WEBVTT - Sister Act with Nithya Raman 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:04.120 On the Bedel Cast, the questions asked if movies have 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:08.080 women in them, are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands, 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:13.200 or do they have individualism? The patriarchy ze invest start 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:17.759 changing it with the Betel Cast. Welcome to the Bechtel Cast. 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:20.360 My name is Jamie Loftus, my name is Caitlin Darante, 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.040 and you know the deal. This is our podcast about 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:26.680 the portrayal of women in movies. We use the Bechtel 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:30.640 test as a jumping off point to initiate a larger conversation, 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.800 treatment and representation. Yes, Jamie, have a question. Yes, please? 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:37.479 What is the Bechtel Test? Oh? I'm so glad? Do 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.720 you asked her? It was like three years later. I'm like, 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.880 I don't understand it. What have you said it? And 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:50.480 then I was like, that's not fair, sames, unrestupid. Well 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.520 okay for Jamie fruit just you from my reference. Yes, 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.080 it is a media metric created by cartoonist Alison Bechtel, 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:01.120 sometimes called the Bechtel Wallace test, in which two female 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.919 identifying characters with names must speak to each other about 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.240 something other than a man, and by our metric, it 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.160 has to be at least a two line exchange of dialogue, right, 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.200 I think it'd be easy. Usually it's not. I mean, 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.480 look at the Oscar nominees. Well what if so I 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:18.120 hope someone like slides into our d M s and 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.080 it's like Ford v. Ferrari pass the Bechdel test. You eve, 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.560 but I didn't see it. What if it did? What if? 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.919 What if the cars identifies, you know, and they rammed 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:36.160 each other? Boats do canonically canonically, But I don't know. 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.440 We'll see. Yeah, if anyone knows if Ford v. Ferrari 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:40.480 passed the Beckdel test? What a wild ride? That movie? 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.440 What ride? Yeah? Because cars? Because cars, you know what 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:49.760 cars are. I'm really excited for both their guests and 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.360 the movie we're covering today. We've been getting this request 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.120 since we started the show, and we were just kind 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:57.440 of just waiting for the for the for the right 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.760 guests to come along. So I'm very excited. We're doing 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:04.040 Sister Act. We're doing Sister Act. We're gonna deviate a 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:06.680 little bit from the format because our guests. We're gonna 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:09.240 ask some questions, an interview a little bit. We gotta 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.800 get to know where you go. Because she is an 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:17.560 urban planner, a community advocate. She served as executive director 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:20.680 of Time's Up Entertainment, and currently she is running for 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:25.560 Los Angeles City Council District four are election where it's 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:29.120 literally sitting. It's in District four at this very moment, 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:35.799 the election for which is on March three. It's Nythia Rahman. Hi, welcome, Hi, 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:38.880 I'm so happy to be here. Okay, we're also just 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:41.640 for our listeners. Were recording literally at Caitlin's house in 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:46.000 District four right now. I mostly came because I think 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:53.760 both of the our constituents, So yeah, one podcast. It's 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:57.200 a real grassroots movement. So if you're an l A 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:59.520 listener and you live in that district, perc your ears 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:03.960 up extra. But everyone just okay, yeah I did. They 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.679 were so excited you're here. We're so happy. We're big 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:11.000 fans likewise, so um yeah, I want to just start 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:15.720 about by talking about what motivated you to run for 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.160 city council. What what you know made the decision to 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.919 leave your day job and uh start campaigning. Well, it 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.360 was not It's definitely not something I've been thinking about 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.760 my whole life, so it was a big decision for me. Um. 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:28.440 I also have two little kids. I have four year 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:34.040 old twins. They're very cute right now after initial hard, 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:39.120 hard period when they were infants, but now they're they're people. 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:41.440 They're adorable, they're so fun and the campaign takes me 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:43.680 away from them a lot um. And I left a 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.240 very good job at a very exciting job at times 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:50.960 up to come do this. But I'm running for two reasons. 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.600 One is I was pretty angry about how the city 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:57.920 was responding to the issue of homelessness, uh and the 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.960 broader housing crisis that homeless this is just you know, 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:05.360 one part of and I I started a homeless coalition 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:07.000 in my neighborhood. I worked at city Hall a few 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.120 years ago and wrote a report about the city's response 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:13.440 on homelessness. And my report at that time found that 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:15.520 the city was already spending more than a hundred million 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.599 dollars on homelessness, but that the majority of the money 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:22.560 was actually going to putting homeless individuals in jail and 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:27.080 then releasing them, a policy which is both incredibly cruel 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.040 and ineffective. So you can see by the growth of 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.440 homelessness in Los Angeles five years later. At that time 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.599 there were twenty three thousand people experiencing homelessness. Now there's 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.320 almost thirty seven