How Lucas Film partnered with Black anime studio in Japan for Star Wars series
Feb 08, 2024
I had the pleasure of interviewing the talented creators behind one of the most powerful episodes of the animated anthology series Star Wars Visions Volume 2 . The episode, titled “The Pit” ais from the mind of writer/producer/director Leandre Thomas of Lucasfilm with animation provided by Arthel Isom, founder of of D’ART Shtajio. With an incredible voice cast featuring Daveed Diggs, Anika Noni Rose, and Jordyn Curet, their contribution to the acclaimed anthology series depicts a young man’s rebellion against Imperial oppression.
Leandre and Arthell shared fascinating insights into their creative collaboration, weaving meaningful real-world themes into this inventive animated Star Wars story. We discussed realizing their vision of Black characters in the Star Wars Universe and how the created a new Black character that uses the Force for the series.
Arthel Isom of D’ARt Shtajio and LeAndre Thomas of LucasFilm created “The Pit” for Star Wars Visions II
If you enjoyed this interview please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
If you enjoyed my chat with JACQUE AYE please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Sasheer Zamata on Witches, Wokeness and Women
Nov 08, 2023
According to the National Library of Medicine, video games are more than just play; they’ve been shown to help with various mental disorders, from ADHD to anxiety. That’s the heart of what we’re getting into on this week’s episode of “Theblerdgurl Podcast.” I had the chance to sit down with Derrick Hoard, aka “The Situational Therapist.” He’s a practicing therapist and a gamer, which means he really gets the potential games have for our mental health.
Derrick and I chatted about how gaming is often misunderstood. It’s not just about addiction or escape—sometimes, it’s a vital social lifeline. (This episode was set for May, but hey, better late than never, right?)
This episode is packed with insights, but remember, it’s no replacement for one-on-one professional guidance. If you find it resonates, don’t hesitate to seek out a therapist. (I’ve left a couple of resources in the show notes)
If you enjoyed my chat with JACQUE AYE please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
The Situational Therapist: Gaming Through a Mental Health Lens
Nov 04, 2023
According to the National Library of Medicine, video games are more than just play; they’ve been shown to help with various mental disorders, from ADHD to anxiety. That’s the heart of what we’re getting into on this week’s episode of “Theblerdgurl Podcast.” I had the chance to sit down with Derrick Hoard, aka “The Situational Therapist.” He’s a practicing therapist and a gamer, which means he really gets the potential games have for our mental health.
Derrick and I chatted about how gaming is often misunderstood. It’s not just about addiction or escape—sometimes, it’s a vital social lifeline. (This episode was set for May, but hey, better late than never, right?)
This episode is packed with insights, but remember, it’s no replacement for one-on-one professional guidance. If you find it resonates, don’t hesitate to seek out a therapist. (I’ve left a couple of resources in the show notes)
NOTE: DERRICK IS A LICENSED FAMILY THERAPIST NOT A CLINICAL DOCTOR.
If you enjoyed my chat with JACQUE AYE please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
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SHOW NOTES
NOTE: DERRICK IS A LICENSED FAMILY THERAPIST NOT A CLINICAL DOCTOR.
From the Boondocks to Blacula Rodney Barnes shows us how it's done
Nov 01, 2023
In this episode of THEBLERDGURL® PODCAST Karama welcomes back the multi-talented Rodney Barnes, a seasoned writer with an impressive career spanning from ’90s shows like “The Boondocks” and “Everybody Hates Chris” to his current work, “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” and “Wu Tang: An American Saga.”
During their chat, Rodney shares some exciting news about his upcoming comic project, “Florence and Normandie,” which is a cool collaboration with rapper Xzibit. and reveals Todd McFarlane agreed to a SPAWN appeaernce in “Killadelphia” .
And just in time for Halloween, Rodney has dropped the trailer for his new horror podcast, “Run Fool.” It’s perfect for horror fans who love creepy anthologies.
This was a really fun epsidoe. Please comment and subscribe!
Rodney Barnes will launch the new horror podcast ” Run Fool” in November
If you enjoyed my chat with JACQUE AYE please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Karama (00:00:00) - Rodney, I am so excited that you are back to join me. It's been a minute. I think the last time I talked to you it was my live stream on Twitch and it was like 2021, which is like 35 years ago.
Rodney (00:00:13) - That's way too long. That's way too long. I'm about ten years older. Exactly.
Karama (00:00:18) - It's like I keep telling everybody like the pandemic was the blip, so we all lost about a decade. I have some notes about what we talked about last time, and I think this is going to be really fun, sort of walk down memory lane for a second. So you were in the writers room for Winning Time season one the first time we spoke, winning Time The rise of the Lakers. Your hit show on Max now, season two just finished airing, and you've won a Black award and were nominated for an Emmy. Congrats. And you also did a podcast for that show, right?
Rodney (00:00:49) - Yes, I did the Winning Time podcast. Yeah.
Karama (00:00:52) - You also had just launched your own imprint, Zombie Love Studios, and inked a deal with Substack, where you run your Dark Apocrypha newsletter.
Karama (00:01:00) - Full disclosure I'm a subscriber. Nita Hawes: Nightmare blog, the spin off To KillAdelphia, had just come out, and you hinted that you might be doing a little something with Blacula. Yes. And now Blacula and Nita Hauser out kill Adelphia continues. You had another kids comic, I think Monster Monarch.
Rodney (00:01:21) - I did a book. Monarch. Yeah, it was a little bloody for kids, but yes.
Karama (00:01:25) - And then I saw.
Rodney (00:01:26) - Kids in it.
Karama (00:01:26) - There were kids in it.
Rodney (00:01:27) - Running for their lives. But yes, yes, poor kids.
Karama (00:01:31) - It was like anime. You were just killing them. Yeah.
Rodney (00:01:33) - There you go. There you go, there you go.
Karama (00:01:36) - And then I saw a mandalorian comic in there. Um, and then you recently you announced a comic with exhibit, and then somebody from your team sent me an Alice Cooper comic that features Prince and Michael Jackson in hell with Richard Pryor.
Rodney (00:01:53) - There you go.
Karama (00:01:54) - Yes. What are.
Rodney (00:01:55) - You. Miles Davis is in the background to. Oh my.
Karama (00:01:57) - God. So let's start with these comics, man. Uh, and also, since, you know, we're in spooky season and horror is your jam. Yep. Blacula return of the King. Yeah, that dropped January of this year, which also probably feels like 20 years ago.
Rodney (00:02:15) - It does.
Karama (00:02:16) - For those who don't know what is the premise. Is this tied to the original movie?
Rodney (00:02:20) - It is tied to it. I actually do a recap in every chapter is five chapters long and every chapter. I sort of use the movie as motivation and incentive to to sort of say why I did this. It's not literal in that sense, but why Prince Marmalade, aka Blacula is still relevant, why he fits in today's world, and then the ongoing narrative within the story is supporting that idea that he does fit in this world, and that he has a place and a significant place, and hopefully folks dig it.
Karama (00:02:59) - Well, it seems like a lot of folks are digging it. I believe that is the hardcover out.
Rodney (00:03:04) - The full hardcover comes out this spring that's actually being printed as we speak, but I think it's in previews now.
Karama (00:03:13) - And did Jason Shawn Alexander do the art on that or he did. That's your buddy. That's your partner in crime?
Rodney (00:03:19) - I don't know how when I when it's over for me and I get to wherever I'm going, I'm going to ask, what was Jason? Why do you why did y'all put me with Jason? Of all the people in the world, we have the same birthday to do.
Karama (00:03:30) - You really?
Rodney (00:03:30) - We do have the same birthday for being so different as human beings. We. It's like the universe is teasing us in some way.
Karama (00:03:38) - Wait, when's your now? I got to know. When's your birthday?
Rodney (00:03:39) - September 19th.
Karama (00:03:41) - I was just it just passed. Well, in fact, it passed a month ago. So happy belated, happy belated. Thank you very much. Jason's art is absolutely incredible. And that's one of the things that I've been like, fascinated with watching.
Karama (00:03:55) - Um, now winning time.
Rodney (00:04:00) - Winning time was canceled.
Karama (00:04:02) - Because Max canceled a lot of things this year.
Rodney (00:04:04) - It did, and we were along with it. I mean, I think it was tough. Whenever you try to bring a show in the midst of two strikes where you can't really properly promote it, a lot of people didn't even know we were back on, but very proud of the work that we did. You know, that was a it was an online campaign, I think, to try to bring the show back. And a lot of people who were outraged that the show had ended, so glad that some people loved it. And, you know, onward and upward.
Karama (00:04:36) - Absolutely. I mean, you have a long career in television and you've done so many incredible, incredible shows. I'm sure you're going to have another fantastic one next.
Rodney (00:04:47) - Lord willing.
Karama (00:04:48) - The you will. Oh, stop. Okay.
Rodney (00:04:51) - My kids are outside shipping right now. They nervous?
Karama (00:04:54) - Oh my God.
Rodney (00:04:55) - Is this it? Is it over daddy? I'm like well I don't know.
Rodney (00:04:59) - It's. Everything's got to end well.
Karama (00:05:00) - Let's talk let's talk about the strike just briefly. Because for people who don't understand that the actors union is still on strike, but the writers strike is now officially over. What was the win? What what was the the thing that you guys were able to do? And I know when I say you guys, I am clearly not referring to you yourself as the person who was doing all the negotiating, but.
Rodney (00:05:25) - I wish I was. No, I mean, I think we got we got the bumps in and pension and health care that typically we're shooting for. But I think the bigger things are limitations with AI restrictions as to how it's going to be used, larger writers rooms so that younger people get an opportunity to come in and build careers. Also, they can stay on writers get to stay on during production, which means that writers can come to set and they can learn how to actually produce and figure out how everything works. As far as the set is concerned.
Rodney (00:06:00) - And, you know, more often than not, you know, showrunners or executive producers are the only ones that stay on and come to set. And now the actual writer can as well. So there's a myriad of things. I mean, it's a really long list of stuff, but it was a win. I'm just sorry that it took so long, like so many months and there was so much acrimony. And, you know, a lot of people lost a lot of money and a lot of things, so that's unfortunate.
Karama (00:06:24) - Yeah. It's tough, you know? And like you said, a lot of people like yourself have kids, have families, have mortgages. And, you know, while you're striking, you're trying to stay afloat, you know.
Rodney (00:06:34) - Manage all that.
Karama (00:06:34) - Stuff. Yeah. It's it's it's tough. But I'm happy that a resolution was achieved. And I can't wait to see your your next TV show, too. But in the meantime, you got 157 comics. I do so.
Rodney (00:06:49) - Far too many as I look up to my board. Um, far too many books. Well, the.
Karama (00:06:55) - Last time we spoke, you said. I feel like I took a note on this. You said you you write something like 12 or 13 books a month. Are you still running at that pace?
Rodney (00:07:04) - It's 8 to 10 now. Okay. It feels like 12 to 13. Yeah.
Karama (00:07:09) - The. So. Okay, Blacula, is that getting another volume or is that okay. So you have that going on.
Rodney (00:07:17) - I want to do three volumes of Blacula. Blacula takes a little bit longer because both Jason and I are really, really busy. It's an expensive book to put together. It's a labor of love. So it's not just something that you sort of crank out.
Karama (00:07:31) - Yeah, it's very lyrical. Even the way the text comes in and out, it's not the same as your average like nine panel up, you know, fit everything in nice box.
Karama (00:07:42) - It's very inspired. You have all these other comics, these monarch now like the last one. Again, it's not necessarily for children. It's about children. It's another horror comic. The last volume drops or the next the.
Rodney (00:07:56) - Trade comes out. The trade is fortunately right. Well look at this. So this dropped about two weeks ago, a week ago I think a week ago for the trade paperback. But issue number six, which was the last issue in this miniseries, came out about two weeks before, two weeks prior.
Karama (00:08:21) - Okay. And for those who don't know what monarch is about, let's share a little bit about that.
Rodney (00:08:26) - Monarch is about an alien invasion that takes place in Compton on a regular day, seemingly above a middle school. And that's how the kids get involved. And unfortunately, many of the teachers don't make it. The kids are the only ones that do, and they have to figure out how to survive amidst it. But there is one of the kids who may not be what he appears to be, so got it.
Karama (00:08:53) - Okay, so it's, you know, attack the block, Compton. But homeroom date.
Rodney (00:08:58) - You should have. You should have done that. I wasted everybody's time. You did it way better than I did. I don't even know why you let me talk. I should just sit here. You just sold the book. I'm ready to buy six trade backs myself.
Karama (00:09:13) - Now why, Compton? Why don't you set it in Compton?
Rodney (00:09:16) - Because typically you don't see, you know, attacks from space, you know, things that have earthly implications. You know, massive scale. They typically only happen in, like, New York, LA, like over major cities. They don't they aren't very intimate. So I wanted to figure out a place that was intimate, that could speak directly to the culture. And more so than having this expansive thing. If you think Independence Day, you know, when they're over the white House and they're over certain cities and you've got the president involved, and yeah, there's some regular folks involved, but they have the power to make major decisions and affect this thing.
Rodney (00:09:56) - If you're just kids, you got to figure out how to survive. Yeah. So it's a much more intimate story.
Karama (00:10:02) - So Mandalorian, I have written one licensed comic and you've written a lot more. But in my limited experience, the playground smaller because you're playing with somebody else's toys. But is it fun to be in that Star Wars universe?
Rodney (00:10:19) - So yeah, it's an honor. It's it's an honor to be able to play in such a big world. I mean, I think I've done adaptations and just regular scripted stories, too, but with the adaptations, they're very as you said, the boundaries are a lot closer and you have to work within the margins. I'm basically making the TV show a comic book, okay, I have to take something that's an hour long and make it 30 pages, which is 30 minutes of a sort. So it's all about picking and choosing what's going to live and what's going to die. You know, as far as the TV show is concerned, fans seem pretty happy with how we've adapted and, you know, put this thing together.
Karama (00:11:06) - Are you able to add anything in extra or do you literally? Yeah, that's the thing with license.
Rodney (00:11:11) - Even when I have like the quiet moments in the show when The Mandalorian is walking across the desert, I tried to put in some thoughts and to take all that out. All that's good, man. Now, ah, have you saw up there is what I got?
Karama (00:11:24) - What you have to. What you have to write. Well, are they making you go like is it each comic is an episode? Is it like that or is it?
Rodney (00:11:32) - Oh, each comic is an episode. And you do season one. I've done season one. Season two, and I'm waiting for season three.
Karama (00:11:37) - Gotcha. I mean, that's that's and it's interesting because you would think they'd want to expand a little bit, but I guess they're trying to play into people who might not watch the show but be interested in specifically the comics. But fans are going to buy all of it, I think.
Rodney (00:11:53) - Yeah, or they have.
Rodney (00:11:54) - They bought a half a million of the first one.
Karama (00:11:56) - So whoa. Awesome. And also, you are now part of the Star Wars universe. I am.
Rodney (00:12:02) - I.
Karama (00:12:02) - Am. That's the coolest part of going to like any of the wiki. Like when I go to Marvel Wiki, I'm like, ha! I created that. Like, so you could like go to the Star Wars Wiki. And when they talk about the Mandalorian comic, like your name is in there, it's in you are.
Rodney (00:12:14) - Now or now, gee, $88. I'm doing a new Star Wars scripted book now. So yeah.
Karama (00:12:19) - Now, is that a prose or is it a comic book?
Rodney (00:12:22) - I have one, no, it's a comic. I have one series that's new. It's a horror series. Star Wars horror series I can't talk about. And then I have another adaptation of another Star Wars property that I can't talk about either. But I can say I'm doing it.
Karama (00:12:39) - But horror is your jam, so they knew what they were doing.
Rodney (00:12:44) - It seems like there's something there. I mean, I think because television has mostly been comedy and drama with some general sprinkled in, I wanted to get my horror fix in some way. I didn't want these things to fall by the wayside when you had ideas. So, you know, it's a nice way to be able to to express oneself in the horror realm.
Karama (00:13:07) - It's kind of working for you because we're about to be 31 issues into Philadelphia.
Rodney (00:13:12) - We are, we are.
Karama (00:13:13) - And I just got a chance to see the 31st issue. And I was tripping because I'm like, that's SPAWN.
Rodney (00:13:20) - That is bomb.
Karama (00:13:21) - That is not Seesaw, that is SPAWN
Rodney (00:13:24) - No Seesaw was in there. Yeah. Him and SPAWN are in panels together and talking and doing a whole bunch of stuff. But yeah, we've got.
Karama (00:13:32) - There doing more than a whole bunch of stuff. He kicks his ass. There you go.
Rodney (00:13:35) - I'm glad you said I don't even know why I'm talking. You said so much better with so much more energy.
Rodney (00:13:43) - Yeah, this six arc is kind of eventful for our little book. We've got spawn, we've got Blacula, we've got Dracula, we've got. So wait.
Karama (00:13:52) - You can bring your you're bringing Blacula, your Blacula.
Rodney (00:13:56) - Oh, my Blacula and the killer Duffy, this is throwing everything at the wall.
Karama (00:13:59) - And Anansi's already in there.
Rodney (00:14:01) - Anansi's already in there.
Karama (00:14:02) - Yep. So? So how did you get spawned? Like, is it. I mean, obviously Jason's drawing him, but, like, did you have to sit down with Todd McFarlane and go, this is what I'm doing for six issues?
Rodney (00:14:11) - Jason begged for a long time, and then I had a zoom and I kind of begged. But Jason had laid the foundation for the begging that I didn't have to beg too much. I had to basically just say, I know most of the alphabet and I promise not to do anything bad. And so there you go.
Karama (00:14:32) - I was wondering when that that was like a fight or whatnot. Todd was like, as long as I co-write it because I know, no, no.
Rodney (00:14:37) - He was incredible. No. Okay. Todd.
Karama (00:14:39) - Father's cool. Okay. Todd. Father. Yeah, I forgot his cool. Todd. Father I forgot. Oh my goodness. Oh. Need a horse? So need a horse. Weaves in and out anyway, because she's from the Adelphia universe.
Rodney (00:14:53) - She's in there too. She's in there for arc number six, too. She has her own thing and her connection. Be close with Blacula. Okay, then in the main fights, there's two things happening at the same time. You've got a fight happening in the streets, and then on the other hand, you have more of a quieter story about what the implications are for later on down the road for everything. So her James junior, Josie, they're kind of in the house wondering what's going to happen next. And then there'll be a knock on the door and they'll find out what's going to happen next.
Karama (00:15:28) - And then blood happens. There you go. Okay. It always comes.
Rodney (00:15:32) - Down to blood.
Karama (00:15:34) - Now, the Florence and Normandie. That's your new comic coming out with exhibit? Yes. So love book, first of all, where did you find exhibit? Where I found.
Rodney (00:15:47) - Exhibit. He was out rapping somewhere. Well, in the Fox Hills Mall. No exhibit is a friend. And we were talking one day and he knew that I did comics. And you can't follow me on Instagram and not see comics somewhere. And he said, you know, man, I got this idea. Okay, what's your idea? And as he talks, because I'm neurotic anyway, I'm forming. I'm doing a thing as he's talking. I'm just going through the Rodney later and.
Karama (00:16:20) - The Rodney later.
Rodney (00:16:21) - Yeah, it's a computer.
Karama (00:16:22) - So. Yes.
Rodney (00:16:23) - This way. Older than the first Mac. And, you know, coming up with a story. And then as he stopped talking, I was like, you mean something like this? And then I started talking. He was like, yeah, something like that.
Rodney (00:16:35) - And then we went back and forth and back and forth, and then I sat down and wrote a script, and he dug the script. And John, we did the art and we were off to the races.
Karama (00:16:46) - So now this is also horror, obviously. But what are they running from? Is this I feel like it's zombies. Aliens? No, it's aliens. Aliens. It's aliens.
Rodney (00:16:55) - We have another alien book. It's different than monarch in the sense that monarch is mostly an intimate setting and intimate implications just for those characters that are right there. Florence and Normandy has global implications, and it's it gets more of the idea of what you would expect the LA rap scene and what when you look at a video, any of those videos from that period of time, like The Chronic and all of that stuff, there are things that you see, you know, the imagery, that imagery is a part of this story, and it feels more like LA than monarch does.
Karama (00:17:33) - Okay.
Rodney (00:17:34) - And they're flashbacks to the symbolism of what Florence and Normandy represents and all of that.
Rodney (00:17:39) - There's a cop, there's a kid. It's more political, I guess. In some ways. So does it. A lot of stuff going on, but.
Karama (00:17:45) - It also looks like it might have like a little buddy comedy.
Rodney (00:17:50) - It know there's there's some jokes, but it's not so much. No, it's closer to The Defiant Ones. Okay. Movie The Defiant Ones, where two people are forced to work together in order to save themselves, but they hate each other, natural and enemies in this world that they operate in.
Karama (00:18:10) - Got it. Okay. And is that out or is that coming soon?
Rodney (00:18:13) - It's coming spring.
Karama (00:18:14) - So we're going to have to maybe circle back exhibit. Yes, please. You can have this conversation.
Rodney (00:18:18) - Exhibit on here.
Karama (00:18:19) - Too. Yeah. And then we can come up with like all of the little acronyms for all of the characters and everything. Yes. So Alice Cooper, yes, I need to understand because this image that I was set has, like you said, I'm looking at Richard Pryor and Prince and Michael Jackson and they're in hell.
Rodney (00:18:46) - No, they're not in hell. They're not in.
Karama (00:18:48) - Hell. Where are they? Because I see I see the devil.
Rodney (00:18:51) - But hold on, hold on, hold on. Between heaven and hell. Like in a purgatory like state. Got you. There is a blues club, okay? The devil desperately wants to be an entertainer. He is the main act in this club.
Karama (00:19:08) - And you better clap.
Rodney (00:19:09) - And he has gotten all of the famous musicians that are in the afterlife to come in to see him play. So that's where all of these people, Richard Pryor is the headliner. This person, it's like they all get an opportunity to play again, and then they go off to heaven, hell, wherever they go. But they are not in hell because the devil happens to be there and the devil loves the blues.
Karama (00:19:33) - And that was the pitch.
Rodney (00:19:35) - Yes, that's the pitch.
Karama (00:19:36) - So how does Alice Cooper get involved? He's trying to keep the devil from here's the problem.
Rodney (00:19:41) - Once the devil does.
Rodney (00:19:43) - Okay. Now he's like everybody saying, it's great to play for us. You know, we are legends and we are who we are. But really, music is about the people.
Karama (00:19:55) - Uh oh.
Rodney (00:19:55) - So you got to go to Earth and you got to be accepted by the people if you want to be a star. And so the devil goes to earth, but he finds out you've got all these other acts that you got to compete with and his demo, because no young people really like the blues skews older. Right? So certain people, you know, he eliminates a lot of bands and turns them to dust. U2 doesn't make it the Eagles, any of those people. Earth, wind and fire.
Karama (00:20:26) - Is it personal? Is that personal?
Rodney (00:20:28) - It's not personal. No no no no.
Karama (00:20:29) - Okay. I'm just second. God.
Rodney (00:20:31) - Just saw you too. I love you too. Big picture of me and Bono right over there. There you go. Alice Cooper is in this mix of stars that he's trying to eliminate.
Rodney (00:20:41) - And little does the devil know, but Alice Cooper has a relationship with the netherworld. And so they clash. And it ends up to where now we have a final, the final conflict between Alice Cooper and the devil at the crossroads. The musical crossroads, of course.
Karama (00:21:01) - Well, there's always a crossroads. That sounds incredible. Let's listen.
Rodney (00:21:04) - I it's fun. It's a lot of fun.
Karama (00:21:06) - I can't wait to also talk to you about your podcast run full, but we're going to have to take a break. Yes, but when we come back, we're going to talk to Rodney Barnes about his horror podcast anthology, Run Fool, and also how he gets all of this done. So we'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (00:21:31) - I was little.
Speaker 4 (00:21:32) - My grandmother used to tell me stories. Not calming bedtime parables. Fairy tales of the stuff of kid friendly fantasy. She told me horror stories, cautionary tales. The type of stuff that kept me up at night. These were rumours and folklore about grisly murders from parts of the country you're not used to hearing about.
Speaker 4 (00:21:54) - Creatures with unfinished earthly business that stalked the woods at night. Spirits that possessed children. Otherworldly phenomena capable of inducing madness. Restless souls. My grandmother eventually passed and I grew up. But these stories, they've stayed with me, haunted me. And this show. The thing you're listening to right now. This is my chance to exorcise them. To get them out of my mind and into yours. My name is Rodney Barnes, and every week I'll present a new harrowing story, a new immersive world, and a new opportunity for you to question your safety and at times, your sanity for you to scream out as victims question their circumstances. Don't just stand there. Run for. From Campsite Media at Will Media and Ball Studios. This is run full follow run for wherever you get your podcast. New episodes come out every Tuesday starting November 14th.
Rodney (00:23:10) - There you go.
Karama (00:23:11) - Welcome back to the Blair Girl podcast, y'all. I'm Karamo Horne, aka The Blurred Girl, and I have the legendary writer, producer, combo creator, and now podcaster Rodney Barnes with me.
Karama (00:23:25) - And we're going to talk about his new horror podcast, Run Fool. It's like an anthology of stories, right? It's not one long story.
Rodney (00:23:35) - No, it's it's anthology. Every week there's a new story, a new horror story, basically reading you a scary bedtime story. And the way it came together was I was talking to Matt Scher from a campsite media and another company. They had a they had done a podcast that I was going to adapt for television. And so weeks and weeks and weeks, we weren't we weren't able to put that together with me. But eventually they asked if I had anything podcast was would I be interested in doing a podcast? Because I had done the Winning Time podcast and that had been relatively successful. So I was like, sure, I love horror. Would you consider something in a horror space? So I came back to him with the concept. They dug it and we started developing it, and we've been developing it for the past six months or so and got some really great writers and folks and producers.
Rodney (00:24:32) - And Mr. Baldwin, who does, has his own thing and is huge in the podcast space and at will media and campsite. And so it's a big deal. A lot of work in podcasts. It's like another job.
Karama (00:24:46) - It is a lot of work. I co-produced and co-hosted a horror podcast last year called Pop Paranormal with my my boyfriend Chuck Collins. But it's a lot of work because there's a lot of moving parts, and then you get guests and your guests. It's timing, and then there's editing, and then you get to go back and do all the, you know, it's not as I don't even want to call this podcast simple, but I don't have all the sound effects and bells and whistles that you have. Is there like a writers room for a show like that? No.
Rodney (00:25:18) - They writers come, they're contract writers to actually write stories. A lot of it is based on folktales that already exist. So the framework is already there for most of the stories. It's just a matter of putting them together.
Rodney (00:25:34) - I mean, we operate, we have weekly meetings, sometimes biweekly, and we add and subtract, and all the producers have a hand in writing the episodes. There's a core team of writers that lay the foundation, but we all have a say and we all have a hand and we all get into it. So it's not official writer's room like in television, but there is certainly input from a lot of different places.
Karama (00:26:00) - Are you dropping everything at once? Are you doing. No. It's one week, okay?
Rodney (00:26:05) - Yes, one a week, I think the first. November the 14th or 15th. When it drops. There'll be two episodes released on that day. The trailer comes out on Halloween, and then we're off to the races for the next 48 weeks.
Karama (00:26:19) - For four wait, 4 to 8 weeks, or 48, 48.
Rodney (00:26:23) - Weeks.
Karama (00:26:23) - Whoa. Okay, so so you're not doing like ten episodes, season one and then take a break.
Rodney (00:26:30) - Eight episodes. It's an ongoing podcast.
Karama (00:26:32) - Wow. That is a yes.
Karama (00:26:35) - That is a job. That is a job. That's why you got that spiffy new microphone. I'm very proud of you.
Rodney (00:26:39) - Yeah. This is from Winning Time. That was the winning time okay. Now they're going to want it back. But yeah that's what daddy, don't tell them.
Karama (00:26:47) - Tell him you can't find it. Tell them you can't find it. Exactly. Listen, listen, I got this. If discovery calls, I'm in trouble because I ain't let this one go.
Rodney (00:26:56) - This microphone go. These headsets all upstairs. I don't want any of this.
Karama (00:27:02) - So I want to now hop into the why and the how of what you do. So my biggest question, what I've been meaning to ask you for a while is Substack. Yeah. So your media company Zombie Love Media.
Rodney (00:27:19) - Zombie Love Studios. But under that is media. But yes.
Karama (00:27:22) - The umbrella company is Zombie Love Studios. Now, Substack doesn't have to. They have a piece of that.
Rodney (00:27:28) - No.
Karama (00:27:29) - Okay. So that's yours.
Karama (00:27:30) - Yes. Okay. But you were one of the well, I want to say few black folks, but few people in general that I think it was. Back in 2020, it was announced that Substack was giving a deal to to several comic book creators. Now, I know you legally can't tell me all the specific specifics of the deal, but three years later, does it seem like it was worth it?
Rodney (00:27:51) - It does. I mean, I think that there isn't comics. I have such a hard time with marketing. I think it's it's folks like yourself that even keep the community alive. Certainly when you talk about people of color, because it's not like it was when I was growing up where you had comics on a spinner wreck in every store, and you could just get them for $0.20, and they were like disposable entertainment. Now they're five bucks, four bucks, five bucks, and you have to have a comic shop in your neighborhood, or you have to get them online someplace in order to be able to be a part of the community.
Rodney (00:28:28) - It's a lot harder. And I think the idea of the Substack being able to get it directly into people's hands in a digital way is a great idea. I just think that it's a commitment in and of itself just to continuously engage, engage, engage. So, you know, I'm blessed to be able to have that outlet, to be able to deal with folks directly. I just wish it was more structured somewhat the way a comic shop would be.
Karama (00:29:00) - But yeah, yeah, so that people can come in and find go to the direct and they know.
Rodney (00:29:04) - Exactly how to do a thing and they can, you know, take it in easier. But I still love the idea of it, and I love it.
Karama (00:29:11) - Because there's a lot of these little imprints digital popping up now like outside of Substack, like, oh, me and seven other artists that yes, eight writers are all coming together and we're going to do a thing. It's like, okay, but how do we get that, though?
Rodney (00:29:25) - Exactly.
Rodney (00:29:26) - That's the thing. The thing is, when you have so many people doing so many different things, you still come back to, this is great, but how do you get it in people's hands?
Karama (00:29:34) - And even as like on the press side, I remember like TKO, I'm just using an example. They've got a great thing and all of their their whole thing is not floppies, but graphic novels all the time. And they do great deals for their artists and writers and everything. But as press, it was like pulling teeth to get an interview or trying to get like, who do I talk to? And everybody's all on Twitter saying how amazing it is. And I'm like, awesome, can I talk to the person that made this though? Exactly. And it's like, who? What number do I, you know, what email. And so it's funny, one of the things I do on the side sometimes is coach creators on marketing, because even they're not even paying writers to write at outlets anymore.
Karama (00:30:20) - Like my whole column is gone in sci fi, like they're not even so. And then I'm looking like, should I start a Substack? But then it's the same thing. Like, how are they going to find me? How are they going to? So I'm hoping getting the this going again is going to is going to help. But yeah, it's it's really difficult and there's so much work that goes into these and especially like yourself because you got, you know, 15, 11 kids and 13 comic books month.
Rodney (00:30:49) - They seem like they get younger too. They don't get older and move out. They get they stay at they go anyway. Been ten for five years.
Karama (00:30:57) - No, but you know what? It's because eggs are. Are $10 in Cheerios or 15. Like you can't. They can't leave.
Rodney (00:31:04) - No. And they don't want to leave. There's no incentive. I couldn't wait to get out of my mother's house. You, me, both kids, they want to.
Karama (00:31:11) - I cross state lines.
Karama (00:31:12) - I had to go.
Rodney (00:31:13) - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I left the planet if I couldn't, but. Yeah.
Karama (00:31:19) - So let's talk about that balance a little bit. How do you balance? I mean, right now you're not in a writer's room, but how did you balance winning time with Philadelphia and Substack. Like how do you mean it was.
Rodney (00:31:34) - And I was writing a couple of movies during the time and all of that. But I think zoom from Covid helped a lot. That helped an awful lot.
Karama (00:31:41) - People no longer felt the need to be like in the meeting.
Rodney (00:31:44) - It wasn't quite as what it was right before Covid. So.
Karama (00:31:48) - So no getting stuck on the ten for 32 hours.
Rodney (00:31:51) - Or five, 4 or 5. I was the one for five was the one, you know, I could make it around to ten, but I couldn't make it. You need the 4 or 5 unless you try Sepulveda. And everybody else has that idea now too.
Karama (00:32:02) - And now it's a parking lot.
Rodney (00:32:04) - Yeah. So zoom, zoom was really the big thing.
Karama (00:32:08) - I subscribed to Dark Apocrypha, which is a Substack. Do you have something that helps you write that? Are you writing and then have somebody else edit it and get it out? Like, how are you getting all the things moving?
Rodney (00:32:19) - One of my assistants, I have two assistants, Carlos and Anthony Anthony does. He manages the majority of the newsletter and cobbling all the information and basically pitching how things work and go. And this week we should talk about this and yeah, yeah, that sounds good. Do that. He could be saying anything about me. Anthony, I love you.
Karama (00:32:41) - Just so you honestly, he's making you sound amazing.
Rodney (00:32:44) - Thank you Anthony I appreciate it.
Karama (00:32:46) - So Anthony get give Anthony a nice Christmas present because Anthony is working his tail off.
Rodney (00:32:51) - He is keeping people engaged and he seems like he enjoys doing it. So there you go. But yeah Anthony does that. Carlos helps with the books and the scripts and both of them kind of help back and forth with research and doing things.
Rodney (00:33:04) - And I'm doing Jack Johnson right now for HBO. And Anthony has been, you know, invaluable as far as getting and getting research and, you know, little tidbits and anecdotes about Jack's life. And then on the other side, Carlos is helping with a couple of others. So it's always something to do.
Karama (00:33:22) - Yeah. Carlos gets to the plane on time. Yes. That's awesome. Now, you were on Tananarive Due and Stephen Barnes podcast not too long ago, right? For your life. Love them. Friends of the show. They've been here also horror aficionados as well. Um, but I was surprised when you were talking a little bit about some of the imposter syndrome that you have battled in the past. I shouldn't say surprised because I guess everybody goes through it. My question is, do you still have that? Do you still have these moments? Oh, yeah. How do you how do you get past you who have like, Emmy winning shows and Eisner nominated comic books? How do you get past imposter syndrome?
Rodney (00:34:04) - I keep going, I remember one time I've never really used drugs before, but there was this time where they had to give me a I had some type of issue going on.
Rodney (00:34:15) - They gave me a painkiller, and it was the first time I had anything hard. And my pain, it may be, understand the way painkillers work. The pain is still there, but it's like over here someplace.
Karama (00:34:28) - That was Percocet. Okay, because no Dilaudid. Oh, it's a lot of.
Rodney (00:34:32) - A lot of the.
Karama (00:34:33) - Same thing I had. I had the same thing. And I said, oh, this is a problem because I get it now. Yeah.
Rodney (00:34:39) - Understood. Crackheads understood all of those people because it was almost like I could see my pain over there, and I didn't want it to come back. But it was this weird thing. And I look at imposter syndrome and insecurity. The first ten years of my career, massively plagued with insecurity around so many great, talented folks. And I, you know, trying to figure out a way to jump in and find some value. And even when I did something good, you know, you still can't see it for what it is because you're feeling what you're feeling.
Rodney (00:35:16) - And insecurity has a weird way of creating a sense of its own unique narcissism of you're so worried that people are going to see you and the person that you think is inferior, that you kind of create a barrier between the beauty of creativity, the ability to work with others, the ability to be empathetic with the people around you because your whole focus is just your fear, and it paralyzes you in a way. And so for me, right around 2010, 2011, the bottom kind of fell out of my career for a relatively short period of time. I got really, really sick, almost died, and sitting in a hospital room, I sort of made a decision that if I ever get a second chance. As to be back. I would handle it differently. And I'd start to work more from Shout out to DeVaughn Franklin. He came in and prayed for me and I was like, the prayer was so great. He should have saved that for the eulogy. But it was he really the message behind what he was saying was really? And Davon Franklin is the sexiest preacher on earth.
Rodney (00:36:20) - He's like especially younger T.D. Jakes, you know, he just need some initials. Davon is cool, but if he could be DC like DC young Fly, but.
Karama (00:36:28) - Yes, yes.
Rodney (00:36:30) - And his the message within his prayer was about working from your heart, not necessarily from your head. All of this stuff is in my head. And what made me, whatever it is that I have that's good, that's connected to this industry comes from my heart. So if you can disconnect from your head just to get into it, and you'll begin to see things as they are, not necessarily how they feel. And that started to become sort of the the approach. And I started to do more work. If you look at my IMDb of my credits, you'll see A Tale of Two Careers. You'll see sitcoms, sitcom, sitcom. Then all of a sudden I start doing dramas and genre and all this other stuff and comic books and these things, and I just started to work more from a place of what do I really want to do? And what do I think I do best, more so than just taking a job and just saying yes, yes, yes.
Rodney (00:37:25) - I love all of the work that I've done, and all of it was sort of a boot camp of sorts to teach me. But you don't realize that when you're in a place of fear, you don't realize the good thing that you're getting from being in the environments that you and you only see the parts that hurt or the parts that feel bad. So to answer your question in a long winded way, I still feel those things. I feel I still feel the impulses when I get a big gig. I just got a couple of really big gigs with iconic characters, and the first thing that pops in the head is you don't want to mess it up. I don't want to mess this up. I want this to be perfect. A it's not going to be perfect, be anything I've ever written. That was something that I'm proud of. A whole, near and dear was something that I went over 100 times and needed and just put myself into. If I do that with these things, there's a sense of confidence now that didn't exist before that all I have to do is have the psychological and emotional endurance to stay with it long enough that it'll turn out as I want it to be, how it's going to be received.
