WEBVTT - COURTNEY L. BRANCH - From Cabbage to Cannes

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<v Speaker 1>Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm your host, Colleen Witt, and today we have very

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<v Speaker 1>special guests Enterprises forty under forty, TV producer, festival, co

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<v Speaker 1>founder in the Me Show Film Festival, which is the

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<v Speaker 1>fastest growing, most prestigious multicultural festival in the country.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's pretty impressive. Cording, Thank you, Thank you, It's.

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<v Speaker 1>An honor to have you. I love having people have

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<v Speaker 1>different backgrounds come on the show. So this is gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be a very eye opening experience. To go from TV

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<v Speaker 1>producer to creating your own festival is a lot. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>it is a lot. But before we get into the

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<v Speaker 1>tea on your life, please tell me what you're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>what you were eating while you were broke.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, So, my favorite favorite favorite dish to make is

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<v Speaker 2>a fried red pepper cabbage ate it while broke, eat

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<v Speaker 2>it now made it for Thanksgiving for the family. It's

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<v Speaker 2>like a go to staple in my life at this point. Really,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm excited about it.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought it was like cabbage soup, but I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>know what was going on. But there was no broth.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is going to be a learning lesson. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>hoping I can add it to my home dishes because

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<v Speaker 1>it's very affordable. I think this is like what like

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<v Speaker 1>a three dollar dish dish stretch.

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<v Speaker 2>It's so long, yes, and it's no meat, me, no me.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think I added an extra color of peppers,

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<v Speaker 1>so you can ignore the extra.

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<v Speaker 2>One that wasn't supposed to be get there. But go

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<v Speaker 2>ahead again the kitchen, Okay, let's do it. So essentially,

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<v Speaker 2>what we have here is we have our head of cabbage,

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<v Speaker 2>and so I'm just gonna chop up a little bit more.

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<v Speaker 2>Finally we have our peppers, and we have our onion,

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<v Speaker 2>and then you know we're black. So I like to

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<v Speaker 2>season everything up.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, what seasonings are you going with?

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<v Speaker 2>Starting with my Tony Shatterers or however you say it,

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<v Speaker 2>because no one ton Yeah, we just say Tony's exactly,

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<v Speaker 2>started with my Tony's. That's like the must have garlic powder,

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<v Speaker 2>onion powder, a little pep pepka, and then some red

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<v Speaker 2>pepper flakes to top it all off. So very simple meal,

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<v Speaker 2>pretty easy.

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<v Speaker 1>And then you're using olive oil, Yes, using olive oils.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm actually gonna get that poured in here now before

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<v Speaker 2>I start chopping.

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<v Speaker 1>And then I'm wondering with the olive oil. I would

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<v Speaker 1>assume when you say fry, it's gonna be like a

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<v Speaker 1>vegetable oil.

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<v Speaker 2>Why is it olive oil? It's more so fried just

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<v Speaker 2>because it's in an oil. I just cook with olive

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<v Speaker 2>oil because it's a little bit healthier. No real other Okay, yeah, significance, Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>let me turn this.

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<v Speaker 1>It makes you feel better. I barely use vegetable oil

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<v Speaker 1>until eating while broke.

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<v Speaker 2>Really, now I'm like, vegetable oil, that's the one you

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<v Speaker 2>use to fry. Yes, Like, if I'm frying hardcore, then

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<v Speaker 2>we'll definitely do the vegetable oil. But I try and

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<v Speaker 2>keep it minimal with just a little olive oil and

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<v Speaker 2>call it a day.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, is this gonna be like a stir fried type

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<v Speaker 1>of fee?

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe a little kind of, but no, really, like once

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<v Speaker 2>it cooks down, it really is just kind of like

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<v Speaker 2>a regular cabbage. And it's so funny because my parents

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<v Speaker 2>growing up, my dad always used to make like boiled cabbage.

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<v Speaker 2>And it wasn't until I was working out here in

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<v Speaker 2>LA and I went to a creole restaurant in mid

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<v Speaker 2>city that served this red pepper cabbage, and I was like,

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<v Speaker 2>this is not boiled cabbage like this cabbage and taught

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<v Speaker 2>myself how to make it and it was so good.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, we're about to see ac if you could tap them,

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<v Speaker 1>turn me, turn me, tell that frog cabbage eating pepper

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<v Speaker 1>eating person please, yes, food, yes, So while that's getting

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<v Speaker 1>nice and hot, can you tell me what was going

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<v Speaker 1>on in this air or the air of I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know if you're gonna take me all the way back

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<v Speaker 1>to boiled cabbage or just cab, but take me back.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, we'll start at We'll start at the fried cabbage era. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>what was going on at this point in time? I

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<v Speaker 2>was working for a pretty well known talk show at

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<v Speaker 2>the time, and you know, I was getting paid all right,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I wasn't making that much money, but I

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<v Speaker 2>was really looking forward to getting promoted at that show.

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<v Speaker 2>At the time, I was an associate producer. I had

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<v Speaker 2>been working there for three years. Which show? Is it

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<v Speaker 2>for the Doctor Phil Show?

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<v Speaker 1>I thought you were gonna say that, Yeah, And this

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<v Speaker 1>is based in New York or it was here.

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<v Speaker 2>We actually shot at a Paramount Studios, So I was

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<v Speaker 2>working on the studio lot, which was amazing, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>dream come true type stuff. The first year because you know,

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<v Speaker 2>moved to La New Here. So that was the dream, right, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I have been working there for three years, up for

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<v Speaker 2>a promotion, and it was myself and two other white

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<v Speaker 2>girls who were up for a promotion. I'm sorry, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't mean to laugh. Just I could just foresee the

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<v Speaker 2>when go ahead, Sure can, and essentially they got promoted.

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't wow, and realized in that moment that Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>just because you guys don't see my value doesn't mean

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<v Speaker 2>that I don't have value. And at that point that

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<v Speaker 2>was when I was like, hey, I have to walk away. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>so walked away from a very stable, solid, comfy job.

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<v Speaker 1>Because you said it started out lower.

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<v Speaker 2>The pay was decent. I mean, it was okay for

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<v Speaker 2>where I was at, but after three years, it's you

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<v Speaker 2>gotta elevate, like it's time to go up. You walked

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<v Speaker 2>without no back of plan.

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<v Speaker 1>I walked without any kind of backup plan.

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<v Speaker 2>But like, the only thing I knew was that that

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<v Speaker 2>wasn't gonna work for me. So was it like an

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<v Speaker 2>emotional walk off or was.

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<v Speaker 1>It like like, oh that's the move, I'm out and

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<v Speaker 1>you through stuff in a box. Or was it like

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<v Speaker 1>I went home, talked to my girlfriends. It still ended

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<v Speaker 1>at that conclusion.

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<v Speaker 2>No, it was I knew when I started having the

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<v Speaker 2>conversations with them about a promotion that if I wasn't

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<v Speaker 2>promoted that year, I would have to leave because for me,

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<v Speaker 2>not only was I there for three years, which I

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<v Speaker 2>don't believe in staying in any position longer than three

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<v Speaker 2>years without a title bomb I liked that, but I

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<v Speaker 2>also was doing the work of the role that I

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<v Speaker 2>wanted to be promoted to, and they knew that. So

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<v Speaker 2>for me, it's like you're having me do the work.

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<v Speaker 2>They even went as far as asking me to train

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<v Speaker 2>the other person they promoted. I said, absolutely not. I'm

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<v Speaker 2>not gonna do that. Y'all are crazy, you know, as

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<v Speaker 2>crazy as that I feel, I had to.

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<v Speaker 1>I actually experienced that once. And you're training someone that's

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<v Speaker 1>gonna be above you. Does just the irony of it, like.

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<v Speaker 2>How in the world does that make any sense? And

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<v Speaker 2>to who?

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<v Speaker 1>So did you train these two girls that were working

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<v Speaker 1>with you?

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<v Speaker 2>I did not, Okay, and that's when I walked away.

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<v Speaker 2>Did they ask you to Yeah, they asked me to train.

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<v Speaker 2>So it was kind of like a thing where essentially

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<v Speaker 2>what am I saying essentially like we were going on

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<v Speaker 2>a hiatus, so like every season, like we'll take the

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<v Speaker 2>summer off and then we'll come back in August and

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<v Speaker 2>the show starts back up again. So they were kind

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<v Speaker 2>of putting together all of who was going to be

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<v Speaker 2>in what position coming into the next season. And so

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<v Speaker 2>at that point before we went on hiatus, that was

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<v Speaker 2>when the conversations were happening about who was going to

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<v Speaker 2>be promoted, training all of that fun stuff, because we

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<v Speaker 2>knew at one point that one of the girls was

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<v Speaker 2>automatically going to be promoted, and that's the one that

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<v Speaker 2>they asked me to train. The other one kind of

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<v Speaker 2>came as a surprise. Why did they Why did we

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<v Speaker 2>know that the one was going to get promoted? She

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<v Speaker 2>had a little bit more time in the industry. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>which I get that. I totally understand that, But you

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<v Speaker 2>still had the trainer. I mean, I didn't train her,

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<v Speaker 2>But that's what I'm saying.

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<v Speaker 1>That was the request, That was the requests, And yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>they were saying when they say trainer, you mean trainer

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<v Speaker 1>on the workings of the Phil Show, or trainer.

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<v Speaker 2>On on that position that I was that we were

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<v Speaker 2>both looking to move into. Got it. Yeah, because again,

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<v Speaker 2>I was already doing the role. Yeah, without the pay,

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<v Speaker 2>without the title, you know, all that fun stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>But you still were saying that it was you understood

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<v Speaker 1>why they promoted her.

