In this episode Jill, Aja, and Laiya interview the founders of Black Girls Film Camp, Jimmeka Anderson and Sierra Davis. Call 866-HEY-JILL and leave us a message with your comments on this episode!
Visit the website: https://www.blackgirlsfilmcamp.com/
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Welcome everybody.
Oh it is so so, so so so good to be here with you today. Welcome to J dot L the podcast. And you already know. I am here with my wonderful sister friends, Aga Grady dans La.
That's her.
I'm the marvelous liar safe claud I guess that's her.
Yes, No, that's her.
That's her radio. That's me, that's me.
She's down paying herself today, ladies and gentlemen, because she has lashes.
When she's so fine. At this point, she's so fine.
She feels she needs She's trying to take it down, but it's unnecessary.
I woke up like this.
This is Matthew's flattening with me with your eyes.
You know I go further with that than you do you.
I mean, life is still liking, she said, I love it. Look, I'm sitting here with my sister friends. I am putting some moisture in my hair before I get my fue lox. Y'all know how important it is for our hair to be moisturized. Right for so long we watched so many films. We need bad wigs with the with the lace showing we've seen, We've seen. I've had some bad wigs myself.
I will it's time for healing. It is, this is a purge.
Come on, come on, Sheila, come on, don't talk.
About the Sheila we've had.
We've we've definitely seen ourselves in a lot of lights, and some of.
Them definitely have not been flattering.
You know.
I'll say for myself that I feel like Shila is not my favorite look. But I definitely felt like this is this was somebody who was someone who was genuine, like there was a there's there's people like that right now. It's we were living under the thumb under some husband or some wife, some somebody you know that's trying to control them or negate their existence. We've seen it a lot and so many films, and now we're reaching a place where.
We've got movies like Woman Knamn I mean, super powerful Honey, where the skin is the skin is shining, the colors are jewel toned.
What right do you understand me? Liter a low of.
It all, the glove, the glow of it all, the bronze yes, the red and the orange underneath the brown. Like finally, you know where we're really starting to see representation in a way that that that really glorifies who parts of us are.
You know, you can.
Definitely can never put us in any kind of boxes.
That wouldn't be fair.
And on speaking on that note, we have some amazing guests right now talking about what we're looking at. On on a normal basis, everybody grab their Netflix or their Prime or their whatever BT, whatever it is that you're looking at. And these two ladies definitely make an impact on what we have seen and what we will see. Ladies and gentlemen. Sierra Davis, Hello, Hello, Hello, And I was just you know how I always say who it is and then you say hello, it's the same right, And doctor Jamika Anderson Hello, Hello, ladies, agent please please please, let's talk about all the things.
Come on.
Yes, these yummy women, yummy who are getting to talk to today, Well they have a lot of credentials, but what brings them to us today is they have created an amazing program for young black girl filmmakers called Black Girls Film Camp and it is really just, I mean an amazing program. You know a lot of us know about youth programs this that, especially as with kids. I put my kid in this thing and that thing, and YadA, YadA, YadA. Some of it's great. Some of it was a waste of your time and money. We all know how it goes. But I will have to say, I have six kids. I don't I have paid for many a camp. Okay, this y'all already know. I have gone to many a program. I have sat through program ooh, girl girl, many a program Okay, all right, many a thing have said they was going to do a thing, hallelujah, and they did not do a thing. But in this particular situation, this has been a very unique and beautiful experience as from the parental side, just to see black women create a thing and follow through with the thing and just nurture specifically and intentionally into black girls. And y'all know how y'all already, ma'am, you already know how I feel about these things.
This is great. This is tried and through through asis family. This is how we know. This is this is the good ship right now.
Really, I don't come. I don't.
I don't come with the trash, you understand me.
I don't do it because I.
Know it's russ out here in these parental streets.
Okay, and particularly when you have black girls, when you are raising black girls, this is a particular type of challenge. Okay, So anyway, that was my that was my intro, my emo intro. But yes, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, Sierra Davis and Jamiica Anderson, y'all. One of y'all is a doctor, right, come on, and doctor Anderson.
We paid a lot for them credentials.
We don't want. Let's name this organization. The Black Girl Film Camp is what we're talking about, the black.
Black girl.
Already. Doesn't that sound exciting to you?
Yes?
Yeah, the parents that have daughters, Like, isn't that exciting that there's a way to actually fist fight, to actually fist fight? All of the the bell shit. Okay, it is so much of it that we are. We are not on some little island and everyone is all the same. That there's layers and there's there we're black girls, an Onion Toney and its careers.
It's a lot of careers too. I'm like, I don't.
Really want to dive into this with the ladies y'all, because I'm like, when one decides they want to do a film, a film camp for black girls, how do you even figure out what areas you want to dive into to expose them to please?
Yeah, absolutely, the burst the birth. Okay, So I had been in this media space for quite some time.
I had actually started doing some work immediately out of college and media literacy. Didn't know what the name of that was at the time. I just knew I wanted to talk about media messaging what we consume, like really become more critical with the type of music, the type of.
Content that we're watching.
And so I really kind of found my way, you know, like that internal guide and being in the space when I was working with youths because we're influenced and sometimes we're not knowing is helping us unpack the content we're consuming.
And really really think about how it's.
Influencing our lives and how we engage and how we think and our beliefs, our ideologies.
But needles to say, been in this space for a while with.
Creating youth programming, but it wasn't until I went into pursuing my PhD that I started doing research and I wanted to hone in on black girls specifically, and of course I started learning about a lot of the disparities in schools because I got my PhD in curriculum and instruction and with literacy, Black girls have the lowest literacy proficiency rate in our country out of their gender peer group. Black boys a number one. Yeah, so black boys is number one, but out of the gender peer group black girls. So black boys then black girls. If you're looking at everyone but gender peer group, I situate out of all girls, black girls have the lowest.