Rodney (00:38:29) - You can't control it, you know. You can't control how people are going to take a thing and they see what you were trying to do. But more often than not, what I was intending gets through when I put in the requisite work. And that can only happen if I'm able to put whatever's in my head like that drug off to the side. Then it can come back and it will come back.
Karama (00:38:50) - So it sounds like you, instead of fighting it, you acknowledge it, which is sort of like you're saying, go to your room. Yes, I will deal with you when I'm finished work today.
Rodney (00:39:00) - Yes. In the beginning, the part that was the most painful was I wouldn't acknowledge it. I wore a mask. Yeah, I'm the coolest guy. And this is easy. And this is great. And inside you're dying. You know, inside you're like, you have to live with yourself. And it becomes almost torture because every day you have to go through that same process of wearing this mask in an environment where it's already hard enough, just as it is.
Karama (00:39:28) - Exactly. And you're putting another barrier in front of yourself, another barrier.
Rodney (00:39:32) - And as soon as you can take that mask off and take off whatever pretentiousness comes with it, and you're able to just operate from a place of truth and be willing to mess up, be willing to fall on your face. Be willing to not pitch a joke, to pitch a joke that doesn't work, or to fail. Once you see that that doesn't kill you, you know, then you're able to continuously. In football, it's like when a quarterback throws an interception, he doesn't quit and just walk off the field. You go back, there's another play. You keep playing. The game's not over yet. And it's the same thing with this to see.
Karama (00:40:06) - That was your Ted talk right there. That that's your nugget.
Rodney (00:40:09) - I just don't know if I could stand up for 45 minutes. You know, after a while, the guy give me a cheer like a blues singer, like to know.
Karama (00:40:17) - How do you balance client work that licensed Mandalorian work and your personal work? Or is do you consider it all personal work now?
Rodney (00:40:23) - Balance.
Rodney (00:40:23) - Every morning when I wake up, there's about 100 emails. 30 of them are people yelling. Whoever's yelling the loudest and cussing the loudest is one that I addressed the most, the first. That's where you know. No, it really is. Every day there's a sense of chaos. You know, I get up as early as I possibly can and I start working and I try to. I can only do one at a time. Now, I used to be able to do three projects at a time and move my head around. Now it's like I do one right now. Philadelphia issue 33 I'm working on right now. And once that's finished, I will move to. I've got some pages on Luke Cage and then I owe. I have a Star Wars thing with some pages on, so it's a constant. It's a constant sense of always writing. Stephen King says you have homework for the rest of your life.
Karama (00:41:17) - I can see that to be a working comic book writer, working artist, you have to it's volume.
Rodney (00:41:23) - And you have to embrace that. It's like there are times when I get petulant about it. There are times when I just don't feel like doing this. And the part that's the professional says, regardless of how you feel, you show up and whether it's a holiday, whether it's something you really want to do outside and you want to go outside and play with your friends, you still sit down and you do the work.
Karama (00:41:45) - Yeah. Well, I am so excited about the podcast, about Philadelphia, about spawn, about prints, about Alice Cooper, Richard Pryor, Richard Pryor, everybody, as well as these unnamed horror, this unnamed horror Star Wars show has me intrigued, so I can't wait to hear more about that.
Rodney (00:42:05) - A lot of spooky stuff. You are so prepared because you were talking about 3 or 4 things. I'm like, how does she know that?
Karama (00:42:11) - Homework.
Rodney (00:42:11) - See, you know this one. So yeah, yeah, yeah, you are prepared. Kudos to you man.
Karama (00:42:16) - But also thank you.
Karama (00:42:17) - But also kudos to your newsletter. You know writer Anthony because he had he has he's keeping them coming a couple of times a week.
Rodney (00:42:25) - Love for Anthony. Every once in a while they pop up. And I was like oh yeah it is another week. And then, you know, he reminds me of what I'm doing. I'm like, I'm doing that too. Oh man.
Karama (00:42:33) - See, I got to get me an Anthony. I need to get somebody to write. You need a letter. So I mean it's not cheap.
Rodney (00:42:37) - No, Anthony's not cheap. I know I could have an apartment. I could have another apartment or someplace by the beach without. If I just got rid of Anthony. Not that I can't, Anthony. I can't get.
Karama (00:42:47) - Rid of it. You can't do that. Anthony is a man. Thank you so much for hanging out. Tell everybody where they can find you.
Rodney (00:42:55) - At the Rodney Barnes on Twitter and Instagram. Instagram is the one that's the most fun though. Yes, where.
Karama (00:43:03) - We X is a problem these days yeah I.
Rodney (00:43:06) - Haven't yes. And I haven't figured out TikTok yet. You know I'm trying my kids like oh daddy's easy. All you gotta do is there's the dance and I'm like, I.
Karama (00:43:14) - Don't know, you don't have to dance. We're going to have a conversation. You do great on TikTok. You ain't got to dance.
Rodney (00:43:19) - Yeah. So I'm like that. That's it. I'll figure that out though.
Karama (00:43:23) - Are you on blue Sky? Are you on Blue Skies?
Rodney (00:43:25) - Yes, but I don't. I think I pressed it twice because you got threads. You got the blue sky, you got X, you got Instagram, you got Facebook and you got TikTok. And I'm. And you, I'm forgetting two.
Karama (00:43:37) - And you've got 300 emails, so.
Rodney (00:43:39) - And you got 300 with 30 people cussing me out at the same time.
Karama (00:43:43) - Are you going to be doing any more conventions? And I'm kicking myself for not getting Blacula signed when I saw you, but I.
Rodney (00:43:50) - Am doing Galaxy Con. Okay, December 1st two, the third in Columbus, Ohio. Okay, I'm doing the Louisiana Book Fair at LSU the week after next. I don't know exactly what the day is, but the week after next I'm doing that and I think that's it for this year. A whole lot of next year, though, it's 35 of them next year. Yeah. And then the podcast they're sending me to the monster conventions for the podcast. So I'll be doing the monster conventions, the cons and the book fairs. And I just never I live in the air.
Karama (00:44:25) - Well, I'm glad we caught you before all that you did before I took off. Yes.
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The Changeling Chronicles: Victor LaValle on Adapting his hit horror novel to the screen
Oct 23, 2023
Just in time for the spooky season, Victor LaValle joins us on theblerdgurl podcast. Renowned for his novels “The Ballad of Black Tom,” and “Lone Women,” Victor’s creativity through horror also shines in his comics such as “Sabretooth: The Adversary,”“Victor Lavalle’s The Destroyer,” and “Eve,” with the latter two being adapted for the screen.
If you enjoyed my chat with JACQUE AYE please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
WATCH MY INTERVIEW WITH VICTOR LAVALLE ON YOUTUBE!
In this episode I speak with writer Director Bomani J. Story about his new film “The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster”. A new horror film out in theaters June 9 and headed to streaming service Shudder. The indie horror film is a remix of on Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and follows a teenaged genius named Vicaria. Who, after her brother’s murder, decides she’s going to find a cure – for death.
Now, I’m not going to lie, this is absolutely a horror movie about Black trauma. However, the bloodletting just for “trauma porn”, instead the entire film serves as a metaphor within the horror genre as a commentary on the effects of intergenerational trauma. BAFTA Award winning actress Laya DeLeon Hayes (God of War: Ragnarok, The Equalizer) is incredible in this film alongside Chad L. Coleman, (The Walking Dead, From) and Denzel Whitaker (Black Panther).
There are some mild spoilers in this interview. So if you want to see it fresh, go watch the movie and then come back and check out this interview
The Angry Black girl and Her Monster is out now in select theaters and headed to Shudder
If you enjoyed my chat with JACQUE AYE please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
so, Bomani, welcome. I'm so excited to talk to you about this film.
00:00:07:07 - 00:00:14:24
Karama
And as all the little moments of horror that I like. But then there's also like an underlying theme,
00:00:14:24 - 00:00:24:18
Karama
let's start with where this came from. What was the inspiration for this film and when did you find time to write this?
00:00:24:20 - 00:00:45:15
Bomani
You know, I mean, starts starts with the literature, man. Like, I love the book. I'm a huge, huge fan of the book. And I just felt like they were leaving a lot of stuff from the book on the floor. And I wanted to not only do that, but also recapture the focus because a lot of people focus on the monster.
00:00:45:17 - 00:01:04:19
Bomani
And I wanted to bring it back to, you know, the story is about Frankenstein, Rise and fall, you know, the mad scientist. So I wanted to bring that back. And on top of that, I wanted I grew up with two older sisters who, you know, mentored me my whole life, what I love and adore. And I use them as my muse for this.
00:01:04:19 - 00:01:08:15
Bomani
So you mix all that and out comes this.
00:01:08:17 - 00:01:17:13
Karama
So, okay, so I got two questions for you. Seven From that by book you mean Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, right? Because it's a bunch of Frankenstein that Oh, yeah.
00:01:17:15 - 00:01:18:21
Bomani
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
00:01:18:21 - 00:01:40:11
Karama
To make sure everybody else. And I don't know how your sisters feel, but I'm the oldest and my brothers are younger, and I don't know how I feel. If they wrote a movie about me chopping people up and trying to turn the neighborhood into monsters. So did you get along with your sister?
00:01:40:13 - 00:01:45:15
Bomani
No, I got along with my sisters, you know, I mean, obviously as siblings. So, you know, there's going to be dust ups, but.
00:01:45:20 - 00:01:47:24
Karama
It's going to be ill because.
00:01:48:01 - 00:01:48:24
Bomani
Yeah, yeah.
00:01:49:00 - 00:01:52:11
Bomani
But no, we we all love each other. We're Gucci. Yeah, that's.
00:01:52:12 - 00:01:53:24
Karama
Actually, speaking to that,
00:01:53:24 - 00:02:00:22
Karama
were there moments that you actually wrote things in the script for Vicaria to say they were like, pulled right out of your life?
00:02:00:24 - 00:02:06:20
Bomani
Yes, absolutely. They're record right out of their mouths. You know,
00:02:06:20 - 00:02:07:00
Bomani
some.
00:02:07:00 - 00:02:10:05
Bomani
Of the parts are more like.
00:02:10:07 - 00:02:15:22
Bomani
More obvious to them of just like, oh, I remember saying that, you know, But other.
00:02:15:22 - 00:02:17:06
Karama
Parts are quite like that.
00:02:17:11 - 00:02:19:09
Bomani
Yeah. I was like, yeah, well, one of them's.
00:02:19:09 - 00:02:21:09
Bomani
Exactly what she said.
00:02:21:09 - 00:02:30:16
Bomani
And then there are other moments where, you know, they they don't know. So it's like there's Easter eggs on top of Easter eggs for four people in here.
00:02:30:16 - 00:02:34:21
Bomani
And even for my sisters, you know, specifically for them,
00:02:34:21 - 00:02:39:17
Bomani
don't tell them, like you just have to watch it again. And then you can you can see it for yourself.
00:02:39:17 - 00:02:57:24
Karama
well, I'm thinking of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I'm thinking of Victor Frankenstein being been very wealthy. You know, I come from a wealthy family, just wants to experiment and it sort of feels guilty for what he's done later. But Victoria is not wealthy. Her her. She's a different kind of relationship with death.
00:02:58:05 - 00:03:00:15
Karama
Can you go into that a little bit?
00:03:00:17 - 00:03:14:17
Bomani
No. Yeah. I mean, I just always kind of saw it as like she was someone who was going to put this together. Like I wanted her to be an actual an actual genius, an actual inventor.
00:03:14:17 - 00:03:22:11
Bomani
I never saw it as someone who, like, how many multibillionaires are actually just like, inventing things.
00:03:22:13 - 00:03:34:06
Bomani
You know, to me it's just like, hey, there are you know, there might be some. But as far as my knowledge of the people I like, you know, it's just like they're they're genius comes from being able to, like, invest in pay off. Like, you know, it's like, exactly.
00:03:34:08 - 00:03:38:00
Karama
You know, those Easter eggs. You have a couple in there about Edison. I was like.
00:03:38:02 - 00:03:40:01
Bomani
Yes, I.
00:03:40:01 - 00:03:48:16
Karama
Feel I feel the same way kind of about Bill Gates. I'm like, did he really invent all the things? Yeah. Did he just pay for all the places where all the low income people invented that?
00:03:48:19 - 00:03:54:20
Bomani
Yeah, you know what I mean? It's just like the people who are actually, like, building a chair is a carpenter.
00:03:54:22 - 00:03:56:05
Bomani
Right? Not a.
00:03:56:05 - 00:04:19:19
Bomani
Business owner. It's a carpenter. Right. And so to me, she, like, she needed to put this together. So to me she need to have all these elements, right? So it was important to me for it to look like, you know, she scavenged these things. But like, you can't stop the spark, you know? I mean, the first car looks nothing like what it looks like today, but it was put together a certain way, you know, with the means that they had.
00:04:19:21 - 00:04:32:24
Bomani
So to me, that's like that was really important to me to kind of capture how her and genius works. Because to me, that's what that's the element of genius that I feel like people forget like of where it's coming from.
00:04:33:01 - 00:04:53:04
Karama
Yeah, no, absolutely. And she is a genius. And you show her actually in her something. How sectors relate to being the only black girl in the all white class. Oh, my God. All right. We had all kinds of buttons. But is but that that feeling of otherness and that feeling of being foreign and you are a monster to them because they don't understand you.
00:04:53:09 - 00:04:55:02
Karama
And don't be a smart black girl.
00:04:55:04 - 00:04:58:17
Bomani
Oh, it hurts my sisters.
00:04:58:17 - 00:05:00:21
Karama
Did your sisters help you with some of those lines, too?
00:05:01:01 - 00:05:02:03
Bomani
Oh.
00:05:02:05 - 00:05:05:14
Bomani
I mean, that scene in the school is directly what happened to one of my sisters.
00:05:05:15 - 00:05:06:13
Bomani
Oh, wow.
00:05:06:14 - 00:05:28:22
Bomani
Yeah. You know, it's like it's kind of a it's a legendary story around our dinner table, you know, that, like, keeps comes up every once in a while. It's like a greatest hits, you know? So. Yeah, no, like, um, as I said, it was like I was, I was musing after them and, like, and they thought when stuff would happen, they would think maybe I wasn't listening, but I'm always listening.
00:05:28:24 - 00:05:32:00
Karama
The younger brothers are always, listen, you got to be careful what you say in front of them.
00:05:32:02 - 00:05:32:09
Bomani
Yeah.
00:05:32:14 - 00:05:34:17
Karama
My younger brothers are twins. I had it.
00:05:34:19 - 00:05:36:21
Bomani
Worse.
00:05:36:23 - 00:05:43:13
Karama
They they still kicking my ass. So I just want to corroborate something. This is your first.
00:05:43:13 - 00:05:46:05
Bomani
So your first?
00:05:46:07 - 00:05:47:01
Bomani
Yeah.
00:05:47:03 - 00:05:54:23
Karama
I'm just checking because I'm just going to run off the cast a little bit. Leah Gillette, Jillian Hayes and Hayes.
00:05:54:23 - 00:05:55:11
Bomani
You?
00:05:55:13 - 00:06:12:18
Karama
Denzel Whitaker. Chad Coleman. Okay, so we got some heavy hitters here for your first time out of the gate. How does that feel when you saw the cast list, when you saw the cast accepting these roles?
00:06:12:20 - 00:06:42:16
Bomani
Man, it just made me feel like I was like, wow, Like they're responding, right? Like they they're enjoying this stuff. Right? And like, that was that was phenomenal to me. Like, it just felt so gratifying, you know, throughout this filmmaking process. Like, it's it's a tough thing to get a film off the ground and get it made. But like every there's certain moments that that pay off, you know, whether it's the first time, you know, the producers coming in like, oh, we actually are interested and think we can make this happen, you know?
00:06:42:16 - 00:06:52:02
Bomani
And it's just like, Oh, awesome. Like, and then cast, you know, when someone like reads for and then they're like, No, I actually want this part and then they sign on. You're just like,
00:06:52:02 - 00:06:58:10
Bomani
Like, you know, it's just like, it's like a payoff of just like, what's the word I'm looking for? Like, gratification.
00:06:58:10 - 00:06:59:20
Bomani
But what? Like an.
00:06:59:22 - 00:07:08:23
Karama
Occasion? I mean, they are basically signing off on your work. Yeah. The story is you do? Yeah. That must be very validating.
00:07:09:00 - 00:07:17:15
Bomani
Yeah. No, it was. That's the. The word I was looking for. Validation. Yeah. It's like it just validates your thoughts because along for a long time it's just you and the script.
00:07:17:15 - 00:07:24:12
Karama
you're, you know, to start hearing that table read, did you let the actors improv a little bit? Did they bring other things to the characters?
00:07:24:14 - 00:07:45:03
Bomani
Of course. I mean, honestly, the whole crew and the actors. I told them as soon as we got to Charlotte when we were filming, I just let everybody know. I was like, Look, if we capture exactly what's on the script and we have failed, you know, so we need to I was like, This is our blueprint. And that's not to say that you should just throw the script away.
00:07:45:03 - 00:07:48:11
Bomani
And that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, is that, for instance,
00:07:48:11 - 00:08:02:15
Bomani
When you watch The Shining and you separate Jack Nicholson from that role, you know, you separating a lot, right? Like, you know, it's just like, I can't say that you see that on the page of Jack Nicholson's character, you know?
00:08:02:15 - 00:08:24:13
Bomani
So to me, like, that's what that's what we all need to be trying to achieve. I'm not saying we need to all be as good as Jack Nicholson said We need to be achieving to elevate the script as much as we can to bring that script to life, you know? So that was just my approach. So they of course, there were lines that they, you know, improved and did stuff like, you know,
00:08:24:13 - 00:08:38:08
Bomani
Aisha and Jada, you know, like, and Riley and Amani who play those roles. There was a lot of stuff that they improved. And did, you know, a whole alphabet scene of her saying the letters? That's her. And she made that like, yeah, So.
00:08:38:08 - 00:08:42:05
Karama
Wow, that's that's actually incredible. What were there other moments in there that you were like,
00:08:42:05 - 00:08:44:03
Karama
Please tell me we got that.
00:08:44:03 - 00:08:50:03
Bomani
Yeah. No, I mean, you know, not a spoiler alert. I hope you put that in, like, the kind, you know, like.
00:08:50:03 - 00:08:52:14
Bomani
Like for not, like, years, but, like.
00:08:52:16 - 00:08:53:08
Karama
Spoiler.
00:08:53:08 - 00:09:12:03
Bomani
I like spoilers, but, you know, during that dinner table scene, when he runs rampant with that, you know, with racket busters or whatever it was, I think like in the script it was just one. But once he connects it to the whole family, like that was them just being all the actors, being in the moment and, and wanting to go with it.
00:09:12:05 - 00:09:47:17
Bomani
I like they, they brought such incredible stuff to this movie and like, I always try to leave myself open for that kind of stuff, you know, because a lot of beauty happens, you know, it's just like there's certain things in the script that you just, you know, you're just not going to be able to get, you know, said or you can't see like something as small as during the teacher scene, starting with the Conference of Victoria, just like smirking at the teacher as like kind of like a Q you know, to me and like.
00:09:47:19 - 00:09:48:06
Bomani
You know, was like.
00:09:48:11 - 00:09:55:09
Karama
Because she knows she's smarter than her and for her to function like, how are you teaching me like that. Yeah. I got from, you know.
00:09:55:15 - 00:09:56:03
Bomani
Yeah.
00:09:56:03 - 00:09:56:17
Karama
Now
00:09:56:17 - 00:10:05:12
Karama
tell me about funny moments on the scene because I heard a rumor that Leah has an aversion to blood like that.
00:10:05:14 - 00:10:09:24
Bomani
How did that work?
00:10:10:01 - 00:10:10:18
Bomani
You know,
00:10:10:18 - 00:10:18:24
Bomani
she taught me something really profoundly valuable during that moment of the art of collaboration with somebody.
00:10:18:24 - 00:10:19:24
Bomani
Because
00:10:19:24 - 00:10:24:21
Bomani
during her, you know, softball, I was just like, you know, gory moments, You know, the ones I'm talking about.
00:10:24:23 - 00:10:25:15
Bomani
Yeah.
00:10:25:17 - 00:10:29:21
Karama
You know, this is a horror movie. Yeah. I've got to tell you.
00:10:29:24 - 00:10:32:24
Bomani
Yeah, yeah. Blood. Yeah. But the particular moment.
00:10:32:24 - 00:10:56:10
Bomani
I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah. You know, she, you know, I was those moments are very exciting for me. For her, she's, like, squeamish and not necessarily into that kind of thing. And in any other circumstance, usually people will just be like, they'll reject it, you know, like, I don't want to do this. And you know what I mean?
00:10:56:10 - 00:11:21:09
Bomani
And it's like, which is your right, you know, to to be like that. But for Leah, she saw how much I was into it, and she was like, well, listen, this isn't necessarily my thing, but I like how much you're into this and I'm going to back you, right? Like, I was like, I may not understand it, but I believe what you're doing here.
00:11:21:11 - 00:11:24:15
Bomani
And I was like, so and so she just dived in, right?
00:11:24:15 - 00:11:28:18
Bomani
like even if I don't understand necessarily what's going on,
00:11:28:18 - 00:11:35:02
Bomani
like you're having such like it, like it's sobering, so much joy to, you know, like I'm, yeah, I am with you on it, you know?
00:11:35:02 - 00:11:39:11
Bomani
So instead of rejecting, she just doubled down and went in, which.
00:11:39:11 - 00:11:46:07
Karama
Was a testament to her as an actress to yes like yeah, when I heard that I was like but that saying though.
00:11:46:12 - 00:11:49:01
Bomani
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:49:01 - 00:11:52:10
Karama
I would never have known. Look at that. Yeah.
00:11:52:10 - 00:12:07:20
Karama
Let's talk about seems a little bit she looks at death as a disease, but her entire life has been sort of filled with these violent moments of people taken too soon.
00:12:07:22 - 00:12:18:05
Karama
And she looks at, you know, gun violence, drugs, things like that, as all the same disease of death. Is it that
00:12:18:05 - 00:12:28:22
Karama
she misunderstands life or that just life has not been kind to her and that's why she sort of stunted their.
00:12:28:24 - 00:12:35:10
Bomani
I think the car is a very I think she's obviously very smart. But I also think
00:12:35:10 - 00:13:05:05
Bomani
I mean, she has her flaws and I think she has her blind spots, which I think is shown in that dinner scene in the event that they have. I think that's definitely a blind spot for her, you know, and I don't think she acknowledges other elements that might be going on, which is, I think, one of the fatal flaws of just pure ambition and tunnel vision is you might not see things outside of that, you know.
00:13:05:07 - 00:13:14:04
Bomani
So to me, I think she's working through her. She's working through her grief, through her science
00:13:14:04 - 00:13:27:22
Bomani
I think, like I said, she has some blank spots because she's so tunnel visioned on on this and hasn't had a chance to really let all these things out that she's that she's experiencing.
00:13:27:22 - 00:13:48:16
Karama
I just keep thinking of Tananarive Due said this I think in Black horror said many times black trauma is black horror that sometimes that's part of our life. Yeah. And so we deal with trauma. You know, very differently. And when I look at for career, I kind of I kind of see that.
00:13:48:18 - 00:14:01:15
Karama
But then there are also shades of other things. Know there's the shades of Tamir Rice, there's shades of other real life things that have happened, you know, in this past decade. Yeah.
00:14:01:15 - 00:14:04:01
Karama
How did you navigate that in the script?
00:14:04:01 - 00:14:36:14
Bomani
I mean, it's like, you know, dealing with black trauma and stuff like that in movies. Like I, I hear the criticism of why people, you know, are just like, I don't want to see that stuff. You know? You know, it's like and I think there's but to me, in order to I don't want to put my head in the sand for one, you know, I don't think just, you know, completely rejecting it is or and not doing it whatsoever is the is the it's a way you know, it's the only way.
00:14:36:16 - 00:14:45:08
Bomani
Right. And I don't know, for me just always trying to stay true to the humanity of the characters
00:14:45:08 - 00:14:59:09
Bomani
is always going to be my my way because I think that that's just the fundamentals of great not only storytelling, but also respecting, you know, your audience's wishes. Right? Like, like.
00:14:59:11 - 00:15:03:21
Karama
But it's that's just that also, I think some trauma, like there's no way out but through.
00:15:04:02 - 00:15:04:12
Bomani
Sure.
00:15:04:17 - 00:15:17:09
Karama
And you said she's she's grieving. Yeah one of the one of the stages of grief is anger. Yeah. And I must say she's got a little bit of anger attached.
00:15:17:14 - 00:15:18:21
Bomani
Yeah. You know.
00:15:18:23 - 00:15:46:01
Karama
Like, I wanted the thing I wanted for recovery was therapy. Yeah. And I just, like, I need baby girl to lay on a couch. But she didn't. She did an amazing job. Yeah. Let's also talk about the. The metaphor of the monster. Kristen. Yeah, I it's not lost on me that not just the way he died, and that's not a spoiler, you know?
00:15:46:03 - 00:16:04:22
Karama
This is a monster, and he's dead. The movie is. Yeah, but he there is a moment where he, as a black man in a hoodie, is lying there saying, Am I the monster? And that is so layered.
00:16:04:24 - 00:16:05:15
Bomani
Yeah.
00:16:05:17 - 00:16:15:11
Karama
I'm curious. When you wrote that line, was that did you write that early on and try and build a story around it, or did you did you naturally end up there?
00:16:15:13 - 00:16:17:13
Bomani
Yeah. I mean.
00:16:17:15 - 00:16:25:08
Bomani
I it was one of the during it was one of the last things that came, you know, because
00:16:25:08 - 00:16:42:20
Bomani
similar to like the title of the movie, like it wasn't what I started with, you know, it's like it's kind of where I what came out and I'm realizing about my process as I learned, you know, about how I do things like I like to get the bulk of it down, like the story, the characters and like going through it.
00:16:42:20 - 00:16:46:00
Bomani
And then you fall on these moments of just
00:16:46:00 - 00:17:13:02
Bomani
realization and truth. Where's someone where you can kind of distill it into one moment, right? And I think that is like, that's how it kind of came apart, you know, such as when I was writing. And then just like the innocence and the confusion of of this man, you know, and the question, you know, it's like, you know, obviously does back to who called him a monster, right?
00:17:13:02 - 00:17:18:03
Bomani
to me at least the most horrific theme for this movie, I think, is just
00:17:18:03 - 00:17:22:05
Bomani
people believing what someone else tells them about themselves.
00:17:22:07 - 00:17:22:21
Bomani
Right.
00:17:22:21 - 00:17:41:17
Bomani
something as simple as you just saying mid-stream like you're stupid, right? If you believe that you don't have enough. So confidence or whatever it might be to defend yourself for that, but you believe it, it's like it will change the trajectory of your life. You no longer think like, Oh, well, if I'm stupid, I can't really get into college.
00:17:41:17 - 00:17:51:00
Bomani
So what's the point of applying? Applying, right. I'll leave this to other people, you know, I mean, it's just like you start doing that stuff. So and I think that's very horrifying.
00:17:51:02 - 00:17:53:19
Karama
That is that is the true horror
00:17:53:19 - 00:18:06:10
Karama
I know. You mentioned, obviously, the inspiration of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but I have a feeling that you may have watched the Re-Animator a couple times.
00:18:06:12 - 00:18:10:09
Bomani
Because am.
00:18:10:10 - 00:18:14:24
Karama
I like that or have you seen that movie?
00:18:15:01 - 00:18:21:07
Bomani
I I've definitely seen Re-Animator I have seen Re-Animator. Yeah.
00:18:21:09 - 00:18:30:08
Karama
Because there's a little bit of Herbert of Herbert West in this. I'm not going to give away why I think that is, but I was like, Yeah, I can see it.
00:18:30:10 - 00:18:31:15
Bomani
Yeah.
00:18:31:17 - 00:18:42:16
Karama
Are there other films and other moments or other? It doesn't even have to be film books or TV or anything else like that that inspired some of the moments in this film.
00:18:42:18 - 00:18:43:05
Bomani
Yeah,
00:18:43:05 - 00:19:00:03
Bomani
there's a bunch of nods and you know, Big one will be Aronofsky's the Fountain, you know, He says, Death is in there. And like, I love that movie. So this was my almost Aronofsky's The Fountain. And you know, there's a lot of stuff you I was like, I'll give one more.
00:19:00:03 - 00:19:12:24
Bomani
That's like, it's not obscure, but like, I don't think you'll find it if you're not looking for it. And it's from menace to society. When he says, You know, you're fucked up right?
00:19:13:01 - 00:19:15:20
Bomani
Yeah, that's funny. Yeah, that's good though.
00:19:16:21 - 00:19:24:02
Bomani
Yeah, there's a lot in here that like, you know, that I felt like only I would see. But other people have called me on it and I'm like, Oh, you're pretty good.
00:19:24:02 - 00:19:25:02
Bomani
You know this.
00:19:25:06 - 00:19:32:02
Karama
It's going to be fun for you when this drops, you know, world wide for you to hear all of those little. I see this. I see that.
00:19:32:06 - 00:19:33:16
Bomani
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:19:33:16 - 00:19:39:01
Karama
you've mentioned one of the themes that is that people should not believe everything that
00:19:39:01 - 00:19:40:04
Karama
people always tell them
00:19:40:04 - 00:19:49:20
Karama
what is another theme that you would say even for Victoria, for black women that you would say is coming out of this film?
00:19:49:22 - 00:19:55:00
Bomani
You know, I don't want to spend too much time kind of like telling people how.
00:19:55:00 - 00:20:02:16
Bomani
What they should be taken from it in us. Like because it's a it's an emotional journey, you know, And I think that like,
00:20:02:16 - 00:20:06:03
Bomani
you know, I think black men are smart enough to.
00:20:06:05 - 00:20:08:09
Bomani
The camps are all those things I need to it's not a.
00:20:08:09 - 00:20:11:06
Karama
Gotcha. I'm that's No, no, no. I know I'm wrong.
00:20:11:08 - 00:20:12:24
Bomani
I know. I know. But it's just like.
00:20:13:05 - 00:20:43:19
Bomani
I treasure the the relation ship between a movie and its audience because you walk away with certain things that are yours. And like, sometimes like a filmmaker, like myself or whatever, will give things away in a kind of, you know, dispels like, then it's no longer yours to have anymore. And I want to make sure I treasure that, you know, it's like I have my, my thoughts about Victoria's character and things of that nature.
00:20:43:19 - 00:21:07:23
Bomani
But as far as like takeaways, I really I'm really hoping that audiences will walk away with with some kind of engagement and thoughts, you know, about what it means. And, you know, her decisions even down to, you know, without spoilers, just like her decision of what she does at the end of the movie, you know, and what it is for for for black women as a culture and us as a culture.
00:21:07:23 - 00:21:14:08
Bomani
On her decisions to do that, you know, So it's like I think that there's a lot there to be explored.
00:21:14:10 - 00:21:15:09
Bomani
That's my problem.
00:21:15:11 - 00:21:19:06
Karama
No, no, that's very smart. You it's funny, I think of, you know, the singer SEAL.
00:21:19:08 - 00:21:19:21
Bomani
Mm hmm.
00:21:19:23 - 00:21:33:15
Karama
Years ago, he said he's never, ever put liner notes in any of his albums. Mm hmm. Like, other people have done it, But he's never done it because he said whatever you heard when you first started, the song is what the song is. I don't want to tell.
00:21:33:18 - 00:21:35:09
Bomani
You.
00:21:35:11 - 00:21:41:04
Karama
What that words should have been. Yeah. So if you thought he said kiss on the nose, that's what you heard.
00:21:41:06 - 00:21:42:15
Bomani
Yeah, I guess. You know.
00:21:42:17 - 00:21:45:04
Karama
That's just too hard. That's your. That's your.
00:21:45:04 - 00:21:47:06
Bomani
Moment. Yeah. Yeah, I.
00:21:47:06 - 00:21:54:03
Karama
Think. I think that's. I think that's brilliant. Speaking of that end scene, are you looking to do a follow.
00:21:54:03 - 00:21:55:19
Bomani
Up movie ever?
00:21:55:21 - 00:22:00:24
Karama
And how long would that title be?
00:22:01:01 - 00:22:05:21
Bomani
You know, there's a couple of things that's that's always going to be a mixture of a bunch of things of whether
00:22:05:21 - 00:22:06:15
Bomani
for one,
00:22:06:15 - 00:22:20:04
Bomani
if I feel the story is there, you know, if we feel the story is there, and if speaking to us, we feel like there's more to go, you know, And then of course, you know, and then on top of that, if people show up on June 9th.
00:22:20:06 - 00:22:22:02
Bomani
In theaters to see the movie.
00:22:22:07 - 00:22:40:08
Bomani
And there's a demand for that, you know, then then I think, you know, it's just like, you know, we can always see. But to me, it always starts with, is there more to say? You know, I do like endings like that. One of my heroes is Billy Wilder, and a lot of his movies end with these crazy moments.
00:22:40:08 - 00:22:59:18
Bomani
You know, I always think of some Like It Hot, where he's like, Nobody's perfect, you know, And they ride off into the sunset. It's just like, you know, of course, there could be a sequel to that. But does there need to be writers? It's like it's a fun, open way to engage with the fans and keep your brain going, you know, for after the movie.
00:22:59:20 - 00:23:03:01
Bomani
But yeah, that's my long way of around.
00:23:03:01 - 00:23:07:00
Karama
That of not answering that question. I love that, though. I love that you get a great
00:23:07:00 - 00:23:27:23
Karama
Definitely, definitely. Go check out every black girl and her monster subtitled, Listen to Black Women. Yeah, And I. I'm so excited that I got a chance to talk to my niece. This is an actual I honestly see this like winning more awards and stuff. I want you get all the money because I really need to know what happens next.
00:23:27:23 - 00:23:32:20
Karama
I have a need. And when you do that, when you have to come back on. And so we can.
00:23:32:22 - 00:23:35:23
Bomani
We can discuss.
00:23:36:00 - 00:23:51:04
Bomani
No, man, please. Like you want to see that. Then let's drive the audiences to the theaters to see this movie. You know what I mean? Like, let's get them there June 9th and honestly, it was a it was a pleasure to be on here with you, man. You you do your business. You do your business.
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AI vs IP: Lawyer Wynton Yates weighs in
May 19, 2023
A.I. is everywhere, and although it can be used as a creative tool, what’s making the headlines is how generative AI tools like midjourney and ElevenLabs ca mimc everything from fake everything from a picture of the Pope to an entire Frank Ocean album. In In this episode, I’m joined by entertainment and social media lawyer Wynton Yates as we discuss intellectual property, the media and the legal and ethical issues surrounding AI-generated content. We cover topics such as contracts, ownership, copyright, and the potential dangers of generative AI being used for malicious purposes. We also discuss the challenges of developing a system that protects everyone’s rights and gives them an equal voice. (Even how an actual monkey is helping redefine IP!) Be prepared to take notes! Wynton drops some serious knowledge in this one.
Wynton Yates regularly breaks down legal terms for content creators on Tiktok
If you enjoyed my chat with JACQUE AYE please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Hey, folks, welcome back to THEBLERDGURL PODCAST. I'm Karama horne a.k.a. “theblerdgurl” And today we're going to talk about intellectual property.
00:00:07:23 - 00:00:13:01
Karama
Everybody right now is talking about creative ownership and intellectual property.
00:00:13:00 - 00:00:25:22
Karama
from the Writers Strike and their request for residual rights on streaming content to the air creators out here, reproducing music in the likeness of artists like Frank Ocean and Drake and even the weekend.
00:00:25:23 - 00:00:29:22
Karama
Well, today I'm talking to a real entertainment lawyer about all this.
00:00:29:22 - 00:00:34:12
Karama
Wynton Yates joins me today and he's going to give us details on how creators can protect themselves.
00:00:34:13 - 00:00:45:07
Karama
we talked about so much stuff today, but the discussion about I think is the most important, especially coming from an intellectual property entertainment lawyer.
00:00:45:07 - 00:00:50:03
Karama
I can't wait to share this one with you. But first, let's pay some bills.
00:00:50:03 - 00:01:02:16
Karama
Now, I first found Wynton over on Tik-tok because he's got this incredible channel where he regularly looks at litigation that's happening in entertainment and like breaks it down in layman's terms for the rest of us.
00:01:02:17 - 00:01:07:10
Karama
Yates now has a thriving practice, as get this, a social media lawyer.
00:01:07:09 - 00:01:10:20
Karama
He's representing a lot of people out there doing exactly what we do.
00:01:10:20 - 00:01:14:17
Karama
So up next, my chat with entertainment lawyer Winton Yates.
00:01:14:17 - 00:01:24:19
Wynton
right before we started this podcast, something new kind of clicked. My name is Wynton, and I'm named after the jazz artists Wynton Marsalis.
00:01:24:19 - 00:01:25:24
Karama
Wynton Marsalis Oh wow!
00:01:26:01 - 00:01:48:05
Wynton
So I didn't even just kind of collect that. Like entertainment Arts has been me since I was born because I was born with, you know, an entertainer's name. But then after that, you know, growing up at the age of two, my siblings and I started doing commercials and catalog shoots and movies and all that kind of stuff. I really loved that growing up.
00:01:48:05 - 00:01:59:09
Wynton
And then my best friends and I were doing photography and shooting short films and all kinds of stuff. And then when I did, you know, undergrad, I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.
00:01:59:15 - 00:02:02:04
Karama
Oh, okay. So yes, you were in the Mecca.
00:02:02:06 - 00:02:20:07
Wynton
Yeah. So we were we were all over the place, just, you know, sneak it into concerts and shoot and concert photography and short films and all kinds of stuff. And then after, you know, after high school ended up going to undergrad at Georgia Southern. And then while I was there, I actually thought I was going to grow up to be a large animal vet.
