
When I lived in Hawaii I worked for a time with Prodigy Productions, BJ Penn’s company. They did everything from putting on the “Just Scrap” MMA fights once every 3 months in Hilo to working with the Penn Hawaii Youth Foundation. A program where I taught Martial Arts classes to “at risk” youth diverted from the court and placed in programs and foster homes and given a second chance rather than locked up in Juvenile Detention. The Penn Hawaii Youth Foundation was started by BJ himself as a result of an altercation in Honolulu where BJ punched out a cop. When he got in front of the Judge, the Judge was smart enough to realize that locking BJ up wouldn’t help the community nor would it be in the best interest of such a well known celebrity and Hawaiian legend. As this was BJ’s first offense the Court ordered BJ to start a Youth Program to help disadvantaged and at risk youth through Martial Arts training and organizations like The Salvation Army, Kealapana, and the Arc of Hilo to give kids and young adults a chance to train at the Penn Academy in Hilo and learn Martial Arts. You can see some of the classes I taught by looking at my YouTube page.
Prodigy productions also branched out to offer some opportunities to MMA fighters across America to come to Hawaii and fight in a Just Scrap event. I was happy to do the Voice Over for the “So you think you can Fight, Prove it” MMA talent search. It was put on BJPENN.com and run on other MMA web sites to promote the program. It also aired on some MMA cable channels on the mainland. The promotion was just some of the great work produced by Stan Rosario and Lorraine Shin, BJ Penn’s Mom. It was an honor to be of service to the Penn’s and by giving to their organization they also helped me to get my Mother over to Hawaii where she spent the rest of her days in Paradise at Hale Anuenue Restorative Care on Wainuenue Ave in Hilo. Have a listen to the commercial and check out the production value that Stan was able to give to the spot. A great talent and a blast to work with. So you think you can work in Show Biz, Prove it! It ain’t easy, but when you have talent and preparation meets opportunity Things can happen! Check it out!