Episode 161: Lee Broda, Actor, Producer

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Lee is an Israeli-born poet who writes about the beauties – and uncertainties – of life from a distinctly observant perspective. Her first book of poetry; Whispers From the Moon is available now and she reads some of it for us.

Lee is also a celebrated actor and producer, and is the founder of LB Entertainment, which develops, finances, and produces major independent films, where she has shepherded over thirty films to success.

Additionally, Lee is the founder of the group Women Creating Change, an organization that bridges, empowers, and creates opportunities for female writers, directors, producers, and actors from the Middle East.

We talked about all it. Like it’s no big deal.

Episode 160: Lorraine Devon Wilke, Author

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.Lorraine is a writer, an actor, a musician, and activist = but today we talked mostly about the writing. In 2010 she launched her “arts & politics” blog, Rock+Paper+Music, and from 2011 to 2018 she was a popular contributor at HuffPost typically focused on politics and social issues.

A produced and awarded screenwriter, she’s spent more recent years working in longform fiction as well. Both her award-winning novels, After the Sucker Punch and Hysterical Love, are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her latest, The Alchemy of Noise, contemporary literary fiction that digs deep into issues of privilege, profiling, and prejudice in contemporary Chicago, is published by She Writes Press, and was released in April 2019.

 We talked mostly about her book and we got very deep into race and politics and the work that white people need to do. Buckle in, cause we went there.

You can buy the book here (click)

You can Lorraine in all of these places:

Website: www.lorrainedevonwilke.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lorrainedevonwilke

Facebook Writer's page: www.facebook.com/lorrainedevonwilke.fans/

Twitter: twitter.com/LorraineDWilke

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lorrainedevonwilke/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8185626.Lorraine_Devon_Wilke

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lorraine-devon-wilke

Amazon author page: www.amazon.com/-/e/B00K2ZOLSA

Rock+Paper+Music blog: www.rockpapermusic.com

Episode 159: Pamela Douglas, Writer

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Pamela is an award-winning writer with numerous credits in television drama. She consults internationally with professional TV writers and producers, and has lectured in Africa, Europe, and throughout the US. She was awarded the Humanitas Prize for Between Mother and Daughter on CBS, and she has garnered multiple Emmy nominations and American Women in Radio and Television Awards for her other dramas. Her book “Writing the TV Drama Series” just came out in it’s 4th edition, and we talked about what is in the book and how to make it as a TV writer.

She is also an amazing visual artist. Her house is filled with her art, and I became quite emotional looking at a couple of pieces, which really never happens to me with art. I thought it was stunning. You can see more here: http://pamdouglasart.com/

You can buy the book here:

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Episode 158: Ingrid Kleinig, Stunt Performer and Coordinator

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Ingrid is a stunt performer and stunt coordinator. She grew up in Australia and fell into the world of stunts while performing 140ft above the arena in the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games. Having toured the globe with renowned physical theatre company Legs on the Wall as well as the Sydney Theatre Company, she had formed a wealth of physical, technical & artistic vocabulary across multiple fields including directing & rigging that lent itself precisely to the stunt industry.

Ingrid hails from a long line of professional drivers so vehicles became an early niche. She was one of only two female stunt drivers on Mad Max: Fury Road, can drive a Big Rig truck & hold her breath underwater for five & a half minutes. She is also the first female to be officially graded as an Assistant Stunt Coordinator in Australia where, to date, no female has ever held the position of Stunt Coordinator. She is one of handful of female stunt coordinators here in the US.

Her story is remarkable and we talk about her journey, how it was to rise in this field as a woman, and how she is navigating motherhood as a stunt performer, proving once again that it is foolish to underestimated a working mother.

Her credits include: Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and Wasp, Justice League, Suicide Squad basically everything. She is formidable and she laughs at fear. Literally. Wait for it.

You can reach Ingrid here: info@ingridkleinig.com

Episode 157: T.L. Quach, Filmmaker

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T. L. is an independent filmmaker based in Los Angeles after studying Film Studies at UC Berkeley and working in production on major TV and Films in New York City.

Her short films have been all over the festival circuit and her short film, Rule of Threes, won an Award of Merit for Women Filmmakers at the Accolade Global Film Competition and an Award of Merit at One-Reeler Film competition.

She is currently developing a new screenplay and also producing her first screenplay, Crave, into a feature film. Which she will tell us all about. You can find more about TL here: http://www.tlquachfilms.com/

Episode 156: Liz Jenkins, CFO, Hello Sunshine

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Liz is the Chief Financial Officer of Hello Sunshine, the media brand founded by Reese Witherspoon. She tells us all about the company, their mission, and their culture. It’s as good as you imagined. Liz was formerly the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Media Rights Capital. While there, she worked on the deal to bring House of Cards to Netflix, which was then written up as a Harvard Business Review business case, and she talks it about it here as well. Liz is very much one of the best and brightest, and I’m so happy to have her on the show.