Okay, black boys, I think eleven.
Percent are passing their reading tests and nineteen percent of black girls are passing their beatings.
So then when you look at tech proficiency, same thing.
Black boys number one, black girls number two, but out of their gender peer group, they're the lowest. So you know, I'm doing this work with media, and of course we already knew there's issues with representation, you know, but then you know, you dive deeper and you see only two percent of Black women are the ones behind the camera, directors, filmmakers in the industry.
So it was to me it was a no brainer. We gotta do something about this, and there's.
A there's an opportunity here to really bridge the gap between literacy in store because we have literacy rich lives it might not be reflected in your eccentric curriculum that we're seeing in schools, but we have stories and we engage in literacyes in different ways than what they have packaged and program for us to learn in school.
I'm sorry, I gotta stop you. I gotta stop you. Please please reiterate this.
We engage in literacies definitely, man, Definitely. The reason why I had to stop you there is because I need people to hear this. There is a very specific way in which we are told that our children must learn and be literate.
It is very eurocentric.
It is not indicative of the multiple ways that we are already proficient. That we're already proficient, right, So instead of instead of letting us know that those things are valid and validating those proficiencies, we put them into other situations in which they are not proficient and then tell them they are illiterate.
So I'm very clear, I want to make sure.
That this pH I ain't got no PhD.
But had said, yes, there's a thing now called black girl literacy, so I got to just even shot shot that out the there's a field, a field called black girl literacyes. The ways in which we know are the ways in which we make meaning. Understanding the importance of multimodal texts, like I have to have workshops with people and say, you know, yeah, three year olds are reading. When I see those McDonald archers, that's that's a symbol that means something, that means McDonald's before. They're not a spell it, it still is. There's different modes of text. There's visual, there's oral, there's gestural. Our gestures is literacy. So just understanding that there's different ways in which we make meaning and we understand and we communicate.
That's a part of Black girls literacies.
Me using my hands right now when I do this, that means something, right, So there's different different ways in which we make meaning. And so I really became really passionate about that, like, Okay, how do how can I center Black girls literacies? Our stories that have been historically marginalized, our stories that are not being captured by us. I think it's really interesting. Even when we first pitch Black Girls Film Camp for girls to come in and pitch their stories, they want to tell a lot. I don't want to tell stories about black boys. They main subject in characters a black boy. I'm like, no, baby girl we sent to black girls in this space. Your film topic need to be about a black girl.
One more thing, I want to make sure that people didn't miss this, Okay, don't miss this part that when black girls have an opportunity to tell a story. Oh listen, I know what you're saying. We have an opportunity to tell a story. Can you tell our stories about but when our.
When the brother Yeah, but why don't.
We got that?
We're gonna have to ask the black men in film organization to see who they are about?
Yeah, our honey, let's go back on all the films that the brothers have made. All right, you're right, ma'am, well, ma'am, okay, anyway, but I just I didn't want to interrupt.
Let's go Typically, stories that are told by black men about black women tend to be traumatizing.
Yeah, I'm trying to find an exception, ladies cer traumatizing?
Did Jamiica?
No, no exceptions, there's no exceptions.
It's tough. It's tough, have y'all.
Are y'all familiar with with books like Real to Real? What's My what's my lady name? She just passed away? Black woman scholar wrote Real to Real. She dissected Spike Lee's work.
I remember, yes, yes, I've never read that. I've never read Real Toil.
She did a lot of work in that space.
Even the films that are of the culture that have been created by black men, that's.
For the culture, for black culture, our classic mans.
A lot of the ones that have been created, we're marginalized.
It's usually centering trauma on our and stories.
Some of us have just ignored it and like, well, you know what if.
We go with the classics we have, you know, so again, I think probably what we're going to get to, the good middle ground we'll get to, is where we can understand that we can have something that we love and critique it still and that that does not that does not negate what it has been to us. And that's the problems. Oftentimes we just cannot hold a multiple truth like a thing can be, it can be problematic and still be something that was was needed to be made at the time. And I they don't age well you know what I'm saying. So and it's fine, especially in something like film like it's a it's it's it's it's a new art form as as as you know, historically.
You know, trauma films.
I was just saying about the color purple.
We reenact the films Outstill that's all the time I speak color purple.
And the women of brutes of place, I'm like, oh, that's.
Really lord, you we speak color purple. That's a language.
It is absolutely okay.
I think I say I gotta go to school about three times a week.
I say that it's in the cooler on the shelf.
Everything you see my phone honds on the coolers in the cooler on the shelf.
I do who shep who y'all? This is bad though, this is bad. When I want to say something about my husband.
For the kids, I be like this, am I.
More real talk after the break.
So, Sierra, the thing is, you know, with you all being focused on this and understanding the need and necessity for it, it's like you're starting from a scratch. I think a lot of times we see a need and the many of us, especially in our community and particularly black women, we're looking at these needs in our community and we want to be involved and we want to create something. But creating something from scratch, it just feels like a big problem. You have this big need, right and you have this desire to do something, So like, what does the beginning of this look like? Is it the two of y'all in the home office make a phone call? I mean, what does this look like in the beginning of it?
Right?
So when I came on, Jamiica actually started this in her PhD program.
She had a grant, so.
It started off as project and so I came the first year actually as a creative coach, and then I.
Started gett a little bit more involved. I end up being over like logistics and recruitment and stuff like that.
I was rilling her in. She was she was. I didn't know the setup was real, but it was a good setup. So so I came in on the other side of it.
