If anybody knows the profundity of that adage, it's recreational therapist Will Warner, a New Orleans transplant who's devoted more than a decade to working on a television show to capture the attention and imagination of young people. The idea for a character named The Black Ghost actually dates back to 1999 when Will Warner was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas during his time in the U.S.
Navy. "Some shipmates and I had created a film called 'The Black Ghost,' and adaptation of one of my comic book characters called The Shadow Runner," he explained. While Warner admits the short film was "just a simple little project we got involved in to kind of pass away the time on the ship," that endeavor planted a seed that continues to grow today.
After returning to New Orleans to attend graduate school following his time in the military, the Springfield, Massachusetts native who graduated from New Orleans' Warren Easton High School was forced to put his plans for The Black Ghost on the backburner. While he was willing to postpone his plans to further develop his idea so that he could complete his graduate studies at Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Hurricane Katrina made it clear to Warner that it was time for him to pursue his dream. After graduation last August, Warner began working immediately on "The Black Ghost," a locally produced live-action television show featuring a superhero committed to making life better in the Crescent City.
While the revamped project was still in its infancy stage, Warner, ADPC, NCC, enlisted the talent of his colleagues at the West Jefferson Behavioral Medicine Center - Victor Sims, LCSW; Blake Bascle, LCSW; Carl Johnson; Benjamin Stewart, MS; and Derek Dauphin, MSW. "After Katrina, I started seeing the city starting to crumble apart and all of the crime and other problems that were taking place," Warner told The Louisiana Weekly. "I was like, 'Wow, what really needs to happen is that a character needs to come about to try to instill some hope back into the kids.
Since I really enjoyed working on the The Black Ghost, I revamped it and created him as he appears today." "The Black Ghost" tells the story of psychology professor Jake Stone, who discovers an ancient medallion with the power to give him superhuman powers and abilities that serve him well in the war on crime. Ultimately, he figures out that the powers he now possesses are only a small part of what it takes to be a hero.
He relies more on his keen intellect and compassionate heart to fight the forces of evil. Warner will take on the role of Jake Stone, while Sims (Vic Terrebonne), Blake Bascle (The Fourth Fate), Johnson (D'Abernois), Stewart (John Riker/B-Sting) and Dauphin (jimmy) will all play supporting roles in the show. "In every episode you're going to find that Jake is dealing with different issues, issues that people are facing every day here in the city like crime, gang violence, drugs and peer pressure," Warner said about the show.
"While the story does have a comic-book element, there's an underlying message to it. We're going to be throwing in some therapeutic values. What we're hoping to do is not really change people but plant seeds and let them decide for themselves whether they want to change.
" "I'm a fan of the old movie serial genre," Warner, 40, said. "You know, characters like The Shadow, The Green Hornet, The Lone Ranger..
.those were characters that really inspired people when they burst on the scene back in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Those kinds of characters have faded away over the course of the past 20 years or so.
What they've been replaced with is a much more aggressive, less heroic type of characters. Even the characters we grew up with who are still around have changed so drastically over the past 20 years that they don't have the same presence. "Kids today don't have any real heroes, none that would be considered positive, that would inspire them.
What we have is a lot of characters out there that are basically cultural stereotypes." While Warner said he respects the drive and ambition of rappers and athletes who rise above poverty, he pointed out that their stories aren't necessarily relevant for every child. "Not every kid has athletic ability or music ability, so those who don't have it are left with what?
They're not left with anything. That's how a lot of these kids get sucked into these negative lifestyles, because they feel that they've got no hope. They've got no way to express themselves," Warner explained.
"With the proliferation of mass media today, the one thing that has been taken away from kids is the thing that makes being a child so magical: imagination. Kids today don't have to imagine anything because it's all being imagined for them." Warner and his colleagues hope to change that.
"We want to teach them writing. We want to teach them theater. We want to teach them filmmaking, We want to teach them costume design," Warner said.
"No facility in New Orleans teaches any of these things, not to the depth where kids can use those things to go out and get a job. "We want to teach kids that there's more to life than what they see on TV," he continued. "We also want to create a facility where kids can have access to mentors to help them with their homework.
We also hope to offer them recreational assessment, where we will identify their needs through their interests and place them in appropriate programs." Because everyone involved in the project is a mental health professional, they also hope to refer troubled kids to an appropriate therapist and volunteer their professional services to help children deal with the issues they faced before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. Warner plans to meet with Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee, who is expected to deputize The Black Ghost, a symbolic gesture designed to grab the attention of young viewers and draw them into the show and its main character.
He has also solidified an agreement to utilize the Gretna Observatory as the Black Ghost's lair, thanks to Gretna City Councilman Vincent Cox. Although he has been less successful at garnering the support of Orleans Parish elected officials, he hopes that eventually they'll come around after seeing how "The Black Ghost" can give kids a healthy viewing alternative. He also plans to use the show to challenge young people's knowledge of world history and encourage them to expand their vocabulary.
Those who correctly answer questions about historical figures and events referenced in the program will earn gift certificates to local bookstores, he said. Warner and his colleagues are currently offering sponsorship packages to local businesses. Interested parties should visit.
www.icestudios.bravehost.
com or email Warner at twarner2@cox.net. "The Black Ghost" is expected to make its debut on local cable access television sometime this month, possibly as early as this week.
"This has never been about making millions of dollars," Warner explained. "This whole project is about giving the community something they can believe in, something they can get behind, something that's going to give them some kind of hope that things are getting back to normal.
News RSS