We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maurice Moore . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maurice below.

Maurice, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I want my legacy to be that people see me as an individual who battled through some really difficult challenges and came out the other side. Not from the idea that I was successful in the traditional way of success when it comes to money or opportunities, but the fact that I inspired other individuals who came from similar backgrounds as I did to fight and push to make change. The name “Motivate Pictures” is based around wanting to inspire people daily to live the best life they can possibly live. I hope individuals give everything they possibly can of themselves to themselves and others so that there is a sense of hope in and change in this world.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context and how you came to be in the position you are now?

I’m an African American artist who grew up in a very poor town and expectations of what my life was capable of being were minimal. I was eight years old when Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones and crew descended upon my hometown of Wadesboro, NC and I had the incredible opportunity to act in the movie “The Color Purple”. Whoopi Goldberg, Rae Dawn Chong, and Danny Glover made me feel so comfortable on set. Acting was so fun, and the freedom I felt made me think, “hey I would like to do this ALL THE TIME!” This life altering opportunity motivated me to be a contrarian, and to fight for something bigger in my life, and my family having my back with my goal meant the world to me!

Through impactful mentors, I found my voice as an artist. I studied theater in college, and began my craft professionally, I understood that I had something to say to give an audience, but I was not being offered the type of character roles I really wanted to play. I decided the best way for me to find the roles I wanted was to create the opportunities myself; by writing and ultimately directing them so I could star in these roles and audiences could see what type an actor I truly was. I started out directing stage shows which led to film, and ultimately directing took over. Now I write, direct, act and produce with my own independent film company in Austin, TX – Motivate Pictures.

Motivate Pictures provides independent movies and tv shows that inspire, motivate, and create hope for a massive audience. We tell important, thoughtful, and entertaining stories.

What sets your mission apart and what are you most proud of with Motivate Pictures?

What sets my mission apart is the overwhelming focus and commitment to not failing regardless of how much the odds have been stacked against me. There is an overwhelming belief that I have in myself that I am doing what I am supposed to do. I have been through as much as anyone could go through with challenges and failures and I am still standing and fighting and having some success. In this industry I’m most proud of the incredible Motivate Pictures team that I have been able to build over the years. I believe my team is a leader in diversity, and creative openness and opportunity and I take a lot of pride in working with and learning from the different cultures and genders that Motivate Pictures is made up of. It makes us so strong and solid that we have voices from so many different areas of the world that helps us ALL to continue to grow and learn and pushes us to be better and to do better work because of that.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Several years ago, I put together a film production company where I was able to bring in three other partners, all who I had great relationships with but had not met each other before but I had great relationships with all of them. They were high net worth individuals and I felt that this was now FINALLY my time to go to the stage of life of success that I had always wanted to. I had the right team with me, and we felt like we all had the same vision, and I was proud that I was the one responsible for bringing them all together. Shortly after we were working on our initial project, there was a clash between a couple of the partners that ultimately led to the downfall and dissolving of the company. This was traumatic and heartbreaking for me because I did not see it coming.

That situation could have put me in a position of thinking “I can’t do this anymore” and my opportunities to find success on the level I wanted to had disappeared. Instead of giving in and giving up however, I decided to create a new company, my own company, Motivate Pictures, where I was the primary focus. I was the CEO that would and will ultimately be the reason the company thrives or fails. I wasn’t ok anymore with other people being in my way of success. I had to be resilient enough and believe in myself enough that I could pivot and create something from the ground up and have even more success than originally thought the first company I put together would bring me.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

“The E-Myth Revisited – Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to do About it” by Michael E. Gerber. It’s something that every new business owner and CEO should have on their desk.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://motivate.pictures
• Instagram: Maurice.motivate and  mo.tivatepictures
• Facebook: Maurice Moore Austin and Motivate Pictures
• Twitter: @MotivatePic
• Youtube: Breathe Acting Studio Maurice Moore
• Other: @mo.tivatepictures ig @breatheacting ig Breathe Acting Studio Facebook Group

Image Credits
Alex Rios