Sista Brunch

Jun 9 · 21m

What's Greeking? What's a Frankenbite? What does it mean to "package" a project? And why does a Hollywood producer call a sewing machine her most important piece of technology? In this Sista Brunch Season 7 bonus episode, every guest shares the tool, term, or technology from their craft that an outsider would never understand. From set dressing to composing, from location management to unscripted TV editing, from documentary law to the future of AI -- this is the insider language of the entertainment industry, decoded by the people who use it every day. Fourteen guests. Fourteen windows into how this industry actually works. Whether you're trying to break in or you've been in it for decades, you'll learn something you didn't know. Full episode available on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia. Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram. Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch.

Jun 5 · 53m

What do Hollywood producers, studio executives, showrunners, location managers, composers, and art department crew actually earn? In this special Sista Brunch compilation, 14 guests break the silence on the financial realities of working in film, television, and media -- sharing real numbers, real struggles, and real strategies for building financial sustainability in an industry that rarely talks openly about money. Kamala Avila-Salmon pulls back the curtain on studio budgets, explaining that producers typically capture just 2 to 3 percent of a film's budget, and that studio executives don't reliably break six figures until director level. Effie Brown shares what she actually earned producing Real Women Have Curves and Dear White People, reveals that Project Greenlight was a financial lifeline when her house was near foreclosure, and explains why producers who defer their fees are setting themselves up to fail -- she's received roughly $8,000 in residuals from Dear White People over an entire decade. April Reign talks about leaving a six-figure law career to freelance and consult in Hollywood, earning $5,000 to $15,000 per speaking engagement while building credibility in a new industry. Karen Horne discovered a white male VP at NBC made over $100,000 more per year than she did as a Senior Vice President running a department, then saw her compensation rise to well over half a million at Warner Media -- and still undercharged as a consultant until a client told her she wasn't pricing her worth. Kai Bowe breaks down showrunner rates in unscripted television, from a floor of $5,000 per week to $7,000 and up, and explains the tax advantages of running your career through an S Corp. Georgia Fort details how she launched a television show on a $150,000 budget through crowdfunding, local foundation support, and buying her own airtime, guided by a mentor's advice to always budget for two seasons, not one. Felicia D. Henderson talks about writing, directing, and producing a project with no salary, financing 98 percent through two key investors and the rest through relationships. Aaliyah Williams describes the long journey of documentary funding, from sizzle reels to full financing under a million dollars. Diana Williams reframes every creative project as a startup and every piece of IP as a business, arguing the entire industry has fundamentally changed since 2019. Asha Chai-Chang shares her strategy of keeping living costs low and targeting two to three times her expenses per week while building toward larger opportunities. Kelly Harris walks through location department pay scales -- $2,000 a week entry level, $2,500 for key assistants, and $4,000-plus for location managers, with union benefits including car and box rentals. Marie Douglas explains composer-for-hire economics, where a million-dollar film budget should allocate roughly $10,000 or more for music. Rraine Hanson sets a $1,000 floor for short film production design work and talks about protecting your bare minimum. And Ashlee Hypolite of Hollywood CPR explains how their training program remains free through community college partnerships. Topics covered: entertainment industry salaries, film producer compensation, studio executive pay bands, showrunner rates, unscripted television careers, location department union wages, composer rates, art department and production design pay, documentary film financing, independent film budgets, S Corp tax strategy for freelancers, pay equity in Hollywood, negotiating your worth, residuals, backend participation, crowdfunding for media, startup mentality for filmmakers, free industry training programs. Hosted by Fanshen Cox. Produced by TruJuLo Productions. Full video episode available on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia. Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram. Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch.

May 19 · 24m

While working as one of Sista Brunch's season seven associate producers, Charlie T. Savage was quietly making a feature film. Voices the Musical is a 1967 period piece with nine original songs, shot in nine days in Inglewood, now nominated for Best US Narrative Feature and Best Screenplay at the 30th Annual ABFF. In this bonus episode, Charlie shares the full journey -- co-writing the script in one month, fighting against the musical format (and being wrong), shooting a period piece with stunts and a 1965 car on a shoestring budget, and why networking across rather than up is the advice she'd give her younger self over a bag of crawfish and a Pineapple Big Shot. Full episode available on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia.Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram.Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch.  

May 12 · 45m

Effie T. Brown is an award-winning film and television producer, CEO of Game Changer Films, and a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She produced the groundbreaking independent films Real Women Have Curves and Dear White People, and her stand against a white male director hire on HBO's Project Greenlight helped spark the creation of the Inclusion Rider -- the contract provision co-authored by Sista Brunch host Fanshen Cox and announced at the 2018 Oscars. In this Sista Brunch season seven finale, Effie holds nothing back. She shares the full, unfiltered Project Greenlight story and learns for the first time, live on air, that her stand directly led to state-level inclusion policy in the California Film Commission's Tax Credit Program. She breaks down what she actually earned producing her most well-known films, why producers need to stop deferring their fees, and why she nearly lost her house between projects -- a candid look at the financial realities of independent film producing that rarely gets discussed publicly. Effie also talks about building micro-drama verticals with Idris Elba, her quilting practice Conjure Quilts, 18 years of sobriety, and the advice she'd give her younger self over a bowl of gumbo and a glass of sparkling water. Topics covered: independent film producing, producer compensation, deferred fees, Project Greenlight, Inclusion Rider, film financing, diversity in Hollywood, Academy governance, creative entrepreneurship, sobriety in the entertainment industry. Check out Effie's creations on her Etsy shop, Conjure Quilts: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ConjureQuilts Full video episode available on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia. Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram. Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch.

