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Sista Brunch: Daily Summaries Delivered
by TruJuLo Productions
Whether you’re a seasoned professional in the film industry, an aspiring filmmaker, or a media enthusiast, Sista Brunch offers a rare glimpse into the professional lives of those who shape contemporary entertainment. It's an essential resource for understanding the role of an inclusive lens in crafting stories that resonate across audiences. Tune into Sista Brunch to hear the powerful voices of those leading the way in Hollywood and beyond. Learn from their experiences, get inspired by their stories, and gain insights into making your mark in the entertainment world.
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- 6 days ago8 min
Celebration Interviews, Vol. 1: Two Generations of Black Women Filmmakers on Integrity, Myths, and Defining Moments
At our Season Six Celebration and Season Seven Fundraiser, we set up a podcast room and invited our community to interview each other with prompt cards. This is the first of fifteen conversations from that day.USC film and television production freshman Addison Belhomme — who launched her own production company at 13 and directed two short films with First Lady Michelle Obama at 15 — trades questions with writer, director, producer, and actor Tamika Lamison. They talk about walking away from money that compromises your values, debunking the myth that Black and culturally specific material doesn't sell, and the moments that showed them their gifts could go somewhere.Watch the video version on YouTube.com/@TruJuLoMedia or Apple Podcasts. The full unedited conversation is available to members at patreon.com/sistabrunch.Filmed at The Recording Club, Santa Monica. Recorded during the Sista Brunch Season Six Celebration and Season Seven Fundraiser, produced with Pioneer Network.Sista Brunch is brought to you by TruJuLo Productions.Support the show: leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and join us at patreon.com/sistabrunch.
- 4 weeks ago1 min
Welcome to Sista Brunch: Black Women+ Thriving in Media
Pull up a chair. This is Sista Brunch.Sista Brunch is a weekly podcast sharing the stories of Black women and Black gender-expansive people thriving in film, TV, and media. Hosted by Fanshen Cox (she/they), co-author of the Inclusion Rider, the show is seven seasons and 140+ episodes deep — and still growing.Every week, our guests pull back the curtain. How they broke in. What their projects really cost. What they earn, and how they negotiate. The tools they can't work without. And the advice they'd give their younger selves.This trailer features the voices of Erika Green Swafford, Felicia D. Henderson, Effie T. Brown, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Rraine Hanson, Tre'vell Anderson, Gina Yashere, Isis King, Luchina Fisher, and Georgia Fort.Every listen helps us build the largest living archive of stories you won't hear anywhere else.New episodes every Tuesday.Watch and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@TruJuLoMediaFollow us on Instagram: instagram.com/sistabrunchpodcastJoin the community on Patreon: patreon.com/sistabrunchLearn more: sistabrunch.comSista Brunch is a TruJuLo Productions show.
- 4 weeks ago44 min
The UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report: What the 2026 Data Actually Says (with Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón & Jade Abston)
Four years running, the most-watched films on streaming have been led by Women of Color. So why is Hollywood still treating diverse stories as a risk?On this bonus episode of Sista Brunch, we sit down with Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón and Jade Abston, two of the researchers behind UCLA's Hollywood Diversity Report, to break down what the 2026 data actually shows about who gets to lead, direct, write, and who's actually watching.Dr. Ramón runs UCLA's Entertainment and Media Research Initiative and has spent more than two decades studying equity in Hollywood. Jade Abston is a PhD candidate at UCLA and a co-author on the report, whose own dissertation research looks at Black women's innovation in music videos and visual albums.We talk through the history of the report and why it had to be built independently of the studios, the numbers behind this year's findings for Black women in lead roles, directing, and writing, and the audience data that keeps proving the same point: Women of Color aren't just watching, they're driving the ratings.This conversation also unpacks something the headline numbers don't always show: how streaming algorithms shape what gets seen in the first place, and why visibility and sustainability are two different problems.Read the full UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report at socialsciences.ucla.eduHosted by Fanshen Cox (she/they) Guests: Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón, Jade AbstonSista Brunch is brought to you by TruJuLo Productions. Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/trujulomedia Follow on Instagram: @SistaBrunchPodcast Support the show: patreon.com/sistabrunch GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch sistabrunch.com
- Jun 16, 202647 min
