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Speaker 1: It had nothing to do with oh, I want to

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Speaker 1: win an award. That's nice, great, But there's been three

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Speaker 1: over three thousand OSCAR has given out since n Right,

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Speaker 1: and only two women have won them as Best Director,

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Speaker 1: and that's been in the last two years. So clearly

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Speaker 1: this is a slow process for the Oscars to acknowledge

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Speaker 1: us for the art for the sake of creativity and

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Speaker 1: to give it the acknowledgement that it deserves. But the

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Speaker 1: beautiful thing about it, the excellence of the art that

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Speaker 1: we are creating will never be limited. Based off of that,

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Speaker 1: that was my producer John Quis weighing in on why

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Speaker 1: in the world films such as Inspection and The Woman

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Speaker 1: King have not been acknowledged for their excellence, but more

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Speaker 1: importantly for their black excellence. That's the name of this podcast.

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Speaker 1: Sit Back, Relaxed. We gotta pay some bills for Naked.

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Speaker 1: It's the greatest sporson and the same and can make

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Speaker 1: you carry chappion and carry champions. To do with Champion

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Speaker 1: A champion, they carry Chappion, Champion, they carry Champion, they

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Speaker 1: carry CHAPPI the taming can make worm. Hey, everybody, welcome, Welcome,

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Speaker 1: Welcome to this edition of naked today. We thought we'd

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Speaker 1: do something different, and by different, that means we don't

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Speaker 1: necessarily have a book to guest to tell their story

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Speaker 1: and be naked. I am going to do it solo,

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Speaker 1: well somewhat solo, uh and share some things that have

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Speaker 1: been on my heart and on my mind and some

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Speaker 1: experiences that I've had um the last week and a

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Speaker 1: half or so. Uh. A first UH in what I

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Speaker 1: like to call a Black Excellence podcast is what is

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Speaker 1: going on with my girl Beyonce. Many of you have

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Speaker 1: seen Beyonce performing person, and if you haven't seen a

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Speaker 1: performing person, you've seen her perform on award shows. And

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Speaker 1: what she does is excellence. I was once asked what

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Speaker 1: does black excellence mean to you? And when I was

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Speaker 1: asked that question, it was really funny because I said,

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Speaker 1: black and excellence go hand in hand. I don't think

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Speaker 1: we know how to separate the two once we get

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Speaker 1: to certain levels in life. This was happening in a

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Speaker 1: conversation that I was having with people about the anniversary,

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Speaker 1: the third anniversary of Kobe Bryant's death and why he

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Speaker 1: always wanted to pursue excellence. And I said that inspired me.

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Speaker 1: He inspired me and then I also said someone else,

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Speaker 1: and it may sound crazy to you all, but Beyonce

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Speaker 1: she inspires me if you ever get a chance to

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Speaker 1: see her in person, or if you just take a

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Speaker 1: moment to sit back and appreciate the craft her creativity.

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Speaker 1: UM as an artist, because I do consider myself an artist.

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Speaker 1: Anybody with a platform. You may be an artist. Anyone

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Speaker 1: with any sort of platform, whether it be a large

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Speaker 1: social media following or a smaller social media social media following,

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Speaker 1: you have a platform and what you put on your

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Speaker 1: platform if you want people to buy or believe in you,

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Speaker 1: or even pay attention to what you have to say,

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Speaker 1: I do believe you have to be excellent, and I

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Speaker 1: do believe there is a tougher test for other people,

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Speaker 1: for minorities, for black people. In short, black and brown

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Speaker 1: people cannot exist incompetent mediocrity. Now, I'm gonna give you

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Speaker 1: a few definitions because this is a master class today,

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Speaker 1: before I get into experiences and what happened this past

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Speaker 1: week for me and what I wanted to talk about

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Speaker 1: in the solo podcast. I entitled this podcast black Excellence because,

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Speaker 1: as I just mentioned, black and excellent go together like

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Speaker 1: peanut butter and jelly. They go together like Jack and Joe,

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Speaker 1: rum and coke, wine and cheese. They just go together.

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Speaker 1: And I was once asked by a dear friend of mine,

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Speaker 1: would you rather have flawed excellence or competent mediocrity. Flawed

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Speaker 1: excellence exists in this format. You could have your ups

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Speaker 1: and your downs every every show that I have, every

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Speaker 1: podcast that I do, may not be an automatic hit,

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Speaker 1: but it's still excellence. I'm still bringing my best. I'm

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Speaker 1: not mailing it in each one of my shows. I

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Speaker 1: may I have the best tech show. I mean, I

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Speaker 1: have the best guests, but I'm still trying to bring

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Speaker 1: out the best and what I do that is Black excellence.

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Speaker 1: I'm black, and that is excellence. I don't know how

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Speaker 1: to work in a a in a level that is

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Speaker 1: okay with just mailing it in, is what I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to say. But we know people black and black included.

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Speaker 1: I'm making sure that I'm not making this anything against

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Speaker 1: other races, but we know people who like to work

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Speaker 1: in a competent mediocrity, meaning you do just enough to

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Speaker 1: get by. Uh, you do your job well enough to

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Speaker 1: not be told that you're not doing a good job.

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Speaker 1: You you perform at a level that requires you to

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Speaker 1: give just enough but not too much so that it

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Speaker 1: doesn't feel exhausting. Um, you do your job, you do

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Speaker 1: your you live your life without passion. That's competent mediocrity.

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Speaker 1: And that's okay, and that's fine. But it's just that,

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Speaker 1: it's just okay. I'm built differently. UM, I choose not

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Speaker 1: to live in that space. But what I do know

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Speaker 1: is that when when black folks, when black and brown

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Speaker 1: folks get to a certain level of fame or success,

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Speaker 1: they just didn't happen to get there, Like if they

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Speaker 1: quote unquote stumbled into something. Know that to sustain that something,

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Speaker 1: you have to be excellent for people to pay attention

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Speaker 1: and acknowledge you or give you opportunities. It's just the

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Speaker 1: way it is, because we don't know when the next

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Speaker 1: opportunity will come. So this past weekend, a good friend

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Speaker 1: of mine invited me to see Beyonce Uh in Dubai.

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Speaker 1: She works with Beyonce. I'm not telling too many stories,

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Speaker 1: and she sent me an invite and it says, Beyonce

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Speaker 1: cordially invites you to come to Dubai at the Atlantis

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Speaker 1: Royale to watch her perform and a special concert on

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Speaker 1: Saturday night. Um, it's you can come in on Thursday

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Speaker 1: or Friday, but stay there the entire weekend. We will

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Speaker 1: have festivities planned for you basically all on the hotel

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Speaker 1: courtesy of Beyonce UH United Arab Emirates Dubai. I of

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Speaker 1: course have never been to Dubai before, and the opportunity

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Speaker 1: sounds sounds amazing and exciting, and I was like, I'm

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Speaker 1: jumping on it. There's just no way I could not go.

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Speaker 1: It was an invite only list. Uh. And I know

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Speaker 1: people were like, well, how come you got to go

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Speaker 1: and not me? Because I deserve, Because I am black excellence,

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Speaker 1: I deserve. Uh. The list was for folks to sit back,

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Speaker 1: relax and understand what it's about and enjoy it. And

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Speaker 1: I enjoyed every moment of it. I more importantly realized

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Speaker 1: why she is who she is and why someone would

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Speaker 1: pay her upwards of million dollars to perform for an hour.

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Speaker 1: When I tell you she thought about every single detail,

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Speaker 1: if not she her entire team, I want I say

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Speaker 1: she let me be clearly, here's another definition. I mean

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Speaker 1: her entire team, her staff and what they required and

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Speaker 1: what they want. When you work for someone who who

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Speaker 1: performs at such a high level and and demand so

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Speaker 1: much of themselves, you must do the same for yourself.