00:02:20:07 - 00:02:23:01
Wynton
I really wanted to be like the black Steve Irwin.
00:02:23:03 - 00:02:24:13
Karama
Oh my God.
00:02:24:18 - 00:02:55:20
Wynton
But I couldn't pass chemistry. So I actually ended up in the communications department, and the staff over there fell in love with me and they just like handed me a camera and they were like, No, no, no, this is what you're going to do. So I went through that program and then came out and ended up being a television news reporter for several years until, you know, my most recent contract a few years ago came up and I was like, okay, I think it's time for me to go to law school because I always wanted to advocate for my friends who were all
00:02:55:20 - 00:02:56:11
Wynton
creators.
00:02:56:11 - 00:03:12:11
Wynton
In some respect. I just didn't know how I wanted to do that. And then while I was a television news reporter, I actually met an entertainment attorney and it clicked and I was like, That's what I've been looking for. And then that's kind of how I ended up in that path.
00:03:12:11 - 00:03:30:07
Karama
But you also have carried over some of that acting and that entertainment and personality from all the media stuff that you've done, because honestly, you're probably the most media ready lawyer I've ever met, and I'm here for the tie
00:03:30:07 - 00:03:31:08
Karama
pin
00:03:31:12 - 00:03:52:06
Wynton
Oh, my lapel pins? Thanks. Yes. Yes. I love my lapel pins. When I meet other attorneys, they all they're very buttoned up and put together. And I'm like, no, I have like mandalorian pens and like Bob Burgers pens. And it's always a very good opener. It makes it softens people. When you meet them, especially if you have the title of an attorney.
00:03:52:08 - 00:04:21:04
Wynton
Mm hmm. Which I work very hard. Not for that. Not to be my whole personality. Like, Oh, I'm an attorney. So it's a really good way to, like, soften people and have a good entry point because arts and entertainment and TV and movies is something that we all share. Mm hmm. We may not all like the same things, but we all like something, whether it's music, TV, movies, there's some kind of arts and entertainment that we enjoy.
00:04:21:06 - 00:04:36:21
Wynton
So lapel pins is a really easy way for me to kind of figure out who likes what. And it's fun. Like, I meet some attorneys who you would think are not Star Wars fans at all, and they'll see my pain and be like, Is that is that passive bizarre?
00:04:36:23 - 00:04:39:13
Karama
Oh, that's right. This is the way.
00:04:39:17 - 00:04:44:18
Wynton
And then the whole conversation shifts and it's it's fantastic. It's great.
00:04:44:20 - 00:05:10:21
Karama
That is that is amazing. And also, like you said, if somebody in a because most people, if they're finding themselves in court, are probably stressed. So no matter what it is, you're not doing like murder trials. But still it can be stressful situations. So definitely there is definitely a way to. It's an icebreaker. Yes. So one of the things that actually you introduced me to because I didn't know this was that social media law is a thing.
00:05:10:23 - 00:05:18:20
Karama
Yeah. So can you explain a little bit about that concept? And like, can some of these TikTok dancers do? Like what?
00:05:18:22 - 00:05:49:10
Wynton
What can they do? Yeah, actually, specifically with TikTok dances, Tik Tok is actually at the forefront when it comes to copyright and dancing. So we could talk about that in a minute. But like so social media law really falls under the umbrella of just like the broad title of entertainment law. It's such a broad title because it covers everything contract negotiations, brand deals, intellectual property, which is copyright, trademark patents.
00:05:49:16 - 00:06:29:12
Wynton
We're talking about artificial intelligence, which is like this new space that we now have to figure out how we're talking about licensing, whether it's movie licensing is trademark licenses, copyright licenses, music licenses. It covers such like a wide swath of things. But when we're talking about social media and social media influencers, they have specific needs that attorneys that aren't necessarily intellectual property attorneys, they're entertainment attorneys like myself are now figuring out that, okay, these social media influencers are not just, you know, doing dances on Tik Tok and making YouTube videos and all this kind of stuff.
00:06:29:12 - 00:06:32:20
Wynton
This is their livelihood. And they're making users correct.
Exactly. And then they're also having to deal with contracts and negotiating with brands for brand deals. And they're also having having to protect their copyright and their trademark. So they have to keep their brand protected and they have to deal with licensing and all that stuff. So it is entertainment law, but it is really focused on the needs of social media influencers.
00:07:04:19 - 00:07:12:00
Karama
are you on retainer with any of these TikTok creatives or can you not share your I guess.
00:07:12:02 - 00:07:19:15
Wynton
I can't necessarily tell you exactly who, but I would say the majority of my clients are social media influencers, and I can tell you that
00:07:19:15 - 00:07:36:10
Wynton
probably all of my clients come from directly from being on social media. So I don't do like commercial television commercials or billboards or anything like that. I specifically exist in the place where my clients are, which is social media.
00:07:36:12 - 00:07:55:21
Karama
Yeah. Okay, so let's break down a little bit of some of these things that you're talking about. So you talked about licensing that makes sense. Obviously, appearances and likeness and things like terms like in perpetuity. Kids remember that term and I hate to it. Yeah. You do not want that in a contract.
00:07:55:21 - 00:07:57:13
Wynton
No, never.
00:07:57:15 - 00:08:17:13
Karama
And and I can't get into all the details of this but I did I did get into something where and if you were in my state but I know you're a licensed in New Orleans, I would use you. But I did actually have to call a lawyer to help with a contract situation because someone was I had no problem with the work.
00:08:17:13 - 00:08:46:08
Karama
They were asking for. But then in the fine print of the contracts were was wording like in perpetuity and ownership of my likeness and what the Blur girl was supposed to do. And I was like, Nice try. They're girls trademarks. You can't. Yes, anything in this house is me. Yes. You know. And they were like it was very clear that they were not used to talking to people who either had a lawyer speaking for them or being somebody who even knew how to advocate for themselves.
00:08:46:08 - 00:09:05:23
Karama
And I think that's part of the problem. So let's shed a little light on that. Like if somebody reaches out and says, I would like you to sell my product. Mm hmm. On, you know, whether or not that's usually generated. Well, user generated content usually means you are giving up your image for a short period of time, I'm assuming.
00:09:06:00 - 00:09:35:02
Wynton
Yeah. Those are usually called work for hire situations. I got to clarify real quick. I'm licensed in Louisiana, but because of the nature of entertainment, law and intellectual property, I actually have clients all over the country. Oh, okay. Yeah. Intellectual property is federal law, so it is the same across the board for all states. So if I do have to go to court, I'm practicing in federal court, which is all the states I can actually practice with clients pretty much anywhere.
00:09:35:02 - 00:09:51:06
Wynton
But if I have to go to state court somewhere, I can actually partner with attorneys in that specific state so that they can do all the court stuff in in and I can continue working with the with the client. But when it comes to
00:09:51:06 - 00:09:53:12
Wynton
that, it is a
00:09:53:12 - 00:10:03:05
Wynton
work for hire. Yes. So work for hire is you are going in with a written contract with the understanding that any of the content that you are creating, you are retaining no rights to it.
00:10:03:07 - 00:10:08:20
Wynton
Like you go in understanding that and the only way you can do work for hire is if it's in writing. It can't just be like, Hey,
00:10:08:20 - 00:10:10:17
Wynton
you want to do a work for hire thing for me real quick?
00:10:10:17 - 00:10:14:03
Wynton
It can't be a verbal contract. It's got to be written out.
00:10:14:03 - 00:10:27:02
Karama
if they don't send you a PDF, but if someone says sends you an email outlining the the work that they want you to do and you agree to do that work via email, is that legally binding?
00:10:27:06 - 00:10:37:13
Wynton
It could be. It depends. Like you're going to hear lots of attorneys always say it depends with an email. It depends. It could be. Does it? The question really is, does it fit the
00:10:37:13 - 00:10:45:22
Wynton
legal language of what is a contract? So is there an offer? Is there acceptance? Is there? It has to fit, though. It has to fit in check certain boxes.
00:10:45:22 - 00:10:51:20
Wynton
So if it checks those boxes, then yeah, it could be considered a contract. If it's in an email.
00:10:51:20 - 00:10:52:19
Karama
You just mentioned that
00:10:52:19 - 00:11:05:23
Karama
social media law is federal law, which means you could cover people all over the place, which is a great time to point out that therblerdgurl PATREON is wide open. So please donate so I can afford to work with Wynton.
00:11:05:23 - 00:11:15:21
Karama
What about the music that gets copied in reused and remixed on platforms that were made for that? Like Tik Tok? Like, how does that work?
00:11:15:23 - 00:11:40:13
Wynton
Yeah. So with platforms specifically, they have licenses, licensing deals with the distributors of all these songs. So they'll sign a licensing deal with a big distributor so that they can use all of these different songs on their platform. Now, if you come up with your own original music and it's on TikTok, you put it on TikTok, you're probably going to see it get flagged.
00:11:40:15 - 00:11:44:17
Wynton
You've probably seen people put it up and get the sound removed, but.
00:11:44:19 - 00:11:46:03
Karama
I’ve had my own voice get flagged.
00:11:46:07 - 00:11:52:13
Wynton
Yes, bring it or you'll put something up on YouTube and you'll get a copyright strike and they'll they'll flag it.
00:11:52:13 - 00:11:58:07
Wynton
a while back there was a big push to have these platforms put in place systems that could help
00:11:58:07 - 00:12:07:21
Wynton
recognize copyrighted materials and pull it down so that creators weren't having to run around and police their copyright everywhere.
00:12:07:23 - 00:12:08:13
Wynton
Right.
00:12:08:15 - 00:12:09:08
Karama
Got it.
00:12:09:10 - 00:12:32:12
Wynton
But it is still up to the creators to be active in making sure they are protecting and keeping vigilant on how their content is being used. So with music, there are two copyrights that are born when you make one song. So there's the copyright that protects the underlying composition. So all of the little bits and pieces that are put together to make the song.
00:12:32:14 - 00:12:43:09
Wynton
Mm hmm. That's the underlying lyrics, a melody that has its own copyright. And then you've got the copyright that protects the master recording. So the final outcome and you also often hear artists that are like,
00:12:43:09 - 00:12:54:06
Wynton
give the artists their masters back. Yeah, that's what they're talking about. And in a traditional sense, normally the label is going to own the master and then the artist is
00:12:54:06 - 00:12:59:07
Wynton
either own outright the underlying composition or own a certain percentage of it.
00:12:59:07 - 00:13:08:06
Wynton
And that is how it is determined who gets paid what When there are licensing deals done. We're we're talking about mechanical royalties, all that kind of stuff, right?
00:13:08:06 - 00:13:19:19
Wynton
So if your song does get used by somebody without your authorization, it's copyright infringement. If it is on a platform without your authorization, it's copyright infringement.
00:13:19:19 - 00:13:23:23
Wynton
You have a right to reach out to them and say, Hey, that's mine.
00:13:23:24 - 00:13:33:13
Wynton
You can't use it that way. So yeah, if with music, with visual art, with any other kind of content that is original, that is yours,
00:13:33:13 - 00:13:43:17
Wynton
if somebody is using it in a way that you don't want them to use it, you have a right to step in and say, I don't like this, please stop. That that's a very more forceful way.
00:13:43:17 - 00:13:44:10
Wynton
They please stop.
00:13:44:12 - 00:13:46:09
Karama
Yeah, I mean, that's why we hire lawyers
00:13:46:09 - 00:13:49:10
Karama
But you also mentioned A.I. now A.I.
00:13:49:10 - 00:13:54:23
Karama
when open I really opened the floodgates with ChatGPT last fall we have just you know, now it's everywhere.
00:13:54:23 - 00:14:00:04
Karama
But I would probably say that midjourney and sites like that have been a problem for a minute.
00:14:00:04 - 00:14:04:22
Karama
What is the problem with AI and copyright?
00:14:04:22 - 00:14:14:00
Wynton
So there are two there are two areas for me at least in other IP attorneys and other attorneys in general, there are two areas of problem.
00:14:14:00 - 00:14:18:04
Wynton
there's like a laundry list of legal issues that are born from
00:14:18:04 - 00:14:23:12
Wynton
And then there's the ethical issues coming from what is happening with it, right?
00:14:23:14 - 00:14:34:11
Wynton
So there's like the blanket for me, an IP attorney, there's just like the blanket. This is copyright infringement issue or this is trademark infringement issue or this could be patent
00:14:34:11 - 00:14:35:17
Wynton
infringement, Right.
00:14:35:17 - 00:14:43:18
Wynton
On the other hand, what the ethical side is just watching the way that these platforms refuse to
00:14:43:18 - 00:14:53:07
Wynton
do anything to make these to make it right. First of all, they're not coming out and they're not telling us exactly how these things work. They're just giving us
00:14:53:07 - 00:15:01:12
Wynton
this kind of blanket statement of it goes out and it scrapes the web for images and music.
00:15:01:12 - 00:15:14:09
Wynton
It just goes out and scrapes the web for these things and learns from it. But doesn't doesn't pull it in. That doesn't really tell us anything. What does what is scraping? It's what is what is scraping?
00:15:14:12 - 00:15:21:10
Karama
Well, it's funny that you ask that question because all I could find on this is basically that had like a one sentence description was
00:15:21:10 - 00:15:41:10
Karama
AI can be used for web scraping in a number of ways. One way is by using machine learning to automatically identify and extract data from web pages. This can be done by training a model to recognize patterns of data on a particular page or site, and then using that model to automatically extract the data.
00:15:41:10 - 00:15:44:21
Karama
That's from brandveda, by the way, for anybody who's interested.
00:15:44:21 - 00:15:55:23
Wynton
like even the definition that you gave me is still vague. It's just got a lot of techie language in it of like machine learning. Okay, What what is what is that like?
00:15:55:23 - 00:15:59:13
Wynton
in the law, it is the meanings of the word.
00:15:59:13 - 00:16:28:13
Wynton
We go from the meanings of the exact word. You got to give me words that have real meaning, though those are kind of really fluffy words of telling. It's scraping, it's machine learning, it's going out and it's looking at stuff. Tell me what the process is and what it's pulling in and what the data is, that it's pulling it right Ethically, Are you giving artists the option to be scraped or not to be scraped?
00:16:28:13 - 00:16:54:12
Wynton
ethically you're not giving an artist the chance to say, you know what, I really don't want my art to be a part of teaching your machine how to do what it does. You're not giving these artists the chance to protect their rights in ownership, in their pieces of work. You're just going out and you're doing it, and you know you're doing it without asking them because the CEO of Mid Journey was like at the end of last year
00:16:54:12 - 00:16:56:01
Wynton
did an interview with Forbes.
00:16:56:03 - 00:16:58:16
Wynton
The interviewer asked him several questions about this,
00:16:58:16 - 00:17:00:06
Wynton
he's asked him,
00:17:00:06 - 00:17:29:11
Wynton
where are you getting all of this? He's like, oh, it's like hundreds of millions of images across the Web. And then he at one point asked him, well, are you getting permission from the owners of these pieces of work? And his answer, these are not his exact words, but his answer was basically, no, we really have no way to go out and figure out who owns what and ask them permission, which is kind of a B.S. answer to me, because and that's why we have copyright laws in place.
00:17:29:11 - 00:17:38:13
Karama
Exactly. And I also keep thinking of things like Getty Images and all of these stock footage, places like they figured it out.
00:17:38:15 - 00:18:11:15
Wynton
Yes. And even Getty has come out and said they do not accept any images that are generated by AI., the Copyright Office has come out several times, which is another huge legal issue. The Copyright Office has come out several times and said air generated creative works are ineligible for copyright protection, which means in essence, they are dumped into the public domain and anybody can use them for whatever means they want commercial, personal, whatever.
00:18:11:17 - 00:18:17:11
Wynton
And I can go into a rant about what that means for a lot of other different things in the space.
00:18:17:13 - 00:18:31:24
Karama
Because I thought I was excited when I heard that the USPTO was not like, Hey, we're not accepting this, we're not patenting these and we're not given copyright. I'm like, Yes. And they're like, It's public domain. I'm like, No.
00:18:32:01 - 00:19:03:05
Wynton
Well, they're right because there's nowhere else for it to go. Either it is protected by copyright or it is not. There's no in-between because there's no in-between. There's nothing in between for it to go. If it exists, it has to either be protected and owned or not. Okay. There's no there's no in-between, right. So there is and we've seen these kind of cases before, not particularly with AI, but there was this monkey who actually funny enough, was named Naruto.
00:19:03:07 - 00:19:42:16
Wynton
Oh, wow. Wow. Years and years back there was a photographer, a wildlife photographer who went out into the jungle. The cat monkey got a hold of his camera, took some selfies. Long story short, it ended up in court because he made a book out of them. He was selling them. And that and PETA actually filed a lawsuit on behalf of the monkey Monkey saying that he owned the copyright to those photos and the photographer was violating his rights and it was copyright infringement of the monkeys, copyright the courts came out and said, no,
00:19:42:16 - 00:19:49:01
Wynton
the basis of copyright law, is human authorship.
00:19:49:03 - 00:19:55:11
Wynton
Then these photos did not have any human authorship. Therefore, they're ineligible for copyright protection.
00:19:55:11 - 00:20:15:17
Wynton
The same is said here with artificial intelligence. There is no human authorship. It's code, it's machine. You're telling me it's machine learning and it's a machine generating it. There is no human authorship, therefore it is ineligible for copyright protection and is now in the public domain.
00:20:15:19 - 00:20:22:06
Karama
Wow. Okay. First of all, I'm blown away by the fact that they were defending a monkey for the. Okay.
00:20:22:06 - 00:20:28:00
Wynton
as silly as it is, it actually ended up yielding good case law that we can now use.
00:20:28:00 - 00:20:29:06
Karama
Precedent to get.
00:20:29:08 - 00:20:55:16
Wynton
Stuff like this. Right. But here's one of the big ethical and legal issues that comes from this. Right? So if you're on TikTok, if you're on Instagram, you see the ad generated filters that people can take pictures of themselves and it'll generate them like as a medieval person on Spain, it'll it'll generate all these pictures based on your image and kick it back to you and all these different cool ways.
00:20:55:16 - 00:21:09:00
Wynton
Right. If you think about what we're just talking about, if it is generated by A.I., those images of you are now dumped into the public domain. You're now dumping your image into the public domain.
00:21:09:00 - 00:21:11:23
Karama
I've said this tons of times and people think I'm crazy.
00:21:11:23 - 00:21:29:10
Karama
I'm making this up, but let's say some racist company buys the company out that was making that app, right? And now they have a bunch of black people's images that they turn into all kinds of horrible things, you know, mean, which is not the worst thing that's ever happen to us, but not out of the realm of possibility.
00:21:29:10 - 00:21:33:20
Wynton
So you're actually not you're not you're actually hitting the bullseye with that.
00:21:33:20 - 00:21:38:17
Wynton
there is an African model who has generated.
00:21:38:17 - 00:21:56:20
Wynton
She's not real. Yes. But she was generated by a white man, a white male individual who controls that image. There are ethical issues there of someone controlling a black image in a commercial sense. That is.
00:21:56:20 - 00:21:57:11
Karama
Yes.
00:21:57:13 - 00:22:01:19
Wynton
There are ethical issues there. While this is not a real person.
00:22:01:20 - 00:22:08:15
Karama
Right. The virtual influence, you're saying, No, no, no, no, no. You're absolutely right. There are a few white ones, too. But there is an African model.
00:22:08:15 - 00:22:19:23
Karama
he's making millions of dollars because no one has to sell anything. They are physically just putting the designs on this model and yeah, I know, I know who you're talking about.
00:22:19:23 - 00:22:43:22
Karama
And it's yeah, that also happened with after Matrix four came out with that movie. But Unreal Engine, you know, kind of did a tie in with like, Hey, we're releasing this new Unreal Engine thing. I'm just talking about that. And they put out Unreal Engine for laypeople to use. You could say my boyfriend tried it.
00:22:43:22 - 00:23:01:02
Karama
and was able to create some stuff you could create things in this world. There was a person, an artist that put up some really amazing images of a black woman that a lot of people who don't know what Unreal Engine is thought was real.
00:23:01:02 - 00:23:09:13
Karama
And he was using hashtags like Black Lives Matter and the only reason and changed his Twitter icon.
00:23:09:15 - 00:23:10:01
Wynton
Oh, wow.
00:23:10:02 - 00:23:26:16
Karama
Okay. There was a bunch of us that called him out on digital blackface because there was things that he said that we were like, Yep, you're not black. We don't. You don't. We would never say that. No one said that since 1962, are you even human? And then someone dug it up and realized it was like a white dude that was using this app.
00:23:26:22 - 00:23:29:13
Karama
Yes. I'm like, digital blackface is a problem.
00:23:29:15 - 00:23:46:19
Wynton
It's a thing. And it's it's it's going to get worse as AI develops and a lot of people I've gotten when I talk about AI on social media, I get tons of just like if I get negative feedback from any topic, it is talking about artificial intelligence.
00:23:46:19 - 00:23:50:14
Karama
Oh yeah, they got time or they're bots.
00:23:50:14 - 00:24:30:22
Wynton
but that doesn't mean I'm against it. I think artificial intelligence is a fantastic gateway to giving people access to things that they may not have had access to before, whether it's physical access, mental access to physical capability, access. A.I. is is going to be something that helps a lot of people if we don't ratchet back a little bit and take a look at what we're doing, it is also going to hurt millions and millions of people, and it's going to put a lot of artists and creators out of business.
00:24:30:22 - 00:24:55:04
Wynton
But it's also a huge part of what's going on with the writers strike. And yeah, is right in there. Air is going to put a lot of the things that we love as nerds in jeopardy and the quality of the things that we love as nerds in jeopardy because human authorship.
00:24:55:06 - 00:24:57:18
Wynton
So I'll go on my like, creative rant for a second.
00:24:57:20 - 00:24:58:05
Karama
No, no, no.
00:24:58:05 - 00:25:28:12
Wynton
Please do like, my philosophy as an entertainment attorney is that arts and entertainment is uniquely human. There's nothing else on this planet that can do and develop and create the way that human beings can. I know we see, you know, videos of elephants painting and monkeys taking pictures and all that kind of stuff. But on the level that human beings can do it, nothing else can.
00:25:28:12 - 00:25:58:15
Wynton
And I will argue till I'm blue in the face and dead in the ground, artificial intelligence cannot do it the same way that that humans can do it right. It may be able to generate some very cool things, but human beings and art is so unique, it's it's it's insane the way that we across history have held up arts.
00:25:58:15 - 00:26:26:15
Wynton
It entertainment and valued it is so important. It's one of the few things in human history that spans across human existence from the cavemen that were drawing on the cave walls. Until now, arts has been here with us and a part of us. And what we do. So we should continue to cherish it and continue to cherish the human authorship that goes into creating.
00:26:26:17 - 00:26:37:24
Wynton
Right. I think artificial intelligence, yes. Will be a vital part of that going forward. It's not going anywhere, unfortunately. But we still need to hold on to the human authorship aspect of it.
00:26:38:01 - 00:26:55:15
Karama
We absolutely do. Now, I'm going to take a break here so we can pay some bills. But when we come back, we're going to talk about ho w some people, some real life humans are fighting back against sort of this AIrevolution, both artists and musicians. We'll be right back in a second
00:26:55:15 - 00:27:26:06
Karama
Welcome back to the Blago podcast. I am here with Wynton Yates, Esquire entertainment attorney, and we are knee deep in this conversation about art ownership and the legal ramifications. One of the things I want to talk to you about is just talking about art. I'm just thinking of the artists that filed a class action lawsuit in January against Majani and other eye scraping apps
00:27:26:06 - 00:27:33:03
Karama
these artists, first of all, did they win that court case or is that still ongoing?
00:27:33:05 - 00:27:54:04
Wynton
That is still ongoing. And it is one of, I think, two at the moment. But that kind of highlights the issue with what's going on with artificial intelligence is that all of these questions that we have right now are theoretical because it's unmitigated in a lot of spaces in the law. We can lean on written law, we can lean on case law.
00:27:54:04 - 00:28:08:19
Wynton
We can look at old cases that have already been litigated to pull rules from them. And the way and look at the way that judges in, you know, Supreme Court and appeals courts have ruled on things in the past. But we're looking at something that is new territory. We kind of have to lean on old cases like the
00:28:08:19 - 00:28:17:13
Wynton
Naruto case with the with the monkey to look at how we've looked at things that could be similar in the past.
00:28:17:15 - 00:28:23:00
Wynton
And in this case we are looking at copyright laws
00:28:23:00 - 00:28:43:00
Wynton
that in general did not could not have imagined artificial intelligence at the level that it is right now. Right? Yeah, because when we're talking about intellectual property and we're talking about creative works, we're talking about painters talking about screenwriters, talking about musicians, you name it,
00:28:43:00 - 00:28:44:08
Wynton
we're talking about ownership.
00:28:44:09 - 00:28:50:11
Wynton
Ownership is the core issue for me at least. It's the core issue right?
00:28:50:11 - 00:28:52:18
Wynton
Whoever owns it controls it.
00:28:52:20 - 00:28:54:07
Karama
Right?
00:28:54:09 - 00:29:25:03
Wynton
We're talking about artificial intelligence. They're saying it scrapes, it goes out and scrapes hundreds of millions, images in songs and recordings and all this stuff. Right. So who owns it? Copyright law tells us that the very basic law, before you get into all the exceptions and the rules and all that kind of stuff, is that the original author of the creative work owns the copyright period Hard stop until you get into like joint works and work for hire and all that kind of thing.
00:29:25:03 - 00:29:26:06
Wynton
All the exceptions, of course.
00:29:26:06 - 00:29:38:23
Wynton
When we're talking about artificial intelligence, Right. Is it the person that created the algorithm that is running this machine learning or this scraping? Is it the hundreds of millions of
00:29:38:23 - 00:29:51:21
Wynton
owners of the images that were scraped? Do they all own 1/1000000 of this thing, or is it the person that's typing in the props to generate this this work?
00:29:51:23 - 00:29:52:17
Wynton
Who owns it?
00:29:52:21 - 00:30:17:05
Karama
Well, here's and here's the thing. I if you take a look at how mid journey and all of these things work, even the props have to be very specific to something that has already been created. They can't do just like you. You're you all are trying to create laws or defend laws based on previous laws. Can't draw or come up with something new if they have no reference given to it.
00:30:17:11 - 00:30:44:18
Karama
So I do think there's something to be said about like that particular class action lawsuit. They were going after stable diffusion, mid journey and one other company, I can't remember the name of them, but I did see a comic artist, Kelly McKiernan, who was part of this talk about the fact she and other artists, people were beating specifically to her art and other people's art.
00:30:44:18 - 00:31:13:04
Karama
They weren't just going after a whole bunch of different people. They were saying, I'm giving you all of this person's art draw something like this. And then the sad thing about that is if you want to work with X, Y, or Z artists, you can't afford them. Mm hmm. Then somebody can go go and find a digital artist and say, Listen, I want you to create something like this, you know?
00:31:13:04 - 00:31:32:03
Karama
But I still think the concept belongs to that artist. The other thing that I'm also just talking about doors opening both ways. I think the thing that's also terrifying are pitches like written pitches are the concept art. That is that's the first thing I saw when I saw a lot of the art. I'm like, This all looks like concept art.
00:31:32:03 - 00:31:50:15
Karama
Yeah, and it was because tons of people pitch concept art. And for those of you who don't know, concept art is if you've ever seen an episode of Mandalorian at the end, when the end credits are rolling and you see all the art that's up there that looks like scenes from the show, that is Dave Filoni concept art.
00:31:50:16 - 00:32:12:20
Karama
Sometimes it's other people. It's often him, his concept art of the scenes. So people will pitch or put in tons and tons of concept art that doesn't get used. And then where does it go? What if these sites are paying people for this unused art like that? You know, there's still there's I feel like there needs to be recourse coming and going.
00:32:12:22 - 00:32:18:11
Karama
Like, what is that thing that people sign where they're going to show a script but they don't want it stolen to by the people.
00:32:18:14 - 00:32:20:04
Wynton
In NDA right?
00:32:20:06 - 00:32:31:11
Karama
I mean, there needs to be some type of protection, like an NDA or something for an artist. Now when they when they pitched something so that their stuff just just get fed into a machine.
00:32:31:13 - 00:32:57:10
Wynton
So again, that's part of that's part of what's going on with the writers strike. But also like, yes, you're hitting the nail on the head just as a creator thinking critically of how this could affect you as a creator. You're and all the other people watching this and like the question of ownership, like I was saying, is the core of this, because if you don't own it, then who does?
00:32:57:10 - 00:33:24:15
Wynton
And if nobody owns it, it's in the public domain. And once it's in the public domain, it can be used by anybody for anything which goes to which again, goes to what you were just saying about if you can't afford to work with a specific artist. I it at the stage it is right now for artists creatives across the board AI is devaluing art
00:33:24:15 - 00:33:26:19
Wynton
Yeah because
00:33:26:19 - 00:33:31:22
Wynton
if you want to go and get an artist to paint you,
00:33:31:22 - 00:33:48:02
Wynton
you know, a specific style of painting for your wall and they charge $5,000 for it. Oh, I can't afford that. All right. I'm just going to go generate it type it in, I'm going to get what I want, I'm going to print it out and I'm going to put it on the wall.
00:33:48:02 - 00:33:48:23
Wynton
Done.
00:33:49:00 - 00:33:51:08
Karama
Which is your right until you decide to sell it.
00:33:51:08 - 00:33:54:22
Wynton
Or you can sell it. It's in the public domain. Why not?
00:33:54:24 - 00:33:57:01
Karama
I see what you're saying.
00:33:57:03 - 00:34:13:16
Wynton
So even if you bought the painting from the artist, you could still you could still sell the painting. Now you'd still like if you buy the art from the the painter, you are buying the art. You are not buying the rights.
00:34:13:18 - 00:34:14:05
Karama
Right?
00:34:14:10 - 00:34:39:11
Wynton
You do not own the rights. So either way you still selling Just the painting. It's the same concept with tattoos. So there was the the tattoo artist who did the tattoos for Randy Orton. Mm hmm. Who successfully sued the WWE and Take-Two Interactive. That makes the 2K games. Mm hmm. They made WWE two K, They featured Randy Orton in it.
00:34:39:11 - 00:35:03:16
Wynton
They recreated all of his tattoos. They created his his sleeves, and the tattoo artist filed suit and won because she owned the copyright in those designs that she put on his body. That is that that's probably the second highest wow amount of hate that I've gotten is is telling people about that on Tok. Yes. It's on his skin.
00:35:03:17 - 00:35:14:12
Wynton
Yes. Yes. We have tattoos on our skin. We own the physical tattoo. I do not own the rights in this sleeve. I don't own the rights in it that the artist does.
00:35:14:14 - 00:35:15:17
Karama
Exactly.
00:35:15:19 - 00:35:29:04
Wynton
So in the same way that somebody would license our music or something like that, they were supposed to go to the artists and say, Hey, we want to license your designs for this video game so that we can recreate them in the video game.
00:35:29:06 - 00:35:53:02
Karama
Wow, I'm glad they won. Speaking of music, I want to share this thing that just dropped this week about Frank Ocean. I don't know this and I. I generated Frank Ocean songs sold for thousands of dollars. I'm reading this from Gizmodo, so, Frank, Frank Ocean is elusive on a good day. Like we can't find him on a good day, right?
00:35:53:03 - 00:36:17:04
Karama
So there's a bunch of chats and I remember hearing about these tracks, but I just thought they were, you know, somebody had leaked something from Coachella I didn't know. And so apparently and a lot of other people did too. They were like, Oh, I'm going to get this leak exclusive track. So this guy that calls himself Morning Assassins, he put them up for sale on an Internet music collector's market and discord.
00:36:17:06 - 00:36:49:07
Karama
He offered users and moderators on Discord, the songs in exchange for upwards of $4,000 each, telling everybody that basically he made around. I don't know how much you made. I think it's between 13 and $15,000, so maybe like two or three people bought them. But the point is, it's all fake. But he didn't just sample the music he hired or I'm saying he it might be a C or they they hired a musician to create nine instrumentals that would feature Ocean's vocals, which were in turn created with AI.
00:36:49:07 - 00:37:09:01
Karama
the model used to create those vocal tracks was apparently trained with high quality vocal snippets of the artist's voice. So he pulled Snap. They pulled snippets of Frank Ocean's voice, mixed it with a musician's work, a musician that they actually hired, the music that came out of it sounded so real.
00:37:09:01 - 00:37:29:15
Karama
Everybody thought it was Frank Ocean's actual music. People paid for it until you got caught. So my question is, who catches it? Who gets sued? The guy who masterminded this whole thing, the artist who came in to create the tracks like The Bed of Music,
00:37:29:15 - 00:37:34:24
Karama
the Discord platform or the mod knew like who catches it?
00:37:35:01 - 00:37:40:16
Wynton
Oh, everybody's catching a cease and desist. Everybody's getting is everybody's catching it right.
00:37:40:16 - 00:37:47:20
Wynton
The thought process there is you got to argue your way out of it. Tell the court why you are not a party to this lawsuit.
00:37:47:20 - 00:37:59:16
Wynton
So I'm send it out to everybody, especially the person who created it. Right. So this to me, there's there's so many issues that are coming from this.
00:37:59:18 - 00:38:14:17
Wynton
This one specific case is I'm suing for fraud. I'm suing for misappropriation of name, image and likeness. I'm suing for trademark and I'm selling for copyright. And there's so many legal and ethical issues that arise from this because.
00:38:14:19 - 00:38:17:04
Karama
You get a C&D you get a C&D everybody's.
00:38:17:04 - 00:38:34:00
Wynton
Getting everybody's getting it right. Because if we're just looking at the misappropriation of the name, image and likeness, we're talking about the fact that we all are our own individual selves and we all have the right to license out any aspect of our persona in the way we see fit.
00:38:34:02 - 00:38:34:23
Karama
Mm hmm.
00:38:35:00 - 00:39:05:16
Wynton
And this case you are taking away that right, That ability from Frank Ocean. He did you give him the option to say, yes, you can use my voice to train your your AI to then create something and sell it? No, you just took it. You just took his voice to create something. And then the question is, is the voice that was generated from the AI, is that Frank Ocean's voice, or is that the A.I.?
00:39:05:18 - 00:39:10:22
Wynton
Because the I have generated that voice on its own.
00:39:10:24 - 00:39:15:00
Karama
Right and that and the oh God, when we get into sentience, we.
00:39:15:02 - 00:39:19:23
Wynton
Could, I, I have eventually generated a voice that sounds
00:39:19:23 - 00:39:27:18
Wynton
that close to Frank Ocean. We may never know because it was our it was trained in using Frank Ocean's voice.
00:39:27:20 - 00:39:41:02
Karama
Well, something similar happened with Drake and the weekend. I think you heard about that situation. And I think Universal. Universal is like, shut it down immediately. Like everybody's catching it. They're trying to put everybody in jail. They're like.
00:39:41:02 - 00:40:00:24
Wynton
No, as they should. But then following that, Grimes tweeted out, “Hey, you, anybody can use my voice for A.I. songs make as many as you want. The blanket deal is going to be. I get 50% ownership of whatever you create. I don't care. Go do it”. So you've got artists like that who are on the other side of the fence are like, Yeah, go for it.
00:40:01:01 - 00:40:16:00
Wynton
Cool. But you still have given she has given been given the opportunity to say, Yeah, you can use my voice. This is the deal. Frank Ocean wasn't given that choice. Drake was the weekend, was it? They weren't that choice.
00:40:16:00 - 00:40:32:19
Karama
is that the answer To do what Grimes did and say, Okay, we're going to set up a A.I. music division where artists can get a piece of the music that is created.
00:40:32:19 - 00:40:36:17
Karama
but that they could get a piece like We can't Stop and we can only hope to contain it.
00:40:36:19 - 00:40:43:10
Karama
If you want to protect your voice, you sign up with this particular service. So that and we do find out that somebody uses it.
00:40:43:10 - 00:40:45:01
Karama
we have some recourse.
00:40:45:01 - 00:40:57:07
Karama
So is it something similar like that? It maybe is the answer creating like a Getty Images kind of thing for air where artists can pay to have their stuff use.
00:40:57:09 - 00:41:01:19
Wynton
So I think it depends which is the worst answer possible.
00:41:01:21 - 00:41:02:22
Karama
That's alawyer answer.I got it.
00:41:02:22 - 00:41:26:15
Wynton
I guess it depends because you have to talk to the artists themselves. Some artists are okay with that. Some artists are flat out against it. They don't want their stuff used at all. How do you develop a system that protects everyone and gives everyone an equal voice to say whether or not they want their their stuff used or not?
00:41:26:20 - 00:41:32:06
Wynton
Right? So it's really easy for an artists like Grimes to come out and say, Yeah, you can use my stuff.
00:41:32:06 - 00:41:45:00
Wynton
But the people who don't want their stuff used have not been given that chance. If their stuff has already been used, it's been used and they were never given the opportunity or asked a question.
00:41:45:02 - 00:42:07:02
Wynton
Do you mind if I use your stuff to trade my. I know I don't. That conversation has never happened. Right. So again, it's really easy to be able to say, Yeah, you can use it, I don't care. But it's really hard to be able to say No, you cannot use my stuff, especially at the at the point we are with AI right now because it's it's out there.
00:42:07:03 - 00:42:10:08
Wynton
It's it's getting bigger and faster and stronger every day.
00:42:10:10 - 00:42:22:19
Karama
And it's learning because right now it's right now some of mostly air looks pretty terrible with the seven hands and the jacked up teeth. But did you see that commercial that pizza?
00:42:22:19 - 00:42:24:24
Wynton
Haven't seen the I haven't seen the commercial yet.
