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Speaker 1: sure you check out The Black Market, hostly by Me

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Speaker 1: the eighty five South Show to hear and tune into

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Speaker 1: the Black Market. Here amazing interviews with entrepreneurs, creatives and

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Speaker 1: thought leaders to people who are doing amazing things in

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Speaker 1: the black community. Listen to The Black Market on my

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Speaker 1: Heart radio, app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to podcast.

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Speaker 1: The Black Effect presents features honest conversations and exclusive interviews,

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Speaker 1: a space for artists, everyday people and listeners to amplify, elevate,

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Speaker 1: and empower Black voices with great conversations. Make sure to

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Speaker 1: listen to The Black Effect Presents podcast on I Heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. My next

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Speaker 1: guest is Melissa Haslett. Just an award winning filmmaker. Melissa

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Speaker 1: has no when I say that from a producer director

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Speaker 1: right of the award winning docu series that I just

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Speaker 1: recently saw, Mr Soul. The film as Soul is now

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Speaker 1: available on HBO Max, one of my favorite channels. Melissa

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Speaker 1: has Lipping spotlights the groundbreak and Variety show Soul with

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Speaker 1: an exclamation mark. It's very important that brought out because

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Speaker 1: that was one of the keys to the show being

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Speaker 1: on television and the enigmatic, enigmatic producer and host, Ellis

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Speaker 1: has Slipped. The late Ellis has Lipping, Melissa's uncle. Ellis

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Speaker 1: was a d c native and graduated from the Howard University.

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Speaker 1: Now before Oprah, before Arsenio, there was Mr Soul. Ellis

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Speaker 1: America's first black Tonight show that he was among the

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Speaker 1: first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television

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Speaker 1: with participants and recolations, eliminating archival clips. Mr Soul captures

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Speaker 1: a critical moment in our culture where impact continues to

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Speaker 1: resonate and an unsung hero. That's him whose voice we

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Speaker 1: needed then and guess what we needed to day. That's

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Speaker 1: the importance of this documentary. Please working the Money Making

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Speaker 1: Conversation as we discussed how dreams are built. Miss She's

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Speaker 1: she's the writers, she's the director. Melissa has Lip, how

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Speaker 1: you doing in my friend. Hey, great to see you.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to talk about

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Speaker 1: Mr Soul with the inflamation exclamation mark point. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's really important that you know, first of all, thank

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Speaker 1: you for coming on Money Making Conversation, Melissa. When I

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Speaker 1: see a show like this and you know they're gonna say,

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Speaker 1: it's like, you know, I've lived a good life and

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Speaker 1: I hope to live a continue to live a good life.

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Speaker 1: When I see shows like this and I kind of

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Speaker 1: missed it. You know, I didn't see it when it

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Speaker 1: was on, And even though I was, I should have

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Speaker 1: seen it was on PBS, it was on regular TV.

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Speaker 1: We didn't have cable back then. It was on the

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Speaker 1: Channel eight in Houston, Texas. That was my channel. That

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Speaker 1: was my PBS channel, So I should have saw seen

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Speaker 1: us this show. But I also busy trying to see

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Speaker 1: blacks on other network shows on the Tonight show you

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Speaker 1: know Ed Sullivan, Uh, you know the Julia you know

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Speaker 1: all these shows that that When we saw it, we

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Speaker 1: ran to the television said and told all our black friends, Oh,

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Speaker 1: black person on TV. And it's really is true, that

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Speaker 1: really did happen like that and uh and so we

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Speaker 1: were inspired that and that's why black music was so

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Speaker 1: important because we could see and feel all stars and

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Speaker 1: when it came to town, we showed up. Now, when

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Speaker 1: you came about this, you know, he's a relative of

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Speaker 1: yours to welcous through the steps of this being brought

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Speaker 1: to your attention and how was it brought to your attention,

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Speaker 1: Mrs Soul And there's early steps of getting it to

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Speaker 1: where we're having out on HBO Max. Yes, well, it's

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Speaker 1: been a long journey. Uh started making the film over

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Speaker 1: ten years ago, so you can imagine that's definitely a

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Speaker 1: labor of love, but also a labor of love for

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Speaker 1: the culture. It's a love letter to black culture, to

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Speaker 1: black arts, you know, to black lives, everything that really

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Speaker 1: matters today. What we wanted to do was to tell

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Speaker 1: the story of you know, this is sort of a

