Latest / Earn Your Leisure / EYL #185 The Business of the Oscars, Hollywood, & The Movie Industry

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EYL #185 The Business of the Oscars, Hollywood, & The Movie Industry · Earn Your Leisure

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Speaker 1: An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child
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1:00
Speaker 4: Little baby should be performing like you know what, little Dirk,
1:05
Speaker 4: so we should be performing like were they That's who
1:09
Speaker 4: That's what's really happening.
1:10
Speaker 5: I know they're the most popular guys, but did the
1:12
Speaker 5: label submit them to even be nominating in that space.
1:14
Speaker 4: Of course that I mean, it doesn't that's no excuse.
1:18
Speaker 4: You should have the people that's really moving the culture.
1:23
Speaker 6: My graduates from my school being forced bad drop, b drop,
1:29
Speaker 6: Mike drop bad drop.
1:42
Speaker 4: All right, guys, welcome back, e y L. This is
1:45
Speaker 4: a dope episode, something that is out of the norm
1:50
Speaker 4: for us. But you know, we're headed to Hollywood.
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Speaker 7: It's only time already there.
2:00
Speaker 4: That's a fact. So when you think of Hollywood, of course,
2:02
Speaker 4: you think of the Oscars, And when you think of
2:06
Speaker 4: the Oscars, you think of a variety of different things
2:09
Speaker 4: these days. But one thing that you probably don't think
2:13
Speaker 4: of is the business out of it. And you don't
2:16
Speaker 4: think that it's a year round operation that employs hundreds
2:21
Speaker 4: of people, that makes probably hundreds of millions of dollars
2:26
Speaker 4: and all kinds of different stuff that's attached to it
2:28
Speaker 4: outside of the actual event like festivals and the nomination process,
2:34
Speaker 4: and it's an actual industry within itself. Yeah. So without
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Speaker 4: with that being said, Sean Finney is the executive vice
2:48
Speaker 4: president of the Academy. Is that correct?
2:51
Speaker 7: Membership and awards.
2:52
Speaker 4: Membership and awards. Ye, So we'll get the full explanation
2:57
Speaker 4: of his duties, but he's a very important person inside
3:01
Speaker 4: the Oscar situation. Yeah, that's the uneducated way to expect.
3:08
Speaker 5: The interesting part is that we met in la and
3:12
Speaker 5: we had an amazing conversation and it kind of blew
3:14
Speaker 5: our minds about all the incurtacies that go into this
3:17
Speaker 5: production and all the things that happened throughout the year.
3:20
Speaker 5: And so it's going to be an enlightened conversation for
3:22
Speaker 5: us because a bunch of stuff that I'm sure I
3:24
Speaker 5: don't know. I'm sure Shty doesn't know that we're gonna
3:26
Speaker 5: find out today.
3:27
Speaker 7: Yeah.
3:27
Speaker 4: Well, when we met and we met, we was out
3:29
Speaker 4: there for the Revolt Shout to Revolt was out there,
3:33
Speaker 4: and it just so happened. It was the same week
3:35
Speaker 4: as the Oscars, so we was going to like a
3:37
Speaker 4: couple of Oscar parties and then I think that was
3:40
Speaker 4: like two days before the Oscars. We actually had lunch
3:43
Speaker 4: and you was just informing us about everything that was
3:46
Speaker 4: going on and how much stressful it was together. So
3:51
Speaker 4: that where it. Well, well, first, congratulations on another successful
3:55
Speaker 4: show and thank you for being appreciated.
3:59
Speaker 7: No, I mean, first of all, thank you for having
4:01
Speaker 7: me I think that it's just so important for the community,
4:04
Speaker 7: and shout out to all y'all at large and at home,
4:07
Speaker 7: send and love and peace. But just important to see
4:10
Speaker 7: men black men just coming together talking, abouling on unity
4:13
Speaker 7: and just understanding. So I just appreciate what y'all do
4:16
Speaker 7: and just all the efforts that you've been doing and
4:17
Speaker 7: working with the youth. It's not important, it's necessary. So
4:21
Speaker 7: I just appreciate.
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Speaker 4: Thank thank you, thank you. So can you all right?
4:24
Speaker 4: I want to get the bast story, but before, can
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Speaker 4: you give a full explanation of your role at the Academy?
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Speaker 7: How much time we got? Yeah, I mean you all
4:34
Speaker 7: kind of hit it on the head. I'm the EXECUTI
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Speaker 7: vice president of Membership and Awards, So membership and Awards
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Speaker 7: is really like one of the centerpieces of what the
4:40
Speaker 7: Academy is built on. When you think of the Academy,
4:42
Speaker 7: you think of the award show, and you think of
4:43
Speaker 7: someone saying, I'd like to thank the Academy. When they're
4:46
Speaker 7: saying I'd like to thank the Academy, they're talking about
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Speaker 7: the membership, which is about ten thousand plus artists, executives
4:50
Speaker 7: and talent, right, and so all of those from different
4:53
Speaker 7: seventeen different branches and two categories. You have everything from
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Speaker 7: acting to visual effects, to production design to hair and makeup,
4:59
Speaker 7: all the different categor goorries that are on the awards
5:02
Speaker 7: on the twenty three different awards at the actual Oscars.
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Speaker 7: So sound and then working very very closely with the
5:09
Speaker 7: two categories, they associates some members at large branches, so
5:12
Speaker 7: there's seventeen different branches that work in are part of
5:15
Speaker 7: the membership in the Academy. So everything from acting, the
5:18
Speaker 7: visual effects in all different aspects and then obviously the awards. Right,
5:21
Speaker 7: So then when we think about the orders, we think
5:23
Speaker 7: about the show, We think about the actual day of
5:25
Speaker 7: the Oscars. But when you backtrack and you're talking about
5:28
Speaker 7: campaign regulations and awards, eligibility and all that, it actually
5:31
Speaker 7: requires our Academy screening room. And then when you think
5:33
Speaker 7: about what the members' experiences, the engagement, the outreach initiatives,
5:37
Speaker 7: diversity and inclusion. So I work with an amazing team
5:41
Speaker 7: that I have the privilege and honor of overseeing and
5:43
Speaker 7: working with them on all those different spaces and so
5:46
Speaker 7: making sure that a three hundred and sixty four days
5:48
Speaker 7: out of the year, working through to figure out how
5:50
Speaker 7: the members are engaged, how are they talked to, how
5:52
Speaker 7: are we really creating initiatives around kind of some of
5:54
Speaker 7: the opportunities and things that haven't maybe been there before. Right,
5:58
Speaker 7: So we're talking about a brand that's been around for
5:59
Speaker 7: ninety four years, y'all know somebody ninety four?
6:03
Speaker 3: I personally don't.
6:04
Speaker 7: Yeah, And so you know, thinking about all the opportunities
6:07
Speaker 7: that there are, is we're kind of advancing more in technology,
6:10
Speaker 7: advancing more just kind of like in the community, and
6:13
Speaker 7: how do we make it a little bit more accessible
6:15
Speaker 7: while keeping the legitimacy of the brand that is the
6:18
Speaker 7: Oscar and the gold statue that we all know, But
6:21
Speaker 7: how do we bring that kind of amplification and elevation
6:24
Speaker 7: towards everything else that we're doing all year long. So
6:26
Speaker 7: that's a long way of saying, do a lot of things.
6:29
Speaker 7: I've been there for about eight plus years, you know,
6:31
Speaker 7: So I've started as a temp assistant to the CEO
6:34
Speaker 7: to now be executive vice president of Membership and Award.
6:37
Speaker 7: So it's a great opportunity for me, and I think
6:41
Speaker 7: really a great opportunity for anybody that looks like me.
6:43
Speaker 7: I don't think we often see that we can be
6:47
Speaker 7: in certain positions of decisions and not that I can
6:50
Speaker 7: make all decisions. Right, There's a board of fifty four people,
6:52
Speaker 7: there's nine board committees, there's the executive office. But to
6:56
Speaker 7: be a power player in such an elite organization that
6:59
Speaker 7: is really been standing in the gap and building what
7:02
Speaker 7: Hollywood is.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, so ninety four years this organ stations been around,
7:05
Speaker 5: you've been there for eight. Yeah, I'm wondering. I mean,
7:09
Speaker 5: nobody grows up with the goal of working for the Academy,
7:11
Speaker 5: at least that I don't know. So how did you
7:13
Speaker 5: even come into this position?
7:15
Speaker 3: Like? Were you looking to be an actor? Were you
7:17
Speaker 3: looking to be in production? Like? What about this role
7:21
Speaker 3: suited you? And said, you know, I want to pursue this.
7:23
Speaker 7: It's funny you say that. I think that, you know,
7:25
Speaker 7: we all grow up having many different visions of what
7:27
Speaker 7: we want to be in life. But to my core
7:28
Speaker 7: and artists. So I came to LA from New York
7:31
Speaker 7: singing and songwriting short stories. I got offered a deal,
7:34
Speaker 7: didn't take the deal, started living in my nineteen ninety
7:36
Speaker 7: eight twy de camer shout out. We made it, we
7:39
Speaker 7: made it through, We made it through. Champagne color. It
7:43
Speaker 7: did me right. It did me right, and you know,
7:46
Speaker 7: in that, I've always just kind of been like, you know,
7:48
Speaker 7: as an artist and as a creative and as a hustler.
7:50
Speaker 7: Really in any of these specific spaces, you're always having
7:53
Speaker 7: to do fourteen different things. So I've always had different
7:55
Speaker 7: addend jobs. I've been an assistant to the editor in
7:58
Speaker 7: chief shout out of Mill Wilbokin at Vibe.
8:00
Speaker 3: You know.
8:01
Speaker 7: I've been a door guard. I've been delivering your newspapers
8:04
Speaker 7: and I used to put my CD in them in Queens,
8:06
Speaker 7: you know what I mean. So I've done all these
8:08
Speaker 7: other different spaces. But I've always like, if I'm going
8:10
Speaker 7: to get a job, I want to get a job
8:11
Speaker 7: that makes sense. So I went to a temp agency.
8:14
Speaker 7: The temp agency at the time was working with the Academy.
