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- 250 - EP 236: Sasheen Artis
Today I got to speak with two-time Emmy winning producer Sasheen Artis, who is the Founder/CEO of Plenty of Pie, a talent incubator and production accelerator offering leadership development, practical producers skills training, and mentorship to emerging and mid-career creatives of color.
Sasheen has worked with such newsmakers as President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and director Jonathan Demme. Sasheen’s latest film, Birthing Justice,addressing Black maternal health outcomes, screened for 200 countries at the United Nations and is part of a continuing education course for the American Medical Association. It currently airs on PBS.
For four years, Sasheen chaired the Producers Guild of America flagship diversity initiative, Power of Diversity Master Workshop, and was invited by HRH Princess Rym Ali and the Royal Film Commission to create and lead a week-long seminar for creatives in Amman, Jordan.
Sasheen got her start at Paramount Home Entertainment, working on blockbuster marketing campaigns for Titanic, Mission: Impossible, Braveheart and TV series like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Nickelodeon’s Rugrats.
She is a member of the Television Academy, the Producers Guild, and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Sasheen is originally from Harlem, New York and earned her BA in Psychology from Stanford University.
We talked about all the things she’s working on and shared our unpopular opinions about The Color Purple.
You can find us online at Theotherfiftypercent.com, you can find links to everything I’m up to at https://linktr.ee/julieharrisoliver and at Julieharrisoliver.com
Tue, 12 Mar 2024 - 54min - 249 - EP 235: GenXX Initiative with Maria Burton, Monique Sorgen, Nandi Bowe and Susan Dynner
Today I got to speak with the group of accomplished female directors behind the initiative called GenXX: Maria Burton, Susan Dynner, Monique Sorgen, Nandi Bowe.
Maria and Monique have been on this podcast before, episodes 14 and 131, respectively, which you can still find on the website, here: Ep 14 Maria Burton and here: EP 131 Monique Sorgen.
All of these women have banded together to create GenXX, an initiative to raise awareness and create directing opportunities for the generation of experienced, talented and vetted women who were overlooked - lost between sexism and ageism.
https://www.mariaburtondirector.com/
0:00:09 Introduction to the GenXX Initiative and the Directors Behind It 0:00:49 The Birth of GenXX Initiative 0:03:19 Strike Allows for Discussion on GenXX Initiative 0:11:07 Experience and Awards Prove Talent 0:14:44 Creating a Database and Telling Diverse Stories 0:20:41 Creating Projects and Telling Untold Stories 0:23:44 The Importance of Creating Your Own Work 0:24:58 Creating Own Work and Proving Expertise 0:34:49 Creating Opportunities for Women in the Film Industry 0:37:31 Continuing Education and Growth in the Filmmaking Community 0:45:22 From Hollywood to Bollywood: A Life-Changing Move 0:46:34 Advice for Women in the Business
Tue, 06 Feb 2024 - 51min - 248 - EP 234: Emily Best
I caught up with Emily Best, the founder and CEO of Seed&Spark and also Film Forward, which is an experiential learning platform designed to activate the full potential of today's dynamic and diverse workforce by replacing boring corporate training videos with a cinematic learning experience built around award-winning short films from around the world. I've seen this program, it is so cool, and she's going to tell us about it.
One of the things I love about this business, and I guess about life, is getting to see how people's careers develop and how they grow and evolve. I interviewed Emily a few years ago about Seed&Spark and her origin story and all things crowdfunding on Catch a Break Season 2, Episode 203: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-203-crowdfunding/id1457637810?i=1000472155727
But today, I initially reached out to Emily to talk about her newer venture, Film Forward, and the important work she's doing there.
Our conversation expanded to include her thoughts about managing a company with a dispersed and remote workforce and how COVID changed everything, about intentionally creating culture in a company in those circumstances, how humbling it is to do this work authentically, and trying to shift the American culture to prioritize human dignity above individual achievement.
Emily continues to be an incredibly thoughtful visionary, and I was inspired by this conversation.
https://linktr.ee/julieharrisoliver
0:00:00 Introduction and Update on Julie's Accident
0:02:16 Introduction and Overview of Seed&Spark
0:05:30 Relocating to Atlanta and Remote Work Dynamics
0:09:09 The Benefits of Working from Home and Accessibility Accommodations
0:10:38 The Challenges of Remote Work and Communication Overload
0:14:39 Remote Work and Talent Attraction
0:17:34 Balancing Conflict and Innovation in a Heartfelt Workplace
0:20:06 Accountability and Managing Triggers in Remote Work
0:21:46 Importance of Acknowledging Our Protected Class Status
0:23:11 Prioritizing Mental Health and Well-being in the Workplace
0:24:53 Shifting the dynamic of work quality and attention in boardrooms
0:27:30 Working alone vs. working with a room full of people
0:30:41 Prioritizing in-person gatherings for remote teams
0:31:56 Identifying the challenge of delivering films to diverse audiences
0:35:23 Scaling practice from individuals to teams and creating organizational accountability
0:37:53 Conversations about accountability and the cost of masking in the workplace
0:41:53 The lack of human dignity as a foundational value in American culture
0:46:37 Personal Relationships and the Political Landscape
0:49:23 Interacting with Neighbors Holding Conflicting Beliefs
0:55:46 Struggling to Articulate the New Paradigm
Tue, 07 Nov 2023 - 1h 00min - 247 - Catch a Break podcast EP 401 - Project Greenlight edition
Introducing Catch a Break podcast - Project Greenlight edition.
Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2rlN3HPJuJTHBlt7zs70Xj?si=439b9a184fbe4fa5
or here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-a-break-podcast/id1457637810
Thu, 13 Jul 2023 - 1h 13min - 246 - Introducing Catch a Break - Project Greenlight season 4
The new season of Catch a Break - Project Greenlight version drops July 13th! Go subscribe to Catch a Break to not miss an episode.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-a-break-podcast/id1457637810
https://open.spotify.com/show/2rlN3HPJuJTHBlt7zs70Xj?si=439b9a184fbe4fa5
Mon, 10 Jul 2023 - 245 - EP 233: Blake Mitchell
Today on this podcast we have the good fortune to speak with Blake Mitchell. Blake Mitchell (they/them) began their career in film production in Los Angeles, working for the VP of Production at Participant Media. After leaving LA, they worked at Google over 8 years where they managed teams in diversity & inclusion, learning & development and recruiting. A Georgia native, Blake moved back to the South in fall 2022 to work as an Operations Manager on Stacey Abrams' campaign for Governor. They recently launched their own consulting business focused on workplace diversity & inclusion and organization culture. Blake holds bachelors degrees in International Business, Finance and Entertainment & Media Studies from the University of Georgia.
Also, Blake has been performing in drag as Mary Lou Pearl (she/her) and sees drag as a powerful tool to entertain, educate, raise money and spread positivity. MLP got her start in the drag bars and clubs of San Francisco in 2017 where she became known as a kind queen who loves giving back and spreading positivity. She's spent the last 2 summers working and teaching drag at Brave Trails LGBTQ+ summer camp where she's returned this summer as Head Counselor.
Now I’m going to tell you right now, drag, along with gay, queer, and trans is under attack in this country, and hardly any of the talking heads screaming about indoctrination of children have any idea what they’re talking about. So we are going to take some time today and really unpack it. What is drag, actually?
Here, have a listen.
www.theotherfiftypercent.com/blog
How to reach Blake:
website: www.blakemitchellconsulting.com
instagram: @missmaryloupearl
email: blake@blakemitchellconsulting.com
Tue, 27 Jun 2023 - 57min - 244 - EP 232: Kiah Amara
Today on this podcast we are diving into disability and accessibility and how to invite and manage people and their needs on set.
This feels like one of the less often discussed pillars in the work of diversity , equity, inclusion and accessibility, and I’m really happy we have Kiah Amara on the show today to help us start thinking about it and planning for it.
Kiah is a Disabled, Queer, and nonbinary producer, activist, and production accessibility coordinator. Originally from the rural Midwest, they now work globally expanding ideas of Accessibility, Disability, and all things deviant from normal through their company IndieVISIBLE Entertainment. Kiah is the PAC (production accessibility coordinator) on Best Foot Forward on AppleTV+ which was featured in The New York Times and awarded a 2022 Ruderman Seal of Authenticity. Other work includes the Netflix x RespectAbility Children's Content Lab, The Greatest ad, Rosie's Rules , CBS and WarnerBros. Discovery Talent Initiatives, and Accessibility Lead for the Far Out product launch at the Steve Jobs Theatre.
https://www.indievisibleentertainment.com/services
Inevitable Foundation: https://www.inevitable.foundation/ RespectAbility: https://www.respectability.org/ FWD-doc: https://www.fwd-doc.org/ Ride the Omnibus: https://www.omnibusride.com/ Access Horror: https://www.accesshorror.com/ *Access Horror Conference Virtual July 8-9 and in-person Film Screening July 9 (registration goes live 5/29)Tue, 20 Jun 2023 - 1h 03min - 243 - EP 231: Dr. Apollo Emeka
You can find me and my consulting work at Julieharrisoliver.com and you can find the podcast website at Theotherfiftypercent.com. OR, you can find links to everything I’m doing at linktr.ee/julieharrisoliver. The newest thing I have for you is that I’ve added a link for the books that people keep bringing up on the show. That way, you don’t have to remember as you’re listening and your purchase can help support the show, and we’re supporting independent bookstores. It’s a win win win.
Ok, now one more thing before we meet today’s guest. I met the smartest and funniest co-host of my new favorite podcast this week and I want to tell you all about it. If you are a woman of a certain age, or headed towards it, or love someone who is, this is for you. And if you liked the Kiss My Age show, you will love Circling the drain.
The concept of a woman "circling the drain" conjures up negative imagery for some.
But for the hosts of Circling the Drain Podcast, they've heard this phrase used so many times in reference to perimenopause, menopause and the plight of the aging woman, that they've chosen to reclaim and repurpose the phrase in the spirit of humor.
Co-hosts and longtime friends Ellie and Julia take a deep dive into the sometimes embarrassing, often hilarious, and always bewildering issues of hormonal changes that take place in midlife.
Through honest accounts, thoughtful interviews, and group panel discussions, their mission is to make you chuckle, make you nod your head in recognition, and hopefully make some scientific progress!
Tune into Circling the Drain Podcast, every other Wednesday. Wherever you get your podcasts.
Today on this podcast I sat with Dr. Apollo Emeka. Apollo is the Founder and CEO of Apollo Strategy Group Inc., an innovative leadership and strategy consultancy for business leaders, companies, and the Next Wave of ventures launched by diverse and impactful founders.
Since its inception, Apollo Strategy Group has created over $500m in value for 100+ high-performance leaders and businesses in industries such as technology, real estate, professional services, and entertainment by developing bespoke strategies and providing hands-on implementation. Prior to founding Apollo Strategy Group, Apollo launched and sold a business he scaled from one to seven locations within four years while serving as an FBI Intelligence Analyst. In 2022, he retired from a decorated 20-year military career as a U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret and a U.S. Military Intelligence Analyst.
Apollo has a Doctorate of Policy, Planning and Development from the University of Southern California and lives with his wife and two children in Pasadena, CA.
Apollo Strategy Group Inc. is Small Business Certified, Disabled Veteran Business Certified, and Minority Business Enterprise Certified.
We talked about his journey going from being unschooled to his PhD at USC, how he thinks about leadership and achievement and how he works with clients to embed equity all along the way.
