ABFF 2015: Creators, Producers & Showrunners Talk Breaking into the Industry, Staying Encouraged, Being Mainstream + More

Over the years, we’ve dealt with pushback against Black stories being told on the big and small screens. At this year’s American Black Film Festival, a panel of creators, producers and writers of some of the most riveting shows on television shared their experiences and words of advice as Black content creators. Panelists included, Janine Sherman Barrois ("ER," "Criminal Minds"), Chris Spencer ("Real Husbands of Hollywood"), Mara Brock Akil ("Girlfriends," "Being Mary Jane") and Salim Akil ("Soul Food the Series," "The Game").

Shadow and Act was present for the lively discussion. Here are some highlights.

On Becoming A Showrunner

Chris Spencer: I guess it just came to me. As an actor we are out there auditioning, and we are trying to impress people. They stopped liking me. I was working with the Wayans and Keenen (Ivory Wayans), told me “You need to create your own lane, your own empire.” So, I started writing. I started doing a lot of writing for comedians, whether it was their standup specials or if they hosted an award show. I wrote for Kevin Hart, Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps, Chris Rock, I was always one of the guys they would call upon to start writing. So I was fortunate that when I was writing for Kevin Hart and the 2012 BET Awards, I came up with this little sketch called “The Real Husbands of Hollywood”. It took off because it was brilliant.  It went viral, so people were taking that little itty bitty sketch and showing it to all of their friends, they were creating fake Facebook accounts, and fake Twitter accounts, and there were petitions to get the show on TV. So when it sold, I became a creator and then a showrunner, but it wasn’t as if I sat back and said that one day I wanted to be a showrunner.  My goal was to be Eddie Murphy.

Mara Brock Akil: I wanted to be a showrunner. I knew I wanted control of the story, and I found out later that the name of that person was called a showrunner. I got to meet my mentors, Ralph Farquhar (Mosesha, The Parkers) and Mike Weithorn (South Central, The King of Queens), and when I figured out who they were, I knew what it was that I was supposed to do. I just sort of marched toward that. It’s funny that Janine is sitting here because she was an integral part in my transition from being a production assistant (PA), which is like the entry level role for a writer. Janine was Ralph’s assistant. Janine and Ralph’s other assistants were the advocates for me. The were putting my script in front of Ralph and when I got three seconds with him I was able to pitch myself as a writer for South Central.  When I saw South Central, that was the kind of TV show I knew I wanted to write and I knew I wanted to be apart of. But you have to first take that first step. So I wanted to publicly thank you [Janine]. I know I’ve thanked you in person. I had help, is what I’m trying to say.

Janine Sherman Barrois: You came sort of right before that. I was going to say you helped me, because when I saw you and Gina [Prince Bythewood], I was like oh my God, I want to do that.

Mara Brock Akil: Yes, that was when we were doing South Central. So literally like, Gina Prince Bythewood (Love & Basketball) was at that table, Kathleen McGhee-Anderson (Lincoln Heights) was sitting at that table, Micheal Weithorn, Ralph Farquhar, Gary Hardwick (Deliver Us From Eva, The Brothers), they were all sitting at that table. And Janine, you were right across the way and we all had each other’s backs. Even Tracey Blackwell was a PA at the same time. Tracey Blackwell is now an executive at The CW. Tracey was an assistant to Tom Nunen, who was at UPN and Kelly Edwards was an executive. My point is, the advocacy for me came not from higher ups, but from people on the ground, my peers who wanted the same thing that I wanted, helped me to get Ralph’s attention.