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Speaker 1: cultural moment visually that happened before Soul Train, and everyone

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Speaker 1: kind of thinks that our visual history, you know, on

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Speaker 1: television and in the media started with Soul Train. And

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Speaker 1: it's important to recognize that Soul was a television show,

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Speaker 1: as you mentioned, that was on PBS nationwide from nineteen

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Speaker 1: sixty eight to nine seventy three, and that those were

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Speaker 1: really critical moments in which we were trying to reimagine

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Speaker 1: ourselves on this cultural landscape and this American landscape and

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Speaker 1: on the heels of the Civil rights movement. Jim Crow

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Speaker 1: segregation so much, and so the idea that you could

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Speaker 1: have a full black experience on TV in your living room,

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Speaker 1: you know, at a moment when they weren't really feeling

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Speaker 1: us because you know, segregation and Martin Luther King had

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Speaker 1: just been assassinated. Was a very very volatile time um

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Speaker 1: race relations were not great as we know, uh in night.

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Speaker 1: So here you have this extraordinary show that really reaffirms

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Speaker 1: black beauty, black strength, black love, black sister and brotherhood,

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Speaker 1: that amazing soul music with artists you've never seen before

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Speaker 1: on television for the first time. We have a fire

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Speaker 1: for the first time, the first time Patty Blue Bells.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's crazy of this show is that when

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Speaker 1: I when I look at it, and and thank you Melissa

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Speaker 1: for just sending a tone of what we're gonna be

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Speaker 1: talking about. It was set in New York. Correct, Yes,

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Speaker 1: it was on PBS out of the flagship PBS station

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Speaker 1: in New York, which is w n ET Channel thirteen.

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Speaker 1: But it was at the beginning of public broadcasting, so

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Speaker 1: it was creating a national black audience when when there

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Speaker 1: really wasn't PBS just at that moment, until the National

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Speaker 1: Broadcasting Act created PBS and suddenly you had stations connecting

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Speaker 1: all around the country and everybody was getting to see,

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Speaker 1: you know, black people on TV, right because you only

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Speaker 1: had ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS, so those were the

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Speaker 1: only options on television and just it was monochromatic. There

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Speaker 1: were no black people on television pretty much. So that's

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Speaker 1: why this show means so much to look back and

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Speaker 1: understand what was so about and how did it interrupt

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Speaker 1: television as we know it and change the perception of

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Speaker 1: African American culture and black making black beautiful. You know,

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Speaker 1: I'm talking to Melissa here and she's the writer and

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Speaker 1: director of the disappearing on HBO Max. It's called Mr. Souls.

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Speaker 1: Hers is a docuseries like you said. The series is

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Speaker 1: on television PBS in nineteen seventy three and involves a

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Speaker 1: host by Elise. He was He was not a guy

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Speaker 1: who wanted to be a comedian, wanted to be a singer.

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Speaker 1: He was another guy. He was a guy who was

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Speaker 1: a producer. And then I would let to watch the

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Speaker 1: documentseries and see how he became the actual host of

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Speaker 1: the show. But he became a host from a standpoint

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Speaker 1: of he followed his creative vision. In other words, when

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Speaker 1: she talks about this show, the typical artists who appeared

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Speaker 1: on the typical ABC, NBC and CBS were performers, They

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Speaker 1: were singers, they were comedians, they were actors that were

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Speaker 1: not traditional to the you know so the But on

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Speaker 1: his show, Mr Sol he had dancers, he had poets,

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Speaker 1: he had individuals. Yet interviews that would never ever be

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Speaker 1: old mainstream television period, wouldn't be touched by the news,

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Speaker 1: by the news. And so it's important that we set

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Speaker 1: that stage because of the fact that why my, why

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Speaker 1: am my interview? Why is the importance of Mrs Soul.

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Speaker 1: You have a show that was kind of it was

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Speaker 1: funded by the government because old PBS no, that's our

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Speaker 1: shows get old PBS. They have to get funded by

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Speaker 1: the government and because otherwise it would not have been

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Speaker 1: funded or produced or picked up on traditional ABC, NBC,

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Speaker 1: CBS affiliates, and those were the dominant channels at the time.

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Speaker 1: I'm just letting just take some young people back to

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Speaker 1: that era. And when television went off back then, it

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Speaker 1: went off. I mean once the flag started, it just

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Speaker 1: goes and you had a dial tone that came on

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Speaker 1: your screen and that was it. Okay, once you saw

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Speaker 1: the flag, you were done with watching television that night.

