Lina Cruz (Christina Milian) and her gal pals Treyvonetta (Gabrielle Dennis) and Gloria (Vanessa Born) are looking forward to winning the Spirit Championships, but when Lina’s mom remarries, her world takes a tailspin when her family leaves her comfy East L.A. neighborhood for Malibu. Lina’s faces new challenges with a team that’s no where near as good as her former high school squad, but it’s up to her to give the Malibu Vista High Sea Lions a sultry cheer squad makeover and turn them into a top quality, championship team. Lina meets her nemesis, Avery (Rachele Smith), captain of the Jaguar cheer squad,  but the plot thickens as Lina’s feelings Avery’s brother, Evan,  start to escalate.

Fused with a hot soundtrack with some of today’s hottest artists, an amazing cast, and all the fixings that make a great teen romance flick, see how Lina takes on the challenge to defeat Avery’s Jaguar squad as she works her magic to try to bring the Sea Lions to a championship victory.

]]> http://www.eyeandi.org/sayitloudmagblog/?feed=rss2&p=1212 0 http://www.eyeandi.org/sayitloudmagblog/?p=1194 http://www.eyeandi.org/sayitloudmagblog/?p=1194#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:34:14 +0000 Lia via Soul http://www.eyeandi.org/sayitloudmagblog/?p=1194

Gabrielle Dennis has been on her grind! You’ve seen her as “Janay” on CW’s The Game, and she now stars with Christina Milian as Lina Cruz’s humorous and spunky  best friend, “Treyvonetta, in the  the popular teen film, Bring it On: Fight to the Finish. Gabrielle took a moment to kick it one on one with SIL’s Alia Williams about being on the set of her latest film, cheerleading, and acting.

Alia: What was it like growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio and how did you transition from there to Hollywood?

Gabrielle Dennis: Cincinnati is a very conservative city, so there’s not too much to do there. It’s a great place to raise kids though, so I felt like I had a good balance between right and wrong, in that I went to a performing arts high school and that kind of kept me busy with rehearsals and doing plays. My family is there too, but I didn’t realize how boring it was until I got to experience a real, major city.

Adjusting to Hollywood was fairly easy because right before that I lived in Washington, D.C., which I absolutely adore. I was debating between New York and Los Angeles to pursue my career full time, but L.A. won out because of the weather. Plus, I did the east coast thing and knew nobody in New York, so it kind of intimidated me.

Alia: How long have you been pursuing a career in acting, and what inspired you to start?

GD: I’ve always been a ham, actually. At my older cousins birthday parties or slumber parties, they would always have me singing or performing because I was so much younger. I wasn’t supposed to be there, but the only way that I could stay was if I performed for free [laughs]. I started out in the 4^th grade and I started dancing when I was four, so I was always introduced to that. My mom used to sing and was involved in local plays, so it was always around me. I had a lot of older cousins that went to the same performing arts high school I went to. Watching movies like the Wizard of Oz and The Wiz inspired me to do it. I thought Diana Ross was the BOMB in The Wiz, and I kind of looked up to those triple threats that could do everything; that’s how we were trained in my high school. Technically, as a full time career, I guess you could say that I’ve been pursuing being a professional actress for like four years, as long as I’ve been in Hollywood, but prior to that it was between being in school and trying to do it on the side. Now that’s all I do.

Alia: …and you like it.

GD: I love it! I mean it has its ups and downs, just like everything else that you would do, but whenever you have a passion for something, that’s really what it boils down to. Being able to work and do something that you love, it really doesn’t matter what it is. I feel blessed that I found something that I really like to do and can make a living out of it.

Alia: How did you enjoy working on the set of Bring it On: Fight to the Finish?

GD: Let me tell you, this was probably one of the more exciting experiences that I’ve had. It was all girls, so I got to be really girly. So many of us had birthdays within the same month. There were like four birthdays when we were shooting including myself, and Christina Milian. There were cute things that we would do like surprise each other, and decorate each other’s dressing rooms. We did a cheer for Christina for her birthday. We did all kinds of stuff, and it was great to be around a group of females who really supported each other. It was a really great mix of personalities where we all really liked each other and had a lot of fun together. It was like high school, in a sense, all over again and when I went to my performing arts high school. Then there was the dancing, and the amount of dancers that were on set. Dancers just have their own great energy and a great vibe. Everyone from the choreographer and the director was just really fun. I enjoyed that experience.