8:16
Speaker 7: They were looking for a temp assistant to the CEO.
8:19
Speaker 7: They had about two hundred resumes. They picked four. I
8:21
Speaker 7: was one of the four. I went in there, got
8:23
Speaker 7: the job and started off being a temp living in
8:27
Speaker 7: the car for about six months or so, and then
8:31
Speaker 7: from there becoming permanent. And that really kind of started
8:34
Speaker 7: my kind of It's the only job I've had in
8:36
Speaker 7: La So it's really kind of started just my ecosystem
8:39
Speaker 7: of understanding the ideology that I can do other things
8:43
Speaker 7: and that I can have input in a different way.
8:46
Speaker 7: As an artist, you know, you're always thinking about being
8:48
Speaker 7: on the forefront, which you're not always thinking about the
8:51
Speaker 7: decisions the business behind it. And so then I started
8:54
Speaker 7: to see opportunities of growth and opportunities where there was
8:58
Speaker 7: a space for me to add my voice.
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Speaker 4: So let me ask you this. As far as Hollywood,
9:05
Speaker 4: we always hear like Hollywood is very political, it's all
9:10
Speaker 4: about who you know, you got to get in the
9:12
Speaker 4: right rooms. A. Is that true? And B how were
9:18
Speaker 4: you able to network and be able to go from
9:20
Speaker 4: being homeless to like where you are now? Like what
9:23
Speaker 4: was some of the steps that you took. A.
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Speaker 7: Yes, I think that's true. I think it's true. But
9:29
Speaker 7: I think it's not true just in Hollywood. I think
9:31
Speaker 7: it's true. In politics. I think it's true, you know,
9:34
Speaker 7: in the music game. I think it's true for the world.
9:36
Speaker 7: You know, how you show up. I would say one
9:40
Speaker 7: of the things that I feel the most proud of.
9:41
Speaker 7: You know, I've been able and very very fortunate and
9:44
Speaker 7: to have a team that works so dedicated and so
9:47
Speaker 7: hard to be able to do things. But I'm most
9:49
Speaker 7: proud of the fact that everything I've been able to do,
9:51
Speaker 7: I've been able to do my full self right. So
9:53
Speaker 7: like the way you would see me talking to you
9:54
Speaker 7: all is how everyone at work knows me. It's how
9:56
Speaker 7: my mom knows me, is how my friends know me,
9:58
Speaker 7: is how my exes know me. That's my day to
9:59
Speaker 7: the a but you know, it's how everyone. So I
10:03
Speaker 7: feel the most proud that I've been able to be
10:04
Speaker 7: there by my be my full self. And I feel
10:07
Speaker 7: like we don't often feel that way coming from different communities.
10:11
Speaker 7: We don't feel like we feel like we have to conform.
10:16
Speaker 7: And so I would say, how did I navigate that?
10:18
Speaker 7: Number one? Be on myself and being bold enough to
10:21
Speaker 7: understand that that was enough. You know what I mean?
10:23
Speaker 7: I think number two, we tend to sometimes all comfortable places.
10:28
Speaker 7: You know, my mom grew me up with a different mindset,
10:31
Speaker 7: and sometimes that mindset is scarcity. If you get that job,
10:34
Speaker 7: hold on to that job, you have to go to school,
10:36
Speaker 7: you have to do all of these things by the book.
10:38
Speaker 7: Because we as people of color and just to say
10:40
Speaker 7: black men, we have to kind of be the model version.
10:44
Speaker 7: And so I think for myself, it was understanding what
10:47
Speaker 7: that scarcity mindset comes scarcity actions. So you start to
10:50
Speaker 7: operate from a place of lack and scarcity, Well, what
10:53
Speaker 7: happens if we operate from a place of service, which
10:56
Speaker 7: in and of itself means that there's enough to give.
10:58
Speaker 7: So I started operating from a place of service, you know,
11:00
Speaker 7: even though I had nothing to give. I didn't even
11:01
Speaker 7: have a home, but I operated like I'm here to serve.
11:04
Speaker 7: I'm operated like I have enough to give. And so
11:07
Speaker 7: I think me being myself being a place of service
11:10
Speaker 7: and understanding that my voice might be different, might sound different,
11:14
Speaker 7: i might dress different, but I have something to say
11:17
Speaker 7: and that's worth listening to, and that I add value
11:20
Speaker 7: in being bold enough to believe in myself for the
11:23
Speaker 7: value that I add. Yeah, So, and just the ability
11:27
Speaker 7: to continue to learn, that's important. I'm a sponge, but
11:29
Speaker 7: I'm like, what can I learn? How can I be better?
11:32
Speaker 7: And what note can I take?
11:33
Speaker 5: Yeah, because I'm assuming in this position this is something
11:35
Speaker 5: that you've had to learn coming from the music industry,
11:37
Speaker 5: which is what your passion was going into this.
11:39
Speaker 3: Now the academy, you have to learn.
11:41
Speaker 5: And so I'm thinking to myself, like what's the first thing,
11:45
Speaker 5: Like you're trying to figure out, like who is the academy,
11:48
Speaker 5: Like like how do we get members? Like what is
11:50
Speaker 5: that process?
11:51
Speaker 7: Like mm hm, So I think. So the Academy is
11:54
Speaker 7: governed by fifty four Board of Governors. So you have
11:56
Speaker 7: three individuals from the seventeen different branches. So you have
11:59
Speaker 7: your three governors from acting, three governors from visual Effects,
12:02
Speaker 7: three governors from directors who sit on the board. There
12:04
Speaker 7: is a President of the board and the CEO and
12:07
Speaker 7: then shout out to the president and the CEO and
12:09
Speaker 7: and the board members and then so they're kind of
12:11
Speaker 7: governing and overseeing kind of like the viduciary responsibility of
12:14
Speaker 7: like the Academy as a whole. And then you have
12:16
Speaker 7: different departments of everything from our museum that we just built,
12:19
Speaker 7: you have our archive, you have our Academy Gold you know,
12:22
Speaker 7: you have our membership, you have our it you have
12:24
Speaker 7: our marketing. You have all these different different divisions within
12:28
Speaker 7: the Academy that operate the Academy, not the oscars, the
12:31
Speaker 7: Academy which is operating yep, overall, and the Academy puts
12:35
Speaker 7: on the Oscars, right, which is why sometimes it's called
12:37
Speaker 7: the Oscars or the Academy Awards.
12:39
Speaker 3: Gotcha.
12:41
Speaker 7: And then so the membership is about ten thousand plus
12:44
Speaker 7: as we spoke about before, and there's three different ways
12:45
Speaker 7: to become a member. You were either sponsored, so you're
12:49
Speaker 7: an actor, we're both actors, and we're both sponsoring you.
12:53
Speaker 7: And then there's a committee that sits and votes on
12:55
Speaker 7: and selects and listens to your credits and how you'd
12:58
Speaker 7: be an asset to the Academy. And so then there's
13:00
Speaker 7: it's a voting process that happens. So it's like a
13:02
Speaker 7: reference almost in a sense, or it's a sponsorship.
13:04
Speaker 5: Yeah, so there's actual like if I sponsored him, I
13:08
Speaker 5: have to pay for him to become a member.
13:09
Speaker 3: How's that work?
13:10
Speaker 7: No, you're just sponsoring him to be considered to be
13:13
Speaker 7: a member, right. And then so there is a room
13:17
Speaker 7: that sits and basically votes and looks at all the
13:19
Speaker 7: films that you've done and what that looks like and
13:21
Speaker 7: then how we can add value back to the Academy. Right.
13:24
Speaker 7: So it's a membership based organization. So you have that
13:27
Speaker 7: if you are nominated or won, you're automatically considered, right.
13:30
Speaker 7: So you just won an Academy award, and then if
13:32
Speaker 7: you're not a member, when voting cycle comes up for membership,
13:36
Speaker 7: now your name is brought up because you were We
13:38
Speaker 7: have voted on you, because your work was good enough
13:40
Speaker 7: to you to be nominated or won, and so now
13:42
Speaker 7: there's an opportunity for you to be invited into the
13:44
Speaker 7: actual Academy. And then there's committee considered. So there's the
13:48
Speaker 7: committee that meets that we talked about, that votes around
13:51
Speaker 7: on everybody. And if you didn't win or nominated and
13:53
Speaker 7: you weren't sponsored, but you're someone who has brought in
13:55
Speaker 7: such dynamic. You know, you add so much to the
13:58
Speaker 7: film industry, and we just may not have you may
14:00
Speaker 7: not have come through those channels were now you're committee considered,
14:03
Speaker 7: so the committee is considering you for membership.
14:06
Speaker 5: So in those committees, how many people, because this was
14:10
Speaker 5: a whole issue, right man, you found in his go as,
14:12
Speaker 5: so how many people look like us or come from
14:15
Speaker 5: communities that we come from.