thousand in the city of Los Angeles, 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.280 so it's grown by fourteen thousand and five years, which 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:47.520 is a staggering increase. And to me, you know, I 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:49.800 left city hall. I had twins, I left the workforce 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:51.200 for a little while. But while I was at home, 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.039 I helped start this homeless coalition in my neighborhood which 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:57.880 actually serves Los Filas as well, uh and it's called CELA. 0:04:58.040 --> 0:04:59.960 We started as a group of neighbors who were get 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.280 together doing volunteer outreach and getting to know people who 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:05.960 lived on the streets and in our neighborhoods. So Los 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:09.520 Fila's Silver Lake Echo Park, a bunch of neighborhoods that 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:11.320 were right near the river. There's a lot of encampments 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:12.920 near the river, and these were all our areas where 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:17.200 there were no people experiencing homelessness living out outdoors before 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.120 at all. This was new, and so I think a 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:21.840 group of people who were like, what do we do? 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:23.599 You know, this is happening, and we don't know what 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.400 to do. We got together and started doing outreach and 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:28.040 we would go out and talk to people who were 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:31.000 living in encampments get to know them by name, we'd 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:34.160 bring food and water, and we would try and learn 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.000 from them, you know, more about them and their stories 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:38.719 and how they ended up there, but also what was 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:42.039 preventing them from getting back into stable housing. And as 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:45.360 we learned about the situation that they experienced on the ground, 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:47.600 what we realized was that the city had made it 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.359 incredibly difficult once they were experiencing homelessness for them to 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:54.320 actually get back into housing. So in that whole region, 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:56.599 so we served an area stretching from Los Filas all 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.200 the way to Cyprus Park, So if you know l A, 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.800 that's a huge area of the city. There was no 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.799 walk in shelter beds, There was not a single shower 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.120 that they could go use. There was not a really 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:08.080 a bathroom where they were welcomed. There was not a 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:11.120 drop in case manager. Like if you wanted help and 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:12.960 you wanted to talk to somebody to get the help 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.240 that you needed, whether it be case management work, whether 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.760 it be mental health support, whether it be addiction counseling, 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.560 whatever it is that you needed help with, it was 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.640 not available for you anywhere in this entire area. So 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.080 I started looking at the system that we had created 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.240 around homelessness and I knew this from my work at 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:33.560 city Hall, but it was made so much more real 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:34.960 to me once I was looking at it from the 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.599 perspective of someone who was actually experiencing homelessness. Was that 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:40.480 the system we set up in l A was not 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:44.200 really designed to help people. It was designed basically by 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:48.640 people who don't care about this issue. And I just thought, here, 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:50.200 I am, I have a full time job, I have 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:52.360 two little kids, and all these other volunteers who are 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:57.559 weren't running the SELA program also do. And we kept 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.920 asking the city for a drop in center with a 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.800 shower and uh you know, a hot meal and access 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.040 to case management for the area. They ignored us. They 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:08.280 wouldn't even meet with us, Our council members wouldn't even 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:10.880 really meet with us. Finally, we did it ourselves. We 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:14.440 raised money, we we applied for grants, we held a fundraiser, 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.000 and we started operating a one day a week drop 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:20.400 in center, which has now grown to four sites, yeah 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.960 in in Silver Lake. And I just started thinking, if 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:26.680 the people who were in power felt any amount of 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.000 the sense of urgency that I do, and that you know, 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.520 all of these other volunteers did around this issue, I 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:33.400 think we would just be facing a very different situation 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.240 in Los Angeles. So that's when I started thinking about 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.160 running UM. And I'm you know, I'm trained as an 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:40.080 urban planner. I've thought about cities, and I've worked on 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.400 cities for pretty much my entire career except for my 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.800 time at times up so and the more I thought 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:47.960 about it, the more it made sense. And then the 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.400 second reason is actually that I wanted to run, was 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:55.400 because this election is actually an incredible opportunity, Like we 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:57.880 have a chance right now to invite a lot more 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.520 people into the municipal election, which is historically had very 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.720 very low participation rates in Los Angeles. Now it's going 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.320 to coincide with the federal election for the first time, 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.440 so it's on Super Tuesday. Yeah, and I'm sure everyone's 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.320 planning to vote on Super Tuesday, So we have an 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:14.920 opportunity to invite a lot more people into the municipal 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:16.960 political process to say, like, when you're going out there 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.200 and voting for whoever you want to vote for, you 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.920 should care about this and you can transform what you 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.160 see around you, like what you look, what you see 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:25.800 on the streets, and of l a, what you see 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.920 here right now. If this is not acceptable to you, 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:31.720 and I know it's not to most people. Our message 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:33.439 to them is you have a moment right now to 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:38.800 completely transform. It's so exciting. We're very, very very grateful 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:42.559 you're running because truly like every like um, I mean 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:44.440 you can you can check out Nathia's website and Nadia 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:46.880 for the city dot com for all of your policies 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.000 in detail. But it just it seems like it's just 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:54.040 stands to improve literally, I mean, everyone's life in district force. 