Salim Akil: I was just hustling and grinding. I actually got a film made and it went to Sundance, and after Sundance, Showtime reached out to me and asked me what I wanted to do next. And that took awhile. I wanted to make another film, but I was broke. So when Showtime called, I had something I wanted to do next and they liked it. I was going to produce it and John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) was going to direct it, but that never happened. So Showtime said, “Well, look, we have this show that we’re about to do called Soul Food.” They asked me if I would go in and interview for a writing position, and I did. And to Mara’s point, one of Mara’s best friends, Felicia D. Henderson (Sister, Sister, Gossip Girl), was the showrunner and I got the job and worked there. I think I started at the lowest point, like a staff writer position. Felicia sort of became my mentor so; she asked me at the end of the first season what I wanted to do. And I said, “Well, I want to direct next season.” She laughed at me.  But, sure enough as a story editor, I wound up directing two episodes and then Felicia left in the third year and she asked me what I wanted to do, and I said, “Well I want to run the show, since you aren’t running it.” She really was an advocate for me to run the show, and I wound up running it. That’s how I got into it. I just felt like it was management, but then when I got into it, I realized it was much more. It was fun.

Janine Sherman Barrois: I guess like I was saying, watching Mara, watching Gina Prince and all of these other people, I just said, “This is what I want to do, I want to do what Ralph Farquhar is doing.” I didn’t get a writing break on South Central, but I got a break because I was around people as an assistant. And from that job, I went on to assist different people and eventually got into the Warner Brothers program. Warner Brother’s has a writing program that finds talent and acts as a colander to business. So I was in that program, and from that I got staffed on Lush Life, a show from Yvette Lee Bowser when she was doing Living Single, and that only lasted about six episodes, and then I got hired on to The Jamie Foxx Show and I did that for two or three years. And after Jamie Foxx, I got hired on The PJs, and so I did that for a couple years. Then, I wrote a movie that got the attention of John Wells, who is one of the biggest television dramatic producers.  He was doing The West Wing and Third Watch at the time, and he hired me; and that was sort of my big break.  I spent the next five years on Third Watch, the next four years rising up to executive producer on ER and then my former boss who created Third Watch hired me as an executive producer on Criminal Minds. And so it is this sort of advocacy of people who have seen your work who fight for you, because you need mentors.

Continue Reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: ABFF 2015 "Life of A Showrunner" Panel