14:17
Speaker 7: I think it's grown exponentially. I think, you know, speaking
14:20
Speaker 7: about Oscar so why twenty sixteen though very hurtful, I
14:23
Speaker 7: think for a lot of different communities also an opportunity
14:29
Speaker 7: to reinvent and to reimagine, you know. And so that
14:33
Speaker 7: was actually when I started to go from being like
14:36
Speaker 7: the assistant to the CEO to then I created a
14:39
Speaker 7: job description because I saw an opportunity there to go
14:43
Speaker 7: from being the assistant to the CEO, where then I
14:46
Speaker 7: was like working. I was going to all the meetings,
14:48
Speaker 7: I knew kind of who the power players were, and
14:50
Speaker 7: I was also understanding my own individual voice that if
14:52
Speaker 7: I walk into a room and I'm going to use
14:54
Speaker 7: common for example, and we're going to his agency and
14:56
Speaker 7: it's me and the CEO or we're having a meeting,
14:58
Speaker 7: he might look at me like, okay, bro, I'll see you,
15:02
Speaker 7: you know. And so saying that to say, like I
15:04
Speaker 7: was able to kind of start to see, oh wow,
15:05
Speaker 7: I have an effective way of being able to communicate
15:08
Speaker 7: with artists. I'm an artist myself. And then so understanding
15:11
Speaker 7: that space, so created the job description for Membership Outreach
15:14
Speaker 7: Manager at the time, and then so Oscar so White
15:17
Speaker 7: again going back into that created by Rain, I think
15:20
Speaker 7: that it was an opportunity for the board and for
15:22
Speaker 7: the CEO and the president at the time to be like,
15:25
Speaker 7: not only were we not already doing things, but now
15:28
Speaker 7: this is accelerated because I was a hashtag to quantify
15:31
Speaker 7: how many metrics are there and what are we going
15:33
Speaker 7: to do? And so then that was the doubling the
15:34
Speaker 7: number of women and people from different racial and ethnic
15:37
Speaker 7: backgrounds from twenty sixteen to twenty twenty. And then so
15:41
Speaker 7: what that did is that started to create those different
15:43
Speaker 7: committees that are now sitting around the table where there
15:46
Speaker 7: are different people now from different walks of life. So
15:49
Speaker 7: by nature, now when your name is brought up, there
15:52
Speaker 7: is someone there who understands kind of like your space
15:56
Speaker 7: of what you represent to be able to now be
15:59
Speaker 7: a voice. So we just added voices some that were
16:01
Speaker 7: already there, but added voices to just make sure that
16:04
Speaker 7: there's representation throughout because it's very very bureaucratic, you know
16:08
Speaker 7: when you think about kind of the operation of how
16:10
Speaker 7: it works with any membership organization, which is why it's
16:13
Speaker 7: so important to stay open to learn and why it's
16:17
Speaker 7: important to lean into and work in collaboration with the
16:20
Speaker 7: membership and the board and the CEO and to kind
16:22
Speaker 7: of really work through that vision. But that's how it
16:24
Speaker 7: happened with Oscar so White. So the membership team and
16:26
Speaker 7: all of their dynamic amazingness that they are per Those
16:30
Speaker 7: different branches really started to look at different ways and
16:34
Speaker 7: different voices that may not have been heard of in
16:36
Speaker 7: the sound branch, may not have been heard of. Visual effects.
16:38
Speaker 7: You know, you might know us as writers and directors
16:40
Speaker 7: and actors, but how many black men or people of
16:43
Speaker 7: different backgrounds you know that's in visual effects, right? Or
16:47
Speaker 7: or costume?
16:47
Speaker 3: You know? And so you know?
16:49
Speaker 7: So then kind of recreating that space and doing it
16:52
Speaker 7: intentionally and on purpose.
16:53
Speaker 5: Everyone has an opinion when it comes to the foods
16:55
Speaker 5: we eat. This food's good for you, this one's bad
16:58
Speaker 5: for you, this diet works best. But who actually has
17:00
Speaker 5: the right answer. You don't need rules to lose weight.
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18:21
Speaker 3: Yeah.
18:22
Speaker 4: So you are an artists and you transformed to being
18:28
Speaker 4: behind the scenes. I like transform, so I always say
18:32
Speaker 4: like there's always opportunities, Like even sports entertainment, most people
18:35
Speaker 4: want to be the star, but there's more opportunities and
18:37
Speaker 4: a lot of times there's even more money behind the scenes. Yeah,
18:41
Speaker 4: but there's also a certain level of like, you know, adjustment.
18:46
Speaker 4: So how was it for you to actually have to
18:49
Speaker 4: adjust and say, Okay, I'm gonna put this artist thing
18:52
Speaker 4: to a side and focus on the business.
18:55
Speaker 7: Like difficult, very difficult. It was depressed, was questioning whose
19:01
Speaker 7: life is this? How am I in an office all
19:03
Speaker 7: of a sudden I was just offered a deal? Unclear
19:08
Speaker 7: of it all. But I think what's interesting is that
19:12
Speaker 7: I continue to be asked to be of service in
19:17
Speaker 7: my own prayers, in my own practice with God, you know,
19:20
Speaker 7: and to be like, you know, continue to show me,
19:22
Speaker 7: and I continued to actually me being who I was
19:25
Speaker 7: was actually the secret sauce because I understood intrinsically, like
19:30
Speaker 7: from the artist's perspective, and I understood what the academy
19:33
Speaker 7: was continuing to do and me and a few other
19:36
Speaker 7: people of course in different departments and then so it
19:39
Speaker 7: was able to kind of relate in that space. But
19:40
Speaker 7: it was very difficult. It was very hard even getting
19:45
Speaker 7: into this position. I had a lot of imposter syndrome.
19:48
Speaker 7: You know, I'm now overseeing a department I was in right,
19:54
Speaker 7: and so I've seen all of the leaders before me
19:56
Speaker 7: who are incredible, and I'm like, I can't do that.
19:58
Speaker 7: I can't I can't do this job. I the first
20:00
Speaker 7: time when we started talking about the job, I think
20:02
Speaker 7: it was like two times, I was like, no, I
20:03
Speaker 7: can't do it. I can't do it. I was excited
20:05
Speaker 7: about it, but I was like, I can't me. I'm
20:08
Speaker 7: not smart enough, I'm not this enough. And so we
20:10
Speaker 7: do that, you know, as people from different communities, because
20:14
Speaker 7: there's still that lack, there's still that scarcity. And that's
20:18
Speaker 7: actually what pushed me to do it. Was my fear.
20:20
Speaker 5: Was there anybody that surrounded you and looked at obviously
20:24
Speaker 5: they've seen you work for eight years up until this point,
20:26
Speaker 5: and they surround you because they know your greatness and was.
20:29
Speaker 3: Encouraging to you.
20:30
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, that you're getting this opportunity because you deserve it.
20:34
Speaker 5: Did you have a team around you or was everybody
20:36
Speaker 5: like they chose him?
20:37
Speaker 4: Yeah?
20:38
Speaker 7: No, no, no, no, I don't I don't think no, I don't
20:40
Speaker 7: think there was. I mean, there probably was somebody, but
20:42
Speaker 7: who cares. I was very supported by my COO, Christine Simmons.
20:49
Speaker 7: Women have always just really shown up for me.
20:51
Speaker 3: And shout out to Christine we actually met.
20:53
Speaker 7: Yeah, shout out to Christine Simmons, our CEO Don Hudson,
20:57
Speaker 7: and our head of HR, Yolanda, who really on their own,
21:03
Speaker 7: you know, kind of thought it through on their own
21:05
Speaker 7: and we're like this we want you to do. And
21:07
Speaker 7: I was like yeah. And then Christine was the one
21:10
Speaker 7: I had, you know, real conversations with where she was like,
21:14
Speaker 7: first of all, you're already doing it. You're already doing it.
21:17
Speaker 7: She's a black woman, so there's just a different type
21:19
Speaker 7: of you know, relationship, you know, not that it's better
21:22
Speaker 7: or worse, it's just different. And she understood, I think
21:25
Speaker 7: the fact that I was feeling like I wasn't enough
21:29
Speaker 7: and that it was too big for me, and she
21:31
Speaker 7: was like, no, it's the right size and it makes sense.
21:34
Speaker 7: And so nothing we do is alone, you know, everything
21:37
Speaker 7: we have to surround ourselves with those people, but those
21:40
Speaker 7: amongst many, but those and their positions were able to actually,
21:44
Speaker 7: you know, CEOs, it's not bad when you're CEO, your
21:47
Speaker 7: COO and your head of HR are recommending you, you know,
21:50
Speaker 7: for something that they think that you could excel at.
21:54
Speaker 4: So as far as putting the oscars together, like, can
21:58
Speaker 4: you give us an overview of because people think that
22:01
Speaker 4: it happens on a weekend. They might plan like a
22:04
Speaker 4: week before, a month before, But it's a year long
22:08
Speaker 4: process and there's there's other events that's attached to it, Like.
22:12
Speaker 7: Yeah, there's other events that there's events throughout just the
22:16
Speaker 7: entire year. I think that, you know, when you think
22:18
Speaker 7: about the Academy and the oscars that culminate towards the oscars.
22:21
Speaker 7: You know, so if we're starting in, let's start where
22:23
Speaker 7: we are right now. We're starting in like the new
22:26
Speaker 7: membership cycle. So in a few weeks, all those different
22:29
Speaker 7: kind of committees that I spoke about are going to
22:31
Speaker 7: be meeting to talk about the different people that are
22:34
Speaker 7: proposed for membership. All these meetings happen, we go into
22:38
Speaker 7: that meeting, the board then decides on the membership aspect
22:41
Speaker 7: of it. We have that. Now we are itching towards
22:43
Speaker 7: the fall. The fall happens, we have all the festivals,
22:46
Speaker 7: we have the bigger films that are coming out, all
22:48
Speaker 7: that kind of stuff. Now we're an award season, right,
22:51
Speaker 7: So we have typically we have our Governor's Awards that
22:53
Speaker 7: leads into there where those fifty four people. You know,
22:55
Speaker 7: you may have saw Spike Lee when he received his award.
22:58
Speaker 7: Just recently Sam Jackson and mister Glover received their awards.
23:01
Speaker 7: So there's the Governor's Awards. Those are honorary oscars given
23:04
Speaker 7: to those individuals.
23:06
Speaker 3: That happens like the weekend of the actual ochet.
23:09
Speaker 7: It did this past year, but it typically happens in
23:12
Speaker 7: the fall. It's honorary, yes, So there's three different types
23:16
Speaker 7: of awards. So like mister Danik Glover received like the
23:19
Speaker 7: Humanitarian Award. So they they're they're they're oscars. They're not,
23:23
Speaker 7: but they're just not oscars tied to a film performance.
23:26
Speaker 4: It's like a lifelong chance.
23:27
Speaker 7: Yes, they're tied to their legacy. So like when miss
23:31
Speaker 7: Tyson received hers. Yeah, and so that happens. We have
23:36
Speaker 7: our events in the fall. So now those members who
23:38
Speaker 7: were brought in about June or July, now we have
23:40
Speaker 7: our new member of receptions in London, New York, LA.