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:58.280 So we're excited about it. Um. I think something that 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:01.559 our listeners are always trying to figure out, um, how 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.960 to do, is is do you have any I guess 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:07.240 advice for like the average citizen who's just trying to 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:12.520 be more involved and be more engaged in local issues especially. 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:14.480 I think that yeah, like you were saying that, I 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:19.240 mean super Tuesday, Um, is such a huge opportunity for awareness. Um, 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.920 what can the average person do to be engaged specifically 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.280 in l A or anywhere. I mean, let's let's go 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.800 for l A. Well, I think, yeah, I would just 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:32.760 dig into a little bit more this idea that part 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:35.680 of the reason why we have an l A that 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:41.000 feels right now incredibly hostile to lower income residents, whether 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.600 it be looking through how we serve our homeless residents, 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:46.560 or whether it be looking at how we're dealing with 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:52.800 a massive increase in rental prices that has far outpaced incomes, 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.559 Like our city can do a lot to help tenants, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.600 our city can do a lot to help people who 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:02.040 are on the verge of becoming homeless. And over and 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:05.360 over again, they have looked away from those powers and responsibilities. 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.520 And I feel like, I think if you're somebody who's 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:12.319 living in l A particularly, I think it's really important 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:17.360 to understand what powers are local officials have, whether it 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.719 be at the council or whether it be at the supervisors, 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.160 and get involved in those races and make sure that 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:26.440 we're voting in candidates whose values you believe in and trust, 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.199 because right now, we have a political system in Los 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:34.960 Angeles that's really ossified, you know it is. It's like 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:36.840 like I've been interacting with it now and it feels 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:40.199 like you're up against some It's like whenever I deal 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:43.160 with any aspect of the traditional system, it feels like 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:46.559 I have gone back in time to three decades. Terrifying. 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:51.120 It's like all men like, there's only two elected representatives 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.520 out of eighteen total electives at City Hall, so fifteen 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:58.079 council members and city attorney, mayor and a city controller, 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.240 so only two out of those out of that teen 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:04.240 our women. It's just like very clubby culture where everybody 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.840 knows each other, but just a little bit of engagement 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.800 from residents could completely transform that and it has so 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.880 in recent weeks and months we've seen both of the 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:20.080 city and the county that advocacy by either homelessness advocates 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:24.480 who want to see a reduction in punitive responses to 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:29.240 homelessness and push for a more compassionate response have shown 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:34.000 up at city Hall and protested and changed policy, which yeah, 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:36.520 which is incredible. And then at the county level, we've 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:40.240 seen this huge criminal justice reform movement that has actually 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:43.079 stopped the construction of a three point five billion dollar 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:45.480 meant it was called a mental health jail. I mean 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:47.079 it was a mental health facility, but it was really 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.120 another big jail. And now there have another measure on 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.800 the ballot called Measure Are, which everyone should get informed about. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.360 But in both of those situations, we've seen that involvement 0:11:56.440 --> 0:12:00.240 engagement by residents can change things and it doesn't take uch, 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:01.960 you know. So if you can show up to like one, 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:04.720 get on a mailing list, show up to one protest, 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.120 you know, and just having those numbers, invite a couple 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.160 of friends to it, and then go to brunch afterwards, 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:15.600 it yeah, exactly, you know. So so even little things 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:19.240 like I I love doing service, like I love the 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.600 idea of and we invite lots of volunteers in the 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.280 coalition that I started here in silver Lake and Los 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:28.320 VELAs to come in and make food or too, you know, 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.120 set up that whole shower program that we do weekly, 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.320 and that's a great opportunity. But if you want to 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.760 change the systems that result in us having to do 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:40.960 that kind of volunteer work week after week, then you 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:42.599 have to go to city Hall or you have to 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:44.719 go to the Board of Supervisors and like show up 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.000 in protest and make the change that's going to change 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:48.880 the system. So that's what I would say to people 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.440 who are getting involved, is like, get informed and get 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:55.960 involved in advocacy because that can transform the city. Absolutely. Okay, cool, 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:57.600 thank you so much. It was I feel like I'm 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:01.720 talking We're way too long this We are asking you questions. 