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Speaker 1: I think she has a bunch of number two's that

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Speaker 1: know exactly what they're doing. One of them as my

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Speaker 1: home girl, and she is Queen Bee, Queen Bee's Queen Bee,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean. She does the things. Um

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Speaker 1: we arrived welcome gifts top notch first class. When we

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Speaker 1: watched her perform, it was very respectful, but more importantly thoughtful.

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Speaker 1: As you guys see on all the videos and images,

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Speaker 1: she wasn't shaking or gyrating. Because we are in the

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Speaker 1: United Arab Emirates, public affection as a crime there. I

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Speaker 1: don't know if you guys knew that UM Dubai is

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Speaker 1: the least strict of all the Emirates. Is there's seven

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Speaker 1: in writs and Dubai is the least Um it's the

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Speaker 1: least strict. If we were in Abu Dhabi, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: that would be something even more difficult to deal with.

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Speaker 1: But there was a reason why she was covered from

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Speaker 1: head to toe, and even when she did have one

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Speaker 1: like the leggings in the little dress, it was still

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Speaker 1: very demure for our Beyonce taste Um. The dancers that

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Speaker 1: she used were from Lebanon, and they were very culturally

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Speaker 1: appropriate in response to what's been going on in the

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Speaker 1: Middle East with women. As you will know, there have

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Speaker 1: been so many crimes against women in Iran for not

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Speaker 1: wearing their he jobs. You know, these Muslim women are

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Speaker 1: not adhering to certain rules because they're like, we are women,

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Speaker 1: we should be able to be free. There's an entire

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Speaker 1: revolution happening over there in that country that so many

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Speaker 1: of us are not familiar with, because women are saying,

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Speaker 1: I want my rights, I want to be free. I

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Speaker 1: should not have to cover myself from head to toe.

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Speaker 1: I should be able to express myself. I'm looking at

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Speaker 1: all these other countries and we just don't in two

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Speaker 1: but leave in these old rules. And so what Beyonce did,

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Speaker 1: there's a reason there's a political gesture and every single

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Speaker 1: thing that she does because she's so thoughtful. These dancers,

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Speaker 1: these Lebanese dancers, these dancers who represent UM, the ladies

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Speaker 1: of Iran UH came on and performed dances that were

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Speaker 1: culturally significant that also empowered these women, that also showed

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Speaker 1: that Beyonce and her team and her staff were in solidarity,

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Speaker 1: lockstep and barrel with these women and approved of the

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Speaker 1: protests and wanted to say we see you, we acknowledge you.

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Speaker 1: I'm not just in your country taking money and running.

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Speaker 1: I know that you're experiencing something that you have never

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Speaker 1: experienced before, and I salute you. And sometimes protesting, let

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Speaker 1: me explain to you all don't doesn't necessarily need to

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Speaker 1: look like I'm standing outside on the on the on

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Speaker 1: the front lines with the picket, with the poster saying

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Speaker 1: you all suck. Protesting is let me come to your

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Speaker 1: country and show you what how we use our freedoms

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Speaker 1: in the most respectful way, and how women are empowered

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Speaker 1: word and and considered queens. I e Queen Beyonce, and

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Speaker 1: I thought that was very very very classy and very thoughtful.

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Speaker 1: There were some critics. Blue to the critics who and

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Speaker 1: they will always have something to say, why would you

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Speaker 1: perform in Dubai And it wasn't yeah, okay, yeah, money

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Speaker 1: is is key. But she was thoughtful and the way

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Speaker 1: in when she went about it, and I respected her

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Speaker 1: for that. It was so very intentional. You hear all

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Speaker 1: the time move with intention and she does that even

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Speaker 1: in her performances. The attention to detail. For my understanding,

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Speaker 1: every creative moment came from her mind. It was her

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Speaker 1: brain child to have this amphitheater and a son. And

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Speaker 1: she rises from the ground and she is in yellow

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Speaker 1: and the opening is the sun with the fireworks. I

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Speaker 1: am light, I am here. I'm here to show you

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Speaker 1: there is another world that you can live in. She's

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Speaker 1: an artist, I am creative. And most people didn't even

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Speaker 1: understand that. I wanted to see her gyrate. She was like,

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Speaker 1: hold on, this is art. I am art. I am

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Speaker 1: blessing you people. And I'm also in solidarity with the

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Speaker 1: women here who are fighting literally quite fighting for their lives,

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Speaker 1: protesting to have equal rights. And by equal rights, that

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Speaker 1: means I don't want to wear a he job. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to cover up my head on my face.

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Speaker 1: Maybe one day I want to wear um a skirt

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Speaker 1: that's above the knee. You know what I mean? Simple

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Speaker 1: things that we take for granted in Western civilization that

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Speaker 1: they cannot have in those countries. Women are second, if

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Speaker 1: not third class citizens, seen and not heard. And what

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Speaker 1: she performed and when she performed, you understood her power.

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Speaker 1: I'm trying to have you understand that it wasn't just oh,

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Speaker 1: let me get this money bag. It's like I I

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Speaker 1: know what I'm doing. It's very intentional. And that concert,

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Speaker 1: really I was at all. Like I said, she didn't

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Speaker 1: miss a beat all of the details. After the concert

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Speaker 1: and Loki Bragg, there was a private, private after party

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Speaker 1: and there she was, you know, there maybe a hundred people.

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Speaker 1: She was shaking hands and being kind to everyone who

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Speaker 1: walked in, and she was so gracious and so be

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Speaker 1: beautifully kind. And what I took from that was that

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Speaker 1: the people who she has hired to do their jobs

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Speaker 1: did their jobs so she could sit back and relax.

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Speaker 1: And as a woman who wants to get to that

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Speaker 1: point in life, guy, that would be great. I don't

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Speaker 1: always want to be the enforcer while I'm at work.

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Speaker 1: I would like somebody to enforce for me. And the

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Speaker 1: enforcers did their job because it looked amazing. And all

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Speaker 1: she had to do was perform and keep the main

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Speaker 1: thing the main thing. What a blessing, right, keep the

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Speaker 1: main thing the main thing. And I had an opportunity

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Speaker 1: to talk to her dancers. Uh, and here's another moment

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Speaker 1: where I just stopped and I'm all, like, have you

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Speaker 1: guys ever worked with Beyonce before, arguably had never worked

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Speaker 1: with her before. She brought a new dancers. She brought

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Speaker 1: in the Lebanese dancers who had I believe been on

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Speaker 1: So you think you can dance, I'm not really for sure.

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Speaker 1: I had heard that through the grape vine, but they

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Speaker 1: were all new dancers and they had a certain amount

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Speaker 1: of time to learn that routine and get it done

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Speaker 1: in perfectionist fashion, because she is a perfectionist, and I

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Speaker 1: hear she does that for several reasons. One to give

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Speaker 1: different people opportunities to say, yeah, I worked with Beyonce.

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Speaker 1: I danced with Beyonce at this one special event and

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Speaker 1: that usually changes someone's career trajectory. But not only that,

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Speaker 1: it keeps her fresh, It keeps her aware of what's new,

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Speaker 1: and it also teaches her about this art of dance

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Speaker 1: because she takes everything so seriously and literally, and she

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Speaker 1: understands that she has this powerful platform that can change lives.

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Speaker 1: By simply saying I'm in association with Beyonce, I'm floored.