Alia: What made you choose the role of “Treyvonetta”?

GD: It was interesting because I was supposed to do another film before this one, but because I was doing CW’s The Game, there was a problem with my schedule and I couldn’t do this other film. This opportunity came along and it actually happened to work out where the shooting was between a break for The Game. I just like to stay busy and it was a good opportunity for me to do something different. I’ve never done a movie like this before, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to test a different side of my acting skills, as well as try to beef up my dancing that I haven’t done in a few years. I just wanted to challenge myself and I had a really great time. The character that I got to play was really fun and sassy. She was definitely a lot of fun to play.

Alia: Do you have any similarities to the character that you play in the movie?

GD: I would say that our closest similarity, I mean we’re nothing alike, but I would say that she’s very supportive and protective of her friends, and that would be me. If something were to go down, or if somebody needed my advice or needed my help with something, I would be there without question and without thinking about it twice to kind of help my friends. She loves her friends and would do pretty much anything for them and I think we definitely have that in common.

Alia: What made you choose the role of “Treyvonetta”?

GD: It was interesting because I was supposed to do another film before this one, but because I was doing CW’s The Game, there was a problem with my schedule and I couldn’t do this other film. This opportunity came along and it actually happened to work out where the shooting was between a break for The Game. I just like to stay busy and it was a good opportunity for me to do something different. I’ve never done a movie like this before, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to test a different side of my acting skills, as well as try to beef up my dancing that I haven’t done in a few years. I just wanted to challenge myself and I had a really great time. The character that I got to play was really fun and sassy. She was definitely a lot of fun to play.

Alia: Do you have any similarities to the character that you play in the movie?

GD: I would say that our closest similarity, I mean we’re nothing alike, but I would say that she’s very supportive and protective of her friends, and that would be me. If something were to go down, or if somebody needed my advice or needed my help with something, I would be there without question and without thinking about it twice to kind of help my friends. She loves her friends and would do pretty much anything for them and I think we definitely have that in common.

Alia: Have you ever been a cheerleader before?

GD: Yes! I was a cheerleader at Hughes High School, for the Hughes Big Red. I only cheered for about two years. We didn’t win very much, but it was fun. Not near the level of the experience, and talent, of the Bring it On franchise. The level of the different cheer teams that were in the movie, I mean these kids are amazing. The stunts they do, the energy that they had. I was just amazed by them. My school was just a little more downscale from that. We didn’t do a lot of stunts. I mean we cheered and some of us would do a few cartwheels, some round offs, and maybe a pyramid. In college I tried out and made it, but I didn’t have time to deal with that and school.

Alia: What kind of movies and actors did you look up to growing up, and what kind of actor do you aspire to become?

GD: Growing up I watched a lot of television and I liked over the top shows like Living Color and Martin, but then I’m a little bit of a dork and I love Little Mermaid. You know it’s funny, because a lot of actors who I looked up to were men. Jamie Fox because he did a little bit of everything that I’ve done, that I want to do, or that I kind of want to get better at because he’s done the whole sketch comedy thing, he’s done stand-up, blockbuster movies. His spectrum and his body of work is so diverse. He gets to sing, he has an album out, and he’s really good at everything that he’s done. The same with Will Smith, who started off with his music career and then had his own TV show, and then went on to being in blockbusters. I’ve done sketch shows and stand up comedies, but my goal is to have my own T.V. show and then from there start doing more movies and heavy roles, like documentary pieces. I would love to play Diana Ross or do something very interesting like that, and something that’s challenging and groundbreaking.

Alia: Would you do another movie similar to Bring it On, or would you branch off and do a different genre?