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<v Speaker 2>Though I understood why they promoted her. I didn't understand

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<v Speaker 2>why they promoted the other girl. Got it? Who was

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<v Speaker 2>who started after me in a lower position than me,

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<v Speaker 2>and somehow she got promoted before me. Yeah, so you

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<v Speaker 2>know you can you can do the math. You can

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<v Speaker 2>figure all that out on your own. So you walked away.

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<v Speaker 2>I walked away. I booked a trip to Europe and said,

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<v Speaker 2>I'll wait and see what the email comes back with.

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<v Speaker 2>If you guys send me an offer, amazing, If you don't, amazing.

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<v Speaker 1>Wait a minute, you sent them an email like or

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<v Speaker 1>what basically an ultimatum type of email.

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<v Speaker 2>No, no, no, not an ultimatum. But essentially I was

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<v Speaker 2>waiting to hear back if either of my contract was

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<v Speaker 2>going to be renewed at the same rate, or if

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<v Speaker 2>it was going to be renewed with a promotion. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>and so essentially, when I did get the email that

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<v Speaker 2>you know they were not going to promote me, but

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<v Speaker 2>they still wanted me to come back in the same position,

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<v Speaker 2>I said absolutely not. Good job, thank you, but no thanks. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>how broke? Were just where the dishones in? Listen? Listen? Absolutely?

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<v Speaker 2>So I told you I found that creole restaurant, loved it.

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<v Speaker 2>Did you get you're in Europe? I shared it that

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<v Speaker 2>shir did. Yep. I was like, but you know what,

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<v Speaker 2>It's fine. I'd rather be sad in Europe than said

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<v Speaker 2>at home.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, how long were you in Europe for? It wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>enough to ruin the vacation, was it?

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<v Speaker 2>No? I wasn't letting that ruin anything. Job. I like

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<v Speaker 2>you at all. All right, I want to turn this

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<v Speaker 2>down a little bit because we're okay. So then you

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<v Speaker 2>come home. So I come home, Like I said, I

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<v Speaker 2>found that amazing creole restaurant. And at this point I'm jobless.

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<v Speaker 2>So I was like, I need to figure out how

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<v Speaker 2>to make this myself. You had you had savings, right,

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, yeah, I have some savings. I'm good hit

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<v Speaker 2>that money management.

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<v Speaker 1>Guys.

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<v Speaker 2>She didn't just walk with two dollars exactly. And I knew,

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<v Speaker 2>like again, just because they didn't see the value, I

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<v Speaker 2>knew that I was destined for greatness. I was going

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<v Speaker 2>to be able to get something else. Okay, So took

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<v Speaker 2>some time off started making my own red pepper cabbage

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<v Speaker 2>because I wasn't about to be paying a restaurant at

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<v Speaker 2>the time. So like the last couple of times you

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<v Speaker 2>ate to use like, I think I gotta do this. Listen.

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<v Speaker 2>It was one point I was like, you know what,

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<v Speaker 2>I think I can figure this out on my own.

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<v Speaker 2>I love this for you, thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>So then you you're eating red cabbage cabbage at home.

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<v Speaker 1>Now what's the next play while you eating this fry

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<v Speaker 1>cabbage watching your savings dwindor.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes. So at that point I had kind of made

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<v Speaker 2>up in my mind and said I have to be

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<v Speaker 2>promoted to this producer position by the end of the year.

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<v Speaker 2>So I told myself I'd be willing to take one

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<v Speaker 2>more position as an associate producer if I knew that

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<v Speaker 2>it was going to get me to where I wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to be. And so I actually kind of pivoted a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit out of TV production and I went into casting.

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<v Speaker 2>So I did one job as an associate producer for

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<v Speaker 2>a casting company that I was working with, and had

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<v Speaker 2>started just having the conversations with the boss like, hey, like,

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<v Speaker 2>I love working for you, but if you want to

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<v Speaker 2>bring me back next year. I have to come back

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<v Speaker 2>as a producer. Okay, and literally I showed out. I

0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:35.120
<v Speaker 2>did my work like head down was fantastic. The next season,

0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:39.000
<v Speaker 2>she promoted me to casting producer. Yeah, and that show

0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:41.760
<v Speaker 2>that I was a casting producer for was actually Love Island,

0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.840
<v Speaker 2>the first season of the US version here Okay, Yeah.

0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.960
<v Speaker 1>Now, do you think that the transparency up front of

0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.920
<v Speaker 1>like saying that helped you in that particular case versus

0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:53.800
<v Speaker 1>like just working and not saying anything.

0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:55.760
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, And that was one of the things that I

0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.560
<v Speaker 2>feel like I had kind of failed in on my

0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:00.719
<v Speaker 2>part with Doctor Phil was that I started having those

0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:04.240
<v Speaker 2>conversations too late, and I felt like I always thought

0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:05.560
<v Speaker 2>that if I just keep my head down and do

0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:07.520
<v Speaker 2>the work, the work will speak for me. Yeah, but

0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:09.199
<v Speaker 2>sometimes you gotta speak for yourself too.

0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:11.559
<v Speaker 1>I one hundred percent agree with that, because sometimes people

0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.000
<v Speaker 1>have so much going on they don't know even though

0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:15.640
<v Speaker 1>it does seem like there was a little bit of

0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.560
<v Speaker 1>unfair play going on. Yeah, but that's just a good

0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:20.800
<v Speaker 1>thing to know for everybody at home.

0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:23.600
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but you got to speak up for yourself because

0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:25.880
<v Speaker 2>no one's gonna They're not just gonna give you a promotion,

0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:29.600
<v Speaker 2>they'll say, hey, great job, You're doing great work the end.

0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:33.199
<v Speaker 1>So then what happens after Love is Blind, Love Island Live,

0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:34.319
<v Speaker 1>Love Island Sorry?

0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:38.880
<v Speaker 2>After that, Love Isolence, I know, so so many shows.

0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.080
<v Speaker 2>After that, I got my producer title and then I

0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.240
<v Speaker 2>just kept it pushing from there. I did a little

0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:48.520
<v Speaker 2>bit more casting and with casting. So with TV production,

0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:52.920
<v Speaker 2>you're working minimum twelve hour days. Yeah, minimum casting, it

0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.080
<v Speaker 2>is a solid nine to five. You have so much

0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:56.760
<v Speaker 2>free time, and I'm like, well, what do I do

0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:59.920
<v Speaker 2>with the rest of this time? And that's when my

0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:04.240
<v Speaker 2>co founder, Noel he is actually a filmmaker, and he

0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.600
<v Speaker 2>wanted to do this like short film screening where he

0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.080
<v Speaker 2>showed some of his films, and I was like, you

0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:11.360
<v Speaker 2>know what, I'll help you with that. I wanted to

0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.760
<v Speaker 2>get into more of like event planning anyway, so I

0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:15.880
<v Speaker 2>said I'll help with that, Like that's something I'd be

0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:20.200
<v Speaker 2>interested in. And fast forward. It now is an entire

0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:24.079
<v Speaker 2>huge film festival. How many years we are now at

0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:29.200
<v Speaker 2>year seven? Yes, geez, how was that first year? Oh? Man?

0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:31.679
<v Speaker 2>I mean it was great. The turnout was amazing. We

0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.640
<v Speaker 2>out sold it twice, and I say that it's essentially

0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.160
<v Speaker 2>it sold out. When people left, more people came in.

0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.000
<v Speaker 2>So it just like was amazing. And it got to

0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:43.319
<v Speaker 2>the point where that next the year after people kept

0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:45.079
<v Speaker 2>asking us, well, when's the next one? When's the next one?

0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:46.319
<v Speaker 2>I was like, all right, well, I guess then needs

0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:48.440
<v Speaker 2>to be a next one, Like clearly there's a demand here,

0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:51.640
<v Speaker 2>and that turned into the Me Show Film Festival as

0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.120
<v Speaker 2>we know it. It was crazy the first year. We

0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.920
<v Speaker 2>obviously we had to self finance it, but it was

0:13:56.920 --> 0:14:00.319
<v Speaker 2>a one day, like small, small event. But how many people?

0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:02.880
<v Speaker 2>How many was it about two hundred and fifty people?

0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.600
<v Speaker 2>That's that's it. Yeah, it's small, but that's that's still

0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:07.080
<v Speaker 2>a big fee. Yeah.

0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.719
<v Speaker 1>I have a background and event planning, so I two

0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:12.400
<v Speaker 1>point fifty is especially if you can sell out and

0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.160
<v Speaker 1>you said you rotated, Now, yeah, that's a big fee,

0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.679
<v Speaker 1>especially because you have to market it and promote it

0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:20.200
<v Speaker 1>and the venue and the costs and all that exactly.

0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.520
<v Speaker 1>And that was a crash course. Now, did you end

0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:24.720
<v Speaker 1>up losing money on the first one or at least

0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:25.280
<v Speaker 1>breaking even?

0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:27.720
<v Speaker 2>No, Yeah, we didn't lose any money. We actually because

0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.960
<v Speaker 2>this was not planning to be like a whole business,

0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:34.440
<v Speaker 2>a whole festival. Whole company. We actually donated the proceeds

0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.560
<v Speaker 2>to a nonprofit. I love that, Yes, because we partner

0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.520
<v Speaker 2>with the nonprofit that focused on helping homeless youth, and

0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.880
<v Speaker 2>so we just donated the proceeds and then once it

0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.200
<v Speaker 2>kind of came back around the next year and people

0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:48.760
<v Speaker 2>were like, all right, let's let's get the snacks on

0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.400
<v Speaker 2>pop and we're like, all right, well, let's sell some tickets.

