Dream Nation Love

Kevin started his career as a stunt man and martial arts choreographer. He is a Director, Writer, Producer and the Former Vice President of Lee Daniel’s Entertainment. Lee Daniel’s produced the Oscar-winning, Monster's Ball starring Halle Berry and The Woodsman starring Kevin Bacon. Kevin got his first break came when he (and his Creative Partner Larry Strong) directed the "Got a Crush... on Obama” video. It went viral and was viewed more than 100 million times worldwide. Check out his recent project “The Last Day of Xmas.” A horror movie from Executive producer Ghostface Killah and Rakim doing the composition. Kevin also talks about the story of Bumpy Johnson and his effort to bring it to the big screen.

Kevin’s is focused on expanding the idea of what diversity in filmmaking means. In his own words “It's important to me that the movie industry offers audiences a wide range of diverse voices telling stories.” Our conversation explores who gets to tell stories in the movie industry and the importance of representation in the writers room. This episode originated in a film group where we were discussing The Green Book. In the instance of The Green Book, Doctor Don Shirley’s family was not even consulted when his character was written. This is an important podcast about storytelling and diversity. We talk about everything from Catherine Zeta Jones going brown face for Cocaine Godmother to the brilliance of Donald Glover.

K.M. Rice is a national, award-winning Screenwriter and Author. She’s worked for both Magic Leap and Weta Workshop. Weta create special effects for tv and film and are known for their work on The Lord of the Rings.

On the episode, Kellie discusses the difference between Writers and Storytellers and shares her advice for overcoming writer's blocks. We talk about Creativity and how as adults we need to give ourselves the freedom to play. And play we did. On the show our conversation jumps around between Crowdfunding, Female Heroes, and Creative Manias.

This episode is focused on Daniel's book "How Soon is Now? From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation." We discuss how to redesign our social systems to avoid extinction, global warming, and ecological collapse. Our conversation is centered around tech, consciousness, movements, capitalism, agriculture, and the environment. We also cover actions that people can take to help the planet and all of the living species on it.

Esther discusses techniques from her new book "How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results." Esther knows a thing or three about parenting. Her daughters are Susan, Janet, and Anne. Susan is the CEO of YouTube, Anne is Co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, and Janet is a Fulbright-winning anthropologist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UCSF.  Esther is also the founder of the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Program. She is also vice chair of the Creative Commons advisory council.

Alicia Forneret is a professional dedicated to creating new spaces for people to explore grief and grieving. We recorded this episode in the fall, in the beginning of the holiday season. A difficult time for someone who is missing their loved one.

Alicia speaks about greed and gives advice on end-of-life experiences. Through Alicia I found out that ashes contain sharp shards. Something I didn’t know before. We also talk about the way we handle grief in the workplace.

Her Dead Moms Club lapel pins help people commemorate, commiserate, and celebrate their dead moms. The pins are for everyone. People of all ages, all genders, all backgrounds. A friend, a family member, and maybe even your own mother.

She is currently becoming certified as a Life Cycle Celebrant to help people celebrate both life and death. Alicia is a council member on the BC Women’s Health Foundation’s Young Women Council (Vancouver, BC). She is also a cohort of the inaugural Lululemon Luminaries program.

Her written work has been featured on the pages of popular magazines and books, including (but not limited to) Modern Loss, Grief Dialogues, Vancouver Magazine, Loam, and Kinfolk. And my story and voice have been featured on CTV News, Grief Out Loud, InStyle, and more. You can find her writing my newsletter from coffee shops in Vancouver, running workshops with Reimagine in NYC, and hosting Death Over Dinner events across the United States and Canada. Visit https://alicaforneret.com/

A lifelong musician, Rebecca wrote her first song at the age of six. In College she studied Musical Theatre and went on to perform in various productions before starting a gospel group and becoming the music director at her Church. On the show we talk about her new song Destiny and how the term relates to our own individual journey. Rebecca shares her experiences on motherhood, love, faith, being a partner to Terry Crews, and composing music. She even spoke about Drake and the Grammys and we discuss the true meaning of success. Rebecca is also a Minister and this podcast was super inspiring.

Gregory Stevens moved to Palo Alto since he wanted to live and work in a Progressive town. This episode talks about a lot of very serious issues but it’s highly palatable (and delicious.) Gregory is a bright and witty human who seems to never run out of energy. He became a Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Palo Alto — a progressive church. There he proceeded to question what Progress was and who gets to benefit from it. In a town filled with millionaires and billionaires, Gregory brought attention to the poor communities that are being displaced by gentrification, as well as Police Brutality. We talk about how we have to bring attention to dominant systems of power that are destroying our planet. Stevens says "Scream like hell when you see injustice. But don’t just scream — create. Your scream has to be a “doing". Create a space in which the world that you want is real. Do something that is not dominated by money. In the shell of this scary and dark world, we are creating a beautiful, bright, vibrant alternative. A heaven on earth.”

We talk about her new book Disrupt-Her. A Manifesto for the Modern Woman. We talk about Entrepreneurship, naivety, business, women in business, LOHAS, and social impact. Her advice on fundraising and meeting people halfway is incredible helpful. Especially when it comes to raising funds for taboo products. I breathe a little heavy into the mic and interject excitingly. Miki had so many incredible ideas to share. Really loved hearing her speak about about animal instincts in women and men and how they contribute to competition. Fascinating conversations abound.

Savannah Em is a MMA Fighter. What makes her unique is not the fact that she's won her first two fights through knockouts. Or that her first One Championship fight was won in 81 seconds. It's the fact that this quite, shy, Illustrator can get in the ring and perform like a true warrior. Savannah is cute and deadly at the same time. Kinda like her "savage buddha" illustration. On the show we talk about her training routine, using viking music as motivation, and how she went from markers to MMA. She is also the girlfriend of Daniele Bolelli who was on the podcast earlier this year. As soon as I learned about Savannah, I knew I had to make the podcast a family affair. Daniele encouraged Savannah to take up martial arts since he's big into them as well. Now Savannah Em is a new face in the MMA. The two are literally a power couple. Expect more great fights from this champion.