It's like one of the contracts that individuals and so it was such an amazing and beautiful, you know experience.
I'm a creative heart at heart.
I have a background in finance, but I also do like, you know, planning and event planning and stuff like that on.
This, you know as well. So I was like, okay, cool.
You know, normally you're not trying to support her other you know, nonprofit. I am not the media, and you know, I don't like to do.
Anything half as excuse me.
Or anything, and so I couldn't be fully committed as I wanted to be.
So when she came along, it just happened. The time. It was just like perfect.
So the first year when it was a pilot project, it just kind of took off.
We weren't ready for where it was going to go, and it was like beautiful. It was so amazing. And she was like year is this.
I'm sorry, sah, what year is this?
Twenty twenty one.
One?
Yeah, so in pandemic and pandemic and so so we went through, you know, went through everything the time, and everything laid out great.
It was amazing.
And so she was like, see, you know people are approaching me saying they want to be on a board. You know, we got an organization, you know, you want to turn this into an organization.
I was like, let's do it.
Like we had no idea where the worlds would lead us, where we would go.
We was like, okay, forget it, you know, let's do it. Do it. I was all in.
You know, when your friend has an amazing vision and something that you're also very passionate about, you I mean, come on, jumping.
We say, let's let's go.
Girlfriend calls you on the phone and saying I want to do.
A podcast that you're You'd be like, yeah, great, like.
Shaer, I ain't doing nothing.
So that's that's how it started.
Yep, we were we were literally at home because like I said, we were still like the pandemic was still very much here.
We were at home.
It started out that we went into that first year as a national organization and it took off, and Jamiica Knemy and she was like, you know what, see how about you know, because you wanted to have some kind of like in person, you know, components. So things started to ease up a little bit, you know. And in twenty twenty two and so she was like, let's go to l A.
I think we should take the girls l I was like, okay, my nerves but hold on, oh wait, wait wait, oh you know cause me I'm shut down COVID.
She is you need the balance I need?
Yeah, yeah, yeah we do.
And my mind goes all to all the details that is going into that. I said, give me a minute the process and let me pray on it and we'll come back. I was like, okay, okay, I thought about it. I was like, Okay, what does it take to make this happen?
I was like, let's do it.
So next thing, you know, we in La. Your two were in La. We don't forty plus women across the nation. We've partner with.
USC, one of the biggest film the biggest film.
School in the nation, and it's just kind of been like history CANDUs, it was it.
I want to take this opportunity to ask you guys, so you guys can tell the listeners just the just the kind of basic framework of the camp, because like I think we're talking about the l A retreat, which is amazing, but I want to talk about, like, you know, how you guys set up the camp, what did entails, how do you get the girls?
What is the process? So just kind of runnings through that part.
Yeah, it's a lot, So it is right.
Right, the quick version, I guess it's a twelve week camp. Were actually gonna extended to sixteen weeks next year the tweaking things.
So it's a twelve week program. It's hybrid.
Okay, we do a call where we announced applications are open. We only take ten girls nationally, Okay, so only ten that's because the investment is over ten g's plus per girl, so it's only ten girls.
We take. It's very intimate, it's very all. We we eat it with you. How many okay?
So literally over two hundred plus girls applied after last year, after year two, we had close to one thousand girls on the waiting list on so we actually had to be strategic about the application process where we take it down to only being open twelve weeks in now video pitch submission.
So we thought that that weed some things out.
Whoever, whatever, girls are hungry, they gonna get it done right. And so we still got over two hundred applications, so we had.
To go through those two hundred.
We didn't break it down to about forty girls we interview and then after out of those forty girls, we selected ten.
Across the nation that get brought on further for the cohort.
But each girl gets a contracted creative coach, so we bring in black women creatives that are doing work in creative spaces and film production projects that serve as the each girl's creative coach. We then also interview black women editors across the country too, and we.
Select ten black women editors.
A lot of these women that are coming in this is an experience for them too. A lot of them have never been in LA A lot of them come here and say this is a this is a healing space for them. They're healing through working with these girls on their project. So it's Turntons is so much that we didn't realize so quickly. So far, so far, we have a multi generational environment.
Help me, MOSTI generations generation, you understand I'm saying.
So you're having people who are currently working in that industry, but then but but not necessarily at the top of it, but people who are who are also burging you know what I'm saying, who are older but in itt and they're getting contracted to work with these young girls. So they are creating a team. So they are working together. So this is this is meeting soul.
They're working together to support this black girl's vision. So they're being contracted to invest in what she has in her brain to help make it come to light and manifested.
Yeah, and within these ten girls, are they all have different interests in the film world or are they all writers or they want to be directors?
Like, what's the difference So the.
Main premise of this program is you come in in your interests in writing and directing, but you may also be interested. But that's the core of what we're doing, the storytelling aspect and bringing a black girl's story to screen.
But in the camp, this is enough. It keeps getting better. I ain't gonna lie. Keep getting better. I wish I was in the camp, right.
So we have amazing black women that also service their advisor. So we have granted those women that come in they have an advisor over there. So we have a post advisor, post production advisor, and a production advisor, post our post production advisor.
She has an OSCAR.
I love it.
And you know, she was on everything everywhere, all at once, and you know, like all of these amazing you know, she's first black woman editor in the NBA, and so she's our post production and then we have a production advisor.
These are women that are in in the industry that come in.
Literally, as you were talking, I was like, I was sitting here thinking, I'm about to volunteer my girlfriend who's an AFI graduate that's been working on the administrative side, because I think a lot of times people don't understand the way budgets and things like that come together too.
So she does all that stuff for like a lot of major shows.
I was just like, bring it out.
Okay, I got it, I got it.