Tue, 06 Jun 2023 - 1h 05min - 242 - EP 230: Becky Morrison
Today on the podcast I sat with Becky Morrison. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because she was originally on episode 187 of this show. So, go back to that episode to revisit her origin story, because today we’re going to jump right in to the meat of the work.
Becky Morrison is an award-winning film and TV producer and an advocate for production innovation. She kicked-off her career on the Hollywood blockbuster I AM LEGEND, dabbled in the world of animation on Disney’s THE WILD, then entered the world of rock n’ roll producing the visual content for U2’s world tour.
In 2015, Becky founded The Light, the premier production company for those looking to create systemic change in the film industry. She has spent years studying the history of Hollywood production and uses her research to inform a new framework for production that is grounded in inclusion, equity and sustainability.
We’re going to talk about that framework and her approach for revolutionizing the production process now.
Tue, 23 May 2023 - 1h 01min - 241 - EP 229: Karen Horne
Today we are doing a deep dive into studio pipeline programs with Karen Horne.
Karen Horne is a senior executive with over 20 years of experience within the entertainment industry. She has been recognized as a Diversity and Inclusion pioneer and pipeline builder. Karen is Senior Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, North America at Warner Bros. Discovery. In this role she oversees the DEI efforts for creative talent development pipeline programs, workforce, content and production while working closely with the Global Chief Diversity Equity & Inclusion Officer to create a global strategy for the company.
Prior to joining WarnerMedia, Karen spent over a decade at NBCUniversal, where she was Senior Vice President, Programming Talent Development and Inclusion. In this role, Karen was responsible for overseeing in-front-of and behind-the-camera primetime diversity efforts. The programs and initiatives she created and/or developed became the industry’s gold standard and a blueprint for many other companies
Horne designed, implemented and oversaw Nickelodeon’s Writer Fellowship Program. She was the Director of Writer Development & Special Projects for Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Network Television. Previously, she served as Director, West Coast, for the Black Filmmaker Foundation.
Horne was also a Co-producer for the HBO Emmy Award-winning animated series “Spawn.”
Her early career includes stints at ABC as the Executive Assistant to the President, ABC Entertainment, as well as positions at ABC Television Network Group and ABC Sports.
Ms. Horne has spoken both nationally and internationally on diversity and inclusion best practices and has been honored with several awards and recognitions for her diversity and inclusion work and her service to underrepresented communities. She serves on the boards of RespectAbility; Montclair State University’s School of Communication and Media; USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, The Alliance of Women Directors, the Bay Area’s Urban League and is a member of several entertainment industry organizations.
We talked about the different kinds of pipeline programs, how they work, and why we still need them.
Tue, 16 May 2023 - 56min - 240 - EP 228: Bree Frank
We are continuing our conversation about inclusion, equity and diversity with Bree Frank, founder of Hue You Know.
As an accomplished Television Executive, and advocate for people of color in media, Bree is passionate about creating opportunities for professionals of all backgrounds.
With over 20+ years of professional production experience, she has produced over 300 hours of unscripted television, including MTV's Room Raiders, TLC's A Makeover Story, and the award-winning television format Wife Swap. She has also contributed to a number of series during a 10-year run in Production Management for ZodiakMedia's New York office.
In 2018, Bree took a leap of faith and moved her family to Los Angeles, CA to begin a new chapter of life. She quickly landed at Matador Content and served as the Executive in Charge of Production, where she managed a robust development slate as well as projects for Disney+, Apple TV+, Crackle, and Showtime. Most recently, Bree was at Hello Sunshine (Reese Witherspoon's media company), as their Senior Vice President of Physical Production for Unscripted where she was tapped four years ago to build out physical production services. Bree has served as an executive on Hulu's Fairplay, Roku's Meet Me in Paris, and Apple's My Kind of Country as well as a healthy slate of brand funded projects . Bree's passion is to tell exceptional stories and move the television zeitgeist forward while championing diversity, equity, inclusion and access.
Bree dropped so much truth in this episode there were a couple of times where I forgot that I had to keep up my end of the conversation - I just wanted to keep listening.
Tue, 09 May 2023 - 1h 05min - 239 - EP 227: MyKhanh Shelton
Today I sat down with MyKhanh Shelton, a brilliant DEI practitioner and Attorney.
With more than 20 years of experience as a legal and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) advisor in the media and entertainment industry, MyKhanh Shelton has deep expertise in identifying, evaluating and mitigating legal risks and a proven track record of designing people strategies and systems to attract and retain diverse workforces, and foster inclusive cultures.
From 2020 to 2022, MyKhanh served as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Inclusion for WarnerMedia where she was responsible for leading workforce DEI initiatives for WarnerMedia’s global workforce of 30,000 employees, including production safety initiatives across Warner Bros., HBO and HBO max productions.
Prior to WarnerMedia, MyKhanh served as Senior Vice President, Global Inclusion at 21st Century Fox, where she led initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion across the company’s 20,000 person workforce in film, television, sports, news and digital businesses. She also advised internal and external partners on matters related to diversity of stories, portrayals, and representation in the entertainment industry. Prior to forming the DEI Center of Excellence, she served the company as Senior Vice President, Fox Group Legal. In that role, she led litigation teams across the US, represented Fox in industry-wide litigation and initiatives, and advised senior executives on a wide variety of employment-related matters.
MyKhanh holds a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA and a Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley. She serves on the boards of Facing History and Ourselves and Promax, and we will learn more about that as well.
We talked about meeting people where they are, using data to inform the work, her particular philosophy of speaking truth to power with love and data.
Tue, 02 May 2023 - 49min - 238 - EP 226: Dr. Meghan Burke
We are continuing our series of talking with experts who work in various aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion across industries and in entertainment specifically. Today I sat down with Dr. Meghan Burke. We talked about how white people can approach this work without getting hung up on feelings of shame and guilt and centering ourselves. None of that is particularly helpful. We also examined the notion of being "Colorblind" when it comes to race. What's wrong with that?
Dr. Meghan Burke is a sociologist and author of three books about contemporary racism and whiteness, most recently the book Colorblind Racism. She was an award-winning teacher, scholar, diversity advocate, and advisor during her 15 years working as a professor at a small liberal arts college, where for 10 years she co-developed and directed an innovative program designed to equip white students with an understanding of equity, inclusion, and intersectionality so that they could effectively work as partners in DEI efforts.
She also traveled around the country offering keynote talks and workshops for communities looking to deepen their commitments to racial and social justice through interrogations of whiteness. Meghan left higher education in 2021 for a career in industry, utilizing her social science research skills and her subject matter expertise to drive positive change for companies that serve the common good.
We talk about how it is to show up as a white person doing the work of dismantling racist systems. A theme you’ll hear repeatedly is it’s not if and whether, but when and how. That will make sense soon.
Tue, 11 Apr 2023 - 1h 09min - 237 - EP 225: Dr. Tanisha Thelemaque
Let's talk about trauma and production. How does the stress affect you over time? Stress affects all people, but it isn't evenly distributed across all people. And what happens when it accumulates without being addressed? (I have a story that was not my finest moment.) Dr. Thelemaque helps us to unpack it and gives us some strategies to cope.
Dr. Tanisha Thelemaque is a licensed psychologist with over a decade of experience furthering equity-focused initiatives. Her research interests have focused on the mental health impacts of racial discrimination on Black Americans with an emphasis on the intersections of trauma and gender.
Currently, Dr. Thelemaque owns a Bay Area therapy practice in addition to holding numerous roles within the psychological community. She works with renowned mental health organizations including the National Center for PTSD as a mobile applications tester, content writer, and subject matter expert on issues of race; she maintains a leadership role within the California Psychological Association as the Chair-Elect of the Division for Diversity and Social Justice. Additionally, she collaborates with individuals and various organizations as a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant. Her focus is on developing psychologically safe, trauma-informed work environments and navigating racial trauma in people of color.
Tue, 04 Apr 2023 - 56min - 236 - EP 224: Dr. Kira Banks
Today we are kicking off our series of talking with experts who work in various aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion across industries and in the entertainment industry specifically. First up is Dr. Kira Banks. DEI work is "so hard" in entertainment and it's also "not hard at all." What's the deal? And why is it so hard for an industry who sees themselves as such good people to face the systemic racism they are swimming in?
Dr. Banks' decades of experience allow her to make complex and controversial topics accessible in schools, communities, institutions of higher education and corporations. She co-founded the Institute for Healing Justice and Equity at St. Louis University, where she has a professor in the Department of Psychology.
In addition, she has published over 20 articles in peer reviewed publications. And she has contributed to the Harvard Business Review, the Atlantic and the Guardian. She received her BA from Mount Holyoke College where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and her MA and PhD are from the University of Michigan.
Today, Dr. Banks has a podcast called "Raising Equity" to support adults in talking to kids about systems of oppression. She's also a co-principal of the Mouse and the Elephant, which develops customized curriculum to meet organizations' long-term needs.
On a personal note, I have learned a tremendous amount from Dr. Banks and I am thrilled she agreed to do this podcast, and I'm so excited for you to get to meet her and hear what she has to say.
Tue, 28 Mar 2023 - 57min - 235 - EP 223: Where have I been?
It has been awhile since I dug into this podcast, and it's been never since I did a solo episode talking about myself. A lot has happened over the last few years that I want to share with you. Then, I'm rebooting and launching another series of episodes, this time mostly focused on diversity, equity and inclusion work. Come along for the ride.
Tue, 21 Mar 2023 - 09min - 234 - EP 222: Women's Production Society Part 2 Cristen Carr Strubbe and Jeanette Volturno
This is part two in a series of interviews with the leadership of the Women’s Production Society. The WPS is an organization of physical production executives across the industry. It started as a small cocktail party and has since grown to more than 100 members and is a powerful force of change within the industry with the purpose to fulfill their mission statement: To promote the hiring of women in leadership roles in Film, Television and New Media.
In the last episode, I talked with the group’s founding members Dana Belcastro and Debra Bergman. And today I am talking with Jeanette Volturno, producer and entrepreneur, and Cristen Carr Strubbe, producer turned physical production executive, who are the current leadership of the group. You can hear Jeanette’s origin story in episode 111 of this podcast and Cristen is on episode 15. Now, it you can’t find these episodes on your podcast feed, you can find them on the website, which is theotherfiftypercent.com all spelled out in letters.
In this episode we talk about where the WPS is now, how they weathered the covid of it all the last couple of years, and what they plan to do going forward.
Tue, 20 Sep 2022 - 33min - 233 - EP 221: Women's Production Society Part 1 Dana Belcastro and Debra Bergman
I have a couple of really special interviews to share with you. Both are with the leadership of the Women’s Production Society. The WPS is an organization of physical production executives across the industry. It started as a small cocktail party and has since grown to more than 100 members and is a powerful force of change within the industry with the purpose to fulfill their mission statement: To promote the hiring of women in leadership roles in Film, Television and New Media. And this time we are in, where women are literally losing power over our very bodies, it is more urgent and important than ever that women take on leadership roles of influence and take deliberate action toward impacting our world.
This first interview is with the founding members Dana Belcastro and Debra Bergman. Both came up as producers and now both are executives. To get their full stories, I will refer you back to episodes 108 and 109 of this very podcast where we do a deep dive into both of their herstories. In today’s episode they walk us through the origin of the Women’s Production Society and what they are looking to do next as they hand the reins over to the next leadership of the group.
