- The reason I wanted to produce is because
it was obviously a story that's very close to my heart
that I felt really passionate about.
I mean, it's based on a version of my life,
and some things that have happened in my life.
And so, it was really intimidating to start producing,
because I'd never done it before,
and I was the youngest,
and I was also the only female producer.
So it was a big room to step into and find my voice in.
I feel like it was such a rewarding experience,
and everyone including Kyla and Portia was so supportive
in just letting me learn along the way
and figure out how, how to do this job.
- She's hands-on.
I love it.
He's literally there watching and learning,
and making sure everything was good.
And even when like Jamie did something,
she's like, nope, that's not it that,
Dad, no, I don't like that. (laughs)
- I'm not afraid to call him out.
- When it's boss time, she is a boss.
And that is what I think you need in entertainment.
And what you need in business is to have that likability.
But also it's like, no,
take me serious because I'm serious about my craft.
I know what I'm doing.
And I see this vision and this is her story.
- I'm curious, was it intimidating for you to both,
to step into roles that you did because obviously,
Portia you kind of know, you know,
who it's based off, your characters,
and Kyla, you know me.
And so I'm curious for you guys,
did you guys feel pressure?
I hope you didn't.
And that was, that was my goal was
for you guys to not feel any pressure to,
to like anybody in our family,
and to really kind of bring your own kind of flavor.
I, initially stepping into the role of Sasha,
I was a tiny bit intimidated, just cause, you know,
I'm playing a character based off of a real life person,
who is Corrine, but from the very first day,
you were very open with me in terms of
wanting me to make the character my own.
And you specified that to me.
And then you gave me your number,
and you're like, you know, text me,
call me if you need any help,
if you have any questions.
And I just respected that so much because it just,
you really became a support system from day one.
And I'm very appreciative of that.
- To come in and to play like a sister is amazing,
and it's just been a blessing to have her onboard.
- Being, you know, the women in the production,
like we kind of have to lean on one another
and support one another.
And you know, there's certain unique challenges
that we're gonna be facing that,
you know the men on set aren't going to be facing,
and the pressures and there's certain things.
And so I just wanted to be that for you guys,
so that you guys could go to me with whatever that was.
- Yeah, that was,
I think one of the coolest moments is
when she was on set is one of our last few days there,
she was walking around,
getting interviews with all of us,
like hey, state your name, state your role.
Tell us what you love doing here.
What's your favorite scene?
I'm like, wait, is she playing videographer?
And like behind the scenes camera person too?
- Doing it all.
- She was doing it all.
I'm like wait, did she just fix a light that I'm unaware of?
(laughs) She's doing it all cause
she's passionate about what she does,
passionate about what she wants to see come to life.
And as a woman in entertainment,
you have to have that,
that gut and that angst and that passion for what you do.
And you could tell that she has it.
When she came, you knew she was there,
and what she wanted to happen got done.
Like even Jane was like,
up, the boss lady's here. Boss lady's here.
- I had to grow into that.
I was super intimidated in the beginning of production.
Like I just felt like the smallest person in the room,
like they were older than me, they were men.
And I was like, not that they weren't so, so sweet.
And they are, there's still just that dynamic.
And I feel like I finally grew into the role by the end.
I've been really excited as an actor,
and also as a producer to create shows and movies
with people that look like me,
at least for me growing up,
I wasn't really seeing the full scope
of what my own family looked like.
- Absolutely. To piggyback off that too,
Growing up as like, as a kid actress,
I mean, honestly I was the only black girl on a show.
Like they didn't have several.
It was like, you were the one.
And now to look at the television shows that are on TV
to where you're seeing a full cast,
it just shows how far we've come along,
and how women are of course letting their voices be heard,
but also black women.
- It's very encouraging as a black teen
growing up in the entertainment industry,
to see that representation,
and to see people being recognized for their work
who happened to be people of color.
- And now there's a full scope of
what being a black woman looks like and what your role is.
And you can be the lead,
and you can be quirky.
And you can be this, you can be all, you can be everything,
because that's who we are.
- Being on a show now where it's like we're representing,
and we have the producer on board that is also a woman.
It's just like, it's beautiful,
that we can like, set the pace for what's to come.
And hopefully 20 years from now,
there are people after us that are saying wow,
thank you to you guys for representing that on television.
I remember auditioning for shows,
and landing one that's on Netflix right now.
The Parkers is another show that they brought back,
and it's been trending.
Girlfriend has been trending.
And at the time, there was one network for black shows.
And that was called UPN.
And when that network came out,
every black family that I knew would sit down,
you know everyday and watch these shows,
because it was really only one channel
that just catered to black content for comedies,
especially when it's, you know,
promoting and showcasing black families, black friends.
And I'm like, wow, this is amazing
for them to really see how much people
want to see that on television, and it,
and you have to understand,
it's not just black people watching the shows.
Look how many subscribers are on Netflix.
We're putting all shows on,
and all content on one network.
And whenever you guys gravitate to go watch it.
I get literally emails every day now
since the Parkers have come out
from people all over the world that are saying,
'Oh my God, I saw you in this show The Parkers.
I love it.'
I did that when I was like 17 or 18 years old.
And now it's back,
because they're bringing that content to the forefront.
So this show totally is the representation
of all the shows that we were seeing a long time ago.
But now there's more than one that we can watch.
- I've just seen the type of material
that gets greenlit changed so much.
And studios are looking for diverse leads,
and are actually being,
feeling the pressure and responding to the pressure
that's been there for so long.
I love how Netflix has such content
for people of all colors.
And that's why I'm glad that we're on this network,
because it's a family.
But it's not, it's like,
you're not watching a black family.
It's just a family.
You can relate to the niece, nephew,
the aunt, the cousin, the best friend.
We're just creating a great show.
And again, they were so good at bringing that to life.
And yeah, it's just been a blast just making it.