The Power of Choice.

Sometimes a reminder that we are the lead in our life story is all that’s needed to overcome the everyday stresses of life. 

Sometimes remembering that no matter what our circumstances are, we’re always a single choice away from changing our life, gives us the strength to make the choice necessary and make the change we know we need to make. 

This has led me to asking the same question again and again:

“If people are unhappy with their current situation, can they change it?” 

I had a lot of jobs in NYC before the privilege of working full-time as a filmmaker, one job that helped shape me into the person I am today was case management.

Yes it had it’s ups and its downs like any position, but something about working with young people and sharing a new perspective, felt like a really good fit. I worked really hard with youth around their education, work, and home environment, and not all of them came from the best circumstances.

My dad runs a half way home in Brooklyn called the St. Francis House where I was living at that time.

The understanding of human dignity was front and center, and the house taught me a lot about people, even today, eight years after moving out it’s still teaching me really important lessons about life, but the most important lesson is actually the answer to the question above.

If people are unhappy with their current situation, they CAN change it.

Which leads to the next question:

“Will they change it?”

As an artist, I choose to use my gifts and talents to emphasize human themes through film. No matter the project, the goal is almost always the same. Allow people to experience love, and reflect in the love they are experiencing on screen. The hope is that by the end, they are changed in some way for the better.

The subject varies, the overall film is different from project to project, however these themes of who am I, what do I stand for, where is my place in the world, and do I have a say in the person I am becoming, are important for the soul and the mind. You probably agree that to be a whole person we need to be asking these questions more so today than ever.

And by asking these questions again and again the #iChooseSeries is born. 

A simple idea, create a series of short films that highlight individuals who have triumphantly overcome a challenge by making a single choice. 

The films range in length and are shared via social where anyone in the world can watch, learn, and expereince the greatest truth:

No matter what you’re going through, you are not alone, you are important, and you are loved.

#iChooseHope, focused around addiction (specifically to opioids) and became the pilot for the series. 

Originally we waited to share #iChooseHope, we wanted to have a few other films complete.

Slowly through word of mouth we began developing relationships with people who had a story to share, and others who believed in the project.

Meeting people through other people, we landed letters of intent from some amazing celebrities and filmed sports announcer Kevin Negandhi at ESPN studios in CT about the choice that got him on every television in the United States every day talking about what he loved most… Sports.

But two things changed the course of this plan and I decided that we needed to release #iChooseHope and see what happens.

There were two major factors that led to this decision. One was business oriented and the other was personal.

The first being that I was cyber stalking Gary Vee for a while in the hopes to have him a part of the series. I’m in NY he’s in NY, I’m a fan of what he’s putting out online and I have learned a lot from his content.

I knew that we could bring value to his brand through the #iChoose platform, and obviously he would blow it up to a level we wanted much faster than we could without him. 

It’s a perfect fit. So after sharing some information with someone working at Vayner Media in Decmeber 2017, then becoming connected via Linkedin, four months later on April 24, 2018 this happened:

So I tweeted it.

And posted via Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other social media outlet available on my personal and professional pages. What else could I do? I pretty much thought my baby was being hijacked by the master of social himself.

Reaching out to my connected contact via Linkedin all I heard back was the sound of crickets in my bedroom workspace, and I’m not a big bug guy LOL. 

But thanks to Gary and learning “Not expecting anything from anyone” I wasn’t too disappointed. No one owed me anything, and lets be real Gary’s well is so deep that what I was offering might equal a glass of water in comparison, so I decided to share #iChooseHope with the world and let the market decide. 

The second reason we decided to share #iChooseHope is even more important and very personal.

Eddie from the film, shared with us that a close friend of his had overdosed after being sober for some time. This new information was haunting.

Now we’re not crazy filmmakers but we are optimists here at CampCampo and thinking about it we asked this question:

Was it possible that the film may have in some way helped that person in their situation at the right time? 

The answer is YES. 

It… is… “possible” and that was that. 

On September 20th 2018 we published #iChooseHope on the newly created @iChooseSeries Facebook and instagram page and after 30,000 views both social platforms continue to grow an organic following everyday. 

The most interesting event that followed the release was the amount of people who were effected by Eddie’s vulnerability. These individuals were not only moved but wanted to share their story.

That’s where that Gary Vee hookup might have come in handy (eh em, anyone reading we need your support) with introductions to brands and potential investors for the project but since we didn't have the funds we needed to visit everyone who had a story to share it was time to do what we do best and get creative.

We decided to conduct facebook and instagram live shows with anyone and everyone who had a story to tell and wanted to tell it.

20+ episodes in, these live shows have been turned into MEMES, short pieces of digital inspiration, and podcasts that have continued to grow the platform and inspire the lives of those in the community we’re building. We don’t screen any of the guests, and the only rule followed is staying true to your authentic story.

These lives have opened the doors to exploring so many important topics and subjects. #Stress, #Anxiety, #WeightLossTransformation #Sobriety, #SuicidePrevention are just a few of the many themes explored during the live conversations via the #iChooseSeries platform.

And then during all this, I found myself looking in the mirror and reflecting on my own decisions up till this point.

Choosing to be the person you are born to be rather than the person the world says you are, is a conversation everyone needs to have. Not just with themselves, but also with the people in their circle. 

See growing up we are labeled and we label others. 

These labels can sometimes become our truth, and knowingly or unknowingly we become what we are told we are, rather than what we were born to be. 

The iChooseSeries is about asking you who you are rather than reading the label the world put there. It’s about reminding us that no matter whats going on we have a choice in the matter, and at the very least in the worst conditions we still have a choice about how we interpret our situation. 

And that’s powerful.

The iChooseSeries is now becoming The iChoose Foundation. A 501C3 non profit organization created to educate and inspire through short film productions like #iChooseHope as well as working with other non-profits to create media content meant to inspire.

Our next production #iChooseJoy is about the power of Faith and Family.

If you or someone you know might be interested in learning more about upcoming #iChoose productions or being a guest on the live shows or podcasts please reach out directly to Michael Campo. The new website will be available sometime next month in the meantime you can visit www.iChoose.One to learn more.

Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit more about our passion project #iChoose.