Tue, 13 Sep 2022 - 40min - 231 - EP 220: Donna: Stronger than Pretty
This episode is very special and very bittersweet. You may remember when I spoke with Jaret Martino and Pat Branch when they made the short called Stronger than Pretty. Well, they are back because the feature film version, Donna: Stronger than Pretty is about to have its worldwide release on February 23rd, after a great festival run. I also had the honor to talk to Donna Martino herself, Jaret’s mom, who’s story the film tells. We recorded this last February on the weekend of its festival premiere, where it won basically all the awards. It was impossible to know at the time that Donna would be diagnosed with cancer very shortly afterward, and she passed away on September 3rd of 2020. As you will hear, Donna was a remarkable woman and mother and Jaret’s tribute to her in the form of this film will inspire you, as it has inspired me.
Pat and Jaret co-wrote the script, and Jaret directed it. I start out talking with Jaret and Donna, and Pat joins later on, fresh from an awards ceremony where she was collecting all the trophies. I’m so happy for them for the success of this film and what a beautiful tribute it is to Donna and her story of strength and perseverance.
Sat, 16 Jan 2021 - 57min - 230 - EP 219 Sista Brunch
For this episode, I got to meet the brilliant hosts of the Sista Brunch podcast. Sista Brunch is a podcast about black women+ thriving in entertainment & media careers. My two guests are Fanshen Cox and Anya Adams.
Fanshen is an Award-winning playwright, actor, producer & educator She just wrapped up seven years of touring her one-woman show: One Drop of Love and she is also a Producer and Development Executive at Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Pearl Street Films. She serves on the board of The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and on the Kennedy Center’s Turnaround Arts Equity Advisory Committee. And Fanshen is also a co-author of the Inclusion Rider which was announced at the 2018 Oscar awards by Frances McDormand.
Anya Adams is an award-winning director, most recently taking home the NAACP Image Award for Best Director in Comedy for 2020. Anya’s career skyrocketed after directing an episode of Blackish in 2017. Since then she has gone on to direct the Netflix pilot Ginny and Georgia, episodes of The Good Place, Single Parents, G.L.O.W., Charmed, Fresh off the Boat, Speechless and many more.
This is juicy, and it is real talk. The f-bombs fly. You’ve been warned. And go subscribe to Sista Brunch. Although I don’t even need to tell you that. You are about to fall in love.
Tue, 15 Dec 2020 - 1h 03min - 229 - EP 218 Sienna Beckman
Today I got to speak with Sienna Beckman from all the way across the pond. Sienna is the Co-founder & Creative Director of Emergence Films (based in London & LA). Living and working in Los Angeles for 10 years, Sienna has produced for NBC Universal, Scott Free Productions, Verizon go90, Fullscreen Media, Esquire TV, Refinery29, Prettybird Entertainment, and Disney’s Maker Studios, among others.
Emergence Films is a film and television development and production company dedicated to championing female filmmakers and committed to creating more opportunities for underrepresented voices in storytelling around the world. In addition to producing, Sienna is an active member of Women in Film & TV UK and Times Up UK, and she hosts a speed-networking event series with WFTV to promote the hiring of more female crew members, creatives, and technicians.
We talked all about her finding her place in London and growing her company.
Tue, 08 Dec 2020 - 54min - 228 - EP 217 Sujata Day
Today, I got to catch up with previous guest, Sujata Day. With her infectious personality and unique sense of humor, Pittsburgh native Sujata Day has firmly established herself in Hollywood as a performer, creator, writer, and director. She regularly performs in Upright Citizen Brigade's hit Asian AF show.
Sujata is known for her starring role as CeCe in Issa Rae’s The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. She's recurred for three seasons on HBO's Insecure.
Sujata is a Sundance Lab fellow, Sundance Film Festival influencer, and Sundance Collab advisor. Her short film, Cowboy and Indian, sold to a major studio for series development with Sujata writing, producing and starring. She served as HBO Visionaries Ambassador in 2019. She directs This Is My Story, a series in which beloved storyteller LeVar Burton narrates real life personal experiences of everyday racism.
Sujata's debut feature film, Definition Please, is currently screening on the virtual film festival circuit, starting with its World Premiere at Bentonville Film Festival in August 2020.
Tue, 01 Dec 2020 - 45min - 227 - EP 216 Cecilia Escobar
For this episode, I sat with Cecilia Escobar, Founder and President of Smart Accounting Solutions. With more than 30 years of Entertainment Payroll and Accounting Expertise Cecilia has held executive and senior management roles for multiple entertainment payroll companies like Media Services and Axium, and most recently, she was the Vice President of Payroll Operations at Entertainment Partners.
In between these positions, she freelanced as a payroll and production accountant on major motion pictures and studios for over 18 years.
Cecilia is a Multi-Cultural Client Business Partner, leading efforts for Multi-Cultural Diversity in the Industry. She has hosted many Diversity Client events as well as sponsorships to Diversity Production Summits and Trade Shows. One of her latest pet-projects is bridging Latin American Film Productions with their US counterparts.
Cecilia is currently a member of multiple entertainment industry associations including N.A.L.I.P., Women In Film, and Hispanic Professionals.
She has just started a non-profit called Sandbar Sanctuary – a Horse Rescue and Equine Therapy for Abused Women. With her love of horses, she hopes to help women bond and find a way to heal through therapeutic equine experiences.
Tue, 24 Nov 2020 - 36min - 226 - EP 215 Kim Gruenenfelder
For this episode I got to catch up with my friend Kim Gruenenfelder. You may remember her from the podcast when her book, Hangovers and Hotflashes came out. Well she has a brand-new book that I have bought and will be reading over Thanksgiving called, My Ex’s Wedding. I was a fan of Kim’s long before I ever met her, so this is a real treat for me. And also, she’s hilarious. Some of her other titles include A Total Waste of Makeup, Misery Loves Cabernet, There’s Cake in My Future, Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink, and Love the Wine You’re With. I mean, come on. Give yourself a treat. Heads up, our kids went to high school together so we may refer to them a bit as they are both navigating college online.
Tue, 17 Nov 2020 - 54min - 225 - EP 214 Jennifer Aurianne Dare
Jennifer Aurianne DaRe is the founder and CEO of ATN Entertainment, a premiere talent management company in Los Angeles that specializes in the representation of artists in entertainment from film, television, music, literature and more. Since founding ATN in 2015, she has grown the roster to over 100 clients under her leadership, including a strong presence of women and the LGBTQ community.
Now in her fifth year of running the company, DaRe’s tenure has resulted in tremendous success with previously unknown clients achieving acclaim. Her accomplishments led to the launch of the production and development division of the company, ATN Productions. The debut project for the banner will be a TV adaptation of the YouTube comedy series “PANIC,” which is slated for release in Q2 of 2021.
Prior to the founding of ATN Entertainment, DaRe was an executive vice president at a then reputable management company that she transitioned to from her time as an independent music manager for bands, record producers and solo artists. Her music connections developed as the singer and manager of the successful folk-rock band, The Extinct. For 12 years, The Extinct shared stages with artists such as Stone Temple Pilots, No Doubt, Incubus, Maroon 5 (Kara’s Flowers), Alien Ant Farm as well as many other successful acts of the 90’s.
Jennifer was also sole producer and curator of The ATN Showcase from 2005 - 2013 that featured musical artists from all over the globe at the SXSW music festival. It was the largest and longest-running independent showcase in SXSW history at the time.
Jennifer’s experience, expertise and work ethic make her one of the most respected and sought after talent managers in the business, and after hearing this, you will know why.
Tue, 10 Nov 2020 - 1h 02min - 224 - EP 213 Finnerty Steeves
For this episode I got to sit with Finnerty Steeves. Now, you know Finnerty as an actor from the shows, Orange is the New Black, Half Life, Louie, House of Cards, Smash, Sopranos – basically everything, including a lot of Broadway credits. What you may not yet know is that she just wrote, produced and starred in her own feature film called Before/During/After. This sharp-witted dramedy studies a middle-aged NYC theatre actress suddenly forced to figure out the kind of person she wants to portray in real life when her marriage comes to an end after she catches her husband cheating. We had a delicious talk about acting, the craft, the journey of making a movie and of going through one of those life experiences that really makes you who you are.
Tue, 03 Nov 2020 - 45min - 223 - EP 212 Chloë Thomas
For this episode, I spoke with BAFTA and RTS nominated Chloë Thomas who is in the UK and most recently directed all episodes of the psychological thriller The Deceived, created by Lisa McGee of Derry Girls fame and Tobias Beer.
Just before that Chloë directed episodes of Harlots and Victoria and she is attached to direct the feature film Making Babies - a rom-fertility-com by Deborah Frances-White, with Redwave Films.
Previously, Chloë was known for comedy directing; Sharon Horgan’s early sitcom Angelo's, followed by being BAFTA nominated for directing the first ever series of Horrible Histories. Chloë also develops her own pilots through her company One Glove Films. We had a good chat about directing, both as a woman and an introvert, and exploring new models of power.
Tue, 27 Oct 2020 - 55min - 222 - EP 211 Austin School of Film
For this episode, I got to meet Faiza Kracheni and Carrie Cates of Austin School of Film, which for nearly two decades has provided alternative education programs and workshops for all ages interested in the arts & film. Faiza Kracheni is the Programs & Education Director, and Carrie Cates is the Artist & Community Director. These women have taken their passion for filmmaking and created a completely accessible space for a growing community of creators, breaking down barriers inherent in our society.
They launched their newest program Play At Home as a direct response to the ongoing pandemic. Play At Home is an online/offline interactive experience featuring live workshops, events, screenings, and talks by artists and filmmakers from around the globe. Since the launch of Play At Home in April 2020, it has hosted 40 workshops and events with over 900 participants in 14+ countries.
Tue, 20 Oct 2020 - 47min - 221 - EP210 Kelli Miller
Kelli is the co-founder of creative studio And/Or, and has worked in motion design and branding for 15 years with brands like MTV, Netflix, and Amazon. She is a graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art and has taught and lectured at the College for Creative Studies, Pratt, NYU, SVA, Yale, and RISD.
Kelli has directed show titles for FX, HBO and Paramount’s Lip Sync Battle, as well as designing title sequences for a number of films and documentaries including The Assistant, Certain Women and critically acclaimed drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always.
Tue, 13 Oct 2020 - 44min - 220 - EP 209 The Wolf of Snow Hollow
For this episode, I spoke with a producer and two stars of Jim Cummings’ much anticipated new film The Wolf of Snow Hollow, which opens October 9th in theatres around the country and streaming in the comfort of your living room.
Natalie Metzger, whom you will remember from an earlier episode of this podcast, Produced this movie under her shingle Vanishing Angle where she also produced Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road that won the SXSW Grand Jury Award along with about a million other awards. Riki Lindhome plays Officer Julia Robson in the film. You may also know her from Duncanville, Knives Out, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the comedy musical duo Garfunkel and Oates, just to name a few. And finally, we also have Chloe East who played the role of Jenna Marshall in the film. Chloe made her TV debut in True Blood, playing Sheriff Andy’s daughter. Lately, she has been shooting Generation for HBO, Next Level, and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World.
Natalie, Riki and Chloe joined me from three different locations in this time of covid, so the audio is what it is, but have a listen to what it takes to actually make a film in tricky conditions, and how it is to work with Jim Cummings, then go out or order in and see this film tomorrow.
Thu, 08 Oct 2020 - 43min - 219 - EP 208 Stephanie Sanditz
Stephanie Sanditz is a writer, director, actress and producer from BROKEN HEART, MO - the name of her feature screenplay that won a Tribeca Film Festival All Access Award for New Voices in Screenwriting. She recently optioned feature film DANCE PARTY, a body-positive dance comedy she co-wrote, with Queen Latifah set to star.
Recently, Stephanie wrote, starred and produced her pilot, THE HIGH LIFE pilot, starring opposite Amy Landecker, Linda Purl, Ron Perkins and Jesse Garcia then won BEST PILOT and BEST ACTRESS in the IMDB Independent Shorts festival, and the We Make Movies International and Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festivals and Dances With Films. She has just been hired to adapt an edgy female boxing feature, the PERFECT ADDICTION, with Constantin Films.
As an actress she is currently co-starring in 37 PROBLEMS, which you may remember from when I interviewed the writer Lisa Ebersole. It was just bought by Amazon Prime, Xfiniti, and Elizabeth Banks, Whohaha, and was accepted in the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival New Media category.
She has her hands in too many things to even list here, but a quick google search will lead you to many articles about her work.
Stephanie is prolific and busy, adapting to quarantine, and made some time to talk to me.
Tue, 06 Oct 2020 - 40min - 218 - EP 207 Deborah Sullivan
As The-Artery’s Managing Director and Executive Producer, Deborah Sullivan channels her extensive background in advertising, production, design, and visual effects into each and every project that she brings to life. Formerly at DDB New York, FCB New York, Berlin Cameron & Partners, RadicalMedia, as well as PeepShow Post Productions (to name a few), her global body of work spans throughout feature films, television programs, commercials/branded content, and music videos. Since joining The-Artery and helping to lead their team of artists, Deborah has partnered with some of the world’s leading brands including Pepsi, Under Armour, Verizon, Skyworth, AppGallery, Johnnie Walker, Mercedes-Benz, Stella Artois, and more. She has also garnered an impressive roster of accolades across the Cannes Lions, Effie, Clio, AICE, AICP, D&AD, and The London International Awards.
Tue, 29 Sep 2020 - 34min - 217 - EP 206 Prathi Srinivasan
For this episode, I spoke with Prathi Srinivasan. Prathi is a talented writer and actress, known for “iZombie,” “A Girl's Guide to Her Early 20s,” and “Wasted.” As an immigrant who grew up in the bustling city of Chennai, India, moving to America was a culture shock for Prathi that resulted in her passion for characters who are stuck between where they come from and where they are going. She is the co-creator of “Bollyweird” as both an immigrant story and as a complex and rich LGBTQ story, and, alongside frequent writing partner Joshua Levy, their credits include “Titans” (DCUniverse/Netflix), “iZombie” (CW), and the HBO pilot presentation “F**ked Up” (HBOGO, HBONOW). She graduated with a B.A. in literature from The University of Texas at Dallas, and she now resides in sunny California. Despite that, we still recorded this remotely, because pandemic.
Tue, 22 Sep 2020 - 47min - 216 - EP 205 Michelle Amor
Michelle Amor is a screenwriter and professor and last year she sold her show called THE HONORABLE to CBS. A one-hour drama about the city’s third elected Black mayor, a family woman of integrity, and a novice to politics, who rises from childhood poverty to the most powerful seat in the most politically corrupt city in the nation. Her other credits include PLAYIN’ FOR LOVE, OF BOYS & MEN, and TUPAC SHAKUR: BEFORE I WAKE, and this was all before finishing her degree. She is also a passionate Clinical Assistant Professor of screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University, and she was honored in Variety’s Entertainment Education Impact Issue as a “top educator around the world”.
She is also serving her fourth elected term as co-chair of the Committee of Black Writers in the WGA, whose mission is to empower, increase visibility, and create career and networking opportunities for Black writers in Hollywood. In June 2020, Michelle penned an open letter titled Dear Hollywood addressing systemic racism that went viral. We will talk about that too.
We talk all about her decision to move west to pursue her dream, raising a family while doing it, and what it means to be black in Hollywood and how the system needs to change.
Tue, 15 Sep 2020 - 1h 21min - 215 - EP 204 Dr. Nidhi Gupta
For this episode, I spoke with Dr. Nidhi Gupta. Nidhi is a medical doctor with England’s NHS service and a filmmaker. After working in the covid unit, she contracted covid herself and she is still recovering. At the same time, she is a filmmaker and is directing a documentary for which she is currently crowdfunding with the backing of funding platform Greenlit, which will examine the history of pandemics in interviews with scholars, activists and political figures. You have a few more days to contribute so go https://greenlit.fund/project/start-stop-repeat and chip in.
Fri, 11 Sep 2020 - 56min - 214 - EP 203 Sonya JF Barnett
For this episode, sat down with Sonya JF Barnett, Canada’s only IPA-Certified Intimacy Coordinator. Sonya has been working in the field of sexuality for over ten years. She founded Toronto’s esteemed Keyhole Sessions as a safe and welcoming community for artists to experience the union between sex and art. In early 2011, she co-founded SlutWalk as a way to combat victim-blaming and sexual profiling, for which she was named one of UTNE Reader’s Top Visionaries. She recently completed a specialist degree in Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto, and is pursuing her Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology, with a focus on sex therapy. She is also a feminist erotic filmmaker, with her short films touring world festivals and each winning multiple awards. A certified sexual health educator, Sonya is also part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community and is kink-friendly. She is currently working as the intimacy coordinator on Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming feature film Nightmare Alley and SEE (Season 2) for Apple TV+.
I met Sonya on the live series Catch a Break podcast produced with GreenSlate called The Way Back where we talked about getting back to production in the time of Covid. You can see that series at Catchabreakpodcast.com or gslate.com. It is worth the watch or listen.
As you might suspect, we are going to be having a grown up talk about sex and sex education and some porn and you can decide whether or not to listen in your car if your kids are there. But, here’s your warning. Also, a pre-emptive correction, I referenced a piece Dan Savage gave talking about porn and the internet, but I called him Fred Savage. To my knowledge, Fred Savage hasn’t talked about porn on the internet publicly. Although we might be interested in what he has to say about it, that was a mistake. It was Dan Savage.
And in a wonderful full circle moment, Sonya talked about how hearing Amanda Blumenthal on this podcast, led her to seek her out and take her training. I love it when a plan comes together and this world is made a little smaller and more connected.
Tue, 08 Sep 2020 - 57min - 213 - EP 202 Felischa Marye
For this episode, I got to meet Felischa Marye, a graduate of the MFA screenwriting program at UCLA, who transitioned into the film industry after a successful career in public relations/integrated marketing in Chicago, where she was born and raised. While still in film school, she sold her first comedy pilot to HBO. She most recently created and produced a raunchy friends comedy series, set in Atlanta, called “Bigger,” for BET’s new streaming service, BET+, with Will Packer producing. Bigger Season 2 is currently in development. Felischa also wrote on two seasons of the hit Netflix series “13 Reasons Why.”
Felischa currently resides in Los Angeles, and is proud to have made LA her home, largely because of Chicago’s whether and its indiscriminate cruelty.
Tue, 01 Sep 2020 - 53min - 212 - EP 201 Lesli Linka Glatter
For this episode, I was lucky enough to meet Lesli Linka Glatter. Lesli is a director of film, network, and premium cable television drama, with both pilots and episodes to her credit. Lesli’s TV work includes Homeland, The Newsroom, The Walking Dead, Justified, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex, True Blood, Mad Men, The Leftovers, The Good Wife, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, ER, Freaks and Geeks and Twin Peaks. Lesli has also directed numerous pilots including Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars and SIX. Her films include Now and Then, The Proposition and for HBO, State of Emergency.
Lesli is currently the Executive Producer/Director of the award winning series Homeland. Lesli has received eight Emmy nominations, seven Directors Guild Award nominations, winning twice for Mad Men and Homeland, as well as a Humanitas Award nomination for HBO’s State of Emergency. Lesli is currently developing projects for Netflix, Amazon, Showtime, Epix and her next project is The Bankers Wife , an eight-part mini series for Amazon.
Lesli serves as the First Vice President of the Directors Guild of America, is on the DGA’s Western Directors Council, serves on the Executive Committee of the Directors Branch of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is also an advisor at the Sundance Institute’s Director’s Lab. Lesli has been committed to mentoring for many years and most recently help develop the successful NBC program, Female Forward. Lesli has received the Caucus Foundation Award, the Dorothy Arzner Directing Award from Women in Film and the Franklin Schaffner Award from the American Film Institute and most recently, an Honorary Degree from the American Film Institute.
Prior to her work as a director, Lesli was a modern dance choreographer who worked throughout Europe, Asia and the U.S.
Tue, 25 Aug 2020 - 54min - 211 - EP200 Saraswathi (Vani) Balgam
For this very auspicious episode, I sat down with my friend Saraswathi Balgam, aka Vani. She is a writer, director and creative producer with several award winning shorts and documentaries to her credit. She is currently developing a slate of animation and live action projects based on her original stories. Under the banner of her production company, Dancing Atoms, Vani is also overseeing several hand picked projects conceived by creatives in the USA and India.
Previously, Vani served as the Head of Creative Management for DreamWorks Animation in Shanghai, where she championed Chinese storyboard artists to tell authentic Chinese stories designed for global audiences. Vani was also the Executive Director of Rhythm & Hues India, a multiple Academy Award winning Animation and VFX studio. She started the studios in Asia, and managed the teams of artists and technicians that created the digital characters in “Life of Pi” “Snow White and the Huntsman” “Night at the Museum”, “The Golden Compass” “X-Men”, and “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
Vani, along with her husband Prashant Buyyala, who was instrumental in connecting Vani to Rhythm and Hues in 2000, led the Rhythm and Hues Studios International. Prashant worked with Rhythm and Hues for 18 years and Vani worked there for 12.
Vani is extremely passionate about supporting the artistic community. She has volunteered tirelessly and served as the President of ASIFA India and Women In Animation India for 10 years. Through her efforts, she has become an indisputable icon in the history of Indian animation.
Tue, 18 Aug 2020 - 50min - 210 - EP 199 Katica Roy
Katica Roy is a gender economist and the CEO and founder of Denver-based Pipeline, an award-winning SaaS company that leverages artificial intelligence to identify and drive economic gains through gender equity. Pipeline launched the first gender equity app on Salesforce's AppExchange. The Pipeline platform was named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2019 and Fast Company’s 2020 World’s Most Innovative Companies.
In 2017 Katica was named a Luminary by the Colorado Technology Association, in 2018 a Colorado Governor's Fellow, and in 2019 a Top 25 Most Powerful Woman in Business and a Stevie Entrepreneur of the Year, Gold Award. She is also an industry entrepreneur, thought-leader, and frequent editorial contributor and speaker. Katica’s articles have been published by World Economic Forum, NBC, Fast Company, Forbes, Bloomberg, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, The Hill, The Advocate, Salesforce, and Morning Consult. In 2019, her articles garnered over 1B impressions.
If you know me at all, you know how I love talking to someone who is an expert in all things equity. Get ready to dig in.
Tue, 11 Aug 2020 - 48min - 208 - EP 197 Lorena Gordon
Lorena is an award-winning writer-director. Hailing from Queens, Lorena began her journey working on sets at the age of eighteen with directors such as: Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes, and Ben Stiller. The stories Lorena is most passionate about telling are about the human condition and the complicated facets of life. Lorena feels it’s her responsibility as someone who is a woman, Latina, and gay to be a voice to the disenfranchised.
She has directed and produced short films: including Fallen Hero, The Uninvited, The Cure, Alone, and Times Like These. Most recently, Lorena wrote and directed the short film At Last. Lorena has also combined her love for music by directing several music videos, and commercials
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 - 38min - 207 - EP 196 Paige Henderson and Nicole Murray
For this episode, I got to catch up with Paige Henderson and Nicole Murray. Together, they have Svelte Dog Productions, under which they wrote, produced, and star in the webseries called Dead Friends. They both are from the Seattle area and graduated from the University of Washington, and by a weird coincidence moved to LA at the same time, and became roommates and collaborators. We had a great time doing this, maybe because we recorded this last January, before the world went completely mad.
Tue, 21 Jul 2020 - 50min - 206 - EP 195 Naomi McDougall Jones Part Two
I caught up with Naomi McDougall Jones to hear about what she's been up to since we last spoke. She has written a book called THE WRONG KIND OF WOMEN: INSIDE OUR REVOLUTION TO DISMANTLE THE GODS OF HOLLYWOOD, and toured with her movie called BITE ME. She's also teaching online filmmaker classes that you should check out: naomimcdougalljones.com/class
Tue, 14 Jul 2020 - 42min - 205 - EP 194 Courtney Hope Therond
Courtney Hope Therond is an award-winning director whose films feature an unapologetically female perspective. She has screened short films at several film festivals and her latest short Rehearsal, which tackles the grey areas of consent, premiered online on Short of the Week and received a Vimeo Staff Pick after playing over a dozen festivals internationally. Her film The Dress You Have On won multiple awards including two jury prizes and is distributed by Revry TV and Seed & Spark. Courtney’s digital series Comedic Timing was recently acquired by WhoHaHa and the screenplay for her digital series Between Us Girls was a finalist at Austin Film Festival. Courtney is a graduate of NYU and was a Cinereach Film Fellow. After four years in France, she now directs narrative and branded content in Los Angeles and is currently developing her first feature film
Tue, 19 May 2020 - 42min - 204 - EP 193 Sophie Max
Sophie Max is an actress, writer and producer based in London and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She is the writer, executive producer and lead actress in the film The Whole Truth and previous film work includes writing and starring in the award-winning Callie. As an actress, Sophie has been seen across theatre and film in New York and the UK. Sophie is also a poet and her book, lost and found, was published in January 2018 and is available on Amazon worldwide. Sophie is a proud advocate for womxn in the film industry and is passionate about elevating womxn’s voices and stories in media. In other words, she has come to the right place.
Tue, 05 May 2020 - 31min - 203 - EP 192 Tanny Jiraprapasuke and Melissa Center
For this episode, I got to speak with Melissa Center, an award-winning filmmaker & actress, and Tanny Jiraprapasuke, a mindful coach, practitioner, & scholar, who met by chance in Los Angeles, at the National Women’s Political Caucus Summer Spritz event. As women in support of other women: they discovered a mutual desire to shift the moral paradigm around closing the gender pay-gap, reevaluating hiring practices, and transforming organizations’ cultures.
Melissa and Tanny decided to combine their talents, aligned values, and full dedication to affecting change for good. They are not trying to dismantle “systems,” but rather to interrupt the status quo “systems” by offering a new kind of system: Whole Self Systems. Through Whole Self Systems, Melissa & Tanny inspire new ways of communicating, empower ethical leaders (many from marginalized communities), and elevate workplaces that prioritize diversity, gender equanimity, & social innovation.
We spoke earlier this year, before we were all in isolation, but somehow this work seems even more relevant now, as many people are looking inward toward mindfulness and as the world is changing before our very eyes.
Tue, 21 Apr 2020 - 57min - 202 - Introducing Catch A Break Season 2Sun, 19 Apr 2020 - 1h 04min
- 201 - EP 191 ASHLEY SHELTON
Ashley got her start starring in the critically-acclaimed film, Something, Anything. She was also featured on 2015 IndieWire's year end critics poll best lead actress list. Ashley is a graduate inTheatre from the University of Tennessee and is passionate about telling stories from the heart. Her goals include bringing to life stories that give light to social issues and connecting with people through cinema. In 2018 her writing and directorial debut came to life with MAGNOLIA & CLEMENTINE that was featured in Amazon Prime's first ever film festival. We spoke remotely, before social distancing was the new normal.
Tue, 31 Mar 2020 - 32min - 200 - EP 190 Gabriela Ledesma and Callie Schuttera
For this episode, I got to speak with the founders of the production company Poison Pictures: Gabriela Ledesma and Callie Schuttera. The pair met in 2015 and have since written and produced countless projects together including comedy specials, feature films, live events, commercials, and documentaries.
Their work has been featured and acclaimed by Film Pulse, CherryPicks, Film Threat, Film Inquiry, and more.
We talked about their journeys, both before each other and together, and their film Blue, which you can find on Amazon Prime.
Wed, 18 Mar 2020 - 53min - 199 - EP189 Mary Montiforte
Mary Montiforte is the Vice President of Physical Production at Endeavor Content. She originally came up through production accounting and producing as a freelancer, then moved into staff positions in production finance and physical production. Her longest stint was as a staff production controller for NBCUniversal before moving on to Lionsgate and now Endeavor Content.
Some of her credits include 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Santa Clause 2, Thirteen Days, Air Force One and a crowd favorite The Commitments - just to barely scratch the surface. Amongst everything else, we talked about the tenacity it takes to have longevity in this career.
Thu, 05 Mar 2020 - 35min - 198 - EP 188 CAROLINA GROPPA
Carolina is a Brazilian born Emmy nominated producer living in Los Angeles. She produced the award winning and 2017 Emmy nominated documentary AUTISM IN LOVE, which explores how adults with autism find and navigate romantic relationships. Her narrative feature films include MISS VIRGINIA, starring Uzo Aduba, the Netflix Originals GIRLFRIEND'S DAY and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. She co-produced THE FEMALE BRAIN, Whitney Cummings' directing debut feature film, and also produced SYLVIE'S LOVE which had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
She also has her own podcast that you should check out – it’s called Life with Caca – It’s a podcast of intimate and honest conversations with producers from all corners of the entertainment industry. It shines a light on the many career paths that exist under the umbrella of producing, the messy, unglamorous realities behind the title, and why we love it so much.
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 - 42min - 197 - EP 187 Becky Morrison
The production process when it comes to film, television, and advertising has lately been seen as outdated and needs to be simplified to be able to adhere to society’s needs for more diverse creators and stories. When Becky Morrison founded The Light, a production studio in Brooklyn, NY, she did it with a simple mission: change the culture of production, overhauling an outdated model in favor of one founded on values of equality, transparency and inclusion. She aims to create a system that prioritizes people, profit and the environment, responding to the ever-evolving economic landscape of the advertising industry. With that set model, Becky and The Light team have been able to secure work for brands like Lexus, JCPenney, and A&E. We spoke in her Brooklyn studio on a snowy day in NY.
Tue, 14 Jan 2020 - 43min - 196 - EP 186 EDITH MUDGE
Edith is a composer and music producer. To date, her music has been placed in 790 episodes of 259 series. Due to her rigorous 3-year training at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions and Bleeding Fingers, and 2 years of full-time composing at Jingle Punks, Edith has acquired a comprehensive set of musical, technical, and collaborative skills. Her composing credits include YouTube Premium series Step Up: High Water, Saturday Night Live, and Showtime's The Circus, as well as a plethora of reality TV series, including Queer Eye, Project Runway, and The Real Housewives franchise. She currently composes for TV, film, podcasts, live theater and more, with a specialty in electronic drama, synth pop, and choral music. She told me all about being one of few women in this space, and you can listen to her music right now.
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 - 45min - 195 - EP 185 KATE CHAMURIS
Kate Chamuris is a producer and director who recently won a Gold, Student Academy Award and a BAFTA student award for producing the American Film Institute short film MILLER and SON. She also produced the AFI thesis films, BALLOON and IF THIS IS WRONG. For the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, Kate produced UNSPEAKABLE and BLOCKS.
Her directing work includes the comedic short A SARI FOR PALLAVI (winner, Best Comedy Short at Rhode Island International Film Festival).
Prior to narrative filmmaking, Kate worked as an advertising account manager for ROLEX Global at J. Walter Thompson. While there she produced the branded feature documentary “Deepest Dive: The Story of the Trieste,” directed by Fisher Stevens that aired on National Geographic and BBC Worldwide. Kate resides in Los Angeles, CA and produces feature films for dir/writer Jeremy Merrifield and his production company, Dream Three Films.
You can watch her two Oscar Qualified Live Action Shorts at the links below:
BALLOON - http://bit.ly/Balloon_SOTW MILLER & SON - http://bit.ly/MillerSon_SOTWWed, 20 Nov 2019 - 36min - 194 - EP 184 Thérèse Plummer
Therese is an actor and award-winning audiobook narrator working in New York City. She has recorded over 400 audio books for various publishers. She won the 2019 Audie Award for her work on the multicast, Sadie by Courtney Summers for Macmillan Audio, and was nominated for the Multicast, Any Man, by Amber Tamblyn for Harper Audio and her solo narration for The Rogue: Planets Shaken by Lee W. Brainard for Podium Publishing.
The American Library Association (ALA) awarded her work on Sourdough by Robin Sloan as part of the 2018 Listen List: Outstanding Audiobook Narration for Adult Listeners. Thérèse has been nominated for 5 Audie Awards in 2018. She was named AudioFile’s Best Voices of the Year in 2015 for her work on Robyn Carr’s A New Hope.
Thérèse is the voice of Maya Hansen in the Marvel Graphic Motion Comic Ironman Extremis, Dr. Fennel in Pokemon and for various Yu-Gi-Oh characters. Television Guest Star Roles on The Good Wife,Law and Order SVU and Virgin River for Netflix.
You can imagine how intimidating this was. She told me how she broke in – it was a series of preparation meeting miracles, and she spoke about what everyone wants to know – how do you voice those sex scenes?
Tue, 12 Nov 2019 - 48min - 193 - EP 183 MARY RACHEL GARDNER
Mary Rachel Gardner graduated from USC in 2013 with major studies in Acting, Business and Film Production; she also spent a semester abroad studying at a theatre conservatory in London.
Mary Rachel gained hands on experience and knowledge working at production companies, such as Steve Carell’s Carousel Productions and agencies such as William Morris Endeavor. She also worked as a PA on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she learned about the production and operation elements of running a live television show.
Since graduating from USC, Mary Rachel founded her own film company Kalliste Zoe Productions to explore, create and share original content through visual art and storytelling. Kalliste Zoe "Όμορφη Ζωή" means "A Beautiful Life" in Greek. She has developed many of her own independent projects including music videos, parodies, comedic sketches and short films. Mary Rachel has received honorary awards at film festivals, such as Audience Favorite and Best Screenplay, and successfully licensed some of her films overseas.
Under the Kalliste Zoe umbrella, she founded the Independent Cinema Showcase (ICS): to discover and share independent filmmakers’ visions from around the world as well as provide an opportunity for them to join a cinema family that connects and supports talented creators.
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 - 47min - 192 - 182 Elizabeth Blake-Thomas and Isabella Blake-Thomas
For today’s episode, there was a happy miscommunication. I was meant to interview Elizabeth Blake Thomas, a director, via the internet, as I assumed she was in England. Well, she also assumed I was in England. Once we were on the phone, we realized we were actually down the street from each other. So, I jumped in my car and ran down to the Hollywood film festival, where I got to interview both Elizabeth, and her daughter Isabella Blake-Thomas. A very lucky two-fer! Together, Elizabeth (Director) and Isabella (Actor, Singer) have the production company Mother & Daughter Entertainment, whose film Unseen I caught while I was at the festival. It was an unnerving film about child trafficking. We walked out of the screening, and into an outdoor bungalow for this interview. Forgive the background noise, but try to soak up the ambiance.
Tue, 22 Oct 2019 - 35min - 191 - EP 181: HEIDI NEL
Heidi previously served as the head of The Raben Group’s Impact Entertainment division where she provided pro‐social consultation to leaders in media, entertainment, and philanthropy. Clients included the American Film Institute, The Fledgling Fund, One Community, PBS, Sony Pictures TV, and YouTube, as well as independent filmmakers, artists, and change makers.
With nearly two decades working in entertainment, advocacy, strategic communications, and public engagement, Heidi is a leader in the social impact field, with unique insight and expertise in advancing cultural and policy change through stories and film. Her issue‐area expertise includes criminal justice reform, immigration, sexual assault, and gender and racial equity.
Prior to The Raben Group, Heidi was a Partner at Picture Motion where she led the Washington, D.C. office. She began her career at Ghost House Pictures where she co‐produced an original web and TV mini‐series for Comcast, and managed marketing at Lionsgate for Grindstone Entertainment films. In addition to her work on Just Mercy through the development of the Represent Justice campaign, she has led impact strategy and successful engagement campaigns tied to award‐winning films, such as Batkid Begins, The Best of Enemies, Food Chains, Happening, The Human Experiment, The Hunting Ground, The Invisible War, The Return, Racing Extinction, and The Rape of Recy Taylor.
Heidi has guest lectured at Boston University and the George Washington University, and was an adjunct instructor at Duke University in the Sanford School of Public Policy. She has been featured in Variety, Real Screen, Screen Daily, Washington Life Magazine, and HuffPost; has been recognized by the Case Foundation as a “Millennial Leader to Follow”; and received the Media Impact Award from the PVBLIC Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships. Originally from South Africa, Heidi grew up in Colorado and attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she majored in modern dance. She is currently completing an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, and lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband and dog.
Tue, 15 Oct 2019 - 46min - 190 - EP 180 KATHLEEN COURTNEY
Kathleen has enjoyed working in the film and television industry for over 30 years. She has worked “on location” most of that time, shooting across this country as well as internationally. Over her career, she has served as Producer, Production Executive, Production Manager and Production Coordinator on feature films and most recently on TV. She is currently working on the Netflix hit 13 Reasons Why. Previous credits include Chance, Steve Jobs, San Andreas, The boy Next Door, and Because of Winn-Dixie. At one point, she was the head of production at a company called The Film Department.
We talked all about her career, how she helped organize Production Coordinators, start the Frog & Frigate, and continue her career, even after moving out of Los Angeles. It takes effort, but it’s possible.
Tue, 08 Oct 2019 - 52min - 189 - EP 179 Jessie Levandov and Nina Reyes
Jessie Levandov and Nina Reyes, the Co-Founders & Directors of Mala Forever. Mala Forever is an award-winning, women-run film and digital studio based in LA and NYC.
They develop and produce films, new media, and commissioned work that centers unheard voices. They are redefining the future of filmmaking through equitable production practices, and their growing community-based platform is a cultural hub for the radical femme revolution.
Jessie is an award-winning community-based filmmaker, creative director, and educator. Her queer documentary series Signified was presented by the Guggenheim Lab, and her short film The Greggs won the Spirit Award at Slamdance. Her work has been featured in publications such as Teen Vogue, Huffington Post and Them. Jessie is committed to storytelling as a tool for social justice, and served as the longtime program director of Youth Documentary Workshop at New York’s Educational Video Center.
Nina is a countercultural filmmaker and creative director whose work is grounded in her point of view as a mixed-race first-generation Mexican-American and Jewish woman. Her feature-length screenplay La Paz was a finalist for the 2017 Latino Screenwriting Project; her short films, Organism and Invisible Men, have won press and played at festivals around the world including Outfest, Frameline, and HBO: New York Latino Film Festival. They both are fellow NYU alums with BFA’s from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts – go violets.
Tue, 24 Sep 2019 - 45min - 188 - EP 178 NATALIE METZGER
Natalie Metzger is the VP of Development and Production for Vanishing Angle. Natalie is a Spirit Award nominated producer whose credits include Jim Cummings’ newest film THE WEREWOLF, GREENER GRASS (Sundance, SXSW), THUNDER ROAD (Grand Jury Award - SXSW), THE ROBBERY (Sundance), MATPAT’S GAME LAB (Streamy Award), Lil Dicky’s FREAKY FRIDAY (over 506 million views), HYDRANGEA (Vimeo Staff Pick), THE ARRIVAL (Jury Award - Napa Valley Film Festival), THE STOP (Vimeo Staff Pick), virtual reality miniseries GLOBAL GAMER, among numerous others.
Her directing credits include AT&T original documentary ALONE IN THE GAME (AFI Docs, Frameline, Outfest); healthcare documentary SPECIAL BLOOD (Best Feature Documentary - CWFF); PSA “Topless Women Talk NFL” (featured in Washington Post, Huffington Post, Vice); and numerous award-winning commercials and short films.
Also an accomplished writer, Metzger won the Gold Prize at the Page International Screenwriting Awards for her sci-fi script IMMORTAL.
Metzger holds a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts and a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University
Tue, 17 Sep 2019 - 33min - 187 - EP 177 SUSIE SINGER CARTER
Susie Singer Carter's website bio says this: “If you asked five-year-old Susie what she wanted to be when she grew up, she’d have placed her hands defiantly on either side of her pink tutu and said, “Everything. Duh!” And that is what she has done. She’s a writer, producer, actor, musician. She sat down, we became immediate friends, and talked about everything – marriage, divorce, parenting, daughtering.
She recently made an autobiographical short film about alzheimer’s called My Mom and the Girl, which she’ll tell us all about, and you can see her dancing hip hop on facebook all the time. She has the media company called Go Girl Media, which I will link to on my website.
Tue, 10 Sep 2019 - 1h 03min - 186 - EP 176 ELINE METS
Eline is creating a series about women in motocross. She got tired of waiting for someone else to do it, so like a real badass woman, she’s doing it herself. Originally from Estonia, Eline is a motocross champion and the first woman in Canada to jump her dirt bike onto an airbag.
Passionate about motorcycles and filmmaking, Eline is dedicated to telling stories of badass women. With a background in creating non-fiction content for years, Diaries of Badass Chicks is her directorial scripted series debut.
She started a crowd funding for a webseries, and then realized it’s much bigger than that when she received videos and encouragement from women all over the world.
Tue, 03 Sep 2019 - 29min - 185 - EP 175 MARQUETTE JONES
For today’s episode, I had a bit of serendipity. I went to the Produced By conference this summer and happened to sit down next to today’s guest. Marquette Jones is a filmmaker, an attorney, a professor, and she hosts a podcast called Directing Magic, where she interviews female filmmakers. As you can imagine, we had a lot in common, so I invited her to come to my table and have a conversation. Not only did I learn a lot about her and her career, but we also talked about podcasting and what drives us to do this, and it gets to be very inside baseball. We interviewed each other just enough for both of these hosts to be uncomfortable. Enjoy. For her full bio, go to my website, which you can find at: www.theotherfiftypercent.com.
Tue, 27 Aug 2019 - 1h 05min - 184 - EP 174 LESLIE BELZBERG
Leslie is a producer, most notably working with John Landis, on all of your favorite things, such as Three Amigos, Beverly Hills Cop III, Coming to America, Trading Places, Thriller, Sliders, Dream on, Blues Brothers 2000, Honey I Shrunk the Kids series, Crazy Heart and the list goes on and on and on, before she transitioned to being a production executive in house.
At the time of this recording, she was at Gaumont, but has since transitioned to the Head of Production for Imagine Entertainment.
She has always worked toward diversity, even and especially when she was the only woman in the room. She has incredible perspective and experience and it was such an honor to get to have this conversation.
Tue, 20 Aug 2019 - 1h 03min - 183 - EP 173 ELEANOR WELLS
Eleanor was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was a lover of film, writing, and storytelling from an early age. She has written and directed several short films, including Feature Presentation, about three lonely people in need of connection who find it at the movies as well as Tales from the Airwaves, a Mercury Theater-esque radio drama. She fell in love with the classics as a teenager, and is especially interested in portraying other eras. She firmly believes storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have to empathize with and understand the lives of others.
She tells us all about her current film, Eagle Rock, which dives deep into the psychology of what might make a young woman join a cult. It’s pretty fascinating.
Tue, 13 Aug 2019 - 38min - 182 - EP 172 JEFFERY TOBIAS HALTER
I originally interviewed Jeffery for episode 13, which you probably have to find on the website, since the podcast apps only keep the last 100 or so up. This was before #metoo and TimesUp and we were just exploring unconscious gender bias in the workplace.
As a quick bio – Jeffery Tobias Halter is a gender strategist and the President of YWomen, a strategic consulting company focused on engaging men in women’s leadership advancement. Jeffery is the former Director of Diversity Strategy for The Coca-Cola Company. He is the author of two books including WHY WOMEN, The Leadership Imperative to Advancing Women and is a two-time TEDx speaker. His clients include dozens of Fortune 500 companies and he serves on the Board of Trustees for Miss America 2.0.
Jeffery has been doing his work as a gender strategist for a long time, but I wondered how his work has ramped up and changed focus in recent days. Luckily, I got to ask him.
Tue, 06 Aug 2019 - 38min - 181 - EP 171 ANA LAKE AND JENNIE NYSTRÖM
I sat down with Ana Lake and Jennie NystrÖm about their webseries "Tracy Buckles."
A Los Angeles-based actress originally from the Central Coast, Ana Lake has been immersed in a love of film since childhood. She made her public debut in the short film Finding Home, For Now that she wrote and starred in. The film had its world premiere at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival in 2017. She plays the title role in Tracy Buckles.
A graduate student of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, Jennie Nystrom is an accomplished producer who enjoys collaborating with her husband on all aspects of film production. Her artistic capabilities are eclectic, and she has a deep passion for story supervision, set design, hair, make-up and costume. She is a producer, among many other jobs, on Tracy Buckles.
I spoke with both of them and we basically solved the problems of the world.
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 - 38min - 180 - EP 170 EMILY AGUILAR
For today’s episode, I spoke with the prolific filmmaker, Emily Aguilar. She’s been out of college for about five minutes and has already made and sold three feature films.
Emily is an award-winning film director in Los Angeles known for creating emotional impact for her audience in narrative films. She is the director and producer for The MomentEM Productions and has films distributed by Bridgestone, Pure Flix, The Dove Foundation and Amazon Prime. She is the founder of the 5th annual Global Impact Film Festival held in Washington, DC every August. A Washington DC native of Latino heritage, she has a competitive edge who aims to provoke, educate and inspire her audience in both her creative and commercial productions.