23:44
Speaker 7: So all the members that are in London or UK
23:46
Speaker 7: or surrounding areas. All the members that are in New
23:48
Speaker 7: York or Tri State Areas or LA. Now we have
23:50
Speaker 7: a reception, actual party to bring them in, to celebrate them,
23:53
Speaker 7: to bring them into the fold. Then we're going into
23:55
Speaker 7: kind of like submissions. So actually the studio is sending
23:58
Speaker 7: in their submissions of which films the category is all
24:01
Speaker 7: that kind of great stuff to be considered for membership,
24:04
Speaker 7: and then you roll into January and February. Now you're
24:07
Speaker 7: rolling into voting. So just real quick, because I love it.
24:10
Speaker 5: I'm trying to think like a lot of films, like
24:12
Speaker 5: I said that we grew up watching and we throw
24:14
Speaker 5: it classics. Yeah, never got nominated, But it's up to
24:16
Speaker 5: the actual studio to even say, hey, can you put
24:20
Speaker 5: this in consideration to be nominated.
24:21
Speaker 7: Yeah, studios are submitting.
24:23
Speaker 5: Yeah, studio doesn't submit then obviously yeah, yeah, gotcha.
24:27
Speaker 4: So the studio only submits films that they think are
24:29
Speaker 4: worthy obviously.
24:30
Speaker 7: Yeah. The studios have their own thing that I can't
24:34
Speaker 7: speak to, but they have their own awards kind of campaign.
24:37
Speaker 7: So same thing with music, Right, you have some artists
24:39
Speaker 7: you're like Adele when she puts out an album, it's
24:42
Speaker 7: that's I'm making this up, equating that to Bond, right,
24:46
Speaker 7: and so it's a bit you see it everywhere it happens.
24:49
Speaker 7: But then when said rapper or maybe said person that
24:51
Speaker 7: you made out, nobody like I didn't even know who
24:53
Speaker 7: that person is. I don't know. So it's all about
24:54
Speaker 7: what they decide to center their marketing around and what
24:57
Speaker 7: they want to push as their big out or big
25:00
Speaker 7: film of the year.
25:01
Speaker 4: So and the same thing works for like actors, and
25:04
Speaker 4: like the studio determined this is the actor that we
25:07
Speaker 4: want to for this supporting role.
25:09
Speaker 7: Yeah, so the studio, the studio has it's a little
25:14
Speaker 7: bit more complicated, but in none of that show, Yes,
25:17
Speaker 7: the studio would be submitting the actors attached to that
25:20
Speaker 7: film for consideration lead supporting so male, female actor, actress.
25:26
Speaker 4: So like the Grammys we talked about off when Maclamore
25:29
Speaker 4: won the Best Album. Yeah, he's an independent artist. Yeah,
25:35
Speaker 4: can an independent film ever be considered for an oscar?
25:39
Speaker 7: An independent film that is submitted. So he's an independent artist,
25:45
Speaker 7: but his team submitted him for so if Maclamore wouldn't
25:49
Speaker 7: have got that if he was didn't wasn't submitted into
25:53
Speaker 7: the actual system. So you can be independent or with
25:56
Speaker 7: the label or not. But it's your submission. Were you
25:59
Speaker 7: even here to even be considered for?
26:02
Speaker 4: Okay? Yeah, So an independent filmmaker can submit his film.
26:05
Speaker 7: Yep, independent filmmaker. There's a lot of people that submit
26:08
Speaker 7: their films. You may not have it just doesn't get considered, yeah,
26:11
Speaker 7: or it may not have the traction or yeah, it
26:14
Speaker 7: may not be nominated or just may not. It's not
26:16
Speaker 7: a Dell's album, okay, Right, but they have other artists
26:19
Speaker 7: that they're putting out.
26:21
Speaker 4: Okay, that makes sense. So let's talk about the importance
26:27
Speaker 4: of the Grammys of the Oscars because a lot of
26:30
Speaker 4: times people don't really fully understand like why it even
26:34
Speaker 4: is important. But it is important, right. It gives a
26:36
Speaker 4: lot of credibility, It helps y'all your career. So can
26:38
Speaker 4: you talk about that. I feel like the average person
26:41
Speaker 4: they might not even understand, like why it's important.
26:46
Speaker 7: I think it's I think it's about what you personally
26:49
Speaker 7: attach it too. You know, when you think of an
26:51
Speaker 7: artist who's amazing, like Ryan Coogler, who in the music
26:54
Speaker 7: world might be Kendrick, Kendrick may not be as pressed
26:57
Speaker 7: for awards, right, So I think we're seeing a shift
27:00
Speaker 7: the artist I think artists before if we're talking about
27:02
Speaker 7: nineteen ninety five, right, it was all about your Grammy nomination.
27:05
Speaker 7: It was all about y'all. And not to say it's
27:07
Speaker 7: still not about your Oscar nomination, but using that analogy
27:09
Speaker 7: where now we have artists who are like, I'm kind
27:11
Speaker 7: of almost bigger than this thing. If Jay Z and
27:14
Speaker 7: Beyonce show up at the Grammys, it's ratings for the Grammys.
27:17
Speaker 4: Kanye. You think Kanye started that but not showing just
27:22
Speaker 4: on some like I'm like, he was just smacking people.
27:25
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yes, no, no, no, when he ran up on stage,
27:33
Speaker 4: oh for Tailor multiple times he ran up on stage
27:36
Speaker 4: the Europe No, the Europe thing. That wasn't a joke
27:40
Speaker 4: MTV Europe Awards when he ran up on stage and
27:43
Speaker 4: was like, y'all got this, like it's the whole thing.
27:45
Speaker 4: You can google it. I don't want to go Yeah
27:47
Speaker 4: you know, yeah, yeah, that was crazy. Kanye got a
27:50
Speaker 4: couple of moments. It's not just the Taylor Smith thing,
27:53
Speaker 4: but I think that Kanye was one of the first
27:55
Speaker 4: people that pioneered that I'm bigger than this award, than
27:59
Speaker 4: this award. That's like they lose credibility by not giving
28:01
Speaker 4: me an a.
28:02
Speaker 7: War I think it's Kanye. Whether he started or establish
28:07
Speaker 7: it or didn't, I think people have been doing it
28:09
Speaker 7: in different ways. But I think now we're at an
28:10
Speaker 7: interesting crossfold technology that allows Kanye.
28:13
Speaker 3: To do that.
28:13
Speaker 7: Right, So Kanye now has a phone right where before,
28:17
Speaker 7: you know, if you're thinking, even like two thousand and one,
28:19
Speaker 7: you weren't. There was no Twitter, like, there was no
28:21
Speaker 7: like metric to where you could look at something and say,
28:24
Speaker 7: I can go live on my phone right now and
28:27
Speaker 7: get one hundred thousand views where you can quantify it.
28:29
Speaker 7: You were dependent upon a label to put your album out,
28:32
Speaker 7: you know, and so now you know, even when you're
28:34
Speaker 7: looking at like the history of how filmmakers used to
28:36
Speaker 7: be with studios, where the studios is kind of I
28:38
Speaker 7: wouldn't say owned you, but the studio that was your studio,
28:41
Speaker 7: that was all you made films with. So we're I
28:42
Speaker 7: think we're seeing we're in an interesting place where artists
28:45
Speaker 7: are understanding their independence and their freedom. And just like
28:48
Speaker 7: there was that big break with like Napster and iTunes
28:52
Speaker 7: and then like going from the CD and then the
28:54
Speaker 7: cassette to the seat, like there's all these different iterations
28:57
Speaker 7: that I think have allowed artists to understand numerically what
29:01
Speaker 7: their impact is on their own right. And I think
29:04
Speaker 7: from there, yes, then you have someone with kind of
29:07
Speaker 7: like the understanding that maybe Kanye has using him as
29:10
Speaker 7: an example, only that like he well, I can actually
29:14
Speaker 7: do this. I think I saw that Jake Cole actually
29:16
Speaker 7: performed the night of the Grammys, and so he had
29:21
Speaker 7: like a slap in the face to the Grammys. I
29:22
Speaker 7: don't know if it was a slapping. I don't know
29:23
Speaker 7: if it's slap in the face, but I think let's
29:26
Speaker 7: not say slap. I think.
29:30
Speaker 3: Not to slap. But he was actually trying to put
29:32
Speaker 3: on a concert at the same night.
29:33
Speaker 7: But when you think about that, when you think about that, yeah,
29:37
Speaker 7: and when you think about that, whether that's even a
29:38
Speaker 7: boycot or not? Right, if you have three or four
29:41
Speaker 7: of the top and it's easy to relate this in
29:43
Speaker 7: music because crowds are going to show up for a
29:45
Speaker 7: music artist, right, It's different, Right, So I'm just using music.
29:50
Speaker 7: So if for example, playing the part Kanye, Nikki, j Cole,
29:56
Speaker 7: Drake Drake on the night of the Grammys, where to
30:00
Speaker 7: say we're performing and we're doing this in partnership Netflix,
30:03
Speaker 7: I don't know who right, we're doing this in partnership
30:05
Speaker 7: with a streaming service Amazon does it? Whoever? And what
30:12
Speaker 7: would that be? Because then now who has the juice?
30:16
Speaker 3: Right?
30:16
Speaker 7: And so like, hip hop is one of the most
30:19
Speaker 7: or if not the most, the most the most genre
30:21
Speaker 7: in the world. So if you so, I'm saying that
30:23
Speaker 7: to say word twenty years ago.
30:26
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33:17
Speaker 7: You wouldn't eve even conceptualize this idea that I would
33:21
Speaker 7: do something because I need this award. We're now we're
33:23
Speaker 7: seeing people not necessarily need the award to for the credibility,
33:26
Speaker 7: because I clearly have people that want to follow me,
33:29
Speaker 7: and I can see where I can now have brand
33:31
Speaker 7: shop deals, perfume, hair and makeup, whatever the case may be.
33:34
Speaker 7: And so I think we're the interesting crossroads talent period.