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Speaker 1: That's the era we're talking about, not the era of

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Speaker 1: your phone, the streaming and digital and all these different

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Speaker 1: channels on cable and direct TV. When television went off

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Speaker 1: in NT six, they're off. It went off and you

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Speaker 1: had to go to bed. Uh he looked around and

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Speaker 1: your parents looked at it and wonder why you were

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Speaker 1: still up because the flag has said go to bed.

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Speaker 1: Am I not right? But listen? And so you had

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Speaker 1: this wonderful show called Mr. Soul come on television and

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Speaker 1: uh give us a little background on that. The purpose

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Speaker 1: and then the fact that he is a relative of yours.

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Speaker 1: And as you graduate as well and uh of Howard

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Speaker 1: University in Washington, d C. Talk a little bit about

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Speaker 1: him because he was a courageous person. He was a

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Speaker 1: creative person, but he didn't seek the limelight. That's right.

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Speaker 1: Ellis Hazel was my uncle, and he really believed in

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Speaker 1: the elevation of black culture. He believed that liberation came

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Speaker 1: from freedom of expression, being able to express them to

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Speaker 1: ourselves and be our true black selves, you know, not

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Speaker 1: somebody else's definition of who we are. And that was

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Speaker 1: really radical because Black Power, the Black Panthers, that was

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Speaker 1: just starting to happen. And here tons this producer who

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Speaker 1: nobody knows and he's totally in the background, but he

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Speaker 1: believes if you can just make black culture visible black

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Speaker 1: artists and black politicians, you know, controversial figures like the

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Speaker 1: Black Panthers, but also artists that you would only hear

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Speaker 1: on the radio or see. If you were lucky, you

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Speaker 1: might see them on the Chitlin circuit. You might see

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Speaker 1: that the Apollo, but otherwise you only got to hear

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Speaker 1: them on the radio. So imagine getting to see people

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Speaker 1: for the first time and see groups like Cool in

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Speaker 1: the Gang, Earth When and fire Al Green. You know,

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Speaker 1: jazz artists like Max Roach, McCoy tyner. Uh, you know

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Speaker 1: people that you you might know a little bit about,

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Speaker 1: but we're literally getting their television debut. Because I have

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Speaker 1: to remember, this was before Soul Train, and there wasn't

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Speaker 1: a model for this. So here comes to Ellis Hazel,

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Speaker 1: who is kind of a fish out of water. He's

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Speaker 1: never been on television before, but he's a theatrical producer

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Speaker 1: and he believes in black culture. He believes in black dance,

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Speaker 1: black poets. He puts Nikki Giovanni in an interview with

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Speaker 1: James Baldwin and many people have seen that because it

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Speaker 1: went viral on television. I'm sorry he went viral on

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Speaker 1: social media, but nobody knows that that came from Seul.

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Speaker 1: So the series itself was called Soul, and then Ellis

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Speaker 1: Hazel became known as Mr Soul because his last name,

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Speaker 1: Hazel was hard to pronounce him. They would see him

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Speaker 1: walking in Harlem and they go, there goes um, there

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Speaker 1: he goes the Soul. Yeah, Mr Soul. Let's Mr Soul,

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Speaker 1: so that it actually known as Mr. Soul. So it's

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Speaker 1: finally here the season of celebration, and no matter how

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Speaker 1: you celebrate with family and friends, whether you're preparing for

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Speaker 1: reis magos or Karamu lighting the Manura, are going to

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Speaker 1: midnight mass. Coals has just what you need to make

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Speaker 1: those traditions special. Plus you'll find gifts for all your

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Speaker 1: loved ones. Send warm wishes with cozy fleeces, sweaters, loungeware,

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Speaker 1: giving gifts from Human Nation and shame moisture, or treat

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Speaker 1: No matter how you celebrate, when you shop at Coals,

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Speaker 1: you're right where you belong. So this season, give with

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Speaker 1: all your heart with great gifts from Coals or Coals

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Speaker 1: dot Com. Hi everyone, Broker here as a guy with

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Speaker 1: his own catchphrase, I appreciate that Smokey's only said only

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Speaker 1: you can prevent wildfires. But I'm filling in because there's

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Speaker 1: a lot more to report, like when they're parched or

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Speaker 1: windy conditions out there. You gotta be extra careful with

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Speaker 1: things like burning yard waist. After all, wildfires can start anywhere,

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Speaker 1: even in your neck of the woods. Go to Smokey

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Speaker 1: bear dot com to learn more about wildfire prevention brought

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Speaker 1: to you by the U. S. Forest Service, your state

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Speaker 1: Forrester and the ad Council. And we're live here outside

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Speaker 1: the Perez family home, just waiting for the And there

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Speaker 1: they go, almost on time. This morning. Mom is coming

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Speaker 1: out the front door, strong with a double arm kid carry.

