DeVon Franklin (born April 13, 1978) is an American producer, author, and motivational speaker. He is best known for the films Miracles from Heaven, Heaven Is for Real, and the New York Times best-seller book The Wait, which he co-wrote with his then-wife Meagan Good. Early life Franklin was raised in Oakland, California, the son of Donald Ray Franklin and Paulette Franklin. Franklin has two brothers, Donald Ray and David Brandon. The couple would ultimately separate, and Paulette and her three young boys moved into her parents' home. A few years later, Franklin's father died at the age of 36 after suffering a heart attack. His mother, grandmother and her seven sisters formed what Franklin has called a “coalition” of strong women that guided him and his brothers in the absence of their father. In a 2016 Mother's Day essay, Franklin wrote of his upbringing: “While she did make sure we had strong males in our life, like my grandfather and my pastor (who was also my uncle), my mother wanted to give us something more than that. My mother’s answer was to bring together a coalition of women, the same women who she was raised with…. They were always an integral part of her life and naturally became an integral part of our life too, even more so after my father died. These nine women (my mother, Grandmother, Aunt Nuna, Aunt Jayne, Aunt Ida, Aunt Enis, Aunt Chrystal, Aunt Donna and Aunt Sondra) were not only the village that would raise us, but also formed the foundation of who we would become as men.” Following his father's death, Franklin threw himself into academics and activities as means of coping with the loss. This would ultimately lead to his interest in theater and his passion for movies and television. As a teenager, he would study different movies and television shows to figure out how stories and scenes were put together in the hope of understanding how to move and inspire people through entertainment, the way The Cosby Show and The Color Purple had inspired him. During this time, he also began helping out at his uncle's church and preached his first sermon at the age of 15. Education Franklin graduated from the University of Southern California in 2000 with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Cinema-Television. Career Early career Franklin began his career during his time as