PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Celebrated actor, Will Smith popped up in the Caribbean last weekend – in the sunny twin-isle of Trinidad and Tobago to be exact – and surprised thousands of young students assembled for the fourth annual Republic Bank Decibel Entertainment Conference.
Will Smith made a surprise appearance onstage following a brief address by cricket icon, Brian Lara and advised the students gathered to choose their friends wisely, work hard to make their dreams a reality and also asked them to join his own ongoing mission “to make every action one which improve lives”.
Photo courtesy Question Mark Entertainment
There was a Chinese philosopher named Confucius,” said Smith, “and Confucius said: look at the five people that you spend the most time with because that’s who your are – ok?
Understand that the people who you surround yourself with are going to be the people that determine whether you see your dreams or not.
So at this age it is really really critical to choose the people that you’re going to spend with – I mean, you’ve seen it on tv and in movies and you may have even experienced this in life – one bad day, with one bad friend can mess up a big chunk of your life… you know… and you know who those friends are!
If you really think about it – you could say to yourself – yeah, I don’t really need to be hanging with him…You know who they are and its really important that you surround yourself with the right people who will help you build your dreams. Scottie is one of my friends – that’s one of the people that I spend the most time with – I know he might not look like much, but he’s really great (laughs).”
Photo courtesy Question Mark Entertainment
Festival Director, Scot Sardinha is a Trinidadian artist and furniture designer, who resides in Los Angeles and has been friends with Will Smith for many years.
Through Sardinha, Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith have been supporting the Decibel initiative for a number of years.
On the second night of the festival, Smith returned and delivered a surprise guest performance of a few of his biggest hits, including: “Summertime”, “Miami”, “Getting Jiggy With It” and “Men In Black” – before introducing the festival’s headline act, Kes The Band.
Photo Credit: Question Mark Entertainment
Produced by Question Mark Entertainment, the Republic Bank-sponsored Decibel music conference was part of a three-day festival designed to showcase careers in the entertainment industry and featured motivational talks, workshops, demonstrations and a variety of performances and exhibits.
This year’s festival also included autograph sessions and meet and greet opportunities with US TV and Film Stars such as: Nikki Bella of WWE, Willow Shields (The Hunger Games) and Jeremy Jordan (Supergirl), among others.
