Antwone Fisher is an American screenwriter, poet, lecturer, and best-selling author. Antwone is the writer, co-producer and subject of the Fox Searchlight Pictures feature classic, ANTWONE FISHER. His autobiographical book Finding Fish: A memoir is a New York Times and national bestseller.
Antwone Fisher is an award-winning film and literary writer. Born in an Ohio prison to a teenage mother, Antwone became a ward of the state and was placed in foster care. He spent two years in a loving foster home, but was subsequently moved and suffered twelve years of abuse at the hands of his new foster family.
Unable to locate a new placement for him, at age 14, Antwone was sent to a reform school in western Pennsylvania were he remained until he graduated high school at 17. Emancipated from foster care, he found himself in the world alone and homeless, living on the streets of Cleveland.
Antwone set on a course of healing when he joined the United States Navy where he served his country for eleven years. A U.S. Navy veteran, Antwone Fisher was appointed to the honorary rank of Chief Petty Officer by the Master Chief Petty Officer of the United States Navy, on October 5, 2009. This is an honor that Antwone holds with great pride. Antwone was awarded or earned the following ribbons and metals while serving on active duty: Navy E Ribbon, Two (2) Navy Good Conduct medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with three Bronze Stars.
After his honorable discharge from the U.S. military at the rank of E-5 (SH2), Antwone became a Federal Correctional Officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and after three years of service, he took a job at Sony Pictures Entertainment as a Security Officer. It was at Sony that Antwone was referred to a free screenwriting course.
Antwone has worked in Hollywood for over 20 years as a screenwriter and producer, with an impressive fourteen writing projects or assignments with the major studios. Among those projects is the feature classic, ANTWONE FISHER, directed by and staring Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, written by Antwone based on his own life. The film garnered numerous nominations and awards. Antwone received the renowned Humanitas Prize. The Screenwriter of the year award from the National Association Of Theater Owners, and was listed in Variety’s
“Fifty People to Watch. ”He was also listed among Fade In Magazine’s “100 People in Hollywood you need to know” in 2005. On May 10 2003, Antwone received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Cleveland State University. On April 23, 2013. Antwone testified before the Senate Finance Committee. The hearing titled: The Antwone Fisher Story as a Case Study for Child Welfare. Antwone’s first book, Finding Fish: a memoir, about his inspiring story became a New York Times and National Bestseller. His collection of poetry, Who Will Cry for the Little Boy? a national best seller creatively disclosed the road from his tumultuous childhood to the man he is today.
Antwone’s poetry is featured in Nikki Giovanni’s book, “Hip Hop Speaks to Children.” His third book, A Boy Should Know ow To Tie A Tie And Other Lessons For Succeeding In Life, won the award for best Literary Work- Instructional from the 2011 NAACP awards.
Antwone continues as a prolific writer with his stage project, ANTWONE FISHER: A PLAY; Antwone and 20th Century Fox are in partnership with this play. Antwone’s present screenwriting project is, "The Tortoise and The Hare”. Antwone made his film directing debut with the award-winning short film, “My Summer Friend.” He produced wrote and directed the 2013 documentary, This Life of Mine.
About how far he has come, Antwone states, “I think back on a childhood of longing for belonging, and see my life now as what I’ve created out of my dreams. An image comes to mind of Mrs. Brown at the orphanage in Cleveland, me sitting at her side telling her, ‘You’ll read about me someday.’ I was definitely dreaming then. With no evidence of that ever being possible, I clung to that preposterous vision and with the force of the those dreams willed it and made it happen. Not because I needed to be famous, but because I needed a world that made me feel uninvited to be wrong. So I imagined myself free, I imagined myself loved, I imagined myself… as somebody.”
Unable to locate a new placement for him, at age 14, Antwone was sent to a reform school in western Pennsylvania were he remained until he graduated high school at 17. Emancipated from foster care, he found himself in the world alone and homeless, living on the streets of Cleveland.
Antwone set on a course of healing when he joined the United States Navy where he served his country for eleven years. A U.S. Navy veteran, Antwone Fisher was appointed to the honorary rank of Chief Petty Officer by the Master Chief Petty Officer of the United States Navy, on October 5, 2009. This is an honor that Antwone holds with great pride. Antwone was awarded or earned the following ribbons and metals while serving on active duty: Navy E Ribbon, Two (2) Navy Good Conduct medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with three Bronze Stars.