So they're getting mentored, those black women creators are getting mentored by industry because they're that's their supervisor for the work that they're doing with the girls.
So that's how that works.
And so what we're doing is a very real trajectory. A lot of times in creative spaces, there is not a space where people can have like like I said, there's not it's not trajectory driven where it's like, Okay, I'm gonna give you this one experience. And even in sports like I have my kids were in sports, Okay, yeah, you go and you do au or you do da da da da da. But it's just like sometimes you need that consistent mentorship so people can so that young people can actually see what their life could be like.
And a holistic idea of this industry and what they're doing. Because that's why I wanted to make sure that while writers and directors, but they still know how things get made, you know what I mean, like how what what where writers are in the big scheme of things and yeah, yeah, we're saying writers a lot and is making me nervous saying.
Y'all, I know, but please, y'all, I want you to speak on what happens during the camp sessions.
Yes, because these are serious.
Yeah. So we have a slate of women speakers that come in.
I mean, these girls have heard from Gina Prince byfe Wood, she came in, y'all were talking about earlier.
They have women that are in the.
Industry like Connie Orlando, who's over you know, with BT and they're coming in and they're doing workshops with them. I mean, I think we had over fifty black women in the industry, Like, these are showrunners. These are the writers on these TV shows that were watching. We we had we just had what's my girl Name?
Yesterday r.
Karen Parson's old Hillary. She all she writes now the old school Hillary. And we had the showrunner.
For bel Air, yes, for the original Hilary Hillary.
And we had the showrunner now for bel Air the show.
Yeah, the showrunner Belair is a black woman.
Yes, absolutely, so yeah, real.
Quick, real quick, because people hear that. Civilians hear the words showrunner, they know it's a big deal. They think about Shonda Rhimes, that's.
A black woman. Literally, do y'all.
I'm sure y'all have some small numbers about how many black women are showrunners in this business.
Yeah, once again, the numbers are extremely low.
I mean behind the scenes you're literally talking about under five percent. But I will tell you a lot of black women there's more opportunities with them to get in into the TV industry than in the film with getting onto shows, whether that's writers, showrunner, you know, directing. That's why a lot of the black women directors you're now seeing these opportunities open up with like thea Tasha Smith and the.
Teary a lot of the TV with the streaming and.
The TV shows, but films like they'll come in and they'll tell you it's I also want.
To point out the fact that we do have an executive producer on this call. We want we have we have a a an executive producer of a television show on this podcast.
All right, Yes, oh shit.
Wants to mention.
That that's an executive producer.
And however, the show runner thing is that's a whole it can't which narrows it down.
Yes, there are a lot of jobs in television and film. Okay, first off, and for for anybody who's listening that isn't aware but interested, there's a lot of jobs that are really really important because it does take a village to create a show. If the makeup artists don't show up, you're screwed. If the camera people don't show.
Up, you're screwed. If lighting doesn't show up, you're screwed.
So there's there's a lot of textures that that are really important. I personally think besides the direct that the showrunner is honestly one of the is the most important job because if you're someone or if your kid maybe has a little OCD, you know that's beneficial quite frankly in that position. Someone who is like serious about organization and understanding where pieces.
Go at all times.
You have a career in film, my darling. You know so many other things, but particularly in that because when the showrunner is bad, or isn't organized, or doesn't seem to communicate well with others, you got a whole seventeen hour problem a day on your hands, and those days can be exceptionally brutal. They don't have to be if you know what you're doing.
What's the sister that's a showrunner for all the power series because I know she. I can only imagine Courtney Camp, good God, Courtney Camp the things and just for all those powers properties, like I said, and they're not I know, they're not a lot of Courtney Camps. So I'm like when I when we know them, I know, we got to say their names when it comes to like.
I want to mention this thing, g that the amount of growth for this program in just two three years now two.
Years is an organization as an organization years the camp.
Actually right, you know too.
I mean it's just phenomenal, you know, And I'm very.
Glad you say that it's scary.
What are some of the things that you all are very serious about making sure stays the same with all the change and all of the opportunity and all of this growth.
What are what is this? What is like.
The Black Girl film Camp, like mantra, the thing that you will always keep as as a central goal.
Absolutely, I feel like I've been talking a lot, so you want to take this one.
We definitely want to keep it very intimate.
And the thing that is very important to us is I know you spoke earlier about having to pay for all the different camps and stuff like that this camp is completely free.
I don't think we said that this camp is completely free to all of the girls that are that are a kid, and so that is something we do not want to lose.
We don't want to take that away because I think that's something else that makes us very unique.
Because when you think about and you talk about all the great.
Things and experiences and all the opportunities and just every everything about this organization, you know, people would think like how much it comes.
You know, it costs the girls nothing.
When we say that we're creating this space for them, that this was created for them.
It was for them.
We don't want them to They don't have to come out of the pocket for anything.
Everything.
All of these opportunities are just building the relationships. I think that is key is that we maintain a free program for the girls.
And that's why we like to keep it intimate and then keeping on because it could be a headache.
You know a lot of a lot of women together, a lot of black women together and stuff. But I think keeping on, like thinking about the big picture of the community and the relationships that we're going to be growing that are going to go on and on and on, and one day you're gonna look up and you're gonna see all these pockets of black women that's popping up and taking over.
You be like, what happened? Like where did they come from?
Black girls know that's where they came from. Because we just we just we want to keep that. We want to continue to have all of this amazingness, all this black magic come together every year and build the system, this network and let these girls know that it is possible, like because you know, Jill, you spoke to it earlier. There are so many different jobs. There's so many different career possibilities and.
Found that we just do not know about.