Luchina Fisher on "The Dads," Storytelling as Activism, and Why Everything Starts With the Word
Show Notes How does an "army brat" with no Hollywood connections become an Emmy-winning documentarian whose work sits at the center of one of the most urgent conversations in America? In this bonus brunch, filmmaker Luchina Fisher pulls up a chair to talk about the long, unexpected road from journalism to the director's chair—and the craft, ethics, and relationships that carry a story from the page to the screen to the front lines. Luchina is an Emmy-winning filmmaker, educator, and 2026 North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame inductee. She's the director behind the new feature documentary The Dads—a follow-up to her Emmy-winning 2023 Netflix short of the same name, executive produced by Dwyane Wade—which follows fathers of trans and gender-expansive kids deciding whether to stay and fight or leave the country. If you make things, fund things, or care about stories that move people toward action, this one's for you. Luchina shares the three questions every filmmaker should ask before any project, why "everything starts with the word" no matter how the technology changes, how an 11-minute short sparked a movement and a foundation, and an honest look at the money—including why the starving-artist myth has to go and what it actually took to pay her team. Pull up a chair. Don't cry. Eat your chicken biscuit. (You'll understand by the end.) In This Episode [00:00] – Big news: Sista Brunch joins the 2026 AIR New Voices AMPLIFY cohort (supported by Apple Podcasts), plus shout-outs to cohort shows worth your follow [02:30] – Welcome to the brunch table: meet Luchina Fisher [04:00] – Her Journey: growing up an army brat, the '70s–'80s golden age of screen, and a big brother directing the neighborhood kids in backyard Star Trek [06:00] – Childhood in Germany, learning the language, and watching reel after reel on the military base [08:00] – UNC Chapel Hill, journalism, the Miami Herald, a lifelong friendship with Tananarive Due, and the leap to study film at the University of Bristol [12:00] – The three questions every filmmaker must ask: Why this? Why now? Why me? On bias, ethics, and "can I sleep at night?" [14:00] – Her brother's charge to "do something," her mother's story, and seeing firsthand the power and urgency of story [16:00] – Becoming a mother, parenting a trans child, and how Gloria Allen became Mama Gloria [18:00] – Why The Dads: the fathers who show up, and the narrative we don't hear enough [19:30] – Let's Talk Tech: from journalist to documentarian, shooting on everything from 16mm to digital, and why the story—not the gear—is the thing [24:30] – The short as poetry: getting it under 12 minutes, designing for middle America, and the Netflix call the day after the SXSW premiere [28:00] – Filmmaking is relationships: how the retreat itself grew out of Luchina's idea to film these dads [31:30] – Financials: paying your team a livable wage, the post–George Floyd commission wave, her 2024 Daytime Emmy, the lean stretch after, and teaching at Yale and Fairfield [36:30] – Building the feature: Stephen Chukumba's "let's keep filming," house-party fundraising, Dwyane Wade, and Elevate Studios [42:00] – Support Sista Brunch + a peek at this summer's Sista Sessions [42:50] – Where and how to see The Dads: festival run, Pride Month screenings, and community screenings you can bring to your own town [44:30] – Sista Brunch: Luchina sits down with her 19-year-old self in Chapel Hill—a chicken biscuit, and the words she needed to hear [46:30] – Closing love and gratitude Resource Stack Luchina Fisher & her work Director's site: luchinafisher.com Production company: Little Light Productions The Dads (feature): thedadsfilm.com The Dads Foundation: thedadsfoundation.org The Dads (2023 Emmy-winning short) — on Netf
- Jun 9, 202621 min
The Insider Language of Hollywood: Every Season 7 Guest Decodes Their Craft
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, 202626 min
What Hollywood Actually Pays: 14 Guests Tell the Truth About Money | Sista Brunch S7 Financials
Nobody talks about money in Hollywood. This episode, everybody does. In this Sista Brunch Season 7 bonus episode, all 14 of our regular season guests answer the question most shows never ask: what did you actually get paid? What does it really cost? And what do you wish you'd known about money before you started? What you'll hear: -- A producer who made $75,000 on Real Women Have Curves, underpaid herself on Dear White People, and did Project Greenlight because her house was about to be foreclosed on -- Why the 5% producer fee is a standard that almost nobody actually makes, confirmed from both the producer's side and the studio executive's side -- Studio salary bands broken down from assistant to EVP, and why a director title at Netflix is an SVP at a traditional studio -- A senior vice president who discovered a white male vice president at her same network made $100,000 more per year -- The advice that changed her consulting career: "Don't walk into a room for less than $500 an hour" -- How an Emmy-winning Netflix documentary was made for under $1 million -- How an independent journalist launched