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Speaker 1: Looks like Dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up

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Speaker 1: the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers

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Speaker 1: and toys are everywhere. Oh but mom has just nailed

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Speaker 1: the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. And now

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Speaker 1: the eldest daughter, who looks to be about nine or ten,

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Speaker 1: has secured herself in the booster seat. Dad SIPs the

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Speaker 1: bad clothes and they're off. But looks like Mom doesn't

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Speaker 1: realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of

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Speaker 1: the car. And there it goes. Oh, that's a shame

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Speaker 1: that mud was a fan favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff,

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Speaker 1: just nailed the big stuff, like making sure your kids

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Speaker 1: are buckled correctly in the right seat for their agent's

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Speaker 1: eyes learn more than n h T s A dot

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Speaker 1: gov slash the right seat visits n h T s

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Speaker 1: A dot gov slash the right Seat brought to you

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Speaker 1: by NITZA and the ad Council. And the thing about it,

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Speaker 1: the primary purpose of Soul was to educate, entertained and

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Speaker 1: a lot of people to share in the black experience.

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Speaker 1: That's why I was on PBS. That's how we sold

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Speaker 1: there's an educational platform. And it made blacks visible in

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Speaker 1: the society where blacks had been invisible. When I said that,

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Speaker 1: like she said, you know, it was a pretty dark

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Speaker 1: period for black UM civil rights. You know, uh John F.

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Speaker 1: Kennedy had been shot in the sixties. You know, Robert

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Speaker 1: Kennedy had been shot in the sixties, and of unfortunately

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Speaker 1: also Dr Martin Luther King been shot in the sixties.

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Speaker 1: Blacks were lost, They had no voice. And then this

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Speaker 1: show called Soul and that's a soul with an exclamation

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Speaker 1: mark came on television, UM, and and it allowed, like

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Speaker 1: you said, this image that would been traded. Also, we

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Speaker 1: had Vietnam War playing on the background, and we had

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Speaker 1: this uh Richard Nixon presidency planning out in the background.

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Speaker 1: There's a lot of behind the scene activity that goes on,

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Speaker 1: and we hear the world council culture. You see how

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Speaker 1: council culture plays itself out in this doctormseries. Of all

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Speaker 1: the things that you were doing in the value, like said,

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Speaker 1: ten years to do this, what surprised you the most

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Speaker 1: and what maybe say disappointed you the most that the

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Speaker 1: series wasn't appreciated enough and how it ended, if you

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Speaker 1: can talk about that, I think what surprised me the

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Speaker 1: most and interviewing people who were either on the show

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Speaker 1: or people who were behind the scenes, like Stan Leathan,

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Speaker 1: amazing director. Stan Leathan got his start on Soul. Many

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Speaker 1: people don't know that he became famous when he moved

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Speaker 1: to l a and started directing Sanford and Son and

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Speaker 1: all this everything that's happened since then. Now he's directing

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Speaker 1: Dave Chappelle series. You know, but stan Lathan cut his

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Speaker 1: teeth learning how to direct on Soul and Elis Hay's

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Speaker 1: have always provided these opportunities for people who wouldn't have them.

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Speaker 1: You know, you didn't have black directors back then on

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Speaker 1: national television, and you didn't have black associate producers or women.

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Speaker 1: So Ellis changed all of that. He said, you want

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Speaker 1: to be an actress, come work with me as associate

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Speaker 1: producer and I'll help you become an actress. That's Anna

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Speaker 1: Maria Horsford from Amen, you know. And and it's just

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Speaker 1: amazing that he was always pushing the culture and pushing

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Speaker 1: opportunities for people. And what what surprised me fifty years

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Speaker 1: later is that it's still right here. It's still very

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Speaker 1: very emotional for people that that like it just happened,

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Speaker 1: like this was a moment in their career that they

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Speaker 1: will never forget. And so that energy because I was worried,

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Speaker 1: you know, it was fefty years ago and I was hoping.