After his honorable discharge from the U.S. military at the rank of E-5 (SH2), Antwone became a Federal Correctional Officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and after three years of service, he took a job at Sony Pictures Entertainment as a Security Officer. It was at Sony that Antwone was referred to a free screenwriting course.
Antwone has worked in Hollywood for over 20 years as a screenwriter and producer, with an impressive fourteen writing projects or assignments with the major studios. Among those projects is the feature classic, ANTWONE FISHER, directed by and staring Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, written by Antwone based on his own life. The film garnered numerous nominations and awards. Antwone received the renowned Humanitas Prize. The Screenwriter of the year award from the National Association Of Theater Owners, and was listed in Variety’s
“Fifty People to Watch. ”He was also listed among Fade In Magazine’s “100 People in Hollywood you need to know” in 2005. On May 10 2003, Antwone received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Cleveland State University. On April 23, 2013. Antwone testified before the Senate Finance Committee. The hearing titled: The Antwone Fisher Story as a Case Study for Child Welfare. Antwone’s first book, Finding Fish: a memoir, about his inspiring story became a New York Times and National Bestseller. His collection of poetry, Who Will Cry for the Little Boy? a national best seller creatively disclosed the road from his tumultuous childhood to the man he is today.
Antwone’s poetry is featured in Nikki Giovanni’s book, “Hip Hop Speaks to Children.” His third book, A Boy Should Know ow To Tie A Tie And Other Lessons For Succeeding In Life, won the award for best Literary Work- Instructional from the 2011 NAACP awards.
Antwone continues as a prolific writer with his stage project, ANTWONE FISHER: A PLAY; Antwone and 20th Century Fox are in partnership with this play. Antwone’s present screenwriting project is, "The Tortoise and The Hare”. Antwone made his film directing debut with the award-winning short film, “My Summer Friend.” He produced wrote and directed the 2013 documentary, This Life of Mine.
About how far he has come, Antwone states, “I think back on a childhood of longing for belonging, and see my life now as what I’ve created out of my dreams. An image comes to mind of Mrs. Brown at the orphanage in Cleveland, me sitting at her side telling her, ‘You’ll read about me someday.’ I was definitely dreaming then. With no evidence of that ever being possible, I clung to that preposterous vision and with the force of the those dreams willed it and made it happen. Not because I needed to be famous, but because I needed a world that made me feel uninvited to be wrong. So I imagined myself free, I imagined myself loved, I imagined myself… as somebody.”
Antwone Fisher is an American screenwriter, poet, lecturer, and best-selling author. Antwone is the writer, co-producer and subject of the Fox Searchlight Pictures feature classic, ANTWONE FISHER. His autobiographical book Finding Fish: A memoir is a New York Times and national bestseller. Antwone is a member of the Writers Guild of America West.
Antwone Fisher is an award-winning film and literary writer. Born in an Ohio prison to a teenage mother, Antwone became a ward of the state and was placed in foster care. He spent two years in a loving foster home, but was subsequently moved and suffered twelve years of abuse at the hands of his new foster family.
Unable to locate a new placement for him, at age 14, Antwone was sent to a reform school in western Pennsylvania were he remained until he graduated high school at 17. Emancipated from foster care, he found himself in the world alone and homeless, living on the streets of Cleveland Ohio.
Unable to locate a new placement for him, at age 14, Antwone was sent to a reform school in western Pennsylvania were he remained until he graduated high school at 17. Emancipated from foster care, he found himself in the world alone and homeless, living on the streets of Cleveland Ohio.
Recognizing The Possibility For More
Antwone set on a course of healing when he joined the United States Navy where he served his country for eleven years. A U.S. Navy veteran, Antwone Fisher was appointed to the honorary rank of Chief Petty Officer by the Master Chief Petty Officer of the United States Navy, on October 5, 2009. This is an honor that Antwone holds with great pride. Antwone was awarded or earned the following ribbons and metals while serving on active duty: Navy E Ribbon, Two (2) Navy Good Conduct medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with three Bronze Stars.
After his honorable discharge from the U.S. military at the rank of E-5 (SH2), Antwone became a Federal Correctional Officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and after three years of service, he took a job with Sony Pictures Studios and worked as a Sony Security Officer for eight months before being directed to a screenwriting course being held in South Central Los Angeles.
Antwone Fisher's official animated logo.
Antwone has worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter for more than 26 years with an impressive fifteen film writing projects, script doctoring or script consultant assignments with the major studios.
Among those film projects are, Rush Hour, ATL and the feature classic film, ANTWONE FISHER, directed by and staring Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, written by Antwone based on his own life. The film garnered numerous nominations and awards.