a TV show for $150,000 and why she budgeted for two seasons before starting one -- Unscripted showrunner rates: $5,000 to $7,000 a week when it's good, and then unemployment when it's not -- Location manager scale: $2,000 a week entry level, $4,000+ for supervising location managers -- What a composer should charge on a feature film: roughly 10% of the budget for music -- Why a production designer won't take a short film for less than $1,000 and what that minimum really covers -- The one program where union-track training for below-the-line careers is completely free -- Why every film is a startup: LLC, financing, hiring, product, close -- A media futurist's consulting rates: $5,000 to $15,000 for speaking engagements -- How a first-time filmmaker funded her feature through investors, favors, and never asking anyone for anything before in her life Secrets keep us siloed. This episode breaks the silence. 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. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Watch the full episode on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia. Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram. Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch. Keywords: Hollywood salary, producer pay, film budget, entertainment industry salary, how much do producers make, studio executive salary, consulting rates, independent film budget, Dear White People, Real Women Have Curves, Black Barbie, Netflix documentary, location manager salary, composer fee, unscripted showrunner, production designer rate, Hollywood CPR, Sista Brunch, film industry money, entertainment career, pay gap Hollywood, inclusion rider, Producers United, freelance entertainment, film financing
- May 19, 202624 min
Charlie T. Savage: Our Own Associate Producer’s Secret Feature Film Premiering at ABFF
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, 202637 min
Effie Brown on Project Greenlight, Producer Pay & Why Distribution Eats First | Sista Brunch S7
Effie T. Brown is an award-winning producer, CEO of Game Changer Films, and a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her producing credits include Real Women Have Curves and Dear White People, and she made history when she challenged the lack of diversity on HBO's Project Greenlight -- a moment that helped spark the creation of the Inclusion Rider.In this season seven finale of Sista Brunch, Effie delivers one of the most transparent and unfiltered conversations we've ever had: -- Growing up as a latchkey kid in New Jersey and seeing Alien as a child -- the moment she realized women can save themselves and storytelling can bring everyone together -- Getting into the LMU film school on sheer audacity: "I'm gonna be bigger than Jerry Bruckheimer and Oprah Winfrey" -- The first class of Film Independent's Project Involve -- The full Project Greenlight story: what happened at the premiere, reading Matt Damon's microexpressions, and learning that she'd never hear from them again -- How that moment led directly to the Inclusion Rider and now state-level inclusion policy through the California Film Commission -- Real producer pay: $75K on Real Women Have Curves, underpaying herself on Dear White People, and doing Project Greenlight because her house was about to be foreclosed on -- Why producers should never defer their 5%: "You know who doesn't put their fee back? The director. The actors. The writers." -- Producers United and the fight for development fees and commencement fees -- Her quilting practice, Conjure Quilts: putting disparate pieces together to make something whole -- What verticals are and why they're the future: "Candy Crush with a narrative" -- Her vision for a collective fund where multiple companies pool resources and replenish the pot -- 18 years sober, gumbo, and the advice to her younger self: have a lot of sex and learn about distribution because they eat first and eat the most Effie was born at Fort Dix, New Jersey, attended Loyola Marymount University on a theater scholarship, and has spent her career making sure overlooked voices get heard, seen, paid, and credited.Keywords: Effie Brown, Sista Brunch Podcast, Game Changer Films, Project Greenlight, Inclusion Rider, Real Women Have Curves, Dear White People, producer salary, film producer, Academy Governor, micro drama, verticals, AKUNA, Idris Elba, Conjure Quilts, Film Independent, Project Involve, Producers United, independent film, Black women in Hollywood, distribution, entertainment business, HBO, diversity inclusion, California Film Commission, LMU, circular leadership
About Sista Brunch
Whether you’re a seasoned professional in the film industry, an aspiring filmmaker, or a media enthusiast, Sista Brunch offers a rare glimpse into the professional lives of those who shape contemporary entertainment. It's an essential resource for understanding the role of an inclusive lens in crafting stories that resonate across audiences. Tune into Sista Brunch to hear the powerful voices of those leading the way in Hollywood and beyond. Learn from their experiences, get inspired by their stories, and gain insights into making your mark in the entertainment world.
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