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Speaker 1: I was worried, how am I going to convey that

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Speaker 1: kind of vibe like it's happening today, so it doesn't

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Speaker 1: feel like we're just looking back and being nostalgic. And

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Speaker 1: what surprised me was like all those emotions were right

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Speaker 1: on the surface, and that everybody was so invested in

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Speaker 1: the show, and that when it was canceled, you know,

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Speaker 1: it left a hole, It left avoid because there was

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Speaker 1: no way to feel our true power in a way

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Speaker 1: that was unfiltered and unapologetically black. You know, other shows

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Speaker 1: started to come on, um uh, you know, different types

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Speaker 1: of talk shows and black power shows. Guil Noble had

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Speaker 1: to show like like it is. Of course wasn't show.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't this show. And I think that's important that

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Speaker 1: we say that because the fact that host wasn't wasn't

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Speaker 1: born out of entertainment. He was born out of creativity.

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Speaker 1: He's born out of production. And like you said, this

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Speaker 1: project has been and then the hairstyles, Oh my goodness

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Speaker 1: that oh you know, like I said, uh, you know

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Speaker 1: those things that they had to be perfect. You have

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Speaker 1: the perfect hairstyle. Is But you touched on some of

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Speaker 1: your conversation about the presence of women as producers in

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Speaker 1: the background of development, which we see now African and

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Speaker 1: American women having such a prominent role as producers as

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Speaker 1: yourself being a producer, writer, and creative minds. That's something

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Speaker 1: we need to bring out in this interview because you

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Speaker 1: are female. And like I said, we mentioned Anna and

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Speaker 1: and uh, you know who's starters built it And I

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Speaker 1: was kind of surprised that this that U And because

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Speaker 1: I didn't know that about her. I didn't know she

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Speaker 1: had was a writer. I didn't know she was a producer.

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Speaker 1: All I knew about it was as an actress and

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Speaker 1: so talk about seeing the layer of producers from a

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Speaker 1: female perspective being the heartbeat of this show. So well,

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Speaker 1: there was another producer who became the first, the first

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Speaker 1: woman and the first black woman associate producer on a show,

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Speaker 1: and her name was Alice Hill Jackson. She's featured in

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Speaker 1: our film. She was married to Hal Jackson, whom everyone

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Speaker 1: and everyone would remember because he was such a force.

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Speaker 1: He was also helping to um book talent and find

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Speaker 1: great artists to perform at the Apollo and so she

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Speaker 1: worked together with her husband. He also created uh the

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Speaker 1: Black Teen America, the first sort of black teen pageants

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Speaker 1: in America, and that was really important too. So you

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Speaker 1: have these people who are, you know, kind of cultural

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Speaker 1: pioneers leading these behind the scenes epic historic moments, and

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Speaker 1: to have a woman like that connecting with talent and

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Speaker 1: bringing them onto the stage, that was really significant because

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Speaker 1: there was a woman's movement happening, but back women were

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Speaker 1: not included in that. You know, we're never included in

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Speaker 1: this idea of we're feminists too and we're pushing for

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Speaker 1: our rights too. So Ellis always knew that women were

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Speaker 1: in the forefront and that wasn't unusual to empower women.

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Speaker 1: It just seems unusual when we look back now, when

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Speaker 1: you realize nobody else was doing it. Help Jews and

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00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:27,320
Speaker 1: poverty and help Jews now dot org. Your gift today

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Speaker 1: will help provide a life saving food box to Jews

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Speaker 1: now dot org. That's help Jews now dot org. Look

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Speaker 1: for your children's eyes to see the true magic of

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Speaker 1: a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look

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Speaker 1: and see a tree, They see the wrinkled face of

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Speaker 1: a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see

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Speaker 1: treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could

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Speaker 1: lead to adventure, and they see you. They're fearless. Guide.

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Speaker 1: Is this fascinating world? Find a forest near you and

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Speaker 1: start exploring a Discover the Forest dot org brought to

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Speaker 1: you by the United States Force Service and the ad Council.

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Speaker 1: Look for your children's eyes to see the true magic

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Speaker 1: of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You

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Speaker 1: look and see a tree, They see the wrinkled face

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Speaker 1: of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They

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Speaker 1: see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that

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Speaker 1: could lead to adventure, and they see you. They're fearless. Guide.