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Speaker 1: I'm talking to her band members. The band members are like, no,

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Speaker 1: you know me, I'm total journalists but not being nosy,

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Speaker 1: but being curious because I'm really curious how they put

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Speaker 1: this all together because it was a phenomenal showing. And

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Speaker 1: again the band members are like, no, just just my

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Speaker 1: first time, good opportunity, Da da da da da, And

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Speaker 1: they were happy they had did this performance, and they

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Speaker 1: were happy because they understood what happened and how significant

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Speaker 1: this moment was and how that actual concert is going

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Speaker 1: to change the landscape for other arts. Very similar, and

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Speaker 1: I'll bring it back to my world of sports, how

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Speaker 1: Tiger winning early on in his career and being so

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Speaker 1: dominant made the landscape better for every single golfer coming

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Speaker 1: after him. If it was not for Tiger, these golfers

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Speaker 1: would not be making this kind of money. So you're

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Speaker 1: welcome that Tiger existed. Another example of black excellence. Very

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Speaker 1: very similar to when Lebron James Lebron has changed the NBA,

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Speaker 1: very differently from what Michael Jordan has done, but changed

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Speaker 1: the NBA in the sense that he has given the

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Speaker 1: power to the player. Before Lebron, you know, say what

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Speaker 1: you want about his transition and going to Miami, I'm

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Speaker 1: taking my talents to South Beach. Players felt like they

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Speaker 1: had to stay beholden to a team, and the team

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Speaker 1: had the power. Lebron was like, no thanks, I'm taking

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Speaker 1: my talents wherever my talents will be appreciated, very much

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Speaker 1: like I'm in this relationship with you, and if you

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Speaker 1: don't love me, I ain't gotta be here. Somebody else

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Speaker 1: gonna let me better. And players are now doing what

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Speaker 1: he does. And not only did Lebron change escape in

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Speaker 1: terms of leverage, he's very vocal about what he feels

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Speaker 1: like he should speak out about in terms of social justice.

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Speaker 1: Players often thought if they spoke out that they would

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Speaker 1: get in trouble by the man or they would it

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Speaker 1: would affect their pocketbooks. And while it may have affected

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Speaker 1: Lebron's pocketbooks, he's so undeniable that he can get more

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Speaker 1: money elsewhere one person leaves me, I'll get another person

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Speaker 1: to be with me. And then he also is really

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Speaker 1: smart about it. What he speaks out on, he tries

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Speaker 1: and if you don't always get this right, he tries

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Speaker 1: not to speak out on issues that he's not well

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Speaker 1: informed on because that's when you get in trouble um

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Speaker 1: and if you do something wrong. I've noticed that he's

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Speaker 1: willing to be the first one to say I apologize.

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Speaker 1: His ego is not involved again all forms of black excellence.

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Speaker 1: Because I know this game and I'm changing this game,

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Speaker 1: and that is exactly what Beyonce did. Now, while I'm

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Speaker 1: giving you the thought process and how dope it was

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Speaker 1: to be there, I want you to know y'all share

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Speaker 1: be jealous because your girl came away with some fly

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Speaker 1: take home gifts. Sorry, because Beyonce thought of every detail

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Speaker 1: she was gifting us. She gives us the whole weekend.

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Speaker 1: When I tell you from the hotel to the food,

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Speaker 1: I mean opulence times ten. We think we know money,

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Speaker 1: We know no such thing as money. When you get

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Speaker 1: to Dubai, when I tell you, they are printing the money,

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Speaker 1: like standby, let me go in my room, I printed

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Speaker 1: some more fresh money. The opulence is insane. I've never

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Speaker 1: seen anything like it. Gold, marble, caviar, wag goo, beef,

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Speaker 1: all the things extra extra extra and and quite frankly,

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Speaker 1: in terms of her team, they made everybody feel like

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Speaker 1: they were at home. I felt very welcome. I feel

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Speaker 1: like I deserve to be there, and her list of

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Speaker 1: guests as she invited invited, was very curated. You know

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Speaker 1: they don't approve it's against the law to be gay

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Speaker 1: in that community. She had gaze there, she had her

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Speaker 1: gay showing up because you know, Renaissance was for everyone,

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Speaker 1: including her gay fan base that she knows is huge

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Speaker 1: and loyal, and she did not care. And they were

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Speaker 1: they were critics saying, well, we don't like that she

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Speaker 1: performed there because as they are, all of these issues

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Speaker 1: and being gay as a crime. And I'm like, calm down,

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Speaker 1: you guys are not understanding what she's doing. There's an art.

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Speaker 1: Not only did she take that performance obviously, I'm not

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Speaker 1: even gonna be I'm not gonna beat around a bush

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Speaker 1: the money, Yes, but there was a message women should

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Speaker 1: have power, and let me show you how powerful I am.

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Speaker 1: And what happens when you give a woman power and

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Speaker 1: allow her to be herself this free expression as something

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Speaker 1: that's beautiful. In the entire country can benefit from it.

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Speaker 1: I saw that be I see you. I acknowledge that

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Speaker 1: being at the concert was more than just shake in

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Speaker 1: my button having a good time. I left inspired. I

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Speaker 1: left saying, what is the definition of black excellence? Beiance?

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Speaker 1: Black excellence? The two words go together. Peanut butter and jelly,

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Speaker 1: wine and cheese, watermelon and chicken. I think I went

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Speaker 1: too far. Yeah, rum and Coke. I think I went

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Speaker 1: too far Hennessy and Coke. Oh, I went too far.

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Speaker 1: Y'all know what I'm saying. And I'm grateful that I

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Speaker 1: had that once in a lifetime opportunity. I truly am.

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Speaker 1: But what I decided my key takeaways when I came back,

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Speaker 1: especially as a woman who's trying to build her own empire.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not comparing myself to Beyonce. I repeat, I

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Speaker 1: am not comparing myself to Beyonce. That is not what

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Speaker 1: I want to do in any former fashion. But I

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Speaker 1: want to always be excellence. I don't want anyone around

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Speaker 1: me who lives incompetent mediocrity. I would. I want no

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Speaker 1: one around me who lives in incompetent mediocrity. I want

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Speaker 1: to have the best assistance. I want to have the best.

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Speaker 1: Would if you want to be superficial hair stylist, makeup artists,

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Speaker 1: I want to have the best. And if you're not

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Speaker 1: giving out your best, I don't want you around me.

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Speaker 1: That's contagious. Laziness is contagious. It really is. Um Oh,

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Speaker 1: it'll be fine. It's contagious. If you live in that state,

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Speaker 1: it's contagious. And if you want to live in that state,

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Speaker 1: and you are well aware that you're living in that state.

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Speaker 1: That is fine, no dgment for me. I choose not

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Speaker 1: to have that. But it takes consistent hard work. It

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Speaker 1: takes it's so hard to be consistently great. It's so

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Speaker 1: hard to consistently demand the best of you. I'm building

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Speaker 1: a television show right now, and I fight day in

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Speaker 1: and day out not to get lazy and be frustrated

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Speaker 1: with the basics. Because people understand that the devil is

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Speaker 1: in the details, and when the details aren't correct, it's frustrating.

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Speaker 1: And I do my best not to live in that space.

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Speaker 1: I still show up every day. I'm ready to give

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Speaker 1: you a hundred and ten percent. I don't even it's

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Speaker 1: in my DNA. It's in all of our DNAs if

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Speaker 1: we're honest. It's why I say black and excellence go

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Speaker 1: hand in hand. We have to pay some bills that's

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Speaker 1: also considered excellent. We'll be right back in just a

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Speaker 1: few moments. Every champion and carry champion is to be

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Speaker 1: a champion, a champion and carry chappion and carry chapion.