00:42:24:24 - 00:42:28:14
Karama
But oh, my God. It's nightmare fuel, but it's learning.
00:42:28:16 - 00:42:30:06
Wynton
And it will eventually.
00:42:30:08 - 00:42:43:12
Karama
Get better. It will get better. And then what makes me nervous is when because it's so hard to tell what's real and what's fake, What happens when that hits politics or government or voting?
00:42:43:14 - 00:43:05:16
Wynton
Well, it already has, right? So one of the big things right now that people are not paying attention to, but, you know, I plan on making some concern about this soon. I just have to do it in a way that Tok is not going to take it down. But two areas, revenge porn and just AI generated porn using someone else's face.
00:43:05:18 - 00:43:05:23
Karama
Yeah.
00:43:06:01 - 00:43:40:16
Wynton
Is about to take off it is about to take off. People are not wanting to hear that. But if you dumped your image into the public domain, someone who is really good at generating a I, it's somebody is going to take one of those images and produce adult content with it. Mm hmm. I can say that with confidence, because the adult industry, the content industry has been around forever.
00:43:40:16 - 00:43:45:20
Wynton
It will never go anywhere. It makes hundreds of trillion dollars a year. It's not going anywhere.
00:43:45:22 - 00:44:10:13
Karama
And also, people don't realize how much of the adult porn industry also has affected the evolution of technology. Mm hmm. Like one of the reasons why TV shows all went to video back in the eighties was because porn was all on video and there was already proof that was a cheaper, faster way to produce a show as opposed to having these gigantic film cameras and all the post-production.
00:44:10:13 - 00:44:13:17
Karama
I remember digital. Digital
00:44:13:17 - 00:44:15:22
Karama
And then the same thing with streaming,
00:44:15:22 - 00:44:38:18
Wynton
It's going to happen and it's going to happen fast. So we need to get things in place and is not me railing against the entertainment industry at all? Because I have clients who this is their content. They they fall into this conversation because they are creating original content that they own. It's covered by the same laws as other original content, copyright, trademark, all that stuff.
00:44:38:18 - 00:44:51:20
Wynton
Right? This is going to affect their jobs, their livelihoods as well, because this is stuff that can be generated quickly, efficiently and on a scale that
00:44:51:20 - 00:44:58:21
Wynton
human authorship, again, cannot keep up with. Is the quality going to be the same? Absolutely not.
00:44:58:21 - 00:45:02:19
Wynton
Are there going to be huge ethical issues? There already are, yes.
00:45:02:19 - 00:45:24:01
Wynton
Especially when we're talking about having access to hundreds of millions of people's images that they have given up inadvertently, unknowingly giving up the rights to protect it. Right. So even if you you say, well, what are they going to do? I had created a picture of myself as a mystical elf.
00:45:24:01 - 00:45:26:10
Wynton
They're going to make mystical elf porn. What do you think?
00:45:26:10 - 00:45:32:18
Karama
Like I had the hardest time trying to explain to my mother that the Pope does not have a puffy white down coat.
00:45:32:20 - 00:45:37:09
Wynton
No, he doesn't. It doesn't. That is the same image. Yes.
00:45:37:11 - 00:45:45:11
Karama
But yes. You know, and that's that's the sad part. I'm just even thinking about, you know, she's older. Think of the elderly who are already scammed into things.
00:45:45:11 - 00:45:56:02
Wynton
There's there's currently the scam going on right now where people are collecting people's voices like they are with Drake the weekend Frank Ocean as we're talking about that.
00:45:56:02 - 00:46:14:18
Wynton
People are collecting people's voices and then using them to scam everyday people. So, yeah, I was just reading a story about a young lady who got a call from her daughter who she thought was her daughter, and her daughter was screaming, Hey, they're going to they're going to they're going to hurt me. They're going to do this. They're going to do this.
00:46:14:18 - 00:46:25:10
Wynton
They want you to send them some money so that they won't hurt me. This lady is hearing her daughter's voice terrified on the phone and all she can think is I need to save my child.
00:46:25:10 - 00:46:33:20
Wynton
It was I. It was not her daughter. Her daughter was safe at school, but she didn't know that because she's hearing her daughter screaming for her life on the phone.
00:46:33:24 - 00:46:35:20
Karama
There's a special place in hell for these people.
00:46:35:20 - 00:46:38:05
Wynton
So that's what I'm saying. Like, AI
00:46:38:05 - 00:46:44:06
Wynton
is a problem right now. It's a problem right now because we don't have any kind of reins
00:46:44:06 - 00:46:49:17
Wynton
to control it. It's just it's it's going in a direction that's going to hurt a lot of people.
00:46:49:17 - 00:46:54:24
Wynton
if we don't put some kind of regulations in place
00:46:54:24 - 00:47:00:22
Wynton
to protect people somewhat, at least.
00:47:00:22 - 00:47:12:08
Karama
I would love for you to come back and share some more thoughts, ideas about this. Thank you so much, Winton, for hanging out. We're going to everybody find you on the interwebs.
00:47:12:12 - 00:47:31:09
Wynton
Yeah. So first you can find me at lawyer went into Ecom. Other than that, you can find me on virtually every social media platform. Just type in lawyer. Winton So TikTok and Instagram are mainly where I hang out. Mainly where I hang out is Tik Tok. But lawyer wins in everywhere. You'll be able to find me.
00:47:31:09 - 00:47:36:01
Wynton
Yeah, no, I'm excited. This is great stuff, but like, I'll close it out with this
00:47:36:01 - 00:47:43:03
Wynton
I'm waiting for somebody face to end up in a video game and they're going to be real pissed off about it because
00:47:43:08 - 00:47:45:09
Karama
probably already happening as we speak.
00:47:45:09 - 00:47:52:18
Karama
Awesome. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your expertise. And yeah, I'm going to go start writing questions for the next time you come by.
00:47:52:18 - 00:48:19:20
Unknown
Well, I hope you all were taking notes because that was an absolutely packed conversation. Please follow Wynton across all of the socials. And if you enjoyed this conversation, please give a like an A subscribe and also subscribe to my YouTube channel. I'm posting the video versions of my podcast there now as well. Now, if you would like to see me produce more content like this more often, please consider contributing to the Blair Girl Patreon and also fill out the podcast survey form there as well.
00:48:19:24 - 00:48:38:19
Unknown
That also helps me get advertising for the show. Don't forget to listen to my horror podcast Pop Paranormal. And if you have your own podcast and are looking to level up, check out my podcast Media kit templates as well. You're going to find links to all this stuff in the show notes. Thanks again, everyone. Thanks so much for listening, everyone.
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Black film history lessons with Len Webb and Vincent Williams
Apr 21, 2023
Did you know that the same year that Driving Miss Daisy won multiple Academy Awards, that Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing wasn’t even nominated? If you are a fan of Black cinema, then you are going to love this episode. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Len Web and Vincent Williams, co-hosts of “The Micheaux Mission”podcast and creators of the new podcast documentary “Class of 1989”.
The Micheaux Mission livestream provides insightful and in-depth analysis of literally every black film ever made, and the co-hosts’ discussions range from debates on what constitutes a black film to reviews of hidden gems, making this podcast a must-listen for any film lover.
“The Class of 1989” is a fascinating podcast limited series exploring the pivotal year for Black cinema and features interviews with industry professionals.
I’ve known these guys for years, so this discussion is full of laughter. Enjoy!
Len Webb and Vincent Williams took a whole year to create the podcast documentary “The Class of 1989”
If you enjoyed my chat with JACQUE AYE please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Welcome back to THEBLERDGURL podcast! In this episode, I’m joined by Jacque Aye, author, entrepreneur, and podcaster. We’ll be discussing her debut novel, “How to Be a Better Adult,” and her journey towards writing it. Aye shares her inspiration for the book, drawing from her experiences in corporate America. She also talks about her personal growth and how it led her to explore her passion for writing fiction. We touch on the concept of “soft life” and how capitalism has distorted the idea of self-care. We also discuss the cultural expectations placed on Black women to be caretakers and how it can lead to neglecting one’s own needs. Aye also shares information on her upcoming projects, including a self-care coloring book and a collection of short stories. Thanks for tuning in!
Jacque Aye shuttered her popular shop “Adorned by Chi” to launch a self-care brand and lean into her writing career
Author Jacque Aye“How to Be a Better Adult” by Jacque Aye (Cover art by WHYT MANGA)
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How JAWS and Tiktok influenced Akela Cooper's writing on M3GAN
Jan 13, 2023
Happy New Year everyone! theblerdgurl podcast is back! For my first episode of the year I had the pleasure of welcoming back to the podcast screen writer and producer Akela Cooper.
Akela Cooper is the writer for James Wan’s return to horror, Malignant, Now she’s here to talk about another collaboration with Wan, M3GAN. A horror movie out now, about a killer babysitting bot. The movie stars Allison Williams,, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Arlo Green, Brian Jordan Alvarez and 3 actresses who composite the murderous doll M3GAN: Kimberly Crossman, Jenna Davis and Amie Donald. The movie is a collaboration between Universal studios and Blumhouse with James Wan/Atomic Monster producing and Gerard Johnstone directing. Allison Williams of “Get Out” fame stars and produces. Akela is also writing The Nun 2 for New Line/Atomic Monster and The Safran Company due out later this year.
On the TV side, Akela was an Executive Producer on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season one for CBS All Access. And previously Akela worked on Steve DeKnight’s Netflix series, Jupiter’s Legacy based on a comic book series by Mark Millar. The Netflix/Marvel drama series Luke Cage, season six of the FX series, American Horror Story as well as The Hundred, Witches of East End, Grimm and Vee.
We spoil a LOT of M3GAN in this interview! You have been warned!
Akela Cooper worked on both M3GAN and Malignant with James Wan
Writer Akela Cooper at the M3GAN Red Carpet Premiere with a creepy crew of cosplayig M3GANS
If you enjoyed my chat with Akela Cooper please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Simone Missick and the "Lola-Coaster" of 'All Rise'
Aug 03, 2022
I’m convinced that actress Simone Missick is unstoppable. And if you’re a fan of “All Rise” (OWN), then you already know Missick’s character, Judge Lola Carmichael, is a force. Her star has risen quickly over the past few years, starting with Missick’s first big break as Detective Misty Knight in Marvel’s Luke Cage.
She went on to play a role in the spinoff series, “The Defenders”, and while working on “Altered Carbon: for Netflix, landed the lead role on “All Rise.” The series premiered on CBS in 2019 and became CBS’s first Black woman-led prime time show in the network’s history. Unfortunately, despite incredible writing and a loyal fanbase, the series didn’t survive the pandemic, and “All Rise” was canceled in 2021.
Last month the third season of “All Rise” debuted on OWN and included several cast and script changes along with a new onscreen credit for the actress. In this podcast interview, Missick reveals what it was like stepping into her new role as Executive Producer, what it was like joining the OWN family, and if we’ll ever see her and Misty’s bionic arm again.
Season 3 of All Rise starring Simone Missick moved to OWN
The All Rise mid-season finale airs on Tuesday August 9 at 8/7C on OWN
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Preeti Chhibber and 'Spider-Man's Social Dilemma'
Jul 26, 2022
Preeti Chhibber is having quite a year! Not only has she just dropped the Spider-Man’s Social Dilemma, the first of a middle grade trilogy, but earlier this year she wrote her first comic, Women of Marvel #1 and in September, her X-Men book X-Change Students 101 (the third book in the Avengers Assembly series) hits stores. Needless to say, Preeti has been very busy during the pandemic and she’s this week’s guest on the podcast.
“Spider-Man’s Social Dilemma” is the first book in a middle grade trilogy by Preeti Chhibber
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Jenny Lumet on Love, Lena and The Man Who Fell to Earth
Jun 30, 2022
In this episode I speak to Jenny Lumet, someone who I think has become one of the important Black Women in episodic franchise science fiction in Hollywood.
The daughter of legendary director Sidney Lumet and the granddaughter of the iconic Lena Horne, her love of science fiction and her contributions to television came much later in her career.
An actress before she became a writer, most people know Jenny Lumet as the writer of “Rachel Getting Married”, but her professional partnership with writer, director and producer Alex Kurtzman was what was what made her fall in love with science fiction. Not only did Lumet work on “Sleepy Hollow” with Kurtzman but she served as a producer on”Clarice” the series sequel to “Silence of the Lambs” as well as “Star Trek: Picard.” After joining the Star Trek family she went on to Co-Executive Produce “Star Trek: Discovery” and the current “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” with Kurtzman. Then the team took on the sequel to “The Man Who Fell to Earth” and stayed on when the series moved from Paramount Plus to Showtime.
This episode is dropping on Lena Horne’s birthday. And it’s only fitting that we got to talk about what her grandmother would have thought of her resilience and her success.
Naomie Harris and Chiwetel Ejiofor in “The Man Who Fell to Earth”
Naomie Harris and Chiwetel Ejiofor from THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH Image credit: Amy Spinks/SHOWTIME
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In “The Elysian Kingdom” the entire ship is taken over by an entity that turns Captain Pike and his crew into fairytale characters that suspiciously resemble Dr. Menga’s daughter’s favorite book. I spoke to Olusanmokun about what it’s been like joining this larger than life cast and what this very special episode meant to him.
Babs Olusanmokun stars as Dr. Mbenga in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”
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Celia Rose Gooding is even more geeked than we are that she gets to continue Uhura's legacy
May 24, 2022
More Star Trek for you! Last week I spoke to writer, producer and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” Co-Executive Producer Akela Cooper. This week I talk with the actress who plays to Uhura, Celia Rose Gooding. I’m not sure who was more geeked about the fact that she is playing the new Uhura, her or me! We had a lovely chat and I thought I would share the short discussion on this week’s podcast.
Not only is Gooding a Tony nominated and Grammy Award winning singer and actress, but she come by it honestly as her mom is Lachanze Gooding the incredible actress and singer who won a Tony for her role as Celie in the original Broadway production of The Color Purple.
Celia Rose Gooding stars as Nyota Uhura in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”
Celia Rose Gooding as Uhura and Ethan Peck as Spock of the Paramount+ original series STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. Photo Cr: Marni Grossman/Paramount+
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Hollywood writer Akela Cooper breaks down her writing journey from Luke Cage to Malignant to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
May 16, 2022
I always have a blast when I talk with Akela Cooper. (as you will hear in the giggling throughout this episode. A Hollywood Writer and producer, Akela has written for “Marvel’s Luke Cage”, “American Horror Story”, “Malignant” and more! Currently, she is one of the Executive Producers on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” on Paramount+.
If you are an aspiring writer in Hollywood, you will definitely want to listen to this one, because Akela breaks down what really goes down in writer’s rooms, and how you really have nothing to lose right now. Originally record for theblerdgurlLIVE, this discussion has been edited for clarity.
Akela Cooper is currently co-executive producer on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds“
Are you watching Strange New Worlds? What do you think?
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Raising Dion’s Alicia Wainwright is ready for her superpowers
Mar 05, 2022
You may recognize Alicia Wainwright from her role as Maia Roberts on Freeform’s “Shadowhunters”. But in Netflix’s groundbreaking series “Raising Dion” she plays Nicole Reese. A mother literally raising a Black child with superpowers, while trying to navigate the world as a widowed single parent.
Last week I spoke to child actor Ja’Siah Young about what it’s like playing a dream role like Dion. In this conversation I talk to Alicia about how her character went through it this season, why Nicole deserves her own powers and how the show almost had a different ending for her.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
This episode is sponsored by Realm.FM’s new scripted podcast If I Go Missing the Witches Did It, featuring Oscar nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe.LISTEN NOW.
Raising Dion star Ja’Siah Young has the childhood we all wish we had
Feb 24, 2022
Back in 2016, indie comic creator Dennis Liu kickstarted a comic called Raising Dion, a story about a mom secretly raising a boy with superpowers. He also created a trailer for it and we all fell in love with the little black boy who was telelkinteically waving his breakfast cereal around the room. Blowing past his original Kickstarter goal on Day 1, Liu’s project caught the attention of Michael B. Jordan’ and his production company Outlier Society who produced it for Netflix.
When Raising Dion first hit streaming, we all got to meet the adorable 8 year old star, Ja’Siah Young my guest today.Now season 2 of Raising Dion is here, and our child hero has Omega level mutant powers, gets superhero training, and is still making his mom worry.
I spoke to Ja’Siah about the new season, his favorite powers, working with Michael B. Jordan and how Naruto got him through one of his toughest scenes.
Ja’Siah Young stars as Dion Warren in Raising Dion
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
This episode is sponsored by Realm.FM’s new scripted podcast If I Go Missing the Witches Did It, featuring Oscar nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe.LISTEN NOW.
Podcast: Lewis Tan and that nude love scene in Wu Assassins: Fistful of Vengeance
Feb 17, 2022
This week actor Lewis Tan returns to the podcast to talk about his role as a lover and a fighter in Wu Assassins: Fistful of Vengeance. (Netflix). Tan is best known for his roles on AMC’sInto the Badlands, Marvel’s Iron Fist, and of course, his starring role as Cole Young, the descendant of Scorpion in the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot.
In this interview, we discuss why Netflix decided to shorten Wu 2 to a movie instead of a series, the complexities of shooting action in a pandemic, and what it was like baring it all to film his first love scene ever, with Queen of Sono star Pearl Thusi. (I also get to the bottom of what happened to Jenny).
Tan spoke to me via Zoom from Budapest, Hungary, where he is currently shooting Shadow and Bone Season 2.
Lewis Tan stars as Lu Xien Lee in Wu Assassins Fistful of Vengeance
Lewis TanLewis Tan in action in Wu Assassins: Fistful of Vengeance
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
This episode is sponsored by Realm.FM’s new scripted podcast If I Go Missing the Witches Did It, featuring Oscar nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe.LISTEN NOW.
Wilson Cruz of Star Trek: Discovery on acting and activism
Oct 07, 2021
It was almost a year ago when I had the pleasure of speaking to actor and activist Wilson Cruz on theblerdgurlLIVE. It was a few weeks after the elections, we were ending our first year in lockdown, and Cruz’s hit show Star Trek: Discoverywas 3 weeks into it’s 3rd season on Paramount Plus. and Cruz had just started shooting Season 4. The crew of the Discovery, who had just jumped 1,000 years into the future, was dealing with the collective trauma of knowing that their lives could never go back to normal.
And so was the rest of the world.
It was an amazing discussion and I felt it was timely to reshare it for two reasons.
One, Star Trek: Discovery is heading into it’s fourth season in November (and there are a few teasers in here) and two, this weekend, I will be hosting the Star Trek: Discovery panel at New York Comic Con! If you are not comfortable going to a convention yet, that’s ok! There will be a livestream of the panel here.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
This episode is sponsored by Realm.FM’s new scripted podcast If I Go Missing the Witches Did It, featuring Oscar nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe.LISTEN NOW.
Alfred Enoch Discusses the far future of Foundation
Sep 22, 2021
This week is a theblerdgurl podcast special short episode. My guest today is the lovely actor Alfred Enoch. Best known for portraying Dean Thomas in the blockbuster Harry Potter films and Wes Gibbins on the ABC television series How to Get Away With Murder Alfred is one of the stars of the new Apple TV + epic series FOUNDATION. Apple was nice enough to let me talk to him for a bit about the show, and I can attest to the fact that it is stunning from the screeners that I have seen.
For those unfamiliar, Apple TV’s new show Foundation is based on the legendary Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series. Asimov’s enormously influential science fiction series inspired generations of filmmakers ever since.
From fantasy to the future: Alfred Enoch plays Raych Foss on the new Apple TV+ show Foundation
credit: Apple TV +
Showrunner David Goyer (Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises) adapted the complex story centered around the Empire’s Cleons (played by Lee Pace, Terrance Mann, and Cassian Bilton), a Genetic Dynasty all cloned from the same man for 400 years. Hari Seldon, played by Jared Harris) is the mathematician and prophet who, through something called psychohistory, has predicted the human races’ demise and wants to save it. (Coincidentally, I did get a chance to talk to Goyer and Harris separately, and those interviews will be up soon). His beliefs are, of course, considered heresy by the Empire, and the future lies in his new protegé, Gaal Fornick (Lou Llobel) and a band of scientists already forging a new world on a distant outpost.
My guest today, Alfred Enoch, plays Raych Foss. Harris’ adopted son and right-hand man, whose romantic entanglement with Gaal has more of a ripple effect than he realizes. Foundation premieres’s this Friday Spt. 22 on Apple TV+.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Tanya DePass is on the front lines fighting for diverse and safe spaces in gaming
Sep 16, 2021
Although my conversation with gamer and activist Tanya DePass was initially recorded at the beginning of 2021 on THEBLERDGURL LIVE, our discussion around diversity in gaming and enduring the harassment that goes with it is still ongoing timely.
DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. A partnered Twitch variety broadcaster, DePass, (her online persona is cypheroftyr) often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. DePass was also named part of The Game Awards Future Class 2020 and was one of Kotaku’s Gamers of the Year 2020.
Tanya DePass was featured on BETHer Presents: The Queen Collective
Tanya DePass artist: Lethendralis
Most recently, DePass was featured on BETHer Presents: The Queen Collective talking about her work.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Peter Ramsey was in the game long before the Spiderverse
Aug 25, 2021
My guest in this episode is Academy-Award Winning director Peter Ramsey. Of course, everyone knows Peter Ramsey is one of the co-directors on Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, which won the team an Oscar. This was a historic moment for Ramsey, who became the first African-American ever to be nominated for or win in the Animated feature category. But he’s actually been in the business a REALLY long time. One of his first gigs out of school was as the storyboard artist and second unit director for John Singleton’s Boyz ‘N the Hood.
Peter Ramsey was John Singleton’s storyboard artist on Boys ‘N the Hood.
Peter Ramsey 2018 San Diego comic Con photo credit: Gage Skidmore
He also boarded Tank Girl and worked on many other projects, including HULK, Batman Forever, and Fight Club.
If you follow me on youtube, you might have already heard part of this episode with Peter Ramsey because this is from when Peter visited me on theblerdgurlLIVE over on Twitch. We talk about everything from his humble beginnings growing up in South Central to figuring out where Hollywood was and switching his career to animation.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Continuing my epic throwback series on the podcast is my interview with Ify Nwadiwe. Ify stopped by TBGL in season 2 to talk about how he balances being a writer, actor, comedian, gamer and how he dopes it all so smoothly. In our discussion he talked about how multi talented stars that are also geeks like Orlando Jones are his inspiration and it’s easy to see why.
Ify Nwadiwe is
Ify Nwadiwe (photo: Gregory Adam Wallace)
You might recognize Ify from the Nerdificent podcast with Dani Fernandez, but he also has a comedy album, founded the Maximum Fu, writes for BlackbirdsRPG and as of this writing he’s got a brand new podcast called My First Kicks. And he even has found time to save a theater in Los Angeles. and don’t get me started on his anime weeb side.So click the link below to listen on your podcatcher of choice !
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
How Xmiramira is unapologetically creating space for Black gamers
Aug 18, 2021
If you are an avid player of The Sims, a life simulation game that let’s players design the lives of simulated characters and watch as they “live” out their scripts, then you know that game has change a lot over the last 20 years. This episode I talk to guest Amira Virgil (aka @Xmiramira) who got tired of seeing the same light or shite characters with the same hairstyles, slothing music and scenarios, decided to create a downloadable ‘Melanin Pack’ mod to give her and friends more diverse characters. Needless to say it was a hit.
Today Xmiramira is Twitch partner, a member of Queen Gaming, an advisor to EA Sports, the creators of the game and has founded her own gaming community of Black gamers called The Noir Network.
This conversation is from my chat with her on theblerdgurl LIVE on Twitch and was recorded back in March of this year.
Xmiramira’s mods have changed The Sims game forever
Amira Virgil (@Xmiramria)
Comic book series inspired Static Shock, the animated series which ran on the WB Network’s kids block starting in 2000. The show ran for four seasons (also produced and written by McDuffie) influenced an entire generation who grew up with Virgil (voiced by the legendary Phil Lamarr) in their living rooms. The new Milestone, now an imprint within DC Comics finally returned last month with a new story, Static Season One #1.
(Fun fact: It wasn’t Vita’s idea to update Vigil’s origin story, that came from Milestone partner Reginald Hudlin.)
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
And if you are looking for more Black women to who mod Sims WATCH THIS
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Vita Ayala takes on Milestone's update of superhero Static
Aug 13, 2021
If you are a fan of Milestone’s most famous character Virgil Hawkins, then this is the episode for you. Vita Ayala ((New Mutants, Shuri), is the new writer on the series Static Season 1, and I talked to them about what it was like updating the character and how they got the gig.
The debut of Milestone’s original Static #1 was almost 30 years ago. (No he’s not a young Black Lightning). It was created by the co-founders of Milestone, Dwayne McDuffie, Dennis Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle, and drawn by the late John Paul Leon. Now the character of Virgil Ovid Hawkins would go on to be one of the most impactful characters in comics in the ’90s.
Vita Ayala is updating Virgil Hawkins for a whole new generation
Vita Ayala photo credit: Carla Cain Walther
Comic book series inspired Static Shock, the animated series which ran on the WB Network’s kids block starting in 2000. The show ran for four seasons (also produced and written by McDuffie) influenced an entire generation who grew up with Virgil (voiced by the legendary Phil Lamarr) in their living rooms. The new Milestone, now an imprint within DC Comics finally returned last month with a new story, Static Season One #1.
(Fun fact: It wasn’t Vita’s idea to update Vigil’s origin story, that came from Milestone partner Reginald Hudlin.)
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Ep50_Vita Ayala on Static and Milestone [00:00:00] Karama: What's up, folks! I'm Karama, aka, The Blerd Gurl, and today I have the pleasure of speaking with award-winning comic book writer Vita Ayala. Now, if you haven't already, please take a moment to subscribe to The Blerd Gurl podcast over on iTunes and leave a nice rating. It really helps the show. Now, if iTunes isn't your thing. That's fine. You can always find The Blerd Gurl on your favourite podcatcher. Now, if you're a fan of Milestone Comics’ most famous character, Virgil Hawkins, then this is the episode for you. Vita Ayala is the new writer on the series Static: Season One. And I talked to them about what it was like updating the character and the very interesting way that they got the gig. For those of you who don't know what all the fuss is about. The debut of Milestone’s original Static: Number One was almost 30 years ago. It was created by the co-founders of Milestone. Dwayne McDuffie, Dennis Cowen, Michael Davis, and Derek T Dingle. And drawn by the late John Paul Leon. Now the character of Virgil Ovid Hawkins would go on to be one of the most impactful characters in the comics of the nineties. The conflict series inspired Static Shock, the animated series, and it ran on the WB networks’ kids block starting in 2000 for four seasons. The show, also produced and written by McDuffie, influenced an entire generation who grew up with Virgil— voiced by the legendary Phil Lamarr. [00:01:30] The new Milestone now, an imprint within DC comics. Not to be confused with Milestone Media, the media company run by Hudlin, Cowen, and Dingle, finally returned last month with a new story, Static: Season One. Now by the time, this drops Static: Season One #2 will also be out. Now, this new story which is written by award-winning writer, Vita Ayala was laid out by award-winning artist, ChrisCross and drawn, uh, I believe this is his first Milestone comic by Nikolas Draper Ivey. A lot of you know him as the guy who designed the Black Panther album. And he's also done a lot of work with noirCaesar, a Black-owned manga company. So I'm going to pay some bills, and then up next, my conversation with comic book writer Vita Ayala. Ad transcript because you mention it at the end too. Listen, if you have bad credit or no credit, I’m telling you, the Self Credit app is a way to build your credit history. After the dumpster fire that was 2020, as well as some mounting health insurance bills from years ago, my credit was pretty much tanked! And I was able to raise it by 35 points from the start of this year. I’m not exaggerating! Thirty-five points and it is so simple to use. You simply open a self credit-builder account and deposit a small amount of money in it. And for as little as five bucks a month, you pay the money back, automatically, through the app! Then Self reports your credit to all three credit agencies; that’s it, it’s that simple. Like, I don’t even think about it, and my credit has jumped 35 points. Low credit, no credit, it doesn’t matter. Use the Self app today and build your credit and savings, and get back on track. It’s available on iOS and Android. I have a link in my show notes for anyone who’s interested. Check it out!
Karama: When you first got this project, first of all, did you put in for it, or did they come to you? Did Milestone come to you? [00:02:41] Vita: I was approached by Conroy, I think by Chris Conroy, um, the editor, uh, and I was told, I believe I was told straight off the bat that it was a bake-off, which makes me really nervous. It's a very stressful thing. Cause I, at this point, I know so many people, like, I don't want to, I don't [00:03:00] want to like fight for like this stuff. You know, I grew up with this stuff. I remember the comics. I remember the, you know, the cartoon and all that kind of stuff. So I was like, all right, like. I was going to say no, and then I was like, no, this I have to, I have to try. Right? [00:03:17] Karama: So, but by bake-off, you mean, do you have to pitch something? [00:03:21] Vita: Yeah, I had to pitch it and there was multiple people pitching. Um, I wasn't told who, so it was a blind bake-off. I hate that term, though, so I just call it a bake-off. So you're kind of just developing a pitch with, sometimes with an artist of mind and sometimes not. They did tell me like this is the person that we would love to have you work with, and it was Nik. So yeah, I kind of developed something after talking to Reggie and Dennis and Conroy all together. Um, and they seem to like it because they chose mine. [00:03:50] Karama: But that's great! So what was one thing that you definitely wanted to do going in that, you know, like you grew up with this character, but you knew? I mean, look, we can all look back at Milestone and go; some of this stuff might not hold up right now. [00:04:06] Vita: Right, right. I, you know, I re-read a bunch of that stuff too, to kind of get into the mindset, to find the core of the character to bring forward. And that's really what I wanted to do. I, I think that the stuff in the past was of its time in a good way. You're like; this is what was going on at the time. These were the conversations. And I was like; we need to do that for now. What are the conversations that we're having? What are the struggles that, you know, [00:04:30] Black kids are having and, you know, right now? And then taking the core of Virgil, you know, of his character and translating that into a more contemporary context. I think that like one of the things that I've always really liked about the character that I hoped to replicate in a more contemporary way was that, you know, he's weird. He's a weirdo. He’s a weird smart Black kid who plays like Dungeons and Dragons with his friends. And like, you know, like he's, he's, he's kind of a fanboy. Like he likes superhero stuff. He wants to; he wants to be a good person. Um, and I think that. That's something that is really beautiful. Um, I think that looks different than it did, you know, in 93. Right now, partially because people are just-- have more access to information. So you, you make different decisions based on that, but also just because the world has changed so rapidly in the last what? Thirty years, 20 years? So yeah, that was kind of what I wanted to do. And Nik and I talked about this a lot as well. Like what does it mean for that kind of Black kid to exist now and Black boys specifically? Right. But also we wanted to do a lot of stuff with his family, and, and show that dynamic and show a healthy functioning Black family who struggles, but like ultimately they are a united force, together. [00:05:53] Karama: Right. And which, which sadly enough, is very rare because a lot of Black characters too, you know, I don't know my [00:06:00] parents or one of my parents was killed. [00:06:01] Vita: They got shot down. [00:06:03] Karama: They got shot down, or they have a drug overdose, or they had whatever. Right. That's also... [00:06:07] Vita: and, and, and I think those stories are really important too. But I think for me, I was like, Hey, that's not everybody's experience, and that's okay! We should; we should show multiple experiences. And one of the things that I thought was really important was to show how a family that has very different people. Who have very different opinions can still work together, who can still support each other, even if they don't always agree. Like you said like often, the family dynamic is one of, of, not chaos, but one of struggle. I just want to be like, yeah, like, but also this is what this looks like. Again, no, no judgment on any of those other things. Um, that was just something that was important for everybody working on this book to do. [00:06:54] Karama: Who made the decision to change the quote-unquote Bang Baby's origin? Was that you, or did they come to you with that? [00:07:01] Vita: That was already scripted and being drawn. That was a Reggie, Dennis decision. I think that that was a good decision. I think that the conversations that people were having in the past at the time were, you know, in the news, and all this stuff was about gang warfare. But then, that book then went on to show like, but it's not as simple as you think it is and all this kind of stuff whereas, now, the conversations we're having are like, Hey, uh, you literally want to kill us just for existing. [00:07:30] Like, can we not? And it's very; it’s very public. Karama: Very overt, yeah… Vita: the conversations Black people have been having, but now everyone has to deal with it. Right. So to update the origin in that way, um, I think puts the, puts the onus of, of responsibility, where it belongs on these people that are trying to destroy this community and, and hurt these people— playing off of that. Uh, one of the things that I wanted to do, and Nik is super into it too. And, so it was Conroy was played with how information then gets twisted. Right. Um, and I, I won't spoil anything or anything like that, but there is this kind of through-line where. That we floor through the character of Derrius, where he saw the truth, but now he's seeing how, how things get twisted and how the victims get blamed and get demonized and that kind of stuff, and he wants to fight against that. Um, whereas Virgil is living that experience. Karama: Right! And, and he's also living with trauma. Vita: Yeah, and that was, another thing too, that like, to me. They accused him of being too angry and too sad at first. And I was like, yo, this kid just watched all his friends like melt and die. Like I would not be okay. I'm a very happy go lucky person. You know, I'm, I'm a very optimistic person, and that's why Virgil appeals to me, personally. He sees really, you know, messed up stuff. And then he's like, but we can do better. But, I would need a minute. Like I would be angry. I would be so angry. Um, [00:09:00] and he's scared, right? He has PTSD. His body is changing in ways that like, he doesn't know what's going on, and he's afraid that he's gonna either hurt people. Right. Or, or cause someone to be hurt. Like he's, he's gone through a lot. I think he needs to be allowed to process those feelings. [00:09:17] Karama: Yeah, no, absolutely. And I also think that the dumpster fire that was 2020, God. It's like from zero to 2020. Is this that violent? Like? [00:09:29] Vita: I think that people were expecting him to bounce back immediately. And to me, I was like, he’s going to get there because that's who he is at his core. But we cannot expect children to go through these traumas and immediately be okay. We can't expect anybody. Karama: Yeah! Vita: Nobody, but especially not children. It is okay to be angry, to be confused, to be sad. It doesn't make you a weak person. It makes you someone who's experiencing stuff. Karama: makes you human. Vita: Yeah, exactly. It makes you human. And, and this was something that resonated, I think, with Nik as well. Cause we have all these conversations about the underlying themes, and it's just like, we can show him lying about how he feels. Right? But like, we have to be authentic about his internal life when we go forward. Like, yo, it's a bummer this takes place like very, very quickly after the big bang. Like it's a lot. [00:10:21] Karama: What I'm also curious about is because there's some amazing, uh, other characters that are, that really care about him, like his sister.[00:10:30] But towards the end of the first issue, we get to meet some people that were in the animated series. Vita: Yup. Karama: Now, was that your idea? Cuz this is kind of exciting. [00:10:41] Vita: Yes and no part of it was like conversations with Nik, and he's like, but, what about this person? I was like, all right, we, we goin do it. Like we have to put them in there. Um, but also I just felt like. I dunno, man. I think that the the happiest superheroes are the ones that have friends. Right. And I really liked the dynamic between those characters when we see them. So I was like, again, like, what does it look like now? Um, and then, of course, Nik hooked them all up with the drip. They look great. They all look incredible. [00:11:07] Karama: No, they do look great! But yeah, like when I saw Frida and Richie, I'm like, wait a minute. Aren't they, the animated series? [00:11:15] Vita: I know that that Frida was, uh, in the, in the OG comics, but she's different. Right. She looks different she's, you know, but it's a teen book. We had to have a little bit of that. Like, uh, romance drama. [00:11:28] Karama: Yeah, no, absolutely. Also, the interesting thing, we touched on it a little bit, is working on a comic like this; you did work on it in 2020. [00:11:39] Vita: I sure did. [00:11:41] Karama: So, what was that like? What was that experience of drawing this child going through this trauma with very obvious and violent police brutality, and you know, and you're writing it? You're coming up with this story, and then, you know, to relax, you turn on the TV and oh, look, it's more police brutality.[00:12:00] Vita: Listen, I don’t have cable; I just have streaming. I can't; I’m not sure. You know, it was a, it's a hard line to walk. Um, and I know it's gotta be difficult for Cross and for Nik as well, to be like, we want to be as authentic as possible. But, also, we want to provide hope in a way that the media doesn't necessarily provide when reporting on these situations. [00:12:22] Right. I think that we, we kinda come at partially through his internal, um, his internal life and how like he's working through it, but you see that he's going to make progress. Um, but this is all a lot. It's hard; it’s hard still. Like we're not going through as many mass protests, but like everything's very difficult. [00:12:46] Karama: It is, it is tough. And how about staying creatively motivated right now? [00:12:54] Vita: Honestly, I struggled, but one of the things that I'm really blessed with is I get to communicate pretty regularly with my collaborators and sort of feel kind of where. We feed off of each other for work, I would give each other energy, and it goes back and forth. And that really makes me want to work, even if I'm having, if I'm struggling with anything, in particular, just the idea of being able to give something to my collaborators and have them be excited is very motivating. [00:13:24] Karama: And collaborating, have you like you said, this was like sort of a, you said it was a bake-off in the beginning and [00:13:30] it was like a non-traditional way of sort of how you've written before. What about the experience of sort of working with two artists? Working with both Nik and Chris, did you all come up with your own rhythm? Vita: I have been, one of the things that we've been doing is Cross very much of like the old school where he's just like, I got the script, I work on this, what I have here, you know, I'll change up things here and there, but like mostly like, that's what I'm doing. And Nik is a much more like, he'll be like, okay, but why is this happening? Which I really like, I like, I like to have someone like question me because I want to get to the best story. So one of the things that actually, um, that we've been kind of doing. I'm re-breaking a lot of the story. I wanted to accelerate some stuff. Nik is a very dynamic artist, and just person, like a very energetic person. Um, and so I was like, all right, I want that reflected in here. Not just in his drawings but in, in the pace of the story. Um, and so we've been just like, all right, we have a couple of things we know we have to hit, let's rebreak um, and then every, every two issues, or so we check back in in terms of like, does this still work? Yes. No. All right. Well, let's, rebreak the next issue or two. Um, and it's been working great. I think that, like, we got to a place, I hate just writing a document and then being like, this is what the story is. It makes me feel real weird because comics are supposed to be a group effort. And so to be able to do this, you know, dynamically, even though we do have some bullet points that we have to hit is really great. I think that that's a great [00:15:00] rhythm for this particular team. Karama: Cause it sounds like you have somebody that's very sort of rigid and somebody who's very like let's draw outside the lines. Let's be a bit more organic, but I think the quality of the product is, is worth it. How many issues are we getting before the volume? We're getting full six? Vita: Yeah, I think we're getting a full six. Karama: Oay. So issue two is about the drop. Think, back to issue two. Let's see, uh, Virgil's house is blown up. Vita: It's on fire for sure. Karama: It's on fire. Yeah. I don't know if it's blown up, but he's got these big anime tears in his eyes. [00:15:35]Vita: It's so good. Karama: Moving into issue two and even the the subsequent issues. What are some of the most fun things that you got to write? Vita: That’s a good question. Um, each issue, I try and find a thing that makes me laugh. Um, it's hard, right? Because this is still a very like heavy, the beginning of this book is certainly going to be heavier than that at the end, um, I think. So issue two, oh my God, thinking back. There's a scene that Chris and Nik, absolutely. Like, it's just a single page that made me laugh so hard that when I wrote it, I was like, this is kind of fun. Like, you know, uh, he's skateboarding along. I think that we've seen previews, uh, online, and I didn't write this part into the script. I don't remember it, but like, they drew these birds, like these pigeons, just scattering. And I saw that art and started cackling. I was like, this is great. Like we need these moments. Um, [00:16:30] and there's another scene that I thought was personally, for me, really, it was really fun because it felt very like this is Virgil, where he, he is find something that really tickles his science senses, and he's just like, whoa, this is so cool. And he forgets for a second all the stuff that's happening, and he just immerses himself in that. And I really love that. [00:16:51] Karama: It feels like we're going to be in his world for a minute, and it also, there’s a very tangible feeling from this version of Virgil that I really, really like. Well, which would you rather, the Virgil that you're writing? Would you like it to be animated or live-action? [00:17:10] Vita: Oh, animated. [00:17:10] Karama: Okay. So who would be the voice? [00:17:13] Vita: It's still Phil Lamarr. What? Are you kidding me? [00:17:17] Karama: No, because some people say it should be somebody younger, and I'm curious. [00:17:21] Vita: I don't know because I am of a certain era and age. [00:17:27] Karama: Uh, so I mean, no, I think Phil Lamarr should be in. And I'm just curious whether or not maybe he should be the dad. Vita: Yeah! He should be the dad, that’s a pretty good-- Karama: Because his dad is a present, very present in his life. Um, I'm just thinking of all of our anime-- Honestly, I was thinking of Zeno Robinson, the anime voice actor. [00:17:45] Vita: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That would actually be great. [00:17:47] Karama: He'sHawks on full metal. Not full metal. My God! My Hero Academia. [00:17:52] Vita: no, I think you're right. I think that would be really great. [00:17:54] Karama: And he's also Ogun on Fire Force. I'm thinking of the way Ogun sounds. [00:18:00] Vita: Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah Karama: But. Yeah, no, I, I'm excited about this, this whole new story. Everybody is doing a really good job of bringing this character forward. And even if it's not always in the language. In the art, it feels like it's right now. Because a lot of the stuff that he's going to, we've gone to other people who've gone through who are older. Do you have discussions besides what you mentioned already about moving forward with this character and making it more in the world of gen Z? [00:18:36] Vita: Yeah. When, when I first got to speak, actually whenever I've spoken to, to Reggie and Dennis, especially, um, talking about all the things, thematically that we wanted to do, that was, that was one of the things that was really important is to make it feel, you know, as relevant as possible to right now, while still kind of giving it a little bit of timelessness, right? Like people are always obsessed with these evergreen stories. And I think that you can have evergreen stories that are really great. But you can also have very specifically contextual stories that are really great. Um, and so it's coming out now and like. Yes, there are a lot of fans that are my age that want to buy this book, who, who, you know, they're all about the cartoon, are all about the the original comics. But that's not our target audience. This is a this is a book for teens right now. So it should be something that is relatable to them right now. So yeah, like that's [00:19:30] really what we wanted to do. And then working with Nik, I think is. He gives me, like. I’m much older than him. He gives me that vibrant now energy, like. You know, he's, he's in his twenties, so he's still, he's still much more connected to that kind of feeling, um, than I am. So I take a lot of that from him. Karama: Well, also I think it also comes out in his work. I know you're a manga and anime fan. Manga was your first love. Definitely his first love. So, here are these moments, especially in the action scenes and stuff that definitely feel have that manga feel. How excited were you the first time you saw the art that he created Vita: Oh, I flipped out. I flipped out when I saw his designs that he had just done for fun. Like, like I was like, oh, this, this is perfect. Like this guy gets it. Even as pinups are dynamic. Jokes about Black characters, all having electric powers aside, right? Like this kid has electric powers. He should feel like that. He should feel dynamic and kinetic and maybe a little bit all over the place, but not too much. Like still, you know, you can still follow what's going on. But that energy, when I saw his stuff, I was like, oh, this is it. This is perfect. [00:20:38] Karama: Like, this is the one, also! [00:20:39] Vita: The one, yeah. [00:20:42] Karama: The last question that I would give you is, what is the one thing that you wish people would ask you about this book that nobody ever asked you? Vita: I wish that we as a team got asked more about why it was important to build, not just virtual's character, but his family and [00:21:00] friends, the way that we did. Why we introduced this other character, Darius, to me, um, I didn't create that character. That was Reggie. I had a choice about whether or not he would come forward, into the book, as opposed to just staying in, in the, you know, in the zero issue. And I was like, no, that's such a great perspective to have. And Nik and I have had extensive discussions about the parallels and the differences between Virgil and Darius and what we get from adding a character like that to the story. And I wish people would ask more about that because Nik has a lot to say about that too. Um, we talk a lot about anger, but also about, about the opposite. About finding peace and how these two characters are coming at it from, from different, you know, different directions. And we want them to kind of meet in the middle and find balance. [00:21:45] And that all that stuff is going on behind the scenes, right? Like we want the comic book to be super entertaining, but we also want, we want to kind of show perspective of, uh, the perspectives of lots of different Black people and how no one has it a hundred percent right. You have to find a way to find that balance in yourself. But that's, that's a lot for a teen comic, I guess. [00:22:10] Karama: No, but I, I liked that, and I liked the fact that you're giving Darius that presence, And I really feel like I got a family dynamic. [00:22:18] Vita: Yeah. Like, like there's a scene in the first issue that is these two double-page spreads of like the family at the dinner table. Karama: Mhm Vita: And like that to me was like the core of the issue. And I think that [00:22:30] Cross and Nik really gave it their all there because they wanted to, they wanted to be like, this is it. This, this is the conversation we're having right now. Like there are scenes coming up in, in subsequent issues that we'll, we'll touch back on these family dynamics in ways that like we want, we want it to feel nuanced, even though all the characters are very different. Um, we want to want to show them being a family. They're on the same team, right? [00:22:55] Karama: Yeah, no, absolutely. And, and unlike a lot of, again, superheroes where they're missing a parent or that they just seem to be... [00:23:03] Vita: I can't tell my friends, I can't do this. We were like, no, we can’t do this. [00:23:06] Karama: Right, right. [00:23:07] Vita: I think that the idea is to pull it forward in a way where you're like, these were the things that made this relevant and great. Let's, let's do that. And then let's try and do as good a job at doing these well-rounded characters as we can.