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Speaker 1: Is this fascinating world? Find a forest near you and

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Speaker 1: start exploring a Discover the Forest dot org brought to

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Speaker 1: you by the United States Force Service and the ad Council. Right,

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Speaker 1: so you said an interesting then Hal Jackson, it's just

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Speaker 1: the same Hal Jackson, w BLS. Hal Jackson, he was

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Speaker 1: at w b LS as well. Yeah, I know how

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Speaker 1: that's just Steve Harvey and I what w BNS from

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Speaker 1: two thousand five to two thousand seven when he was

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Speaker 1: doing Sunday's That guy was amazing. He was probly, uh, legendary,

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Speaker 1: but I didn't know. I didn't know that until you

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Speaker 1: brought it up. But again, walking in history, talking to history,

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Speaker 1: being a part of history, how was in my life

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Speaker 1: for two years when I was in New York with

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Speaker 1: Steve Harvey on w BLS and were he was doing

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Speaker 1: the morning show and how I will do Sundays and

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Speaker 1: we He've always asked us to participate in community projects.

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Speaker 1: And that's important that you know when I know I've

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Speaker 1: heard that name and go wow, this is pretty interesting

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Speaker 1: that we are that connected in this relationship. But you

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Speaker 1: brought in Blair Underwood into the project? Was it important

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Speaker 1: to bring a name like that? How did he come

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Speaker 1: into the relationship As far as a producer, he also

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Speaker 1: dissemborcing on this series because this is ten years, so

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Speaker 1: ten years you had the idea, can you just step

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Speaker 1: us through, like when this stand get in saying lay

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Speaker 1: than get involved? When did Blair Underwood get involved? And

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Speaker 1: when did you guys realize this project was going to

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Speaker 1: be sold? Because if it first was so to a

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Speaker 1: PPS format? Correct? Right, Well, because the show originated on PBS,

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Speaker 1: we thought it would be great to have a PBS

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Speaker 1: premiere as kind of a homecoming because nobody has seen

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Speaker 1: Soul for all these years. It's been a a vault,

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Speaker 1: you know. And I just felt this show was made

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Speaker 1: for the people, by the people. It was free, you know.

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Speaker 1: Ellis has put the public in public broadcasting. He created

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Speaker 1: a uh you know, it's it's not downt Nabby and

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Speaker 1: it's not Sesame Street, but there is a black audience.

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Speaker 1: There's a black nation, and he knew that. He always

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Speaker 1: knew that, and so it was important for us to

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Speaker 1: have a PBS premiere and that happened during Black History

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Speaker 1: Month and that was really wonderful on independent lens and

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Speaker 1: they will continue to show the film for the next

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Speaker 1: two years every now and then. But what we wanted

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Speaker 1: the film to reach ah a national audience as well,

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Speaker 1: and HBO Max is an incredible platform for that um

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Speaker 1: And it happened as well when the nation was pivoting

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Speaker 1: from the theater to digital and streaming, especially during COVID,

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Speaker 1: and we just thought, well, what would Ellis Hazel do.

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Speaker 1: He would be on the cutting edge of content delivery

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Speaker 1: and trying to reach the people, just like back in

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Speaker 1: the seventies and in the seventies he we didn't have

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Speaker 1: social media, and so he called it the drum. You

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Speaker 1: know how an African communities, the drum was the message.

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Speaker 1: The drum was how we got our message across, how

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Speaker 1: we learned how we were going to break away from

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Speaker 1: freedom when we were enslaved. And you know, there's a

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Speaker 1: history of the drum. And Sol would go out and

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Speaker 1: he would call it the drum, and he would canvas

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Speaker 1: the black neighborhoods and say, did you see soul that

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Speaker 1: you watching it? Needing? It? Is it giving you what

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Speaker 1: you need? What do you want to hear? What do

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Speaker 1: you like what do you dislike? And so he was

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Speaker 1: really a man of the people, in a man of

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Speaker 1: the streets. So we thought, well, we got to honor

430
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 1: that with the PBS broadcast, but let's also honor the

431
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,040
Speaker 1: way people want to see content now on their phones,

432
00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 1: on their tablets and streaming at their own, um, you know,

433
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,639
Speaker 1: their own time, when they're ready. So HBO Max was

434
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,160
Speaker 1: really key for that. And they are doing so much

435
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,479
Speaker 1: dynamic programming right now and they seem to be the

436
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 1: most diverse of all the platforms. You know, that was

437
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:16,560
Speaker 1: important to us too. On board and how did underway?