And that's the other beautiful thing I love about the Organization's although we focus on the storytelling and the directing, we bring in women from every single part of the industry. So those girls who do want to be an editor, they have exposure to that. Those who want to be into in set design and costomy, they know that that's in avenue. Like I mean, even I'm learning stuff about myself, like oh, I absolutely could go into There's a lot of women that have been like Connie Orlando. I feel like I am Connie. We have the exact same story in life. I was just like, man, is that that's me?
That's that's all that.
Was messaging there when Connie was speaking talking about she got her degree in finance, and she's said, this is.
You, So who would have known? Like you know, who would have done.
But it's so many different avenue, so many places where you can you can find your niche.
And I just think it's beautiful.
So I think those are a couple of key things that we that will not change. It's the intimacy of it and being free to.
The girls and just creating this community and having our contract to editors and creative coaches and just continuing to build that with the.
With the organization. So I mean, drik, I know you've got some other things, but that's my I mean, no, you summed it up.
I mean, I know Isaja was mentioning earlier about AAU and I was like, we always say that is the analogy. We like, this is about to be the a you for black girls in Field were grooming you in early.
We're gonna take a quick break and then we'll be right.
Back, y'all.
Are already doing so much more even you know what I'm saying, Then then then it's done. And I mean because like I said, I've done a AU and football and trackt you know what I'm saying. But also too, I want to say this too, and specifically for those who are listening who do philanthropic work or do programs for young people something as a parent that's super important to me from EDGIC from an educational standpoint, which I saw you all impossible. That's because you have a background of education that I saw you all address its outcomes. I think I love outcomes, data, feedback.
So much of what we do in community lacks this.
What do you mean when you say outcomes ages?
So just paying attention to what happens to the girls after they leave the program and also investing in their lives after they.
Leave the program.
There's commitments that prior cohorts have to have to come back and volunteer. They come back and they serve in mentorship spaces for the other girls who are coming up behind them. So there's a lot. So there's that part. There's also feedback and data from parents and from participants about how to improve the program, about what their experiences have been. And so I think to start out in this place is so important, you know what I mean in a world where we privatize education and there's no oversight and there's so much about all these different ways that we can educate young people, but people just get tons of grant money, that get tons of private funding, and no one pays attention if these ideas are even working.
Some kids of.
Things sounds good and it's like, yeah, that sounds so great, that's fabulous, but then it's like it doesn't actually meet anybody's needs, and it's like and you don't know.
Unless you engage.
And one of the things I'm saying, like I said, and I give kudos to you all for doing this, but I want people to listen because I know there are people listening to this podcast are like, Yeah, I have this program that I want to pitch, or I have this thing that I want to do, or I'm currently doing a program. I want you to really hone in on outcomes and feedback and grows. Yes, y'all talk about outcomes and feedback.
I'm kind of curious for this last class because I'm in Los Angeles right now and it feels like the world is on a tilt from what's going on with the writer's strike. And I think a lot of people don't understand that while the writer strike is happening, all the jobs in the middle are being impacted. I mean, I'm hearing from friends they getting fired this week, next week, that week. So how do y'all continue the motivation in this special time? And I'm asking too for myself, I'm like, what do you foresee?
Is this this impact on the industry?
You know what I mean?
Like where we're going from here? Because it doesn't seem like it's getting I get it.
So many things are going through my head right now. One the smoke and mirrors. We deal with that. So we have worked with so many trying to partner with so many organizations, and like this whole like just outward facing illusion of what something is and it really isn't It has been like we went into that so much, and so anything that we got going on, we're not putting it out unless it is really happening, Like this is what we're doing, this is what has happened, This has been committed.
We're not promising nothing unless it's you know, committed.
So we we really pide ourselves on being authentic and what we deliver, what we promise, and what we create.
What we're creating in this space.
I think for me honestly is when when we talk about the industry and what's happening, what I've learned is that this project, in this program is more than just about the industry, if that you know what I mean. So one of our speakers we had come in, I think Christine Swanson, she's a director, and Christine was talking about just creatives, like when you're a creative, there's just this natural being inside of you that you need to create. It's not even about the money, like we will invest our all in a project because it needs to be birthed, like it's just it's it's just in our in our existence. When you're creative to produce something and it means everything. It's fuel just to have people believing and putting in and supporting that, it's just it's almost like a part of just breathing air, like you just have to create it. And I think that beyond the industry stuff, there just needs to be a space for black girls to create authentically and to feel valid, validated, to feel value to feel like their stories and they just need to be heard exactly space to cry. I mean, there need so much crime going on and it can't just need a space like that. It's the girls and a dot women.
It's just but they.
Also want to make a career out of it too as well, right they do.
But I think when you're when you're working with creators, it's not the same kind of situation as somebody that's just trying to get a job in corporate America.
But I'm on this.
I'm saying it because I'm in the hustle, because I am a creator my life, and I see that things are changing in a sense in that way of like opportunities and you're going to have to be even more creative about the opportunity, not just the idea.
Yes, And you know what interesting too that you know obviously there's so many not so many, but you know the emergence of you know, content creation as a kind of media to be a creative in. And then of course you know you have people who are editing, lighting, shooting, you know, tiktoks.
You know what I'm saying.
Yeah, so I think there's a very huh nothing.
I just said, but not right now. This ship is shut the fuck down.
This is a big deal. This is his story.
So I'm just I'm literally like, how do you encourage people? I get it, we would need to get our creativity out. We just need to be able to say it.
But after we do that and we realize we also want to make money because we want to be able to do this for a living so we don't have to have a regular job, how do we encourage the youth that it's gonna be all right, you're gonna.
Be up collab, collaboration, building our own, building our own I'm sorry, y'all said, were good building our own ship and say, yeah, they're to create, create our own opportunities.