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Speaker 1: Champion and carry Chappion and carry CHAPPI Sports and then

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Speaker 1: the saying, can make it work. Carry champion, they carry champions. Champion,

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Speaker 1: they carry champion, Champion, they carry champion, they carp which

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Speaker 1: leads me to my next time, which leads me to

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Speaker 1: what I have been so frustrated with. Oscarnom's nominations came

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Speaker 1: out DA about I don't know, earlier this week, maybe Tuesday, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it was Tuesday, And I have to tell you, thank

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Speaker 1: you for acknowledging the black art to the Academy. For

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Speaker 1: so long, they did not, and they still don't. In

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Speaker 1: many ways, I feel like I still feel as if

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Speaker 1: this this prestigious group of Academy members, I feel like

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Speaker 1: they know art and we do not. And I'm not

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Speaker 1: speaking out of turn here. I just know I have

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Speaker 1: friends who worked there, who have worked there, and I

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Speaker 1: do believe that they think they know more than all

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Speaker 1: of us. That's fine, that's neither here nor there. But

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Speaker 1: here's the real issue for me is that when you

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Speaker 1: can't appreciate the art of our history and who we

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Speaker 1: are as a culture, what I've noticed is that they

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Speaker 1: only truly appreciate us, them and us, them being black,

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Speaker 1: them being the Academy, and us being black. Says when

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Speaker 1: we have these slave films. I'm really tired of a

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Speaker 1: slave narrative. I've seen enough, I've learned enough, I've read enough.

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Speaker 1: I'm okay with that. But films that celebrate us in

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Speaker 1: our warrior true state, films that show that we are

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Speaker 1: human and that we too have feelings just like others

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Speaker 1: have feelings. Films that that show the complexity of the

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Speaker 1: the family and an African African American families. UM, Films

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Speaker 1: that highlight our goodness, UM, and also our flawed greatness.

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Speaker 1: I don't believe they get the same type of fanfare

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Speaker 1: unless it's like a huge blockbuster film. Obviously with Conda

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Speaker 1: not you know, notwithstanding with Conda, like we get It, UM,

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Speaker 1: that was undeniable. You you could not deny us. We

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Speaker 1: broke records with Black Panther. Um, we change the way

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Speaker 1: you see superheroes with Black Panther. It is here. It's undeniable.

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Speaker 1: But films like The Woman King, Uh, Films like Inspection,

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Speaker 1: a beautiful independent film in which Uh Gabby was in

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Speaker 1: Gabby Union. She was on our podcast promoting said film.

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Speaker 1: She did a beautiful job as a mother there who

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Speaker 1: was heartbroken by her son's choice to be gay, and

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Speaker 1: she didn't know how to handle it because she came

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Speaker 1: from a different a different time, had a different upbringing,

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Speaker 1: and she had a lot of pain herself because life

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Speaker 1: is sometimes painful and you take it out on those

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Speaker 1: you love. It was a true, honest, naked look at

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Speaker 1: black folks and homosexuality. Um black women in there inherent

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Speaker 1: resentment that sometimes is given to their children, whether they

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Speaker 1: want to do it or not. There Nope, all of these.

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Speaker 1: There were several films that I thought for sure, just

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Speaker 1: on the work alone, that you would acknowledge you being

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Speaker 1: the academy. Then they weren't. They were snubbed. We had

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Speaker 1: Gina Prince Bythewood on the podcast and I was like, girl, Oscar, Oscar, Oscar.

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Speaker 1: She's like, talk to me, talk to me, talk to me. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And I've seen Gina. Shout out to Gina U c

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Speaker 1: l A alumni, the direct or of The Woman King

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Speaker 1: come from a from a very long way right, And

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Speaker 1: by that I mean all of her work has been excellent,

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Speaker 1: because you'll see that's the theme of what we're saying.

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Speaker 1: You guys, don't tell me you don't love love and basketball,

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Speaker 1: Like if that could have been nominated as a love

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Speaker 1: story it should have been. But she's come a long

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Speaker 1: way in terms of the work that she does. And

427
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,480
Speaker 1: she said the first time that she ever felt mainstream

428
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,800
Speaker 1: acknowledgement was when she did the Netflix movie UM, and

429
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,119
Speaker 1: it escapes me. I'm gonna bring my producer in now

430
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,399
Speaker 1: and to help me go over Gina's career. Um. But

431
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:37,440
Speaker 1: that's when she started to receive mainstream acknowledgement, when she

432
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 1: did this Netflix film that had or released their own

433
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,760
Speaker 1: in it, and it was it was excellent. But all

434
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,640
Speaker 1: of her work is excellent. It's never not. But now

435
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,040
Speaker 1: people were paying attention to what she was able to do. Yeah,

436
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 1: and still The Woman King was snubbed. No nomination, not

437
00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,080
Speaker 1: even an acknowledgement, not even a nomination. That means you

438
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,280
Speaker 1: really don't think what I did was excellent, And it was.

439
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,639
Speaker 1: It was excellent. It was excellent. It was my story,

440
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,959
Speaker 1: it was your story, it was your mom's story, it's

441
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,040
Speaker 1: your sister's story, it's our story. It was our past, president,

442
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:15,800
Speaker 1: our future. And it really hurts not Cha Quez, who

443
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,479
Speaker 1: produces my podcast is also a director again artist. If

444
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:25,520
Speaker 1: you will, um, tell me, first of all, tell me

445
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,399
Speaker 1: what you thought of The Woman King. Thanks for being

446
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 1: on the podcast. I know you don't want to talk,

447
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,199
Speaker 1: but thank you for coming on A four started need

448
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,399
Speaker 1: a shot. What did you think of The Woman King

449
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,640
Speaker 1: when you watched it as a director, as a filmmaker,

450
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:41,960
Speaker 1: what did you think? I mean, first, I thought it

451
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,040
Speaker 1: was beautiful, it's unique, it's one of a kind. There's

452
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:49,040
Speaker 1: nothing that you can compare it to. And as a filmmaker,

453
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,000
Speaker 1: you're always like making pitch decks, right, and you have

454
00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:53,639
Speaker 1: to compare your film to this film or to that film,

455
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: and it's usually I have to compare it to some

456
00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:00,520
Speaker 1: white film that came before the idea or this creative

457
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 1: approach that I now want to take, right. But The

458
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:09,880
Speaker 1: Woman King is a stand alone film and it's beautiful,

459
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,880
Speaker 1: it's unique, it has historic events, it grows ninety four

460
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,760
Speaker 1: point three million dollars so far, and as an Oscar

461
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:23,880
Speaker 1: winning lead at the fourth in Viola Davis, Yes, go ahead, yes,

462
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 1: Like what does it take? What does it take? What

463
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,880
Speaker 1: does it take for you to at least acknowledge the greatness? Um?

