seventeen years later, she returns with a project that brings more young Black artists into the fold of occupying fine art spaces.

DIRECTOR | CINEMATOGRAPHER

Edwin Escobar is a self taught director and cinematographer based in Connecticut. He has been offering video production services to developing artists of all mediums and small businesses since 2009. Edwin has worked in over a dozen short films including 3 original award winning projects. Escobar’s passion for travel has been an asset in assisting and directing projects all over the country and the Caribbean.

PHOTOGRAPHER