33:37
Speaker 5: I think, and we covered as like one of our
33:39
Speaker 5: first episodes when you're talking about the power of the
33:41
Speaker 5: Grammy and has it lost power? Right when we were
33:43
Speaker 5: talking about how much the financial ramifications of having the
33:46
Speaker 5: film or even like the marketing and technology has changed,
33:49
Speaker 5: right when you used to when we grew up, it
33:50
Speaker 5: was the VHS and it was the end and the
33:52
Speaker 5: first thing if you were nominated was like Oscar nominated
33:55
Speaker 5: films and that was branded on it. Whereas now it's
33:58
Speaker 5: like where do you put that branding? It doesn't have
34:00
Speaker 5: the same appeal to it. So it's like the financial
34:03
Speaker 5: ramifications aren't the same, right, Like if you are Supporting
34:06
Speaker 5: Actor or you won the Lead Actor Award, it was
34:09
Speaker 5: a certain amount of money that you were probably gonna
34:11
Speaker 5: get for your next film, Whereas like that might not
34:13
Speaker 5: be true anymore, right Like I might go to Marvel
34:16
Speaker 5: and they might just say, hey, you're the next superhero and.
34:19
Speaker 3: I didn't really need it.
34:20
Speaker 5: So it's like, is the importance of the actual physical
34:23
Speaker 5: awards still there, do you think? Or are we announceeing
34:26
Speaker 5: like there's a drastic change that's happening, and it's so
34:29
Speaker 5: how are we going to combat.
34:30
Speaker 7: I think that there is a we're talking about relevancy,
34:34
Speaker 7: it sort of sounds like, right, I think that you know,
34:36
Speaker 7: when you're computing a show, any show, to the actual
34:40
Speaker 7: what the award means, it's very subjective, you know. So
34:44
Speaker 7: for ex artists, for Kendrick Ryan Coogler, for example, right,
34:50
Speaker 7: he may not be as pressed about awards. He may
34:52
Speaker 7: not attend any awards or not just the Oscar, just
34:54
Speaker 7: any award show. But then you have some people who
34:56
Speaker 7: they get up on stage and they melt and cry
34:58
Speaker 7: and break down, and so it's like, I think it's
35:00
Speaker 7: really subjective, but I think for the business it's still
35:03
Speaker 7: kind of It's not kind of. It is a very
35:06
Speaker 7: holds very much weight as it relates to film and music,
35:10
Speaker 7: and I think that that is how award shows have
35:12
Speaker 7: continued to continue because it is representative and embodiment of
35:16
Speaker 7: the industry. So when we're talking about the membership even
35:18
Speaker 7: at the Academy, and you're talking about the industry, well,
35:21
Speaker 7: it is the film industry because it's everyone from agents
35:23
Speaker 7: to marketing and pr to sound to visual effects, to
35:26
Speaker 7: all of the elements that it takes in front of
35:28
Speaker 7: and behind the camera. To actually put on a show,
35:32
Speaker 7: sorry to put on a movie in a film. And
35:34
Speaker 7: so I think that there's still definitely the Oscar nominated forever,
35:37
Speaker 7: you know, Grammy nominated forever. Yeah, yeah, you know. And
35:42
Speaker 7: I feel like, you know, I think it's subjective as
35:44
Speaker 7: it relates to it's important. We could the three of
35:47
Speaker 7: us can have three different varying opinions about whether it
35:50
Speaker 7: works for us or doesn't, and we'd all be right
35:52
Speaker 7: based on our subjections.
35:54
Speaker 4: So is how a broader conversation Black Hollywood?
35:58
Speaker 7: Hm? What is black?
35:59
Speaker 4: Holly? Well?
36:00
Speaker 7: Shout out to Uta. We got invited to the Macro.
36:04
Speaker 7: That was a I love Macro. I love Crowds King
36:08
Speaker 7: and Stacey Stacy Walker King. They're doing an amazing job.
36:12
Speaker 7: They're incredible.
36:14
Speaker 4: But all right, what is black, Holly? We hear this
36:17
Speaker 4: all the time. It's like all these black things, black Twitter,
36:20
Speaker 4: black Hollywood. I don't know how we feel about that
36:26
Speaker 4: because I'm like, there's never like any other It's not
36:31
Speaker 4: like a Mexican Hollywood or Italian Hollywood. Like it's just Hollywood.
36:36
Speaker 4: Then you just find your place and you find your world.
36:37
Speaker 4: But it's always like and we always got to be
36:40
Speaker 4: a black or something. I understand it in concept, but
36:45
Speaker 4: I feel like that's a way to kind of always
36:48
Speaker 4: keep us like on a lower level, this is sure
36:52
Speaker 4: little thing. Be happy with it, Like, what's your thoughts
36:55
Speaker 4: about that?
36:56
Speaker 7: Interesting? My personal opinion not out of the account of me,
37:01
Speaker 7: and I can't speak on all things Black Hollywood, but
37:03
Speaker 7: I feel like what we do is I think it's interesting.
37:07
Speaker 7: I think I would like to see who gives Black Hollywood.
37:09
Speaker 7: Is it us as black people creating Black Hollywood, or
37:11
Speaker 7: is it as you mentioned, Hollywood proper subjecting us to
37:16
Speaker 7: because I feel like black Twitter and again I don't
37:18
Speaker 7: actually know. This is a question. I'm not to dodge
37:21
Speaker 7: the question, but simply because I don't understand, like, did
37:23
Speaker 7: we create black Twitter as a space of advocacy and
37:26
Speaker 7: as a place where we could have conversations that make
37:29
Speaker 7: sense for us. Did we create Black Hollywood to say
37:33
Speaker 7: we're going to do what we've seen others do is
37:35
Speaker 7: create space and work together and collaborate, Like, I don't know.
37:40
Speaker 7: I don't know if Black Hollywood was created from if
37:44
Speaker 7: we have been From what I've gathered is a lot
37:47
Speaker 7: of individuals have been a part of Black Hollywood, and
37:50
Speaker 7: I'm in Hollywood. So I don't fully know what black
37:53
Speaker 7: Hollywood is. It's unless it's just black people gathering together
37:56
Speaker 7: what we do all the time. But I feel like
37:59
Speaker 7: I personally am in Hollywood, which doesn't make me this
38:06
Speaker 7: or that. I feel like I don't. We've been othered
38:09
Speaker 7: for so long, we have been put in situations for
38:12
Speaker 7: so long. Like you said, that could feel othered, but
38:14
Speaker 7: it's easy to say that, But then I'm like, did
38:16
Speaker 7: we create that so that we could feel protected? And
38:20
Speaker 7: so I feel like I want to be able to
38:22
Speaker 7: have the same opportunity in the same balanced system as
38:27
Speaker 7: we have seen them do and have, And I don't
38:31
Speaker 7: want to be fit in only one space. I am
38:34
Speaker 7: of that space by me walking in the room and
38:37
Speaker 7: the melanin in my skin. But just if I'm in
38:40
Speaker 7: Black Hollywood, is I mean, I can't participate. How many
38:42
Speaker 7: people have we seen, how many white producers, how many
38:45
Speaker 7: you know, white songwriters have we seen giving writing Iggy's lyrics?
38:50
Speaker 3: You know, or write?
38:51
Speaker 7: And so it's like, I feel like, I'm actually not
38:54
Speaker 7: sure what black Hollywood is. But I feel like there's
38:56
Speaker 7: two lenses. One could be a lens that we have
38:58
Speaker 7: created to feel very detective and to build our own
39:01
Speaker 7: advocacy and to have the conversations that are needed from
39:04
Speaker 7: the healing that needs to happen. And or was it
39:07
Speaker 7: created because someone was like let them have this, because
39:10
Speaker 7: that doesn't really.
39:11
Speaker 4: Because even in music they do it. It's not label
39:15
Speaker 4: black music what it is label black music, but more
39:18
Speaker 4: so it's just hip hop. Like even though hip hop
39:21
Speaker 4: is music, like hip hop is the majority of music
39:24
Speaker 4: that people listen to, yeah, but they kind of like
39:26
Speaker 4: it's a stigma, like, yeah, hip hop, hip hop and
39:29
Speaker 4: then music.
39:30
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
39:31
Speaker 4: Rap it's its own section and then we're gonna have
39:34
Speaker 4: just music.
39:35
Speaker 3: It should be pop music, right.
39:37
Speaker 4: But it should just be music.
39:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well she's saying it if it was put in
39:41
Speaker 3: a category.
39:41
Speaker 5: If it obviously and it's been that way for the
39:43
Speaker 5: past twenty twenty five years, the most popular genre of music,
39:47
Speaker 5: then by category, it should be popular music.
39:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it's not. It's just like you said, it's
39:51
Speaker 3: hip hop.
39:51
Speaker 4: But even like the stigma, I don't even have a
39:53
Speaker 4: problem with it being called hip hop, but it's like
39:55
Speaker 4: the stigma of it is like rap, hip hop is
40:01
Speaker 4: in this bucket and everything else is just music.
40:05
Speaker 3: We have afrobeats, the other genres of music.
40:08
Speaker 4: That's what I'm saying. But it's music, and it's like
40:09
Speaker 4: it's a safe space. And then it's like this is
40:11
Speaker 4: like scary and dark, like I.
40:14
Speaker 3: Think the stigma might be right, but like you have
40:16
Speaker 3: country music.
40:17
Speaker 4: Even look, let's let's look at the Grammys. I watched
40:20
Speaker 4: that whole show. They had two musical performances of rap.
40:25
Speaker 3: Who was it?
40:25
Speaker 4: It was nas X and nas for the next dialling.
40:31
Speaker 4: I don't think.
40:33
Speaker 3: I'm thinking.
40:36
Speaker 4: So what I'm saying is that you have rap. Music
40:40
Speaker 4: is the biggest genre of music period throughout the world, right.
40:46
Speaker 5: A.
40:46
Speaker 4: There should be more musical performances from rappers and be
40:52
Speaker 4: no disrespect to either one of them. Because obviously Nah
40:54
Speaker 4: is one of my favorite rappers of all time. That's
40:57
Speaker 4: a safe play. You got og legendary person. Nas X
41:03
Speaker 4: is another safer.
41:05
Speaker 3: Play, I think.
41:08
Speaker 4: But these are all safer plays, like Little Baby should
41:12
Speaker 4: be performing like Little Dirk, So we should be performing
41:16
Speaker 4: like were they That's who keep That's what's really happening.
41:20
Speaker 5: I know they're the most popular guys, but did the
41:22
Speaker 5: label submit them to even be nominated in that space?
41:24
Speaker 4: Of course, that. I mean, it doesn't that's no excuse.