464
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 1: I know that it was acknowledged by a FI American

465
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,480
Speaker 1: Film Institute as one of the top ten films of

466
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:42,399
Speaker 1: the year. Uh, it's she has She and Gina and

467
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,600
Speaker 1: Viola have won individual awards during the awards season that

468
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 1: leads up to the Big Oscars. They were nominated for

469
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:53,119
Speaker 1: Critics Choice Awards. Thank you for the acknowledgement. But how

470
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 1: do we get to this point, Jaquis, where we're at

471
00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,159
Speaker 1: Hollywood's quote unquote biggest night and it doesn't even get

472
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,280
Speaker 1: a nomination. Why do you think that is? You know,

473
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:07,959
Speaker 1: food making is very, very very challenging, that's for sure. Um,

474
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:11,199
Speaker 1: But I think that Viola Davis said it best when

475
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,400
Speaker 1: she said that it's a fight. It is a fight

476
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: to get your films made. It is a fight to

477
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 1: even work on the films that you want to be

478
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 1: in from her perspective, or the films that you want

479
00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,399
Speaker 1: to get made. But she also said, how do you

480
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:29,359
Speaker 1: reach white males? Like, if you're not appealing to white

481
00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,520
Speaker 1: men who want to watch this film, then apparently it's

482
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,880
Speaker 1: not if the film isn't good enough, if white men

483
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,359
Speaker 1: are in the seats, if white men aren't interested in

484
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:45,000
Speaker 1: this particular genre's film story, then it's not worthy of

485
00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:50,240
Speaker 1: these awards. And that's just simply not fair. If you

486
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,920
Speaker 1: tell me that my future is dependent on someone else's personality,

487
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,040
Speaker 1: or opinion of my work. And they can't even understand

488
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,680
Speaker 1: where I come from and they can't see my humanity,

489
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 1: then in trouble. If they can't relate to me, that

490
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,440
Speaker 1: I'm in trouble. So when Gina was on the podcast,

491
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,440
Speaker 1: she said, I don't know if you remember this jocquise.

492
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 1: She said, I can't tell you how many times there

493
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,159
Speaker 1: are certain things that I wanted to get made. And

494
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: they were like, yeah, but do you have any other

495
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:22,720
Speaker 1: leads beside this black person? Yeah? Yeah, But and I

496
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 1: asked her, do you think Love and Basketball would have

497
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,480
Speaker 1: been made today? Probably not. It might have been made

498
00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:34,200
Speaker 1: on Netflix, but students, they have just trunk and it's

499
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 1: all about I P and remakes and sequels. It's really

500
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,200
Speaker 1: tough to do something original in the theatrical marketplace right now.

501
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,640
Speaker 1: Is it tough to do something based around black characters

502
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,360
Speaker 1: in the theatrical market right now? I mean yeah, making

503
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 1: films about black women are the hardness films getting made

504
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,480
Speaker 1: bar none. It's disappointing because the art is the art,

505
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 1: and how to hate to go back to a Jada

506
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:05,040
Speaker 1: Smith moment, Jada Pinkett Smith moment, Oscar is so white,

507
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:09,400
Speaker 1: but it was really disrespectful not to acknowledge the excellence

508
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,080
Speaker 1: of that film because it dismisses to me. To me,

509
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,479
Speaker 1: it dismisses the plight of a black woman. What did

510
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 1: it say to you, Jacquies, as a filmmaker and as

511
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,840
Speaker 1: a black woman, that it was not even acknowledged for

512
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:28,080
Speaker 1: its excellence. I think the thing about it is the

513
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,360
Speaker 1: lucky part about it. There is upside to this is

514
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 1: that me, myself, Gina Prince Bythewood, all the filmmakers out

515
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 1: there of color, we are not making this for mainstream

516
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,800
Speaker 1: knowledge or acknowledgement. We're not making this so that the

517
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 1: Oscars or or or any any global awards can be like,

518
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 1: oh well, this is a great black film. That has

519
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,120
Speaker 1: never been the objective of the motivation whatsoever. And the

520
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,320
Speaker 1: beautiful thing about that not being our motivation is because

521
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,120
Speaker 1: because of that we're able to say, Okay, this is

522
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,400
Speaker 1: we're making this for the for the sake of art,

523
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,320
Speaker 1: for the sake of culture, for making something for the

524
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,160
Speaker 1: for the for our story to be told. And that's

525
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:16,240
Speaker 1: why you see such excellent films that even though they've

526
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 1: been snubbed, sure, but they were made because of the

527
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,920
Speaker 1: truth that that that needed to be told the energy

528
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 1: behind it, the art behind it, the people behind it,

529
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 1: the culture behind it, had nothing to do with oh

530
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 1: I want to win an award. That's nice, great, But

531
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:36,120
Speaker 1: there's been three over three thousand Oscars given out since

532
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 1: n Right, and only two women have won them as

533
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:42,920
Speaker 1: Best Director, and that's been in the last two years.

534
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 1: So clearly this is a slow process for the Oscars

535
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,680
Speaker 1: to acknowledge us for the art for the sake of

536
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,760
Speaker 1: creativity and to give it the acknowledgement that it deserves.

537
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 1: But the beautiful thing about it, the excellence of the

538
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,280
Speaker 1: art that we are creating will ever be limited based

539
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 1: off of that will never be limited. Well, and it

540
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,920
Speaker 1: as a as a filmmaker, Jacquise, that is a beautiful point. Um,

541
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you saying the work that you do

542
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 1: is for the love of the work, not so much

543
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 1: to be acknowledged by others to say you are in acknowledgement. Um.

544
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 1: Acceptance is something that we as as as a culture,

545
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,880
Speaker 1: I have learned, will not be uh normal for us,

546
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,640
Speaker 1: will not be common. It won't be like, for instance,

547
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 1: in my business, I consider myself one of the foremost

548
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,640
Speaker 1: authorities in a world of sports but someone who could

549
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,840
Speaker 1: be blonde haired and twenty years old could come along

550
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:43,640
Speaker 1: and she could be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

551
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:46,000
Speaker 1: And she's saying nothing, and they're like, oh my god,

552
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 1: her takes are so amazing. This is the smartest sports

553
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 1: host I've ever seen. And I'm all, like, I've been

554
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,680
Speaker 1: in this business for about ten years and you're telling

555
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,440
Speaker 1: me that miscome lately has a better take than me

556
00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,160
Speaker 1: because of what she looks like. I'm afraid not. Um.

557
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,080
Speaker 1: We often have to find ourselves doing the work for ourselves,

558
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,160
Speaker 1: and that is why we still remain excellent. But can

559
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:12,200
Speaker 1: you still understand the frustration While we don't do it

560
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 1: to be acknowledged, you do understand the frustration right as

561
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 1: a filmmaker absolutely. I mean you know, as a kid,

562
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,960
Speaker 1: that's what you you watch these awards shows and as

563
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:25,960
Speaker 1: you know, if you want to be a filmmaker and

564
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:30,240
Speaker 1: actress or that is what is that's quantifiably that's what

565
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,480
Speaker 1: they say, is like your your golden bridge, you know,

566
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,200
Speaker 1: like you get to that, you get to that point

567
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 1: and you win those awards and you are now considered

568
00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,480
Speaker 1: to be one of the greatest. Right you want to be,

569
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:44,600
Speaker 1: you want to be considered. You want to be on

570
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,360
Speaker 1: that same well, you know what it is too. You

571
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,920
Speaker 1: want your money, like I don't know about nobody else.

572
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,200
Speaker 1: I'm sure that, yes, I do want to be acknowledged

573
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,120
Speaker 1: by my peers and colleagues, but I also want to

574
00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:57,080
Speaker 1: be paid for my hard work. You get to a

575
00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,720
Speaker 1: point in your life where you're like, I work so hard.

576
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 1: I know my worth, I know my value, I know

577
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 1: what I'm going to put into this job, into this gig,

578
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,040
Speaker 1: and if I'm honest with you, I'm still underpaid. Like

579
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,480
Speaker 1: if I'm honest with you, meaning I don't care what

580
00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:13,120
Speaker 1: amount of money you give me, I don't care what

581
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,480
Speaker 1: amount of money Gina made to do this movie, I'm

582
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 1: sure she thought I deserve more because I'm excellent. So

583
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,840
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, Like she introduced us to

584
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:26,640
Speaker 1: an entirely different crop of actresses that we didn't know about.

585
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,440
Speaker 1: She gave life to people who deserved life and light.