GD: I would like to keep my momentum going in as many different directions as possible so I don’t get typecast or pinned down. I try and go out and do different things in that it’s not the same exact type of character, or same type of energy and feel of this movie, just because it introduces you to different audiences and it introduces you, as an actor, to the different processes of getting that character and making that character believable. The same process and technique that I would use to make the “Treyvonetta” character in bring it on, would be a totally different process that I would do for maybe a very serious role in another type of film, depending on the director or the genre. I always like to challenge myself.

Alia: So will we be seeing you in any other movies this year?

GD: Ice Cube has a new movie coming out that I’m in called Janky Promoters, and I’m shooting a new show that will be coming out on Spike TV called Blue Mountain State. You can also catch me on The Game in syndication on BET.

Alia: Thanks for your time Gabrielle, and good luck to you.

GD: Thank you!

Definition; Control

If the people in power are trying to maintain control of “the others,” what are the lengths that they would have to go through?

In order to gain and maintain control of human beings, you would have to brainwash them. Along with the brainwashing you would have to repeatedly enforce the principles and values you want them to obtain. How you you widely distribute information?

Human beings have consistently proven ourselves irresponsible, selfish, and careless. We’ve embraced the hole that we’ve made in the O Zone layer, Styrofoam and plastic, and we have genetically engineered everything from animals to STD’s. We are the cause of all of the pollution on this earth and most of the illnesses that we are faced with today are indeed our fault.

If every common man knew the amount of damage each human being causes in a lifetime, how would they react?

The Matrix is control. Who is controlling us? Is it the media, who have a constant influence on how we think since they are everywhere. Television is a big part of this influence. There are at least two televisions in each house hold. The programs available to us are up to us, but of all the choices we have (reality tv, cartoon network, and basic cable) are they really even choices?

Someone has made us believe that it is okay that we are causing damage to ourselves and this earth. Who, we have yet to know, but now that we know a little bit, wouldn’t it behoove us to make a change? Knowing that plastic is not good for the earth is one thing. Still buying the bottle of Pepsi is another. The wide distributors of these bottles should be to blame, but if bottles are still in high demand, why should they stop?

We are human beings, and we are flawed. Our worst flaw is our need for speed. Faster everything makes for more technology, and the easier we make things, the harder it gets for this earth to progress on its own. If we are indeed homo-sapiens, why aren’t we thinking? And if we aren’t thinking, who is thinking for us?

Example: vegans do not eat honey because it comes from another animal.

Vegetarian: a DIET that consist of not eating meat or fish.

I am a new VEGETARIAN and hope to become VEGAN one day. (I LOVE cheese toooo much!)

I am definitely happy but life has been a constant struggle. I love chicken& I love fish BUT I also love living. There is NO doubt about it! Eating too many of these things could cause some serious health problems like diabetes and numerous heart conditions. I have a long history in my family of diseases (diabetes etc) that can be controlled by what you eat.

A few years ago, the 16 year old me tried to become a vegetarian. I wasn’t driven nor had reasons to become a vegetarian… I just thought it was cool (ooo yeaaaa). My vegetarian lifestyle lasted 1 month! I was tempted by a dirty hot dog vendor and I gave in… as you can tell, I wasn’t serious about it.

To do ANYTHING in life you have to be driven! If you’re not driven, you will give into anything that will drive you off the path that you “think” you want to go. When facing temptation goals/morals and everything you “thought” you wanted can quickly vanish! When you know what you want and what you will do to achieve it, it’s a bit harder to give in!

My vegetarian transition began when I came to Taiwan. Long story super short, the way food is handled, prepared and displayed here disgust me. When you go into many food spots, the meat is dead hanging from a rack near the cash register. I mean like A WHOLE CHICKEN!!! PIG!!! DUCK!!! WHATEVER!!!!! With many of these places being outside in extremely hot/humid weather, the areas around these places smell HORRIBLE!

I told myself that I would not eat meat until I return to New York. Since my scary encounter with Taiwanese meat, I have been eating at local vegetarian/vegan restaurants. In many of these VV (vegetarian/ vegan) restaurants, television programs talking about the benefits of living a VV lifestyle are broadcast while you eat. Some of the obvious benefits include weight loss, better skin and better health. Some benefits that aren’t as well known include better mental health, increase in energy, HORMONE FREE FOOD and a healthier earth! I didn’t realize that meat consumption plays such a huge role in the deterioration of the earth but it does.

