Growing up in Côte Saint-Luc, Warren Campbell was a classmate and friend from elementary school through high school. We played sports together and attended junior hockey games regularly. He moved to Toronto over 30 years ago, yet we have stayed in touch by email and social media.
Warren works in the entertainment industry and visits Montreal often, especially when the Just For Laughs Festival is on.
When he told me that one of his business partners is Farley Flex, perhaps best known to many as a judge on the CTV Show Canadian Idol for six years, I suggested we do a podcast,
During this COVID-19 pandemic, Warren and Farley have launched an initiative called Toronto Shines (www.torontoshines.ca). They have set up a makeshift drive-in theatre on the site of Ontario Place. Shows include a comedian, a musician and a movie- four hours of entertainment.
It was also great to talk to Farley about Canadian Idol, of which I was a huge fan.
Warren first started working in the music industry in the late 80’s and in 1990 he attended the New Music Seminar in NYC....while walking along Broadway he recognized a rising star in Canadian music....Maestro Fresh Wes and his manager Farley Flex.
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> Warren crossed paths again with Farley in 2006 when he became an agent at a speakers bureau...while going through the roster he saw a familiar name...Warren immediately called Farley and introduced himself discussing their shared time in the 1990’s Canadian music industry. Warren realized that Farleys knowledge and talent was misrepresented at the speakers bureau and reshaped Farley’s topics where he became one of the most sought after speakers.
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> Became friends and supported all of each other’s individual projects ( restaurant, production company, Music industry initiatives etc...) they finally got together when Warren brought Farley into True Gravity Entertainment & Media in 2019 to help develop the talent division and bring new projects to the company.
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> We can talk about existing projects (Multiple television series in early development), comedians/speakers we represent, new talent coming, concept of helping entertainers get shows, Esports development & of course Toronto Shines.
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> The interesting thing is all of these projects can have a straight line drawn to connect them all...empowerment for artists, helping diverse entertainers and creating new opportunities for youth & organizations.
Flex is an impresario and social change innovator whose recognitions include, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award, Scarborough Walk of Fame induction, Unicef Ambassadorship and several others. His accomplishments in the entertainment industry include managing multiple Juno Award winner Maestro, launching and operating FLOW 93.5, Celebrity Judge on Canadian Idol and much more. Flex has always chosen to juxtapose business endeavors with community contribution
