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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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- 3 days ago21 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.
- 1 weeks ago26 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
- 3 weeks ago24 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: Project Greenlight, Real Producer Pay, and Why She’ll Never Stop Fighting
Effie T. Brown is an award-winning producer, CEO of Game Changer Films, and a Governor of the Academy. She produced Real Women Have Curves and Dear White People, and her stand on HBO's Project Greenlight helped spark the creation of the Inclusion Rider. In this Sista Brunch season seven finale, Effie holds nothing back. She shares the full Project Greenlight story and learns for the first time that her stand directly led to state-level inclusion policy. She breaks down what she actually earned on her most well-known films, why producers need to stop deferring their fees, and why she nearly lost her house between projects. She 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. This is one of the most candid conversations we've had in seven seasons. Also! Take a look at Effie's creations on her Etsy shop: Conjure Quilts: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ConjureQuilts Full episode available on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia.Follow @SistaBrunchPodcast on Instagram.Support the show at Patreon.com/SistaBrunch or GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch.
- May 5, 202637 min
Diana Williams: From the DGA Training Program to Building the Future of IP
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, 202629 min
Ashlee Hypolite: Running Hollywood’s Pipeline From Free Training to Union Careers
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, 202642 min
Aaliyah Williams: From Her First Short at Sundance to Netflix’s Black Barbie
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, 202634 min
How Stories Actually Get Greenlit: Kamala Avila-Salmon on Studio Deals, Salary Transparency & Inclusive Development
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
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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