My Thoughts on the "Dark Girls" Trailer

So, I don't know if you've heard, but there has been a lot of buzz surrounding this upcoming documentary by Bill Duke and D. Chassin Berry entitled Dark Girls. Watch the Trailer As one of the darker black women that I know I feel like I have some authority on the topic. Let me start off by saying, I understand what they were trying to do when they made this documentary and I also understand that these are only a few clips from a much larger film. So let me get into how I feel so far, I really really wanted to like this trailer and feel inspired by it, I really did. Instead I feel upset and somewhat insulted by what I saw.  During my childhood, I will go ahead and say it, one of the biggest insults that got thrown my way related to the how dark my skin was. From what I can remember it was mostly about how dark my hands and feet were compared to my classmates and other kids. I think being called a "burnt duck" because I was also rather thin and had glasses is probably the biggest insult that I can recall.  Because of incidents like this, I can say that I have had the experience of others trying to make me feel bad about myself, because of their own personal ignorance and hang ups. However, as the women began to talk about how their parents (their mother's especially) also felt that their dark skin was somehow inadequate or unclean I began to lose interest. (Some people should never have kids). I realize that many of these thoughts and feelings have been historically ingrained into the Black community and the result is a rather large chunk of color struck Black people. However, one thing that my wonderful parents ingrained in me was how beautiful I was as a person inside and out and how beautiful my skin was as well. I suppose I never personally had a problem with my own skin color, instead it also seemed to bother other people. I remember once in about seventh grade, a boy asked my why I always wore so many bright colors when I was so dark. ( If you know me you know that I love my bright ass colors.) I suppose that comment made me feel some type of way because  I began to wear only dark colors for the remainder of the year until I stopped and considered things for myself. I came to the conclusion that I loved color so I was going to wear it and I felt silly for letting someones rude comment influence me.  When it comes to dating Black men (which I must say are the only men I have yet to date), I am mostly approached with lines that have to do with the color of my skin. My personal favorite was "Aren't you afriad all that chocolate is going to melt in the sun?" Sometimes fools even just shout CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE!!! at me as I go down the street.  I can go ahead and say that I suppose it is and exotic attraction for some men which is cool. (Its that same thing when men like multiracial ambiguous looking women.)  However, others are just creepy as hell and have a dark skin fetish (which trust me is GROSS). It seems to me though that most me are just attracted to women in general and have no regard or preference for skin color etc :). Others may just simply have a preference for lighter skin women which is also cool because  if he's not looking at me then I'm certainly not looking at him. Instead of just stating this fact, the film directors had to show a clip of this ignorant buffoon saying that dark skin girls look funny besides him, and he likes light skin girls with long hair don't care. To which I would have politely responded "Negro please, you have on a five-doller hoodie from the beauty supply store", but that's neither here nor there. He could've just said he preferred lighter women. What his fool ass failed to realize is that beauty does not come in a certain shade or with a certain hair length or texture, there are plenty of unattractive and attractive people in all categories.   For example once, this fool at my school who is right about my skin tone grinned up in my face and told me that I was, "the most beautiful dark skin girl he had ever seen." Apparently he expected me to somehow be grateful and happy that he'd looked my way. Instead, I gave him my signature side eye and look of disgust and I promptly walked away.  In the Dark Girls trailer the women go on to say that though men might approach them it was always on some sort of down low type of thing. This is the part where I was most insulted and annoyed. I feel that it is each individual person's responsibility to build up some adequete self worth and self esteem for themselves. One woman talked about how some dude she talked to, would only meet her after school and around the corner and how she was never in public with him. Personally, I feel like thats what you chose to accept and with any woman if you allow a man to treat you any type of way, then he will. So in that I'm sorry I cannot understand why they would allow themselves to be treated any less then they are worth. I do realize that self- esteem is also an uphill battle for most ( I had my own struggles in puberty and even at times in high school) but, we are all human beings here so being treated like one is the first step. (Also poor self- esteem is never attractive). The trailer goes on to discuss how the subject of hair length and even texture is also a subject that can be talked about when discussing skin color. Like I discussed in my previous blog Hair my own hair was always somwhat of a sore subject with me and it is something that I have to personally work on. However, hair length has nothing to do with the color of your skin, many Black women simply do not take care of their hair properly and the constant manipulation into different styles is also harmful at times. All of the really long haired Black women that I peronally know have actually brown to dark-brown skin.  The trailer then went on to show this ignorant broad who was absolutely ridiculous.com saying that "natural hair looks unclean." I'm not even going to waste my time being annoyed, I shall simply blame her lack of education and not comment any further. The trailer ended with a woman discussing racism among members of the Black commmunity which I agree is a big problem.  Admitly, we like to hate on one another and that becomes problematic when our children are still picking the white doll from the Brown v. Board experiment sixty-plus years later because they feel that white or lighter skin is better. Once we as a people stop buying into that foolishness then other poeple will too. I also wholehardly disagree with the woman who says that we in the Black community have no tangible connection to one another. If you are Black and you don't claim it  then that seems like a personal issue to me. However, the rest of us can watch Black films and television shows and even comedy specials and at once have an intimate understanding of the content and subjects because of our collective memory and experiences. (Secretly, when I'm lonely for Black people at school (which is about 3% Black) I watch episodes of Soul Food the series).  Like I've said everyone has their prefereces and there is nothing wrong with that, but as a beautiful dark skin black woman with some decent self- esteem I'm not going to pretend that I have problems getting men or that I somehow feel less than because of my skin tone.  (If dark skin Black men are seen as some of the most beautiful people in the world, then their feminine counterpart should be right there with them.) If you want to buy into the fact that its harder because you are darker then by all means go ahead and sit at home alone, or let men treat you any type of way. The only person that you are hurting is yourself.  I really hope that the documentary is much more well rounded and less sefl-deprecating then the trailer because thus far, it seems like a pity party that I will not be attending.  Anyway as my mama use to say, "Good Black Don't Crack". Watch the trailer and let me know what you think. xoxoxox Chocolate Girl In the City