And that's why platforms that have been.
Designed us to be independent creators are also revenue makers, you know what I mean? And so and sometimes that's that's where the cross worlds are in life, when you are were I go there, go through the publishing right where somebody and I'm only getting a percentage? Or do I go independently and make my money? And so and if you go independently, you can do more if we come together.
As a course.
So I think that this is kind of leveraging us in an opportunity way to think outside of the box of just kind of situating ourselves to work for someone or for our created creativity to be like received, like keys accept my work.
You know, Yes, I bring my team.
I built a team and we're gonna build and we're gonna put this ship out here because we know it's great.
You know what I'm saying, and it's gonna be received.
It's a good time, you know what.
A girlfriend of mine sent me a sent me a video of KICKI Palmer, who who I just I don't know.
She's she's a fave.
Okay, So I was watching talking about advice to young black women creators and she has said something very similar in the sense of that she said, you know, never be afraid to create at every single level where you are, no matter even if it's a small thing.
She was just like, and it reminds me also too.
I've been on lots of panels and people say, well, oh, advice you give young artists. And it's interesting because I told my own child this. I said, Look, community is everything. People think it's about who's above you, who's going to give you the opportunity, and it's almost never the person above you. It's always the person too you're left and your right. Who's your biggest resource. It's your homegirl, your friend who does this, or this person you met at this thing or that thing, and kind of pulling together community. And it's like, yes, people who are further ahead than you may have wisdom for you, and they may actually open up a door for you, But who helps you to execute is the strength of the community that you have. And that's kind of what Kiki Palmer was saying, was that, look, your biggest resources, who can help you to make it happen at the level where you are and that and I feel like for us and particularly with black women, this is a thing we have always understood. This is something that we always have known. This is also a practice that we've always done. And even though they threatened to take away certain things in spaces and those spaces get threatened, we're always at the bottom of those spaces anyway, and.
So we're already Yeah.
That's that's that's you know. It started off like a you know, something free for the internet, you know, yeah, but the consistency of it, ooh, consistency you know, creating something and being intentional about it, like on a regular basis. I know, the AGA and myself, you know, we definitely did those those thirty two dollars gigs, you know, because we wanted to Yes, you know, because we wanted to perform. You know, sometimes you won't make any money, you know, sometimes it'll just be enough to put in your gas tank or to buy your transpass to get where you're going. But you know, if it's something that you really want to do, you find your ways, you continue to do it.
You don't give up.
And you know that ad position on television shows and films, that person that goes and gets your coffee or brings you your breakfast. You're in the space. It's not a glamorous job. You're going to be there before everybody is, you're going to leave after everybody leaves. But at the entire time you have the opportunity to see how things work, how you like it, how you don't, what you'll do that's similar to what they're doing, and what you will not. It's actually really beneficial to get on that lot or to stand outside that video and watch how things are done.
If this is what you want to do, and for your directors or writers or actors.
Sometimes you have to reinvent yourself in the middle too.
Sometimes you get where you're going and you're you have an established career, very much like a lot of these writers that are on strike right now, you get to a space where you where you want to be and you're forced.
To reinvent yourself. You're forced to.
Re enter into a space and recreate something new. And you can't be afraid then either. Because that was one thing that Keikeith Palmer was talking about, was like she can keep Palmer ch how she's been working since you five years old.
But she was like, you know, I ain't had nothing to do. I ain't had no jobs.
So I started creating content on my Instagram page and these little skits turn into a Facebook watch series, and that series turned into a daytime Emmy, and that daytime Emmy turned into an opportunity to be on daytime television as a host. And these were none of these gigs did she have prior to that time that she had where she was just sitting there doing skits on her Instagram page.
So I think those things applied.
That formula changes now though it's a small part of that formula that changes. That means that now you consistently make that content for yourself. At that part where she got on the Today's Show, when she's a part of the three, I think that where we're going to that part is ending what doctor Jamika said, it's really about building on independence, because that's what I'm trying to get people to understand. I'm saying, there's a part of this Hollywood story that is changing now. Hollywood is no longer the place to go work in a big time studio, work on big films, and those days are over, Like this is a huge change with streaming services HBO not doing like Game of Thrones type big projects anymore. So I'm with you, doctor Jimmy, because I'm trying to be positive about it, and you're right, it's definite opportunity for us to create. It's just now these young people have to think double time, Like not only do you have to think about your creativity and your project that you want to create, but how to get that out to the people and then how to pay your people? Like this is an interesting different business. Well right, all right, but the music business was the slums. The music business used to be the slums for the entertainment business now and the TV's like but what I'm saying is the TV and the film business used to be like the big man in the sky, like why and that ship is changing.
And that's an interesting part.
I will say.
Listening to the women who are in the industry as they come to just being in a conversation with them, it's tough, like there's nowhere around, like it's not trying pretty pretty it up.
It is what this shit is wrong.
Okay, it's hard right now, but there is is very necessary and that's the thing, and it's not stopping any of them from creating. We had a panel of writers in there yesterday and they were talking about their schedules, like, oh, yeah, we go out there, we march in the morning, and then I start writing at at nine, you know, nine ten o'clock, because it's I'm not stopping my craft.
But this is necessary. It's worth the battle. It's worth the fight. It's gonna get worse before it gets better.
I mean, they just say they should acknowledge that this man, this may last for months and this is not gonna be as w as it was started.
Because like, right now, we're writing and creating, and our house has been in a month or two.
We're going to have to figure out how we're eating exactly exactly.
And so they're they're acknowledging it.
So it's owning it, being real with it, and just saying, Okay, let's not kind of you sugarcoat anything.
