REPLAY: Hanelle Culpepper — Emmy Nominee, and the First Woman to Launch a Star Trek Series

Hanelle Culpepper is nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for "Exodus," the season two finale of Paradise on Hulu. She is the second Black woman ever nominated in that category.

So we are bringing back our 2020 conversation with her, with a new introduction from Fanshen recorded ahead of the ceremony. In this episode, Hanelle tells Fanshen Cox and Anya Adams how she became the first woman to launch a Star Trek series in the franchise's history.

One meeting. No script.

A weekend to build a look book. Then Patrick Stewart's approval.

She also talks about having no plan B, about building a range of reels so she could direct anything, and about the thing her manager asked her that changed how she worked: did you actually tell them what you want? Star Trek turned sixty this month.

Hanelle got there first. Originally released in 2020 as episode 4, Season 2.

Recorded on the unceded territory of the Tongva and the Chumash in Los Angeles. Watch the full episode on YouTube: Sista Brunch team: Samantha K.

Henderson, Tasha Rogers, Ashanti Groves, Charlie T. Savage, and Shawn Pipkin-West.