41:28
Speaker 4: You should have the people that's really moving the culture,
41:32
Speaker 4: not but as artificial.
41:34
Speaker 7: I think what's happening is so it's multi layered. It's
41:36
Speaker 7: the did the record label submit? Are the voters of
41:42
Speaker 7: those different communities that can say, oh, this is why
41:45
Speaker 7: you should know so and so. And then going back
41:47
Speaker 7: to we need us everywhere. We're sending there looking at
41:50
Speaker 7: those executive spaces, right, whether whatever show it is, but like,
41:54
Speaker 7: so we need us here talking about it. It was
41:56
Speaker 7: like when the riots were happening, and I'm like, we
41:59
Speaker 7: need that energy. Go riot. I'm not supporting looting, but
42:02
Speaker 7: go riot, but I need that same energy go into
42:05
Speaker 7: the voting polls, right, and so like I need the
42:07
Speaker 7: same energy, start in the Twitter hashtags like so, we
42:10
Speaker 7: need us everywhere. And then so then the question is
42:14
Speaker 7: we're consuming the content that's up there. And then it's like, huh,
42:17
Speaker 7: interesting who there is on that side who's booking? When
42:21
Speaker 7: you think about it, it's a television show. So I
42:23
Speaker 7: just want us to keep that in mind, Right, there's
42:25
Speaker 7: an appeal for television, and so that means there is
42:30
Speaker 7: someone booking, and I say that person needs to be black.
42:33
Speaker 7: I'm gonna say that person needs to be. But it's
42:35
Speaker 7: looking at all of that and in a way that
42:38
Speaker 7: is having those kind of like real lenses to the
42:41
Speaker 7: culture and not just the US as consumers, but us
42:45
Speaker 7: in executive spaces, us in all spaces, because that is,
42:49
Speaker 7: in my opinion, more important. I would love to see
42:52
Speaker 7: more men that look like myself in Hollywood proper or
42:56
Speaker 7: black Hollywood, whatever, whatever the thing is. And I'm like, app,
43:02
Speaker 7: how do we work on that?
43:03
Speaker 3: And that's what that was.
43:04
Speaker 5: My next question was like, as in your role now,
43:07
Speaker 5: one of the functions is ensuring diversity, So like, how
43:11
Speaker 5: do we do this and not even just in the
43:12
Speaker 5: acting field, but production, like all these different categories that
43:17
Speaker 5: you just spend costume engineering, right, how do we advocate
43:21
Speaker 5: and get more people aware that these are things that
43:23
Speaker 5: they can actually.
43:24
Speaker 7: I think it's I think it's all multi layered. I
43:27
Speaker 7: think you know, I spoke about our CEO, Christine Simmons
43:29
Speaker 7: and our VP of Impact Operations janew English, so they're
43:32
Speaker 7: on the ground on Janelle Overseers, our Officer of Representation,
43:35
Speaker 7: Inclusion and Equity, so they do a lot of things
43:37
Speaker 7: of working with our vendor suppliers are the vendors that
43:39
Speaker 7: we're hiring, you know, representative of you know, so we're
43:42
Speaker 7: hiring you for catering. Why have we been hiring you
43:45
Speaker 7: for catering for thirty years? Why aren't we looking at
43:48
Speaker 7: him for catering? And you could be diverse in many
43:50
Speaker 7: different facets, right, So there's the who you're hiring, how
43:53
Speaker 7: that aspect works, and then there's like the continuing to
43:56
Speaker 7: ensure with the team and diversifying the membership. And then
43:59
Speaker 7: so when you look at what that looks like, it's like, okay,
44:01
Speaker 7: from twenty sixteen to now, it's completely vast. When you're
44:04
Speaker 7: looking at the board now there's more women than there
44:05
Speaker 7: what ever was before, And so it's a it's we're
44:09
Speaker 7: talking ninety four years and so that's just the academy,
44:12
Speaker 7: but the industry has lived on even before that, and
44:14
Speaker 7: so I think it's the changing hearts and minds. I
44:16
Speaker 7: think it's about, you know, understanding that we may, out
44:19
Speaker 7: of all had the opportunities that Zach may have had
44:23
Speaker 7: through his childhood, and so it's going to be a
44:25
Speaker 7: little bit of grace. But I think it's about ensuring
44:27
Speaker 7: what I'm passionate about is ensuring that while I'm there,
44:31
Speaker 7: that we're looking at the lens who we're creating different things.
44:33
Speaker 3: You know.
44:33
Speaker 7: One of the things I did when I got there
44:34
Speaker 7: and working with Janelle and Casinos I was talking about
44:36
Speaker 7: was creating the affinity groups, So making sure that those
44:39
Speaker 7: individual voices who represent our seven different communities for now LGBTQIA, Asian,
44:45
Speaker 7: Middle Eastern, North African, Indigenous Latin, all of that have
44:49
Speaker 7: a space where we can start to build programming out
44:51
Speaker 7: specifically with and for them, so they have a lane
44:54
Speaker 7: as a community within this overarching membership to start to
44:58
Speaker 7: work on content, to kind of work on kind of
45:01
Speaker 7: like having and rebuilding and repairing and who are the
45:03
Speaker 7: allies here who we can continue to work with along
45:06
Speaker 7: the way creating content. I did this with Merril Johnson
45:09
Speaker 7: creating Academy Dialogues, which was a conversation that was birthed
45:12
Speaker 7: in summer of twenty twenty and that was me. I
45:15
Speaker 7: was a director at the time, and it was one
45:17
Speaker 7: of the first times that I think I really was like, wait,
45:21
Speaker 7: I have a responsibility, you know, and so and I
45:24
Speaker 7: didn't quite always understand that, you know, a'maud Aubrey, mister
45:29
Speaker 7: George Floyd, Miss Breonna Taylor. We were all sitting at
45:32
Speaker 7: home watching that.
45:33
Speaker 3: You know.
45:34
Speaker 7: I lived in Los Angeles downtown at the time, and
45:37
Speaker 7: so the riots and everything were happening near me. And
45:39
Speaker 7: I remember when all the companies were changing their avatars
45:41
Speaker 7: and like we stand in solidarity. And I was like,
45:44
Speaker 7: but what does this mean? And I was like, oh,
45:45
Speaker 7: let me look and talk to Oh, it's me, Like
45:48
Speaker 7: there wasn't another black man there to kind of share
45:51
Speaker 7: that space with of like I'm supposed to do something,
45:54
Speaker 7: what does that mean? And then so at that point,
45:56
Speaker 7: I wasn't in the position that I'm in now, but
45:58
Speaker 7: I did have the relationship with the member where we
46:00
Speaker 7: kind of started having conversations and Lorenzo, who used to
46:03
Speaker 7: be at the academy, about like, how do we start
46:05
Speaker 7: to have honest conversations? So how are we leveraging this
46:08
Speaker 7: amazing brand that is but partnering it with real stories.
46:11
Speaker 7: We're known for celebrating and telling fake stories, you know,
46:14
Speaker 7: and so doing that with Merrill and working very closely
46:18
Speaker 7: with her, we were able to pinpoint conversations called Academy dialogues,
46:21
Speaker 7: and we had everybody from Brian Stevenson and Whoopie Goldberg
46:24
Speaker 7: talking about the prevarrior of racism and how Hollywood has
46:26
Speaker 7: played an intricate part in it. You don't look at
46:29
Speaker 7: the academy to have conversations about racism, but we started it,
46:32
Speaker 7: you know, having conversations about the erasure of Latinos, having
46:35
Speaker 7: conversations about so many different communities within. So leveraging and
46:39
Speaker 7: partnering with our own members inside, creating a safe space
46:42
Speaker 7: and using that as content now pushing out into the world,
46:45
Speaker 7: but signals to our other members who may or may
46:47
Speaker 7: not be on the fence about us, like, oh, they're
46:49
Speaker 7: really about this space, even opening up this space to
46:52
Speaker 7: be a space to have these conversations. So then working
46:54
Speaker 7: with the affinity groups across the board now figuring out
46:57
Speaker 7: how I can continue to work with them and with
47:00
Speaker 7: Maryland to now extain and like how we're positioning them
47:03
Speaker 7: for success, for them to understand what this even means,
47:06
Speaker 7: what the membership means, what can I do with it?
47:08
Speaker 7: And then how we can continue to broaden out, because
47:10
Speaker 7: it's not to isolate forever. It's now how we're all
47:12
Speaker 7: of the allies and now leaning into now how are
47:16
Speaker 7: we all a part of this movement, and so I
47:18
Speaker 7: think it's a multi layered thing. Right. There's the staff
47:22
Speaker 7: aspect that that's not me, you know, And then there's
47:24
Speaker 7: the aspect of like, well, when the Academy is partnering,
47:26
Speaker 7: what kind of partnerships are we doing, who are we
47:29
Speaker 7: doing those partnerships with? If we use a flower company
47:31
Speaker 7: that we've used before, why haven't we ever used him?
47:34
Speaker 3: You know?
47:34
Speaker 7: And so it's many different things that might seem small
47:38
Speaker 7: but that are large when you all put them together.
47:40
Speaker 7: And I think that part of that is my own
47:43
Speaker 7: individual experience. I have been pulled over on my way
47:48
Speaker 7: to work several times. I ask to get out of
47:50
Speaker 7: my car. And I can't tell you that shift of mindset,
47:55
Speaker 7: you know, going into a place where you're still you
47:56
Speaker 7: are really the only one there. Anyway, you're on your
47:59
Speaker 7: way driving, you get pulled over. I'm not driving a
48:02
Speaker 7: g WAG, I'm driving a jeep. It's nice, you know,
48:05
Speaker 7: but it's like, where do you work or I work
48:07
Speaker 7: at the Academy motion pictures? Hmmm? That the things you
48:12
Speaker 7: can't quite ever call, but you feel good. And so
48:15
Speaker 7: I move differently. I move I have a different incentive.