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:04.559 But that's how that works. You shouldn't have a sign 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:06.720 or something where you're like, you know, just like scrite 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:12.719 your nose and you're like, we're also, I mean, just 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.240 because of what our show is about, We're we're curious 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:20.200 about your time with time's up. And um, what what 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:23.360 was that experience like in what coming from city hall 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.240 to being a stay at home mom to going two 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.600 times of what sort of brought you there? Um? What 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.640 brought me there was not particularly exciting. I just somebody 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:37.520 sent me the job listing, and but I think they 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.840 wanted me because I'm guessing I don't have a lot 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:42.680 of insight, but I think they were excited about the 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:48.079 fact that I had taken advocacy and transformed it into 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:52.280 either concrete programs or concrete policy changes in the past, 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:54.040 and I think they were hoping that I could do 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.560 something similar there, which, UM, I'm very proud to say 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:00.800 that we did so. In the in the year a 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:02.319 little more than a year that I was the e D, 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.800 we put together this incredible mentorship program for the executive 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:10.440 and producer pipeline. Um. Yeah, and we actually took the 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.679 money for that came out of Less Moon Vesta's settlement 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:20.520 love that knife. So we had an opportunity to apply 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:22.000 for that money. So I was like, we have this 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.400 amazing program already in place. I applied for that funding 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:25.600 and we were able to set it up and it 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.040 was incredible. We have an incredible group of people who 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:33.080 are associated with it, but essentially supports people who don't 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:37.240 necessarily have the industry connections as who are assistants or 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:42.600 junior executives in that pipeline and gives them this incredible 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:46.280 network and an intensive mentorship relationship to help them move ahead. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.360 And it was a really cool program. And it's also 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.200 it has a very unique thing which I think is 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:55.480 relevant in the context of this pay up Hollywood, you know, 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:57.840 this movement to talk about how a little. So we 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:01.280 had a ten tho dollar stipend in program that would 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.480 be given to anyone who was selected for it, because 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:06.840 we knew that if you came in and we're getting 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.240 paid minimum wage or whatever these you know, agencies or 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.520 production companies pay you, you wouldn't necessarily have the money 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.160 to go out and have drinks, which is where you 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.000 like make the relationships that get you, you know. So 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.200 I think it was a program that was designed really 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:26.000 well but also really acknowledge the realities of Hollywood and 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:29.239 what it takes to get ahead in the industry. Um. 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.040 And we had a couple of other week just released 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:35.360 these resources for performers on sets telling you exactly what 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:39.600 your rights are when you go out and do an audition. Yeah, 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.200 and we that we compiled all these resources from different 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.360 places and I kicked started that project and it was 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:47.160 released after I left. But it was very very important 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:48.920 to me that people who were new to the industry 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.600 knew not just what their rights were, but where they 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.640 could turn if they needed help. So we did that. UM. 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.040 But I would say my broader experience of being at 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.920 times up was really fascinating because as an relative outsider 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.720 to the entertainment industry and someone who had come from 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:07.720 an advocacy nonprofit background, I was and I don't know 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.800 whether your experience you're both like in then you consider 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:16.520 yourselves in the industry, right, yes, yeah, well I maybe, 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:18.920 I mean I would be curious about your experience, But 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.320 I felt like the industry is really conservative. I mean 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.200 I think, yeah, it feels like a vested interest in 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:27.720 like making it not look that way. But then once 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:29.560 you actually start to talk to people, You're like, oh, 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:33.760 this is actually very fucked up interesting, Okay, cool. Yeah, 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.720 And I think like the Times Up moment and movement 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:41.080 and the me too activism and a lot of organizing 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.280 that's now happened not related to Times Up necessarily, although 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:46.160 some of it did happen under the Times Up umbrella 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.920 around like women of color coming together or different groups 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.280 that have kind of been ignored or left out in 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:55.680 some ways. I feel like that is pushing for some changes. 