May 5 · 37m

Diana Williams is the CEO and co-founder of Kinetic Energy Entertainment, a multi-platform venture studio building franchise IP across film, TV, video games, and immersive experiences. She is the former Creative Development and Franchise Producer for Star Wars at Lucasfilm, where she co-founded ILM Immersive -- the lab behind Vader Immortal and the Academy Award-winning Carne y Arena. In this conversation, Diana shares her path from a farm community in New Jersey to Georgetown to becoming the youngest person ever admitted to the DGA Assistant Directors Training Program, to building franchise worlds at Lucasfilm, to launching her own venture studio. She breaks down the difference between an idea and real IP, why every project should be run as a business, why the entertainment industry has fundamentally changed since 2019, and what collaboration, craft, and curiosity have to do with cheeseburgers. This episode also features co-host Shawn Pipkin-West, who shares an unexpected DGA Training Program connection with Diana. Full episode available on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia.Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram.Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch. The Spotify description closes with "what collaboration, craft, and curiosity have to do with cheeseburgers" -- which is the kind of line that makes someone press play because they need to know the answer.

Apr 29 · 29m

Ashlee Hypolite is the Executive Director of Hollywood CPR, the nonprofit workforce development program that provides free, union-track training for below-the-line careers in film, TV, and live events. In this conversation, Ashlee shares her journey from Trinidadian roots in Boston to Brandeis to CAA to leading one of the most impactful pipeline programs in the industry. She breaks down how Hollywood CPR works, what the union local numbers mean, the real cost of entry (free), and why below-the-line careers are one of the most viable and most overlooked paths into entertainment. She also talks about philanthropy, nonprofit finances, and what it takes to keep a program like this sustainable. Apply at hollywoodcpr.org. Full episode available on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia.Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram.Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch.

Apr 21 · 42m

Aaliyah Williams is an Emmy Award-winning producer and founder of Just a Rebel. She produced Netflix's Black Barbie, which earned two Daytime Emmys and an NAACP Image Award through Shondaland. In this conversation, Aaliyah shares her full journey -- from Harvard to finance to moving to LA without a film degree, from assisting for Effie Brown to producing a first short on 35mm that ended at Sundance, from building digital platforms at All Def Digital and MACRO to the real story behind how Black Barbie got to Netflix. She breaks down what it took to negotiate a deal that properly compensated the Black women who made the film, why she went to UCLA Law mid-career, and what she's directing next. Full episode available on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia.Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram.Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch.

Apr 14 · 34m

Kamala Avila-Salmon is a producer, studio executive, and inclusion strategist who has been at the center of how stories get developed and greenlit at major studios. She is the founder of Kas Kas Productions and previously led inclusive content strategy at Lionsgate, where she was embedded in creative development, marketing, and the greenlight committee. In this episode, Kamala breaks down the real mechanics of the entertainment industry with rare transparency: -- How "packaging" works and why studios expect producers to arrive with director, cast, and script already attached -- What studio salary bands actually look like from assistant to EVP, including how tech company titles like Netflix don't translate to traditional studio levels -- How she cold-emailed Clive Davis as a Harvard undergrad and landed her first music industry job -- The difference between buyers, sellers, and makers in the entertainment ecosystem -- Why inclusion work has to start at the development stage, not the marketing phase -- Her Story Spark tool for evaluating scripts beyond surface-level representation -- How a conversation with the Lionsgate chairman led to her production deal and the birth of Kas Kas Productions -- What she'd tell her 22-year-old self over a bacon egg and cheese and a Hugo Spritz Kamala was born in Jamaica and moved to New York as a child. She attended Harvard for undergrad and business school, worked in the music industry during the digital disruption era, transitioned to film and TV, and built a career defined by passion, curiosity, and a refusal to accept figurehead roles. Sista Brunch is the podcast building the largest archive anywhere of the stories of Black women and Black gender expansive people thriving in film, TV, and media. Hosted by Fanshen Cox and Shawn Pipkin-West. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Watch the full episode on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia. Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram for clips, community, and resources. Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch. Keywords: Kamala Avila-Salmon, Sista Brunch Podcast, Kas Kas Productions, Lionsgate, studio executive, film producer, inclusive storytelling, greenlight process, packaging film, entertainment salary transparency, Black women in Hollywood, Harvard Business School, music industry, Netflix titles vs studio titles, Story Spark, inclusion strategy, creative development, independent producer, Jamaican heritage, media representation

Apr 7 · 45m

Journalist and media innovator Georgia Fort joins Fanshen and Shawn for a powerful conversation about her journey from radio intern to Emmy-nominated independent journalist — and why she's dedicating her career to building the next generation of storytellers. Georgia takes us inside the Derek Chauvin trial courtroom, talks about her transition from radio to TV news, and shares the deeply personal story of being detained by federal agents while doing her job. She also breaks down the business challenges facing independent journalism and why she founded the Center for Broadcast Journalism to invest in young journalists of color in Minnesota. Plus: Georgia's Let's Talk Tech segment on B-roll, and her beautiful answer to the Sista Brunch signature question. Support Georgia's work: https://www.centerforbroadcastjournalism.org/ Support Sista Brunch:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SistaBrunchGiveButter: https://givebutter.com/SistaBrunchInstagram: @SistaBrunchPodcastYouTube: @TruJuLoMediaWebsite: www.sistabrunch.com #SistaBrunch #BlackWomenInMedia #BlackWomenThriving #Journalism #GeorgiaFort #IndependentMedia #BroadcastJournalism #DerekChauvinTrial #PressFredom #MinnesotaJournalist #BlackPodcasts #WomenInMedia #PodcastClips