586
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:34,640
Speaker 1: Long ago, she talked about how she is from from

587
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:40,120
Speaker 1: top to bottom, so intricate, so fused with the work. Right,

588
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,320
Speaker 1: and you know how it is, you're so fused with

589
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,680
Speaker 1: your work. You do deserve to be acknowledged for the

590
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,760
Speaker 1: work you do because you're you give everything, and I

591
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:52,920
Speaker 1: think whether you that you don't do it for that,

592
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 1: but it is nice to say you mean to tell me?

593
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 1: Is I mean? I go down a list of films

594
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,560
Speaker 1: that were nominated for Best Picture years from years past,

595
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:05,600
Speaker 1: and I'm like, wait, what what does that? Who would even?

596
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,799
Speaker 1: It doesn't even come into my purview? And because I'm

597
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,720
Speaker 1: not interested in it doesn't mean that it doesn't matter.

598
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,520
Speaker 1: You said a moment ago that white films, white men

599
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:19,680
Speaker 1: have to really truly understand the work for it to

600
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,239
Speaker 1: get some sort of acknowledgement. And that's just not fair

601
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:24,280
Speaker 1: because they don't care. If we don't acknowledge their stuff,

602
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:29,600
Speaker 1: it still gets the acknowledgement. Yeah, it's not inclusive. It's

603
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:34,000
Speaker 1: just not inclusive. And I don't know what will change that.

604
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:36,920
Speaker 1: I don't know what what would be the film? Like

605
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,839
Speaker 1: I said, this film had everything that you would think

606
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:45,080
Speaker 1: would be needed to win an Oscar everything I don't.

607
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,359
Speaker 1: I don't know. Like as a filmmaker, I'm sitting here,

608
00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:49,359
Speaker 1: like the script I'm writing, I'm like, I ain't got

609
00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,440
Speaker 1: I ain't got viola. Yeah, you know what I mean,

610
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 1: what is it? I don't have Viola, And you know

611
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,480
Speaker 1: Viola has that famous line, well, if I am the

612
00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:00,480
Speaker 1: black Meryl Streep, pay me like her, pay me like

613
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 1: Meryl Streep. If you consider me to be the equivalent,

614
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:08,400
Speaker 1: pay me like her. Um, and then I asked inspection.

615
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:13,920
Speaker 1: I think that was a very thoughtful story based off

616
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,440
Speaker 1: of true events as well. UM about a young man

617
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,239
Speaker 1: who just wanted his mother's approval, but because he was gay,

618
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,399
Speaker 1: she couldn't find it in her heart to love him,

619
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,239
Speaker 1: even though she struggled with trying to love him, but

620
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:31,040
Speaker 1: she just could not for whatever reasons, her own trauma,

621
00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,240
Speaker 1: her own issues that she had when she was a child,

622
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:38,839
Speaker 1: and how she lived her life had it prevented her

623
00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:42,719
Speaker 1: from giving this unconditional love to her child. I think

624
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:47,439
Speaker 1: Gabby played an excellent role as a mother and help

625
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 1: Me out, a role that we have ever seen her

626
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,480
Speaker 1: in help me out with that film. I her range

627
00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:00,239
Speaker 1: showed her abilities as an actress. I mean, like if

628
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 1: if nothing, if for nothing else, she should have got

629
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,319
Speaker 1: nominated just for the surprise element of wow, the wow

630
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 1: factor like who and I love Gabriel Union and I

631
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,040
Speaker 1: think she's a phenomenal actress. But I would have never

632
00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:18,279
Speaker 1: guessed this role for her, and she killed it, and

633
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:20,480
Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, like, what what do we need to

634
00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,080
Speaker 1: do next? Like you acknowledge her for that, and she

635
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:27,080
Speaker 1: probably very intentionally when she was on this podcast as well,

636
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 1: she said, this is unlike anything I've ever done. Elegance

637
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,560
Speaker 1: was committed to to sticking with the script that we

638
00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:37,920
Speaker 1: had all signed on for. But in doing that and

639
00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:41,840
Speaker 1: grieving and working through the grief and me having to

640
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:47,240
Speaker 1: stay committed to my character's truth, it just felt hurtful,

641
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:50,560
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, because that's not how who

642
00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:53,160
Speaker 1: I am, Like, I don't say these kinds of things,

643
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,560
Speaker 1: certainly not to my child, enough just to anybody else's child.

644
00:36:56,560 --> 00:37:00,239
Speaker 1: It felt hard and hurtful and dark, and I had

645
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:04,080
Speaker 1: to stay in that character. And I'm a full disclosure,

646
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,680
Speaker 1: I absolutely made fun of actors who are like I

647
00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:13,919
Speaker 1: couldn't lose the character until my aunt was like I'm talking,

648
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:19,360
Speaker 1: she wasn't even prepared already or even thinking that the

649
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,640
Speaker 1: role would be for her. Um, but that's I think

650
00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,399
Speaker 1: in those moments, that's where you there's a there's room

651
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,360
Speaker 1: for magic, there's and there was so much ability for

652
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,840
Speaker 1: her to be like to step outside of herself and

653
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,680
Speaker 1: That's what actors and actresses do. They step outside of

654
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,360
Speaker 1: themselves and step into a whole other energy. And she

655
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 1: did that. She did that, and so did VI all

656
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:43,480
Speaker 1: the Davis a warrior, like you know, like we know

657
00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:45,640
Speaker 1: her strength, you don't. We know she's powerful, but not

658
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:51,680
Speaker 1: to that degree the physical challenges Parla Davis. I think

659
00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,440
Speaker 1: she's what fifty five now, the physical challenging and the

660
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:59,680
Speaker 1: just the training alone. That type of sacrifice, that type

661
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:04,520
Speaker 1: of mintment deserves acknowledge. Man. So yeah, you're right, and

662
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:06,680
Speaker 1: I'm being you know, I'm being nice about it. But

663
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:09,040
Speaker 1: I want the bag, I want the awards, I want

664
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,759
Speaker 1: I want all of those things because why not if

665
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:20,240
Speaker 1: my unquote peers are receiving these things, I question, without question,

666
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:24,920
Speaker 1: for mediocrity, competent mediocrity. If you were winning awards Oscars

667
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:29,000
Speaker 1: for competent mediocrity, why can't I win award for my excellence? Exactly?

668
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,280
Speaker 1: Every champion and carey champion is to be a champion

669
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,760
Speaker 1: of Champion and carry chappion and carry chappion the champion

670
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,040
Speaker 1: and carry Chappion and carry chappionis and sports and then

671
00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:48,240
Speaker 1: the team making naken work. Every champion and carry Champion

672
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,000
Speaker 1: used to be a Champian, A champion. They carry Chappion,

673
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:55,840
Speaker 1: they Champion, they carry Chappion, they carry Chappion Sports and

674
00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,719
Speaker 1: then the team making make it warmer. Welcome back to

675
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:03,520
Speaker 1: Naked with carry Champion. My producer, Uh, that's I think

676
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,719
Speaker 1: that's a side hustle. She's really a filmmaker. I want

677
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:08,680
Speaker 1: to give her her her true props, and Jacquis Thomas

678
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:14,040
Speaker 1: continues the discussion. I I don't. I can. I can

679
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,920
Speaker 1: go down a list of reasons why it's seemingly unfair,

680
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:23,040
Speaker 1: but it's so bold and so brash, and it's so disrespectful.