But we got to keep pushing for like what you're gonna do?
No, man, there used to be this this I mean but it still is. This song that we sang when we were kids and it was like, what can you do?
Punchingella? Punch Andlla? What can you do? Punch and now? And shoot, I could do it too, punching.
So basically somebody would get in the middle and do something and the next person will be like, I could do it too, Punchanella, punchingell, And then it's it's I really feel, and I believe this wholeheartedly that the more you can do, the better off you will be to have multiple places that you feel that that that suit you.
You know, so.
In like theater, apprenticeships and fellowships, you you you iron the clothes, the cast closes the costumes.
You you hang lights, you build sets.
You they don't pay you a lot, but you know you can survive off of it.
And I really feel like the.
More you know about the total thing, the better off you really are. So maybe right now you know you were doing really well as a writer. Now you've got to find something else to do or something else to write. Maybe you don't eat as much as you would or as great as you did before. But budget is exceptionally important, and consider getting a job too outside of that.
And it's it's because it is what it is is.
You know, some people are like, oh, I have I only have an a plan.
A I'm not one of those people. I have a plan. I've gotten up to them at this point.
If you in the music business, it ain't no choice.
If you're in the film industry, yeah, you know, if you want to go back to the back, back, get back, you know what I'm saying.
I was just looking at a clip of Sammie Davis Junior. This this this dude that went played the drums and then played the xylophones and then did a dance, dance, did a sang three songs, did a.
Backflip hotel for somebody.
So seriously, that's what we're like.
People don't even realize when it comes to Black Girls Film Camp, how many had me and Sierra even where right now? Like people always ask like who's doing your graphics and your me and touch any romo videos? That's meant right there.
Program.
First of all, let me say something that the graphics is popping and I love the colorway, the pink and the blue and disgorgeous.
We love it.
You love to see it. We're doing it all, thank you. See wearing a bunch of hats on the back end. She's doing all the numbers, the budgets.
One hundred thousand dollars a year ain't no short raising one hundred thousand dollars a year is not a show.
That's well, you know what.
I know that's not a short answer. But Sierra, please just give gift. Give the folks listen, just like a couple, like just a couple of little gems about that kind of thing. Because in order you can have all ideas in the world, but you got.
To fund it.
Yes, yes, the numbers. We can get the money in here and I manages it. Okay. We got to make sure everything is covered. We have to.
We're last and on the list for everything. We make sure these girls are taking care of. We make sure that there is a camp. Everything else comes the place after that. But that takes a lot.
Of a lot of time.
And part of that is like not outsourcing for an accountant because you know, Sierra's a religistics and operations and finances and.
I'm the HR department, Like you gotta know, I'm gonna plug it out. I'm gona think it out because we need that Tenji's over here, you know.
And so it's just making those calls, making those decisions, making sure that everything just makes sense, making sure we're spending the money in the right places.
But again, it's starting with the core.
What are the absolute needs, make sure the camp is taking care of them, make sure we have a camp, and then you know, we go from there and we can we can you know.
Push and move and tramm if that means that.
You know, we have a team of like at least five black women that come in and they help us on their coordinators and they help us on.
With some of you know, take some of the load off.
But you know a lot of times it's like, well we can't put that over here this year in the budget.
So like I'm just gonna I'm gonna just pour it. You know, I'm gonna just take that on. I'll just add that to me.
And it's but it's okay because like you know, then you know, when you see everything come together and once it all in folds, it's just so it's worth it for me in the end, you know, I don't need that much sleepy y you.
Know, woman, you sound like a black woman over there, but that's me.
That's me.
But that's the thing though, when you're operating in your purpose, like even with the writer's strikes, one thing that was consistent about it is like even if they're not getting paid, if the industry isn't hiring them, they're like, I'm gonna write anyway like that, that's just that's my purpose.
That that's what I'm here for.
I'm gonna sing, I'm gonna write, I'm gonna create.
Like it's gonna happen whether it's getting funded or not.
So when the money and the opportunity you do come and the position as an alignment I got, I know.
Here you go.
You know what I'm saying.
So it's gonna happen regardless. This is this is what you are here to do you designed for a purpose.
And so we won't be here always.
I know we're gonna have you know, people knocking our door down, you know, and we will have you know, some more help and stuff on the back end. But right now we're good, like I'm having I'm doing what I enjoy, I'm doing what I love. And we had a call yesterday, we had to have a lasting to call with a production one of the production teams, and it was like, okay, hr department. I was like, yes, I have and don't let us have to have this conversation again.
Okay to not deal with it. Okay, we don't need.
More conversation after the break.
I think having something accessible for our young girls is just all the things. You know. My daughter saw information about your camp last year and by the time she saw it, the deadline had already passed and she was really bummed. But she started to follow the information on the camp and when the application opened up this year, she was like, I'm not going to miss it. And I didn't know anything about it. I didn't know anything about it. This is Lana, right, This is Lana. Lana has been on the podcast. By the way, yes, listen to the podcast, people who listen to podcasts.
And what was her video?
Because because y'all said that the video is the pitch, so what did Lana do?
We're not going.
Can't no, wait wait wait are you saying that that a video has to be created in order to become a part of the camp and a pitch video video?
Okay?
When they just talk about their film for one minute, it's a woman at pitch Okay.
I tell you.
I'll tell you after we talked about the camp. We're not talking about I just wanted to tell us one little part about it, part of the camp. So I didn't know anything about this, mind you. This is all something that she followed that she was purposeful about. She wanted to do it, and she filled out the application, didn't even tell us until after it was done and it was submitted, and she said, okay, I did this thing, and I want y'all to wish me love because I hope that I get to do this because this is amazing. And she said, remember I told you about it last year and I missed it and she did mention it to me, but I didn't know. You know, I can mentioned a lot of things mentioned to me, so she says. So when I realized what it was.
