We recently connected with Don Strong and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Don Strong thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project that I have worked on to date it is the documentary film My Summers of Love. It is an autobiographical and personal look at a youth camp-based approach to youth empowerment during the late 1960s, as well as the metamorphosis that I personally had as a troubled bi-racial teenager. With the help of an extraordinary youth-run, summer camp and a supportive community of exceptionally progressive young people, I along with many of my Woodstock-era peers experienced a life-changing transformation and empowerment.

Don Strong, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As an adult student, I enrolled in the local cinema program at Minneapolis College to study… screenwriting. I loved it. Even though I was thirty years older than most of the students, it was the most creative and fun experience I have ever had in school. I graduated with honors and finished writing “Dane” my first feature-length screenplay. I had the opportunity to get a degree in producing for cinema also at Minneapolis College. Two years later I started work on my documentary feature film called “My Summers of Love”.

Don Strong is a Minneapolis-based music producer, filmmaker, performer and teaching artist. He began his career in New York City in the mid-1980’s as a writer/producer for Def Jam urban R&B artists. Over the years, he has produced and collaborated with artists in a wide range of genres spanning singer-songwriter, jazz, acoustic pop, Americana, and Alternative. Don is currently active in the Minneapolis music scene as an organizer, performer and showcase producer for Songwriters Circle /Twin Cities LLC, a non-profit organization he founded in 2014. As director/producer of Creative Intent Studios, Don serves local artists at all levels of creative and professional growth.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, as an artist/creative, working as a producer is a highly rewarding. I like to call myself a “midwife” to creatives. because in order to bring out the best in their work, I team-up with artists at whatever level they are functioning at, Specifically now it’s in the field of songwriting and music production. I feel I work in the way that a editor works with a literary artist. I don’t need to write the the stories per se, but I help the writer get the best from their material and present it in a way that is going to be most potent for the audience

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The Art of Spiritual Dreaming by Harold Klemp. is a book that has influenced my management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mydeliciousmedia.com
• Instagram: mydeliciousmedia
• Youtube: donstrongmusic
• Other: www.mysummersoflove.org www.thesongwriterscircle.org

Image Credits
Lisa Neary, Alan Shefland, Giovanni Riva and Stuart Burden