681
00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:28,560
Speaker 1: Even it's disrespectful. It's disrespectful too for someone who is

682
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:31,120
Speaker 1: a veteran actress like a Gabrielle Union, who has been

683
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:33,080
Speaker 1: in this game for a while and it has been

684
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:36,520
Speaker 1: able to maintain and sustain um a certain level of

685
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:41,279
Speaker 1: excellence and success. It's a disrespectful not to acknowledge the

686
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:46,120
Speaker 1: work that she does. It's disrespectful that roles that come

687
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,759
Speaker 1: her way. I'm sure, I'm just I don't know this

688
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,479
Speaker 1: for a fact, are roles that she probably now turns

689
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:53,160
Speaker 1: down because she's at a different point in her career.

690
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 1: But knowing that she is really working on the fact

691
00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,400
Speaker 1: of being a thespian and actor, like acknowledge her for

692
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:01,080
Speaker 1: what she does us. I can go down a list

693
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,279
Speaker 1: of black actors and actresses that don't get the same

694
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:09,880
Speaker 1: opportunities because someone in Hollywood says, I don't think anybody's

695
00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:12,719
Speaker 1: gonna see the hat. I don't think anybody's gonna watch that.

696
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:15,680
Speaker 1: I don't know if anybody's gonna watch that. You talked

697
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:18,600
Speaker 1: about Nope, You like Nope, tell me about why you

698
00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:24,839
Speaker 1: were frustrated as a filmmaker that Nope was not nominated? Well,

699
00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:26,400
Speaker 1: I mean, I think Jordan Pill is one of the

700
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:29,239
Speaker 1: best filmmakers of our time right now. I think he

701
00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:34,400
Speaker 1: has such a a again a unique way of telling

702
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:40,800
Speaker 1: stories and even also like making spectacles of the things

703
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,759
Speaker 1: that even in our time and modern day, the things

704
00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 1: that we're focusing on, the things that are scaring us,

705
00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:48,960
Speaker 1: and how those things, how we interact with them. Like

706
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:53,239
Speaker 1: he has this ability to to write and make it

707
00:40:53,640 --> 00:41:00,400
Speaker 1: scary yet funny, yet yet relatable, and Nope is is

708
00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:03,759
Speaker 1: just as great as any other film that I've ever seen,

709
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:08,160
Speaker 1: you know, and his approach to the cinematography, the way

710
00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,600
Speaker 1: that the characters. And you know what, the best part

711
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:13,959
Speaker 1: about that film, this is the part that I really enjoy,

712
00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:17,240
Speaker 1: is that you we don't really see brother and sister

713
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:21,480
Speaker 1: relationships in the way that that story was told, like

714
00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:24,480
Speaker 1: they were, they rode for each other, they loved each other.

715
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:27,640
Speaker 1: They she was like, let's go get a camera film

716
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:33,040
Speaker 1: this film. Oh like that even like Palmer plays his sister. Correct, yes,

717
00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:35,920
Speaker 1: and you don't see that. You don't see that. And

718
00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 1: to see black people in a different environment as well,

719
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:44,279
Speaker 1: I thought that that was uniquely beautifully told. And Jordan

720
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:46,840
Speaker 1: phil again I said, he's just he's one of the

721
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:51,839
Speaker 1: greatest filmmakers that we have. And he's right up there

722
00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:55,600
Speaker 1: with to me, with your still Steven Spielberg's with your

723
00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 1: talk talk Talk talko. He's there, I mean. But at

724
00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:09,120
Speaker 1: the same time, I think for for his genre of film,

725
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:13,719
Speaker 1: he is really also setting the bar because for a

726
00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:16,200
Speaker 1: long time, we didn't really have a lot of black

727
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:18,719
Speaker 1: sci fi. You know, we didn't have a black a

728
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,680
Speaker 1: lot of black afro futurism. That he's not for futurism,

729
00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:23,680
Speaker 1: but we didn't have those things. We don't have as

730
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:28,000
Speaker 1: on that large scale of the big silver screen. Playing

731
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,280
Speaker 1: black sci fi Plane playing afro futurism and Black Panther

732
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:35,960
Speaker 1: playing Afro surrealism with like Atlanta, and those type of

733
00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:40,160
Speaker 1: genres were just just not recognized, not even not Not

734
00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:44,479
Speaker 1: only were they not recognized, they weren't even being made.

735
00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:49,040
Speaker 1: So he's now almost at the at the beginning of

736
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 1: of that chapter. For us, You're saying so much more

737
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:56,280
Speaker 1: eloquently than what I was saying. What I said earlier

738
00:42:56,480 --> 00:42:59,239
Speaker 1: was that I'm tired of slave films. That's the only

739
00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:01,920
Speaker 1: time to thaynologists because that's where they think we live.

740
00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:04,880
Speaker 1: It isn't that telling. They love to see a story

741
00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:09,560
Speaker 1: they being the Academy, loves to see a story that

742
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:13,000
Speaker 1: they call a historical piece about slavery. We're tired of

743
00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:16,160
Speaker 1: that narrative. Let's talk about birth of a nation. Let's

744
00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:18,759
Speaker 1: talk about a story where we are warriors and fighting back.

745
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:21,640
Speaker 1: Let's talk about a story where we are empowered. And

746
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:24,520
Speaker 1: let's talk about a sci fi story that we have.

747
00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:27,360
Speaker 1: Let's have a thriller. Let's talk about what we what

748
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:30,720
Speaker 1: else we can do. We we are not a monolith.

749
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:33,080
Speaker 1: There's not only one type of film we can be in.

750
00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:36,920
Speaker 1: And I don't understand why Hollywood is so reluctant to

751
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:40,719
Speaker 1: embrace us in diverse roles, roles that take them out

752
00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:43,920
Speaker 1: of their comfort zone, not us. And what you're saying

753
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:47,879
Speaker 1: to me is that we do it all. Our very

754
00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:51,279
Speaker 1: first black superhero came to us in twenty eight on

755
00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:55,279
Speaker 1: the big screen. What world do we live in? Why

756
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:59,839
Speaker 1: can't Superman be black if you're recasting? Why can't Wonder

757
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:04,640
Speaker 1: Woman be black? If you're recasting? I mean, the Mermaid

758
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:06,440
Speaker 1: can't even be black? Did you see all of that?

759
00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:10,279
Speaker 1: And as a cartoons that're real Carrie like it is

760
00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:13,000
Speaker 1: based off It's not even a real person. It is

761
00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:16,920
Speaker 1: a whole cartoon. And the backlash for the Little Mermaid

762
00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:23,239
Speaker 1: being black was just ridiculous. It's art, It is all fantasy,

763
00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:27,440
Speaker 1: it's interpretation. Allow us to live in a world that

764
00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:32,400
Speaker 1: that that gives us that imagination? Yes, and it does

765
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:34,560
Speaker 1: not allow us to do that. It's really sad and

766
00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:39,840
Speaker 1: it's really disappointing. Um, does this discourage you as a filmmaker?

767
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:45,960
Speaker 1: M Sometimes it can be very daunting. I won't even lie,

768
00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:49,920
Speaker 1: you know, uh, as a black, female queer filmmaker, sometimes

769
00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:51,640
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, that I just signed up for all

770
00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:58,319
Speaker 1: types of rejection. Um, but you know, I think my faith,

771
00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:01,600
Speaker 1: my my desire, my heart, and my story is much

772
00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:05,200
Speaker 1: stronger than anyone's. No, so is there is the truth

773
00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:09,480
Speaker 1: about us? Were so damn resilient? You can say, but yeah,

774
00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:11,680
Speaker 1: it's in the blood, it's in the d NA. No

775
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:13,920
Speaker 1: means not right now. If you give me a no,

776
00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:16,000
Speaker 1: all right, I'll check back because I'm not done. I

777
00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:20,439
Speaker 1: still have more. Which no also means you haven't seen

778
00:45:20,480 --> 00:45:24,080
Speaker 1: it yet. No means you don't know what you're talking about.