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.520 But I was kind of surprised at how conservative the 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.160 industry was and how a lot of it I think 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.400 is related to the way in which you get a job, 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:08.479 so you tolerate abuse because if you speak out, not 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.359 just sexual misconduct, but any like just like somebody yelling 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:15.560 at you or throwing stuff from whatever, aggressively long working 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:19.040 hours or whatever it is, because your next job depends 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:22.720 on this person's referral, right, And that's that's basically like 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:26.000 you're a freelancer, but you're in a union if you're lucky, Yeah, 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:28.760 if you're lucky, but it and in a fairly small 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:30.840 industry where everybody knows each other. And that's just a 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.840 recipe for I think really bad can be a recipe 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:35.880 for really bad working conditions. So I was really excited 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:38.119 to be in a position where we were bringing workers 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:42.399 together and talking about workers rights, you know. And I 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:45.400 think it sometimes entertainment industry people didn't think about themselves 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.560 as workers and didn't think about themselves as having workers 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:51.159 rights because that's like a different you know. And so 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:52.840 it's like exciting to be like, hey, you're a writer, 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.840 but that's work. Yeah, that's where you deserve to be 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.040 treated in a particular way. So it was it was cool. 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.639 It was a really exciting moment in Yeah, history, I 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.160 guess exciting to be a part of it and play 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:07.720 some small role in in it. That's so amazing. Yeah, 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:09.480 is there is there anything else you would like for 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.280 us to touch on before we start talking sister act? 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.480 And I guess I would just say to the residents 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:17.520 of Los Angeles, Yes, you look around. You see a 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.359 city that I think is really struggling. We have a 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:24.240 massive homelessness crisis. We have rising rents, we have bad air, 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.879 we have unsafe streets, and I could go on and 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.760 on and on, but all of these things are solvable, 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:34.520 and all of these things are completely surmountable if we 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.359 have the right people in office. And I'm here to 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:40.480 tell you that you deserve better, and I feel like 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.600 that probably applies to most cities in the US, Like, 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:45.640 it's not this is not an l A specific thing. There. 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:49.280 If you don't live in l A, get informed, damn 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.960 deserve better too. Yes, I can't wait to vote for you. 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.480 So thank you for happy that you're here. Um. Oh, 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:58.119 and I had one I had one fun question, okay, 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.800 which is, okay, so you have two young kids at um, 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:05.320 what is something that you like because we're always trying 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:07.600 to like our whole show is just basically like the 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:11.359 media that messed with our brains as children and talking 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:13.760 about it now, is there something that you can watch 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:15.960 for your kids that you're like, I feel good about this. 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.919 So my kids actually only have watched with any desire. 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:26.800 Two things. One is Daniel Tiger, which is the cartoon 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:32.080 does derived from Mr Rogers Neighborhood. It is so simplistic 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:36.760 and it's so sweet and lovely and it's so boring. 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.240 But I can't I can't have you see it. Yeah, 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:44.040 like babysat kids watching Daniel Tiger and like, well, nothing, 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:50.280 you know, it's nothing bad is happening, but what is happening? Right? Um? 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:52.119 And the only other thing that they watch and I 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:54.040 have a boy and a girl, boy and girl twins, 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:57.960 and the only other thing that they watch is Frozen. Alright, 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.040 I mean that's we've covered that. You know it does 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:05.800 pretty well, sister ed you love to see it. Uh so, 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.239 I mean we're always just looking to because we're like, 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:11.320 we don't know what to recommend to parents who listened 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.200 to the show. Um so if you if you haven't 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:18.520 heard of Daniel Tiger or Frozen, now are the two 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:25.159 humans in America who haven't heard of froz? Yes, you 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:29.199 gotta check it out. People can't can't stop talking about it. 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:31.240 I haven't did you see this? I didn't see the 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:33.800 second one. I did see the second one from Molina 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:39.280 voices of character, There's there's an interesting conversation to be 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:41.159 had about that movie as well. Maybe we'll get to 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:43.439 it someday. All right, great, in the meantime, listen to 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:47.160 our Frozen one episode. Everybody. Actually, I'll down I didn't 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:49.720 know you had done for I'll download that and listen 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:54.480 to it. But but now let's let's let's pivot into 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:56.200 the rest of the show. We're talking about Sister app 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:58.280 that's right before we do. Let's take a quick break first, 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:07.480 and then we'll be right back. We're back. Okay, So 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:11.040 we're talking Sister Act. It's a movie. It can what 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:13.560 what's a movie? Now? Hold on, now, hold on, bear 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:18.200 with me. We're today, we're talking about we're talking about 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:23.440 a feature length film. Uh. It came out in It 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:28.240 stars Whoopie Goldberg. It's called Sister Act. Uh. Nittia, what 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:30.800 is your experience with this movie? When did you first 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:34.800 see it your relationship? Shoot, I don't even I've seen 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:39.359