48:19
Speaker 7: It's my own experience that I'm still experiencing, Like if
48:22
Speaker 7: I'm pulled over, I might be killed. That's not actually
48:25
Speaker 7: dramatic anymore, that's actual and factual. So how do I
48:28
Speaker 7: leverage my own experience being there and bring that voice
48:31
Speaker 7: to the table because my other senior team may not
48:34
Speaker 7: have that experience, And then how do I continue to
48:37
Speaker 7: leverage that? And then that becomes my incentive is community,
48:39
Speaker 7: culture and connectivity, and then how we can all work
48:42
Speaker 7: together in that aspect.
48:43
Speaker 3: Oh, it's a lot, it's exhaust So you've been called
48:47
Speaker 3: with the tach.
48:48
Speaker 4: What's next on your plate? What's your your ten year
48:52
Speaker 4: vision board?
48:53
Speaker 7: Looking like you know, what's funny? I used to feel
48:55
Speaker 7: so much pressure having the answer to that question. I'm
48:59
Speaker 7: not sure. I'm open. I think that when I was
49:02
Speaker 7: trying to control my destiny it was harder. I think
49:07
Speaker 7: that I'm going to continue to operate from a place
49:09
Speaker 7: of service. I'm going to continue to ask what I
49:11
Speaker 7: can do to elevate.
49:12
Speaker 4: I'm going to.
49:12
Speaker 7: Continue to speak. I want to continue to wrap my
49:15
Speaker 7: arms around the community that I represent in any community
49:17
Speaker 7: that feels like we're close enough, you know, to have
49:19
Speaker 7: these conversations. I want to continue to talk to people
49:22
Speaker 7: about being the artist, but being the manager. I want
49:25
Speaker 7: to talk to athletes about being the athlete, but also
49:28
Speaker 7: why don't you You can be the coach too, you
49:30
Speaker 7: can be the owner. And so I want us to
49:32
Speaker 7: just understand our individual and collective power. I want us
49:34
Speaker 7: to stand in that. I want us to not apologize
49:36
Speaker 7: for it. I want us to come as we are,
49:38
Speaker 7: and I want to be a vessel for that. I
49:40
Speaker 7: also understand that I'm only human, and it is exhausting,
49:43
Speaker 7: and you do have to take the time because my
49:46
Speaker 7: fight is very different than maybe some of my other
49:48
Speaker 7: counterparts fights, because my fight is my own experience driving
49:51
Speaker 7: to work and being stopped here and having to immediately
49:54
Speaker 7: ratify what just happened and go into a meeting and
49:56
Speaker 7: be like, hey, it's very different. And I don't ask
50:00
Speaker 7: for any special privileges for it, but I do ask
50:02
Speaker 7: for grace, and I want to continue to learn. So
50:05
Speaker 7: I think that I'm going to continue to elevate and
50:07
Speaker 7: amplify what I'm doing. But it looks like I'm doing it,
50:10
Speaker 7: but I'm just a vessel for other people, and I
50:13
Speaker 7: think I want to continue speaking. I want to continue
50:17
Speaker 7: speaking life. I want to continue showing and sharing that
50:19
Speaker 7: we need us everywhere and I can only share that
50:22
Speaker 7: by being that, and so it is exhausting.
50:24
Speaker 3: Man.
50:24
Speaker 7: We don't talk about how exhausting is. We don't talk
50:26
Speaker 7: about what it takes from you. I'm only a human.
50:28
Speaker 7: I'm also this executive now in Hollywood, but I am
50:32
Speaker 7: a son. I you know, I want to have a family,
50:34
Speaker 7: I want to have all these other different things, and
50:36
Speaker 7: so I am My tenured plan is to continue to
50:40
Speaker 7: be myself because that's the one thing I've been able
50:42
Speaker 7: to bet on, and it's taking me places higher, further,
50:44
Speaker 7: and more expansive than my own limitations did.
50:48
Speaker 5: So this year's ask us, obviously, you know, we watched
50:52
Speaker 5: a lot of America watch yep, incineratings, yep. We saw
50:56
Speaker 5: people from multiple multiple cultures win awards. Yeah, obviously there
50:59
Speaker 5: was an accident that happened. Yeah, glorify on that. But
51:02
Speaker 5: I wonder what you take from it. I know, seeing
51:05
Speaker 5: you the day before and looking at your face like, man, this,
51:07
Speaker 5: I can see the tax that it's taken on you.
51:09
Speaker 5: But how much solace did you take in knowing that
51:12
Speaker 5: these things had happened? And you know, not the incident itself,
51:15
Speaker 5: but all the increasing and the people that are watching,
51:19
Speaker 5: everybody's being celebrated, all the performances.
51:21
Speaker 3: The show was great, The whole thing was great.
51:23
Speaker 5: After it was there a moment of solace to say like, yo,
51:26
Speaker 5: we really did this, or we're like, you know what,
51:27
Speaker 5: this is kind of cloudy, like what was it like
51:30
Speaker 5: for you at that moment? And going forward as far
51:32
Speaker 5: as oskars are, we looking at it like, you know what,
51:36
Speaker 5: we got handed the ball in the sense and look
51:39
Speaker 5: what we did. Look at the numbers like it's a
51:41
Speaker 5: committee looking at like, you know what, we put in
51:43
Speaker 5: a good hands.
51:43
Speaker 3: Let's do this again.
51:45
Speaker 4: Yeah.
51:45
Speaker 7: I think I think there is the afterwards. But then
51:49
Speaker 7: I think we also have to talk about the before,
51:51
Speaker 7: you know, so regardless of how taxing it might be,
51:54
Speaker 7: as to have a team that I need to lead,
51:56
Speaker 7: you know, into inspiring for them to feel like it's
52:00
Speaker 7: we could push through. And so I think that anytime
52:02
Speaker 7: that we're pushing the bounds, we're doing our job, you
52:04
Speaker 7: know what I mean. I think that you know, the
52:08
Speaker 7: board and the CEO and president have their own different perspective,
52:11
Speaker 7: but just being what I oversee and just relates to
52:13
Speaker 7: the membership, and awards, and so thinking about it again,
52:16
Speaker 7: it's the day of But when you bring it all
52:17
Speaker 7: the way back, it's like I work with the team
52:19
Speaker 7: and oversee the team that is really making sure that
52:21
Speaker 7: your submission is even in there on time for you
52:24
Speaker 7: to even be considered and nominated later. That team is
52:27
Speaker 7: working really closely to make sure that the people are
52:29
Speaker 7: even voting. We had the highest voting ever in ninety
52:31
Speaker 7: four years this year ever, you know, And.
52:34
Speaker 3: So looking for more people in the categories.
52:36
Speaker 7: Yeah, and that's with also looking at maybe expanding how
52:39
Speaker 7: are we doing. I'm of this person. I need communication
52:43
Speaker 7: and contact. So everything that I do is like, how
52:45
Speaker 7: are we connecting with other humans. I don't really talk
52:46
Speaker 7: to the title of people. I talk to the human right.
52:49
Speaker 7: I mean, I've been doing that since I was an assistant.
52:51
Speaker 7: So I didn't speak to you differently than I spoke
52:53
Speaker 7: to you because you were in a higher position. I
52:55
Speaker 7: just spoke to you, what do you need? How can
52:56
Speaker 7: I add value? What can I do? And then so
52:58
Speaker 7: even looking at that this year, we were like, how
53:00
Speaker 7: do we partner with the industry. So one of the
53:02
Speaker 7: things that I did when I started was like industry relations,
53:04
Speaker 7: what is the Academy doing all year round? How are
53:07
Speaker 7: we partnering with our agencies, our management companies, our pr houses,
53:10
Speaker 7: working with our studios. What are we doing throughout the
53:13
Speaker 7: year So that it is a very symbiotic relationship when
53:16
Speaker 7: it comes and culminates towards the oscars, and I think
53:19
Speaker 7: that it's an effort led on so many different fronts.
53:22
Speaker 7: But I was very passionate about, like I'm talking to
53:24
Speaker 7: the agencies. I want to sit down with you, Uta,
53:26
Speaker 7: I want to hear from you directly. What are the
53:28
Speaker 7: issues with voting? Have you tried voting? Why haven't you
53:30
Speaker 7: tried voting? It's just something we can do with your members.
53:32
Speaker 7: There are a class is there any so like all
53:34
Speaker 7: of those things that human component, and wanting to learn
53:37
Speaker 7: how I could even be better for you as a
53:38
Speaker 7: very different mindset from an organization that's been really established
53:42
Speaker 7: for ninety four years, and so again, moving in that
53:44
Speaker 7: space of service, moving in that space of how can
53:46
Speaker 7: I help has been very instrumental for me specifically, So
53:49
Speaker 7: before it's all of that and then you said taxing,
53:52
Speaker 7: you know, leading up into the show, there's that, but
53:55
Speaker 7: it's the emotional energy that needs to be given again,
54:00
Speaker 7: and it's not just me, it's a team. I'm working
54:02
Speaker 7: on leading and to keep inspired. And then afterwards, I
54:04
Speaker 7: think you kind of feel some sort of like a
54:08
Speaker 7: blur almost, because it's everything going up to this moment
54:12
Speaker 7: and then it's over.
54:13
Speaker 4: Right.
54:15
Speaker 7: I think that you know, there's no denying that the
54:17
Speaker 7: numbers were up. I think there's no denying that there's
54:19
Speaker 7: the most social show ever, which is led by another
54:22
Speaker 7: black woman, Meril Johnson. And I think that I can't
54:27
Speaker 7: really speak on what the committee is thinking about, but
54:29
Speaker 7: I think personally I'm proud because I know what it takes.
54:33
Speaker 7: I know what it takes to put that on. I
54:36
Speaker 7: know what it took last year when we were at
54:38
Speaker 7: a train station to put on a show in the
54:41
Speaker 7: middle of COVID when no other show was happening live
54:44
Speaker 7: and in person. Two hundred and twenty one nominees, eighty
54:47
Speaker 7: of them international, in twenty three different countries, seventeen of
54:50
Speaker 7: which can't travel to the States, and where we had
54:52
Speaker 7: to work with the embassies and working with the state
54:54
Speaker 7: officials to get people to fly in. So when I
54:56
Speaker 7: hear people and they're like, oh, the show at the
54:58
Speaker 7: train station is and I'm like, that's fine, but it's
55:01
Speaker 7: a miracle. It even happened with not when positive COVID
55:04
Speaker 7: taste test or case, and then the County then built
55:08
Speaker 7: Appendix Jay off of our template that we use to
55:12
Speaker 7: allow other shows to now then be able to exist,
55:15
Speaker 7: and so like that's like the I can nerd out
55:18
Speaker 7: about all of that stuff, but for me, it's what
55:20
Speaker 7: you see on TV. Yes, but I think I'm most
55:23
Speaker 7: proud of the stuff that you don't see. I'm most
55:25
Speaker 7: proud of the fires that you're not knowing that are happening.