779
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:28,920
Speaker 1: No means you're ignorant. But that's okay too. Somebody else

780
00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:31,560
Speaker 1: will will be aware. Someone else will be aware, and

781
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:35,520
Speaker 1: don't act like you were aware. Um. This is not

782
00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:39,399
Speaker 1: to be frustrating. This this this this moment to talk

783
00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:42,760
Speaker 1: about what we don't have or what was snubbed on oscars.

784
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:45,560
Speaker 1: It's not to discourage any filmmaker. It is to say,

785
00:45:46,239 --> 00:45:50,920
Speaker 1: quite honestly, continue the work. You said something I think

786
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,520
Speaker 1: it's very important jo quis, which was you do it

787
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:57,160
Speaker 1: for yourself and if they catch on, great, and if

788
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,359
Speaker 1: they don't, you have to make peace with that. If

789
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:03,279
Speaker 1: that's the type of filmmaker you are. Oftentimes people do

790
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:05,960
Speaker 1: it for the acknowledgment and they could be they could

791
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:07,880
Speaker 1: be us too. It's fine. Black folks do it for

792
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:10,359
Speaker 1: for the money and the acknowledgement as well. Nothing's wrong

793
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:13,720
Speaker 1: with that. But if you are dedicated to your craft,

794
00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:15,919
Speaker 1: you will arrive at a point in your career where

795
00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:20,160
Speaker 1: you're like, I'm actually doing this for me. Yeah, I'm

796
00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:25,440
Speaker 1: actually telling this story for the culture. I'm actually telling

797
00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:28,640
Speaker 1: this story because it truly matters, even if you think

798
00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:34,120
Speaker 1: it doesn't. Yeah, because you know, I think everyone can

799
00:46:34,600 --> 00:46:38,960
Speaker 1: can relate to telling their truth or or telling a

800
00:46:39,040 --> 00:46:41,680
Speaker 1: story and then having even if it's just a friend

801
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:45,480
Speaker 1: and them saying, you know, I felt like that. You

802
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:47,600
Speaker 1: know I can, I can relate to it. I understand,

803
00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:51,520
Speaker 1: I understand. To me, that is proof of your audience,

804
00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:56,240
Speaker 1: even if it's one person that understands your play, your story,

805
00:46:56,520 --> 00:47:01,160
Speaker 1: your trauma. Then, and the beautiful thing about all human

806
00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:05,360
Speaker 1: beings is that we all pretty much share the same feelings,

807
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:08,320
Speaker 1: the same It's like we all in some way have

808
00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:11,120
Speaker 1: these same interactions that result in the same feelings. So

809
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:14,600
Speaker 1: that means that we can relate to each other. So

810
00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:19,399
Speaker 1: your story is just as important. It needs to be seen. Amen, well,

811
00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:24,840
Speaker 1: said Jacquis Thomas filmmaker side gig producer on my podcast.

812
00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:27,680
Speaker 1: I'm so lucky to have her. She's so eloquent, such

813
00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:31,560
Speaker 1: a beautiful voice, so smart, so intelligent. She said a

814
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:37,000
Speaker 1: lot of really thoughtful uh things about filmmaking and what

815
00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:40,000
Speaker 1: it takes to be a filmmaker. So I'm grateful. Thank

816
00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:43,759
Speaker 1: you so much for doing it. I appreciate you, my friend. Wow,

817
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:48,520
Speaker 1: thank you. Carry that was not expected, but awesome. You're welcome.

818
00:47:48,640 --> 00:47:52,120
Speaker 1: I thought you're as we close, I'm going to go

819
00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:59,160
Speaker 1: back to how we started. Competent mediocrity, our black excellence.

820
00:48:00,600 --> 00:48:05,680
Speaker 1: I prefer black excellence and everything that I do. And

821
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:09,080
Speaker 1: I'm sure just like all the filmmakers and actors and

822
00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:13,360
Speaker 1: actresses who were snubbed or overlooked over the years, or

823
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:19,600
Speaker 1: perhaps just this past Oscar nomination season, they know they're excellent.

824
00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:23,640
Speaker 1: They know they do the work for themselves, not necessarily

825
00:48:23,719 --> 00:48:25,960
Speaker 1: for the acknowledgement, but damn it would be nice for

826
00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:29,160
Speaker 1: somebody to say, you did a good job. Yet and

827
00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:35,920
Speaker 1: still we persevere, Yeah, and still we keep turning out

828
00:48:35,960 --> 00:48:39,120
Speaker 1: the good work. And even if you don't see it,

829
00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:41,440
Speaker 1: and even if you don't acknowledge it, whoever that you

830
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:45,680
Speaker 1: may be the academy, the boss, you're you're you're a

831
00:48:45,719 --> 00:48:51,160
Speaker 1: coworker in the cubicle next door. UH. Certain outlets, whether

832
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:56,960
Speaker 1: it be television outlets or or newspapers, magazines, whomever, critics whomever,

833
00:48:57,840 --> 00:48:59,800
Speaker 1: even if they don't acknowledge it, you know that what

834
00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:02,400
Speaker 1: you're doing is excellent because there was always someone to

835
00:49:02,480 --> 00:49:04,440
Speaker 1: say you didn't do it right, or I don't like it,

836
00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:07,360
Speaker 1: or simply ignoring it. But that's when you have to

837
00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:11,040
Speaker 1: really look inward and say, I'm doing the work. That's

838
00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:13,239
Speaker 1: up to you, whether or not you want to be

839
00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:16,279
Speaker 1: a part of this or even acknowledge this as the

840
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:19,919
Speaker 1: great work. I think about that every single day started

841
00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:22,399
Speaker 1: a new TV show. It is hard work, and I'm

842
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:26,000
Speaker 1: up here hustling two hours a day. It's hard work,

843
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:29,680
Speaker 1: but I do it because it's for me. Because there's

844
00:49:29,680 --> 00:49:32,920
Speaker 1: a freedom. Very few places you can go and do

845
00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:34,359
Speaker 1: what you want to do and say what you want

846
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:37,120
Speaker 1: to say. And I've been allowed that freedom and I'm

847
00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:41,719
Speaker 1: grateful for that. I hope that it's being considered great.

848
00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:44,680
Speaker 1: I hope that people are looking past, you know, the

849
00:49:44,800 --> 00:49:47,279
Speaker 1: tech issues and some of the things that aren't so great,

850
00:49:47,360 --> 00:49:51,080
Speaker 1: but realizing the content, the words the information is great.

851
00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:59,440
Speaker 1: The Woman King was not great, It was excellent excellent.

852
00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:06,239
Speaker 1: I thought Gabrielle Union was excellent in inspection. You can

853
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:11,120
Speaker 1: check it out excellent. I can't speak for Nope acquistad

854
00:50:11,200 --> 00:50:13,640
Speaker 1: so eloquently, but I do agree that Jordan Peelle is

855
00:50:13,719 --> 00:50:15,800
Speaker 1: arguably one of the best filmmakers we've ever seen, and

856
00:50:15,840 --> 00:50:18,600
Speaker 1: he just so happens to be a black man. But

857
00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:20,720
Speaker 1: a black man is making excellent films and we should

858
00:50:20,719 --> 00:50:29,680
Speaker 1: acknowledge it. Black excellence goes together like peanut, butter and jelly.

859
00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:32,440
Speaker 1: For those who were in the struggle, those who were

860
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:34,880
Speaker 1: in the fight, those who were doing the work for themselves,

861
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:39,160
Speaker 1: continue to be excellent. Do not be deterred. Thank you

862
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:40,640
Speaker 1: all for listening to Naked