You must check out Static: Season One, if you haven't already along with the new Hardware: Season One. And! The new Icon and Rocket: Season one out now as well. Also, a little shameless plug. I got a chance to talk to Hardware: Season One writer Brandon Thomas for Nerdist. So, definitely look out for that and thank you so much for listening. Please comment over on iTunes and subscribe while you're there or on your favorite podcatcher. [00:24:00] Don't forget to check out our sponsor, the Self Credit app, in the show notes. And please follow me across social media. I'm @TheBlerdGurl everywhere. And don't forget support me on Patreon, so we can get more quality content out there to you at patrion.com/theblerdgurl. See you next time!
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Cress Williams and the legacy of Black Lightning
Aug 06, 2021
Welcome back to another episode of theblerdgurl podcast! This episode I had the pleasure of speaking with actor and CWBlack Lightning star Cress Williams.Now last episode I spoke with actress Erika Alexander who played Perenna on Black Lightning, but that’s not the first time Erika and Cress have worked together. In fact, his second acting role ever was as Terrence “Scooter” Williams, Khadijah’s love interest on Living Single. That’s the show that Erika played the iconic Maxine Shaw and Khadija of course was played by the incomparable Queen Latifah.
Cress Williams measures the social impact of Black Lightning
Photo Courtesy The CW/Warner Brothers Television
We talk about his career and all of the amazing guest stars. (He’s a Robert Townsend fanboy). This conversation happened right before the series finale of Black Lightning back in May. We talk about what the show looks like in the rearview mirror, his favorite moments from on set and how hard it was shooting the series finale, and I don’t mean emotionally. Everything went wrong in the last month of shooting!
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Erika Alexander has been busy since "Living Single"
Aug 04, 2021
Erika Alexander is known for her roles on the Emmy nominated series Living Single, the Oscar Award Winning movie Get Out, the CW’s Black Lightning and Wu-Tang:American Saga on hulu. In this episode of the podcast we discuss her work as a producer on Good Troublethe CNN documentary about the late Rep. John Lewis and she co-created at the comic book series Concrete Parkalong with artist Tony Puryear. They even turned some of their characters into NFTs. Making them the first Black Indie comic book publishers to do so. Maxine’s been busy!
Erika Alexander is an actress, producer, writer, political activist and comic book creator
In this episode we talk about her life on the road as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Presidential Election and why activism for Black folks in Hollywood and in the hood are both important to her. We also talk about her first superpowered character Perenna (Black Lightning) and we even have a frank conversation about the NFT craze and what it means for both indie creators and the environment.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Watch my video interview of my interview with Erika Alexander here!
Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes talk Horror and Hollywood
Jul 30, 2021
If you are a writer or an aspiring writer or a fan of horror this is the episode for you. This is another throwback theblerdgurlLIVE episode but it’s one that is actually pretty timely because this week it was announced that my guests Tananarive Due and her husband and writing partner Steven Barnes are going to be Executive Producers on a new show coming to Shudder called Horror Noire.
Now if that sounds familiar that’s because Tananarive Due, Ashlee Blackwell and Danielle Burrows executive produced the Horror Noire Documentary, also on Shudder that was directed by Xavier Burgin. All of this was based on a book by Dr. Robin Means called Horror Noire: Blacks in Horror Films. (And you NEED to watch it!) But this episode was recorded last July when’s not a Revo and her husband Steven came on the show to talk about the work that they were doing with Jordan Peele on his new show at the time the twilight zone.
Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes also wrote for Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone
In this episode we talk about the process of writing, how they have pitched and sold books and TV shows to Hollywood, including, how they got to write for Season 2 of Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone: A Small Town. This episode is full of gems! check it out!
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
LeSean Thomas discusses his anime Yasuke
Jul 28, 2021
This little podcast interview is a conversation that I had with the creator, co-writer and animator LeSean Thomas about Netflix Animation’s Yasuke. A trippy mech fantasy anime loosely based on the real life Black samurai of the same name. He co-produced the project with award-wining actor Lakeith Stanfield and Grammy Award winning visionary artist and musician Flying Lotus. The show was written by Nick Jones, Jr. (I have an interview coming up with him soon).
LeSean Thomas on the anime Yasuke for Netflix Animation
Now a portion of the interview is up on NERDIST (and if you’d like to learn more about the show itself please check out the link in the show notes. That article dropped the week the show came out on Netflix but I wanted you to hear the full convo because it’s really interesting. We discuss his previous anime work, Canon Bustersand Children of Etherand the man that inspired Yasuke. We also talk about what it was like working with some of his anime heroes.
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Orlando Jones on Evolution and dragons
Jul 23, 2021
Welcome back to THEBLERDGURL podcast! I always wanted to make THEBLERDGURL LIVE show available in podcast form, but I kind of got overwhelmed by how popular it became and the craziness of 2020 in general. But for those of you still subscribed, or those of you who are new to the podcast I’m reposting past episodes in there entirety along with a few other interviews that are unreleased. This episode is with the amazingly talented Orlando Jones.
We were all still reeling from the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmad Arberry and from the protests that followed. Not to mention the COVID-19 lockdown. We talked about how he’s explaining what’s been going on to his little girls, why he’d be down to reboot Evolution and how he balances his acting with his activism and of course, how he keeps a dragon in his basement.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
45_ORlando Jones ' visit to TBGL 070220 [00:00:00] Karama: [00:00:00] Hey, everyone. Welcome to THEBLERDGURL podcast. I'm Karama Horne aka theblerdgurl Now 2020 was a right Royal mess. And there's a lot of things that should just stay there. But one thing that I was able to start that I was really happy about was THEBLERDGURL live show on Twitch on the OS operating system channel. [00:00:20] Well, I always wanted to make the post available in podcast form, but I kind of got overwhelmed by how popular. it got Now I'm finally getting around to reposting those episodes here in podcast form. For for those of you who might have missed them. And this interview is with the amazingly talented Orlando Jones. [00:00:42] Now, the last time he was on the podcast was actually at the end of 2019. When he gave me the scoop about why he was fired from STARZ American gods franchise in his own words. Now a lot has happened since then, but I was lucky enough to have him on the live show as my second guest. So this interview was [00:01:00] originally recorded back in June of 2020 smack dab in the middle of the pandemic. [00:01:04] And we were all still reeling from everything, from the protests to what we were seeing every day, play out over and over again, the violence on screen. And we talk about that. You can watch the entire video version up on YouTube, which I will link in the show notes. We talked about how he's explaining what's been going on to his little girls, how he balances his acting with his activism. [00:01:29] And of course, how he keeps a dragon in his basement. Don't we all. So after I pay some bills, check out my interview with actor writer, producer, and activist, Orlando Jones. Hey everyone. It's Karama here. I just want to thank you for listening to THEBLERDGURL podcast and for your continuing support. And I wanted to let you know that I now have a PATREON That's right. If you are interested in supporting THEBLERDGURL podcast or THEBLERDGURL LIVE show on Twitch or any of the other [00:02:00] content that I bring you on a regular basis, you can now go to patreon.com/theblerdgurland support. Now I use those funds only for theblerdgurl projects, buying gear, paying for software subscriptions, and hopefully. [00:02:13] hiring a team I a team with your help, I can do all that. So please support the show at patreon.com/theblerdgurl [00:02:27] Orlando: [00:02:27] But what we ain't going to do though, is we ain't go accept these ridiculous terms that you're talking about, where we know we second class citizens. Now we supposed to shut up, be quiet and be thankful for second classes. [00:02:48] Karama: [00:02:48] What's up everybody. Thank you for joining me tonight. Of the blurred girl live. My name is Kara horn, AKA blurred girl. And I hope you all have had an amazing week and [00:03:00] that you learned something from my very first guest, April, April rain all week. Folks were asking me about how to work for her when I promise her company has not started yet, I will let you know when it does, but tonight's guest is going to really. [00:03:14] Drive some knowledge and keep you entertained. I have been smiling like this for the past half hour. Hanging out with him. I am super excited to invite to the show. Actor writer, producer, director, activist, and troll assess. Orlando Jones. Welcome Orlando doing [00:03:42] so I gotta, I gotta ask just off the top. How are you? How's the family. How are you holding up in COVID and all the crazy [00:03:53] Orlando: [00:03:53] that's good. I just, you know, my girls are amazing, so that's always fun. And, uh, you know, I, I love [00:04:00] the fact that I get to, you know, spend. Gobs of time with my daughter. So I got no complaints about that, frankly, my life hasn't changed a lot because I'll never go away anyway, as you can see, I'm sitting, uh, in, in the dungeon. [00:04:13] Yeah. [00:04:21] So sorry guys. [00:04:25] Karama: [00:04:25] Obsidian. [00:04:27] Orlando: [00:04:27] Yeah, he think he blends [00:04:31] Karama: [00:04:31] south of Westeros. Where is he [00:04:34] Orlando: [00:04:34] is way south we down, uh, in the, uh, North Carolina region. He has out around here and, uh, and the Cape fear area and, you know, You know, he got cakes, you know what I'm saying? And he gives fear and a lot of people think his name for the river, but it's not his name for the city because Jackson. [00:04:54] Yeah. Because you know, he has a Cape and he brings fear because he's been eating cows and, you know, [00:05:00] just he'll go through here and grab, you know, dolphins, whales, just to just shrimp, like just having a party, like he had red lobster one Sunday. Yeah. It's, you know, it's ridiculous. [00:05:10] Karama: [00:05:10] Well, I hope you're safe. [00:05:11] Cause I don't want this to turn into leg horror film in the middle of the live show. [00:05:18] Orlando: [00:05:18] We have a, you know, alpha type of relationship, you know what I mean? Um, alpha run. If he blow his breath on me and that's pretty much the way it works. [00:05:29] Karama: [00:05:29] So listen, what are you, what are you relaxing with now? What are you watching besides your dragon? [00:05:34] What are you kicking out over? Are you watching shows with the girls? [00:05:38] Orlando: [00:05:38] You know, we, they are funny, um, to watch some of the same things over and over again. So we have enjoyed Peabody Sherman, which we love both the show. And of course the movie and, uh, uh, so where a girl is, is the giant [00:06:00] on, uh, we had a strong Phineas and Ferb thing going on. [00:06:05] Yeah, we, we rock that. We've now moved. We went through spirit like a brush fire. It was amazing just watching that horse run and watching chicken, Linda, and, uh, all those wonderful characters. Um, uh, we have princess and frog got way recently. Uh, and then we, uh, did a swing back to the aristocrat. Uh, which was interesting. [00:06:29] And the old 76 animated Robin hood, uh, was a big hood. Now. They hate all of that. Everything I just mentioned is horrible. Uh, my youngest one wants Papa troll and, uh, baby Yoda mandolin. So respect. That's a three-year-old by the way, she requests Mandalorian. She's three years old. It's amazing. Yeah, [00:06:56] Karama: [00:06:56] I was. [00:06:56] She's also your child. So [00:06:57] Orlando: [00:06:57] there's that I'm not mad at [00:07:00] her. I was like, you know, you right you, right. I ain't, I can't say nothing. Magda bought man Dubai in Magda, Florian. [00:07:13] Completely that it didn't just happen immediately. Like told you man servant, I'm a man servant. That's how it works. Um, and I think my oldest actually likes the cooking show. Um, that make the desserts and she loves that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So sugar, candy, sugar rush. We've been watching that. Um, of course we went through the land of sugar on record Ralph, um, and, uh, We, uh, we, we do a lot, we do a lot, uh, with those crew and then we have a documentary, uh, you know, films that we'll check out occasionally, particularly those telling stories of, you know, the different lives of different, you know, indigenous children, just children around the world, just to get a clear sense of what their privilege [00:08:00] is up close and personal, rather than, you know, saying the word, just seeing what it's like to have to walk, you know, seven, eight miles to get to school. [00:08:11] And just what that process is. [00:08:14] Karama: [00:08:14] In the, in the past few weeks, so many people have been, uh, speaking of privilege, there's been so much discussion about teaching people about their privilege. One of the things I was telling April when she came to visit was okay, we're going to, for the next hour, you do not have to explain racism to white people. [00:08:36] It's been really interesting. Um, you just gotta ask, you have been an, you know, an activist and an entertainer and. So you, you walk those paths simultaneously, but now everybody is a behind a keyboard and being a social media activist and stuff. What do you, what do you think of this newfound? Not at not newfound black lives matter. [00:08:59] Cause this has [00:09:00] been a word that's been around for awhile, but this newfound interest in what we folks have been doing and saying all this time, [00:09:09] Orlando: [00:09:09] I mean, I guess good. Uh, There's just a huge difference between social activism and actual activism. So I think it's imperative that there would be a plan and a clear focus. [00:09:23] And I think that simply means. Go to your city council meeting, get involved in your children's school. Look at what the curriculum is. Look at what they're actually teaching in those institutions of higher learning and lower learning, like actually get involved, um, is one way to do it. And then secondly, I think it's to recognize you're dealing with the community that has suffered a great deal of trouble. [00:09:47] And hasn't had anyone treat them as trauma victims. They've just been treated as criminal. So if we simply applied, you know, the care that is required to the disenfranchised communities, and while at the same time, [00:10:00] helping those gifted kids get where they belong. Um, and that means that when you recognize this aptitude in fourth and fifth and sixth grade math, which is when you would recognize the aptitude of a coder, um, that you now help that child get the 10,000 hours of math and the access and resources that that child needs to become a million dollar code or so. [00:10:22] Focusing in both of those areas and our immediate communities, I believe is a sure-fire way to make a change because you've changed that life for real, you help that kid get where he or she needed to go. And at the same token, you help this kid get where they needed to go by helping them through their trauma. [00:10:39] So I think in doing so you empower real authentic change, um, by, uh, uh, by helping helping someone. And I think that's activism, I think. Great to tweet about and great to post about what pissed you off today, but, um, actually empowering another life is true. [00:10:59] Karama: [00:10:59] No, I [00:11:00] completely agree. Although I do have to say that I am thoroughly entertained by your Twitter page. [00:11:09] And, um, so many of us, yes. I feel like you show more of your activism on, um, although I've seen it on Twitter too, but I feel like you show more of your activism on Instagram, but all of your personal personalities on Twitter, like troll Lando. And Olivia, wait, let's, let's roll down the list of some of your, uh, your lovely personas on Twitter. [00:11:38] Orlando: [00:11:38] So the fun of Twitter to me is that it's, um, it's a bit of a scream Fest, uh, in many ways, little bit of a scream Fest. Um, and everybody likes to scream with certain. And I like to scream something that you will never know what's going to come. That's the way I [00:12:00] prefer it because it's more entertaining for me. [00:12:02] So sometimes I'm talking as trow, Lando. TRO Lando is a as a troll. He is there to troll. If you get in your feelings, it is just more entertaining to him because he tells you upfront that he was a trolley full disclosure. Yourself. If you, I used to get mad at a troll, well, then you deserve everything that's coming. [00:12:26] Right. And that's through Orlando. Now I was raised by, you know, a collection of very, very strong black. There was not a weak one in the bunch. And because of that, they had no problem telling you what it was, what it was going to be, what it wasn't going to be, what you was and what you wasn't going to do and what you bet not do. [00:12:51] That was all laid out very clearly. What they was fixing to do or what they was fin to do, [00:13:00] they was fixing to do it. Then they was going to do a whole bunch of other stuff before they did it. But if they was spending whoop your ass, it was imminent. It was moments away from that ass whooping comment. So. [00:13:12] Alandra is my inner black woman. And she is, oh, Landro. And Alandra is here to tell you what it is going to be, what it ain't going to be, what it looked like and what it don't look like at all. What's the Napa. See? So Alandra don't want to hear that. Um, Olivia is high inner white girl. She got a lot going on and you know, she's, she doesn't understand, I past it all. [00:13:48] And she's just, you know, [00:13:54] because reasons because of reasons, you know? Yeah. So that's [00:14:00] Olivia and she's always in her feelings. It doesn't matter what you say. Yeah. [00:14:09] And then there's, um, Sapphire, but his stage name is Dawn. So, so Sapphire is a, is a, is a drag queen. And, uh, he performs at a last school Lita, uh, right across from port authority in New York city. That's what came from that's his state. Okay, [00:14:27] Karama: [00:14:27] I'm done. I'm mad that he's on 42nd and eighth. I'm mad. That's right. [00:14:32] Orlando: [00:14:32] That's exactly where he is. He said, first of all, he's real winded in like these bougie drag frees. Okay. That's the bottle of whiskey on the table and a real show going down. How dare you talk about stuff. His real name is doin. So sometimes the one, sometimes Sapphire whose real name is doin, you know, it just has to let you know what time it is. [00:14:59] And [00:15:00] then sometimes it's Orlando, it's Orlando Jones, occasionally it's Atlanta Jones. And then occasionally, you know, it might be Mr. Nancy sometimes just for. Or a dig McCaffrey from say it is. And so I dragged him up a lot just cause he's a, he's a paraplegic cocaine addict. Uh, I just liked the idea of talking to somebody like a paraplegic cocaine addict, um, and Dick McCaffrey doesn't care. [00:15:26] And, um, and that's it. Those are, those are my goals. Those are my go-to is if I'm being honest, um, and those are my Twitter voices and I, I enjoy them and I enjoy watching people respond to them like what the hell is going on. It's awesome. [00:15:45] Karama: [00:15:45] And it's also, I mean, and we talked about this a little bit before the show, but also sometimes this is something that's hard for. [00:15:52] I think a lot of mainstream to understand black folks, we laugh at a lot of our own pain. You know, [00:16:00] we, we are out here dealing with, like, I know, like in one week I had lost. A family member to COVID and I was also dealing with another sick friend and somebody else who'd lost a job. And then I'm turning on the news and seeing another person who died in the hands of police violence. [00:16:17] And then we go and turn on a comedy and people don't understand that, but we don't have therapists. We have comedy, we have comedians like [00:16:28] Orlando: [00:16:28] you. Look, I'm from the deep south. Okay. And I can tell you with great certainty that Larry, the cable guy and Jeff Foxworthy, and those guys were talking to an audience of broke people who happen to be white, who were, you know, trying to figure it out, just like everybody else. [00:16:47] Right. And there were a bunch of black comedians that were talking about. You know what it was like from that side of the camp, you know, everybody from mom's basically the true, the true raw [00:17:00] Primea genius that she was to the people she spawned like red Fox and Richard Pryor, but that came from mom. Let's not get it twisted and her. [00:17:09] Political comedy and I, her, in some ways, birthing and spawning, even Dick Gregory, um, was to show you how prolific she was as a comedian and that she could do so many different styles and types of comedy. But when I look at those, those storytellers, the Nina Simone. Um, the James Baldwins, which were the people who I was inspired by then there were lots of colors within the way they lived their lives as artists. [00:17:38] So I really try and do that. I, it would be boring if I had to be the same Orlando all the time, so I enjoy all of them. And I'm sure some people like some more than others and that that's fine, that's their prerogative. But, um, it's for me, it's, it's, it's what I enjoy doing is, is bringing different characters to life. [00:18:00] [00:17:59] Karama: [00:17:59] And you're obviously amazing at it because you've had so many incredible, incredible, um, roles. And actually, I also want to ask you about that because I think I noticed this most on sleepy hollow, but you've done it obviously. On other shows, you have an incredible connection to your fans in terms of your social media, you speak out on things that a lot of your colleagues might not feel comfortable speaking out on. [00:18:25] But your fans always bolster you. And I think it's a, it's a balance there. How do you keep that balance? I, [00:18:32] Orlando: [00:18:32] you know, people, people think of, of. People think in such polarizing terms, um, they think that black lives matter is a political statement. Uh, some people do, and for me, that's not a political statement, but I also think it's important to advocate. [00:18:58] If you're going to advocate for [00:19:00] human rights to certainly advocate for yourself, but also to advocate on behalf of others who, whose experience you don't know, but who you clearly recognize is receiving the same second class citizenship type treatment. So I really think about that. And who I'm trying to advocate for online. [00:19:18] I even think about that in terms of the fandoms that I tend to like to join. I liked the ones of the groups who are often the most disenfranchised, the people who people hate for no apparent reason other than they don't like what they think. So I, uh, I like that. I think talking about that isn't as important for me, uh, as, as an artist, because I never. [00:19:39] One, anybody get confused about, you know, what it's about for me, it's not, it's not a black lives matter, certainly, but it's about equitable treatment for me. And I mean that for everybody, not just somebody who's black, um, equitable treatment for somebody who's white is equally as important. And at the end of the day, um, you know, no, one's trying to [00:20:00] take that away, but since that's so freely given, um, uh, you know, It's amazing how sensitive people are. [00:20:09] So I look at all those elements and I go, and if that's, what's going to make you sensitive, if my honesty as an artist is what's gonna make you uncomfortable, then man, I'm probably not the type of artist you're going to like. You know, and, and that's, that's your prerogative like, you know, but the truth of the matter is it depends on what, how you're engaging me. [00:20:30] And if you're engaging me as a, as an actor, I played all types of characters who hold completely different police belief systems from myself. I play characters who fundamentally disagree with everything that I think and believe in, but, and people might love that character and can't stay on me. So for me, that's also a lot of times they're interacting me, but they don't know who they're talking. [00:20:51] Yeah. Yeah. You know, so, well, for me, it's, it's a bit of a cheek, right? I've been over here playing these games as [00:21:00] whole time being these other people. And now you're trying to interact with me based on this little sliver right here. And so I guess for me on social media, that's what I try not to do. And that's why. [00:21:12] That's the balance that I exercise. I'm not trying to impress anybody or not impress anybody. I'm just trying to put forth a balanced view of, of the way I would like to be represented. And so I'm trying to talk about Brazil and trying to talk about China. I'm trying to talk about Muslim talking. Talk about, you know, LGBTQ. [00:21:32] You know, as two plus, but I'm not talking about them. Like they're letters. Like, you know, I have my, I have a gay character. I do, I have a lesbian character. I do. I have a two-spirit character. I do. I see them as three dimensional. People who are, have experienced something. And I know that experience not well, it's something that's been taught to me and, and shared with me through other artists. [00:21:57] And those artists opened up my mind to [00:22:00] things that discrimination of a kind that I'd never even previously seen. And that was transformative for me because I saw it through the eyes of being a hunted black man. I didn't see it through the eyes of, of what a vulnerable indigenous. Right. And so, and so I really, yeah, my social media and those terms and, uh, and try and talk about what my heritage is and that's really what it is. [00:22:22] I'm native American, I'm Chinese and I'm black. Um, and I, I try and talk about all those aspects of, uh, of who I am and those people of my family, uh, who represent all those. Things, um, uh, but who are people who I love dearly and I just try and advocate the way I would want other people to advocate. For somebody who you might not think is a nice person because they they're this or they're that, but that's not how I know them. [00:22:53] I know them in a different way. So I'm going to try and advocate as best I can, how they probably should advocate, but [00:23:00] sadly, they too bigoted to do it. So I'm, uh, I'm gonna stand up for my people and I'm gonna get them to sit down. I don't want nothing to happen to them. I'm sure you got you up here. And let's, uh, let's find a path forward that doesn't cause harm to each other and does it, you know, demonize people. [00:23:16] And I think that's critical, critically important as we move forward. But by the same token, it's critically important that we get equitable treatment and we've, we've stood still long enough. So y'all gonna have to take this screaming and this yelling right now. We're going to work and do together. We're going to do right together. [00:23:33] It's going to be fine. But what we ain't going to do though, is we ain't go accept these ridiculous terms that you're talking about, where we know we're second class citizens. Now we supposed to shut up, be quiet and be thankful for certain classes and shit. Now I appreciate offer, but no thanks. I tried it out and knocked the tires for 400 years. [00:23:57] Karama: [00:23:57] You bet to say. So, um, [00:24:00] now the last time you were here, I had to bring, you saw me. I had to out, I had to break up my fan. Um, the last time you were last time you were here. No, I did every now and then. Hallelujah. Um, the last time we spoke, not the last time you were here, you were on the podcast and you talked about, uh, You went through one American gods and how you left that show. [00:24:25] And we're not going to talk about all that right now. Y'all can go back and listen to the podcast and get that whole story. Um, but you were shining a light on some of the, more of the ridiculous things that had happened behind the scenes, namely American guy's parent company. Fremantle that we found out is also the parents who company for Gabrielle union, who was fired from America's got talent, which was also the parent company from Michela. [00:24:53] Cole's showing gum. And now what we have here, ladies and gentlemen is what we call a pattern in [00:25:00] the things that came out since then. And the fact that, uh, so many actors came together for you for Gabrielle, for Miguel and other people. It felt the strength to talk about something justices that were happening in Hollywood. [00:25:17] Do you think a change was made and I'm not even talking about American gods, I'm talking about like, Hollywood as a whole, or do you think it took what we're seeing now? All of these people shining a light on all of the things that they've gone through in Hollywood right now, uh, for changes to be made. [00:25:35] Do you think you helped start that or you just going to be here to help. [00:25:42] Orlando: [00:25:42] I, uh, I don't, I think that's for somebody else to say, I don't know. I don't know that I feel comfortable, um, saying that I was, I was the start of, of, of, of that movement, but I I'll say this. Um, [00:26:00] I think what Viola Davis has said is. Is something that needed to be said. And I think that Nicole, but Nicole Buhari finally having the courage to come forth and say some of the things that she finally was able to say and the incredible growth that she went through as a human and as an artist to not come forth until she could speak in a way that wasn't out of anger. [00:26:28] Um, that's a really powerful thing. And I want to diminish the power of those type of ads. I think those types of acts are transformative and I, I wish that there was more attention being paid to those little nuanced nuggets that are coming forth. As we talk about these larger issues, um, ultimately. This is hopefully a period of tremendous change. [00:26:54] Uh, that's certainly my hope, I think right now, I think people are scared why people are just scared right now. [00:27:00] You know, they, they are for the first time coming face to face with the reality that they previously didn't know, and that is, they thought they knew what racism was. When they thought they had a handle on it and they've never experienced it, but they thought that by hearing about it, they could understand it and that, you know, that's ridiculous. [00:27:22] And then that's not to demonize white people at all. I mean, men don't understand what it's like to be women. You know, so we all have many blind spots about the things that we think we understand intellectually, but we don't understand because we just can't see it through the eyes of someone who's lived it. [00:27:39] We don't have that, that granual knowledge, that, that institutional knowledge. And I think, um, it's gonna, it's gonna be. A process to educate this institution. Um, they're aware of their bigotry, but they don't know what to do. They're scared. And then there's another contingent of them that are frankly, just [00:28:00] white supremacist and believe that diversity and multiculturalism are anti white and that they're entitled to this and that their forefathers built this thing. [00:28:07] And, you know, Abraham Lincoln jipped them because he never freed those dabbing on slaves. So there's a whole. Another group of people, uh, who have, you know, finally a representative in the white house. Um, who's literally repeating there. Their battle cry. Those that's their rhetoric to a T I mean, he's dead in sync with the outright and the Neo Confederates. [00:28:32] So a white supremacy has a very powerful voice and it has one and those powerful voices have aligned themselves under very specific network and then network isn't new. And we are attempting to dismantle that network. And that's why I say you have to. Then your local community to do that because that's where that network is built from it's granual. [00:28:53] Um, but by the same token, Um, to pretend that this moment [00:29:00] isn't an opportunity would be, I think stupid. And I think to look at it as purely negative is, is, uh, is a fundamental mistake. I think it is painful for all sides as it has been an a w and I think it would be great. The New York police chiefs of the world who are complaining about people, treating them unfairly for 30 days, you poor things, um, could, could have, they could have the empathy and also just. [00:29:34] Frankly could have the empathy to understand how ludicrous what they're saying is, and that we could remove those individuals and replaced them with someone who, who does understand that because that person will help the community. So in that person's ideology, he's also telling you what his value system is for the community. [00:29:54] So he's telling you that your trauma and your problems don't matter. It's part of his belief system. That's his world. [00:30:00] You can't just leave that person there. You have to remove that person and the people who supported that person and put in place, someone who sees everyone is human. Doesn't see you less because you're a female or because you're fat or because your palms sweat, or because your hairline is weird or because you're not what people call traditionally attractive, whatever, the reason they're going to discriminate against you for it, shouldn't be able to do that. [00:30:26] And so that for me is really all that all it's about. At the end of the day. And my hope is that this moment pushes that forward. And I believe that that will happen simply because the only reason it wouldn't happen is because we were so apathetic, we fucking gave [00:30:44] Karama: [00:30:44] up. So I got to ask, I'm going back to acting now I've got to ask, what did you think to date now? [00:30:50] Your favorite role has been to play. When you, when you look back [00:30:57] Orlando: [00:30:57] for me, wow, [00:31:03] [00:31:00] God, I don't know how to categorize them like that. I w I wish there's such, this is going to sound crazy. I see them as such a different thing than that. Does that make sense? [00:31:21] Uh, I see them as, as, as the. As a friend. Right. And I got this friend and he looks like this and he talks like this and he walks like this and he's got this kind of crazy story that goes along with them. And he spent too much time in his son and he got his skin. Two-tone like this. I mean, I, I really, for me, it's all of that. [00:31:46] It's, it's, it's, it's all of that little stuff that you do on the day to day that, that make you who you are. And so I, I kind of enjoy it. A lot, um, because it really [00:32:00] helps me bring the character to life. Um, And so each one of them for me, and what I was doing was awesome that I got the opportunity to do it and to have it, and this crew of people who worked with me and I worked with them and we all, you know, got it on, on camera. [00:32:19] Right. And whether it came out exactly as I wanted it, or it didn't come out exactly as I want it, it doesn't much stop. The process is kind of. Right for me. So it's hard for me to, I don't know how to pull them apart. I mean, I like, I like people like Nancy, but those guys I liked, you know, like I liked the re the Reverend Lamont fatback from MADtv. [00:32:44] I liked him. [00:32:49] I liked, he was amazing. It was crazy. I li I really, another one I liked for MADtv. I really liked the prison warden in the Barbara Streisand, Whitney [00:33:00] Houston, like terms of endearment movie. Um, I like that guy back, uh, uh, he was involved in, in love with all the inmates and whatnot. And, uh, yeah, I did. He was all at his feet. [00:33:19] He really put his way. He was a mess. This is what I thought was horrible about. It was hard about him as he was an absolutely, um, toxic human who was using his power to create very unbalanced relationships in the prison system as the war. Right. But in his mind, He was in the soap opera, not to laugh. And that in his mind, that's what was going on. [00:33:52] So the way he dressed, the way he spoke, everything he did was like, he was a Nazi landing character. [00:34:00] There was all this pain that was happening to him the whole time. Uh, so, uh, And Nicole, uh, Sullivan, who was on the show with me, used to have a joke and we, we could never get it on camera, but it was the funniest thing about that entire character. [00:34:19] And that was, I would say. And she'd scream, [00:34:29] but may bell [00:34:39] And she would have yelled at Howard in the corner and cried, and that was the bit, and we would do that bit. And the crew would be like, look at these fools. We'd do that like three, four times a day. Sometimes she could yell. Oh no, absolutely. I'd ask her a question. And she started yelling and I am not a whore. [00:34:57] And the bit is it goes on. As [00:35:00] long as she wants to scream, I am not a whore. I'm not in control of it. My job is power. That's the key. I keep playing a off until Nicole Sullivan gets tired of screaming. I am not a whore, which generally happened because Debra Wilson decided I'm tired of this white girl screaming. [00:35:19] I'm not a whore and Debra Wilson shut that shit down. And that was my whole girl. So I hope you like Tempra helped me. It's you? Bitch. You got three more. I'm not a horse before I come over there, [00:35:36] you can second that emotion. And the next thing you know, it was all around the camp and we were a Motley crew and then our, the Lang said something hilarious. And that was it. So, uh, I really like, I think all of those things and all those characters for all those different periods in my life that were just insane. [00:35:56] Karama: [00:35:56] So if there was one movie or show [00:36:00] that you could do over that you could bring back and do a remake of what would you, what would it be? [00:36:07] Orlando: [00:36:07] I would bring back to evolution because if I didn't, I take the same thing and you know, it's funny. I just had, David was just on my podcast and, um, he's such a sweet dude, man. [00:36:23] I really liked David, but you know, when everything got crazy. You know, people were coming at David, you know, and David is not no David company. He's not a racist dude. You know what I mean? It's not his, he's not, that's not the place he's coming from. You know what I'm saying? So this daughter was going to protest and he was like, listen, Corona's out there. [00:36:45] It's important for you to stand up for something and not be the failure that I have been in, not being more vocal and standing up myself. Right. So I'm like, okay, you know, respect. I wouldn't let my daughter go out [00:37:00] there with you crazy, but okay. [00:37:05] You know what I'm saying? Like, that's my dude, but, uh, uh, you know, where he's coming from and I, and I get where he's coming from. And he, he was one of the people that really supported me on the Mike Adams thing, because David David's a smart dude. And you know, he was like, you know, educating young minds. [00:37:19] Yes. That's not freedom of speech. That's weaponizing freedom of speech. So I really, I really feel like. The us taking those characters is who we are today. Um, as opposed to who we are then, and having something attack the earth, um, that is way above our pay grade. Uh, while those two grown ass men are still the children, they were then maybe a little bit grown up, but not really. [00:37:49] Not really. [00:37:50] Karama: [00:37:50] It would be amazing though, because your characters could be like, nah, I see we've done this before. When we were here. We remember what happened last time. Not [00:38:00] only did [00:38:00] Orlando: [00:38:00] I go, I was in an alien asshole and they got pulled out of my asshole. So let me be clear. I'm not trying to relive it. [00:38:13] Just the performing of getting an alien. You ain't got my ass hole was exhausting. Okay. I think I asked the ice cream for my ass at the end of it. Okay. It didn't matter what flavor it was. Cause it was from my ass. And I'm just saying, you know, I went through a lot of trauma in that movie. Okay. I sang the birds, took it too. [00:38:34] The call. [00:38:39] Okay. I begged people not to tell anybody where I had been. Okay. I went through a lot in that movie. Okay. So I would like to see less alien assholes the next time around, [00:38:53] go investigate all the alien assholes. That's what I would like me to be. I'm like, Not let him get sucked up all of the ASOS. And [00:39:00] I'm like, yes, you know what? It feels like, motherfucker. That's a great plot right there. Now the white dudes get swept in nearly and ashes and, uh, it'd be lovely now. Please see, I seen it. [00:39:18] Listen, I made that joke 20 years ago, just to have people explain the joke I made to me. How does that work? The joke was I seen this movie, the black guy dies first and then people will be interviewing me going, you know, in Jurassic park, the black guy dies first. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about that happening? [00:39:43] I'm sorry, what I'm saying? The black eyes for a second horror movies and he's always dying first. Like, what's that like? I mean, like, obviously I'm sure you have something, you know, to share about it. [00:39:58] Karama: [00:39:58] It's hysterical. [00:40:00] [00:40:00] Orlando: [00:40:00] I direct your attention to this movie called the evolution. Direct your attention to this following line. I seen this movie, the black guy dies first use Snagit. I'm pretty sure that's what I said. And it was 19, uh, two of the year, 2000, maybe. I think it was 2000. Yes, a 2016, what the fuck are you talking about right now? [00:40:27] And you might want to consider whose joke you are referencing. [00:40:34] Karama: [00:40:34] That that was more of my question. Should have been what's the dumbest question that you've ever been asked. Um, okay. But I have people in the chat that are like losing it. So I I'm taking questions from the chat now. And. Oh, my God. They're all yelling. [00:40:50] There's people in here yelling lines from a movie it's in me. It's in me. That's hysterical. [00:40:55] Orlando: [00:40:55] That's exactly right now. Y'all see. This is why, because here's the [00:41:00] thing. I really mean this in all sincerity, like one of the great joys of my life that I never ever in a million years saw coming is that as an adult, I would be walking down the street and encounter so many people. [00:41:12] Who who are so excited to see me because of, you know, some project I did. Right. And there was always such evolution. Fans are the nicest human beings I've ever like, yo they're there. Like, they're nice. Like I want to do it just because of how awesome the fans of that movie have been. Like, it's crazy to me, how nice they are. [00:41:36] So nurses run up to me. With and I signed K Y to the state as always the lubricant tell you how much I have Stein. Literally sent me a gift basket of like every type of lube I [00:41:57] Karama: [00:41:57] had. K Y jelly. K Y [00:42:00] jelly sent you a big. [00:42:03] Orlando: [00:42:03] They sent something to me and I responded with a Jiff that said, it's always time for lubricant. [00:42:07] They sent me a DM and said, can we please send your lubricant? They sent so much lubricant. I look like I had taken anal to a whole new level is what it looked like [00:42:22] were like 18. [00:42:29] Okay. The house people walk around, you look at it too funny. I see your eyes. [00:42:42] Got my girl. That's my girl to my girl and my dad and handicap my gun. I had it cause my homie. And Halligan literally. And like, she'll tell me, it's like, it's not, we don't have that type of thing where she got act like she had visible, you know what I'm saying? Uh, you know, my, my, my grandmother and, you know, they were housekeepers. [00:42:59] So, you know, I mean, I [00:43:00] don't play that second class citizenship foolishness. So she say anything she wanted to say. So she saw, I left it in the wrapping, right. So she saw it in the wrapping. She said, you're going to lose all of that. She goes, she goes, are you going to use all of it? And before she left, I put it in her car. [00:43:18] Karama: [00:43:18] No, you didn't. So, and Halakha went home with a big box of lube and hats [00:43:26] Orlando: [00:43:26] to her family. Soon as she looked at me and she was like, are you going to lose all that? I said it right in [00:43:32] Karama: [00:43:32] her car. So. I got to know just Orlando mess with anime. And if so, which ones like, so do you watch enemies? Are you a fan of any enemy? [00:43:46] Orlando: [00:43:46] I went down a really, you know, I went down, I asked versus the evil dead. Uh, you know, I went down that rabbit hole. For awhile and came out of it. And you know, where I really find that I really like animates is going to sound crazy on Wattpad. I [00:44:00] really liked reading it on Wattpad. [00:44:04] Yeah. Yeah. Mongo it's really, I, I enjoy that and I really enjoy, uh, tracking the artists of the track and the art. I just, I mean, It's like a completely different language from the anime itself. Right. Because just because of how it renders anyway. So, uh, yeah, I, I do. Um, and I kinda, and if you have stuff you think I should totally check out, like, please send me stuff. [00:44:31] Cause. Um, I'm really looking for more, um, the person who turned me on to it was Ernest Dickerson, uh, the cinematographer and he and I were really into, he was director and he was directing me on a project and we started talking about all of the, um, crazy Japanese movies, you know, you know, come through hustle back in the day at each you the killer audition, um, and all those types of movies. [00:44:57] And then we got into a crazy animated discussion. [00:45:00] And, uh, I've been like a fan ever since, so yeah. [00:45:04] Karama: [00:45:04] So we've got to get you some, we're going to get you some Akira. We're going to get you some ghost in the shell. [00:45:11] Orlando: [00:45:11] It took me out. [00:45:13] Karama: [00:45:13] Um, so somebody said, am I, uh, am I the only one who wants to know the behind the scenes for drum line? [00:45:19] I would love to hear some tea about behind the scenes on that. Now I know one story. So you should share it because you turned down now. Yes. You turned down a role to say germline. [00:45:34] Orlando: [00:45:34] So at the time, they're trying to get me to do a movie called like Mike, uh, which is, uh, a magic tissue movie with bow and Morris Chestnut. [00:45:41] Um, and I thought Morris, Justin, it was fantastic in the movie. Shout out to my dude, Morris Chester. Um, uh, but I just, I couldn't understand. That versus bringing together show style marching band. There was no comparison to me. I'm like I grew up, you know, [00:46:00] and my parents went to traditional black colleges in the south. [00:46:02] Like, that's just where I'm from. So I was like, no, I'm doing this y'all are crazy. Um, the best T on that movie is probably, I got, gosh, it's snowed that summer. And it was crazy to be shooting in the snow in Atlanta. And the craziest part of that movie is who really won the battle of the bands for real on the field. [00:46:33] And. The participants were, there are a lot of people who didn't like participate cause Florida a and M got an AA feeling so they wouldn't do it. Um, it was, it was Clark Morris brown, uh, Bethune, Cookman, and the Atlanta and T band and Atlanta T band was made up of a high school band. That was led by a foreigner, a former [00:47:00] rattler. [00:47:00] That was the Southwest, the cab high school band. And the drum line was, uh, uh, was a mishmash of college students and high school. So the point is, is that, but the most ridiculous band was Southwest to cab and Clark and the Southwest cab high school band was bigger than the Clark university band car had 91 people and they out blue bands of 250. [00:47:28] It was crazy to actually hear that, like, to just sit and cook because I would, that's what all the conducting scenes were cause know I had to actually conduct them. So I spent all of my time conducting those bands while Nick learned to play the drums. And that was the most that movie was, I got to read. [00:47:50] To do that and to, you know, to really sort of, you know, write their arrangements and you know, I've been a musician time. So, uh, that's why I did the movie. Cause I got to go back to [00:48:00] being a musician. So it was really fun. [00:48:03] Karama: [00:48:03] Somebody else is asking, did you write the OJ Simpson bloopers fees from MADtv? Yes, it was your seat. [00:48:15] I figured you did the short answer. [00:48:19] Orlando: [00:48:19] Yes, I did. Ma'am [00:48:23] Karama: [00:48:23] um, how much of, [00:48:28] how much of Clifford Franklin from the replacements was improv? [00:48:34] Orlando: [00:48:34] Um, it was, uh, You know, 60, 40, I mean, I wouldn't say it was improv. Uh, I mean, I've been in the writers Guild for 25 years. Um, you know, so, you know, I had a, I knew who I wanted clipper Franklin to be, and that wasn't in the script. So [00:49:00] as soon as he got off the box, Well, clever Franklin shows up as a replacement player. [00:49:05] If you watched a movie, he is holding, he doesn't have luggage. He has a box with twine wrapped around it. That's his luggage [00:49:21] because, you know, I went to school at Charleston, South Carolina, and I had a friend named Tyrone. And Tyrone Geddes traveled with a box with twine wrapped around. That's how he traveled. And he was a mechanic and that's how he traveled. So for me, that was Tyrone Geddes, got a shot to go to the NFL and he starts off with not even having luggage. [00:49:46] And they went a couple of games and he wearing sunglasses. Uh, and talking about himself in the third person, [00:49:55] suddenly he's calm alone. Uh, the thing about cooking. [00:50:01] [00:50:00] So that would, so that wasn't in the script. So I had to write all of, you know, what that was. So, you know, I, so yes, I, I, you know, I was writing clipper Franklin, [00:50:15] Karama: [00:50:15] the Elliot's out, and now I can, I'll never look at 20 of the same again. Um, Is there, is there a role out there or a story I should say? Is there a story out there that you would love to tell, even if you weren't able to write it, if somebody came to you and said, we're doing a movie. This is his character or a person out there who you'd love to play. [00:50:40] Oh my God. [00:50:47] Orlando: [00:50:47] Ted Patrick. The father of cult deprogramming, Ted Patrick Black, guy's still alive lives in San Diego was literally grabbing kids who had been snatched by. [00:51:00] Grabbing them with a blanket, jumping into a two door car, driving off and staying in a room with them 16, 17, 18 hours until you deprogrammed him. [00:51:09] He started off with his own child. He's deprogrammed over 2000 people. And he tried to contact multiple sitting presidents, including Obama to explain to them that ISIS an ISO were cults and that you couldn't bond those people to death because they'd been indoctrinated into mind control and they had to be deprogrammed and there was no system to do the. [00:51:30] That guy's story. Amazing Curt flood, the black men free agency to create all that, these athletes who are multi-millionaires that happened because of Kurt flood and his legal case, which created free agency and professional sports. Those three yesterday. [00:51:50] Karama: [00:51:50] Oh, my God, somebody write the James Baldwin. Now while I researched the rest, because all we need to give you is a cigarette [00:52:00] and a suit. [00:52:00] You already don't care. It would be perfect. [00:52:07] Oh, that's amazing. [00:52:11] Orlando: [00:52:11] The phone call from a director, a extremely talented black female director telling me to start writing that in yesterday. [00:52:19] Karama: [00:52:19] Yes, absolutely. That is amazing. Um, and I'm gonna, like I said, I'm going to send you some animate to watch, but I want to explain one show for you. Cause I want to hear your, your, uh, idea of this. [00:52:37] There is a show that is very popular right now called my hero academia. I am also a fan sink of it as if, uh, if the eczema. Is Charles school, his gifted school was just a public school and it was a public school for kids that had special gifts. Those gifts weren't they weren't called [00:53:00] mutants. They are rotations. [00:53:01] They were called quarry. So everybody, you know, everybody in this world is born with a quirk, but not everybody's. Quirk can make them a superhero. Your quirk might be that you can move clouds. That's not helpful. You just happen to have it. Um, but these kids who go to UAA, UAA high have, are being trained for. [00:53:22] Superhero basically classification. So if you could pick any quirk and I'm telling you, these kids have everything, some people could talk to animals. Some people can stick to walls. One guy can bake that's his quirk. If you could have one special superpower, one special cork, what would it be? [00:53:46] Orlando: [00:53:46] I like the one I have. I'm going to stay grateful for the one I. [00:53:51] Karama: [00:53:51] Okay, which is the one you have on [00:53:53] Orlando: [00:53:53] the storyteller. [00:53:55] Karama: [00:53:55] Okay, great. That's my ticket. [00:54:01] [00:54:00] Orlando: [00:54:01] I like telling stories. Uh, I like them to be rooted in truth and from hopefully a perspective that you maybe previously they consider. Outlandish and funny and ridiculous, but I like, I liked telling stories that I'm going to, I'm going to be grateful for the one I got, because I love that story simply because that metaphor is a powerful one, but we all have a superpower. [00:54:24] We all have that quirk, that thing that we do, and not only the discovery of that, but having a tribe of people around us to help us, uh, be able to do that as a way of life and support ourselves so that we, you know, can hopefully be doing the things that we love, uh, as well. You know, make a living is, uh, that's a beautiful thing. [00:54:43] That's not work. Uh, so I feel like I got, I get to live that. So that's a, that's a special gift. [00:54:52] Karama: [00:54:52] Okay. So I'll, I'll give this one to you. You, your, your superpower is that you are actually a Nancy and we are actually [00:55:01] [00:55:00] Orlando: [00:55:01] that's my superpower. [00:55:04] Karama: [00:55:04] So you're a storyteller, you're a storyteller and you make those changes and you, and you, your stories, and even the stories that you're told tonight have even, um, and, uh, not no matter what ever happened on that show, there's that it will, you literally made history. [00:55:20] With the few scenes you were in through the species that you gave, um, one of what you wrote. So, uh, you will ever forever. Yeah. And we are so incredibly proud that you were on it, but I want to thank you for being the second guest on the blur girl live and hanging out with me. And in your dungeon with your dragon here, you're incredibly well behaved. [00:55:45] Right? [00:55:48] Orlando: [00:55:48] First of all, he's not well-behaved. I just didn't say that they don't. You look at me don't you dare blow your hot fucking breath on me. I wish a dragon would [00:56:00] far. What he likes to do is, and this happened several times. If you saw me adjusting my hat is because he was over here blowing his hot fucking breath on me. [00:56:09] Okay. And, you know, and. Fine. You know, you know, if you ever been to a laundromat during the winter, like in Cleveland, and then it's so cold outside that you go stand next to the dryer exhaust, it's blowing out all the, and even though. Committee, uh, uh, herpes and syphilis of blowing through the dryer vent. [00:56:33] You still stand there because it keeps you warm. Okay. That's the way it feels like, I don't know what obsidian eight, but I can smell that he ate something in his breath because he doesn't floss because dragons don't floss and that's a problem. People don't talk about that. They really don't fucking times dumped. [00:56:58] Karama: [00:56:58] Sorry. [00:57:00] Thank you so much. It's always a pleasure talking to you and you always make me laugh. I have like endorphins for days after our coverage. [00:57:12] Orlando: [00:57:12] Thank you. Good to talk to you. [00:57:14] Karama: [00:57:14] Thank you folks. Thank you so much for checking out the bird girl live. Please follow Orlando. Give him your enemy suggestions. Uh, we were little Joe's on Twitter. You can always find me Kara, the blur girl, T H E B L E R D G U R L, Twitter, Instagram and all over the interwebs. [00:57:32] And thank you so much for joining me. I will see you next week. [00:57:39] Hey folks. Thanks so much for listening. I hope you enjoy these reposts. And if you would like to see this episode in video form, I've put the link to the video in my YouTube channel in the show notes. Uh, all of the first season is now live and this episode happens to also be closed captioned as always, please follow me across social media. [00:57:58] I'm the blurred girl everywhere. And don't [00:58:00] forget to check out my Patriot at patrion.com/the blurred girl. See you next time.
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Alex Kurtzman and Olatunde Osunsanmi discuss Star Trek: Discovery S3
Jan 09, 2021
Welcome to a bonus episode of theblerdgurl Podcast! In this interview, I get a chance to talk to Star Trek: Discovery executive producer and Creator Alex Kurtzman along with co-executive producer and director Olatunde Osunsanmi.
So I’m really really excited to bring you this episode because, since the season 3 finale dropped, we were free to talk about the whole season. We talked about everything from how the pandemic has affected production, to saying goodbye to Michelle Yeoh’s character Georgiou, even directing Doug Jones out of makeup, and the future of the Federation. Tunde also shared why the season 3 finale of DISCO is so important to him.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
David Ajala talks about Cleveland Booker of DISCO
Jan 08, 2021
Hey Star Trek fans guess what? I had an amazing chat with David Ajala, the new star of Star Trek: Discovery Season 3. He plays Cleveland Booker, the rogue pilot that Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) meets when she crash lands in the future after the events of the season 2 finale. In this timeline, there is no federation…or is there?
If Ajala looks familiar, that’s because he has been on theblerdgurl podcast before. And he starred as Manchester Black on Supergirl and as the elusive Captain Roy Eros on SYFY’s Nightflyers. He’s also had guest-starring roles on Black Mirror and the video game franchise Mass Effect.
This is the podcast version of my youtube interview with Ajala last year. Now that Season 3 is all over, see if you pick up all of the hints he was dropping! Plus he lives!
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Raven the Science Maven looks like a Scientist
Nov 25, 2020
On World Science Day a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak with a woman reshaping the image of Black women in science, Raven Baxter. (a.k.a. “Raven the Science Maven”) . I first heard about Raven when her music video Big Ole Geeks, a “science parody” of Megan Thee Stallion’s Big Ole Freak, popped up on my Twitter feed last summer. Needless to say it blew up. Since then, she has created more videos, including Wipe it Down, (about the Coronavirus), she’s given a TED Talk and was named Fortune Magazine’s 40 under 40 in Health this year!
Raven is an American science communicator and doctoral student completing a Ph.D. in science education. I wanted to talk to her about her journey as a Black woman within the science space. We talked about how lonely being incorporate science can be, how she stopped codeswitching and got real in the lab and why she is dedicated to teaching a creative approach to science so that kids actually enjoy it!. So check out my interview with Raven the Science Maven!
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it!
Karama: Hey folks. I'm Karama a.k.a theblerdgurland welcome back to theblerdgurl podcast. Now I know I talk a lot about comics and anime and fantasy and stuff here, but today I'm talking science. And my guest this episode is Raven Baxter, a.k.a "Raven the science Maven". She's an American science communicator and doctoral student completing a PhD in science education. Now I first heard about Raven when she dropped a single actually called "Big Ole Geeks", sort of a parody to make these stallions "Big Ole Freaks" last summer. Since then she's created more videos, including "Wipe it Down" a parody about the coronavirus, then a Ted talk and was on Fortune Magazine's 40, under 40 List. I can't wait to share with you this amazing conversation I had with this amazing woman. But first we've got to pay some bills. She's been busy. We talked about how lonely it is being in corporate science, how she stopped code switching and got real in the lab and why she's dedicated to teaching a creative approach to science so that kids actually enjoy it. So up next, my interview with Raven Baxter, a.k.a "Raven, the Science Maven". Raven, welcome. It's nice to like talk to you again and you blowin up! Raven: Yeah. I mean, that's what they say, you know, I'm just out here doing my thing. Karama: I mean, and you were still a full-time employee working as a scientist too, as well. So and Happy World Science Day. It's so nice to be able to say that, knowing that we're going to have a new President that cares about science. Raven: Yeah, it makes me feel really good. You know, knowing, I mean, I was watching the President Elect Biden's speech and just to see how much appreciation he has for science was incredibly refreshing. You know, him making full sentences was music to my ears. You know what I'm saying? Karama: Never saw that never saw phonics and actually a properly worded sentence would sound like music to our ears. But here we are. So for everybody who doesn't know your full title, what is your official like scientific type title? What do you do and what branch of science are you currently in? Raven: Sure. So I am a molecular biologist and I am also now working as a full-time science communicator. And what molecular biology is, is the study of molecules and how they generate our life processes. And like, as you know, we are made up of molecules and they all do very special things in our bodies. And so that's what I'm interested in learning about. Um, and then as a science communicator, I basically engage the public in science. And make concepts and science fun and interesting and relatable for people who are under the sound of my voice. And I, I try to extend that reach to especially communities that are left out of mainstream science education efforts. Karama: And when you grew up, when you were growing up, did you know you wanted to be a molecular biologist said that we're a molecular biologist? Raven: I did not, I knew what molecules were, but I didn't know how cool they were until I maybe got into college. I definitely always knew I wanted to be a scientist. And really what science has always been to me is just asking questions about the world around you. And being curious. And so the different branches of science are really just asking different kinds of questions about the world around you and things that you can see and things that you can't see and using tools around you to answer those questions. So yeah, science. I'm a ride-or-die scientist my whole life. Karama: For those of us who were in a pandemic lockdown, you've been like giving Ted talks. You got married. Congratulations. You've you've been busy. Your Ted talk, you talked about wanting to be an astronaut as a little girl. What changed? Why not? Astrophysics? Raven: I personally think that when you work in the space industry, there's, there's so many things that you can do first of all. There is you can be a physicist and work on theories on how the world operates and how the universe and space and time operate. Or you could be a geologist and look at how like the terrain on different planets are formed and what they're made of. but I think that the most exciting part of working in the space industry is actually going to space, right? And like being an astronaut and making that trip to wherever and having that very extremely rare experience. So I went to space camp when I was around 12 or 13. And what space camp is, is a. Basically a sleep away camp where you spend a week at the U S space and Rocket center, and they train you on basically skills that astronauts need to learn to get to space and to run a successful space mission. So, um, with that being said, once I got into the simulations that were putting us high in the air and like simulating like high altitude space travel. I quickly realized I did not want to be an astronaut, um, because I'm afraid of Heights. So I actually found out I was afraid. Karama: That can be problematic. Yeah. Raven: Yeah. And like, once I figured out, like I can't do the most fun part about working in the space industry. I'm like, all right, well, let me just figure something else out. Cause it's just not going to work. Karama: That's too funny. You will like, so yeah, I regret this decision as they're shaking you around the simulator. You said you always wanted to be a scientist, which is great. And it's wonderful that your parents like encouraged that. When did you feel like you might be alone or one of the few people that was interested in that. Did you go through that in high school? Where people were like, "Ooh, science geek", or was it c that you realized, like, I don't really know that many people who want to do what I do". Honestly, I I've grown up in, uh, the suburbs and the white suburbs specifically of New York State. And. You know, like I didn't, I never had any negative experiences with science there. I, you know, I recognized that I was a racial minority and I just assumed that like being the racial minority is just always finding that you're the only person in the room. Fortunately, I didn't have any bad experiences until, um, I got into corporate, you know, and that's when that really became a factor in how I saw the world around me. Um, as far as my treatment goes. But as far as science goes, it wasn't until college when I would talk to my friends, you know, and they would be like, "Oh, what's your major?" And I'm like ,"Biology". And they said, "Biology?!Like, Really?" And I'm like, "Yeah. Like, why is that weird?" And they're like, "Oh, I didn't know that we was out here doing biology". I'm like, "It's a major at this school". "Why wouldn't we be in the major programs?" "Like I just didn't know, you know, black people were interested in science" And this is other black people telling me this. So that was the first time I realized that what I was doing was not common. Interesting. I, I went through something similar. I grew up in a suburban New Jersey. And again, one of the few black people. Definitely in my school all the way through. So I would say, I didn't know, I was weird, like for like a comics and geekdom and like, you know, animation and science-y stuff until I was in college because I was so busy being the only black girl. Raven: Right. Karama: When I think corporate, I don't think science, so help me out and for lay people who are listening, what is a corporate science job? Raven: So corporate science is different from like, academic science jobs in that academic scientists work for universities and colleges and they they're conducting research usually on a grant. And that money goes to the school. Um, and they just work at the university versus a corporate scientist, works for a for-profit organization and key word for profit. Okay? That means that we are working to make money for a corporation where, um, You know, depending on the type of company working for, you can be doing projects for bigger pharmaceutical companies like Johnson and Johnson or Pfizer or Bayer, um, or you could just be your own biotech in, uh, like your single biotech company. That's making its own, um, discoveries and X, Y, and Z. So I was working at a contract research organization, which is a, for a for-profit, research facility that conducts, um, contract work for larger biotech companies. Karama: So you said you were treated differently in corporate. I think we all have had that type of experience, but what is it like in the lab? Raven: Working in the lab? Karama: Or being treated differently in the lab? Raven: I guess maybe I should preface this by explaining the nature of the work that I was doing. You know, I don't think scientists really explain what lab work looks like. It's never really quick, like at least the work that I was doing, Karama: it's not like on CSI. It's not with the pretty lab. They, the results come back. Like, you know, 20 minutes they don't have. Raven: Yeah, no, it's not like that. Oftentimes you're sitting around, you're waiting for things to happen and there's a lot of downtime. Time for chit-chat, you know, you're still watching your experiments, you're running data, generating reports. But like, you know, there, there is a lot of opportunity to, to speak to coworkers, et cetera. And like, I often kind of found that I didn't have, I wasn't included like the company culture was not very inclusive of me. Um, but like they definitely, you know, were inclusive of each other. Right. Like I felt like. The only times that I really got was spoken to were times where I changed my hairstyle. Like I didn't have dreadlocks. Then I had a different Afro. Sometimes that would straighten it, then people would be like, "Ooh, let's talk to Raven". Or like, I don't know, I'd wear a cute outfit and people who want to talk to me and I'm like,"Is anybody going to ask me like how my day's going?" You know, or like ask me to lunch or anything other than what is super superficial about me? Karama: Did you see, you saw other people doing that you saw other people like cliques and things like that? Raven: Oh yeah. You know, people like were really deep into each other's lives. Like, you know, they knew each other's kids, their kids are playing together. You know, they were like inviting each other out to like, after work beers and stuff and baby showers and all of these things that I would just be like, never. It almost got to the point where, like, I knew that if. People were talking about like there's like a super fun thing happening. I just automatically knew that I wasn't going to be invited and I never was. Like, you know, it was just, it was just that kind of thing Karama: For your tenure at that particular company were you always the only black woman or the black only black person period? Raven: As a scientist? Yeah. Karama: Oh, so there was like, janitors and things like that. Yeah. I've been there. And that sounds lonely. Raven: Yeah. I mean it's especially was for me because I'm super social and like, I love having fun conversations. I love doing fun things. I'm actually a big extrovert. And like, so me having to walk into a situation every day where I really. There's no place for me. Right? And nobody's really interested. It was kinda like unnerving, like I had so much to offer. I just felt invisible for real. Like, it just, it did feel lonely. Karama: Wow. Now was it there that you decided that you wanted to teach? Did you make the decision then? Like, you know what, let me get out and get, let me teach the next generation. So they won't be by themselves. Is that when that decision got made? Raven: Kind of, yeah. You know, like I, throughout my professional career, whether I was working in corporate or working as, you know, working as a professor at a community college, I always saw the need for me to kind of stop what I was doing and use my skills and talents in a way that would make big impacts for the future generations of scientists. And, um, That's kind of like a part of the reason why I turned around and went into science education for my PhD. And also ultimately why I decided to start working full time, like kind of for myself, but really for the community as a science communicator and bridging these gaps that I see in the science community. Karama: Do you feel, since you at least came from that corporate job, that things have changed a little bit, that there's, there have been things have gotten a little bit more inclusive. Raven: I really can't speak to it because I've. Kind of been marching to the beat of my own drum since then. Like, um, I I'm hearing about efforts that people are making to make their workplace more inclusive, but I don't work in those workplaces. And you know, if I don't have firsthand experience then it's all talk to me. You know, I want to see something. Karama: I know absolutely. Raven: I couldn't even tell you. I'm hoping though that there, there are actual tangible improvements. Karama: When did you decide, uh, to actually become faculty? Cause I know that was like one of the steps towards what are your, what you're doing now. What was that experience like? And what were you teaching biology at that point? Raven: Yeah. So I actually left my corporate position to become a, an assistant professor of biology at, a community college. And I made that decision because I felt like working in corporate would be safer or not. Corporate working in a college would be a little safer for me, especially the nature of the college. Um, their student population was very diverse. And I just kind of felt like it will be more fun to work with diversity. Right? So that's ultimately what happened. Karama: But I heard, uh, um, this might've been a new Ted talk. I might've heard it someplace else. There was like a, a mailroom incident. Was that at that school? Tell everybody what that was about. Because that blew my mind. Raven: Yeah. I mean, long story short, I was trying to get my mail and, um, one of the faculty members didn't think I worked there and asked for my ID. She thought it was fake and then threatened to call the cops on me, even though, like, there was absolutely no reason to do that. And she gave me.. Karama: Call the cops on you inside your place of work? Raven: Mm-hmm. Karama: You see Karen's are everywhere, man. Raven: Yeah and her reason was that she didn't think that I look like I worked there. Um, so therefore I had to be lying even though I had identification. Like that literally listed my job title of the department and like, you know, so that, yeah, that happened. Karama: You have people breaking in to teach classes at the school at a regular basis. Raven: Like they will be lucky. Karama: Oh my God. Um, when that was cleared up, did you ever get an apology? Raven: No. Karama: Oh girl. Yeah. And it's funny because a lot of people think, Oh, that was years and years and years ago, this was recent, right? Raven: It was like three Karama: years ago, See what I'm saying? Raven: Within the past five years. Things are changing, but they have not changed completely. Um, no, I'm really sorry that you had to go through that. But on the brighter side of teaching, uh, what, what did you like about teaching science? What was what's what excites you about the teaching process? I think that, uh, part of what needs to change about science culture and the way that we teach science is just allowing for more individuality and creativity. And so I worked really hard to incorporate elements of that into my lectures and my assignments and my assessment. So one of the biggest ways I did that was through my tests and exams. So I will couple all of my exams with a creative assignment. And that way students can kind of exercise their creativity any way they want to, to, um, convey, uh, convey a particular subject with their choice. That we covered in class and the product could look like anything from like a game or a puzzle, or like a skit, a play, a painting, an animation. I've had so many things come from this assignment and it helps bring the. Our community of students together, like closer together, because it's, I assigned this in a group project and they ended up doing really well. Um, and it also helps to bring down testanxiety because the students know, like, I, you know, everything's not riding on this one multiple choice exam. Like I'm going to have the opportunity to really show the professor that I know my stuff. You know, and I could take my time with it. And, um, yeah, I had, I've had really great outcomes with that and I'm looking forward to continuing to do that. I'm looking, I'm actually looking for a faculty position now, so hopefully I'll be able to continue that. Karama: What age group were you teaching then? And what age group are you looking to teach? Raven: I was teaching college students, um, and I'm still looking to teach college students. Karama: Um, I find it interesting that people even college level have that anxiety when their major might be science. You know what I mean? But I mean, I guess there's anxiety around all, all, uh, testing. So tell me how your music video, Big 'Ol Geeks came about Raven: Big 'Ol Geeks came from, um, my desire to, put out positive messages to the science community, especially to women who look like me. And just kind of give them an instruction manual for like the kind of energy that we're going to start bringing into the space. And, um, and that came about because after I left corporate for several months after I was really ashamed and embarrassed to, because, so many black people were like rooting for me. And I was, you know, really the only black scientist they had ever heard of, or even seen or met. And so for me to tell everybody that I was leaving, um, even though it was because I felt like I was being mistreated, you know, people didn't understand the the extent of the trauma that I was enduring in that position. And, um, they just wanted to, they just wanted to see black women winning, right? Yeah. Without really understanding, like we are really being harmed in these places that don't have, um, proper like diversity, equity and inclusion. Initiatives in place and like action plans. So I left and then after I left, even though I was leaving with the intention of, you know, doing good for the community and bringing people in behind me while improving the culture. I was still kind of ashamed because I was definitely like another black woman who left STEM and I had to take a few months to reflect on that. You know, it was kind of a big decision because mind you, like, I had gotten undergrad and graduate degrees with the intention of like being a career like corporate sciences. And I had totally changed my plan. So I was like, kind of in limbo. And trying to figure out what do I do now? You know, the plans have changed and I can not believe that this happening. Uh, but that only lasted for like six months. And then like by month six, I was like, it actually isn't my fault. Because it wasn't my responsibility to stay and fix and fix what they should've had there in the first place. And like, I'm just one person in this corporate machine. And if this machine, you know, is not supportive of women like me, there's, you know, I can't, I can't fix that. Like, Yeah, but, Karama: um, I'm really, I'm really glad you said that because I think so many of us in many different disciplines, black women, and this is the other reason, I think black women have the highest rates of like stress related illnesses and, you know, and fibroids and cancer and things like that. And hypertension, because when we do get into these spaces and, and it is Highlander syndrome, what I call Highlander syndrome, there could be only one. When I was working more in video and advertising, I wanted to leave so many times and it was always a black person saying there, "You can't leave. You're the only one. We need you". And I'm like, "But what about me?" And then when I, and then when I had a stroke, I was like, you know what? I'm not that one is not supposed to pay me. But unfortunately, or fortunately, I think a lot more people are speaking out about this because it doesn't make sense for me to be the only one allowed in. And then you beat the crap out of me and I'm supposed to take a trophy for that. I was supposed to stick it out and say, yeah, but I'm the only one, you know what I mean? Like it is. It is frustrating and it's also scary and it is so very unhealthy that we don't have the support in these places. And I personally don't think it is a badge of honor anymore to be like in 2020, the first black fill in the blank. Because it means like, Oh, they're going through it. Like, I am so excited for Kamala Harris. I'm also terrified. Look at how old, most of these presidents, vice presidents look, when they leave office, baby girl is going to need help. She gets out. You know what I mean? Like I hope she has the support system of the gods. Raven: Yeah. Yep. Karama: So music, when you decided. I'm going to make this, and I'm going to unleash this creativity...were you always into music and then you just decided I'm gonna put my science to it? Raven: Basically. Yeah. That's it like, I started journaling kind of my thoughts about how I was feeling. And once I realized that it was them, not me. And then I got like, you know, my 'big petty' energy on and I'm like, Oh wow. "You know, They really messed up". That's sort of where Big Ole Geeks came from. Um, but as far as my entire music, like I've always been into music and I guess having all that time to sit and reflect on what my professional experiences had been. Gave me some time to do deep introspection and like out of the pits of my spirit, like through like, "Oh yeah, like I do love music". And then like," I do love science". And then I was like, Oh, well, you know, I'm mashing them together. And unapologetically because I had lived, you know, basically years of my life in this corporate space, trying to cater to what I thought other people would accept from me. And I was not having it anymore. I'm just going to do this my way and y'all are just got to deal with it. I'm glad I did it. Karama: And so a lot of other people. It blew up and on top of that, you've sort of got national recognition. So what has been the most mind blowing experience that has come from that video? Cause I know you've done others since then. Raven: Uh, from Big Ole Geeks. Um, I will say that I'm studying, I'm actually studying the response to that video as my doctoral dissertation. Karama: Oh, wow. Raven: Um, so, um, I'm interviewing women, black women who watched the video and I'm understanding what their reactions were to that type of representation, because it really was the first time on the internet that black woman had shown shown her science in that way. I mean like, do we do not have twerking videos, like black women on the internet doing science, like that does not exist until I put that video out, which is why it got so much attention. Um, but the responses were amazing. Um, just to talk a little bit about my study, I interviewed 50 black women and. 80% of them had never seen a black woman scientist period. Um, not on TV, not on social media, not in person. Karama: They didn't even, they didn't even have a black physician. Like he didn't have a Raven: No. Karama: Wow. Raven: And, um, half of these, half of all of these women either had STEM careers or had careers outside of STEM. And I think one of the most important parts of my research was that 80% again, of the women who saw my music video, but did not have STEM careers said that they would have pursued a STEM career if they had that type of representation when they were younger. Karama: Yeah. I believe it. I know you said you're using it sort of for your dissertation. Are you going to be trying to prove why the types of education and science needs to change? Is that, is that the goal? Raven: There's, that's, that's a distant goal of it. I mean, I think the immediate goal is to really show that. The way that we're studying under-representation it needs to be rethought because many of the studies that are done, you know, about black women's experiences in STEM and understanding why we have under-representation, they're really only asking black women who are in STEM professions. Right. And like, Not necessarily people who left STEM, not necessarily people who never had a STEM career. Like we need to understand why people are not picking STEM in the first place to answer why we're underrepresented in STEM. And also people who've left STEM careers. So I want to highlight like there's, there are things to learn about. Um, under-representation in STEM from adult black women who never chose STEM careers. It's like we have to hear their stories because we need to understand where we're missing the mark in, in garnering interests from, from this population. Karama: And it's so funny because so much of what you're saying does not sound like it's a lack of interest it sounds literally like its environment. . Even people who get the concept of black women in science, it's like, yeah, I'll go. "I don't want to be the only one". Now, let's talk about some of these accolades a little bit. Now, first of all, you've released some more songs, some more tracks, your COVID track had me hollering by the way, because it was like, "Just wash your hands". Um, but it was a bop! I liked it. And then you have another one out where you actually highlight, um, women scientists. , where did you find the women that were in that one? Raven: Um, those are just women that I, that I knew were following me on social media. I put out a call on social media, like if you are a woman scientist come through. Um, and yeah, it made for a really cool video. I'm glad we did it. Karama: Now. Fortune called. Fortune has a 40, under 40, I remember being on Twitter when you said, "Oh my God, I got a blue check mark!"and I was like, "Well, duh you're in Fortune!" So what was it like first , when Fortune called. And then second getting that blue check. Raven: You know, it's weird because like, I never really saw myself as somebody who was doing big things, you know? And like I knew what Fortune magazine was. Everybody knows what the fortune 500 is. Right? So when I was contacted by them for this 40, under 40 List, I was like, "Mm, I think you have the wrong email address". Like not, Karama: Raven. I don't think they screw that up very often. Raven: I mean, it was just unreal. Um, and then once we got on the phone and to hear how excited they were about the work that I was doing. I said, Oh wow. This is, I must have really done something here, you know? Okay, let's do this. and they don't tell you that you're actually on the list until the list comes out. So, Oh, Karama: so, but they hit you up and say, Oh, you are in the running or you're a finalist. How does that work? Raven: I would say that I was a finalist. Karama: Okay. Raven: And I'm like, "Oh, they can't pick me". Like, I didn't know that they were doing 200 people this year. They did five categories of 40, um, which made more sense to me. Cause like, I didn't know until they released the list, but up until the day they released it, they were like 40, under 40 I'm like, so there's 40 people on planet Earth. And y'all, there's just.. Karama: There's your scientific mind again, like, let me do the math on this. Raven: But it's still all in. Like, it, it was nice to be recognized because when I started this work, especially when I put big old geeks out, like I truly did not know if I messed up like my entire reputation because of the radical way in which I was portraying women scientists. And like, it was radical because I was really coming, like breaking all of the barriers and the boxes and, um, doing so in a way that was super unapologetic. And like, um, risky really, especially for me as a black woman and just knowing how, how hard we have to tip toe would walk on eggshells to be taken seriously and, um, to be seen as credible. You know, I just kind of is dove right into what I believe was being true to myself. And didn't really want to take the time to worry about how I would be treated because at the end of the day, I was being true to myself and that was the most important. So to see that being celebrated by Fortune Magazine, um, was incredible. And it really signaled to me that, you know, all this time, you know, black women. Didn't necessarily have to, like, we didn't have to do as much as we thought we had to do, you know? And like, I'm really glad to see more black women coming out of, of these boxes and keeping it real and being true to themselves. Cause I think that's going to make us a healthier people, you know, in the long run and happier people Karama: really. Yeah, no, absolutely. I'm also curious, I've been meaning to ask you this question. Were there older black folks who will like, okay, settle down, settle down. Like, Raven: Actually no! My grandma was bopping to this thing. Karama: Good! Raven: You know, her friends were bopping to it. They were sending it. I was really surprised. Cause like, you know, I'm an AKA actually. And like, you know how we are. So, um, but everybody was very supportive and that's, that's when I knew like, women just needed to see other women making their own narratives and like doing that is inspirational. And everybody's narrative doesn't look like mine, but seeing an example of what it means to do that , was inspirational for people, regardless of age and, career field, et cetera.