0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:52.920
<v Speaker 2>Let's like, if we're going to do it, let's do

0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:53.520
<v Speaker 2>it right. Yeah.

0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:59.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, So when you engaged in the nonprofit, how

0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.840
<v Speaker 1>did that whole structure end up coming about?

0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.640
<v Speaker 2>Sorry, honest in the business. Honestly, we had a friend

0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:11.040
<v Speaker 2>who worked at the nonprofit and it just was a

0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:15.440
<v Speaker 2>very simple easy thing to do. We wanted some of

0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.240
<v Speaker 2>their youth that they served to come out and just

0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:21.479
<v Speaker 2>be able to you know, mix and mingle with the filmmakers,

0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.640
<v Speaker 2>watch the film, just kind of have a fun day out,

0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:28.360
<v Speaker 2>fun experience. But that's something that we have done quite

0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:31.720
<v Speaker 2>a few years of the festival with different nonprofits, different organizations,

0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.840
<v Speaker 2>just getting their youth activated, because it's important to know that,

0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.480
<v Speaker 2>you know, even though your circumstances might not be great

0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:39.880
<v Speaker 2>right now, like you can still achieve something, and it's

0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:41.040
<v Speaker 2>important to be able to see that.

0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:41.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:44.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So are you still doing television production on the

0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.000
<v Speaker 2>side or over Listen, I do a little bit of

0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:52.640
<v Speaker 2>everything at this point. So essentially, let me see here

0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.920
<v Speaker 2>we did six Last year was our sixth year doing

0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:59.400
<v Speaker 2>the festival, and at this point I've kind of transitioned

0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.800
<v Speaker 2>away from running the day to day operations of the

0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.680
<v Speaker 2>festival and have transitioned back into more of like the

0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.480
<v Speaker 2>TV film side of things. You're on the creative side

0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:13.560
<v Speaker 2>the business, yes, okay, yeah, yeah, so, and I mean

0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:14.160
<v Speaker 2>that's funny.

0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.560
<v Speaker 1>Started as the creative right, yes, and then you were

0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:19.160
<v Speaker 1>the business and now you guys swamped.

0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.640
<v Speaker 2>Yes okay, well no, not not that we swabbed. More so,

0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:26.480
<v Speaker 2>I'm more focusing on TV and film development at this point. Yeah.

0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.960
<v Speaker 1>Oh, you're focused on TV and development in general or

0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:34.440
<v Speaker 1>in general in regards to me, show in general in general. Yeah,

0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:35.640
<v Speaker 1>what are you doing on S side?

0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.760
<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm glad you asked. So essentially, I've been in

0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:44.160
<v Speaker 2>a transition period. I realized quite a few years ago

0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:47.600
<v Speaker 2>actually that I really wanted to start presuming pursuing the

0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:52.040
<v Speaker 2>executive track, which is developing shows and films and giving

0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.360
<v Speaker 2>notes to the creatives and packaging the projects. So that's

0:16:55.360 --> 0:17:00.040
<v Speaker 2>something that really really spoke to me, okay for and

0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.360
<v Speaker 2>it's so crazy because I've penciled on that's muscle.

0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.760
<v Speaker 1>But love how I wasn't even surprised hearing you say,

0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:14.320
<v Speaker 1>like you're already targeting executive You're very much this is

0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.880
<v Speaker 1>comfortable for one day, but I need to focus on

0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:18.840
<v Speaker 1>moving forward.

0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:20.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I am not at.

0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:25.000
<v Speaker 1>All surprised that you were saying the executive track. That's

0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.760
<v Speaker 1>very impressive, by thank you. I appreciate your personality is.

0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:33.560
<v Speaker 2>Like growth growth, Okay, stable growth. It said three years

0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:37.240
<v Speaker 2>right yep, so okay, yep exactly. But yeah, that was

0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:40.560
<v Speaker 2>something that like it just kept like pushing on me.

0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:42.320
<v Speaker 2>You know, at some point it's like, all right, I

0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.360
<v Speaker 2>gotta do this, Like I can't stay right, Like it's

0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:48.640
<v Speaker 2>time to move forward. So that's kind of what I've

0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:50.879
<v Speaker 2>been focusing on now. And obviously worst time in the

0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:52.800
<v Speaker 2>industry to even try to get a job to try

0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:54.640
<v Speaker 2>and pivot to the thing, but you know, God is good.

0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.040
<v Speaker 2>So right now I'm actually working at the Latino Film

0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.840
<v Speaker 2>Institute as their manager of Industry, and essentially I'm overseeing

0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:06.040
<v Speaker 2>their entire slate of productions through their fellowship programs, and

0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:08.800
<v Speaker 2>it is amazing. It's everything I could have asked for.

0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:12.360
<v Speaker 2>I'm watching cuts every day, I'm reading scripts every day,

0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.040
<v Speaker 2>I'm giving notes. It's so much work, but I enjoy

0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:18.080
<v Speaker 2>it so much. Is it like a twelve hour day? No,

0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.920
<v Speaker 2>it's not a twelve hour yeah? Yeah? No, thankfully?

0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.080
<v Speaker 1>Do you still now get to still plan trips to like?

0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:27.280
<v Speaker 1>I like how you were, Like I traveled to Europe,

0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.399
<v Speaker 1>and I sure do.

0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:32.480
<v Speaker 2>I love I love traveling. I love going out of town.

0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:36.000
<v Speaker 2>My mom, my, sister and I we went to Barcelona

0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:40.359
<v Speaker 2>last year. It was great. Wow, it was amazing. Guys

0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.760
<v Speaker 2>are family goals. I appreciate that. I just want to

0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:48.080
<v Speaker 2>see what it looks like. Okay, it's about ready, really, Yeah,

0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:50.520
<v Speaker 2>it's a nice, easy quick meal. Did you put the

0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.000
<v Speaker 2>peppers in already? Is that paying assention? I only put

0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:55.800
<v Speaker 2>a couple of them in there, though I did. It

0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:57.280
<v Speaker 2>smells good? Good.

0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:01.520
<v Speaker 1>What I want to backcheck because I kind of have

0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:04.600
<v Speaker 1>an idea of where you are at today. Can you

0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:07.240
<v Speaker 1>tell me a little bit of your your upbringing and

0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:10.720
<v Speaker 1>how TV ended up crossing past as like a priority

0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:11.040
<v Speaker 1>for you.

0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:15.800
<v Speaker 2>Oh, absolutely so. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. My

0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.520
<v Speaker 2>dad is a pastor. My mom is a court reporter.

0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:22.080
<v Speaker 2>She also preaches at times as well, but she's a

0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.440
<v Speaker 2>court reporter. I mean we had I had a great upbringing,

0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:32.240
<v Speaker 2>like I yeah, upper middle class. Yeah, he was also

0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.920
<v Speaker 2>a professor. My dad is a hustler. He's from Harlem,

0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:39.440
<v Speaker 2>like he listen, my work ethic comes from that man.

0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:42.840
<v Speaker 2>But my mom is where I get my love of

0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:46.400
<v Speaker 2>TV and film from. I just remember it was always

0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:49.320
<v Speaker 2>a thing growing up. We will always just watch TV together,

0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:51.920
<v Speaker 2>Like you know, back then it was appointment television. If

0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:54.120
<v Speaker 2>you missed it, you missed it. There wasn't anything else

0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:58.919
<v Speaker 2>you can right. My mom watched a soap opera. Yeah

0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.800
<v Speaker 2>it was serious, right, so you didn't miss that that show,

0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.920
<v Speaker 2>Like you planned your schedule arounds like, oh, this new

0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:08.800
<v Speaker 2>season's coming on, like we're gonna be in front of

0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:12.840
<v Speaker 2>the TV. Damn, I got about the right. It's so nice.

0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:16.000
<v Speaker 2>But I think it just helps like create a little

0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.760
<v Speaker 2>element of community, like you know, we're all watching the

0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:23.840
<v Speaker 2>same thing on our own schedules apart, right, exactly. My

0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.280
<v Speaker 2>mom's always loved just great movies. She's always loved the classics,

0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:31.080
<v Speaker 2>so she started watching those with me from a very

0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.240
<v Speaker 2>early age. And then as I got older, then we

0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:35.560
<v Speaker 2>started watching the R rated stuff, and like she took

0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:38.480
<v Speaker 2>pride and introducing me to like the great films. Yeah,

0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:41.560
<v Speaker 2>so I'm still together. They are yep, shout outs to

0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:44.760
<v Speaker 2>marry folk made it. Yes, they sure did.

0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:48.240
<v Speaker 1>But now you said your mom and your your sister

0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:50.240
<v Speaker 1>travel with you. Your dad wasn't a part of the.

0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:52.360
<v Speaker 2>No, my dad's not getting on a flight that long.

0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.040
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, he likes to travel, but he likes to

0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:56.879
<v Speaker 2>be on the beach and that's it. Okay, So what

0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:00.199
<v Speaker 2>he has like a five hour minimum pretty much? Oh

0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.399
<v Speaker 2>not even ten hours? You get him about five. Him

0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.159
<v Speaker 2>and my mom went to Paris one time for the anniversary.

0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:10.560
<v Speaker 2>He was like, cool, did it done? He's probably like

0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:13.280
<v Speaker 2>if it ain't first class on a five or more flight,

0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.040
<v Speaker 2>I'm not Melissa, And he's like, I'm not doing it.

0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.120
<v Speaker 2>So I'm not mad at him. I'm not mad at him.