I was like, oh, I really hope she makes this.
And so when she got accepted, it was like pandemonium in my mind interview.
Oh my god, she's amazing. Like, let's just go and put it out there. Lana, is it okay?
That is?
I'm gonna need to text Allana.
I can't.
I got questions.
Well, Lana's film in a nutshell.
In a nutshell, Lana's film is well started out as a take on the Breakfast Club, and she wanted to do a take on the breakfast club that was all black girls. But then it also she wanted to kind of she started. I said, you know what, when she started talking to me about it, I said, you know, it just reminded me of twelve Angry Men. And I said it all takes place in that same room thing.
And I said, oh yeah, and she said, I know, I don't call it.
Call it.
And so her film is called four Angry Black Girls, I mean five.
Sorry five.
She said.
That also sounds like a play.
It could be.
But the thing is that I was just again, she has been very adamant about doing this herself.
She's very independent.
She is extremely grateful for this opportunity.
Like her level of maturity to go on another level, like you know, we hauled.
The girls accountable and we pulled it, you know. You know, so sometimes a couple of weeks ago.
We had yeah.
Lina, just yes, and her response because you know, we give them a schedule. These girls, them and their parents, they sign agreement because there's so much money being invested in them. So they have like a memorandum of understanding that they got to sign because they're getting free technology beats to a sponsor.
They are getting like repairs of beat headphones.
Like they nice flooded with thousands of dollars of supplies resources, and they're playing for flights. They're flying to LA We're flying them to Charlotte for their premiere. So it's like, you know, there's this commitment. Sessions are required, Saturday sessions are required.
You got to be on Zoom for three It's a three hour commitment.
So there they're having to decide now shoot time to shoot their films and some of them trying to get one of them Saturdays off. You signed your agreement, right, Solna was working some things out.
We knew she was having we knew it, but other girls were reaching out to us.
She's not the same issues, but still and we were like, we got to be consistent across the board.
We're weaklings. We say a weekly.
See no stop it. I want y'all to stop stop stop stop it. No listen, I've and one hundred percent that is that is exactly that it has to be across the board. Lana had disaster after disaster, which I as a mother it hurt me. But as a creative I said, My husband and I both said to each other, this is going to be so good for her.
To have gone through all of the challenges. This child had been in tears.
She hadn't been in my lap, she didn't making phone calls going through all of these different challenges. And so if so, by the time it got to like the fourth thing, I said, look y'all, listen this, y'all the my child about to break down over here, she'd have changed the ship. Like photos. These people don't dropped out on the child. Now y'all talk about she got to be on camp on Saturday, and that's the only day that she can shoot this dad on Phil And now I was like, and so we kind of you know, we're trying to work it out, and Lana basically said no.
I said what I was. I committed to this.
I said I was going to be there on Saturday and being on there on Saturday, and we're gonna fix it.
We're gonna work it out.
And in that moment, I was so proud of my child because she has been clear from the moment this started. I am going to do one hundred percent my best based on what is in front of me.
I'm going to show up. I'm going to do all that is required.
So I was so again, thank you guys for giving her this opportunity.
But the bigger thank you is just thank you.
For being in these girls' lives period, for creating this thing, for giving life to this because as like from as a parent, as a creative, it has opened me up, like how can I be there for young girls when they're trying to be vocalists or performance like it has opened up a.
Thing in my mind. So, yeah, I tell you this.
Some of these girls, I'm not even gonna hold some of these girls are more professional than some of the adult women.
And let's just be where we had not one problem with any team director we went to l A. Okay, we took these girls now on problem but as we have many adults, we had to tap on the show. How many does you said? Let me just make this real quick. I mean, not one problem with these girls. When I tell you, they show up and give them the best selves.
Oh my gosh, Like we have been so so floored, so impressed, Like for real, I'm about to look.
You got a new organization. You need to be a part of Jesus. And that's right, okay.
In l Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and throw Stacey Muhammad in the mix too.
Speak listens already started building up for next year, like a lot of black women in the industry have already reached out.
Yeah, and from Black Star First Film Festival.
Yes, yeah, we are family.
There is a dream, or even the idea of a dream. If there is a hope, if there is intention and and dedication to something that you want to do, the opportunities really are there. Maybe not a lot, maybe not a lot at this moment, but there are some, and you have to really believe in yourself and go out and look for these things.
You may have to take a job that.
You feel is beneath you. You may have to do that. Most people that really advance grow from the mud. Thank you so much for listening to J dot l thepodcast. Thank you so much, ladies. We're so proud of you. Is a wonderful thing that you're doing for the spirit of these young girls and exciting them and letting them know that these things.
Are absolutely possible. Bless y'all. Bless you, bless y'all, Thank you, thank you.
How do you eat an elephant?
One by time?
Hey, listeners, is Amber the producer here. If there are any aspiring black girl filmmakers in your community.
Keep listening.
To learn more about the camp and how to apply, visit www dot Blackgirlsfilm caamp dot com. Applications for the next year's cohort open in the fall. You can also watch all of the past cohorts films on the website as well. And a little update since the award ceremony has happened, Lana's film won Best Costume and the Red Carpet Award.
We are forever proud.
Of her and we'll forever stand Lana on this show. We're also never surprised by her accomplishments. For more of Lana the Great. Check out our episode from earlier this season, Young John, and I'll drop all the links for Black Girl Film Camp in the show notes.
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Hi.
If you have comments on something he said in this episode called eight six six, Hey Jill, if you want to add to this conversation, that's eight six six four.
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