Karama: That's awesome. But now, like, It's really blown up. I don't know if a fortune did it for you, but the blue check mark did. Also as someone who also has a blue check Mark, isn't it hilarious on this side? What people think that you have the ability to do when you get one of those? It's like this thing is not paying my bills. I don't know. It's it's funny. Like I, you know, I've kind of, I feel like I manifested the blue check. Cause like, at the beginning of this year I was like, "Oh, I want to get a blue check," you know? And it was just kind of a thing, like another milestone, right? Like, yeah. But, um, Raven: the authenticity that came with yours. It's the fact that this is the original. There might be somebody else on here. that's going to try and call themselves Raven or Raven, the science Maven, but they're lying. This is the original. And that's what is, that's what I liked about mine. It's like, I am, there might be a bunch of y'all calling yourselves this, but I am the one that is what that is the only thing that made me feel good about it. it was important to me to have a black voice, an authority in science identified by Twitter who was black. And who can act as a trusted figure in science and bridge the gap between, you know, the black community and the science community, and act as like a liaison. I think is important that Twitter gives people that type of visual trustworthiness badge so that people can find their role model and their information source. Especially now during a pandemic. Like c'mon where the Black community is being hit hard. Like we need, we need this. So I was happy about it Karama: As you should be. Um, last question, if you had to. Have the ability to go back in time and talk to Raven that was going to science camp. What advice would you give her? Raven: I don't know. I really, I don't really have much to say because everything went fine. Um, maybe just say you're doing a great job. Like, um, Karama: or maybe you're not alone. You're not going to be by yourself. Raven: Yeah. I mean, I don't really know what to be honest. Um, I was a very oblivious child. I, and that's, that's a part of the reason for my success was that I never really cared what was going on around me, not in a emotionless way, but like I didn't allow outside factors to impact my interests and my academic like journey. You know what I'm saying? So, Anything that I would have told Raven back in the day would have just went like way over my head. That's why it's hard to imagine. I'm like, would I even listen? Like be paying attention? Probably not. Yeah. Karama: So is that what you would tell, like somebody else that you meet now that is that age that's interested in science, would you, would you give them the same advice? Like trust yourself? Yeah. Raven: Yeah. I think that's, that's definitely the advice I would give is like follow your intuition and, um, keep, you know, the path may not always seem straight, but that's okay. Because paths don't have to be straight. You can go up down and around left right back front, but you're still moving. Like just keep moving, keep understanding yourself, learning, growing, and it'll be fine. Awesome. Karama: Thank you so much for hanging out with me. I really, really appreciate it. Raven: you for inviting me. It's so good to talk to you again,.
Karama: Isn't Raven amazing? I love all the things that she's working on. And I love the fact that she's got this dedication to making sure that black women stay in the sciences and stay recognized. I'm putting all of Raven's information in the show notes so that you can keep up with her and make sure you don't miss anything. But please leave a comment for me over on Apple iTunes and police subscribe to this podcast and tell your friends about it. Don't forget to comment over on iTunes, subscribe and do me a favor, take a screenshot of this episode and on Instagram stories, shout me out, tag me, tell everybody that you listened to the show and that you like it and get your friends to subscribe too. I really appreciate it. And I will see you next time.
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Lovecraft Country Blues with Ashley C. Ford & Shannon Houston
Sep 19, 2020
If you are a fan of the HBO’s Lovecraft Country, then this episode is for you. This week my guests the hosts of the official HBO Lovecraft Country Radio podcast. Ashley C. Ford and Lovecraft Country writer Shannon Houston. Every week on their show they break down each episode of Lovecraft Country after it airs. But on this podcast epsiode we are going to break down some of our favorite moments from the show, how they work together and discuss some of the choices that were made in adapting the original book by Matt Ruff. We get into a lot including some of the things that did not work on the show. I can’t wait for you to hear this one!
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it! If you REALLY want to support what I’m doing, please contribute to my Ko-Fi page! Your contribution really helps me keep the show going and eventually pay for expenses like mixing, transcription, a video editor and so much more!
My latest guest is someone I’ve actually known for a few years now, Keith Knight. Keith is an American cartoonist and musician known for his comic strips The K Chronicles, ink, and The Knight Life. While his work is humorous and universal in appeal, he also often deals with political, social, and racial issues. The new show Woke is based on his life and some of the people in it. I have seen all 6 episode and I will warn you that towards the end of this episode we get a little spoilery but nothing too heavy. Woke is basically what happens when the white guy’s best friend in a comedy, gets his own show. But I’ll let Keith explain it.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it! If you REALLY want to support what I’m doing, please contribute to my Ko-Fi page! Your contribution really helps me keep the show going and eventually pay for expenses like mixing, transcription, a video editor and so much more!
April Reign and her new media company Ensemble
Jul 10, 2020
This is the podcast edition of the premiere episode oftheblerdgurlLIVE in podcast form. It’s edited slightly for clarity, and there is a transcript available below! It was great having April back and I was able to get the scoop on her new venture Ensemble with Overture Global! We also talked about some great Scifi shows we’re watching on streaming. Please take a listen and let me know what you think!
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Palika Makam and the new rules of social media activism
Jun 28, 2020
Did you know that if you go to a protest, take pictures and share them on social media, not only can your location be tracked, but the location and identities of everyone whose face you’ve shown in a video can also be traced? Did you know that if you are recording a crime or some other form of injustice, that if you change the name of the file when you download it, it might be inadmissible in court? Well, my guest today is Palika Makam, the US Senior Program Coordinator with the global human rights organization WITNESS.
They are actually the oldest organization working in video advocacy. And this episode is chock full of tips, tricks and facts that you can use to properly bear witness to many of the events that we are seeing in the streets today. This episode is the class that you never knew you needed! I can’t wait to share it with you!
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it! If you REALLY want to support what I’m doing, please contribute to my Ko-Fi page! Your contribution really helps me keep the show going and eventually pay for expenses like mixing, transcription, a video editor and so much more!
Karama: Hey folks, Karama Horne aka theblerdgurl. And welcome back to to theblerdgurl podcast, where I interview some of the most amazing creators in the geek space. Now, this week's show is a little different. Did you know that if you go to a protest and take pictures and share them on social media,
[00:00:18] not only can your location be tracked, but the location and identities of everyone whose face you've shown in that picture can also be tracked? Did you also know that if you are recording a crime or some other form of injustice, that if you change the name of the file cwhen you download it, it might be inadmissible in court?
[00:00:39] Well, my guest today is Palika Makam, the U S senior program coordinator with the global human rights organization. WITNESS.org. Now WITNESS is actually the oldest organization. Working in video advocacy. And this episode is chock full of tips, tricks, and facts that you can use to properly bear witness to many of the events that we're seeing in the streets today.
[00:01:05]This is really amazing information. And this episode is like a class that I never knew I needed. I can't wait to share it with you, but first let's pay some bills.
[00:01:13]Welcome back now, please consider subscribing and leaving me a rating and a comment over on iTunes. It really helps the show out. And if you're feeling extra helpful, I'd really love it. If you could screenshot this episode and tag theblerdgurlover on IG stories in a post, just tell me what you think. Now that doesn't really help my numbers, but it does make my day.
[00:01:40] And don't forget, I have a Ko-Fi page now. to support, go to ko-fi.com/theblerdgurl.
[00:01:55] my guest today is activist Palika Makam. Palika is a media activist and the US senior program coordinator at WITNESS. She has produced video advocacy campaigns and trained activists all over the world from Ferguson to the West bank. At witness Polica leads the us immigration focused work with Eyes on ICE. A project dedicated to supporting directly impacted communities and allies to document abuses against immigrant communities and use video to fight deportations and advocate for immigrant rights.
[00:02:32] Prior to coming to witness Palika co-founded and ran The Babel Project, a nonprofit that teaches youth activists to use storytelling and documentary film, to advocate for their communities and specific policy change.
[00:02:46]Media she has helped produce has been used in evidence in human rights, abuse court cases, and an advocacy campaigns around education, police violence and immigration reform films have been screened everywhere from the United nations to high school classrooms. I personally was fascinated by a conversation Palika had when she was featured on AJ Plus recently about the Black Lives Matter Movement.
[00:03:10] And I reached out. I was thrilled when she agreed to be interviewed. Now, I'm going to tell you right now, you better have a pen and a piece of paper ready, because she's going to be giving a lot of amazing info in this discussion. So up next, my interview with Palika Makam.
[00:03:27] So Palika thank you so much for joining me today. And I would love it.
[00:03:33] If you could tell everybody about basically where, how you got into this and what witnessed.org is about.
[00:03:42] Palika : Sure, thank you so much for having me on today. so I'm a media activist. I have been working at the intersection of video and technology and human rights for about a decade now. I used to run my own nonprofit called the Babel project, which I started, you know, I was like 22, 23.
[00:04:00] I got an amazing grant from a university to start a nonprofit and, myself and a handful of trainers. We would go, To different communities and train youth organizers and activists, to be able to use video and storytelling as another tool in their activists tool belt. so I did that work in South Africa and Cape town in Palestine, Ferguson, New York, all over the place, really.
[00:04:25]And, around 2014, you know, when Mike Brown Jr was killed when Eric Garner was killed, You know, I felt compelled to take kind of all of the knowledge and privilege that I had had from traveling and meeting grassroots activists and working in movements and different countries and spaces, and, and really bring that back home and focus that work in the country where I was born and raised. And in the country where I'm implicated in that movement and in that struggle.
[00:04:51]so a few years ago, I saw a job, opening it, witness and witness is, you know, kind of the oldest organization working in this very niche space of video advocacy. I remember learning about witness when I was in college, you know, witnesses on my, my syllabus at the time. And so. When I saw that Witness was starting officially a U S program, it seems like the perfect opportunity for me to really route myself here, back home in the United States.
[00:05:22]So at witness, I am the U S Senior Program Coordinator. Witness is a global human rights organization. We support communities around the world to use video and documentation and technology and. Storytelling to be able to expose abuses and advocate for human rights. We are a global team. but we're tiny, you know, we have small teams all around the world and one of those places is the United States, which is the team that I work on.
[00:05:49]and here we mainly focus on supporting communities to film and expose, police abuse. And also to use that video to tell a larger story of systemic violence through creating databases and archives. We also support immigrant rights through projects called Eyes on ICE, which is the project that I actually lead.
[00:06:06]and we train immigrant communities and advocates and lawyers to use video to document abuses, and then use that video to fight deportations in court. And also for advocacy purposes outside of court. I also lead a project called Legal Video Advocacy, which is more focused on storytelling and, and traditional documentary style.
[00:06:25]and through the project, we train public defenders and their clients to create videos, interviewing their clients and family and friends, and then submit those videos to DA's and judges as a way to reduce harsh sentences and even support folks to get out of prison on clemency and parole. So everything that we do at witness, at the core of our work is using video both to expose abuses and serve as evidence, but also as a storytelling and advocacy tool to help change policies and practices and behaviors.
[00:06:55] And I really think the two go hand in hand.
[00:06:58] Karama: Yes, that's absolutely. incredible. I did not know about, Eyes on ICE or the Legal Video Academy. . I have a quick question about that last one . WIth the video that you're able to have defenders in their families create, is the video almost acting as a character witness in certain cases?
[00:07:15] Palika : Exactly. And in a lot of situations, we're able to interview people who wouldn't otherwise be able to come into court as witnesses for, you know, a handful of reasons. And it's really an opportunity to, you know, bring the courtroom into the community or the community into the courtroom and, and, you know, be able to show a part of a person's life.
[00:07:34] Beyond just their rap sheet or their, you know, "criminal history". It's really humanizing people, which seems like such a horrible thing to say, because we're already human. We shouldn't need to be humanized, but unfortunately in the criminal justice system, it is something that needs to happen.
[00:07:51]and we've had a ton of success. It's one of our newer projects, but it's really been exciting to see lawyers and, you know, social workers. Look for and be excited about using a more creative strategy. And we've even been able to do this work during COVID-19 by, recording phone interviews and Skype interviews and zoom interviews with incarcerated individuals and their community members, and still be able to submit that video.
[00:08:16]and we've actually had success in getting a handful of folks out of Rikers right now who were vulnerable to infection by COVID-19.
[00:08:26] Karama: Wow. That's, that's incredible. Do you ever partner with organizations like the Innocence project and things like that ..?.
[00:08:32] Palika : we haven't partnered with them yet. I actually have one of my childhood friends works there. So we're always kind of in communication and finding ways that we can collaborate. But, you know, we, for the most part, our target audience is, you know, directly impacted communities, public defenders, investigators journalists... you know, grassroots communities, advocates. To really be able to give them the tools they need to document abuses.
[00:09:00]Karama: And also you'd mentioned that you've been an activist for so long, and you talked about Palestine and South Africa, and many of the places that you've been. Is it a little bit surreal now to be here, home in the States and seeing images that you probably have used to just seeing in other countries?
[00:09:19] Palika : It is strange. But that's a really good question. It's, it's strange, but it's so important. You know, I remember even, when I worked in South Africa, there was a win that we had where the organization I worked with, took the Prime Minister of Basic Education to court and won. and it was a huge, huge victory for black and Brown students throughout the country, who were living in a post apartheid, South Africa.
[00:09:46] So dealing with institutional racism and systemic oppression all throughout the education system. And I just remember seeing their faces that day on the day that the news came out and, and it was, you know, obviously like I'm a human, I have empathy. I'd been working with them. I was incredibly happy for them. But there's something about being from that community that you can never replicate. And so I feel the pain here. I feel the lows here, but I also feel the wind here in a really different way, because it's not just my work now. It's my entire life. It's the conversations I'm having with my friends and my family. And I, you know, I'm doing so much work on learning my own, you know, ingrained racism coming from a South Asian community.
[00:10:30] It impacts every part of my life here. because I'm working in the country where, where I'm from.
[00:10:35]Karama: There's no compartmentalizing it,
[00:10:37] Palika : Right.
[00:10:37] Karama: Cause it's, it's all around you all the time. Now. Let's, let's bring that, to how Witness has been helping people document a lot of the, I don't want to say the Black Lives Matter Movement like it started yesterday, because it didnt.
[00:10:53] These videos are humanizing people. And we shouldn't have to say that, but the whole term Black Lives Matter is a humanizing statement because people I think are desensitized to a lot of what they, they see. How has witnessed our org been able to, and the work that you've been doing, I've been able to help some of the protests and the protesters that we've been seeing around the country.
[00:11:17] Palika : So what we've really been focusing on, and we've really been in like our emergency rapid response mode the past few weeks. And, and we've been, you know, we can't be everywhere at once. We're a small team and on the US team, it's actually just me and another colleague and she's on maternity leave right now.
[00:11:32] So it's just me. So I can't be everywhere at once. So one of our goals is to really be able to. Create resources and get those in the hands of as many advocates and communities as we can so that they could spread that information. And we make sure those resources are accessible, different languages, you know, accessible to communities.
[00:11:49] It's not, you know, we don't use a lot of legal jargon or jargon in general. and we make sure that things are in multiple different languages. But really we've been wanting to support. Communities, not protesters, not to film because you know, people are already inclined to whip out their phones and film when they see something happen.
[00:12:07]So it's not about that, but it's about making sure that they're doing it in a way that actually leads to some impact, you know, unfortunately, so many of the videos that we see showing police violence and abuse, whether at a protest or not, don't actually lead to any sense of accountability in, or out of a courtroom. But the few cases that have, we've seen that there's strategy involved, things were filmed a certain way. They were stored a certain way. They were shared a certain way. And we really see ourselves in this interesting kind of connector space, where we work with the lawyers. We work with the journalists and we work with the activists on the ground.
[00:12:43] So we can be able to help those three groups of people communicate with each other better to make sure that this eyewitness footage is crucial footage, that sometimes people are. You know, risking their lives to document actually leads to impact. and you know, the main ways that we do that are by listening, learning, observing, and really figuring out what the gaps and the needs are and then creating resources and trainings as well.
[00:13:07]So for example, just through, you know, going to the protest, myself, talking to people, you know, being online, reading the news, opening myself up as a resource, checking my DMS, everything. I realized that what people are really looking for is advice around sharing. You know, what do you do after you've filmed a video who should you share it with?
[00:13:27] How can you protect protesters identities? What's the strategy to actually make sure that people see this and make some sort of impact. So two of the rapid response resources that we've created over the past couple of weeks in two different languages has been a guide. And it's just kind of a one page guide that you can even just pull out on your cell phone.
[00:13:47] And it just reminds you that before you share a video publicly to pause, take a breath and look through these eight questions before you actually post the video. We're never, you know, none of our advice is absolutist. We can't tell you what to do and what not to do, because it really depends, on every situation and on every person's personal.
[00:14:06] Risk profile and their life, but we really see our advice as harm reduction. You know, if you're gonna post, we can't stop you, but we want you to be thinking about how can you reduce harm and increase impact. we also created a really cool resource. It's kind of like a decision tree and it asks you for questions.
[00:14:25]you know, the first question is, Are you as the filmer worried about your identity? If you share this footage and if the answer is yes, then we advise you not to post without first taking a few steps to reduce harm, which we lay out. If the answer is no, then we take you to the next question. You know, are you worried about exposing anyone's identity in the video?
[00:14:47] If the answer is yes, then we take it to the reduced harm section. So it's just a way to get people to think through the more, the most important questions we should be considering for safety and security when we share videos. and to just pause and reflect and think there's some strategy. You know, unfortunately we know that FBI, Department of Homeland security police. They surveil protests. They do, they target protestors. We saw it in Ferguson. We're seeing it now. We've seen it in the past, even before there was video technology, you know, the Black Panther movement was surveilled. We don't need cell phones. You know, just to surveil people, surveillances as old as, as America,
[00:15:29] Karama: COINTELPRO'S entire
[00:15:31] Palika : Exactly!
[00:15:31] Karama: Existence was based on that, just that thing.
[00:15:34] Palika : And it's only gotten easier since we have cell phones and people are taking videos and photos, which make it easier to identify people. So I both have really excited that people are asking these questions around security that maybe didn't get asked six years ago and Ferguson. but I'm also eager and anxious to respond to those needs.
[00:15:54] And that's one of the main ways we've been doing it is to really make sure people have the resources and in there in the information to share videos, in an ethical way and in a strategic way.
[00:16:06] Karama: Well, I would love to go over a few of those ways. Yu named eight, we don't have to hit all eight, but if we can leave it at least five, that would be wonderful.
[00:16:14] Palika : Sure.
[00:16:14]Karama: One that I heard that surprised me. wasn't about video, it was about still images. If you're going to take a picture. Don't just post the picture straight to whatever social media platform, especially if you're worried about your own safety or something, take a screenshot of the picture and then post it. And I found that fascinating because it basically loses the tracking data, I guess?
[00:16:38] Palika : Right.
[00:16:39]Karama: What are some of the other tips that you were offered people in very specific situations?
[00:16:43] Palika : Sure. I mean, I have to, as a first step, just remind people to assess their safety. No footage is worth your safety.
[00:16:52]Sometimes whipping out your phone can escalate the situation. We're seeing how it's making protesters, who are filming the, become the target of police harassment and violence themselves during these protests. So just understand that your cell phone can change the dynamic of the interaction. So it's important to, you know, assess that before and also in the moment.
[00:17:11] And, you know, the risk to your safety really depends on your own identity, your background, your race, your gender, your ethnicity. I really see filming, especially filming at protest is something that white allies can especially, engage in, in a more safe and secure way. Not to say that they're not targeted themselves, but obviously, you know, their skin color does come with a set of privileges and advantages.
[00:17:32]
[00:17:32]Karama: I saw a video the other day where, when cops taught to fire on protestors, all the black and Brown protesters in the front moved all the white allies moved up and they, staff of them lowered their weapons.
[00:17:44] Palika : So yeah, it can be an amazing act of solidarity.
[00:17:48] Karama: And I'm not, I do not want to condone anybody listening to just start standing in front of weapons, but you know, safety first, but it is something that we have seen.
[00:17:57] Palika : Yeah, exactly. That's the thing when it comes to security, there's really no, no easy black or white solution here. You know, it's really about who you are.
[00:18:06] You have to think about your family, your community. I mean, You know, I I've been filming and I've documented, armies and, you know, military and police in different countries over the years. And there's still situations where I just don't feel comfortable filming as a young woman and a young woman of color.
[00:18:22] So it's really, it's really just about being aware of that. I think the second most important thing to realize is that. That you do have a right to film law enforcement in public spaces. It's part of your constitutional right. And you know, Federal Appeals Courts throughout the country have upheld this right.
[00:18:38] That being said, you know, we know that what your rights are and how they play out in the real world are not always aligned. So one thing to keep in mind is you can film law enforcement. You can't get arrested for filming, but you could get arrested for interfering with the arrest, which is how people often get, arrested. It's for "obstruction of justice"
[00:18:57]And it's completely at " discretion of the police officer. So it's best to keep some distance between you and the, and the incident. you know, just keeps kind of a healthy, this distance, even just an arms length distance away. And, you know, if the officer does tell you to back up. it really is best to comply with their orders.
[00:19:13] You can move a minimal amount, but, you know, it is better just to deescalate the situation, to comply with the orders. You know, you can, even as you're backing up, say out loud, I'm complying with orders, I'm taking five steps back." And you can even film your feet as you're backing up so that there's some sort of documented record, that you complied.
[00:19:31] And if the police tell you to stop filming, you can assert your right to film if you feel comfortable doing so. but you know, if you're scared, if you're worried about being retaliated against, it's okay to stop filming and stand there and bear witness instead.
[00:19:44] And if you do want to assert your rights, I know it sounds silly, but I really recommend practicing in the mirror before you go out into a protest situation, because sometimes it's just getting that your vocal chords to practice saying out loud to give you the confidence to say it in person.
[00:19:59] Karama: Yeah. And repeating it. I think it practicing and repeating. is an excellent, excellent idea.
[00:20:04] Palika : Yeah. another tip is you want to lock your phone with at least a six digit passcode, not just the touch ID or face ID or pattern lock.
[00:20:14] And the reason for this is because, you know, for the most part courts here in the United States have ruled that you have a Fifth Amendment constitutional right to not give up your cell phone passcode during a legal search. But that right. Whether or not, it currently applies to finger ID or face ID and pattern lock is a little bit murkier.
[00:20:33]and courts have ruled both ways. So for now it really is the safest to use at least a six digit passcode. We also have heard instances where a police officer just takes a person's finger and forces them to open their phone right. Or sticks it up to their face and, and, you know, forces it to open that way.
[00:20:51] So it really is safest to have some sort of a passcode on there
[00:20:54] Karama: I'm curious about that too. If you're protesting and you're arrested and they confiscate your things, even if you don't stay and you know, and even if they're overnight, they could be doing whatever with your phone.
[00:21:04]Palika : We actually saw that happen before that exact scenario in 2015, an activist named Keeanga Womba, what's driving home from work and she saw police officers kicking and harassing a man who they had handcuffed. And she pulled over her car across the street and she opened the window and she started to film.
[00:21:24] And her father was a police officer. She knew her rights. She knew she was able to film police officers. She was all the way across the street. She was nowhere near the interaction and the police officers saw her filming and this really upset them. And they came over to her car, told her to stop filming.
[00:21:40] She didn't stop filming. They opened the door. They dragged her, they pulled her to the ground. Her phone ended up falling out of her hands, but it was still recording the audio of the entire incident. And you could hear them saying some really horrible stuff to her because she had tried to assert her rights and tried to hold them accountable by documenting them.
[00:21:59]They ended up arresting her and she spent the night in jail for, you know, "obstruction of justice". And all of her stuff had been confiscated. And when she went to go get it in the morning, she grabbed her phone and immediately went to look for the recording, but the recording had been deleted. Of course it was then her word against the officer's word.
[00:22:20] But luckily she had like a teenage daughter who had backed up all of her footage to automatically back backup to the cloud. So her and her lawyer were able to still retrieve that video. And they used that video to get the charges dropped against her.
[00:22:35]Karama: Wow.
[00:22:37] Palika : Yeah. You could get your phone to back up to a service like Dropbox or Google Drive. That way even if something happens to it or you lose it or break it, you still have, you know, a layer of protection on your footage. You know, you just have to be aware though that backing up to a cloud, depending on the company, the company's policy could leave your data vulnerable to legal requests or subpoenas from the police.
[00:23:00]Karama: This is all extremely fascinating. is there a platform that you have found has been, really, an amazing resource for documenting things?
[00:23:12] Cause I know Twitter years ago started for this reason. It was for. People in the news to get information back and forth to each other quickly. But I feel like now there's so many different platforms. Is there one that you're seeing that is sharing information faster?
[00:23:29] Palika : Well, the one I use the most is Twitter.
[00:23:33] When it comes to kind of like rapid response news, unfolding protests, I mean, you have to make sure you're following the right accounts and vet that, information, but, you know, we're seeing so many, like even. Compilation videos and people collecting this, these videos on Twitter, and it's really an amazing place for documentation.
[00:23:52]it's not a platform necessarily, but I've really seen Signal be a great resource right now. Signal is a communication app, end to end encryption communication app. I'm sure that your audience is well aware of those. But what they might not be aware of as they recently released a tool that's free to use on Signal that makes it easy to blur people's faces on photos.
[00:24:13] So you can just upload a photo to Signal or take it using the signal app and then blur their faces. and my colleagues at, Witness have looked at this and tested it and it is supposed to be a very secure blur. That's hard to reverse. So that's a really great platform for images. And then I'm sure that folks have seen iImage Scrubber, the website popup, and they are an awesome resource.
[00:24:36]they're only for photos, not for videos, but not only do they help. Scrub or not only do they help blur photos really easily, but they also scrub or get rid of the metadata, which is that kind of tracking information that you were talking about so that, you know, you could share that on social media and feel more secure that, that, that footage is not going to be tied back to you
[00:24:57]Karama: Why is it important to sometimes blur people's faces at, especially at protests?
[00:25:04]Palika : We know for facts that FBI, police, Department of Homeland Security use video and photos and livestreams from protests to target and surveil people, and to " protesters. We know that this has happened even as recently as, you know, Ferguson, this happened with Standing Rock, this happened with Occupy Wall Street and it's happening now.
[00:25:27]it's how they find protesters who are doing, you know, "incriminating things" and they arrest them and they charge them. And so while we're at protests fighting for police accountability and exposing police violence, we want to use our cameras to hold police accountable, not to expose anyone from our own communities.
[00:25:46]And so it's important that while we're sharing this really important footage or even trying to build solidarity by sharing footage that we're keeping in mind that people's identities could be vulnerable, even if they're in a public space. And so a really easy way to help protect your fellow protestors and community members is to blur out or blackout faces.
[00:26:06]And it's important to remember that faces are not the only identifying features, you know, there's tattoos, t-shirts affiliations, things like that. So it's important to be. To really be thinking about a person's identity. And what are the different things that can help someone identify someone when you do blur footage?
[00:26:24] And then if you are concerned about your own identity as the person who filmed it, something that gets attached to all of your photos and videos is called metadata, and it's basically just. Data about your data, but some of the data that that includes is GPS coordinates that can track you to exactly where you were when you took that footage.
[00:26:45]so if you are concerned with your own personal safety, if you are high profile, high risk, and even if you're not a good practice is to try to get rid of that metadata. and like you mentioned earlier, really easy way to do that is to take a screenshot. It's not the most foolproof way. So if you are at high risk, there are better ways to do that.
[00:27:04] And I would, recommend consulting with the digital security expert, but at a very basic level, taking a screenshot, you know, making a recording of video recording on your phone of the video, or going to a site like, Image Scrubber could get rid of that metadata.
[00:27:21] That's amazing. and this is just invaluable information.
[00:27:24] Karama: Like there's so many links I'm going to be putting on the show notes. Cause this is just, this is very, very helpful.
[00:27:30] Palika : Oh good! I'm glad.
[00:27:31]Karama: You mentioned some things like when you're trying to protect people, you know, and protect members of your community, but can we flip that on its side and, and try and find a way to, if you're trying to take a picture or videotape somebody who is NOT helping the situation and is being harmful. is there a best way to take a picture? Is it like a closeup of a tattoo or a hand, or is it a wide shot of where you are? Like, is there a good way to take that picture?
[00:27:59]Palika : I think it's actually a combination of those things because you want to use a wide shot so that you can confirm the surroundings and the location.
[00:28:07]There's so much misinformation and fake news out there. We want our footage to have visual cues that verifies that we were where we said we were, when we said we were there. So it would be helpful to get a different, a few different types of shots.
[00:28:20] One would be a wide shot that really places the person in that location. and then maybe a medium shot or, or zoomed in shot that could help, share some more identifying details. You know, I generally tell people to try to record for at least 10 seconds before you move your camera away. I know this isn't always possible in the moment because things are really happening quickly, but you know, we work with a lot of lawyers and journalists and investigators, and they're looking for footage like this and the main issue they always tell us over and over again, is that they couldn't use the footage because it was too shaky, you know, or they couldn't see the full screen. And so, you know, another helpful tip is to think about, do I want to film this horizontally or vertically? You know, if you're trying to get the full scene of a protest, it might make more sense to film it horizontally.
[00:29:08] So you just capture more information in the screen, but you know, if you're filming a burning building, for example, it probably makes more sense to film vertically. So you can actually show the full building. And then another useful tip is, is to, is to just not stop and start. Filming continuously, even if, you know, parts of it seem boring or like there's no action that you're filming, is really the best way to do it because this can also fight against claims that your footage is manipulated,
[00:29:37]Karama: That it's been edited or...
[00:29:38] Palika : Exactly
[00:29:38] Karama: things have been cut in.
[00:29:39] Palika : But yeah, you generally, you know, you wanna, you want to tell a story with your footage. You want to ask yourself if I wasn't here, what would I need to film in order for people to understand what was happening? So that's really like. The who? So that's, you know, identifying details. The where? So like street signs, landmarks, buildings. You know, those wide shots that place the person in that space. The, what, you know, what actually happened if it's possible to film in the moment, you know, those are really, really crucial details to film, to film.
[00:30:12] Karama: Awesome. And sort of my last question, what, once you do have this footage, whatever it is, and I'm not just talking about police brutality, maybe you documented something, like you said, like a building, you know, burning building or something like that.
[00:30:26]Because people also witness things and then are, contacted by news outlets and stuff like that out. What's the best way to catalog this footage?
[00:30:35]Palika : The best thing to do is, is to remember that if you're going to make any edits to your video, you know, including even changing the title name, you know, we often will change the title of, you know, our, our footage to men to. To indicate the time and date and location, but when it comes to filming something, that's some sort of abuse or that could potentially be used as evidence.
[00:30:59] We actually recommend that you don't make any edits to it at all. If you're going to edit, you should edit from a copy.
[00:31:05] Karama: Even the name? Don't even change the filesname?
[00:31:08] Palika : Even the name
[00:31:08] just because if it is, if it does have the potential to be used as evidence in a legal proceeding, changing things like the date and time and anything, even just the, the name of the file could hurt its chances of being able to be used.
[00:31:22] So if you are going to blur faces or add in date time or slow things down or make any cuts, I just recommend doing it from a copy so that you have at least one. Unedited copy saved and secure, and preferably even backed up to one other space.
[00:31:38] Karama: Well, thank you so much. This been like an amazing, like yeah, you need to teach classes. You probably already do, but, this information that you mentioned, the decision tree and things like that, where can people find that? Is that all over on Witness?
[00:31:53]Palika : So all of this can be found under our filming, the police, filming police violence in the United States project page, which I'll send over to you.
[00:32:02] It has resources, tip sheets, case studies, blog posts, everything you need, in multiple languages on this page.
[00:32:11] Karama: That's amazing. And where can we like find you and follow you too? Cause you said you're on Twitter.
[00:32:19] And if there's anybody else out there or groups out there that want to basically contact, Wtness and say, listen, we ha we are an organization that is trying to make a teach all of our members, how to do these things more properly. Is there a way that they can contact, witness that way as well?
[00:32:38] Palika : Yes. So you can reach out to me on Twitter. It's my handle is @palimakam. I'm also active on Instagram. I share a lot of information there and my handle is Polly pocket. For all you nineties kids. It's @palipocket.
[00:33:00]But if you are interested in just reaching out to Witness generally, we have a contact page through the website that you can reach out to and, you'll get directed to the right person.