0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:23.399
<v Speaker 2>So okay, So you start falling in love with film

0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:27.240
<v Speaker 2>because of this bonding situation with your mom, and then

0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:30.880
<v Speaker 2>you decide you're going to go off to college. Well, so, actually,

0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.600
<v Speaker 2>my story really kind of starts in high school. So

0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:37.879
<v Speaker 2>my senior year of high school, I was talking to

0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:39.560
<v Speaker 2>well before my senior ye of high school, like the

0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:41.919
<v Speaker 2>summer leading into it, talking to a friend, and she

0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.520
<v Speaker 2>was telling me about how she was taking a broadcasting

0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:47.000
<v Speaker 2>class at her school and I was like, man, that

0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:50.879
<v Speaker 2>sounds great. I wish my school offered that. And I

0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:53.520
<v Speaker 2>don't remember all of the pieces of how it happened,

0:21:53.520 --> 0:21:55.840
<v Speaker 2>but long story short, I ended up switching high school

0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:59.320
<v Speaker 2>specifically to take a broadcasting class. You did the elevator,

0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:03.480
<v Speaker 2>Mom and Dad, that's been one he Honestly, I was like, hey, guys,

0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:06.679
<v Speaker 2>like it was going into my senior year. So my

0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:10.040
<v Speaker 2>last year of high school, I did. I did. I

0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:12.119
<v Speaker 2>was like, I feel like this is the class that

0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:15.200
<v Speaker 2>I have to take, Like I want this. That was Yeah,

0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:19.120
<v Speaker 2>it wasn't hard. It wasn't too hard. Yeah, yeah at all.

0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:21.320
<v Speaker 2>And it was like another school that was within our district,

0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:23.760
<v Speaker 2>like it just it made sense. And it also was

0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:25.600
<v Speaker 2>a bigger school. So I was like, I feel like

0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:27.879
<v Speaker 2>it's going to be a good kind of like prep

0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:30.679
<v Speaker 2>into college. So I mean, they they went with it.

0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:32.800
<v Speaker 2>We went to the orientation. Next thing, I know, I'm

0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:36.359
<v Speaker 2>in I'm in school and I am taking this broadcasting class.

0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:44.199
<v Speaker 2>I do my best, you know, forget my friends. So

0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:46.639
<v Speaker 2>I took that class, started learning, like just someone like

0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:49.800
<v Speaker 2>the basics of I wouldn't even call it filmmaking because

0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:52.480
<v Speaker 2>at that point it was I would call it content creating,

0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:55.400
<v Speaker 2>I guess, but started learning those basics, fell in love

0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:57.760
<v Speaker 2>with it even more. And then yeah, I went to

0:22:58.359 --> 0:23:03.960
<v Speaker 2>college at Georgia State University and majored in broadcasts journalism,

0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:06.359
<v Speaker 2>And I mean, it's it's been up ever since, like

0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:10.080
<v Speaker 2>it's been something that I if I didn't work in

0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:12.159
<v Speaker 2>the industry, I genuinely don't know what I would do.

0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:14.600
<v Speaker 1>So what was your first job in because I know

0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:15.880
<v Speaker 1>you went to New York for a bit.

0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:17.640
<v Speaker 2>I did. I went to New York for a little bit.

0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.640
<v Speaker 2>So my first first job was actually working at the CW.

0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:23.679
<v Speaker 2>It was also my first internship and I was a

0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:26.520
<v Speaker 2>part of their promotions team. But we also got to

0:23:27.000 --> 0:23:28.919
<v Speaker 2>got to go to a lot of different events like

0:23:28.960 --> 0:23:31.760
<v Speaker 2>sports games. We got to do a lot of like

0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:34.760
<v Speaker 2>editing and reels and things like that for the company.

0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:37.520
<v Speaker 2>So that was my first like real kind of taste

0:23:37.560 --> 0:23:41.679
<v Speaker 2>of things. But from there I really kind of started

0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:44.159
<v Speaker 2>getting my footing in the industry when I moved to

0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:48.720
<v Speaker 2>New York and I moved there for a talk show initially,

0:23:48.920 --> 0:23:50.960
<v Speaker 2>but that was a very short contract, and then I

0:23:50.960 --> 0:23:54.119
<v Speaker 2>started working with CBS this morning. I also had done

0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:57.080
<v Speaker 2>a fellowship with them back in my like interning days.

0:23:57.680 --> 0:24:00.280
<v Speaker 2>Very quickly realized news was not my jam and I

0:24:00.320 --> 0:24:03.119
<v Speaker 2>needed a little bit more commotion. Yeah, now what's news?

0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:05.199
<v Speaker 2>Was it like a fast turnover that made it not

0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:09.320
<v Speaker 2>your thing? No, it was just a little monotonous for me,

0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:14.240
<v Speaker 2>Like it's just kind of like the same formula every day.

0:24:14.359 --> 0:24:16.479
<v Speaker 2>And it didn't help that I was working overnights, Like

0:24:16.520 --> 0:24:19.320
<v Speaker 2>I came in at midnight. It's not a fun shift.

0:24:21.200 --> 0:24:23.400
<v Speaker 2>And my and then like what time did you go home?

0:24:23.520 --> 0:24:25.639
<v Speaker 2>Like about ten ten in the morning.

0:24:25.720 --> 0:24:29.320
<v Speaker 1>Yes, yeah, I'm just like I don't know about this,

0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:32.040
<v Speaker 1>And can you talk to more of the internship because

0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:34.359
<v Speaker 1>I feel like we're in a culture where everybody's fast

0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:36.880
<v Speaker 1>paced and then they hear like, you know, I think

0:24:36.920 --> 0:24:39.680
<v Speaker 1>in the entertainment industry, you definitely go through a nice

0:24:39.720 --> 0:24:41.919
<v Speaker 1>period of paying your dues. I have a feeling your

0:24:42.000 --> 0:24:45.399
<v Speaker 1>dudes was only three years, but can you talk more

0:24:45.440 --> 0:24:45.920
<v Speaker 1>about that?

0:24:46.320 --> 0:24:50.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I mean, I think, especially within the entertainment industry,

0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:53.600
<v Speaker 2>internships are so important because this is one of the

0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:57.800
<v Speaker 2>few industries where experience is more important than education. Like,

0:24:57.880 --> 0:25:00.000
<v Speaker 2>of course you should be educated. Of course, get your degree,

0:25:00.160 --> 0:25:03.760
<v Speaker 2>especially for US black people, like that's important, but you

0:25:03.960 --> 0:25:06.280
<v Speaker 2>also have to get that hands on experience so that

0:25:06.359 --> 0:25:08.800
<v Speaker 2>when you do get a job, you're not starting from scratch,

0:25:08.840 --> 0:25:10.879
<v Speaker 2>you're not starting from zero. You at least have a

0:25:11.040 --> 0:25:13.760
<v Speaker 2>little bit of an idea of what's going on and

0:25:13.800 --> 0:25:18.040
<v Speaker 2>how to do things. And for me, kind of same mentality.

0:25:18.200 --> 0:25:21.359
<v Speaker 2>I did my two unpaid internships and after that I

0:25:21.400 --> 0:25:22.920
<v Speaker 2>was like, all right, now I need to pay an internship.

0:25:22.920 --> 0:25:25.800
<v Speaker 2>I'm not working for free no more. I knew. I

0:25:25.880 --> 0:25:28.040
<v Speaker 2>knew that was coming with you. Yep, He's like, let's

0:25:28.080 --> 0:25:30.640
<v Speaker 2>move up the ladder. I tried. I tried it fun

0:25:30.720 --> 0:25:37.119
<v Speaker 2>long enough. It is FEUs. Oh yes, do it. I

0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:39.159
<v Speaker 2>actually need to taste tests because I've put my little

0:25:39.720 --> 0:25:42.000
<v Speaker 2>seasons in here. But it smells good, so I'm gonna

0:25:42.000 --> 0:25:44.320
<v Speaker 2>believe it's all right. Okay, let me get that.

0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:47.560
<v Speaker 1>You can't mess this up. It's gonna be the new

0:25:47.560 --> 0:25:51.200
<v Speaker 1>go to. Yes, I should have paid attention more, but.

0:25:51.160 --> 0:25:54.199
<v Speaker 2>I'll sing you the recipe. It's real easy. You just

0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:57.480
<v Speaker 2>seasoned a bunch of vegetables. Yeah, exactly.

0:25:57.600 --> 0:26:00.320
<v Speaker 1>Honestly, you didn't use that many onions either.

0:26:00.960 --> 0:26:03.600
<v Speaker 2>I did that. I didn't want to overwhelm too much.

0:26:05.160 --> 0:26:12.439
<v Speaker 2>Smells good, good, smells really good. I can't wait to

0:26:12.520 --> 0:26:13.040
<v Speaker 2>try you.

0:26:15.119 --> 0:26:15.280
<v Speaker 1>Now.

0:26:15.320 --> 0:26:18.520
<v Speaker 2>You eat this without anything else, usually out parrot with

0:26:18.560 --> 0:26:19.400
<v Speaker 2>some type of protein.

0:26:20.000 --> 0:26:21.879
<v Speaker 1>Like when you order at the restaurant, what do they

0:26:21.920 --> 0:26:22.359
<v Speaker 1>serve it with?

0:26:22.600 --> 0:26:27.800
<v Speaker 2>Oh? Girl, they served it with fry track. So good.

0:26:27.840 --> 0:26:30.360
<v Speaker 2>So that's how you do it. Okay, that's what they do.

0:26:35.000 --> 0:26:39.360
<v Speaker 2>Oh my god. Yeah, mm hmmm.

0:26:43.520 --> 0:26:44.040
<v Speaker 1>Mm hmm.