PLUS- Why not save animals? :]

I have always known the chicken thigh that was on my plate belonged to a body that breathed and walked. Until seeing it killed/ displayed so grossly, I probably wouldn’t have cared.

I must admit… I do sometimes miss meat. I already miss thanksgiving turkey and it is only May. Sometimes I get tempted to eat meat but think about it and realize I can’t. I can’t eat it because now it grosses me out to see it on a plate.

Any who, long blog super short, below are some resources for people who want to live a VV life but just aren’t inspired enough to give the chicken leg up! I went cold turkey(haha) but I think all who are thinking about becoming VV should go to a doctor(before starting anything!!!), take vitamins regularly and make sure you eat foods that will make up for not eating meat.

I haven’t any changes YET (health etc) but I am not looking for any. It is too soon to be expecting huge changes.

Resources!!:

Peta.org > more reason on why this lifestyle is better… incredible short films. I recommend the 1 about fur factories in China. I could barely get through it.

Vegstarterpack.com >website give you free stuff to help you start off

Eggindustry.com/pledge > make a pledge to eat egg free and you can receive free things to help start a vegan life!

climatecrisis.net > some parts of the site inform people on ways meat consumption do affect the world

Good Luck!!

I lied to you all and I lied to myself. One thing I have learned about myself on this trip is that I am ignorant! Until coming here, I was never judged so much. All the friends I have in life like me because of my personality, not because of my color. Before coming to Taiwan, I never thought too much about my skin or the texture of my hair.

Life is extremely lonely.

I’m guessing prejudice against people who have darker skin is extreme. For example, someone told me that in many Asian countries, if two men are linked to each other sexually, they will be executed. He also told me that many Asian people would rather live with a gay man instead of a black person… pretty extreme.

The person who told me this is another exchange student. He is from a neighboring Asian country and is also an exchange student. Like me, he is also being discriminated against. Not because he is Asian, but because he is gay. He said that gay and darker people in Asia are treated without respect, and looked at as second class citizens or not fully human.

I feel like an outsider. I DO UNDERSTAND that I am in a foreign country and there are times where I would naturally feel like an outsider, but come on!!!! For instance, I think a majority of my teachers feel some negative feelings towards me.  When I first arrived here, I needed to go to the Taiwanese Department of Immigration in order to take care of some visa stuff. When I asked a teacher how to get there, he did not want to help. He rolled his eyes, huffed his breathe and gave me a pretty hard time. Every time I ask this man a question, he gets frustrated.  He doesn’t like speaking to me. I compare the way he speaks to me with the way he interacts with other students. He is very welcoming to everyone else, questions them about their home nation and communicates with them. At first, I thought maybe it was because I am American, or because I am from the west. This isn’t true because there are some Americans & westerners in the class. I also thought that it was me… maybe I was not social enough or talkative enough. I am!!! In fact, I think I raise my hand too much sometimes. The only difference is my skin. I doubt this man even knows my name… he has never even asked me that. This has happened in other classes as well. Professors separate me by not asking me any questions about me or where I come from. I mean really, the kid from Minnesota gets more questions than me. I am def biased, but I would much rather hear about Brooklyn or the NYC area than Minnesota, BUT as said earlier, people choose to distance themselves from me.

It feels weird sometimes for people to genuinely not like me when they don’t even know me. I guess I would rather have people not like me because I am Black than people not liking me because I am a jerk. At least I know its THEM and not me. I don’t feel hate at all… sometimes it is painful and lonely, sometimes I feel humored and entertained by it but I always honestly feel sorry for people that think like this.

A student organized a going away/ end of the semester party for exchange students and did not invite me. I AM THE ONLY PERSON THAT HAS NOT BEEN INVITED!!!!

Sometimes I wonder, “Why separate yourself? I love people! I’m sure that if we talked we might have a lot in common… I drink water too!” but whatever.  I can’t change what people THINK… I love my skin!

I won’t let this trip scare me into not liking Taiwanese/ Asian people. All people aren’t jerks… just the narrow-minded ones. Sometimes I have to remind myself of this, especially when it seems like everyone around me hates me.