Among those film projects are, Rush Hour, ATL and the feature classic film, ANTWONE FISHER, directed by and staring Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, written by Antwone based on his own life. The film garnered numerous nominations and awards.
”He was also listed among Fade In Magazine’s “100 People in Hollywood you need to know” in 2005. On April 23, 2013. Antwone testified before the Senate Finance Committee. The hearing titled: The Antwone Fisher Story as a Case Study for Child Welfare. Antwone’s first book, Finding Fish: a memoir, chronicles his inspiring story became a New York Times and National Bestseller, (Finding Fish Teacher Study Guide).
His collection of poetry, Who Will Cry for the Little Boy? a national best seller creatively disclosed the road from his tumultuous childhood to the man he is today. Antwone’s poetry is featured in Nikki Giovanni’s book, “Hip Hop Speaks to Children.” His third book, A Boy Should Know ow To Tie A Tie And Other Lessons For Succeeding In Life, won the award for best Literary Work- Instructional from the 2011 NAACP awards.
Antwone continues as a prolific writer with his stage project, ANTWONE FISHER: A PLAY; Antwone and 20th Century Fox are in partnership with this play. Antwone’s present 2018 screenwriting project is with Columbia Pictures. Antwone made his film directing debut with the award-winning short film, “My Summer Friend.” He produced wrote and directed the 2013 documentary, This Life of Mine, The Leon T. Garr Story.
About how far he has come, Antwone states, "I think back on a childhood full of longing for belonging, and see my life now as what I've created out of my dreams. An image comes to mind of Mrs. Brown at the orphanage in Cleveland, me sitting at her side telling her, 'you'll read about me someday.' I was defiantly dreaming then. With no evidence of that ever being possible, I clung to that preposterous vision and with the force of those dreams willed it and made it happen. Not because I needed to be famous, but I needed the world that made me feel uninvited to be wrong. So I imagined myself free, I imagined myself loved, I imagined myself... as somebody."
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PUBLIC SPEAKER
SUBJECTS ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
SUBJECTS ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
Born an orphan, Antwone survived severe childhood abuse, spending his entire growing up in foster care, teenaged homelessness to become one of the world's best-known tales of overcoming adversity to reach dazzling success. A modern-day Oliver Twist, his pick yourself up, focus, and prepare to work hard through life's difficulties. Antwone's talk is instructional, motivational and inspirational. Schedule this speech for your upcoming event.
A STUDY FOR CHILD WELFARE
Committee on Finance United States Senate
FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION
Antwone Fisher is very familiar with the challenges of life in the foster care, and the aftermath of teenage homelessness. Antwone addresses these issues with sensitivity, honesty and inspiration.
ANTWONE FISHER
MEMOIR & FILM
MEMOIR & FILM
The world first heard of Antwone Fisher’s Story of perseverance, determination, and courage in the film Antwone Fisher, and the publication of Finding Fish, his memoir of a childhood spent in foster care. It also learned that within him beat the heart of an artist — a major factor in his resilience and recovery. In his riveting and inspiring presentation (complete with lots of Q&A), Antwone shares how he learned to rise above his situation, how he found a family he never knew existed, and later how he went on to build a loving family of his own.
SCREENWRITING | WRITING & POETRY
Antwone has used the arts as a form of self expression to get him through his toughest times, and he talks about how all forms of art are so vital to the growth of human character and well being.
In Antwone’s moving, yet humorous keynote addresses, he shares his conviction of the importance of facing challenges of life head on and how to overcome or accept those challenges that you can not change. He explains the significance of self reliance, literacy, and building a life of consequence that improves oneself, the community and the society at large.
He tells of the necessity, no matter what the age, of making good personal choices, no matter how inconvenient the choice may be, and of the importance of reinventing oneself and preparing for every chapter of life. He also expounds on why it is essential to do these things in order to attain a successful and happy life.
Antwone details the philosophy he developed over his lifetime and explains how that philosophy brought him to the extraordinary success he enjoys today. It is the consummate, illuminating event.
He tells of the necessity, no matter what the age, of making good personal choices, no matter how inconvenient the choice may be, and of the importance of reinventing oneself and preparing for every chapter of life. He also expounds on why it is essential to do these things in order to attain a successful and happy life.
Antwone details the philosophy he developed over his lifetime and explains how that philosophy brought him to the extraordinary success he enjoys today. It is the consummate, illuminating event.