[00:33:09] Karama: Awesome. Thank you so much for taking time to talk to me because this is invaluable information. And I know you've been really, really, really busy these days. But I appreciate it. I know my listeners really appreciate it and we really, this is information that we need because it's all going to help us.
[00:33:27] And I think there's a lot of people out there that feel a little bit helpless right now. but this is something that everybody can do. And this is information that everybody can hold on to. Thank you again.
[00:33:37] Thank you so much.
[00:33:39]That's a lot. Right. I've put all the links of what we were discussing in the show notes. And I am happy to say that this episode has been fully transcribed. Are hearing impaired brothers and sisters really need this information as much as we do. So please share. Uh, transcriptions or something that I hope will be a regular occurrence here at the blur girl podcast, but I'm going to need your support at dot com slash the blur.
[00:34:07] But I'm going to need your support at coffee.com/the blur girl. That's K O hyphen F i.com/the blurred girl to make this a regular thing. As always, please, please leave me a rating and a comment over on iTunes. I'd really love to hear what you think about this episode and subscribe to the blur girl podcast on your favorite podcast or.
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Malcolm Barrett on Acting, Activism and Allies
Jun 13, 2020
So today my guest today is actor, writer and playwright Malcolm Barrett. Many of you remember him as Lem from Better off Tedand Rufus from the sci-fi show Timeless but he’s also a playwright and rapper, (his alias is “Verbal”.) In addition, he’s also the co-founder and artistic director of the nonprofit Los Angeles-based Ammunition Theatre Company. You may have also seen him on a hilarious episode of Blackman Beyond with my previous guest Hollywood scriptwriter and podcaster Marc Bernardin.
In this conversation, we talk about growing up in Brooklyn, his very first speaking role, the hazards of auditioning while black, whey he hates basketball and how he literally has a license to poet. We also have a serious convo about why Malcolm is so discerning about picking roles, what it’s like being an actor an activist right now, and where he would take the Lifeboat (Timeless’ time machine) if he had it right now. We laughed, we cried, this was one emotional roller coaster folks but Ir really hope you enjoy it.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it! If you REALLY want to support what I’m doing, please contribute to my Ko-Fi page! Your contribution really helps me keep the show going and eventually pay for expenses like a mixer, a video editor and so much more!
Jeff Barnaby talks about his indigenous zombie film Blood Quantum
May 18, 2020
You’ve already heard me rave about the new indigenous zombie movie Blood Quantum on Shudder. This week’s podcast interview was with the director, Jeff Barnaby, about the film and his experiences as an indigenous director. Barnaby came up with the concept of Blood Quantum back in 2007. But no one was going to give a young director, fresh out of film school with only a couple of short films a feature. So, he decided to test himself and create his first feature, Rhymes for Young Ghouls. He did pretty well, Ghouls won Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2013 Vancouver International Film Festival. The work garnered enough attention he was approached to direct, another script, and Blood Quantum came to life.
In this episode, we talk about the title’s meaning and the voice of the indigenous artist in the age of “wokeness.” (And I found out that “pretendians” are actually a thing). This is a great episode you don’t want to miss!
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it! If you REALLY want to support what I’m doing, please contribute to my Ko-Fi page! Your contribution really helps me keep the show going and eventually pay for expenses like a mixer, a video editor and so much more!
Robbie Amell, Andy Allo and Greg Daniels on Amazon and the afterlife in Upload
May 01, 2020
My interview this week is with the creator and cast of a brand new show dropping on May 1 on Amazon Prime called Upload. It takes place in a future where after your physical death your consciousness can be uploaded into a program that is sort of a digital heaven. No, it’s not related to Altered Carbon. This is kind of a philosophical, romantic comedy, murder mystery. It was created by Greg Daniels who is best known for King of the Hill, The Office and Parks and Rec. Upload is basically The Good Place meets Black Mirror and stars Robbie Amell, (The Flash,The Tomorrow People.). He also happens to be the first cousin of actor Stephen Amell who most of you know as Arrow from the CW.
His post-mortem romantic interest is actually a coder or “Angel” outside of the program named Nora, played by Andy Allo. (Pitch Perfect 3, Dear White People) Many of you will recognize her as the singer and love interest of Lightning played by Nafeesa Williams on Black Lightingform S1. I remember her as Prince’s protege. Yep. That Prince. She has an AMAZING voice! She recorded an album with him years ago and went on to build a strong acting career after that as well.
In this podcast episode, we talk about how it took over a decade to get this show made, what it’s like promoting a show that deals with the philosophy of death and the afterlife in such challenging times and what Daniels and the actors are doing to pass the time in self-quarantine.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it! If you REALLY want to support what I’m doing, please contribute to my Ko-Fi page! Your contribution really helps me keep the show going and eventually pay for expenses like a mixer, a video editor and so much more!
Milestone co-founder Denys Cowan answers The Question
Apr 17, 2020
Whenever Denys Cowan is mentioned within comic book circles, most people immediately start talking about Milestone Media, the groundbreaking company that Cowan and his childhood friend Derek Dingle would co-found along with Michael Davis and the legendary Dwayne McDuffie.
But Cowan was contributing to comics long before his Milestone days. He began his career at the tender age of 14 as an intern at Marvel Comics for the late great artist Rich Buckler. (Ths was when you could apprentice under someone, learn the ropes and eventually get work.) Cowan has drawn classic characters for books like Black Panther, Powerman and Iron Fist, and his first big DC Comics project with Denny O’Neal when they collaborated on the first run of The Question in 1987.
Over 30 years later, Cowan’s career has come full circle. In 2018, he collaborated with Bill Sienkiewitcz and Chris Sotomayor on a collecter’s edition poster for the Black Panther movie. Then he worked with the team again when Jeff Lemire asked them to return to The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage (2019).
A portion of this interview is up now at SYFYWire, but our conversation was so much fun, I thought I would share it almost in its entirety here. In this longer discussion, he answers many of the questions you asked on social media, he talks about what it’s like coming back to Vic after all this time and he answers that one burning Milestone questions that we ALL have!. Now, I will caveat this and say that conversation happened well before the planet shut down from the COVID 19 pandemic, but I still think most of it holds true.
If you enjoy this episode please subscribe and leave a comment over on iTunes for me if you can, it really helps me out.. Or, screenshot your podcatcher and tag theblerdgurl over on IG stories with what you liked about it! If you REALLY want to support what I’m doing, please contribute to my Ko-Fi page! Your contribution really helps me keep the show going and eventually pay for expenses like a mixer, a video editor and so much more!
Why Daisy Lightfoot is actually Princess Shuri of Wakanda
Apr 10, 2020
My last episode was a bit of a departure, because I really wanted to address the COVID 19 pandemic and I also wanted to get you resources for dealing with the situation. If you missed that episode, please go back and take a listen, because a lot of the tips are still valid. Please let me know on social if those were helpful to you. We can’t cure heard from some of you already about it. But as always, I love hearing from you. But this week, we’re back to our regularly scheduled interviews with actors creators and all-around interesting people in the world of geekdom. And this week I’m talking with actress and voiceover artist Daisy Lightfoot.
Now, this is another interview that I had back in February before everything went to hell, but it’s still fun none the less. Now you’ve heard DAisy’s voice if you watched the animated series Marvel’s Avengers: Black Panthers Quest which came out not long after the hit movie. She was the voice of T’Challa’s sister Shuri, yep, that was her! But that’s not all she’s done. For those of you who caught my written interview with Daisy over at SYFY, this is the full audio of that interview.
Her voice can be heard in games such as Horizon Zero Dawn, and the 2017 animated series Marvel’s Spider-Man where she actually voiced Electro. Lightfoot booked her dream job after that when Marvel asked her to voice Princess Shuri, the brilliant technologist and sister to Black Panther, opposite James Mathis III, in the animated series Marvel’s Avengers: Black Panther’s Quest on Disney XD.Since then, Lightfoot has played Shuri in several Disney properties: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Black Panther-Trouble in Wakanda, Avengers Assemble and Marvel Heroes Rising, for which she got her own special episode, Marvel Heroes Rising: Operation Shuri.
Practical pandemic guide for the rest of us
Mar 30, 2020
I pre-empted this week’s interview to share with you a special episode of the podcast that deals directly with COVID-19, the realities of the situation and some steps you can take to get through the shutdown. So if you feeling overwhelmed, confused, or can’t take any more Netflix lists of things you should watch, this episode is for you. I think some of the info here is so important, And don’t forget to check the show notes for links to many of the things I’m talking about. Please comment with more resources and options to share. We can all help each other!
The video below is the doctor I was referring to in this episode.
Please share this post with your friends and family if you think it will help them!
Simone Missick on All Rise, Altered Carbon and how Luke Cage started it all
Mar 19, 2020
My guest this week is actress and producer Simone Missick. Now most of you geeks out there remember Simone from her role as live-action comic book character Misty Knight from Marvel’s Luke Cage, The Defenders and Jessica Jones on Netflix. Her career has really taken off since then and she’s currently starring in All Rise as the lead! As Judge Lola Carmichael. She’s also currently starring as Trepp in Altered Carbon Season 2 as well. This is exactly the episode you need to listen to while you’re sheltering in place.. Stay safe out there and wash your hands!
How Marc Bernardin went from fan to journalist to Hollywood screenwriter
Mar 06, 2020
Today’s guest is Marc Bernardin. If you are a blerd, you’d better put some respect on this man’s name! Marc has been a professional geek since before many of you were born. With a career that spans a couple of decades, Marc, is both an award-wining journalist and Hollywood scriptwriter. He worked for Entertainment Weekly for over a decade moving all the way up to senior editor. He has written for GQ, Wired, Details, Vulture, Playboy, and Empire. and is the former film editor for the Los Angeles Times and senior editor for The Hollywood Reporter. staff writer for Alphas (SYFY), Castle Rock (hulu), Treadstone (USA), and Carnival Row (Amazon Prime). He has written comic books for Marvel, DC Comics, and Top Cow. (He wrote one of my faves Genius.). In our chat he breaks down what goes on in the writer’s room, how he went from journalism to scriptwriting and back again, and why you should never give up.
Director Hanelle Culpepper is the first woman to direct a Star Trek pilot EVER
Feb 23, 2020
Hanelle Culpepper is an accomplished director in her own right. She has directed TV in Hollywood for years. She’s done plenty of action and genre shows like Sleepy Hollow, Supergirl and The Flash. But Hanelle has been thrust into the spotlight over the past month because she directed the pilot episode of Picard, the new series on CBSAllAccess that brought back Patrick Stewart into the role of Jean Luc Picard. Captain of the Enterprise from Star Trek Next Generation. What makes it even more significant, is the fact that she is actually the first woman to ever direct a Star Trek pilot in the history of the franchise. And of course the first Black woman as well. This episode is also a directing/producing masterclass, so if you know anyone who is a director-in-training, please send them this episode!
Parisa Fitz-Henley is literally a Magical Black Girl
Feb 13, 2020
My guest this week is actress Parisa Fitz-Henley. I first saw Parisa on Marvel’s Luke Cage on Netflix when she played Luke’s wife Reva. You remember, the one that Jessica Jones killed while being controlled by the Purple Man? (I still feel some kind of way about that. She is best known for playing Fiji the resident witch on Midnight: Texas, a show that was a lot of fun, but sadly, was canceled on NBC. She’s now starring in the 3rd season of The Sinner with Matt Bomer and in the horror remake of Fantasy Island by Blumhouse. In addition to our chat, I’ also share a few things you should be checking out this Black History Month.
So, the Oscars are this weekend. And this is important because of who my guest is this week. It’s none other than April Reign. The creator of the #Oscarssowhite hashtag, businesswoman, activist, mom and so much more! She joined me a couple of weeks ago for a chat the week the Oscars were announced. So we are clearly going to be talking about movies and entertainment and the state of the industry 6 years after she created this movement. I also got the scoop on how she got to go to the Oscar’s last year. I thought the Oscar’s invited her apparently they did not. (ALL THE TEA.)
In this episode, I got a chance to learn a little bit about April’s background. For instance, I’ve had no idea that she had a law degree in campaign finance. She even gives us a little primer on it. Plus, her husband took the bar a second time so he could practice law in the state that she got a new job in. that’s love people! And we also go into what we are happy about, like Matthew Cherry’s “Hair Love” nomination. The tea in this episode is piping hot!
Gabe Kunda’s dream role as the voice of Rock Lock on My Hero Academia
Jan 31, 2020
This week I’m talking to Grammy nominated professional voiceover artist Gabe Kunda. Gabe provides the voice for the English dub of the character Ken Takagi a.k.a “Rock Lock” on My Hero Academia. Gabe ahs also played Fisher Tiger on Once Piece, he was in Black Clover, Dragon Ball Super and he’s even written and is now producing his own project., Project Starchild! (He’s also a huge Phil LaMarr fan!)
(And if you’re feeling extra generous, take a screenshot of this week’s episode and post it to Instagram Stories with the @theblerdgurl tag with a comment about the show!)
William Jackson Harper is in a really Good Place right now
Jan 23, 2020
This week’s interview is with actor and writer William Jackson Harper. Many of you know him as Chidi Anagonye from The Good Place and sincethe end of ther series is upon us, I was super excited when the show’s reps reached out and asked if I wanted to interview him. In addition to The Good Place William was also seen in the Ari Aster horror movie Midsommar. And has one of the best scenes in the film I think. He’s also written a play and will be seen in the upcoming Amazon show Underground Railroad.
Yedoye Travis on anime, NASCAR and that time Dave Chappelle came to his show
Jan 09, 2020
Welcome to my first theblerdgurl podcast episode of the New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is relaxed, rested and not….completely freaking out that WWIII might be imminent. Hopefully, my interview this week will cheer you up, however. My guest is writer, comedian and actor Yedoye Travis. Many of you might know Yedoye from his podcast the Dark Tank as well as the youtube webshow Get In the Robot. He’s also writing for TV and acting in commercials as well. He is absolutely hilarious and he’s a really talented guy that has been blowing up. And I’m excited for you to hear this episode.
One thing I’m trying to do this year is to give you more content, more often, so I’m going to be digging in the vault sometimes and giving you access to some past interviews that didn’t make the podcast. This episode is the first of those. I recorded this conversation with Yedoye last year at NYCC 2019 and we talk a lot about anime, his hilarious podcast Dark Tank (and that Time that Dave Chappelle visited the live show). Plus, Yedoye is also writing for a new Kevin James show coming to Netflix about a NASCAR pit crew.
(And if you’re feeling extra generous, take a screenshot of this week’s episode and post it to Instagram Stories with the @theblerdgurl tag with a comment about the show!)
N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell describe the world of a powerful new Green Lantern
Dec 24, 2019
Happy Holidays everyone! Today’s episode features the award-winning writer N.K. Jemisin and the incredible artist Jamal Campbell who I spoke to recently about their new comic book Far Sector on the DC Young Animal Imprint. The comic introduces us to a brand new member of the Green Lantern Corp. Sojourner “Jo” Mullein. The first black woman to weild a Power Ring.
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO LISTEN!
Jemisin is well known in the fantasy fiction space because she is the first person to ever win 3 consecutive Hugo Awards for her Broken Earth Series: The Fifth Season (2016), The Obelisk Gate (2017) and The Stone Sky (2018) the final installment of the series. Meanwhile, Jamal Campbell has been quietly working in comics for years. He’s drawn everything from Spider-Man for Marvel to Green Arrow and Naomi for DC. But I first heard of him when he was pushing his indie comic. The Immortal Nadia Greene.
Jemisin’s world-building is spectacular and if you ever wanted a breakdown of each of the ethinic groups in the City Enduring, you must listen to Campbell’s descriptions of the Nah, the @AT, and the keh-Topli. Check out the show notes below on how to get your hands on the comic. And don’t forget to subscribe!
EXCLUSIVE Orlando Jones talks about what went down on American Gods in his own words
Dec 16, 2019
In the early morning hours of Saturday, December 14, 2019, Actor, writer and producer Orlando Jones took to social media to tell the world that he would not be returning to Season 3 of American Gods on STARZ. Two things made this announcement a shock: One, this was not a public press release or an official statement from the show and two, apparently the firing had occurred on September 10, 2019. Some 3 months before the announcement. Also, what he shared seemed to suggest that the new showrunner Charles Eglee had a severe problem with his character Mr. Nancy and Jones’ portrayal of the African God. And that his character was “not good for Black America.” I immediately reached out to the actor personally to talk to him about the situation and this podcast episode is that very discussion.
To be clear, this is not an investigative report into the show. Orlando Jones has always been very close to his fans and incredibly supportive of me and others in the Blerd community. That’s why I made the conscious decision to make this a podcast interview because I wanted fans to hear what Jones had to say in his own words. In the discussion, I asked several questions: Why was he fired? Why did he wait so long to tell everyone? Why did the studio wait? What is it that he would like fans to do now that they know? The answers will surprise you.
Jones’ situation aside, American Gods has definitely had its share of problems over the past couple of seasons. The show was developed by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green and based on a sci-fi novel written by Neil Gaiman. Following a stellar first season, Fuller and Green were fired from the series. Following that, it was announced that Gillian Anderson would not be returning to the show as well. Fans were concerned, but not panicked because the nature of the show featured a rotating cast of characters, around Shadoe Moon (Ricky Whittle) and Wednesday/Odin (Ian McShane). Also, after Jones’ incredible guest appearance in Season 1 (which was just 2 scenes by the way), he was brought on as a regular to the series. Freemantle USA, the production company for the show, then announced Season 2 had a new showrunner in Jesse Alexander.
According to Jones, that’s where things started going left. Turmoil in the writers’ room, poorly written scenes, last-minute rewrites needed just days before shoots, and more confusion. On the outside, the show seemed to be thriving, but like Emily Browning’s undead character Laura Moon, underneath, the production seemed to be falling apart. At the request of Executive Producers, Jones was asked to take on much of the co-writing responsibilities himself (of the POC characters at least). Including Anansi’s “Slavery is a cult” speech of Season 2 in episode 4 at the mortuary between Mr. Nancy, goddess Bilquis and Mr. Ibis (Demore Barnes), where they discuss the real-life issue of human trafficking. A scene that regained popularity after going to streaming and actually went viral last month. Apparently, after Jones had been fired.
For the past few weeks, we’ve seen announcements of new cast members such as Wale, Danny Trejo and Julia Sweeney, as well as more of the original cast such as Crispin Glover (Mr. World) leaving the show. But until this last weekend, no one really knew what was going on.
Take a listen, and as always, please comment and subscribe.
A Voyage to the Stars with the Black Version of Phil LaMarr
Nov 20, 2019
Phil Lamar has voiced over 250 characters in cartoons and anime in his career. As the voice of John Stewart on The Justice League, he was the only Green Lantern I recognized (until N.K. Jemisin created Sojourner of course ). Many of you remember him as the voice of Samurai Jack, or maybe Hermes Conrad on Futurama. But he’s also an actor (Pulp Fiction) and comedian who honed his skills with The Groundlings and MaDTV.
These days you can find Phil voicing Malefic Jones, on Supergirl, and he’s joined the cast of season 2 of Voyage to the Stars. An improv comedy geek podcast, that feels like a cross between Star Trek and Critical Role. He’ll be joining stars Felicia Day, Janet Varney, Steve Berg and Colton Dunnas the misfit crew who accidentally find themselves on the wrong side of a wormhole.
In this interview we talk about the show, the huge amount of scripted content out there, His work with the Groundlings in LA plus the hilarious comedy short series The Black Version featuring some of your favorite actors and actresses before they were famous. (It’s hilarious.) And of course, we get a few voices thrown in there too. This was a great conversation with a veteran of the industry that really has a unique perspective on diversity, acting and staying true to your art.
[Scroll to the bottom to hear this episode or listen on your favorite podcatcher!]
Donald Faison talks about Emergence (and Star Wars)
Sep 24, 2019
Donald Faison is an actor, comedian, and voice actor, best known for playing Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC comedy-drama Scrubs (2001–2010). He’s also co-starred in Kickass 2, and voiced everything from Robot Chicken to Tron. Now he’s starring in a the new ABC series Emergence (Tuesdays at 10pm/EST).
A true Blerd, he’s a huge Star Wars fan (he even created his own animated Star Wars parody) which led him to be cast as the voice of “Hype Fazon”, a character which was actually written for him in the Star Wars animated series Star Wars Resistance.
Known mostly for his comedy, and improv skills, but in ABC Emergence, he gets to stretch is acting chops a bit and I was surprised to hear that he’d been turning down scripts in order to do a show like this.
Donald Faison and Allison Tillman star ins ABC’s Emergence
Emergence stars Allison Tillman as Jo, a police chief who takes in a young child she finds near the site of a mysterious accident. The girl has no memory of what has happened or who she is. Jo takes her in while she investigates and it’s soon revealed that not only is someone after the child, but the girl has powers.
Donald plays Jo’s ex-husband Alex, who co-parents their daughter Bree, he has more than a few feelings about all of this. During this interview, Donald reveals what attracted him to Emergence and why The Mandalorian is everything.
PODCAST: Lewis Tan Talks Wu Assassins and The One and Only Time he Got Knocked Out
Aug 08, 2019
I ’m back with a special episode! I got a chance to talk to one of the stars of the new Netflix Show Wu Assassins that just dropped on Netflix. Actor, stuntman and martial artist Lewis Tan.
In this interview, Tan and I talk about how he was born in England and grew up on Hollywood sets like Tim Burton’s Batman. where his father, Phillip Tan worked as a stunt coordinator. His father is a world champion Muy Thai this kickboxer, which of course he taught to his son. Lewis also ranks in Kung Fu, Ju-Jitsu and Kendo. We also talk about the changing image of Asian-Americans in Hollywood and how his roles in Deadpool 2, Into the Badlands, and now Wu Assassins have helped solidify his career. And yes, we did talk about Iron Fist.
This interview was so much fun because I got to reminisce over martial movies and fangirl over styles and techniques. The only thing that would have made my interview with Lewis Tan more fun…was if it was in person. Please listen, comment and subscribe and don’t forget theblerdgurl podcast is now on the Himalaya app! So if you want to leave a little tip in the tip jar, I’d appreciate it!
PODCAST: How Preeti Chhibber Wrote a Spider-Man Book in 6 Weeks
Aug 05, 2019
Preeti Chhibber is a journalist, on-camera host and co-host of both the Desi Geek Girls and SYFYWire Fangrrrls Strong Female Characters podcasts. She’s also an author, and her first full novel is with, get this. Marvel. That’s right. She wrote Spider-Man: Far From Home: Peter and Ned’s Ultimate Travel Journala middle-grade companion book to the July 2019 film. She’s also a friend, so I was excited when I learned that she wrote this book, and I knew I had to get her on the podcast. In this episode, we talk about her whirlwind process (she wrote the whole thing in 6 weeks1), how to fight imposter syndrome and why connections are everything. Click the link below to listen, or subscribe where everywhere you listen to podcasts!
PODCAST: Tony Weaver Jr. Explains How Tupac, Static and Rock Lee showed him he was Weird Enough to make comics
Jun 27, 2019
Tony Weaver Jr. started Weird Enough Productions just out of college with a grant and created The Uncommons, a comic book series about a diverse group of superheroes with powers and abilities inspired by his love of anime. Echoing Green typically doesn’t give grants to comic book creators, but Weaver wanted to create more than a comic book publishing company, You see, Weird Enough creates comics along with their fans and has a curriculum for teachers to use in classrooms across the country to get and keep students interested in learning. Tony has given TED talks, won awards, been named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 (the only comic book creator to do so) and is helping kids across the country become heroes themselves, by inspiring them to help their own communities. Did I mention that he’s just 25 years old? I am fascinated, impressed and mildly terrified of Ton’y’s drive and focus and you will be too. This is not an episode that you want to miss!
You can listen the theblerdgurl podcast everywhere where podcasts are available!
PODCAST: Regine Sawyer on WiNC and Being a Kickstarter Artist in Residence
Jun 11, 2019
On this episode, I sit down with Regine Sawyer, the founder of LockettDown Productions, Women in Comics Collective International and the upcoming WiNCCon which is in its 3rd year. She’s currently an artist-in-residence at Kickstarter. Find out all the amazing things that are involved with that program. Plus, what I think about Dark Phoenix happened, Black Mirror and how Apple is ditching iTunes and is selling is a very expensive new computer.
About Regine:
Regine L. Sawyer is the Owner, Writer and Publisher at Lockett Down Productions; a cutting edge small press comic book company. Publishing books such as The Rippers, Ice Witch, Eating Vampires; and the Children’s book Willa, the Weeping, Weeping Willow. She is also the Coordinator and Founder of the Women in Comics Collective International. An organization that focuses on highlighting the merit and craft work of women working in the comic book industry. Out of that organization grew that she has created WiNC Con. A convention that helps support women creators in the comics book space. Well, Regine was named a Kickstarter Artist in residence at the end of last year, and I took a little trip over to the Kickstarter offices here in Brooklyn, NY to see what all the fuss was about.
Thanks for listening! And please don’t forget to comment and subscribe and check out my podcast sponsors, Audible.com and Siteground
Here are some links to what I talked about in this podcast:
PODCAST: See You Yesterday Director and Cast Get Real About That Ending
May 29, 2019
In this special episode of theblerdgurl podcast, I got a chance to sit and talk with the director and stars of See You Yesterday. Director, Stefon Bristol, and stars Eden Duncan-Smith (C.J.) and Danté Crichlow (Sebastian). They’re real Blerds y’all! Not only did Eden grow up in a “House of Batman”, but she’s also a college Physics major. Danté has a few thoughts about proper time travel representation and is SERIOUS about playing the live-action version of Miles Morales. (We need to help make this happen okay?)
Stefon also talks about his work under Spike Lee, how they landed a certain Back-to-the-Future star and has a few things to say to all of the folks who dragged him for the movie’s ending. This episode is a bit spoilery, so please go and watch See You Yesterday on Netflix and then come back here and listen!
EXCLUSIVE! Sebastian A. Jones talks about Stranger Comics’ new deal with HBO
Apr 18, 2019
I’m really excited about this interview because it’s the first EXCLUSIVE here at theblerdgurl! On this podcast episode, I’m talking to the creator of Stranger Comics, Sebastian A. Jones. I’ve been a fan of Stranger Comic’s series Niobe, (created with actress and activist Amandla Stenberg), for quite some time. Last year, I spoke to him about more of the world of Asunda, the epic universe that all of the Stranger Comics titles share. during that interview, he mentioned that he had something big in the works, but I had no idea how big until Deadline reported that Jones had just signed a deal with HBO for a series adapting the world of Asunda. This means ALL of the Stranger Comics titles are quite possibly headed to series.
In addition, Jones retains all his publishing rights to characters and tales, and HBO picks up the TV and Film rights to the characters onscreen. In this, his first interview since the announcement, Jones talks about the deal publicly and gives us a real-world view of the humble journey it took to build his company from scratch.
PODCAST: Yetide Badaki on Bilquis, Being a Nerd and Why She Loves Being Scared
Mar 09, 2019
The gorgeous Yetide Badaki is my guest on this episode of Theblerdgurl podcast. We talk about how the acting bug bit her early as a child in Nigeria, how she’s a huge Neil Gaiman fangirl and how Bilquis comes into her own in the upcoming season of American Gods. (Season 2 premieres tomorrow, Sunday at 8 pm on STARZ). We also talk about how we as Black women have to navigate interactions and business very differently. And sometimes, its other women that are working against us. We also discuss how to be better allies to all women. After you go and see Captain Marvel listen to this episode! (And don’t forget to enter the Funko Giveaway! You could win Goose the cat!)
Podcast: 2018 and the Business of Fandom with Orlando Jones
Dec 31, 2018
Welcome to the last blerdgurl podcast of 2018. Now originally, I was going to go over my favorite movie of the year, but we all know that it’s Black Panther so that seemed kind of redundant. And everyone has end-of-the-year-lists going. I even contributed to a couple myself over at SYFY. (And I don’t think anyone wants to listen to another end of the year list.)
And then an amazing thing happened. I got a chance to interview father, actor, writer, producer, comedian Orlando Jones * And we had an amazing conversation. Most of you know him as Anansi from American Gods, but he’s also a comedian, actor, writer and activist. He even started his own advertising agency at 18 years old. He was a writer on A Different World, Sinbad, Ben Stiller Show, he co-wrote the pilot for Martin, basically wrote Roc with Charles S. Dutton and he helped launch FX. Yes. the network.
We talked about just about every aspect of the business and how fandom has become a commodity. When it works, and sometimes when it backfires. (ex. – Sleepy Hollow). In fact, he dropped so much knowledge, I was silent for most of the interview.
So you know he had to be saying something cuz y’all know I can talk.
So sit back, relax and grab a pen, because Orlando has some knowledge to share.
Please listen, comment and subscribe! You can listen below or find theblerdgurl podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play and Soundcloud And also, check below for links to some of the stuff I talk about in this episode.Thanks for listening! And please don’t forget to comment and subscribe and check out my podcast sponsor, Audible
*This episode contains explicit language.
theblerdgurl podcast: David Ajala On Nightflyers, Supergirl and Drunken Prawns
Dec 02, 2018
It’s that time of year folks! In this episode, I’ll give you a little schedule of when a bunch of holiday shows and movies are dropping including Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, Aquaman, Bumblebee and more. There’s a bunch of new comics this week as well. In tech news, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday were huge for apps and Marriott’s breach is no joke. On top of that, Facebook is now trying to compete in the streaming game with its new deal with Joss Whedon. Speaking of streaming, today is the day to watch the premiere of Nightflyers, the new outer space thriller based on the novella by George R.R. Martin. This summer I got to host my very first panel at SDCC and it was with the cast! One of the folks I met was actor David Ajala, who stars as the mysterious Captain Roy Eres and is also playing Manchester Black this season on Supergirl. So check out the podcast and then later, live stream the show every day on all SYFY platforms starting 12/2/18. (I’ll be live tweeting during the show’s broadcast premiere at 10PM that day too!)
Thanks for listening! And please don’t forget to comment and subscribe and check out my podcast sponsor, Audible
theblerdgurl podcast – NASA Honors, What to Binge-watch and Maybe a BLADE Reboot?
Sep 03, 2018
The summer is over! If you are relaxing into the end of your Labor Day holiday or if you’ve just gotten home from the repast after Aretha’s funeral (may she rest in glorious peace), I will offer you a few things to binge watch this week while you wait for the fall shows to return. I even have some comic book suggestions. Also, I talk a little bit about the Madden/Jacksonville shooting, how 3 black teens in science persevered after online trolls tried to keep them out of a NASA competition, and how amazing it would be if Wesley Snipes actually returns as BLADE. And there are a couple of comics coming out that I’m going to ask everyone to pre-order. Please listen, comment and subscribe! You can listen below or find theblerdgurl podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play and Soundcloud And also, check below for links to some of the stuff I talk about in this episode.
theblerdgurl podcast: Nightflyers, a real SKYNET and Cheo Hodari Coker Talks Luke Cage S2 Spoilers
Jul 18, 2018
Check out my latest podcast! I talk about what I’m going to be up to at San Diego Comic Con this week, how Apple keeps breaking laptops and how China has a real-life SKYNET. PLUS, it’s the last in the series of my interviews with the cast of Luke Cage Season 2. This week, I talk to show runner Cheo Hodari Coker about the changes made to Luke Cage, how he got Danny Rand to not be annoying and how he really feels about all those folks who criticized S1 for respectability politics. Listen below, or tune in on Stitcher, iTunes, Google Play and Soundcloud.
theblerdgurl podcast: Robot Stuntmen, Sorry to Bother You and the Dorian and Simone Missick Interview
Jul 07, 2018
If you’re in the US, I hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend and staying cool and if you’re not here with us, I hope you’re having fun. Wherever you are I hope you’ve finished watching Luke Cage Season 2 because this episode I’m talking to two of the stars of the show. Simone Missick, who plays Misty Knight and her real-life husband Dorian Missick who has also been acting for years, (remember Lucky Number Slevin?), who plays Dontrell “Cockroach” Hamilton. One of Luke Cage’s enemies this season. I also talk about Disney’s new creepy stunt robots, what I thought about Sorry to Bother You and another amazing milestone for Miss Taylor Richardson. So heat up some leftovers and take a listen to this week’s theblerdgurl podcast. (Don’t forget to comment and subscribe!) You can listen below or find theblerdgurl podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play and Soundcloud.
theblerdgurl Podcast: SYFY, Cloak and Dagger, The Expanse and What’s Next
Jun 10, 2018
Hey folks! theblerdgurl podcast is back! I know it’s been awhile but I’m back with a new podcast for you. And I’ve changed my format a bit. Now I’m going to be talking about geek news, comics I’m reading as well as events I’ve been to. Don’t worry! Interviews are still going to happen in fact I have some great ones coming up! This week I talk about the workI’ve been doing with SYFY Wire, what happened to the Expanse, what I did out in Chicago for that Cloak and Dagger event PLUS some amazing discussions I’ve had with comic book creators over the past few months. Check it out and don’t forget to comment and subscribe! (You can now hear theblerdgurl podcast on Stitcher, Soundcloud, iTunes and GooglePlay)
Podcast: Greg Anderson of FuseFX Talks About What it Takes to Create the Stunning Visual Effects for Luke Cage, The Punisher and Spiderman
Dec 11, 2017
I’m back! Three bouts of laryngitis and one new job later and I am finally back with a new podcast! This week’s guest is Greg Anderson of FuseFX. Greg is the visual effects supervisor for several Marvel properties including Luke Cage (remember that punch scene in s1?), The Punisher (remember that kill Frank made from a mile away in the first episode?) Spiderman and The Black List. Currently, Greg is the highest-ranking African-American visual effects supervisor in North America. (You read that right.)
So if you’ve always wanted to know how they created all those cool superhero effects, this is the podcast for you. And keep an eye out, there will be a youtube version of this interview dropping soon so you can really see what Greg’s team does every day! Don’t forget to comment and subscribe! The podcast is currently available on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud and Google Play).
Podcast: Tatiana King Jones on Tech, Anime and the Orlando Jones University
Sep 29, 2017
I am really excited I was able to get Tatiana King Jones of the FanBros Show to come on the podcast. Not only do I consider her a friend, but so many times I hear her drop gems that I feel just about every black woman in tech or geekdom needs to hear and I just want to capture them. Well this time I got the chance. We talk about everything from anime and tech to gaming and some of her favorite guests, including Orlando Jones. (You’ll just have to listen to hear why). Normally, I drop a video at the same time as the podcast, but folks are going to have to wait just a little bit longer for the video because of a few technical issues. Don’t forget to comment and subscribe! The podcast is currently available on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud and soon Google Play).
Podcast – Diversity in Comics and Hollywood: The Eric Dean Seaton Interview
Aug 10, 2017
Many of you already know Eric Dean Seaton as the creator of the successful indie comic book series, Legend of the Mantamaji. What you may not realize, is that he is also an accomplished Hollywood TV director. Eric has directed a bunch of shows like Living Single, That’s so Raven, The Thundermans, Mech X-4 and just started shooting the Raven reboot series Raven’s Home. In this interview I talk to him about his Hollywood career, what it’s like to create and publish a successful indie comic book (he sells over 100 copies a month through Amazon alone), and which is tougher. We also talk about some of the unknown positions behind-the-scenes that people can get involved in the television production process. Check it out! And don’t forget to comment and subscribe!
Podcast – Pop Culture Chemistry with Dr. Raychelle Burks
Jun 30, 2017
Ever wonder if the science and tech that you see in comic book movies could actually happen in real life? Could someone really create a new element in their living room like Tony Stark did in Iron Man 2? What real-life poisonous plant, might have actually killed King Joffrey in Game of Thrones? What polymer might Hulk’s pants be made out of? Could Spider Man’s webs be replicated in a real lab? Must me walk around with two decaying corpses to ward off a horde of zombies? Well, these are some of the questions I got to ask analytical chemist Dr. Raychelle Burks in my interview with her. This interview was so much fun! There was lot’s of giggling mixed in with a load of science. Dr. Burk is not to be missed! You can also check her out on the Science Channel’s awesome show Outrageous Acts of Science. Click the link below to listen to the podcast!
Podcast – Karen Pittman Talks Luke Cage, Disgraced and Difficult Women
Jun 26, 2017
Check out my interview with actress and singer Karen Pittman. Karen is well known for her role as Inspector Priscilla Ridley on the Netflix smash hit Marvel’s Luke Cage. But she has also starred in the Americans, Flashpoint, Person of Interest as well as shared the screen with Louie C.K., John Boyega, Alfre Woodard and Oscar winner Viola Davis. In this interview, Karen and I talk about what it’s like being in the Marvel Universe and her favorite parts of the craft. As always comment and subscribe!
You know theblerdgurl has a Podcast Right?
Jun 24, 2017
Yep. you read that right. I now have a podcast of my own! The new podcast made it’s debut on Soundcloud this week, but I will also be expanding to other platforms shortly. For now, you can check out my interview with analytical chemist Dr. Raychelle Burks and my interview with Luke Cage actress Karen Pittman. And my very first episode below. There’s more to come so please comment, subscribe and tell your friends!
theblerdgurltv – Talking Science and Superheroes With Dr. Raychelle Burks
Jun 23, 2017
Ever wonder if the science and tech that you see in comic book movies could actually happen in real life? Could someone really create a new element in their living room like Tony Stark did in Iron Man 2? What real-life poisonous plant, might have actually killed King Joffrey in Game of Thrones? What polymer might Hulk’s pants be made out of? Could Spider Man’s webs be replicated in a real lab? Must me walk around with two decaying corpses to ward off a horde of zombies? Well, these are some of the questions I got to ask analytical chemist Dr. Raychelle Burks in my interview with her. This interview was so much fun! There was lot’s of giggling mixed in with a load of science. Dr. Burk is not to be missed! You can also check her out on the Science Channel’s awesome show Outrageous Acts of Science. Click the link below to watch the interview!
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