Everything is a learning experience & I am truly blessed to be able to learn things about life here.

I’m hopeful!!!!

The COOLEST thing about Japan… THE TOILETS!!! It sounds weird, but the toilets were honestly the most interesting thing that I have seen while in Asia. The toilets in Japan are known as the most sophisticated and swanky toilets on the PLANET! The toilets have heated seats, massage options, water jet adjustments, automatic lid opening, flushing after use, wireless control panels, a back light in the bowl(ew) etc etc etcccccc! The swankier toilets in fancier establishments play music while you poop! They look like mini spaceships.

It honestly took me awhile to get used to using them.  Especially since they flush on their own and shoot out water to clean your behind :p

Cool but they not for me.

Besides the spaceship toilets, Tokyo is a very cute city… resembles NYC a lot. The buildings are tall on the outside, but many of the floors inside of the building are too short for me… I’m basically 6ft(yea, I’m a big momma :]).

I wish I could have stayed longer than a weekend BUT Japan is TOO expensive. I wish I could have been immersed in the culture for at least 2 months because viewing as a weekend tourist is waaaaaaay different from viewing Tokyo from the eyes of someone who has been there for awhile. Oh well, the experience was pretty cool.

Almost forgot… the metro system was RIDIC!!!! I almost cried when I saw the map.

Overall Grade

Tokyo- A

It’s a must see!

SPACESHIP!!!

MADNESS!!!!! (in a good way) Tokyo isn’t even shaped like the map

Take your shoes off inside!

Japanese Hostel(Hostel: extremely cheap places to stay for extremely cheap travelers… some are $5usd per night! This is the cheapest in Tokyo… $17usd per night)

My mind’s been goin. Tryin to focus on what to do when I reached home.

Now I’m here and I’m movin’. Kinda’ got a groove goin’

everyone around me can see how my mood showin.

And they like it..

Every May I pack up from Howard and I make the trip back to Brooklyn. From then, the summer begins until its time to go back in August. This is the most anticipated time of the year for me because it means a nice break away from school work and all the stress that comes with it.  But eventually the chillin must be accompanied with some form of productivity.

Now that I’m older, I can’t join summer camps and go on trips to the park, museums, and do arts & crafts during the summer like I used to do when I was younger.  However, there are other fun ways for me to keep myself busy during the summer.

Working a summer job at a clothing store may not seem all that fun, but there are other things one can do to be active during the summer. I love magazines and writing and I was able to obtain an internship at Honeymag.com. Here is some advice so you can find that perfect summer opportunity.

1) Find opportunities that match your talents or hobbies- Doing things that you love to do, won’t seem like work because you have an interest in it.

2) Once you figure out what you like, use the internet to research opportunities- Google is a great search engine to use.

3) Ask your guidance counselors, teachers, family members, and others if they know any opportunities.- You never know, these people have connections in the community and may have an opportunity for you.

4) Follow through! – Make sure you take advantage of any opportunity you may come across. Don’t be afraid of a new experience or challenge, you never know what it may bring.

Here are some ideas:

Volunteer- Helping out in your community is a great way to build your resume.

Internships- Some are paid, some are not but they give you real world job experience while still being a student.

Camp Counselors- If you like younger children and don’t want to be inside all summer, this is the perfect opportunitity for you.

Explore!- Visit places in your city that you never visited or have not been to in a long time! Take advantage and learn something new about where you live.

Start your own business- Think of something that you think people may need and start your own business. You don’t have to be an adult to do it.

Helpful Links:

All Stars Project- http://www.allstars.org/content/youth_programs_application_2008.pdf

College Now- Free College Courses for High School Students -http://collegenow.cuny.edu/

New Youth Connections Summer Journalism Workshop for HS Students- http://www.youthcomm.org/PDF/NYC-Summer2009-app-web.pdf

HighFive- Discount Tickets for Plays and Museums in the city-http://www.highfivetix.org/Aspx/AboutHigh5/Default.aspx-

-Natelegé Whaley

Say it LOUD! spent some time with the team.  Check out the video to get the 411: