Podcast appearances and mentions of stephanie allain

In this special episode of No Film School, GG Hawkins and Jason Hellerman delve into the often-overlooked role of producers and the essential work they perform behind the scenes. They are joined by Emmy-nominated producer Carolina Groppa, who shares insights from her remarkable career. The episode also highlights key films from the newly announced Sundance 2025 slate, offering reflections on the festival's evolving influence. Meet Carolina Groppa: Carolina is an Emmy-nominated producer who was previously the Executive in Charge of Production at Issa Rae's HOORAE Media and ColorCreative. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Carolina moved to the US as a child, and her immigrant upbringing inspired her to work hard to build the career of her dreams. Carolina produced the 2017 Emmy-nominated feature documentary AUTISM IN LOVE, which explores how adults with autism find and navigate romantic relationships. Passionate about supporting female filmmakers, she was a co-producer on Netflix's MISS VIRGINIA, starring Uzo Aduba, and IFC's THE FEMALE BRAIN, Whitney Cummings' directorial debut. She was a physical producer on Amazon's SYLVIE'S LOVE, starring Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha, and the UPM/EP on Adamma Ebo's 2022 Sundance hit HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL, starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown. She also produced the documentaries HYSTERICAL (2020) for FX and THE HONORABLE: SHYNE (2024) for Hulu. Additionally, she is the creator, host, and producer of ANGLE ON PRODUCERS, a podcast spotlighting producers across entertainment. A love letter to the creative community, the show boasts over 95 episodes and has featured notable guests such as Eva Longoria, Stephanie Allain, Lynette Howell Taylor, and Cynthia Erivo. In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins, Jason Hellerman, and Carolina Groppa discuss: Carolina Groppa's career journey, from her early days as an actor to becoming a producer and podcast host The invisible yet critical role of producers and why their contributions are often misunderstood Practical advice for emerging producers, including navigating challenges and building strong collaborations Reflections on the 2025 Sundance slate, including standout films like Sorry Baby and Dead Lover How trust and leadership shape successful filmmaking partnerships Memorable Quotes: “Producing is about choices. It's never just about saying no; it's about saying, ‘Here's what we can do with what we have.'” “The only thing people remember is how you made them feel on set. If you can lead with kindness and clarity, that's what sticks.” “Sundance is where you see the future of storytelling take shape, and this year's slate is no exception.” Resources: Carolina Groppa's Podcast: Angle on Producers Carolina's IMDb: Carolina Groppa Carolina on Instagram: @carolinagroppa Learn more about the Sundance Film Festival: Sundance 2025 Highlighted Sundance Films: Sorry Baby: A heartfelt indie produced by Pastel, Barry Jenkins' company Dead Lover: Directed and written by Grace Glowicki, featuring Ben Petrie, and described as “genre-bending and unforgettable” Lose: A poignant drama set in Hong Kong about a man searching for his daughter Find No Film School everywhere: On the Web: No Film School Facebook: No Film School on Facebook Twitter: No Film School on Twitter YouTube: No Film School on YouTube Instagram: No Film School on Instagram Send us an email with questions or feedback: podcast@nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shoutout to our special guest @KennEdwinTV Hustle & Flow is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Craig Brewer and produced by John Singleton and Stephanie Allain. It stars Terrence Howard as a Memphis hustler and pimp who faces his aspiration to become a rapper. It also stars Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Taraji P. Henson, Paula Jai Parker, Elise Neal, DJ Qualls and Ludacris. DJay (Terrence Howard) is a pimp living day to day on the tough streets of Memphis, Tennessee. Pushing 40, he's tired of the life he's living and dreams of something greater. When he meets up with an old friend who is now in the recording industry, he's inspired to turn his life around and uses his criminal life as an inspiration to create rap music. When he hears that a rap superstar is coming to town, Djay works a hustle to gain the rapper's attention and hopefully get signed by a label. BlackBusters is a podcast focused on reviewing, celebrating, re-living and critiquing Black film. From the movies we all know and love to those hidden gems, there is no movie too big or small to be praised or roasted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mel Jones is an American bi-coastal producer, screenwriter, and film and television director. In today's interview, Mel shares stories from her film journey, from her days at Howard University, the Sundance Film Festival, producing the Netflix films Juanita and Really Love, her directorial debut in the digital space on her show Leimert Park (BET+), and more. All the while being a mother and guided by her mentor Stephanie Allain of Homegrown Pictures. Mel drops gem after gem that multi-talented filmmakers and young parents alike can glean from. Follow hashtag #JosiahsVoicePod and follow on Instagram & Twitter X @JosiahsVoicePod. Follow Mel Jones on Instagram @mellymel_jones.⁠ BLOG: Episode Notes.  BREWERB.

Craig Brewer (Director/Producer) began his career as a filmmaker in Memphis, Tennessee. While working at Barnes & Noble, he learned camera and editing techniques from books he purchased with his employee discount. In 2000, he made his first feature film, THE POOR & HUNGRY, which won Best Digital Feature at the 2000 Hollywood Film Festival.Brewer's second film, HUSTLE & FLOW, starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, was produced by Stephanie Allain and the late John Singleton. The film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Audience Award for Best Feature. The film secured a record-breaking acquisition deal by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. It garnered an Academy Award nomination for lead actor Terrence Howard and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song: Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp."Brewer's third film, BLACK SNACK MOAN, starred Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Timberlake. The film premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters by Paramount Pictures. In 2011, Brewer directed the remake of FOOTLOOSE for Paramount and produced the concert documentary KATY PERRY: PART OF ME. Moving into Television, Brewer directed the pilot to TERRIERS, which ran for one season on FX. He then re-teamed with Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, directing ten episodes on their hit TV series, EMPIRE.In 2018, Brewer began his collaboration with Eddie Murphy on two films. The first, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, based on the life of Rudy Ray Moore, won The Critic's Choice Award for Best Comedy, an NAACP Award for Best Independent Film, and earned Eddie Murphy a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor.Next was the highly anticipated sequel, COMING 2 AMERICA. The film was produced by Paramount and released by Amazon Studios in 2020, becoming the most streamed movie for Amazon ever.Enjoy my conversation with Craig Brewer.

Craig Brewer (Director/Producer) began his career as a filmmaker in Memphis, Tennessee. While working at Barnes & Noble, he learned camera and editing techniques from books he purchased with his employee discount. In 2000, he made his first feature film, THE POOR & HUNGRY, which won Best Digital Feature at the 2000 Hollywood Film Festival. Brewer's second film, HUSTLE & FLOW, starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, was produced by Stephanie Allain and the late John Singleton. The film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Audience Award for Best Feature. The film secured a record-breaking acquisition deal by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. It garnered an Academy Award nomination for lead actor Terrence Howard and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song: Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp." Brewer's third film, BLACK SNACK MOAN, starred Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Timberlake. The film premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters by Paramount Pictures.In 2011, Brewer directed the remake of FOOTLOOSE for Paramount and produced the concert documentary KATY PERRY: PART OF ME. Moving into Television, Brewer directed the pilot to TERRIERS, which ran for one season on FX. He then re-teamed with Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, directing ten episodes on their hit TV series, EMPIRE. In 2018, Brewer began his collaboration with Eddie Murphy on two films. The first, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, based on the life of Rudy Ray Moore, won The Critic's Choice Award for Best Comedy, an NAACP Award for Best Independent Film, and earned Eddie Murphy a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor.Next was the highly anticipated sequel, COMING 2 AMERICA. The film was produced by Paramount and released by Amazon Studios in 2020, becoming the most streamed movie for Amazon ever.Enjoy my conversation with Craig Brewer.

"Everything is in a cycle, and the cycle is dictated by the audience's needs and wants, the studio's needs and wants in terms of the financial bottom line, right? Those two very evolving organisms are always trying to sync into the right gear. So, I don't worry anymore because it always comes back around. You're in this long enough, you just go, all right, this is a cycle, it'll come back around."  Stephanie Allain Stephanie Allain of Homegrown Pictures, is a prolific film and television producer dedicated to creating content by and about women and people of color with authentic stories, depictions, and representation. She began her career in the mid-80s as a reader at the elite talent agency, CAA, a job that required reading scripts and books submitted to the agency and providing coverage of the material, often the first barrier for further consideration and development.  In her next position at Columbia Pictures, as one of only two African-American readers,  a young USC student found his way to her under the guise of interest in a job. Instead that student, John Singleton, pitched her Boyz in the Hood and the rest, as they say, is history. Stephanie worked with John Singleton on five movies: Boyz N the Hood (1991), Poetic Justice (1993), Higher Learning (1995), Hustle & Flow (2005) and Black Snake Moan (2006). She also produced Something New, Peeples, Beyond The Lights, Dear White People, French Dirty, Burning Sands, Juanita and Really Love. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards with wins from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Film Independent Spirit Awards, NAACP and others. A few of her projects currently in production include her first documentary Untitled Billy Preston, and a limited series for HBO, Sula by Toni Morrison. Amid a brilliant career, Stephanie became the first black woman to co-produce the Academy Awards (2020) and made history again by becoming the first woman of color to be named as President of the Producer's Guild of America (2022). Please join me, your host, Brad Johnson, on Corner Table Talk with this inspiring woman and Hollywood powerhouse. * * * Instagram: Corner Table Talk  and Post and Beam Hospitality LinkedIn: Brad Johnson E.Mail:  brad@postandbeamhospitality.com For more information on host Brad Johnson or to join our mailing list, please visit: https://postandbeamhospitality.com/ Theme Music: Bryce Vine Corner Table™ is a trademark of Post & Beam Hospitality LLCSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is an impressive list of female creatives on this year's Oscar nominees list – actors, producers, costume designers - but no female directors. In fact, in the Academy's 94-year-history, only seven women have ever been nominated. Why is that? And what is getting in the way of achieving gender parity in filmmaking? Kim Chakanetsa travels to the heart of Hollywood to find out more. Keri Putnam is a film executive and producer and the founder of Putnam Pictures. She served for 11 years as the CEO of the Sundance Institute which runs the Sundance Film Festival. Prior to that worked as a senior executive at Miramax and HBO. She is also the co-founder of Re-frame, an organisation providing mentorship and training to help women making it into the industry, and served 3 terms on the Women in Film Board of directors. Stephanie Allain is a film Producer and writer and the newly-elected co-President of the Producers Guild of America, the first woman of colour to serve as PGA president. Stephanie was one of the original ReFrame ambassadors and served 3 terms on the WIF Board of Directors including 9 years as Vice President. Stephanie was also the first Black woman to produce the Academy Awards in 2020. She runs her own company, Homegrown Pictures, which focuses on creating content by and about women and people of colour. Producers: Alice Gioia, Jane Thurlow, Hetal Bapodra Sound recording: Devin Pinckard Production assistant: Abbie Bulbulian (Image: (L) Stephanie Allain (R) Keri Putnam. Credit: Devin Pinckard)

This week on On Story we're talking to Hustle & Flow producer, Stephanie Allain for a conversation on producing. Stephanie Allain is a producer, known for her work in both film and television. Her work includes Hustle and Flow, Beyond the Lights, and Dear White People, a political commentary turned dramedy.  Hustle & Flow follows a street hustler's attempt to make it in the hip-hop industry, featuring several BET award-winning performances and appearances by rappers like Ludacris and Juicy J.  Beyond the Lights tells the story of a mentally-unstable woman who has been shoved toward stardom by her domineering mother and finds her trajectory changed when a young cop stops her from taking her own life.    Dear White People follows the stories of a group of black students trying to navigate life at a predominantly white, elite university.   In 2021 Allain attended the Austin Film Festival, where she received the Polly Platt Award for Producing.   Moderator Casey Baron sat down with Stephanie Allain for a panel about her work at the Austin Film Festival.   Clips of Hustle & Flow courtesy of Crunk Pictures LLC. Clips of Beyond the Lights courtesy of Blackbird Productions, LLC. Clips of Dear White People courtesy of Homegrown Pictures.

Intro: Boz is in the clear!Let Me Run This By You: secrets, scorched earthInterview: We talk to Chisa Hutchinson about her new film The Subject, Vassar, being a high school English teacher, NYU Tisch,  The Lark Play Development Center, New Dramatists, having a sleepover with Tina Howe, She Like Girls, Amerikin at the Alley Theatre, NYT reviews, 101 Reasons Not to Breed, Bad Art Friend, Haagen-Dazs, The Evansville Regional Airport, Three Women on Showtime, Lisa Taddeo, Playwrights as Screenwriters, Marsha Norman, Lynn Nottage, Tony Gerber, Richard Wesley, Stephanie Allain, Di Glazer, having an intentional career.COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT:Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (8s):And Jen BosworthGina Pulice (10s):and I'm Gina .Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (11s):We went to theater school together. We survived it, but we didn't quite understand it.Gina Pulice (15s):20 years later, we're digging deep talking to our guests about their experiences and trying to make sense of it all.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (21s):We survived theater school and you will too. Are we famous yet?Gina Pulice (33s):You don't have cancer.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (35s):No, I do not have cancer right now. Do not have cancer at this moment. Who knows the next week. Yeah, no, it was, it's been quite a thing. Like I, I, you know, right. My cousin Dalia, who is what become one of my best friends in our adult lives, which is amazing. I never had any family that like, I truly liked as people know, that sounds so terrible, but I know exactly like good friends. And she says, you know, the brain is a problem making machine and it is that's, you know, it's also solves them, but it also creates them.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (1m 17s):And look, I'm not saying that that the ch that it wasn't possible that I had cancer, but like all the evidence pointed oh, right. The emotional evidence pointed to I had cancer. Like I made an emotional face based on my past and my parent, my mom's past and my dad's path. And I made a really strong case that I had cancer in my head and look, it's possible. So that's the other thing that is so, so compelling about the human condition. Is that like, and what Dr. Oltman used to say to me, it was like, look, you're not, you're not delusional. You're not psychotic. You're not, so you're not making up things that are like, aliens are going to come down and take you, your fears are based in, in things that have happened to you and other people and people you love.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (2m 6s):So it's not as though this idea, this idea of like, you know, right. It can't happen. You know, like it, I know in my body of, you know, my body of work that I've done in my life, that people die all the time of cancer and get cancer all the time, as we all do, I have a more intimate knowledge is because I lost my mom from it and saw the actual process. But I'm here to say, like, if you're freaking out about things, most of the time they're things that have happened to you or other people. So they're valid freak freakouts. It's just that they don't actually happen to be true all the time.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (2m 47s):So like weird.Gina Pulice (2m 49s):It's almost like you want to say, Thank you brain for protecting me because you know, you you've correctly picked up on the fact that when things are Sort of looking like this, it's, it means something bad, but you can relax now. Right. Because it's not that right.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (3m 7s):And it's actually not while I appreciate you brain, you're not always dealing with, with, with what's the reality, the truth. You don't, you don't. Yeah. You don't get an unfortunately brain. You don't get to, you're not a psychic, like you're just not, you have evidence. And then, so, so I had, you know, for, for our listeners, you know, like I had, I've had pain and history of weirdness on my left ovary. And it's really interesting. The cyst that is most, this is so crazy. This is how, this is what the brain does. So I'm like, okay, left side. I'm sure I have cancer on my leftover.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (3m 48s):Like, that's, what's going on. It turns out the right one, the cyst is bigger. I have one on my right. They didn't see me yesterday or two days. And the, and the, the right one is bigger and actually contains more blood and fluid. I feel nothing on my right side. So that is also to goes to show that even if you do have cancer, it could be in a place that I don't. But like, you don't know where it's coming from. So like, even your feelings are wrong, your pain body is wrong. So like, you really don't know. So it was so funny. She was like, yeah, your left side, even though it's more active, there are a lot of simple cysts. So, you know, for this is like a women's health thing. Like people don't do any Reese. I shouldn't say that there's not a ton of research done because it's a woman's issue.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (4m 32s):So it's not like, unless it's breast cancer, like nobody gives a shit about like women's cancers usually. So, cause that that's what, you know, got all the funding. So, so, so cysts grow all the time, all the time and women, they come and they go, those are simple cysts. If you have endometrial cysts or complexes, that is not, they don't come and go. They just stay. So I have several on my left side that come and go one that stays. And one that stays on the right. They don't know what's actually causing the amount of pain, but they think it's probably the left one leaking. The other thing is like, I would have sworn I had a cyst, the size of a grapefruit. If you would've asked me, I would say, it's probably grapefruit size.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (5m 15s):It's that? It's an inch on one of them. That's nothing. Well, I mean, it's not nothing cause the ovaries two inches, but like w it, you just can't always trust what your, what your feelings are. Like, it's valid, you're in pain. But like, you don't know what it looks like until, you know what it looks like. And I think that that's the whole thing I'm coming around to, which is just go to the freaking doctor, please, if you have the resource, even if you don't like find them create, I don't know, like ask somebody, but like, you know, and I've gone to plenty of free clinics and they're not glamorous and they're not exciting, but they, they, they still have an ultrasound machine, you know?Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (5m 56s):So like, get, get it, get shit checked out. If you can easier said than done. But if it's an emotional fear based response, that's stopping you and not a resource-based response, you got to work through it and go, even if it is resource-based, there are, you know, there are ways around that. But like, especially if it's, you have all the resources, but there is something internally in you that is going, I don't want to know, believe me, I get it. But you want to know, you really want to know it's the only way through anything is getting the data. It's so annoying, but it's true.Gina Pulice (6m 35s):I agree. 100% with what you're saying, and this is why people love to join cults because the fantasy, the thing that's being promised in a cult is there is a finite number of answers. I, the cult leader have, there is a clear path to the number of steps that you have to take to get, you know, it's, it's everything we wish life would be predictable or seemingly predictable controlled, highly structured, you know, without a concern like to be in a cult is to not be in a process of discovering what happens next.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (7m 24s):Exactly, Exactly. And it's so compelling. It is so comforting to think, oh my gosh, this person and this entity knows everything. I never have to worry again. That's really what we're saying is I never have to worry about anything. Again, the problem is it's just make believe. And you actually do have to worry because the person is usually a sociopath or psychopath and it doesn't actually do the trick. They think, you think it's going to do the trick. And it usually does the trick for a while for people like our guests, Noel was talking about like, it serves a purpose until you start questioning and then you're in real trouble because then it's like, how the fuck do I get out?Gina Pulice (8m 10s):Yeah, exactly. Well, I am very happy that you, I mean, I'm sorry that you're been in pain, but I'm happy. It's not for some worse reasons.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (8m 19s):The other thing I have to say that is so interesting that I just wanted to, to, to me anyway, that I wanted to bring up was like, okay, I may not have in the Hollywood right now in the Hollywood industry, a team of people that are like on my side, but I'm S I swear to God, my medical team has, is filling that hole. So I just got an email from my cardiologists. Who said, your, your gynecologist thought you were amazing, loves you. How did it go? Like, that's the kind of messages I get from my, of medical experts. And so I read and I like started crying and I realized like, oh, I'm not getting it from my career team.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (9m 3s):Like, I've talked about getting nasty emails from potential managers and stuff like that, but I am getting it from the medical team. They're like, amazing. They're like, you are the best. We love you. And I like,Gina Pulice (9m 17s):What if they gave awards for being a great patient?Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (9m 19s):I would Get something for Shot.Gina Pulice (9m 21s):You would get like a gynie award. I'mJen Bosworth-Ramirez (9m 23s):Like the best guy, knee, patient,Gina Pulice (9m 26s):And the, and the, and the statue is just like, you know, the uterus.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (9m 31s):Yeah. I mean, anyway, so that was really interesting to me. Cause I was really touched this morning when she wrote me. I'm like, who, what doctor, what? It's, she's a, she thought you were amazing. I was like, Hey, that's cool. Well, at least somewhat, you know what I mean? Like, I'll take this. It's so funny.Gina Pulice (9m 46s):Well, the truth is you are amazing. And the difference is with between people who know you and people who don't know you, I mean, that's just what it is. Like when people get to know you, not 10 out of 10 people who know Foz agree. She's amazing. It's just, you know, you have to convince people to get in the door. That'sJen Bosworth-Ramirez (10m 6s):It?Gina Pulice (10m 7s):Yeah. All right.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (10m 9s):I'm with you, my friend. How do you feel about all the post?Gina Pulice (10m 14s):It's just, it goes on. It's done. It's just a saga. Yes, we should.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (10m 22s):We don't have to be explicit, but like you, you,Gina Pulice (10m 24s):I can be explicit because fuck those people,Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (10m 27s):Will you left an organizationGina Pulice (10m 28s):It's called Theatre Artists workshop. And I left them because aside from a handful of members and everybody that was on the board, it was one of the more toxic environments I've ever been a part of. And I quit. And I'm the only one who quit effective immediately. Everybody else is staying. Two people are staying on and then everybody else is staying through through 2021. But when I tell you the way that people are responding, we couldn't have crafted it better ourselves. If we said, let's, let's create, like, if we were making this movie and this whole conflict happened, we'd say now what's a way that people could respond.Gina Pulice (11m 17s):That would exactly prove the point of what they were saying toxic in the first place. And two, that the fact that most people are doing that and have zero awareness. So essentially what's happening is that people are reacting to our letter. That goes step-by-step and explains the ways in which we've been abused, right? People are responding to this with a combination of don't take things. So personallyJen Bosworth-Ramirez (11m 46s):Sure. Of course, that's the number one abuser thing to do,Gina Pulice (11m 49s):And just completely invalidating ignoring what we've said about the abuse. They, everybody finds something that's in the letter to take issue with and makes their whole thing about that or, and says nothing of, and by the way, I'm sorry, you were abused. Or, and by the way, you know, and people are saying, thanks, but I'm into this thing recently. I hollow gratitude. Miss me with your hollow gratitude. I don't care. I do not care. I could wallpaper my bathroom with your thank you is right. It's not what I need. I need you to change your behavior.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (12m 28s):Absolutely.Gina Pulice (12m 29s):Forgive me if I said this to you already, but I'm likening it to, you know, when COVID happened and everybody puts a sign in their front yard saying, thank you, frontline workers. Yeah. And they're banging pots and pans at 5:00 PM in New York city. Like, and the frontline workers are going, I don't think I don't need your sign, like get vaccinated and wear your mask. Right. And everybody's like, I know, I know the,Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (12m 54s):Without a mask on and like at their concert. Right.Gina Pulice (12m 58s):That's exactly it. That's exactly right. And, and, and I shouldn't be surprised. We all myself included are kind of in a way, programmed to not see our own bad behavior and to not want to take responsibility, but it just goes on anyway. So, but it goes on in a way that I can choose how much I want to engage with.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (13m 18s):And also it's like it to me from the outside. It's so clear that you made the right choice. If this is the response, like they just proved, like you said, they proved the exact point there that's insane. And, and too, and you made the right choice. Like why would you stick around and be beaten down after you've made a stand? And then they continue to try to beat down that doesn't, that's insane if you stayed like that's insane.Gina Pulice (13m 44s):Yeah. Yeah. To give one just chef's kiss example. In our letter, we, we, one of the things that we said was when we tried to introduce our DEI policy, the very first thing we decided to introduce was content warnings. And we did it in the most careful way, like to, to hear about a content warning about something you're going to see presented at the workshop. You have to click down the email. Like you can choose not to see the content warning, right. Because everybody was complaining, it's art and we need to slap people in the face with it, whatever you can choose, whether or not.Gina Pulice (14m 25s):So it's literally like if I, if I'm allergic to peanuts, I'm going to read every nutrition label. Cause I want you to make sure that if I'm not allergic to peanuts, which I'm not, then I don't really need that information. It's no different than that. Right. That alone caused our first member to quit saying if he couldn't use, if he could, he could, if he could. I mean, it wasn't even related really to the content or if he couldn't use the N word, he couldn't theater and in that same evening.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (14m 57s):Bye, bye. See you later. You're not going to make theater. We're all not here. You're not gonna do it here. Thank you.Gina Pulice (15m 4s):Oh yeah. Two of our members who are from marginalized, societal groups got stood up or, you know, spoke that night and said the ways in which they've been marginalized at TAW. And that, I mean, it was crickets, not one single person gave any support. And we had listed that in our, in our letter. So this email we received from one of our members last night opened with I'm a board member of a condo complex. And we recently oversaw a renovation that made our building double in value.Gina Pulice (15m 44s):We, as a board, had to sit and listen to a tenant or what resident, whatever. Talk about the color of the paint in the laundry room for 30 minutes. And he bolds and underlines 30 all caps, 30 minutes. Okay. It goes, it goes along with being on the board and I thought, okay, so you're comparing you pace. Exactly. You're comparing.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (16m 15s):Bye bye, byeGina Pulice (16m 34s):Name and saying it all is because the thing I wanted to run by you this week is about secrets. I am. I'm all the way done with secrets. I'm sorry. I mean, I'm not saying like, if you tell me something in confidence, I'm not saying I'm not going to keep that a secret seat. That's not the kind of secret I'm talking about. I'm talking about the kind of secrets where, you know, you know, so I, I have written personal essays that reference my family as personal essays do. And you know, and I'm sure a lot of it has rubbed people the wrong way. I in particular wrote an essay in which I compared somebody in my family to Scott Peterson and, and that person let me know in the creepiest possible way, which is to say this person that, yes, we just happened.Gina Pulice (17m 32s):We are not friends on Facebook. He's not even to my knowledge, this guy has zero social media presence. I receive, I open my phone. There's a notification. So-and-so liked your post. My heart skipped a beat. I mean, it was like my blood turned cold. I went, you had to scroll pretty far down on my timeline to find that post. And it's the only one he liked. Are you kidding me? Your face is exactly your face of surprise. That exactly. Thank you.Gina Pulice (18m 13s):Oh, I really appreciate you validating that. Okay.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (18m 15s):That's so it's because two things you're super intelligent and also we like crime weirdness, but also it's fucking creepy.Gina Pulice (18m 26s):It's fucking creepy. That's weird by the way, about any post, if anybody who I'm not friends with on Facebook likes a post that's way down the feed.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (18m 38s):Well, if that's something you're not friends with on,Gina Pulice (18m 42s):Yeah. The whole thing is creepy. The whole thing is 1000% creepy. So part of the thing that I struggle with in writing personal things is airing the dirty laundry, you know, telling the secrets. And I really do try to tell only the secrets that are mine. I really try not to tell anybody else's secrets, but in general, it's so exhausting to be in this perpetual state of protecting a bunch of people who would never protect.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (19m 16s):There's the key. I mean, like, I think that's the kicker, right? It's like, and I think it speaks to a bigger issue. Like we're all protecting this in these institutional institutions and, and companies and things that are destroying us and we've been projecting them for years. And I think it speaks to why we started the podcast unknowingly is that to protect, we wanted to stop in our way and stop protecting institutions that harmed us whether some are assholes right out some aren't some are, but like institutions harm people. Like I just think that that's the way, right? That's just how it is. It's capitalism, it's democracy, whatever it is, they harm people.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (19m 58s):So I think we're trying to shed some light on that and say, no, we're going to heal from that. And I don't think you can heal from it unless you really process it. And some of that is bringing the secrets into the light and no, and people don't like that.Gina Pulice (20m 12s):People don't like it. And you and I have had many conversations following interviews where we said, do we bleep this person's name? Do we cut this thing out? And with the exception of one person who we interviewed, who then said that they didn't want us to air the interview. Nobody has said, I regret saying that. Can you, and, and when they're here talking, I mean, we've encountered people feel such a freedom and a relief and they have no problem naming names. Right. And so it's been our thing of like, do we protect this person's identity? But the other thing is, here's the, here's the part in the whole dynamic that I'm trying to own for what I do in this, in this situation about the secrets and everything.Gina Pulice (21m 1s):I wrote something personal, I published it on our website. I promoted it on social media. Theoretically. I want everybody in the world to read it, except this one guy. Right? Like that's, that's my logic. There is, it's really flawed, right? Like if you're going to be brave, then you have to be brave. Right. You can't be brave only when it's convenient.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (21m 31s):Right. I totally agree. I mean, I think that, and I think it's really great to have the conversations about like, okay, like who are we bleeping and why? And someone on, you know, on this podcast who we, I don't think we've bleeped, but she gets a lot of bad press as Susan Leigh.Gina Pulice (21m 50s):She really does get a lot of bad press.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (21m 52s):I mean, and, and, and, you know, I'm like, man, should we have been bleeping or out, but,Gina Pulice (21m 59s):But she did it. I mean, it's her, she is the person who should be carrying around the shame for her behavior. Not the people who she harmed the, you know, it's not there. And that's the other thing that we have usually all the way backwards is that we make the people who experienced the pain, shut up about it. Yeah. It to, to protect us. And who did the pain. Yeah. Right.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (22m 25s):Yeah. Just, yeah, it's, it's all backwards. And again, it's like, you know, she works for, she worked for an institution and they, they, you know, they should, she grew upGina Pulice (22m 34s):And a time and she's, and she's probably the victim of a lot of sexism. Like it's only, it's all of a piece, but the fact remains that at, at that time, maybe she's a completely different person now, but the fact remains that at that time, she did and said a lot of really racist thingsJen Bosworth-Ramirez (22m 51s):And hurtful and other ways, like, just, I mean, I think racism is hurtful, but like other types of hurtful besides racism, just like weird shit, you know, that hurt people. And I, I mean, it's just their truth. And I think it's actually up to, yeah. I mean, yeah, it's a co it's a, it's kind of a complicated issue and yet it's not complicated. It's like, you're right. We're just protecting the people that hurt us all the time. That's like when I got, when I got that very nasty email from, from that manager, my first response was in, this is interesting. My first response was to drag him through Twitter.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (23m 31s):Like I was going to put his name and say, I got this. It was so hurtful. And I feel like as a woman, as a Latina, that to get this email about fucking formatting, when I'm trying to break into the business is the condescending. I wanted to drag him. And then I thought, okay, there's a difference between speaking your truth and dragging someone. I don't know the difference exactly. Like, I don't know where the nuances lie that make them different, but dragging someone in Twitter versus, and I don't blame people for dragging people on Twitter, either like that. I'm not saying like dragging people is wrong.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (24m 12s):I think some people need to be dragged. I mean, we've talked about Louis C K's of the world and the Weinsteins do, who deserves to be dragged, who does it. And that's really what I wrote my pilot about, but like, I just didn't feel, I think every person has to decide if they're going to keep secrets, why, or if they're going to drag someone why, or like put it in on social media, straight up, this person did this. You have to be, I have to be prepared to deal with the full consequences if I do that. And I'm just not willing to deal with the full consequences of dragging this guy on Twitter. I'm just not, I'm just not, I don't feel certain.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (24m 51s):Now there are people where if something happened, I would work it out and I might feel certain to drag their ass. But it was interesting. I think everyone has to decide for themselves where the line is of when I'm going to expose someone to the fullest, et cetera, or an institution to the fullest extent and leave the individual out of it. I don't know.Gina Pulice (25m 12s):Right. Well, and you, and you don't want to do anything. That's gonna harm you. I mean, if you, if you were in a certain place in your life and you did like people dragging that guy would never have hurt you, then you could've, you could've made that decision. Yeah. And I'll also just say for anybody listening, who knows me in real life and, and who've, I've hurt and misbehaved, I invite you not to keep that secret. You know, I, I invite you to drag me if it's something that, I mean, for the thing, for my, for the sins of my past, if anybody is, you know, holding on to that and never has told me, or whatever, like I'd rather hear about it, I'd rather know, and try to make amends and to party so that I I'll feel that I have the right to participate in this, keeping those secrets, telling the truth culture that I really try to, you know, I really try to stay within.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (26m 16s):Right, right. So, wow. I forgot. I was going to say something else about That's a lot like that. I just feel like, yeah, this whole, this whole notion of keeping, keeping it, you know, and they say in program, like you're only as sick as your secrets. And I think it's really true. And I think there's a way of, of working through the secret that won't bring further harm to yourself versus versus versus doing something that exposes you further. You know what I mean? And brings, and bring, could bring more abuse or you have to look at, I mean, you know, like it's like, except when to do so would injure yourself for others.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (27m 3s):But, but, but, but, but dragging is about sort of injuring others in a way. I don't know. It's like really interesting. I don't know,Gina Pulice (27m 11s):You know, that saying, or I think, I don't know if you call it, call it a saying, is it kind, is it truthful? Is it necessary? Well, I know you're supposed to aim for all three. Yeah. To my way of thinking, you really just need two out of a three. It can be truthful and necessary, like talking about Harvey Weinstein. It's not kind, but that's okay. It didn't need to be constant. So yeah. So that's, that's, that's that tends to be my barometer is if it can't be kind, at least it has to be truthful in this. Yes.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (27m 43s):Agreed. Agreed. And I think that's, I think for me the necessary part, it's like, okay, well, can I, can I proceed to function as a, you know, trying healthy human being without doing this? Or do I need to do something about this to proceed and live my life and feel like I'm living in integrity and that I'm, I'm doing the right thing by, by me. And sometimes you just, and, and also also, right. Sometimes people, people get, they get hurt. Yeah. But they also didn't think about that when they were abusing others. SoGina Pulice (28m 21s):Yes. Oh yeah. That's the other thing that came out with this board thing, you know, when we were writing the letter, somebody said, okay, so this is, we acknowledge, this is scorched earth. You know, this is a scorched earth thing, which I'm very, that is how I think about things a lot. I, I tend to think about scorched earth, but I, it occurred to me when she said this, how come nobody's ever worried about skirts, scorching the earth with me, right? How come no one's ever worried about burning a bridge with me? You know, like, yeah. Maybe it is scorched earth. But if you, if your takeaway from what I've said to you is that I'm the asshole.Gina Pulice (29m 4s):That's fine. I don't care. That's completely fine. Go. I wish you well on your journey, right? It wasn't for you. I guess for this letter, it was for me to say to you, I mean, if you didn't want to receive it, that's your business. Right?Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (29m 22s):Well, Today on the podcast we're talking with CISA Hutchinson. She says a graduate from Vassar and NYU, and she's a teacher, she's a playwright. She writes for television and we found our conversation with her extremely focusing and motivating. So please enjoy our conversation with CISA Hutchinson. Hi, good morning. Good. Where are you? Which coast are you on? Are you on the east coast?Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (30m 2s):Okay.Gina Pulice (30m 3s):I guess what, I just had to pause, watching to come talk to you, your movie, your amazing movie. Yes. Oh my God. I'm in the scene with the mother right now and it's so good. It's so good.Chisa Hutchinson (30m 23s):Yeah. That's that? Yeah. You know, it's so funny because when I wrote, I wrote it as a play initially, and I was, when I was writing that part, I was like, this is why people don't like theater, just two people talking like whatever, we're going to be full board. But like, I don't know. Everybody seems to like really be engaged by that part. So,Gina Pulice (30m 51s):Oh no. Yeah. There's nothing boring about this movie. It's called the subject. Everybody go check it out. But before I forget, she's the Hutchinson. Congratulations. You survived hotter school. You survived theater school to fancy theater school.Chisa Hutchinson (31m 7s):Well, yeah, sort of. Okay. So I went to Vassar college for undergrad. Yeah. Which was interesting because I knew it was a good theater program, but I didn't know that it was mostly geared toward writers and directors. Because when I, when I sent him down, there was like literally one dramatic writing class taught by a screenwriter who was like, oh yeah, I guess you can write plays if you want. Really like, learned much about the craft of playwriting while I was there.Chisa Hutchinson (31m 46s):But, but I had a good time and I did a lot of independent studies in the English department and the Africana studies department, just to like, you know, learn about plays theater, you know, scripts plays that weren't, you know, Shakespeare or insulin or checkoff or whatever. Right. So that was undergrad. And then I worked for a few years as a high school English teacher.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (32m 21s):My mom was a high school English teacher and it was, it was intense. Where did you teach?Chisa Hutchinson (32m 28s):I taught at Westtown school, which is a Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania, like 45 minutes Southwest of Philadelphia. And then I taught at Sage hill school in Southern California, orange county, California, which was like a whole other planet. Okay. Like I felt like a whole ass in orange county, California and teaching there. Yeah.Gina Pulice (32m 60s):I feel like the, the cultural translation from the east coast to orange county might be one of the biggest riffs chasms that there is there. It's quiet.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (33m 13s):I was just going to say, you're the first guests that we've had on. And we've had many that I've been like really sort of, no, not that I'm not excited to talk to everybody else, but your, your, I was telling Gina before this, that your bio is the greatest written bio I've ever read in my life. So I told her I'm the queen of queries. Like I write a bad-ass query letter, like, but you are the baddest ass of bios. Like, I, I love that stuff because for me they're usually so down boring, but you're, and same with queries.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (33m 54s):Like, I, I love to write a good query cause it's kind of a challenge how that bio is. You write it like in a second. I mean, I know it's a little thing, but it's a really important thing to me becauseChisa Hutchinson (34m 7s):So long ago I don't even remember, but I just wanted to, I was like, oh, well, you know, there's going to be plenty of chance to send the short, dry, you know, you know, like formal bio. So I was like, I want my website to be, you know, I went to bio on my website to be, you know, to give a sense of like who I am as a person.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (34m 30s):I feel like I, I was like, I with, and it's an, it's the words are economic. It's not like, it's like this long thing, but it's really short. And it's also so compelling. Anyway, I just, I just that's like my just, just, yeah, I have from zoneGina Pulice (34m 50s):It's on her website, everybody, chisahutchinson.com. You can check it out for yourself. It's veryJen Bosworth-Ramirez (34m 54s):Funny. Very good.Gina Pulice (34m 56s):Okay. So by the time you got to T I mean, so what I understand your grad school choice was rather intentional to be about play writing and you picked maybe probably the, one of the best schools did that. Oh. Or maybe you disagree,Chisa Hutchinson (35m 16s):Funny story about the no, no, I loved it. I knew I absolutely loved NYU. I'd probably learn more in one semester there than I did four years. That I'm sorry. I feel like I'm talking smack about vets. I'm really not trying to like smack talk Vassar. It's just, it's really, I think they're doing better now. They've hired a playwright that I really loved to teach playwriting there. So that's, I think progressJen Bosworth-Ramirez (35m 47s):We've had the thing where it's like, I I'm coming to the, the sort of realization that a lot of undergrads are kind of like, well, we'll give it a shot. We don't have a awesome, we're going to really do something good luck. And then you'll go to grad school and really learn. I mean, that's how I kind of feel. So I know you're not talkingChisa Hutchinson (36m 8s):Because I really had a wonderful time at the ribs of great, the great place. And I learned through experience, just not so much through the cracks. And then NYU, it was literally the only grad school I applied to. And that was because I had, I had a workshop production. It was my very first workshop production of a play ever at a professional theater company or not really the Lark play development center, which has since Closed.Chisa Hutchinson (36m 49s):And it makes me so sad because that police was like American idol for playwrights. And like, it was the place people knew to like go to the Lark, the Lark and new dramas are like the two places that everybody knows like, okay, you want to find the next half play. Right. And go to this place. Right. So I had my very first production of a, of a full length play at the Lark and they hooked me up. Oh, hardcore. I w at me, it was so many different people who I still work with to this day. Like, I, I love the LARC. Like everyone I met at the Lark, I have kept and I keep working with them. But the game changer was they set me up with Tina Howe as a mentor.Gina Pulice (37m 33s):Yeah, I did. I did one of her plays and theater school.Chisa Hutchinson (37m 38s):That woman is a genius as a wacky genius. Okay. First of all, she's like, I think back then she had to be in her late sixties, early seventies. I don't even know. Nobody knows how old you, how so? No. She is like this waspy, like proper wasp of a woman of a certain age, you know, who apparently responded like exuberantly to my, to my plate. She liked girls, which, which is about like, again, you know, teenage inner city lesbians, you know, like, so it was really weird to have her be like this, but what she responded to was like, I have like surreal elements in that play.Chisa Hutchinson (38m 25s):And she was, she knows what she's all about. That surreal stuff. So they sent me up with her. They were like, you should have dinner with her after, you know, your, your presentation. And I was like, yeah, yeah, cool. So I had dinner with Tina, how well we just like talked and talked and talked to this little gas so late that I was like, oh shit. Like, I'm about to miss my last train back to New Jersey. And she was like, oh, oh no, you will do no such thing. You will not, you are not taking the train back this late. You are coming home with me. And I was like, oh, okay. So you know how so I had a Latina, how, when we woke up and she made me breakfast and she's just talking, she's had you, do you have an MFA?Chisa Hutchinson (39m 11s):You need any of that say, and I was like, no. She was like, well, you have to not have to apply to grad programs. If you're going to apply, you should apply to some people at NYU. My best friend works at NYU and used to reply. And I'm going to write you a letter of recommendation and you're going to go to LA. So literally I put together like a found out that the down deadline for the application was literally the next day. So I application together in a day and like hand delivered it to the department of dramatic writing and I, and cross my fingers and was just like, all right, well, I'll tell me to apply.Chisa Hutchinson (39m 55s):So I applied and I got in, I got in with a full, a full ride and yeah, I had just an amazing, I love my professors there. They were so dope. And what they do is they make you write. So I concentrated in playwriting, which was a really smart move apparently, because playwrights are like the hot shit in Hollywood right now. But yeah, I concentrated and play writing, but they make you write in other mediums also, as you know, it's mandatory. You have to also take TV writing. You have to also take screenwriting. Yeah. And that is, turns out is a very smart way to structure your Germany.Chisa Hutchinson (40m 39s):We're all working everywhere now. You know, like if there's no, there's so much, you know, cross fertilization happening.Gina Pulice (40m 50s):Yeah. That's fantastic. So we only know about the playwriting program at, I think one other school. So at Tisch, did you, did you write stuff? They then got produced there by the students? I mean, like acting playsChisa Hutchinson (41m 6s):Is the only thing that they don't, because they're not what they try to do. They do have like one collaboration class where they bring in, they try to bring in as many professionals as possible because they want like the one sort of student variable, like the one factor, you know, to be student and everything else to be professionals. So they would bring in professional directors and professional actors for it. Wasn't yeah, it was, it was a little bizarre because it felt like you were just siloed from these people that you should be probably, you know, it'd be making connections with.Chisa Hutchinson (41m 49s):So it was a little ad in that respect, but I see, I get the philosophy behind it. Like I get that. They're like, we want to minimize the minimize or maximize the professionalism.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (42m 4s):Right. I mean, it's, it's, it's just sounds like a really like super bad-ass program that I have a friend, a playwright friend named Michael Allen Harris. I don't know. He just graduated from loved it, loved it, loved it. And now, and I have this thing of going to a lot of grad schools now I'm like, I have a master's in counseling psych. I started a screenwriting program then dropped out because they were assholes. And then I'm like, now I'm like NYU grad school. I, you know, but anyway, I, I love this idea that you okay. Cause I'm, I'm in LA right now. And there's a lot of people that are like, and playwrights are hot shit in Hollywood.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (42m 47s):Right. But I love the idea that you didn't go into playwriting to try to be a hot shit in Hollywood, unless you did. And I'm just making thatChisa Hutchinson (42m 57s):Like live theater, it just fits a medium that just affords you so much nuance. And like, there's just so many idiosyncrasies, you know, like you can do things. And I literally teach a class at the university of Delaware. I call it writing in 3d. It's just a playwriting class. But what I do is I make them do small, you know, short writing assignments. And each assignment is focused on some aspect. Some, some topics, some themes, some something, right. Some element that just takes on a whole other texture when it's live.Chisa Hutchinson (43m 40s):So like the first assignment that they get is like nudity. Right. Which c'mon, you know, like it's D you know, we see cities all day long on the screen, like, and it's no, no big. Right. But like in a live theater, that's a whole other thing. Right? Like nudity, you suddenly, you're like forced to really think about the significance of the nudity when it's like right there in your face. Right. So nudity, silence, silence in a theater is different from silence anywhere else, you know, like you can't really do silence and I'm novel, you know, it's like, well, it's a blank page. Right.Chisa Hutchinson (44m 19s):So with audience participation, like you literally can't do that anywhere else. You know? So yeah. Each assignment, I really try to get my students thinking the possibilities that, you know, they can take advantage of those in, in theater that they can't really get anywhere else.Gina Pulice (44m 41s):You're just making me think of something that makes me so sad, which is that a lot of us do approach just anything performance-related through theater, because it is so singularly special. And then as you have this line in your bio, you write these plays that have more than five characters and deal with themes of race. So they're probably never going to get produced. And actually the way, the way I met you was at the national new play network in Sacramento. I mean, I met you like passing hello, where they did a staged reading of your play America, which looks amazing. Has that ever been produced?Chisa Hutchinson (45m 19s):That is literally, it has been postponed twice pandemic postpartum, but it's where I'm going to start rehearsing for that in January, at alley theater in Houston.Gina Pulice (45m 30s):Fantastic. I'm really happy to hear that. So, you know, so theater gives us all of these things that we can't find elsewhere, and then there's zero money spent on it so that people like you only end up getting to do, you know, bring their brilliance, not only, but you get paid by bringing your brilliance to film and television, it's just kind of sad. You know, that there's, it's not a viable option to really make your living as a playwright.Chisa Hutchinson (46m 0s):It is. It is. I I'm not, if I knew how to fix it. Right. I, I would, but you know, I think we just need to just do the best we can. And every day I wake up feeling great. I mean, even on a, even on a shitty day, and I've had some pretty shitty days, especially like this past week or so, where, I mean just where you just feel gutted and, you know, come out and, or whatever. And you're like, just want to crawl into a cave. But then I'm like, literally like sitting in a house that you bought with, wow, you're doing, you're doing will pay.Chisa Hutchinson (46m 49s):And the fact that I get to do what I like in whatever capacity really, right. Like, okay, theater doesn't pay me enough to live on, but please screen, you know, screen writing or I get to teach. Like I get to talk to sit around every week, just telling young people, like I hear is why words are cool. And then they get all excited. And then they like present their work in class and then they get all, like, they get attached to each other's characters and things know like when they're reading over beating and workshop and it just, it just like tickles my soul.Chisa Hutchinson (47m 35s):So like, why, you know, why, why would I be sad about really anything?Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (47m 43s):Can I ask you a question about the gutted nearness of, so did you say I, you sort of brushed over it, but like the governess of, did you say reviews like of your films? Okay. Okay. So here's my question. Here's my question. Because you're someone that's working in an industry that I am like, oh my God. You know, because I'm me, I'm like, they've got it made, you know, whatever it's garbage. I know. But when a review, cause we talk a lot about, on this podcast about resilience or, and I'm obsessed with the idea of resilience or bouncing back, whatever you want to call it. What happens inside you that you're able to say, bitch, keep going. Like, what is that moment for you?Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (48m 24s):Because I'm, I had a week where a asshole said some asshole you things as they do. And then I had to like regroup and keep on with my, my situation. So what did for you, how do you do that as someone, you know, how do you do it?Chisa Hutchinson (48m 40s):Okay. So this is a thing that comes with time. This writing shit, like it's a war of attrition is, is really, really only the people who stick around are the ones who get to succeed on any level really. Right. So if you stick around long enough, right. If you just don't let, when someone kicks you in the face, right. You just kind of have to be like, get up and keep walking. What, what, what did it for me? I think it was like the third or fourth, like mixed review that I got in the times for a play prediction.Chisa Hutchinson (49m 28s):And, and then I thought, bitch, this is, this is your fourth review. And the TA, one of them was like really good, you know, like of all the reviews that I've gotten and I'm picking on the times, because of course that's the one that everybody sees. Right. But like whenever, you know, the reviews come out and some of them are like really fuses and wonderful and that's like fuel and it's, it's awesome. They're usually on the, like really rinky-dink like platforms with like 300 followers. Right. But, but you're like, oh, somebody gets it.Chisa Hutchinson (50m 8s):You know, like somebody, somebody out there, guess what I'm trying to do too bad. Those somebodies they're not the ones with the giant platforms, but it's okay. And so you read those and you absorb them, but then like if you just sort of take a step back and like, I, you know, like I didn't realize, you know, these reviews aren't actually keeping me from getting work. I mean, it would certainly help to have a great review right. In some, you know, in the, whatever the Washington post, whatever, right. Like whatever, big, whatever big platform, it would certainly help to have a great review, but I'm still working.Chisa Hutchinson (50m 49s):Like I still get work, even if, you know, I haven't been anointed by the New York times. Right. Like, so it really is just a matter of like hanging in there. Like, I, I hate to sayJen Bosworth-Ramirez (51m 2s):I love that because, because that is something that I, and we have control over is hanging in there versus having control over whether, whoever at whatever paper or whatever, whatever loves me. I have no control over that, but I can control whether I hang in there or whether it's worth it to hang in there or not. So that's actually something you can actually do. So I like that. It's like, I can do thatChisa Hutchinson (51m 26s):And I'll work on the next thing. Just be working on the next, keep writing happens that when I find that I like get over bad routes, the fastest when I'm already in the middle of the next project. Sure. So like right now I'm working at, so you mentioned the subject just got released this past week, last, last week. Oh my God. How's that week. We just had our premiere party a week ago already, but yeah. And the reviews have been mixed, you know, some people like really get it. And some people I'm like, you are completely missing the point. Like you're completely missing the point and it's very frustrating, but I don't even really have time to be too concerned about it because I'm like, I'm literally in a writer's room for a Hulu show right now.Chisa Hutchinson (52m 16s):So I'm really, I'm, I'm my revision actually is due today after like, I'm going to have to like, you know, I was right in that. I have like 10 more pages that I need to trim, but yeah, I, I can't, I don't, I don't have time to while I can just, you just gotta be like all up in the next thing, all that.Gina Pulice (52m 35s):And it does make sense that review, I mean, reviews are, people have feel all kinds of artists have feelings about reviews, but it really makes sense that a writer would have a hard time, you know, just for example, ignoring reviews because your life is about words and that's what that's, what's happening in a review is the people are assembling words to, to decide, you know, pass judgment on whether or not you have something interesting to say,Chisa Hutchinson (53m 3s):When you write about something personal or when you write about something about which you're passionate, that it feels, so it feels like they just took a knife to your heart, you know? Like it feels so like, yeah, let me just swallow my pride with a chaser of napalm, you know, just like BR like, it just burns you on the inside and you, you just, it feels like you're never going to get over it, but you will. You do, you do the next thing and yeah,Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (53m 35s):Really. I mean, ultimately it's like, you know, fuck you and goodbye and good luck and onward, but I love the idea of moving. I always be, cause people used to tell me like, just keep writing and I'd be like, go fuck yourself because I don't want to keep writing. I want someone to like my last project not, but it's true. Like if I can shut up and, and, and stop feeling, sorry for myself, I, I look, it feels good to feel sorry for myself for a little bit. But I feel like if I can actually do something rather than ruminate and create more work, then the steam comes out of it. Just because simply there's not enough space in my brain to keep thinking about what Joe Schmo said in his last email.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (54m 21s):So it is that it's just like focus on the writing, you know, sounds so easy to do, but it's actually, for me, a self preservation thing to keep writing, instead of ruminating on all the things that went wrong with the last, the last project or whatever, you know?Chisa Hutchinson (54m 38s):Yeah. And I'm very lucky also to be doing this in a time where there's Instagram and TikTok because I have like, literally I have like a little collection of videos specifically that I just, that no matter what the hell is going on, like they always make me,Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (54m 59s):I love that made me laugh minus the stone guy shoveling. Have you seen, okay, so this is an old one, but it, if anyone out there has, there's a guy who's trying to shovel snow and he cannot get it together. And he keeps falling and it's sort of a metaphor for my life and he just keeps it at the end. He just goes, fuck it. And show that shovel. And there's someone filming his neighbors filming, cracking up, but quietly not trying to make fun, but like in a way that like, man, we have all been there. The dude cannot shovel to save his life. And I was like that. I relate to that shit because it's just like, you're just shoveling and falling in your own shit and falling and someone's bike going way to go.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (55m 44s):I feel you. So with the Tik-toks, I, I, that's a really good thing to do. You keep them for when you feel bad, you watch them or just whenever.Chisa Hutchinson (55m 52s):And then when I'm just like to set for words, you know, I just need to watch a video of big fluffy dogs ripping down the stairs. No, with the voiceover that's like curse. It just, oh my God. It gets everyJen Bosworth-Ramirez (56m 7s):Time,Chisa Hutchinson (56m 9s):Every timeJen Bosworth-Ramirez (56m 11s):I love it, I want to see it. I'm gonna look it up. It's a dog cursing like a voiceover.Chisa Hutchinson (56m 16s):I really wish. Yeah. And he's like this, there are three, three big fluffy fucking dog. You just want to like squeeze them. They're so fucking big and fluffy, you know? And they're like, there are these concrete cores outdoors right there, like three or four stairs. And they're running along the top, the top stair, I'm about to make their way down. But because the coloring and the, you know, how shallow, because of the way the stairs are built on the color, you don't, if you have no depth perception, right. Which those dogs clear would be not.Chisa Hutchinson (56m 57s):It's hard to know that it's not just like grown, we'll go running along the stairs. And one of them that one in the front is like, oh, I can't wait to the, and then I can't wait to get to the, and then he goes Like tumbles down the,Gina Pulice (57m 18s):Okay, we're going to have to try to link to that in our show notes. So people can check it out.Chisa Hutchinson (57m 23s):I will, we send that to you because it cracks me up.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (57m 29s):I'm obsessed. And you're making me see why fails are so important. Like, I love fail videos. I watch news bloopers all day long because what it is is people trying their best to be sincere and be like, I take themselves so serious. I'm going to do my job. And then all of a sudden, the chair falls out and they're like still trying to do their goddamn job. And they're like, and anyway, I'm the news. And you're like, I love it because I feel like that 90% of my fucking life, I feel like I'm like, I could still do this while my legs are being taken out from under me. So anyway, Tik Toks and fails. Yes. They're worth something. They're really good.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (58m 10s):I'm sorry.Gina Pulice (58m 12s):No, no, no. That's okay. No, but that's how it was. No, but it's, I mean, it's germane it's on the topic of survival is we all have ways of surviving the everyday banalities and everyday horrors of life. So you, right before we talked, started talking to you for the podcast, we always do another section of just us talking before. And we were talking about secrets and we were talking about, you know, especially as it pertains to your profession and personal writing, the dangerous territory that you start navigating when it gets into the territory of like family secrets. And I don't mean, you know, so-and-so whatever cheated on his wife.Gina Pulice (58m 57s):I just mean maybe more like a thematic secret where we're protecting this abusive behavior. We're protecting this abusive personality. And I recently in my life made a decision to stop doing that in, in, in multiple arenas, but specifically in one and my awakening about it is all about, I'm not holding anybody else's secrets anymore. It's not me. If you don't want me, if you don't like that about me, then you probably need to reevaluate your relationship with me. I'm done holding on to other people's secrets and actually your movie touches on that a lot.Gina Pulice (59m 42s):And I'm just curious about your own relationship professionally speaking to secrets and how you navigate that test, the difference between say or the potential chasm between saying something that's really true for you and saying something that could somehow hurt you in the future.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 0m 7s):Wow. That's that sounds serious. That's a serious question. I'm kind of with you as far as like, like my husband, for example, he knows he has known from year one when we first started dating that. Like, if it's happening to you while I know you, like, if it's happening between us, like that should it's part like, like that's like, that's, that's fatter. Like I'm gonna, I will use that. Like as an I don't care if it really sort of is a little unschooled, do you?Chisa Hutchinson (1h 0m 47s):Oh, okay. So for example, I wrote, I wrote a book called 101 reasons to not breed. Yes. Lemon. One of the reasons is like kids, if you miss me, like, they're just messy. It's shit. Right. So what I did was I don't have kids. I don't want kids. I'm very clear on this. Right. But I do have a husband who just doesn't even see mess anymore. Doesn't realize when he's like leaving stuff for, so I literally just spent a good few months just taking pictures and text messages that he left around her.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 1m 33s):I mean, ridiculous fucking message. Like socks on the kitchen, counter, dirty socks on the kitchen. I'm like, fuck. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I will take a picture of the toilet that you did not cross blew it up. Right. You know what I'm saying? Like, I will put, I will literally put your shit on. I will put your shit out there for the world. See if you don't start cleaning up after yourself. Right. Like, so that's okay. Like that's a kind of a funny, you know, version of, of, of that. Right. But there are some other things, there are other things, I mean, in the same book, I actually talk about my mother and my biological mother who gave me away when I was three.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 2m 19s):But like before that, I mean, some of my earliest memories are of her like beating the shit out of me, you know, her and my stepdad beating the crap out of me at three, you know? So yeah. I don't, I don't, I have never had qualms about putting I'm like, you didn't have qualms about putting your fist to my, my little face. Right. So I'm not going to have qualms about like, putting that out there and trying to turn it into a positive, in case there's someone else out there who is feeling some type of way about the fact that their mother abandoned them or whatever, you know, like, I just want to let you know, like, I'm connecting with you, right. You are not alone.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 2m 59s):Right. And you know, you find your family where you can and that's sort of the message of the book is that you don't actually have to like grow grass root, right. Or, or even honor the fact that someone grew you right. In order to, to have family into it and to feel that that familial love. So that's what the book is, is supposed to doGina Pulice (1h 3m 28s):Truett fruit. Oh crap. Okay.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 3m 32s):I love it. So yeah, I, I will, I don't, there's really no such thing as a secret withGina Pulice (1h 3m 40s):You don't have a, a quandary about it. You just go straight .Chisa Hutchinson (1h 3m 47s):I do. I will let people know though, because I don't want to, you don't want to be bad art friend. Right? LikeGina Pulice (1h 3m 56s):Our friends on this podcast,Chisa Hutchinson (1h 3m 58s):I will let you know. I'm like, Hey look, because I left my husband and I'm like, look, I'm putting, do you see these pictures? You know, you see all these shit, you left around the house. Yeah. I took pictures of all of it and it's going in the book. Right. Like he knows, you know, his step, I just, or I'll ask if there's something like, I'm like, ah, hi, how do you feel about me too? Because here's why I'm thinking it will serve the story really well. Or here's why I think it'll help other people connect with it. Or, you know what I mean? Like, I I'm, I'm very clear on like, why I need a particular thing why I need to expose dirty laundry. Right, right, right.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 4m 39s):So, and as long as I can voice that, like most folks are okay with it. Well, what really cracks me up is when the people don't even recognize themselves in yourGina Pulice (1h 4m 49s):Oh, right. They'll or they'll, they'll tell, they'll tell you the character that they know you meant to be them. And it's not, it's like an admirable character and that's not who you areChisa Hutchinson (1h 4m 60s):Now that ain't too.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (1h 5m 2s):I have a question as it relates to like, and I told you to, before this, I was going to ask you this. So I sent him a letter to someone, a query, and I said like, I'm a Latina, I'm a middle aged woman. I'm getting into television bubble. Anyway, I got a horrific, crazy response. And my initial response was to drag the motherfucker on Twitter, but I didn't do it. What, what do you think about, I don't even know if drags the right word out, whatever it is. It was a terrible situation that I felt. And my first response was, I'm going to get this motherfucker. I did not do it. I did not do it. But what do you feel about people that are go, go on social media or groups or whatever.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (1h 5m 44s):I just, what are your thoughts on saying on, on, on doing that? Cause people are doing it a lot, you know? And, and I don't, I don't necessarily Gina and I talked about like, I'm not sure it's a terrible thing. I just, it wasn't right for me to do in that moment also, becauseChisa Hutchinson (1h 6m 1s):It's not a terrible thing, but it's not a great, I mean, it's not very everyone. Like, I, I don't really do it so much because I feel like it's giving them too much power or it's, it's that thing of like, okay, yeah. Dwell, dwell on it for five minutes and then move on like that, because that's, that's really how you can get back at those motherfuckers, right. Is to just like go on with your life and be happy and, you know, find joy elsewhere. Right? Like that's and, you know, to, to dignify their, their fuckery was, you know, you are strongly worded Facebook posts.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 6m 47s):Right. Is what is it doing? You know? I mean, would you feel better? It might make you feel better just to kind of like, get it out there. It also might help you connect with, you know, other people who have experienced a similar thing. Right. And, you know, maybe they were feeling isolated or alone and they're in their failure or in their, whatever it is. Right. So, I mean, I'm not gonna say it doesn't have its uses. Right. But as far as like, is it getting back at that personJen Bosworth-Ramirez (1h 7m 18s):And also, right.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 7m 22s):I really I'm just, so this is a lesson that I'm really just now getting around to like learning in a, in a sort of visceral way. Is that like nobody cares? No, I literally just today was, well that's right. Post, because I saw on IMD be the subject. There are a couple of, and it's really just a couple, like, there are a couple of really awful, I mean, Pete, just users who were just like, you know, clearly expecting it to be a comedy because Jason business owner or something, Make movies fun again, you know? And I was just like, oh dude.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 8m 3s):And they're the ones who, who will take the time to like post over review or post it's their, I can't even call them props because they would have to be thinking I would have to have brain. Right. But I did, like, I went on Facebook, like the closest I'll come is like, I went on Facebook and was like, Hey, y'all alert if you enjoy the movie, like, please rate it. Please post a review because these guys like their opinions, shouldn't be the stand in for everybody. Else's right. And that's, that's really about as close as I'll come. But even that I'm like, I was torn about doing that because I'm like, doesn't even, does it even matter?Chisa Hutchinson (1h 8m 47s):Like,Gina Pulice (1h 8m 48s):And it gets back to this whole thing about reviews because I saw your post and it's specifically men over 45 or something like that. And I thought, yeah, but who else is writing these things, but men over 45, like I'm guilty of loving something and then not writing it down anywhere that I love it because it's, so it's such an, it has become such an important part of art making, like how are people receiving it? And is it getting enough views? And is it getting enough, you know, clicks. And to me it's always just like the person who ha, who wants to take their time when it's not positive to tell you that you put your heart and soul into something and they didn't care for it.Gina Pulice (1h 9m 31s):And I don't understand the impulse, actually.Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (1h 9m 34s):This is the biggest demographic of voters, by the way. I think too, like I I'm just saying like, these are people that like really when they feel something, they feel really entitled to just like trash it. Or I think the, the, maybe the rest of us are so busy surviving. We don't write nice reviews. I don't know. But I started to write good reviews because I realized that for people, for people in that are trying to make projects, whether it's in the arts or not that it actually matters that the rest of us speak up because those voices, like you're saying don't need to be the loudest. Cause they're not, they're not the only voices out there. There's this is people that take the time to click away. Same with the guy who ran the time to use his time to write me a nasty,Chisa Hutchinson (1h 10m 17s):You know, like they're, they, they have a sense of self-importance that I think the rest of us not. And I'm just like, ah,Jen Bosworth-Ramirez (1h 10m 27s):Right, right. So I think the way to counter it is for the rest of us to start for me anyway. Cause I'm, I'm guilty too, of like not when something is great, not saying like, Hey, I love this product. Even if it's a candle, like we have a friend that makes candles, you know, and Gina, you posted about it. That matters. That's that? It's like, I got to take time out of my day, even though I'm busy hustling and all this stuff to like support the things that I do, like so that the loud, loud ass, old white dudes, don't just get to have the whole market cornered on reviews, like come on or whatever. So I think,Chisa Hutchinson (1h 11m 7s):You know, to bark the thing that I like out of existence, right? Like, because that is a thing that can happen too, when there's a perception that like, oh, well nobody wants this. Right. But the only people who have been, you know, it'sJen Bosworth-Ramirez (1h 11m 22s):And it's like, oh, this movie, this movie, or this project or whatever didn't do well, no, no, it actually did fine. It was just that the people that were screaming the loudest and felt entitled to scream, you know, people, we think that we give them importance. So it's like, we have to take back the, the importance of like, you know, the other voices it's just goes about like other voices in the room that aren't, aren't being heard.Chisa Hutchinson (1h 11m 45s):People kno

We have a gem in the house—Mel Jones is a multi-talented producer, writer and director. The Howard University alum holds a Bachelor of Science in Radio, Television and Film and later earned her Master of Fine Arts in Producing at the American Film Institute. Mel worked for Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures for 8 years and rose through the ranks serving as the President of Production for 5 years. She produced a film each year of her tenure. Jones’ credits include Sundance Film Festival hits, such as Justin Simien’s Dear White People and Gerard McMurray’s Burning Sands. Subsequent films include Netflix original film Juanita starring Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood and The Weekend starring Sasheer Zamata and Y'lan Noel which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Most recently, she served as director on Hulu's recently launched Initiative 29 in collaboration with Disney+ and ESPN+'s Black History Always, two new initiatives to tell and share more Black stories all year round. Jones is also in development on her feature film debut Us Again to be produced by Confluential Films.Mel made her directorial debut at Sundance with “Leimert Park,” a MACRO/Homegrown Pictures digital series and also produced for them the feature film Really Love which debuted at SXSW and AFI in 2020 which we will be talking more about today.  Let's dig into Mel's backstory, shall we?Mel Jones' 'Gram: @mellymel_jonesLeimert Park 'Gram: @LeimertSeriesLeimert Park Twitter: @LeimertSeriesLeimert Park Facebook: @LeimertSeriesLeimert Park Hashtag: #LeimertSeries SSR ‘Gram: @ajsoreelSSR Twitter: @shessoreelSSR Shownotes: https://shessoreel.com/episode/mel-jones/#ShesSoReel #AJsSoReel #STOPASIANHATE *This episode includes affiliate links for which I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase. Read my disclaimer for further info

We have a gem in the house—Mel Jones is a multi-talented producer, writer and director. The Howard University alum holds a Bachelor of Science in Radio, Television and Film and later earned her Master of Fine Arts in Producing at the American Film Institute. Mel worked for Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures for 8 years and rose through the ranks serving as the President of Production for 5 years. She produced a film each year of her tenure. Jones’ credits include Sundance Film Festival hits, such as Justin Simien’s Dear White People and Gerard McMurray’s Burning Sands. Subsequent films include Netflix original film Juanita starring Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood and The Weekend starring Sasheer Zamata and Y'lan Noel which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Most recently, she served as director on Hulu's recently launched Initiative 29 in collaboration with Disney+ and ESPN+'s Black History Always, two new initiatives to tell and share more Black stories all year round. Jones is also in development on her feature film debut Us Again to be produced by Confluential Films.Mel made her directorial debut at Sundance with “Leimert Park,” a MACRO/Homegrown Pictures digital series and also produced for them the feature film Really Love which debuted at SXSW and AFI in 2020 which we will be talking more about today.  Let's dig into Mel's backstory, shall we?Mel Jones' 'Gram: @mellymel_jonesLeimert Park 'Gram: @LeimertSeriesLeimert Park Twitter: @LeimertSeriesLeimert Park Facebook: @LeimertSeriesLeimert Park Hashtag: #LeimertSeries SSR ‘Gram: @ajsoreelSSR Twitter: @shessoreelSSR Shownotes: https://shessoreel.com/episode/mel-jones/#ShesSoReel #AJsSoReel #STOPASIANHATE *This episode includes affiliate links for which I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase. Read my disclaimer for further info

