Media Arts Santa Ana invites you to an exciting virtual conversation with award-winning Latino writer/producer/comedian Rick Najera and Harvard Professor and acclaimed wellness expert Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, who will be discussing their new book IGNITE THE FIRE WITHIN: MASTER YOUR SPEAKING AND WRITING on SAT., JULY 23, 2022 at 11AM PT. Moderated by Victor Payan. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
THIS BOOK IS GOING TO CHANGE EVERYTHING
You know how to speak and you know how to write, but there’s a good chance you may never have told your story. This is the great missed opportunity in life, a legacy left remarkably unfulfilled by many. Yet, a stubborn spark inside you whispers Now is the time to bring your light to the world.
Enter stage right: Hollywood writer and executive Rick Najera and globally renowned Sanjiv Chopra, dubbed the “father of purpose.” In this deeply personal book, the authors take writing, speaking and storytelling to the next level, showing how communication is a true act of love–and a manifesto by which to change the world.
Written for the novice as well as the well-versed in the craft of speaking and writing, IGNITE THE FIRE WITHIN: MASTER YOUR SPEAKING AND WRITING pulls back the curtain on how to become a powerful, spiritually-centered, values-driven communicator.
Filled with real life stories, historical research, inspiration and practical advice, Najera and Chopra hold a mirror to the authentic storyteller within. This is a guide for authors, speakers, influencers, and thought leaders hungry to be a change-maker by bringing unique stories to the page and to the stage with fierce passion, the surest path to igniting the fire within.
RICK NAJERA
Rick Najera is an award-winning screenwriter, actor, director, producer, sketch comedian, author, playwright, coach and national speaker with an expansive portfolio of credits in all forms of entertainment. He is a co-founder of the comedy troupe Latins Anonymous, writer of the Broadway play Latinologues and former Director of the CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase, which helped launch the careers of Kate McKinnon, Hasan Minhaj, Tiffany Haddish, Nasim Pedrad, Melissa VIllaseñor and others. He has received numerous industry awards for his work.
From starring in films with Sidney Poitier, George Clooney and most recently Mario Lopez, to writing sketch comedy for Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx, Najera is best known for starring on Broadway in his award-winning, self-penned stageplay, Latinologues, directed by comedy legend Cheech Marin. Najera is only one of three Latinos to ever write and star in their own play on Broadway.
As a screenwriter, Najera has written dozens of scripts for TV, film and the stage, starting out in the industry as a staff writer on the groundbreaking urban comedy series, In Living Color, for which he wrote more than 30 episodes. Najera went on to write for Townsend TV (10 episodes), MAD TV (47 episodes), East Los High – a Hulu original (21 episodes) and more. He penned the feature film Nothing Like the Holidays starring Debra Messing, Alfred Molina, John Leguizamo and Luis Guzman, which won him an ALMA Award. Najera has been a pioneer in Hollywood telling his American experience, from a Latino perspective.
Najera is an award-winning author of five books: Latins Anonymous, Pain of the Macho, Latinologues on Broadway, Almost White: Forced Confessions of a Latino in Hollywood and Ignite the Fire Within: Master Your Speaking and Writing (with Dr. Sanjiv Chopra).
SANJIV CHOPRA
Dr. Sanjiv Chopra is best selling author and a sought after motivational speaker, giving lectures about leadership, healthy living, and medicine in the United States and abroad. His books include Live Better, Live Longer, Leadership by Example, The Two Most Important Days and Brotherhood, the inspiring story of growing up with his renowned brother Deepak Chopra.
Sanjiv Chopra, MD, is professor of medicine and former faculty dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School. He’s also the James Tullis Firm Chief, Department of Medicine, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. For 12 years he led the most robust academic Continuing Medical Education enterprise in the world, reaching out to 80,000 clinicians in 150 countries each year. Dr. Chopra is also editor-in-chief of the hepatology section of UpToDate, an online resource used by more than 600,000 physicians worldwide for clinical decision-making at point of care.
Dr. Chopra was designated a Master of the American College of Physicians in 2009, and has earned a number of awards, including the American Gastroenterological Association’s Distinguished Educator Award. In 2012, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for “Exemplifying outstanding qualities in both one’s personal and professional lives while continuing to preserve the richness of one’s particular heritage.”