438
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,800
Speaker 1: So Stan came on board, uh and originally as an

439
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 1: interview and we had to have stand because he's one

440
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 1: of the original directors and some of the best episodes

441
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,200
Speaker 1: that the Earth and Fire episode, the al Green episode,

442
00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 1: you know, the New Wonder episode, all of those are

443
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 1: Stan Lethans. So we interviewed him and then later on

444
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:37,879
Speaker 1: after he saw the film, he said, you know, I

445
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,119
Speaker 1: really believe in this film, Melissa, I can't believe you

446
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,200
Speaker 1: got it done. After which that year that I said,

447
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,280
Speaker 1: I would like to honor you in your connection and

448
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:50,000
Speaker 1: your career with this being your first job, really to

449
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 1: be h to be an executive producer, and so he said, yes, absolutely,

450
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 1: so he came on to executive produce and help us

451
00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 1: get it to the next level. Blair Underwood. We knew

452
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 1: we needed the voice of Ellis Hayes look, and we

453
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,359
Speaker 1: wanted a man who kind of straddled that old school

454
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 1: sound but also was totally connected with a contemporary audience.

455
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,399
Speaker 1: And and Blair has that. You know, I've loved him

456
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,040
Speaker 1: since l A law. I'm not gonna lie, so I've

457
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,080
Speaker 1: been a big fan. But I also knew that he

458
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,960
Speaker 1: was a voice actor because he is on the A

459
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,239
Speaker 1: Show as an animated show by the way, he does

460
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 1: a lot of voiceovers, but he's also on the Lion

461
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,639
Speaker 1: king Um sequel called The Lion Guard, and I heard

462
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 1: I just happened to catch some episodes of that, and

463
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 1: I thought, wow, he's really a great voice actor too.

464
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 1: And we wanted somebody who would be the voice of

465
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 1: Ellis has but not a caricature, not like a like

466
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,359
Speaker 1: trying too hard, Like what would Ellis sound like if

467
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 1: you were thinking, you know what, I get that that

468
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,639
Speaker 1: interior blackness, like you don't hear that a lot. You

469
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 1: don't see it a lot in films. You don't get

470
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 1: to know what a black man is thinking, right, And

471
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,640
Speaker 1: because he was an intellectual, I said, because is deceased,

472
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,960
Speaker 1: were like, we have to give him a voice. So

473
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: it feels like he is with us and he's leading

474
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,760
Speaker 1: his own story and telling his own truth. And one

475
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,199
Speaker 1: once Blair got involved and understood, and after we we

476
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,119
Speaker 1: actually showed him the film, he fell in love with

477
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,680
Speaker 1: it and he said, I want to be executive producer

478
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,119
Speaker 1: and do all that I can. Now we're talking to

479
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,879
Speaker 1: Melissa the writer director of this series Mr. Soul, because

480
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 1: uncle Ellis Haslip was the host of Soul, which was

481
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: a GBS show that ran from nineteen six to nineteen

482
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three. Among the guests the show showcase included

483
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: like she said earlier, Al Green, Stevie won the Earth

484
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:44,360
Speaker 1: winning fire Patted Last Night, Mom and Adlie author James Baldwin,

485
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:49,120
Speaker 1: and an intimate interview with Poe poet Nikki Giovanni, cecilely Tyson,

486
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,160
Speaker 1: cooling the Gang and doing Magic, a young Arsenio Hall.

487
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 1: This this show was a very enlightening for me. The

488
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,680
Speaker 1: documentary I enjoyed from start to finish. When you walk

489
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,320
Speaker 1: to you you're seeing history and you're see in history

490
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 1: played out in New York keeping and seeing history played

491
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,560
Speaker 1: out and dramatic and drama because you don't know if

492
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 1: the show is gonna get renewed and wise and the

493
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,440
Speaker 1: other hand, politics that get played into the whole process

494
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,399
Speaker 1: and that, and then you get to bring on talent

495
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,919
Speaker 1: that producers are EPs, like Stan Lakeln like Burla Underwood

496
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,159
Speaker 1: and now it's being showcased on HBO Max. What's the

497
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:27,880
Speaker 1: next step for your brand and what's the next step

498
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,439
Speaker 1: for your production company. Well, we're also brought on the

499
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:36,840
Speaker 1: wonderful producer writer Emmy Grammy, No not Grammy yet, but

500
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 1: the Emmy winner Lena Wayte, and she's one of our

501
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,959
Speaker 1: producers as well. We also as Ebert and It's and

502
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:47,800
Speaker 1: we have um just amazing people Stephanie Rants from the

503
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 1: Martha's Viney the af American Film Festival, and what we're

504
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 1: working with Lena wat and her brand new record company

505
00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:00,480
Speaker 1: called Him and Grad Records to help release the soundtrack Mr.