Love Jones

Basically my favorite movie of all time. As a Cinema Studies student I study films and television and trust me when i say there are some films that if i never saw them again for the rest of my life it would be entirely too soon. SMH i mean seriously have you ever had to stare at the same image from an hour as the camera slowly panned out. LOL Im not spending a ridiculous amount of money at NYU to fall asleep in class. Anyways back to the best movie of all time. I literally could watch this movie every single day and never grow tired of it. This may sound pathetic but I will go ahead and admit that I spent this past Valentines Day alone in my NYU dorm chowing down on Mexican Food and watching the film for the millionth time. It was a fabulous time. Anywhoo if you're interested and I hope that you are peep the review below and then if you haven't seen it NETFLIX that bad boy ASAP:

Love Jones

In describing her experience with Black Cinema, Black female filmmaker Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dusk) said, “…some people assume that because they’ve never seen or heard of something then no one has…it doesn’t exist.” It seems to me that according to Hollywood, Black people don’t even like one another, which means there is certainly no room for love and romance between them. What is so brilliant about Theodore Witcher’s first and only film is the authenticity that he brings to the screen regarding the lives of urban young Black people; an authenticity almost never seen in Hollywood. According to the scholar Amiri Baraka, “Witcher apparently wants us to recognize these verbal exchanges and their accompanying bodily attitudes with a contemporary performance–oriented African American culture.”

Using black and white photographs of Chicago’s still very racially segregated South Side, Love Jones opens, immediately thrusting the viewer into the urban space of Black Chicago in the 1990’s. Darius Lovehall (Larenz Tate) meets Nina Mosley (Nia Long) in a neo-soul poetry café. Neither individual is too much focused on their love life; their careers seem to be at the forefront of their consciousness. But alas, we humans typically succumb to the desires of the flesh. Initially, their relationship is not really a “love thang”, though the sex is good; Nina and Darius realize their connection is a bit more than causal.

What I find most interesting about the film is that initially, Witcher allows his characters to step out of their traditional gendered roles. Nina approaches Darius outside of the poetry café on the night that they first meet. Despite the fact that he is with a group of his mostly male friends, she boldly checks him out, giving him the once over, typically reserved for the male gaze. Darius on the other hand, though masculine in his assertiveness, is also depicted as extremely sensitive. On their first date, he’s attentive and caring to Nina, even cooking her a cheese omelet the next morning. However, as their relationship continues, the couple reverts back to their traditional gender roles, which makes for the main conflict and tension in the film. Witcher has enough confidence in his material and in his audience to allow us to watch the relationship deteriorate, moving from the new and exciting to the mundane and emotionally unbearable.

The only major issue that I have with the film is that during a hiatus with Darius, Nina goes out with his homeboy Hollywood. Really?! Witcher loses me for a moment here. Nina reacts as if she does not realize Wood has a sexual interest in her and she’s simply being led to believe that they are just “chillin”. Witcher in this instance strips Nina of any redeeming qualities that I so related to, she’s suddenly pathetic and ridiculous seeking any male attention that comes her way. Nina is not even framed as if she were trying to get revenge on Darius, which would have made the most sense to me.

Otherwise, the film is near perfection, Lisa Nicole Carson (Ally McBeal), Isaiah Washington (Grey’s Anatomy) and Bill Bellamy (How To Be A Player) add brilliant humor and dialogue. Larenz Tate (Menace II Society) is at the peak of his career and Nia Long (Soul Food) is stunning and wonderful as always. The Chicago backdrop versus the typical New York or California one is also a refreshing and welcomed change. The steamy sex scene alone, with Maxwell crooning in the background, makes my lower regions tingle, and makes the film worthwhile in itself. Love Jones may never be a place you’ve ever been, but it will not leave you disappointed.

Physics this shit ain’t. Love…passion doesn’t make sense. It just is.

Citations

George Alexander, Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema (New York: Broadway Books, 2003), 237.

Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. “Muzing New Hoods, Making New Identities: Film, Hip-Hop Culture, and Jazz Music” Callaloo, Vol. 25, No. 1(2002): 318