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Activists Around the World: Hannah Beachler · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. I don't for stephone
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: never told your production of I Heart Radio and welcome
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to another Activist around the World. And Annie, you and
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: I were going back and forth about the name still
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: because you know, I still can't settle on what I
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: want to call this segment. Maybe we should just call
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: it Feminists around the World, because it's not necessarily like
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  Speaker 1: they would title themselves activists, even though whatever they do
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: probably could be considered activism. So maybe we'll do a
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  Speaker 1: Feminist around the World so that doesn't tie us down
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  Speaker 1: too hard. What do you think? I think it's hilarious
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  Speaker 1: that we I was with you when you had this idea,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: and I'm like, why did this not come earlier? I
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  Speaker 1: don't know why. Everybody think about seems to make the
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  Speaker 1: most sense. But yea, also if we started calling it
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  Speaker 1: that that we just had the brainstorm two years after
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: the fact, this has been a long journey, apparently. And
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: it's February, and I hate that month because I can't
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  Speaker 1: say the word, not because I hate the months necessarily,
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  Speaker 1: but in this month, it is a Black History month.
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  Speaker 1: And though we want to make sure that we are
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  Speaker 1: always talking about the activism and advocacy from the black
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  Speaker 1: community and of the black community all year round. We
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  Speaker 1: definitely want to talk and celebrate about the change Bakers today.
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  Speaker 1: So yes, we celebrate this month, but yes, we think
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  Speaker 1: it should be all year long. So we've not pinned
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  Speaker 1: down to being like the shortest of the month. You know,
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  Speaker 1: it seems very racist, but we're gonna I'm just gonna
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  Speaker 1: leave it there, I guess, just leave it there before
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  Speaker 1: we start. Any did you ever do the design classes
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: or I think it was called industrial arts in my school, Uh,
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  Speaker 1: like making the bridges out of the sticks, or trying
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to design your own roller coaster. Oh yeah, we actually
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  Speaker 1: usually did that in just science classes. I think in
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  Speaker 1: fifth grade we did the roller coaster, which I loved
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  Speaker 1: because I love roller coasters. Um, we did the designing
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  Speaker 1: bridges one and I have I believe I've told the
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  Speaker 1: story before, but I have a lot of trauma around
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  Speaker 1: it and glue and I will never, never, not be
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  Speaker 1: able to think of glue with this negative sense because
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  Speaker 1: of that that experience. We also did the one where
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  Speaker 1: you had to design um out of straws something to
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: drop an egg off of a roof and see if
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  Speaker 1: you could protect the egg. Um, we had to make
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  Speaker 1: cars and see how far they could go, which I
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  Speaker 1: also that fell apart of me as well. It was
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  Speaker 1: a good idea. The follow through wasn't there? Those are?
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  Speaker 1: Those are the big ones that are coming to mind? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: So that was a whole elective for our high school
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  Speaker 1: and I took it and all those things sound very familiar.
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  Speaker 1: We had the bridge that we had to test out.
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  Speaker 1: I think one did pretty well. The roller coaster of
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  Speaker 1: mine was not. I had like these big ideas did
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  Speaker 1: not pay out. Um, we did like an airplane thing
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: as well, and my brilliant idea was to want it
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  Speaker 1: into a piece of paper and throw it and not
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  Speaker 1: want They accepted it. Hey, it's pretty good, you know.
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  Speaker 1: I had to do what I had to do well.
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  Speaker 1: Today we're actually talking about Oscar winner designer and architect
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  Speaker 1: Hannah Bakler. And though it's usually Eve's who brings us
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  Speaker 1: the feminist first, we are doing one ourselves because, as
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  Speaker 1: you all know, we love to give flowers to those
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  Speaker 1: who are still around to receive them, and we're going
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  Speaker 1: to do so. Yes, And Bickler was a first for
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  Speaker 1: several categories. Um, the first African American to be nominated
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  Speaker 1: for the Academy Award for a Production Design, the first
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  Speaker 1: African American to win that award, and the first woman
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  Speaker 1: and person of color to work as a production designer
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  Speaker 1: on a Marvel Superhero film. Um b Cler, you might
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  Speaker 1: say was born for this. Her parents were an architect
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  Speaker 1: and an interior designer, and she was no stranger to
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  Speaker 1: the design and art world um as. She attended the
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  Speaker 1: University of Since Natty, studying and graduating for fashion design,
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  Speaker 1: and then she went on to a Right state university
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  Speaker 1: to study film and In a twenty sixteen interview with
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  Speaker 1: Filmmaker magazine, when she was asked about her love for
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  Speaker 1: the movies, Biegler said, I grew up in Centerville, Ohio.
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  Speaker 1: All I did was watch movies. I would go inside
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  Speaker 1: of the TV and that was it. I wouldn't even
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  Speaker 1: hear anybody talking to me. My dad was an architect
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  Speaker 1: and he built the house we grew up in. My
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  Speaker 1: mom was an interior designer and my aunt was an artist.