Episode 155: Kaili Hollister, Actor

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Kaili is an actor with The Actors’ Gang in Los Angeles. Her film debut was in October Sky, and she has been acting on stage and in film ever since. We talked about her reluctant yet guided journey into acting, meeting Tim Robbins and joining The Actors’ Gang, and living every day with the responsibility of an artist. And this - it can be a long journey in your body to joy.

And, she has a beautiful love story.

This is episode is little long. But, trust me, as long as I am moved to tears, I’m not cutting it. And that happened to me a lot while editing. You are warned.

Episode 154: Melinda McLaughlin, Chief Marketing Officer

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Melinda is the Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme Reach. You may notice that Extreme Reach is the sponsor of this podcast, so that’s how I met her, but I would have interviewed her regardless. She tells us a bit more about the company, and we talked a lot about her journey in her work life. How important it is to be authentic, how self-awareness is key to leadership, and how knitting might be the key to everything.

And how highly paid executives will still tackle each other when something is being given away for free.  Humans are funny.

Episode 153: Mari Meyer, Writer, Journalist, Filmmaker and Actor

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Mari is a writer, journalist, filmmaker and actor. She holds a BA in Journalism and completed the 3 Year Conservatory program at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York.

As a journalist, she has over ten years of experience in news, art and entertainment journalism, both in the Netherlands and in the U.S. She is producer and director of VAGILANT, a short documentary film about the Women's March on Washington and was the lead producer on music video project A Whole New World. She co-wrote, produced and starred in The Soothing System, an award winning narrative short film. In 2018, Female Filmmakers Fuse Film Festival in Los Angeles named her Filmmaker of the Year.

We talked about her new projects in development, her work within the prison system in New York and how finding your voice and telling your story, as cliché as that is starting to sound, is still imperative.

You can find more about Mari here.

Episode 152: Michelle Salcedo, Director/Writer

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Michelle directed a gorgeous short film called Piel Canela, that she shot in Cuba and which is screening at several film festivals this week. It will be premiering at the San Diego Latino Film festival March 23, as well as the Chicago Latino Film Festival March 29, and 31st, with a Miami screening happening first weekend in April at the Indie Pasión Film festival! So, if you are anywhere near any of those places, make a point of going to see it. I have seen the trailer and it is gorgeous. You can see the trailer here.

Michelle came up through marketing and editing at Miramax during the heyday, editing with Bunim Murray, and is now writing and directing full time. She tells us the whole story of scouting and then shooting in Cuba, counting all her cash in a bathroom stall at LAX to make sure TSA hadn’t taken any, and her Grandmother’s spirit yelling at her about all of it.

You can find more about Michelle and Piel Canela here.

Episode 151: Judy Jean Kwon, Creative

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Judy calls herself a Creative. She’s an actress, a comic, a writer, producer, podcaster, creator…she does all the things. Her webseries, MILFriend will be screened on March 22nd at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres at the Golden State Festival. She tells us all about it on the show, along with her very interesting personal story, and being perfectly poised to have great success during the United Colors of Benetton advertising era.

And this: it’s not enough to just have representation. She wants to hear narratives of the other point of view. She calls it “the other point of views.”

You can find more about Judy here.

Episode 150: Amanda Blumenthal, Intimacy Coordinator

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Today we have something new - new for the podcast and new for the industry. I sat down with Amanda Blumenthal who is one of a handful of people working in the new position called “Intimacy Coordinator.” She is currently working on the HBO show called Euphoria. She breaks down for us what that job really entails, how her unique background, education and work history prepared her perfectly for it, and the real need for this position on a set. It makes total sense and it’s one of those things that makes you hit your forehead with your palm and ask why haven’t we always had this!? You can reach Amanda via her website here: intimacycoordinator.com.

Episode 149: Jenny Buccos, Director, Producer, Explorer

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Jenny is a multi-award winning director and producer of the long running program called Project Explorer, and the founder of Project Explorer.org. which is a free multimedia website designed to educate kids about global cultures and histories. She has explored six continents, in over 500 episodes, and has met incredible people and seen amazing places.

She is currently working on a television show to bring this programming to an even wider audience. Jenny is incredibly purpose driven, an explorer, an entrepreneur, and is living her mission every day. I am very inspired by her and I’m sure you will be too.

Episode 148: Ayser Salman, Author

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Today I interviewed my friend, Ayser Salman, for the second time, because her book, The Wrong End of the Table: A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit in is coming out on March 5th, so I wanted to have her on to talk about it. She was previously on episode 47, so that was awhile ago and if I am remembering correctly, it was hilarious, and maybe because we were having wine and cheese. So, if you want to hear her entire story, go listen to that episode, or more relevantly, buy her book. Which you can order here.