506
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,520
Speaker 1: Soul and that's gonna come out via Deaf Jam and

507
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,960
Speaker 1: Universal Records. So we're just so excited because you know,

508
00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 1: music in the film is a character. You know, it's

509
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: not like a backdrop or an underscore, but black music is.

510
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,120
Speaker 1: And as Ella's Hazek said, you know, the soul the

511
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,080
Speaker 1: floor for Black Pride, and we really with Robert Glass

512
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:27,000
Speaker 1: for as our amazing composer. And then he wrote a

513
00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:30,640
Speaker 1: song for Leyla Hathaway and that's the single that's gonna

514
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,280
Speaker 1: be dropping very soon called show Me Your Soul, and

515
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 1: that was just a great song and it was shortlisted

516
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,040
Speaker 1: for the Oscars this year for Best of Risinal Song. Well,

517
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 1: the beauty of this is that your production company Shoes

518
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 1: in the Bad Productions, like I said, your filmmaker, and

519
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,440
Speaker 1: that's your company that's with the company that produces this

520
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 1: particular project. As I closed this interview, and thank you

521
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 1: for coming on my show. Thank you for give me

522
00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 1: an early view of the docuseries which is wonderful and

523
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,080
Speaker 1: in fact, when it comes on HBO Max, I'm gonna

524
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 1: recommend my friends to watch and put it on social media.

525
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 1: Please get those banners to me so we can put

526
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 1: it out there. Any other projects in the works that

527
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 1: we can look forward to seeing from your wonderful production company,

528
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 1: Shoes in the Bad Productions. Well, she's a vet is

529
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,800
Speaker 1: just doing this Mr Soul John, But I am also

530
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 1: working on a new project with Netflix Exact producing. Yeah,

531
00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 1: it's a series about women in hip hop. Uh. It's

532
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,600
Speaker 1: really the history of black womanhood in America, but it's

533
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:31,880
Speaker 1: explored through the lens of women in hip hop, their

534
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 1: lives and their music. So you know, it's a year

535
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,440
Speaker 1: the Black woman. So we gotta reverence, Melissa, if you

536
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:41,160
Speaker 1: could turn that lands on stand Lathan and slow him down,

537
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,440
Speaker 1: because that young man right there is walking in history.

538
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,960
Speaker 1: People just don't understand. You know, he is truly a legend.

539
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 1: I called him a godfather when he when I came

540
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 1: into Hollywood in nineteen four to be in a position

541
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,600
Speaker 1: to just not even understand who he was. But he

542
00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: was just so humble and the good looking and it

543
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,080
Speaker 1: was it was. We was on ABC. He was the

544
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 1: director of Steve Harvey's first sitcom, Me and the Boys,

545
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,240
Speaker 1: and over the years, the deaf comedy Jam Uh, the

546
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 1: Kevin Hart Project there's on ABC. Uh House Hollywood, Uh,

547
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 1: Husband's Hollywood, Hollywood Husband or whatever the title of it is,

548
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 1: coming come to Heat. That's him behind that and so

549
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,120
Speaker 1: many other projects not on this. Thank you for coming

550
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 1: on Money Making Conversations and talking about Mr Soul hp

551
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:36,600
Speaker 1: HBO max U uncle. He graduated from HBCU Howard University.

552
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,920
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing this story. You're wonderful and again

553
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: I will be promoting this on my social media operay,

554
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,360
Speaker 1: promoting this in my newsletter. Just the words out just

555
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,320
Speaker 1: like him. You missed so right now? Okay you miss you,

556
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 1: Miss So. He's miss so. You missed so. Hay you done,

557
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,640
Speaker 1: miss so, miss So. Thank you for coming on money

558
00:31:54,640 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 1: making Conversations. Okay, thank you. If you want to see

559
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:03,160
Speaker 1: are here just interview your monimated conversations please dot to

560
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:07,000
Speaker 1: Monimate Conversation dot com. Rashean McDonald, I am your host.

561
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,280
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566
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