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  Speaker 1: So I was always around creative forces and yeah, and
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  Speaker 1: her parents influences has always stayed with her. In another interview,
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  Speaker 1: she talked about her father's words about creating. I'd say
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  Speaker 1: to him, Dad, I want you to design the house
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  Speaker 1: that I'll live in when I'm older. He would always
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  Speaker 1: tell me, I can't design that until I understand where
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  Speaker 1: it is, until I understand the land is going to
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  Speaker 1: sit on, And being young, I was like, you really
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  Speaker 1: won't design me a house. But as I've gotten older,
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  Speaker 1: I've come to understand what he meant. You can't see
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  Speaker 1: anything until you understand where it lives, and it something
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  Speaker 1: that has stayed with her in her very successful career.
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  Speaker 1: In Biekler did her first collaboration with director Ryan Coogler
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  Speaker 1: on fruit Vale Station, which led to her continued work
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  Speaker 1: with Coogler for Creed and both of the Black Panther films.
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  Speaker 1: Her inspiration for different films was unique for every movie.
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  Speaker 1: Her work in design for Miles Ahead, a drama based
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  Speaker 1: on Miles Davis, was all set with no stage shots
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  Speaker 1: and inspired by a few silent film shots. And it's
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  Speaker 1: in size like that that has really made her a
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  Speaker 1: standout in her field right, but being one of the
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  Speaker 1: few black women in the field has brought on some obstacles.
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  Speaker 1: In her recent interview with Architectural Digest, she says the
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  Speaker 1: biggest obstacle was proving that I was capable of handling
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  Speaker 1: any sized department and holding the vision of the film,
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  Speaker 1: simultaneously making sure that both sides management and creative were
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  Speaker 1: at at all times, all while trying to make a
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  Speaker 1: name for myself outside of New Orleans. Also being a
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  Speaker 1: black woman in a space where there were no black
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  Speaker 1: people and very few women was a huge challenge. When
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  Speaker 1: the stakes are high, the stress is immeasurable, and you
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  Speaker 1: just pushed through the naysayers and concentrate on the people
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  Speaker 1: who are creatively, like minded and supportive, who allow you
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  Speaker 1: to be yourself with no caveats and to be as
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  Speaker 1: creative as your imagination will allow. And yeah, she's doing
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  Speaker 1: exactly that. In another interview from fifteen, she goes asked
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  Speaker 1: about her process and how she even begins and and
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  Speaker 1: she said, the first step in any of it for
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  Speaker 1: me is sitting down with the script and connecting. I've
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  Speaker 1: got to be able to connect to the script, and
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  Speaker 1: then you know the filmmakers as well. With that, I
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  Speaker 1: will pretty much do a deck or a look book,
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  Speaker 1: and depending on the film and how big the presentation is,
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  Speaker 1: obviously that sort of is like what fell out of
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  Speaker 1: my head as I read the script and then notes
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  Speaker 1: that that I took and this is what I saw.
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  Speaker 1: My first reaction, my first initial reaction to that. Her
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  Speaker 1: hard work and imagination have been seen in her productions,
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  Speaker 1: including in the recent film Black Panther, Wi Condor Forever.
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  Speaker 1: In for her process in creating the beautiful lands of
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  Speaker 1: both Waconda and Toto Khan, she talks about the importance
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  Speaker 1: of using not only the history of the lands, but
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  Speaker 1: also the folklore and the legend where she applied for
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  Speaker 1: the underwater world based on the underworld realms of the
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  Speaker 1: Aztec Codices, and all of her work has been noticed.
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  Speaker 1: Alongside her twenty nineteen Academy Award for Black Panthers, she
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  Speaker 1: has received the Hollywood Film Awards, Saturn Awards, Critics Choice Awards,
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  Speaker 1: a d G Award for her work in the production
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  Speaker 1: design for Beyonce's Lemonade, and many more. Yeah um And
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  Speaker 1: In that same Architectural Digest interview, Bleaker was asked what
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  Speaker 1: advice she would give to the bipod community who are
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  Speaker 1: interested in design, and she says, research, research, research. If
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  Speaker 1: there's something you want to do in design, no matter
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  Speaker 1: what it is, use your drive and resourcefulness to get there,
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  Speaker 1: put yourself out there, write an email or a letter
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  Speaker 1: to someone you admire in the field, talk to people,
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  Speaker 1: go to events, dream big, take risks, be yourself. Don't
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  Speaker 1: put a time limit on your dreams. I didn't get
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  Speaker 1: fruit fille station until I was forty two years old,
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  Speaker 1: and I didn't win an oscar until I was forty
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  Speaker 1: nine years old. I love that. Yeah, I love that too.
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  Speaker 1: That's such a great quote. Also love how she's like,
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  Speaker 1: I didn't win an oscar times forty nine. It's not
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  Speaker 1: that old, but I love it like anybody good. But yes, amazing,
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  Speaker 1: amazing work. Uh And I've enjoyed it and I can't
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  Speaker 1: wait to see what else she does, very very exciting.
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  Speaker 1: So as always, I'm sure we'll have an update in
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  Speaker 1: the future about what she's up to you. But in
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  Speaker 1: the meantime, if you have any suggestions listeners for someone
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  Speaker 1: we should talk about on this segment whatever we will
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  Speaker 1: call it, let us know. You can emails at Stuff Media,
• 8:42
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• 8:45
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• 8:48
  Speaker 1: dog at stuff I've Never Told You. Thanks as always
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: to our super producer Christy, No, thank you and thanks
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: to you for listening stuff I Never told you subjection
• 8:56
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