Emily is currently in post production on her third feature film, "Brie's Bake Off Challenge." Follow her journey online and I will link to all her handles on my website.
Tue, 23 Jul 2019 - 38min - 179 - EP 169 LORNA LANDVIK
Lorna is the author of twelve novels, including the best-selling Patty Jane’s House of Curl, Oh My Stars, Best to Laugh, Once in a Blue Moon Lodge, and my very favorite, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons.
She has also performed as a standup comedian and actor, and annually does her one woman show, Party in the Rec Room in Minneapolis. She serves margaritas to the audience while doing improv for the whole show. She’s a riot and this was fun.
Her brand new novel: Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with Recipes): A Novel, is available now at booksellers everywhere.
Tue, 16 Jul 2019 - 37min - 178 - EP 168 KAT ROSENFIELD
Kat is the Edgar nominated author of two young adult novels, and most recently collaborated with Stan Lee on his final project, the Audible Original Stan Lee’s Alliances: A Trick of Light. The title is one of Lee’s final collaborations and most innovative works created and finished in his lifetime, and I’m delighted I got to speak with his co-writer, Kat, about working with Stan Lee on this one-of-a-kind audio storytelling experience. Kat is a gifted writer who understands the complexity of youth culture and owning one’s voice when it comes to storytelling.
Narrated by the inspiring Yara Shahidi, Stan Lee’s Alliances: A Trick of Light introduces listeners to a mysterious young woman, Nia, whose fate is intertwined with a seemingly ordinary Midwestern teenager, Cameron Ackerson, whose quest for YouTube stardom takes him to the heart of the Great Lakes Triangle where he is imbued with the power to "see" and "hear" a new reality.
The truly immersive new title is currently available on Audible (Audible.com/ATrickOfLight).
Tue, 09 Jul 2019 - 21min - 177 - EP 167 FARHOUD MEYBODI
As EVP of Creative at Wayfarer Entertainment, Farhoud Meybodi sets and executes Wayfarer’s overall creative vision across feature film, documentary, series, and commercial content, further strengthening the company’s mission to create entertainment that compels social change. At his core, Farhoud is passionate about storytelling that entertains, educates, and inspires. He also believes in the transformational power of empathy and shared human experience to heal the political-social divide of the present day. Mostly recently, Farhoud directed and executive produced several episodes of Wayfarer’s flagship series, My Last Days. He received a Television Academy Honors Award, Muse and Clio for his work on the series. Farhoud also executive produced and wrote Man Enough, for which he received a Telly and Adweek Arc award, and created Project Upgrade, an unscripted series featuring YouTube stars, The Merrell Twins, as they set out to design and build a new consumer product with the help of successful female mentors. Farhoud serves as a board member of the Wayfarer Foundation, The Muslim Public Affairs Council, as well as Loyola Marymount University’s Business School A-LIST Marketing Pathway, where he teaches a course on Branded Content for Social Impact.
We talked about many things, but one of them was how to invite men into the conversation about equality that promotes healing and forward movement.
Tue, 02 Jul 2019 - 59min - 176 - EP 166 MARIA MEALLA
Maria was born in Bolivia and raised by storytellers that encouraged her to pursue filmmaking, a path which eventually led her San Francisco. She ventured into movie-making in 2010 and learned the craft through work trade by collaborating with other talented filmmakers on their projects. She has since written, produced and directed the feature film Women and Cigarettes, a collection of romantic short films titled Business Affairs, and a handful of shorts on lower-middle class millennials. She is the chapter leader of the SF Cinefemme Director’s Collective as well as an active member of Film Fatales. Her most recent film Bring me an Avocado, premiered in March and took home the audience award at Cinequest. When she’s not working on narrative films, she freelances as a video producer throughout the Bay Area.
We talked about her path to filmmaking, the state of inclusion within commercial advertising, and her film Bring me an Avocado.
Tue, 25 Jun 2019 - 27min - 175 - EP 165 LISA HAMMER
Lisa Hammer is a film director, writer and musician. She is best recognized as the voice of Triana Orpheus on the Adult Swim cartoon The Venture Bros. She has written/directed independent dark comedy feature and short films such as Pox and Pus$bucket, and the CMJ Film Festival winner The Invisible Life of Thomas Lynch which she co-wrote and co-directed with James Merendino (SLC Punk). Lisa's films have won awards from dozens of festivals including: the CMJ Film Festival, Telly Awards, Hugo Awards, It Came From Kuchar Film Festival, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, Canada International Screenplay Festival, Ontario Film Festival, Antimatter, Indieworks and two from New York Press. She has had one-woman shows at the Olympia Film Festival, Perth International Film Festival, and the Duolun Art Museum in Shanghai, China. Her surrealist silent film Empire of Ache was recently acquired by The Getty Museum’s feminist film collection, curated by Miranda July. Her storytelling abilities support not only writing, but her editing, gaining her the reputation for saving shelved films as “The Edit Doctor”.
Hammer’s most recent film The Sisters Plotz, starring Eve Plumb (The Brady Bunch) was recently acquired by Amazon Prime, the Roku Channel and FandangoNow. Hammer co-created and co-writes the original series Maybe Sunshine now on the Seeka TV channel on Roku. Her new "Environmental-Comedy-Sci Fi- Horror" screenplay Ghostapus is winning and placing in dozens of festivals and screenplay contests and is in development.
We talked about her career and the gritty days in New York where you could have rent control and live as an artist.
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 - 1h 02min - 174 - EP 164 SIGRID GILMER
Today I talked with Sigrid Gilmer. Sigrid makes black comedies that are historically bent, totally perverse, joyfully irreverent and concerned with issues of identity, pop culture and contemporary American society. Sigrid burst onto the national theater scene with her play Harry and the Thief, an action film/historical/time travel play about a thief who is blackmailed into traveling back in time to deliver a cache of arms to Harriet Tubman. It has since been produced across the country, including runs at the Pavement Group (Chicago), the Know Theatre (Cincinnati), and the Skylight Theatre (LA).
Additional select works include Slavey (Clubbed Thumb), Seed: A Weird Act of Faith, It’s All Bueno (Cornerstone Theater Company), Frilly, and White 3: Manifestdestinyland. Her television work includes: A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix) and Claws (TNT).
Sigrid’s play Mama Metal is playing right now at IAMA Theatre Company at the Atwater Village Theatre through June 23rd. You can get tickets iamatheatre.com.
Tue, 11 Jun 2019 - 40min - 173 - EP 163 ANGELA COHEN
Angela is a writer and an actress with a degree from Emory University in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. In 2012, Angela founded Charley Bear Productions Inc, with a vision to affect change through art, showcasing the female perspective in front of and behind the camera. Charley Bear produced the dramatic short film, Without Grace, starring Angela alongside award winning actress Ann Dowd. It is wonderful and you should watch it.
In fact, you should watch it today, as it is in the All Voices Film Festival on Amazon through June 17th. Finalists are based upon the numbers of views in the time period. Angela would love to recoup her angel investor’s generous contribution in making this film and stir your heart with emotion in the process. It's 18 minutes- you have 18 minutes!
Here's the link to watch Without Grace. Tell your friends! Angela is fascinated with the brain and the overlap of art and science. The synergy of this will be actualized in her work in Virtual Reality, which she will tell us all about.Tue, 04 Jun 2019 - 50min - 172 - EP 162 STAVROULA TOSKA AND ELENI YIOVAS
Today I got to speak with Stavroula Toska and Eleni Yiovas about their award-winning series SWITCH. Switch is the story based on Stavroula’s experiences of going undercover and working as a dominatrix in New York City. Now before you pre-judge this, as I did, let me tell you, you have never heard anyone describe the BDSM world before in this way. Stavroula is the creator, writer, actor – coming from a long career as a filmmaker, and Eleni is an Executive Producer and actor. The series features no less than Olympia Dukakis, John Lindstrom, and Cady McClain, and episodes were directed by Cady McClain, Laurie Weltz, Katie Maguire and Stavroula. Stavroula and Eleni sat down with me and spoke of this work with such empathy, compassion, and respect for humanity, vulnerability, and the ways in which we heal the world.
Seriously, we brought up Brene Brown.
Tue, 28 May 2019 - 1h 01min - 171 - EP 161 LEE BRODA
Lee is an Israeli-born poet who writes about the beauties – and uncertainties – of life from a distinctly observant perspective. Her first book of poetry; Whispers From the Moon is available now and she reads some of it for us.
Lee is also a celebrated actor and producer, and is the founder of LB Entertainment, which develops, finances, and produces major independent films, where she has shepherded over thirty films to success.
Additionally, Lee is the founder of the group Women Creating Change, an organization that bridges, empowers, and creates opportunities for female writers, directors, producers, and actors from the Middle East.
We talked about all it. Like it’s no big deal.
Tue, 21 May 2019 - 33min - 170 - EP 160 LORRAINE DEVON WILKE
Lorraine is a writer, an actor, a musician, and activist - but today we talked mostly about the writing. In 2010 she launched her “arts & politics” blog, Rock+Paper+Music, and from 2011 to 2018 she was a popular contributor at HuffPost typically focused on politics and social issues.
A produced and awarded screenwriter, she’s spent more recent years working in longform fiction as well. Both her award-winning novels, After the Sucker Punch and Hysterical Love, are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her latest, The Alchemy of Noise, contemporary literary fiction that digs deep into issues of privilege, profiling, and prejudice in contemporary Chicago, is published by She Writes Press, and was released in April 2019.
We talked mostly about her book and we got very deep into race and politics and the work that white people need to do. Buckle in, because we went there.
Tue, 14 May 2019 - 1h 02min - 169 - EP 159 PAMELA DOUGLAS
Pamela is an award-winning writer with numerous credits in television drama. She consults internationally with professional TV writers and producers, and has lectured in Africa, Europe, and throughout the US. She was awarded the Humanitas Prize for Between Mother and Daughter on CBS, and she has garnered multiple Emmy nominations and American Women in Radio and Television Awards for her other dramas. Her book “Writing the TV Drama Series” just came out in it’s 4th edition, and we talked about what is in the book and how to make it as a TV writer.
She is also an amazing visual artist. Her house is filled with her art, and I became quite emotional looking at a couple of pieces, which really never happens to me with art. I thought it was stunning. I will link to her website and her book on my website so you can see and learn more.
Tue, 07 May 2019 - 54min - 168 - EP 158 INGRID KLEINIG
Ingrid is a stunt performer and stunt coordinator. She grew up in Australia and fell into the world of stunts while performing 140ft above the arena in the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games. Having toured the globe with renowned physical theatre company Legs on the Wall as well as the Sydney Theatre Company, she had formed a wealth of physical, technical & artistic vocabulary across multiple fields including directing & rigging that lent itself precisely to the stunt industry.
Ingrid hails from a long line of professional drivers so vehicles became an early niche. She was one of only two female stunt drivers on Mad Max: Fury Road, can drive a Big Rig truck & hold her breath underwater for five & a half minutes. She is also the first female to be officially graded as an Assistant Stunt Coordinator in Australia where, to date, no female has ever held the position of Stunt Coordinator. She is one of handful of female stunt coordinators here in the US.
Her story is remarkable and we talk about her journey, how it was to rise in this field as a woman, and how she is navigating motherhood as a stunt performer, proving once again that it is foolish to underestimated a working mother.
Her credits include: Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and Wasp, Justice League, Suicide Squad basically everything. She is formidable and she laughs at fear. Literally. Wait for it.