0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:50.199
<v Speaker 2>That is amazingly delicious. Oh thank you. Yeah, this is

0:26:50.240 --> 0:26:59.639
<v Speaker 2>this is one of my favorites. You only did the

0:26:59.680 --> 0:27:03.119
<v Speaker 2>reddin I did only do the red. I forgot to

0:27:03.119 --> 0:27:05.600
<v Speaker 2>put in the orange ones. I usually do red and green.

0:27:06.200 --> 0:27:10.480
<v Speaker 2>This is outstandingly delicious, and you're right. With some strip

0:27:10.520 --> 0:27:13.320
<v Speaker 2>it would have been great. Huh. You had to follow

0:27:13.359 --> 0:27:20.919
<v Speaker 2>all the rules of eating want broken. Listen when you

0:27:20.960 --> 0:27:23.400
<v Speaker 2>broke it a you know you can't afford the shrimp sometimes.

0:27:23.440 --> 0:27:26.399
<v Speaker 2>Have you made this for your dad? I have? And

0:27:26.440 --> 0:27:28.200
<v Speaker 2>what did he say? I made it for my family

0:27:28.280 --> 0:27:31.040
<v Speaker 2>for Christmas? This past year. They all raved about it.

0:27:31.040 --> 0:27:34.760
<v Speaker 2>They loved it. I had to send my mind yep,

0:27:35.960 --> 0:27:37.360
<v Speaker 2>like girls in it. Mm hmm.

0:27:40.400 --> 0:27:44.760
<v Speaker 1>The seasoning on this, guys, remember garlic powder, onion powder,

0:27:45.920 --> 0:27:48.159
<v Speaker 1>red pepper, paprika.

0:27:48.240 --> 0:27:51.320
<v Speaker 2>And Tony's Tony's always. I did the shout out for

0:27:51.359 --> 0:27:53.439
<v Speaker 2>you guys, so you can make this at home. She

0:27:53.560 --> 0:27:59.800
<v Speaker 2>was just, you know, spinning it in the pot. Did

0:27:59.840 --> 0:28:01.440
<v Speaker 2>you You didn't even put the butter. I didn't even

0:28:01.440 --> 0:28:03.560
<v Speaker 2>put butter in there. Would the butter have made it

0:28:03.560 --> 0:28:05.919
<v Speaker 2>that much death better? Yeah? The butter just adds a

0:28:05.920 --> 0:28:11.199
<v Speaker 2>little extra. Yeah, this is delicious. Thank you. I'm so

0:28:11.240 --> 0:28:13.960
<v Speaker 2>glad you like it a whole. I'm mad.

0:28:15.880 --> 0:28:17.639
<v Speaker 1>Out of all the guests, you're the only one that

0:28:17.680 --> 0:28:20.640
<v Speaker 1>follows the serving rule.

0:28:20.840 --> 0:28:25.800
<v Speaker 2>Yep. And the one time, the whole the whole batch.

0:28:26.440 --> 0:28:27.920
<v Speaker 2>We had the rest of this cabbage. So we can

0:28:27.920 --> 0:28:29.719
<v Speaker 2>work something out. We're gonna we're gonna do it right

0:28:29.760 --> 0:28:30.240
<v Speaker 2>when we walk.

0:28:32.640 --> 0:28:35.400
<v Speaker 1>I can see why you would get get out from

0:28:35.440 --> 0:28:37.159
<v Speaker 1>Europe and be like, I can't be eating at this

0:28:37.200 --> 0:28:40.400
<v Speaker 1>restaurant every day that at some point did you ask

0:28:40.480 --> 0:28:42.000
<v Speaker 1>one of them like, what seasoning is it?

0:28:42.360 --> 0:28:45.640
<v Speaker 2>No? I just figured out figured it out myself. That's hilarious.

0:28:45.760 --> 0:28:47.760
<v Speaker 2>Can do that. Sometimes I feel to the restaurant and be like,

0:28:48.440 --> 0:28:51.440
<v Speaker 2>do this do that with short rip. I'm gonna have

0:28:51.440 --> 0:28:54.200
<v Speaker 2>a good short rip. I promise you. It's a challenge

0:28:54.200 --> 0:28:56.760
<v Speaker 2>for me. I'm like, I, no, no, I can do

0:28:56.800 --> 0:29:00.760
<v Speaker 2>it better. I made some bomb. Oh my gosh, Yeah,

0:29:00.800 --> 0:29:03.000
<v Speaker 2>that's what I need. If I make a guy short rip,

0:29:04.120 --> 0:29:07.680
<v Speaker 2>that's how you know. I'm I'm trying to.

0:29:07.840 --> 0:29:10.880
<v Speaker 1>Really show you what I could do right right, And

0:29:10.920 --> 0:29:12.960
<v Speaker 1>I played it real well, oh it's a rep.

0:29:13.160 --> 0:29:16.440
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:29:16.560 --> 0:29:20.640
<v Speaker 1>So you're doing these internships and where does it end

0:29:20.720 --> 0:29:24.320
<v Speaker 1>up coming in from New York to Los Angeles.

0:29:24.760 --> 0:29:27.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so I was doing just like little gigs in

0:29:28.040 --> 0:29:31.040
<v Speaker 2>New York. Once I hit the news path, I was like, yeah,

0:29:31.040 --> 0:29:33.280
<v Speaker 2>this isn't for me. I got to figure something else out.

0:29:33.520 --> 0:29:35.200
<v Speaker 2>That's when I kind of bounced back into more of

0:29:35.240 --> 0:29:37.360
<v Speaker 2>like the talk show will not bounced back well, yeah,

0:29:37.360 --> 0:29:39.720
<v Speaker 2>my first show was in talk and then bounced back

0:29:39.760 --> 0:29:42.520
<v Speaker 2>to like the talk show genre, did some Court TV

0:29:43.280 --> 0:29:46.960
<v Speaker 2>and the job that I was working at the Court show.

0:29:47.160 --> 0:29:49.600
<v Speaker 2>It actually landed me back in Atlanta, which was cool

0:29:49.600 --> 0:29:51.080
<v Speaker 2>for a summer to be home with my family. And

0:29:51.160 --> 0:29:53.680
<v Speaker 2>these are all contracts? Mm hmm. Is that a little

0:29:53.680 --> 0:29:57.640
<v Speaker 2>bit freelance once you kind of well, back in the

0:29:57.720 --> 0:30:01.720
<v Speaker 2>day when I started, things are very different now. But

0:30:02.000 --> 0:30:05.440
<v Speaker 2>when I started, once you kind of started getting your

0:30:05.600 --> 0:30:08.120
<v Speaker 2>feet wet, the jobs kind of started coming.

0:30:08.520 --> 0:30:08.720
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:30:08.760 --> 0:30:13.200
<v Speaker 2>So I never was unemployed longer than I wanted to be,

0:30:14.320 --> 0:30:17.240
<v Speaker 2>really at any time until I left doctor Phil. So

0:30:17.360 --> 0:30:20.000
<v Speaker 2>for the most part, I was Okay. I would take

0:30:20.040 --> 0:30:21.760
<v Speaker 2>like a two week break off and then the phone

0:30:21.760 --> 0:30:23.520
<v Speaker 2>would ring and I'd have another job.

0:30:24.600 --> 0:30:27.160
<v Speaker 1>How are you managing money on contract? So, knowing that

0:30:27.160 --> 0:30:31.200
<v Speaker 1>that's how it is, did you make you have like

0:30:31.880 --> 0:30:34.520
<v Speaker 1>a rule on like how much you save and spend?

0:30:34.760 --> 0:30:38.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm a good saver, so I was always kind

0:30:38.120 --> 0:30:40.840
<v Speaker 2>of doing that. But I also know how to live

0:30:40.880 --> 0:30:44.800
<v Speaker 2>within my means, so I was very intentional about that. Okay. Yeah,

0:30:44.960 --> 0:30:47.200
<v Speaker 2>So no splurgeon on a shop and spreaing on a

0:30:47.280 --> 0:30:50.640
<v Speaker 2>random one. No, not too much, not too much. I

0:30:50.640 --> 0:30:52.960
<v Speaker 2>could only splurge when I was able to slurge. Do

0:30:53.040 --> 0:30:56.280
<v Speaker 2>you think doing what you love helps in that area? Absolutely?

0:30:56.640 --> 0:30:58.640
<v Speaker 2>This is one of those industries you have to you

0:30:58.760 --> 0:31:01.400
<v Speaker 2>have to love what you're doing. Is when you start off,

0:31:01.400 --> 0:31:05.360
<v Speaker 2>it doesn't pay that well. The hours are insane. Sometimes

0:31:05.400 --> 0:31:08.080
<v Speaker 2>the people you're working with are crazy, not just like

0:31:08.120 --> 0:31:12.120
<v Speaker 2>the people in your office, but also like the talent sometimes.

0:31:12.120 --> 0:31:15.920
<v Speaker 2>So you have to absolutely love what you're doing out

0:31:15.960 --> 0:31:21.400
<v Speaker 2>of TV production, festival producing, and casting.

0:31:22.440 --> 0:31:24.400
<v Speaker 1>Which what are some of the things that you liked

0:31:24.400 --> 0:31:26.080
<v Speaker 1>about each particular position?

0:31:26.480 --> 0:31:31.240
<v Speaker 2>Ooh, that's a great question. TV producing. My favorite part

0:31:31.280 --> 0:31:33.880
<v Speaker 2>was the writing. There's a lot of writing involved. I

0:31:34.000 --> 0:31:36.360
<v Speaker 2>was definitely one of the best writers when it came

0:31:36.440 --> 0:31:38.640
<v Speaker 2>to being on the Doctor Phil Show. What do you

0:31:38.680 --> 0:31:41.760
<v Speaker 2>do when you say you wrote? So for example, like

0:31:41.840 --> 0:31:45.360
<v Speaker 2>if we book someone on the show, we have sometimes

0:31:45.400 --> 0:31:47.560
<v Speaker 2>up to an hour two hour long conversations with them

0:31:47.560 --> 0:31:51.280
<v Speaker 2>to get their story, and so you're writing almost verbade

0:31:51.280 --> 0:31:54.120
<v Speaker 2>them exactly what they're telling you about their story, and

0:31:54.160 --> 0:31:56.440
<v Speaker 2>then you have to kind of go in organize it,

0:31:56.520 --> 0:31:58.239
<v Speaker 2>clean it all up, make sure it makes sense, make

0:31:58.240 --> 0:32:01.000
<v Speaker 2>sure it's an actual story that's un fun that can

0:32:01.040 --> 0:32:03.960
<v Speaker 2>then be sent to the host, which Doctor Phil, and

0:32:04.040 --> 0:32:06.160
<v Speaker 2>kind of go from there. So you're writing a ton

0:32:06.200 --> 0:32:09.320
<v Speaker 2>of information. Then we also have what we call our book,

0:32:09.680 --> 0:32:13.040
<v Speaker 2>which basically just puts together all of the different elements

0:32:13.080 --> 0:32:15.800
<v Speaker 2>that he needs to do the show, which is obviously

0:32:15.840 --> 0:32:18.720
<v Speaker 2>like the story, the pre interview that we do in

0:32:18.760 --> 0:32:22.280
<v Speaker 2>addition to like, let's say they have some type of

0:32:22.320 --> 0:32:25.080
<v Speaker 2>like receipts or like proof of something. You want to

0:32:25.080 --> 0:32:27.200
<v Speaker 2>put all of that together, you want to transcribe it.

0:32:27.200 --> 0:32:29.240
<v Speaker 2>So it's a lot of writing involved.

0:32:29.400 --> 0:32:33.160
<v Speaker 1>So before he goes on, he kind of knows the beginning,

0:32:33.160 --> 0:32:35.320
<v Speaker 1>in the middle, and the end before during.

0:32:35.080 --> 0:32:37.720
<v Speaker 2>The whole he knows everything, and it's just a matter

0:32:37.840 --> 0:32:40.440
<v Speaker 2>of us producing how the story's going to unfold. And

0:32:40.440 --> 0:32:45.200
<v Speaker 2>then do you guys also like prepare his questions or

0:32:45.240 --> 0:32:49.160
<v Speaker 2>less like. So we'll prepare the questions and then he'll

0:32:49.160 --> 0:32:51.560
<v Speaker 2>of course kind of do his own thing and ask

0:32:51.720 --> 0:32:54.400
<v Speaker 2>additional things like that and do his doctor phil thing. Okay,

0:32:54.440 --> 0:32:56.400
<v Speaker 2>so you like the writing on that m hm. Okay.

0:32:56.440 --> 0:33:01.400
<v Speaker 2>What about casting casting? Honestly, it's gonna sound terrible, but

0:33:01.440 --> 0:33:04.360
<v Speaker 2>I liked how easy casting was. Casting was just a

0:33:04.400 --> 0:33:07.920
<v Speaker 2>piece of cake after coming out of television production. It

0:33:08.000 --> 0:33:11.640
<v Speaker 2>was only that first part of talking to people, getting

0:33:11.640 --> 0:33:14.440
<v Speaker 2>their story and then submitting it to the network.

0:33:14.960 --> 0:33:17.040
<v Speaker 1>Oh, I wasn't too sure if you get to pick

0:33:17.120 --> 0:33:21.400
<v Speaker 1>the person m hm. So for reality TV, I have

0:33:21.520 --> 0:33:24.240
<v Speaker 1>this theory that they always try to pick the crazies.

0:33:25.240 --> 0:33:28.400
<v Speaker 2>Right that we can't make them too crazy because they

0:33:28.400 --> 0:33:30.000
<v Speaker 2>have to go through a psyche valve. They have to

0:33:30.000 --> 0:33:32.640
<v Speaker 2>be cleared by you guys, do do it? So you

0:33:32.680 --> 0:33:36.200
<v Speaker 2>picked the borderline the ones that would happen, like, I mean,

0:33:36.240 --> 0:33:38.320
<v Speaker 2>you got to make people who have the personalities. You

0:33:38.360 --> 0:33:40.320
<v Speaker 2>gotta have the people who are gonna have a little spice,

0:33:40.400 --> 0:33:42.440
<v Speaker 2>you know, Mike start the pot a little bit, you know,

0:33:42.440 --> 0:33:45.040
<v Speaker 2>you gotta have all of those people. How far they

0:33:45.080 --> 0:33:47.440
<v Speaker 2>border is? You know, so you are kind of looking

0:33:47.440 --> 0:33:49.640
<v Speaker 2>for the crazies though right, I wouldn't say the craziest.

0:33:49.760 --> 0:33:51.960
<v Speaker 2>I think it also depends on the show. It depends

0:33:52.000 --> 0:33:55.160
<v Speaker 2>on the network. For Love Island, it was very straight laced.

0:33:55.200 --> 0:33:57.080
<v Speaker 2>It was very it wass you have to be hot

0:33:57.160 --> 0:34:01.680
<v Speaker 2>or something definitely definitely and young, like if you said

0:34:01.760 --> 0:34:06.000
<v Speaker 2>you were thirty, there's no automatic. No what if it

0:34:06.080 --> 0:34:10.439
<v Speaker 2>was like a really hot you know, any race but white.

0:34:10.560 --> 0:34:15.359
<v Speaker 2>Obviously it would have to be in order for.

0:34:15.920 --> 0:34:19.719
<v Speaker 1>They couldn't even lie about it, huh, because you exactly exactly.

0:34:19.880 --> 0:34:23.320
<v Speaker 2>I mean you could probably get a really really really

0:34:23.400 --> 0:34:27.440
<v Speaker 2>hot thirty year old doctor. That's probably it. Like it

0:34:27.480 --> 0:34:32.080
<v Speaker 2>has to hit all of these exactly, so it's not happening.

0:34:32.280 --> 0:34:37.399
<v Speaker 1>Basically, if you're over the age of thirty, it's stock plummets.

0:34:37.719 --> 0:34:40.719
<v Speaker 2>Unfortunately for reality TV. Yeah, unfortunately, which is why I

0:34:40.719 --> 0:34:43.040
<v Speaker 2>love shows that now kind of like cater to like

0:34:43.080 --> 0:34:46.319
<v Speaker 2>an older audience, to like the one on own Ready

0:34:46.400 --> 0:34:49.920
<v Speaker 2>to Love. Everyone on that show is thirty forties, fifties.

0:34:50.000 --> 0:34:52.680
<v Speaker 2>Oh oh you know what I watched that show? Yeah,

0:34:52.719 --> 0:34:53.680
<v Speaker 2>where the older people.

0:34:54.760 --> 0:34:56.720
<v Speaker 1>But you started to realize, Man, when you get older,

0:34:56.760 --> 0:34:59.560
<v Speaker 1>you stuck in your way. Yes for real, Yes that

0:34:59.600 --> 0:35:03.240
<v Speaker 1>they are that they are just be single and according

0:35:04.160 --> 0:35:04.760
<v Speaker 1>right exactly.

0:35:04.760 --> 0:35:07.960
<v Speaker 2>I would do that. I would totally do that. So okay,

0:35:08.000 --> 0:35:10.440
<v Speaker 2>so casting that I could see what that's fun and

0:35:10.480 --> 0:35:13.560
<v Speaker 2>it's the shorter hours, right much shorter? Okay? Yeah.

0:35:13.600 --> 0:35:17.440
<v Speaker 1>So now the hardest feet, which I think is very impressive,

0:35:17.640 --> 0:35:21.680
<v Speaker 1>is the Me Show Festival. Okay, so what is the

0:35:21.680 --> 0:35:22.799
<v Speaker 1>pros and cons of that?

0:35:23.440 --> 0:35:26.600
<v Speaker 2>Man? I mean the best part for me was that

0:35:26.880 --> 0:35:31.560
<v Speaker 2>it allowed me to watch so much content and just new,

0:35:31.719 --> 0:35:35.480
<v Speaker 2>original stuff and just seeing how innovative and creative people are.

0:35:36.040 --> 0:35:38.480
<v Speaker 2>That was my favorite part. I also loved just being

0:35:38.560 --> 0:35:42.799
<v Speaker 2>able to curate how the screenings were going to go

0:35:42.880 --> 0:35:45.200
<v Speaker 2>and making them kind of flow and being able to

0:35:45.239 --> 0:35:48.040
<v Speaker 2>kind of like almost like play with people's emotions based

0:35:48.040 --> 0:35:51.839
<v Speaker 2>on what project was airing at the time. So that

0:35:51.960 --> 0:35:54.640
<v Speaker 2>part I really enjoyed. I enjoyed the curation process of

0:35:54.680 --> 0:35:57.840
<v Speaker 2>that cons I think with being entrepreneurs like you have

0:35:57.880 --> 0:36:00.040
<v Speaker 2>to do everything, so that was definitely one of the

0:36:00.080 --> 0:36:03.080
<v Speaker 2>harder parts of running the festival. Yeah, I was gonna say,

0:36:03.200 --> 0:36:07.359
<v Speaker 2>that's your first real entrepreneurship, which, by the way, for

0:36:07.400 --> 0:36:10.880
<v Speaker 2>your first time, that's impressive, thank you. I think event

0:36:10.960 --> 0:36:14.759
<v Speaker 2>management is definitely like a loose cannon. I have a

0:36:14.840 --> 0:36:17.400
<v Speaker 2>rule by the time the day of the event happens,

0:36:18.160 --> 0:36:22.759
<v Speaker 2>we should have no jobs due and still arrive at

0:36:22.800 --> 0:36:26.520
<v Speaker 2>the crack of dog yeah early, because we already know

0:36:27.360 --> 0:36:30.160
<v Speaker 2>that a fire needs to be put out on site.

0:36:30.239 --> 0:36:33.479
<v Speaker 2>And no matter how hard you prepare, always, no matter

0:36:33.480 --> 0:36:36.520
<v Speaker 2>how hard you prepare, and one little thing can just

0:36:36.760 --> 0:36:39.840
<v Speaker 2>trickle down to everything. I remember this past year we

0:36:39.880 --> 0:36:43.560
<v Speaker 2>had something where like the printer messed up, and because

0:36:43.600 --> 0:36:46.560
<v Speaker 2>the printer messed up, we didn't have what we needed

0:36:46.600 --> 0:36:50.400
<v Speaker 2>for the opening day, So then one of our leads

0:36:50.440 --> 0:36:52.560
<v Speaker 2>had to go run to the printer of the opening day,

0:36:53.360 --> 0:36:55.279
<v Speaker 2>so we're down a person. I'm just and it just

0:36:55.320 --> 0:36:58.279
<v Speaker 2>it affects everything. It's such a domino effect. So it's like, yeah,

0:36:58.320 --> 0:37:00.880
<v Speaker 2>that that event production, you never know what's gonna happen.

0:37:00.960 --> 0:37:02.680
<v Speaker 2>The only thing you know is that nothing's gonna go

0:37:02.840 --> 0:37:03.440
<v Speaker 2>all the way right.

0:37:03.520 --> 0:37:06.000
<v Speaker 1>Ye ever, yeah, nothing's gonna go all the way right.

0:37:06.040 --> 0:37:10.000
<v Speaker 1>And then that pre execution has to be above beyond,

0:37:10.200 --> 0:37:12.799
<v Speaker 1>Like you can never be like everything's done, everything's done,

0:37:12.800 --> 0:37:14.480
<v Speaker 1>We're gonna show up two hours in the morning. We're

0:37:14.480 --> 0:37:15.480
<v Speaker 1>gonna have our hair and make up done.

0:37:16.760 --> 0:37:20.160
<v Speaker 2>If everything's done, something's wrong. It's not gonna.

0:37:19.920 --> 0:37:23.240
<v Speaker 1>Happen right, You're gonna get the poster boards or something

0:37:23.360 --> 0:37:27.120
<v Speaker 1>is gonna have something wrong or whatever.

0:37:28.280 --> 0:37:31.920
<v Speaker 2>But that's all interesting. Now, where do you see yourself

0:37:31.960 --> 0:37:35.279
<v Speaker 2>going from here? From here? Now, I feel like I

0:37:35.320 --> 0:37:40.880
<v Speaker 2>am kind of in the space of like passion meeting

0:37:40.880 --> 0:37:43.360
<v Speaker 2>purpose and I felt that a lot while working with

0:37:43.400 --> 0:37:45.879
<v Speaker 2>the festival as well, but now I feel like it's

0:37:46.280 --> 0:37:49.880
<v Speaker 2>it's a deeper space of that. So from here, like

0:37:49.920 --> 0:37:52.520
<v Speaker 2>I said, right now, I'm managing a slate of productions

0:37:52.520 --> 0:37:55.480
<v Speaker 2>with Latino Film Institute, and I think in a few

0:37:55.560 --> 0:37:57.440
<v Speaker 2>years my goal would be to be working at a

0:37:57.440 --> 0:38:01.160
<v Speaker 2>traditional studio or streamer and really being able to have

0:38:01.600 --> 0:38:05.040
<v Speaker 2>the power to green light projects, green light original projects,

0:38:05.040 --> 0:38:07.399
<v Speaker 2>green light projects from people of color, and make sure

0:38:07.440 --> 0:38:10.839
<v Speaker 2>that we're all represented in this industry. I love that.

0:38:10.880 --> 0:38:15.120
<v Speaker 1>And when you say it, I believe it's going to say

0:38:15.520 --> 0:38:16.640
<v Speaker 1>thank you.

0:38:16.920 --> 0:38:21.120
<v Speaker 2>I'm not joking at all. Believe it. Yeah, you believe

0:38:21.120 --> 0:38:24.600
<v Speaker 2>it too. Absolutely, You've proven to yourself time and time again.

0:38:25.239 --> 0:38:28.200
<v Speaker 2>You hit the mark. Yeah right, yeah, and I mean listen,

0:38:28.920 --> 0:38:32.279
<v Speaker 2>daughter of pastors. So with God, all things are possible. Like, yes,

0:38:32.320 --> 0:38:35.759
<v Speaker 2>I work very hard, but the Lord we like this,

0:38:36.000 --> 0:38:39.000
<v Speaker 2>like he yeah, yeah, he works overtime for me. Do

0:38:39.040 --> 0:38:40.680
<v Speaker 2>you believe when you pray you have to pray a

0:38:40.719 --> 0:38:41.400
<v Speaker 2>certain way?

0:38:41.600 --> 0:38:41.640
<v Speaker 1>No?

0:38:42.080 --> 0:38:46.160
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so random. I was just curious. I did a

0:38:46.200 --> 0:38:50.680
<v Speaker 2>lot of I feel like I've manifested or spoken it

0:38:50.680 --> 0:38:52.680
<v Speaker 2>into existence, as we like to say in church, a

0:38:52.719 --> 0:38:56.480
<v Speaker 2>lot of my life right now. Like I said, when

0:38:56.520 --> 0:38:58.919
<v Speaker 2>I was trying to transition into what I'm doing now,

0:38:59.080 --> 0:39:01.000
<v Speaker 2>one of the worst times in the industry, people weren't

0:39:01.040 --> 0:39:03.239
<v Speaker 2>hiring and I would reach out to people and say, hey, like,

0:39:03.280 --> 0:39:05.480
<v Speaker 2>I'm really trying to work in development, and they would

0:39:05.480 --> 0:39:07.680
<v Speaker 2>just say, oh, there's no jobs in that while I'm

0:39:07.719 --> 0:39:10.319
<v Speaker 2>working in it. Yeah, and I mean it took. It

0:39:10.360 --> 0:39:13.360
<v Speaker 2>took some time, but there was never a single point

0:39:13.800 --> 0:39:16.120
<v Speaker 2>where I thought it wasn't going to happen. I just

0:39:16.239 --> 0:39:18.840
<v Speaker 2>I knew that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

0:39:19.440 --> 0:39:22.439
<v Speaker 2>Something will come out, something will happen, and it did.

0:39:22.880 --> 0:39:26.279
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, what advice would you give to someone out there

0:39:26.360 --> 0:39:29.440
<v Speaker 1>trying to get into the TV production side, or even

0:39:29.480 --> 0:39:32.799
<v Speaker 1>the film festival side, or trying to get their film

0:39:33.080 --> 0:39:35.799
<v Speaker 1>in the Me Show Festival. And by the way, we

0:39:35.840 --> 0:39:37.239
<v Speaker 1>got to spell it out for you guys, because I

0:39:37.239 --> 0:39:40.080
<v Speaker 1>don't want you googling it the way I'm saying it

0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:45.560
<v Speaker 1>mad at me because it's spelled a little fun Yeah, respectfully, Yes, yes,

0:39:45.640 --> 0:39:46.760
<v Speaker 1>go ahead, we could spell.

0:39:46.520 --> 0:39:48.680
<v Speaker 2>It out, so I'll spell it. And it's based off

0:39:48.719 --> 0:39:52.120
<v Speaker 2>of Oscar Michell, who was the first black filmmaker in

0:39:52.320 --> 0:39:55.799
<v Speaker 2>the US. So he produced over forty four feature length

0:39:55.800 --> 0:39:58.520
<v Speaker 2>projects from the nineteen twenty to the nineteen forties, which

0:39:59.080 --> 0:40:02.759
<v Speaker 2>is incredible today's standard, but like way back then, I

0:40:02.760 --> 0:40:04.520
<v Speaker 2>have no idea how he did it. But it's the

0:40:04.560 --> 0:40:07.239
<v Speaker 2>ME Show Films Festival and it's spelled m I C

0:40:07.680 --> 0:40:11.160
<v Speaker 2>H E A U X so a little French in there.

0:40:11.760 --> 0:40:13.879
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well, now we know the history so we can

0:40:13.920 --> 0:40:14.640
<v Speaker 1>also google.

0:40:15.760 --> 0:40:19.480
<v Speaker 2>Yes. Great, great planning on that one. So was Mike.

0:40:19.600 --> 0:40:24.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm just saying, oh, advice, advice, Yan. Yeah, I'm not

0:40:24.239 --> 0:40:26.160
<v Speaker 2>gonna lie. I'm not the person's going to sugarcoat. It's

0:40:26.160 --> 0:40:29.400
<v Speaker 2>hard right now, it's very hard to break into the industry.

0:40:29.440 --> 0:40:33.600
<v Speaker 2>There are less show shooting, there are less jobs available,

0:40:34.400 --> 0:40:36.759
<v Speaker 2>but that doesn't mean it's not possible. I was at

0:40:36.800 --> 0:40:41.359
<v Speaker 2>a screening where Uzzo a Duba I want to say

0:40:41.360 --> 0:40:44.800
<v Speaker 2>it's her last name. She said something that really stuck

0:40:44.800 --> 0:40:47.400
<v Speaker 2>with me, and she said, just because it's hard doesn't

0:40:47.440 --> 0:40:51.000
<v Speaker 2>mean it's impossible. And I feel like that is the

0:40:51.080 --> 0:40:53.239
<v Speaker 2>advice that I have for people trying to break into

0:40:53.239 --> 0:40:55.759
<v Speaker 2>the industry. Yeah, it's gonna be tough. It's always been

0:40:55.800 --> 0:40:59.000
<v Speaker 2>a hard industry and now it's even harder. But if

0:40:59.040 --> 0:41:02.120
<v Speaker 2>this is something that you feel your call to, then

0:41:02.520 --> 0:41:04.279
<v Speaker 2>get out there and make it happen. Because you can

0:41:04.400 --> 0:41:07.160
<v Speaker 2>open doors, it can happen. And then also, you gotta

0:41:07.200 --> 0:41:09.520
<v Speaker 2>love it. You gotta love it. It's too difficult not

0:41:09.560 --> 0:41:11.319
<v Speaker 2>to love it. And if you don't love it, you

0:41:11.360 --> 0:41:12.160
<v Speaker 2>won't succeed.

0:41:12.360 --> 0:41:16.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and then how important are relationships? Would you say

0:41:16.760 --> 0:41:18.960
<v Speaker 1>to this because I feel like relationships are everything.

0:41:19.200 --> 0:41:23.239
<v Speaker 2>They are everything, one hundred percent. It's so funny. When

0:41:23.239 --> 0:41:25.560
<v Speaker 2>I was actually applying for jobs, I just felt like

0:41:25.600 --> 0:41:27.239
<v Speaker 2>I was applying into the void, and I was like,

0:41:27.280 --> 0:41:29.680
<v Speaker 2>I've never gotten a single job that I just clicked

0:41:29.680 --> 0:41:32.759
<v Speaker 2>apply for. It's always been someone calling my phone or

0:41:32.800 --> 0:41:36.400
<v Speaker 2>me calling someone's phone and saying, Hey, I'm looking for work.

0:41:36.800 --> 0:41:40.520
<v Speaker 2>So I think having those relationships are so important. Hollywood

0:41:40.600 --> 0:41:43.399
<v Speaker 2>runs on relationships, Like if you don't know people, if

0:41:43.400 --> 0:41:45.240
<v Speaker 2>people don't know you, if they don't know the quality

0:41:45.239 --> 0:41:47.440
<v Speaker 2>of your work, it just makes it that much harder.

0:41:48.040 --> 0:41:52.880
<v Speaker 2>And I think also just capitalizing on those relationships, like

0:41:52.920 --> 0:41:55.239
<v Speaker 2>you have to tell people what you're looking for. You

0:41:55.280 --> 0:41:58.560
<v Speaker 2>have to be specific and direct. There's so many times

0:41:58.680 --> 0:42:01.040
<v Speaker 2>people are like, hey, do you know of any jobs

0:42:01.080 --> 0:42:04.400
<v Speaker 2>hiring for what? Like, what are you looking for? What

0:42:04.440 --> 0:42:06.319
<v Speaker 2>do you want to do? So I always just try

0:42:06.320 --> 0:42:09.719
<v Speaker 2>to tell people just be specific about your ask, be

0:42:09.840 --> 0:42:11.840
<v Speaker 2>direct about your ass so that people know how to

0:42:11.840 --> 0:42:13.480
<v Speaker 2>help you, because if you don't own your mouth, they

0:42:13.520 --> 0:42:15.000
<v Speaker 2>won't know. Yeah.

0:42:15.040 --> 0:42:17.920
<v Speaker 1>And then one other thing I noticed even speaking to you,

0:42:17.960 --> 0:42:19.839
<v Speaker 1>and I'm sure you could shed a lot of light

0:42:19.880 --> 0:42:21.640
<v Speaker 1>on this is Courtney L.

0:42:21.880 --> 0:42:22.280
<v Speaker 2>Branch.

0:42:22.800 --> 0:42:27.400
<v Speaker 1>Even in this conversation you're speaking of your personal brand.

0:42:27.480 --> 0:42:30.000
<v Speaker 1>You're talking about I have to grow. I have to grow.

0:42:30.080 --> 0:42:34.239
<v Speaker 1>I have to grow. I'm pursuing what I'm into. But

0:42:34.280 --> 0:42:36.880
<v Speaker 1>I think that when you're developing relationships in the industry,

0:42:36.920 --> 0:42:39.960
<v Speaker 1>people forget that personal brand touch. So if people go

0:42:40.640 --> 0:42:43.360
<v Speaker 1>if they get Courtney L. Branch is looking for this,

0:42:43.560 --> 0:42:46.759
<v Speaker 1>or Courtney L. Branch is looking for that, or Courtney L.

0:42:46.800 --> 0:42:49.520
<v Speaker 1>Branch wants to move in this direction, Courtney has a

0:42:49.560 --> 0:42:50.440
<v Speaker 1>personal brand.

0:42:50.880 --> 0:42:53.839
<v Speaker 2>Can you speak to some of that. Absolutely. I mean,

0:42:53.880 --> 0:42:56.799
<v Speaker 2>I think what my personal brand is is just how

0:42:56.840 --> 0:42:59.680
<v Speaker 2>I like to show up when it comes to working.

0:42:59.719 --> 0:43:01.600
<v Speaker 2>I think people know that I have a strong work ethic.

0:43:01.640 --> 0:43:04.040
<v Speaker 2>I think they also know that I'm kind, and I

0:43:04.080 --> 0:43:07.600
<v Speaker 2>think that goes a long way, especially when preserving relationships.

0:43:08.520 --> 0:43:12.680
<v Speaker 2>And I think they know that I do quality work

0:43:12.719 --> 0:43:15.200
<v Speaker 2>and that I like to be excellent. So they know

0:43:15.280 --> 0:43:18.680
<v Speaker 2>that if COURTNEYL. Branch is hiring, then you know it's

0:43:18.760 --> 0:43:21.560
<v Speaker 2>it's a top tier it's a quality project. Or if

0:43:21.760 --> 0:43:24.279
<v Speaker 2>Courtney's working on something she's looking for writers, then you

0:43:24.320 --> 0:43:27.000
<v Speaker 2>already know there's a certain standard just because of how

0:43:27.160 --> 0:43:30.279
<v Speaker 2>I show up myself and I would never expect. I

0:43:30.320 --> 0:43:33.080
<v Speaker 2>would never expect people to show up any less than

0:43:33.080 --> 0:43:36.719
<v Speaker 2>how I would show up. Yeah, I agree. Well, you're

0:43:36.760 --> 0:43:39.279
<v Speaker 2>a beautiful person. It makes beautiful food.

0:43:40.440 --> 0:43:43.120
<v Speaker 1>And I'm gonna I'm gonna save your number my phone

0:43:43.280 --> 0:43:47.160
<v Speaker 1>because I know, probably less than a year two or three,

0:43:47.320 --> 0:43:51.719
<v Speaker 1>m Max, you don't have the opportunity to green light things.

0:43:51.600 --> 0:43:52.320
<v Speaker 2>Yes, ma'am.

0:43:52.400 --> 0:43:55.480
<v Speaker 1>You guys heard it here first, right, okay? And then

0:43:55.480 --> 0:43:57.680
<v Speaker 1>where can everybody keep up with Courtney L.

0:43:57.880 --> 0:44:03.000
<v Speaker 2>Branch? Yes, you can find me on Instagram and threads

0:44:03.080 --> 0:44:06.000
<v Speaker 2>at court produced it very simple and you can also

0:44:06.040 --> 0:44:09.359
<v Speaker 2>follow the Me Show Film Festival on all platforms at

0:44:09.520 --> 0:44:11.920
<v Speaker 2>me Show Film Fest and that's m I c h

0:44:12.040 --> 0:44:15.160
<v Speaker 2>E A u X Film Fest and submissions are open.

0:44:15.239 --> 0:44:18.279
<v Speaker 2>Passes are on sale. The festival is in October the

0:44:18.320 --> 0:44:20.279
<v Speaker 2>twenty third through the twenty sixth, So you know.

0:44:20.280 --> 0:44:23.880
<v Speaker 1>When does the when does the film submissions close?

0:44:24.120 --> 0:44:27.200
<v Speaker 2>Yes? So they are open through June for short form

0:44:27.400 --> 0:44:30.760
<v Speaker 2>and July for long form and was considered long form.

0:44:30.840 --> 0:44:34.520
<v Speaker 2>Long form is anything over fifty five minutes. Short form

0:44:34.719 --> 0:44:37.720
<v Speaker 2>is under twenty six minutes.

0:44:38.160 --> 0:44:41.960
<v Speaker 1>Okay, you guys heard it here first. Okay, heard it

0:44:42.000 --> 0:44:44.280
<v Speaker 1>here first, Jared, you heard it here first.

0:44:44.480 --> 0:44:48.359
<v Speaker 2>Okay, Jared does a lot of film productionsips. All right,

0:44:48.400 --> 0:44:51.440
<v Speaker 2>thank you guys for tuning in. Peace out, Peace

0:44:55.960 --> 0:44:59.240
<v Speaker 1>For more, eating while broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect,

0:44:59.360 --> 0:45:02.520
<v Speaker 1>Visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever

0:45:02.560 --> 0:45:04.080
<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.