We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Oba Vita. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Oba below.
Hi Oba, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?
There are many moments from my life and work I’d like to be remembered for, but legacy is definitely at the top of the list.
I think most of us desire to work and make an honest, but comfortable, living. Although these things are important to me, my legacy is most important!
To me legacy is what we accomplished in our lives, what kind of impact we left on others, and how we impacted world.
Legacy can be generational. Our children can benefit from the legacy we leave behind. For me wealth and success is fine, but was I able to touch people’s lives?
Even if a small contribution of what I do can change someone’s life, I consider that to be the greatest accomplishment one could leave.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I come from a family of entertainers. My father taught my brothers and myself Acrobatics and Martial Arts at the young age of 3 years old. We started our act in Chicago Heights, Illinois. We became very well known in Chicago, appearing on many local television shows. If there was an event to perform at, my family was usually the headline act. It didn’t take long before my father realized we had accomplished as much as we could in Chicago Heights. He made the bold decision to move the family to Las Vegas to work towards getting our act on a big Vegas stage.
One thing led to another and we were offered to go on tour with Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.
This was huge because in the early 1980’s Ringling Brothers circus was truly the Greatest Show On Earth!
My family eventually landed in Los Angeles where we were featured in numerous commercials, tv, and film. We’ve toured and performed with everyone from Justin Bieber, Brittany Spears, to countless other celebrities performers.
Throughout my entire journey as a performer I found myself more drawn to the production side of the business.
In 2019 I launched my own production company, Brush Floor Entertainment.
Brush Floor Entertainment’s Mission is to produce and distribute high-quality film and TV projects, Specializing in unique stories for people of color.
Brush Floor Entertainment is developing the true life story of my family’s journey; becoming the first African American Family of Circus Acrobats titled “THE AMAZING VITAS”
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Interesting question to ask because being a writer and currently dealing with the writer’s strike, this has been one of the more difficult challenges of my career. There’s not much movement that can be made on projects you’ve spent years working and developing. I have to make one thing clear, I stand in full solidarity with WGA and SAG. Yes! This sucks big time for all sides. But if we don’t make a stand now, there won’t be much of anything left to fight for later.
It’s been very difficult. I think the uncertainty and not knowing when an agreement will be made to bring the strike to an end is the most challenging part for most of us. Despite this, I refuse to give up on this project that comes from my heart and my family’s legacy. I believe we will survive this challenge, just as my family survived all the challenges we faced at African American performers in the 1980s.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
We have a one stop e-commerce site with merchandise, (T-shirts, clothing for adults and children) as well as instructional videos
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theamazingvitas.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/obavita?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brushfloor.entertainment?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oba-vita-679b4a143
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LlcBrush
- Other: https://instagram.com/brushfloorfilms?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA== https://instagram.com/theamazingvitastv?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw==
Image Credits
Greg Hatton