Executive Corner – Cerves T. McNeill
Executive Corner
May 21, 2019
The Executive Corner is a new weekly feature of the Addiction/Recovery eBulletin. We send our participants forty questions and ask them to choose twenty they would like to answer. It includes a short profile and a link to their website. We hope you enjoy it.
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PROFILE
Cerves T. McNeill
Beginnings:
Born in Jamaica, New York, grew up in Flushing where Monday through sundown Friday I was not Jewish enough and on weekends visiting cousins I was not quite Black enough, but eventually learned to embrace and embody both
Education:
(The streets of NY/LA/Detroit, Schools, Shrines, and Backstabbers) NYU Undergraduate Institute of Film and Television; Madison Avenue; UCLA; Covey-Franklin Leadership Training
Strengths:
Married happily 47 years to Liz McNeill, Father of Nigel McNeill, Optimistic, Encouraging, Collaborative, Supportive, Funny, Conceptual, Storytelling, Counseling, Spiritual, Articulate, Coffee Aficionado
Careers:
Music Singer/Songwriter solo/group bassist/guitarist/pianist groovin’ on contemporary and classic R&B, Blues, Rock, Jazz and Gospel
Advertising Copywriter-Creative Director-Producer at Young & Rubicam, Benton & Bowles, SSC&B, Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, Campbell Ewald; FreelanceAlot Productions
Film/TV/Theatre Actor-Writer-Director-Producer: Chafed Elbows, Putney Swope, The White Whore and the Bit Player, A Stranger In Bethlehem, Zodiocracy, Pomonok Dreams, 80 ½: Robert Downey, Sr., Tongue Tied, Herev Ha Ruach
Social-Psycho Services Wraparound Parent Partner Supervisor at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services; LATC Trainer
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Q. At which of the schools you attended did you learn the most?
A. NYU Undergraduate Institute of Film and Television
Q. Which film have you watched the most?
A. Sunset Boulevard
Q. Who is your favorite celebrity in recovery?
A. Eric Clapton
Q. If you ever retire, would you prefer to live by the ocean, lake, river, or mountaintop, or penthouse?
A. Ocean
Q. Where do you go to “get away”?
A. Live Oak Music Festival in the Los Padres National Forest near Solvang
Q. What is your FAVORITE Radio show, news show?
A. Background Briefing with Ian Masters on KPFK
Q. What is your FAVORITE APP, or Podcast?
A. Cadrage Director’s Viewfinder
Q. What is your FAVORITE TV/cable/digital series?
A. Luther w/Idris Elba, and Sherlock w/Benedict Cumberbatch
Q. Who is your FAVORITE Director?
A. Terry Gilliam: Time Bandits, Brazil, The Meaning of Life, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys, The Brothers Grimm
Q. What is your FAVORITE Band/composer/musical artist?
A. Jimi Hendrix Experience
Q. What is your FAVORITE Broadway musical/play?
A. Les Miserables
Q. What is your FAVORITE Snack?
A. Anything with ginger: Newman’s Own Ginger Mints, Reed’s Ginger Brew, Trader Joe’s Crystalized Ginger Candy
Q. What is your FAVORITE Cuisine?
A. Frutti de Mari! (Italian seafood)
Q. What is your FAVORITE City?
A. Paris
Q. Do you have any children?
A. Yes, a son.
Q. Do you take work home with you?
A. Only in my heart …
Q. What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
A. “Be humbly aggressive,” which is what I was told by a creative supervisor/ex-boxer during the first week at my first job as an advertising copywriter.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you’ve given?
A. If you want your marriage to last don’t insist on getting the last word in during an argument even if you “know” you’re right. It’s better to lose the battle in order to win the war because what you’re ultimately fighting for is your marriage.
Q. Do you think addiction is an illness, a disease, a choice, or a wicked twist of fate?
A. Addiction is a disease, a disorder, a psycho-physio deficit fueled by the luck of the draw.
Q. Is there a favorite “Quote” you would like to share?
A. “Common sense isn’t,” said by Mr. Nelson my senior year high school English teacher attempting to prepare us for life after public school.