Tue, 30 Apr 2019 - 51min - 167 - EP 157 T.L. QUACH
T.L. is an independent filmmaker based in Los Angeles after studying Film Studies at UC Berkeley and working in production on major TV and Films in New York City.
Her short films have been all over the festival circuit and her short film, Rule of Threes, won an Award of Merit for Women Filmmakers at the Accolade Global Film Competition and an Award of Merit at One-Reeler Film competition.
She is currently developing a new screenplay and also producing her first screenplay, Crave, into a feature film. Which she will tell us all about.
Tue, 23 Apr 2019 - 47min - 166 - EP 156 LIZ JENKINS
Liz is the Chief Financial Officer of Hello Sunshine, the media brand founded by Reese Witherspoon. She tells us all about the company, their mission, and their culture. It’s as good as you imagined.
Liz was formerly the senior vice president of corporate development and strategy at Media Rights Capital. While there, she worked on the deal to bring House of Cards to Netflix, which was then written up as a Harvard Business Review business case, and she talks it about it here as well. Liz is very much one of the best and brightest, and I’m so happy to have her on the show.
And today is the launch day for new podcast called Catch a Break the insider’s guide to breaking into and navigating Hollywood. I will play the trailer at the end of this episode. While you’re on your podcast app, go on over to Catch A Break and subscribe.
Tue, 16 Apr 2019 - 1h 10min - 165 - EP 155 KAILI HOLLISTER
Kaili is an actor with The Actors’ Gang in Los Angeles. Her debut was in October Sky, and she has been acting on stage and in film ever since. We talked about her reluctant yet guided journey into acting, meeting Tim Robbins and joining The Actors’ Gang, and living every day with the responsibility of an artist. And this - it can be a long journey in your body to joy.
And, she has a beautiful love story.
This is episode is little long. But, trust me, as long as I am moved to tears, I’m not cutting it. And that happened to me a lot while editing. You are warned.
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 - 1h 19min - 164 - EP 154 MELINDA MCLAUGHLIN
Melinda is the Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme Reach. You may notice that Extreme Reach is the sponsor of this podcast, so that’s how I met her, but I would have interviewed her regardless.
She tells us a bit more about the company, and we talked a lot about her journey in her work life. How important it is to be authentic, how self-awareness is key to leadership, and how knitting might be the key to everything.
And how highly paid executives will still tackle each other when something is being given away for free. Humans are funny.
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 - 59min - 163 - EP 153 MARI MEYER
Mari is a writer, journalist, filmmaker and actor. She holds a BA in Journalism and completed the 3 Year Conservatory program at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York.
As a journalist, she has over ten years of experience in news, art and entertainment journalism, both in the Netherlands and in the U.S. She is producer and director of VAGILANT, a short documentary film about the Women's March on Washington and was the lead producer on music video project A Whole New World. She co-wrote, produced and starred in The Soothing System, an award winning narrative short film. In 2018, Female Filmmakers Fuse Film Festival in Los Angeles named her Filmmaker of the Year.
We talked about her new projects in development, her work within the prison system in New York and how finding your voice and telling your story, as cliché as that is starting to sound, is still imperative.
Tue, 26 Mar 2019 - 53min - 162 - EP151 MICHELLE SALCEDO
Today I got to speak with Michelle Salcedo. Michelle directed a gorgeous short film called Piel Canela, that she shot in Cuba and which is screening at several film festivals this week. It will be premiering at the San Diego Latino Film festival March 23, as well as the Chicago Latino Film Festival March 29, and 31st, with a Miami screening happening first weekend in April at the Indie Pasión Film festival! So, if you are anywhere near any of those places, make a point of going to see it. I have seen the trailer and it is gorgeous. You can see the trailer on my website, theotherfiftypercent.com.
Michelle came up through marketing and editing at Miramax during the heyday, editing with Bunim Murray, and is now writing and directing full time. She tells us the whole story of scouting and then shooting in Cuba, counting all her cash in a bathroom stall at LAX to make sure TSA hadn’t taken any, and her Grandmother’s spirit yelling at her about all of it.
Thu, 21 Mar 2019 - 56min - 161 - Ep 151 JUDY JEAN KWON
Today I got to speak with Judy Jean Kwon. Judy is a creative multi-hyphenate. She’s an actress, a comic, a writer, producer, podcaster, creator…she does all the things. Her webseries, MILFriend will be screened on March 22nd at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres at the Golden State Festival. She is about to tell us all about it, along with her very interesting personal story and being perfectly poised to have great success during the United Colors of Benetton advertising era.
Tue, 19 Mar 2019 - 42min - 160 - EP 150 AMANDA BLUMENTHAL
Today we have something new - new for the podcast and new for the industry. I sat down with Amanda Blumenthal who is one of a handful of people working in the new position called “Intimacy Coordinator.” She is currently working on the HBO show called Euphoria. She breaks down for us what that job really entails, how her unique background, education and work history prepared her perfectly for it, and the real need for this position on a set. It makes total sense and it’s one of those things that makes you hit your forehead with your palm and ask why haven’t we always had this!?
Tue, 12 Mar 2019 - 47min - 159 - EP149 JENNY_BUCCOS
Jenny is a multi-award winning director and producer of the long running program called Project Explorer, and the founder of Project Explorer.org. which is a free multimedia website designed to educate kids about global cultures and histories. She has explored six continents, in over 500 episodes, and has met incredible people and seen amazing places. She is currently working on a television show to bring this programming to an even wider audience. Jenny is incredibly purpose driven, an explorer, an entrepreneur, and is living her mission every day. I am very inspired by her and I’m sure you will be too.
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 - 52min - 158 - EP 148 AYSER SALMAN
Today I interviewed my friend, Ayser Salman, for the second time, because her book – The Wrong End of the Table: A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit in is coming out on March 5th, so I wanted to have her on to talk about it. She was previously on episode 47, so that was awhile ago and if I am remembering correctly, it was hilarious, and maybe because we were having wine and cheese. So, if you want to hear her entire story, go listen to that episode, or more relevantly, buy her book. Which you can order here.
Thu, 28 Feb 2019 - 38min - 157 - EP 147 MATT BIRCH
I took a detour into male ally-ship and spoke with Matt Birch. Matt is a partner at the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) and is a co-head of the physical production department. He came up through production, reluctantly became an agent in 2009, and makes sure to bring a little something different to the art of agent-ing. I met Matt while recording for the soon to launch podcast called Catch A Break – which is the insider’s guide to breaking into and navigating Hollywood (which you’re going to want to know about, click here to subscribe so you will be notified when it launches.)
During that interview, Matt mentioned he was on the men’s committee of #TimesUp, which as you can imagine made my ears perk up and I immediately booked him for this show to dig a little deeper. This corresponds with the feeling I have been having that it is time to start bringing men into the conversation and engaging them in the process toward equality. Matt is one of the men who are actively evolving and trying to be part of the solution. We talked about #MeToo/TimesUp and harassment, hiring practices, the wage gap, how men are talking to each other, and a little bit about how men can hold each other accountable in ways that will be effective.
Tue, 26 Feb 2019 - 1h 08min - 156 - EP 146 ALLIE BOETTGER
I was lucky enough to pin down Allie Boettger. Allie is a sound mixer. And I don’t mean the kind of sound mixer who works on a stage, although she can do that too. Allie is the kind of sound mixer that goes around the world on the Amazing Race, goes to Alaska in winter to shoot Alaskan Bush People, hikes to the top of a mountain and then rappels down it. She is super badass. And she is quite the storyteller, so this episode was really fun.
As a bonus, she taught me how to wrap my own audio cable, which I had been doing wrong for three years, but am happy to report I now take the time to do it correctly every time.
Tue, 19 Feb 2019 - 52min - 155 - EP145 EDEN YOUNG AND CATHERINE NATALE
Today I got to speak with the creators of the webseries called All About Manos – Eden Young and Catherine Natale. Eden is an actor and stand-up comedian turned creator and Catherine is also an actor and writer turned creator. They will tell us all about the show and how they came to do it. You can find All About Manos at allaboutmanostv.com and on a bunch of digital platforms including Amazon Prime. They are killing it on the festival circuit also.
We recorded remotely, and it must have been during Mercury Retrograde, because it took us several tries on several platforms before we got something to work. So, the audio quality could be better, but this conversation couldn’t be. They are a delight.
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 - 43min - 154 - EP 144 SUSANNE PREISSLER
Susanne is the Owner and Executive Producer at renowned production company Independent Media. She has been in the entertainment and advertising industries for over 15 years and worked with some of the feature filmmaking world’s biggest names. This success has also built a knowledge and awareness around the massive gender biases and struggles intertwined within the female entrepreneurial world.
We talk about her journey, the world of commercials, and the ongoing struggle for gender equality in the business.
Tue, 05 Feb 2019 - 55min - 153 - EP 143 LISA EBERSOLE
For today’s episode I sat down with creator Lisa Ebersole. Lisa created and stars in the webseries called “37 Problems,” which you can find on Amazon Prime and Who Ha Ha. The series is a comedy about a woman facing the end of her fertility and what she is going to do about it. She is also a playwright, whose plays have been produced off-broadway and regionally, and a screenwriters coach. We talked about what it takes to raise the money and produce a webseries and get distribution. It’s a whole thing.
Tue, 29 Jan 2019 - 44min - 152 - EP 142 LAURA MARIA CENSABELLA
This is my month for playwrights, and today I have another very special episode with playwright Laura Maria Censabella. She wrote the play, Paradise which was commissioned by Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and was a runner-up for the 2016 Saroyan/Paul Playwriting Prize for Human Rights. And lucky for us in LA, the West Coast premiere of Paradise, presented by Viola Davis' and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions and American Oasis, is opening at the Odyssey Theatre January 26th at 8pm and running through February 17th. You can get tickets at www.plays411.com/paradise, and there is a link on my website. Laura is an award winning playwright, a daytime Emmy winning screenwriter and teaches playwriting and new play development at the New School for Drama, where she has been honored with the Distinguished University-Wide Teaching Award. She graduated from Yale University and is currently writing the screenplay for Paradise.
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 - 44min - 151 - EP141 KIM GRUENENFELDER
Kim is a bestselling author known for writing romantic comedy fiction novels. I have read most of her books and had so much fun talking with her. Her debut novel, "A Total Waste of Makeup," has been published in six languages and eight international editions to date, and is followed by a sequel, "Misery Loves Cabernet". "Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink" is a sequel to 2010's "There's Cake in My Future." Her fifth published novel, "Love The Wine You're With", which details the adventures of a group of friends who open a wine bar, was released in 2017. Her current novel "Hangovers and Hot Flashes", available now, follows the lives of protagonists in their forties. Who knew that writing a book about women in their 40’s would be controversial, but turns out it is. She will tell us all about it.
Apologies in advance to fur parents of fur babies.
Tue, 22 Jan 2019 - 59min - 150 - EP 140 JILL GILBERT
I sat down with Jill Gilbert, who is Head of Creative Affairs at Luma Pictures, a visual effects and original content company. Jill has had an amazingly interesting career coming up through development, animation, theme park development, and producing. She has credits that range from Disney animated titles to Grandma’s Cats Are Trying to Kill Her and a Spongebob movie. This episode is full of good advice, interesting stories, and a career well built.
Her career is an example of take the opportunity – you never know where it will lead.
Tue, 15 Jan 2019 - 46min
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