Meet Chaka Balamani

We recently connected with Chaka Balamani and have shared our conversation below.

Chaka, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I owe A great deal of my Confidence to my childhood church Ebenezer AME in Ft.Washington Md. At age 10 I can vividly remember the day I got over the fear of Public speaking, Welcoming the visitors On Youth Sunday in front of a couple of hundred people in the 1980’s, when I was done the claps and cheers were so loud I felt like I could do anything life. Ironically as I would grow in age the church would grow in size and by the time I was heading to college I would be standing at the microphone speaking in front of Thousands of church members. That along with a mother who spoke greatness into my life from the day she named me Chaka, she would tell me I was born to conquer and to chase my dreams my Mother has been my number one supporter for 48 years

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m an Artist without Limits, mostly known for Acting and Directing. I’ve been working in Film and Television since 1997. My passion is Youth Advocacy and my purpose in life is to give young people a voice through film. I’ve written and Directed award winning youth advocacy over the last 3 decades and have addressed everything from Teen Domestic Violence to The High School Dropout rate in America many subject and many other adversities young people face. Empowering Our Children Filmworks is one of the Production Houses I started to create a great and healthy environment for young people to participate as actors and producers in films. I’m also the CEO of BMP Filmworks that specializes in full feature Scripts and Television series for adults. I’m also an Actor 200 days out of the year with over 30 titles currently that I’m in as an actor streaming on all platforms. As a filmmaker I am currently touring in Film Festivals across the World with my new movie “A Christmas Bonus” A movie shedding light on the 50% mortality rate of Black Women diagnosed with cervical cancer. The film in its first month of Festival 2025 has won awards in Multiple Countries and categories to include Best Feature Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Child Actor who also happens to be my talented 16 year old daughter Legend Balamani who began acting in my films at the age of 2. We’re excited to be Heading to the Virginia Black Film Festival Juneteenth weekend in Hampton Virginia and we will be touring the film in festivals through October 2025 and “A Christmas Bonus will be on your TV’s this Holiday Season 2025.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I’ll speak on the Most impactful qualities I developed on my journey. The first was open mindedness. So much of what we think is influenced by the opinions of others, our preferences, our prejudice, our style. I’ll never forget growing up being from the DC area and not liking people from Baltimore for no reason other than I was taught not to like them. All through college the two cities were at odds just by legacy. It wasn’t until my 20’s when I went to Baltimore to be in a film with all Baltimore people that I realized how much in common we had and how I had lost the opportunity all those years to make some great friendships, connections and networks with people who were just from a different geographical area. I used that lesson in life to make my own decisions and choices and to decide for myself what and who I’m going to like not just because the masses say so. another quality I developed was kindness the act of love and compassion and empathy was developed as I would have a two year stint as an employee at a Homeless Shelter and Development Agency So Others Might Eat in Washington DC. Hearing the tragic stories that people had to overcome just to say they wanted to be alive one more day after seemingly losing it all was so heartbreaking and powerful that it changed my outlook on how I would approach anyone I came across because you never know what someone is going through. The last quality that I would encourage everyone to develop is Gratitude. I worked for a year at Children’s Hospital and the one thing that stood out the most was that no matter what financial status any of the parents had, they were all equally wanting the same thing and that was their child to come home, to live free of pain. Nothing material they owned mattered the only thing they cared about was their babies. Life is a lot like that and we have to take the time to be grateful for all that we have especially the true gems in life which is your Health and the Wellness of Your Family and Friends. Materialism doesn’t mean a thing if you or your Loved one is ill. So take the time to be thankful and grateful for all you have and who you have in your life.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I’m always looking to collaborate with artists who have a genuine love for creativity. I’m looking to work with people who are independent thinkers and have a passion for the arts. If you’re a writer, actor, or fellow filmmaker you can always reach out to me on my Instagram page @chakatheactor I also post my casting calls as well as share castings and information of my industry networks on my page.

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