Lynette Howell Taylor is an Academy Award and Emmy nominated producer and founder of 51 Entertainment. She produced Bradley Cooper's directorial debut A STAR IS BORN, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Lynette served as Executive Producer on Derek Cianfrance’s HBO limited series I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE starring Mark Ruffalo, which is based on the best-selling novel by Wally Lamb, and earned Ruffalo an Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series. She produced the 92nd Academy Awards Ceremony alongside Stephanie Allain. Lynette has produced over 25 movies in the last 15 years including: CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, written and directed by Matt Ross and starring Academy Award-nominee Viggo Mortensen. Brie Larson’s directorial debut UNICORN STORE. BIG EYES directed by Tim Burton Ryan Fleck's Oscar nominated HALF NELSON Derek Cianfrance's THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES and his Oscar nominated BLUE VALENTINE.  

The kingmaker Stephanie Allain shares her journey from her early days as a script reader - to discovering John Singleton and Robert Rodriguez - to producing such hits as Hustle and Flow and Dear White People - to bringing diversity to the production of the Academy Awards!

Mel Jones is a multitalented producer and director. A Howard University graduate, she earned her MFA at the American Film Institute in Producing. Jones worked in development at Participant Media under producer Jonathan King and marketing guru Ricky Strauss. A Project Involve Fellow, Jones assisted veteran producer and LA Film Festival director, Stephanie Allain – a gig which turned into a five-year stint as producer of Diversity Speaks, one of the festival’s signature programs. You may recall the legendary Stephanie Allain from episode 14 of the podcast. Give it a listen! She served Producer on Wade and Jesse Allain-Marcus’ FRENCH DIRTY, Gerard McMurray’s BURNING SANDS and Clark Johnson’s Netflix original film, JUANITA. She made her directorial debut with LEIMERT PARK, an indie episodic that premiered at Sundance 2018. During our hour together, she shares her journey on growing from an assistant to a producer at Homegrown Entertainment, dives deep into how she became an Associate Producer on Justin Simien’s Sundance hit, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, and divulges her secret to being a freaking ray of sunshine. Can’t wait to hear what you think of this week’s episode! Beijos, Caca

The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS), will honor the best films of 2019 and is scheduled to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. After more than a decade of holding the Academy Award ceremonies towards the end of February, the 92nd Academy Awards is due to take place earlier in the month, on February 9, 2020. During the ceremony, AMPAS will present Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony will be televised in the United States by ABC and produced by Lynette Howell Taylor and Stephanie Allain, and directed by Glenn Weiss. Citing the success of the format at the 91st presentation in 2019, ABC announced that the ceremony will again be conducted without a host.

Stephanie Allain is a legend. She is the OG of what she describes as the “true badass bitch era of Hollywood”, power suits and all. Not gonna lie, it was the highlight of my month to spent this hour with her. Through her production company Homegrown Pictures, she’s produced Hustle & Flow, Something New, Beyond the Lights, Dear White People, Burning Sands, French Dirty, Leimert Park, Juanita and The Weekend. Pretty. Impressive. Consider, however, that even though she grew up near Miracle Mile in LA, she didn’t really know anybody in the business. Her humble story begins as a reader/story analyst at CAA, a job she held while also adjusting to life at home with a newborn. Her honesty and candidness are refreshing as she reflects on feeling like she messed up the first time around by spending too much time working. After many years as a reader, she realized there were many paths available. It was thanks to her mentor, Amy Pascal, that she chose to follow in her footsteps towards the trajectory of a studio executive. Watching Amy in the room taught her how to go to the next level. She realized quickly, however, that where she was going was not exactly what she thought it was going to be. And then John Singleton walked into her office at Fox with a script called BOYZ N THE HOOD and changed her life. Making that movie with John taught her how to be a true producer because he was “gangster straight” to protect it. It cemented her desire to work with writer/directors because of their singular, clear vision. Their professional relationship eventually branched out into a friendship with solid roots. Years later, she found herself at a crossroads in her life. She had the family, the nice house in Hancock Park, the career; she had it all. But she found herself wondering, “is this it?” And that’s when a little indie film about a pimp with a dream called HUSTLE & FLOW entered her life. Her and John Singleton decided to financed and produce the film together; prompting her to sell her house. It was a dark time. Her passion and her hustle got me thinking…how far would I go for my dream? Could I ever bring myself to take similar risks? How far would you go for yours?

Mel Jones is a multi-talented producer and director. A Howard University graduate, she earned her MFA at the American Film Institute in Producing. Jones worked in development at Participant Media under producer Jonathan King and marketing guru Ricky Strauss. A Project Involve Fellow, Jones assisted veteran producer and LA Film Festival director, Stephanie Allain – a gig which turned into a five-year stint as producer of Diversity Speaks, one of the festival’s signature programs. She served as Associate Producer on Justin Simien’s Sundance hit, Dear White People, as a Producer on Wade and Jesse Allain-Marcus’ French Dirty, Gerard McMurray’s Burning Sands and Clark Johnson’s Juanita a Netflix Original. She made her directorial debut with Leimert Park, an indie episodic that premiered at Sundance 2018. She is President of Production for Homegrown Pictures.

TODAY: Stephanie Allain, American producer with a penchant for independent films. Allain, a New Orleans native, moved to Los Angeles and started her career in film in 1985, as a reader for Creative Artists Agency, before moving up the line to being one of 12 staff readers at Columbia Pictures. As a staff reader, Allain personally pitched several famous projects to studio execs, launching the careers of several young filmmakers who would go on to have legendary careers, such as John Singleton and Robert Rodriguez. She would go on to produce and executive produce several acclaimed films, with her most recent films being Black Snake Moan (2006), Beyond the Lights (2014), and Juanita (2019). Website: http://www.homegrownpictures.net Twitter: @StephanieAllain Popcorn Talk Network, the online broadcast network that features movie discussion, news, interviews and commentary proudly presents “The Film Scene w/ Illeana Douglas”, a weekly, freewheeling discussion show where industry veteran Illeana Douglas interviews Hollywood's most important voices in TV and Film, discussing some of Cinema's most important films, scenes, and shots. Produced by Ryan Nilsen and co-hosted by Jeff Graham, this show is essential listening for serious and casual fans of film! Stay Up To Date: http://illeanaspodcast.com/illeana-douglas-episodes/ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-film-scene-with-illeana-douglas/id1169112310 Visit our website: https://popcorntalknetwork.com Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thepopcorntalk Love TV? Check out http://site.afterbuzztv.com Love Books? Check out http://bookcircleonline.com Support our friends at http://blackhollywoodlive.com Shopping on Amazon? Click through our Amazon affiliate program at http://www.amazon.com//ref=as_sl_pd_t...

Stephanie Allain is an accomplished film producer and former studio executive. She is known for her work on "Dear White People", "Black Snake Moan", "Hustle & Flow" (which garnered Golden Globe and Oscar nominations),"Blackbird", "Boyz N The Hood", "El Mariachi", and "Desperado", among many other films.

Get to know Stephanie Allain, the producer behind "Boyz n the Hood" and "Hustle and Flow" on The Backlot's new podcast episode! Listen today.

Episode 20 live from Sundance Film Festival in the season premiere, Angela has a candid conversation with industry heavyweights on the #metoo and #timesup movements. They also delve into the importance of Black women storytellers.

Stephanie Allain, producer of “Dear White People,"  and “Hustle and Flow,” and an early champion of "Boyz n the Hood," talks about theme, diversity and scripts that make her “heart beat fast.”