55:30
Speaker 7: And I'm proud to say that I play an instrumental
55:34
Speaker 7: part in the actual day of and beforehand and overseeing
55:39
Speaker 7: a team that does stuff unimaginably to be able to execute.
55:43
Speaker 7: So it's like a release of some sort. And I
55:48
Speaker 7: think that it only gives permission to continue to push
55:53
Speaker 7: the bounds, to continue to make sure representations at the forefront,
55:56
Speaker 7: and to continue to make sure that we can create
55:58
Speaker 7: a show that adds value, that has entertainment value, that
56:01
Speaker 7: recognizes some of the most influential people in the world
56:04
Speaker 7: as we continue to challenge what is excellence. You mentioned
56:07
Speaker 7: earlier about like films that you love like loving basketball.
56:09
Speaker 7: You know, who's the arbiter of excellence? Who gets to
56:12
Speaker 7: say what's excellent? You know, Boys in the Hood was
56:14
Speaker 7: excellent to me, but so was Yaws, you know what
56:16
Speaker 7: I mean saying, And so like, I think as we
56:18
Speaker 7: continue to just change the narrative of who gets to
56:22
Speaker 7: say what excellence is, I think they were creating a
56:24
Speaker 7: more equal playing ground and then from there we can
56:27
Speaker 7: build a new foundation to have a new conversation that
56:29
Speaker 7: really is representative of the world that we actually live in.
56:32
Speaker 4: Can you have it before we wrap one to actually?
56:36
Speaker 4: Are there any like mentorship programs or any incubators for
56:39
Speaker 4: people that maybe want to get into Hollywood but on
56:42
Speaker 4: the behind the scenes as far as like directors or
56:46
Speaker 4: what you do or you know, just a lot there's
56:49
Speaker 4: so many different roles in sound, makeup and so much stuff.
56:54
Speaker 4: I feel like a lot of time people a might
56:55
Speaker 4: not even be aware of it, and then be even
56:57
Speaker 4: if they are aware of but they might not know
57:00
Speaker 4: how to actually get into. Is there any type of program?
57:03
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think going to oscars dot org we'll give
57:06
Speaker 7: a lot of context in general context as to what
57:08
Speaker 7: we're doing. But there's the academy goal program, which is
57:10
Speaker 7: really focused on more of the college space and leaving
57:14
Speaker 7: them from there in an internship within the industry in Hollywood.
57:18
Speaker 7: And then there's this program that we're working on that
57:20
Speaker 7: I'll hold on telling you all the name of because
57:21
Speaker 7: we're still in the midst of getting it completely finalized,
57:23
Speaker 7: but it's the focus is really going to be about
57:27
Speaker 7: creating the knowledge needed to sustain in the industry. And
57:32
Speaker 7: so you are a writer, and so we want to
57:34
Speaker 7: create something around you in partnership with some of our
57:37
Speaker 7: members and in partnership with some of the different industry
57:39
Speaker 7: leaders so that you understand how to pitch a film
57:42
Speaker 7: with their meaning when they're talking about the international and
57:45
Speaker 7: domestic distribution, what they mean when they're talking about your
57:48
Speaker 7: legal contracts, bringing attorneys in to be able to show
57:50
Speaker 7: and share with you as you're continuing and starting this interview,
57:53
Speaker 7: because we focus on we got the meeting. We got
57:55
Speaker 7: the meeting, but do you understand what they're talking about
57:58
Speaker 7: in the meeting? Do you understand what to ask for?
58:00
Speaker 7: Do you understand how to best equipped and prepare yourself?
58:03
Speaker 7: Because I think and I challenge us to continue to
58:06
Speaker 7: want to be the artist we need to be the artist.
58:08
Speaker 7: We represent artistry and some and have dominated and we'll
58:11
Speaker 7: continue to dominate in all aspects sports, music, film, TV.
58:14
Speaker 7: But I think that it's an opportunity for us to
58:16
Speaker 7: continue to also expand our minds in our thinking on
58:19
Speaker 7: the business. So that is going to be coming very
58:24
Speaker 7: soon in a couple of weeks, which I would love
58:26
Speaker 7: to talk to you all about when it's actually out
58:28
Speaker 7: and where I can get a little bit more on
58:29
Speaker 7: the name. But that's the concept of it. And so
58:31
Speaker 7: then how do we use and harness the energy that
58:35
Speaker 7: is the Academy and that gold statue that still holds
58:37
Speaker 7: weight to be able to do great things and amazing things,
58:41
Speaker 7: but being very intentional and specific about reaching out to
58:44
Speaker 7: those communities who typically might not feel that this is attainable.
58:47
Speaker 7: So it's continuing to change the narrative from this is
58:49
Speaker 7: the Academy to this is our academy, and then how
58:52
Speaker 7: do we continue to make that a little bit more
58:54
Speaker 7: accessible in a real way. We have a Nickel Fellowship program,
58:58
Speaker 7: there's many different assets of things, and now with our
59:01
Speaker 7: museum that's now on Wilshare and Fairfax, which is very
59:05
Speaker 7: close the incident with Biggie, so really close right there,
59:09
Speaker 7: Wilshare and Fairfax. I think it's just another opportunity. They
59:11
Speaker 7: have amazing different programs initiatives. We have a chief curator
59:14
Speaker 7: there named jack Lyn Stewart, black woman, amazing black woman
59:17
Speaker 7: Bill Kramer, who are really leading that initiative and being
59:20
Speaker 7: very intentional and on purpose about kind of like community
59:23
Speaker 7: focused and continuing to explore all avenues of excellence. I
59:28
Speaker 7: think excellence looked one way for a long time, and
59:32
Speaker 7: now I think it's just about the expansion of that.
59:34
Speaker 7: So OSCARS dot Org, I think is a great way
59:36
Speaker 7: to be able to go in there and understand kind
59:38
Speaker 7: of some of the initiatives and things that we're looking
59:40
Speaker 7: to do specifically in a lot of the different communities
59:42
Speaker 7: and a lot of the different spaces where we typically
59:45
Speaker 7: or may not have felt as accessible before, and continuing
59:50
Speaker 7: to extend grace. Everybody's figuring it out. I don't. I'm
59:54
Speaker 7: not an expert in my field. I'm an expert at
59:56
Speaker 7: wanting to be better. I'm an expert at wanting to learn.
1:00:00
Speaker 7: But I don't have it all together. I'm still figuring
1:00:02
Speaker 7: it all out, and I think that's the beautiful part.
1:00:03
Speaker 7: That's what gives me hope.
1:00:06
Speaker 4: I appreciate it. Brother. Before we leave, you want to
1:00:08
Speaker 4: tell the people anything social media or anything or you
1:00:11
Speaker 4: got any less words?
1:00:12
Speaker 7: Yeah? My Instagram is Sean Finnybee flourishing because duh. And
1:00:18
Speaker 7: most importantly, I just want to continue to speak to
1:00:20
Speaker 7: the people and to continue to remind you that who
1:00:22
Speaker 7: you are is enough. You've always been enough, you will
1:00:24
Speaker 7: never not enough. And sometimes the things and the limitations
1:00:27
Speaker 7: that are kind of created around you are for you
1:00:29
Speaker 7: to not recognize and live and flourish in your own
1:00:31
Speaker 7: beauty and marveling all of that. So I challenge you
1:00:34
Speaker 7: to continue to go beyond your limitations. Go to the
1:00:36
Speaker 7: thing that hurts, go to the thing that makes you
1:00:38
Speaker 7: feel scared, Lean into that, don't look back. And I
1:00:41
Speaker 7: continue to just want you to explore other ways of
1:00:43
Speaker 7: exploring your talent and your art. Be the amazing artists
1:00:49
Speaker 7: that you are, be the amazing athlete, be the amazing
1:00:53
Speaker 7: all this that you are. And understand business and understand
1:00:59
Speaker 7: how your specific platform adds dimensions to other people. And
1:01:05
Speaker 7: that's it.
1:01:06
Speaker 4: There you have it. There's no business like show business.
1:01:09
Speaker 8: Fact that's south allys would we all Oh, actually I
1:01:14
Speaker 8: put this out there, e y L will beginning and
1:01:18
Speaker 8: an oscar probably for a documentary.
1:01:21
Speaker 7: But soay, I mean, well, look, put the bro putting
1:01:25
Speaker 7: the good grip out here right now, pound it up.
1:01:28
Speaker 8: Let's do it.
1:01:29
Speaker 4: Let's do it. Yeah we need that. Yeah when that
1:01:32
Speaker 4: when when the documentary drops? Yeah, legendary status.
1:01:36
Speaker 5: Up there, either we're going to be receiving it or
1:01:39
Speaker 5: perhaps hosting. Not even just the Oscars, but you know
1:01:41
Speaker 5: a couple of film festivals, you know.
1:01:43
Speaker 4: The film festival light Work. Light Work has to have
1:01:46
Speaker 4: some people in our spare time we might know. Yeah,
1:01:50
Speaker 4: you know, yes, Troy house Keeping, I don't.
1:01:52
Speaker 5: Get shout everybody on patreon dot com. Shout out to
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Speaker 5: all our earners on EYL University the number one place
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1:01:59
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1:02:04
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1:02:11
Speaker 3: I ain't get it. Oh that's gonna.
1:02:14
Speaker 7: I would have rolled up in it.
1:02:16
Speaker 4: Got a care pack all right, guys, I see you
1:02:19
Speaker 4: next week. Peace is.
1:02:23
Speaker 6: My graduates from my school being forced bad drop bag drop, Mike,
1:02:30
Speaker 6: drop bad drop drop.
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