Get the book

Episode 147: Matt Birch, Agent

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I took a detour into male ally-ship and spoke with Matt Birch. Matt is a partner at the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) and is a co-head of the physical production department. He came up through production, reluctantly became an agent in 2009, and makes sure to bring a little something different to the art of agent-ing.  I met Matt while recording for the soon to launch podcast called Catch A Break – which is the insider’s guide to breaking into and navigating Hollywood (which you’re going to want to know about, click here to subscribe so you will be notified when it launches.)

During that interview, Matt mentioned he was on the men’s committee of #TimesUp, which as you can imagine made my ears perk up and I immediately booked him for this show to dig a little deeper. This corresponds with the feeling I have been having that it is time to start bringing men into the conversation and engaging them in the process toward equality. And Matt is one of the men who are actively evolving and trying to be part of the solution. We talked about #MeToo/TimesUp and harassment, hiring practices, the wage gap, how men are talking to each other, and a little bit about how men can hold each other accountable in ways that will be effective.

Episode 143: Lisa Ebersole, Talented Multi

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For today’s episode I sat down with creator Lisa Ebersole. Lisa created and stars in the webseries called “37 Problems,” which you can find on Amazon Prime and Who Ha Ha. The series is a comedy about a woman facing the end of her fertility and what she is going to do about it.

She is also a playwright, whose plays have been produced off-broadway and regionally, and a screenwriters coach. We talked about what it takes to raise the money and produce a webseries and get distribution. It’s a whole thing.

check out the BRIC Foundation Summit here: https://bricfoundation.org/2019summit/

Episode 140: Jill Gilbert, Head of Creative Affairs

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I sat down with Jill Gilbert, who is Head of Creative Affairs at Luma Pictures, a visual effects and original content company. Jill has had an amazingly interesting career coming up through development, animation, theme park development, and producing. She has credits that range from Disney animated titles to Grandma’s Cats Are Trying to Kill Her and a Spongebob movie. This episode is full of good advice, interesting stories, and a career well built.

Her career is an example of take the opportunity – you never know where it will lead.

Check out the BRIC Foundation Summit here: https://bricfoundation.org/2019summit/

Episode 138: Julia Camara, Filmmaker, Writer

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To kick off this year, I sat down with writer and filmmaker Julia Camara. Originally from Brazil, Julia has made several award-winning shorts. She has also written the feature films Area Q, Open Road, and Occupants. She recently released her experimental feature film called In Transit, which won Best Experimental film at the Glendale International Film Festival and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Video.

We talked about her career, her films, and spent a minute unpacking the Kavanagh hearings, as we recorded during that week. Somehow, we kept our sense of humor, because we laugh a lot about the absurdity of gender inequality.

Episode 133: Ally Iseman, Actor, Writer, Producer

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Ally is an actor, writer, and producer. She has worked on stage in productions like Jekyll & Hyde, as well as on screens big and small including shows like American Housewife, Criminal Minds, and Days of Our Lives. Ally makes an appearance in Nicole Conn's newest feature film Nesting Doll, in Jorge Xolalpa Jr.'s latest feature A Giant Without A Head, and as a lead opposite Ray Wise and Bonnie Bedelia in the feature film Life On The Rocks.

Ally has spoken on numerous panels about gender parity and intersectional, inclusive feminism and does her best to align herself with work that has an eye on advocacy. Her internationally award-winning film Wedlocked, an LGBTQ comedy about gay divorce toured at over 45 film festivals worldwide securing digital, broadcast and theatrical distribution.

Most recently she can be seen in the feature film Solver, hosting the new plant-based food travel show The Road Less Eaten, and in her gender parity comedy series Flip the Script, which is being produced in partnership with Women In Film. 

Ally is driven, fearless, and hilarious. Grab your tea and enjoy some time with us.

You can find out more about Ally here: www.allyiseman.com.

Episode 132: Sasheen R. Artis, Writer/Producer

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Sasheen is a Writer/Producer with over 20 years of experience in live events, documentaries, talk shows and scripted programming, such as “Fight for $15” and its impact on small business, the school-to-prison pipeline, the plight of New Orleans residents on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and a “one-night only” Prince concert at the Conga Room in Los Angeles. Sasheen also produced the late-night talk show, Tavis Smiley.

Currently, she is in development with several TV and film projects and co-chairs the Producers Guild of America Power of Diversity Master Workshop. 

This summer, she was invited by the Royal Film Commission - Jordan to develop a curriculum and teach a 5-day Workshop to their local filmmakers on how to prepare their projects for the marketplace. The Workshop culminated with the filmmakers pitching their projects for feedback to top Hollywood execs from Sony, Fox, Paramount, Media Rights Capital and HBO. 

We talked about her incredible journey from homelessness to producing, and broke down the business case for diversity. This is a good one.