Sanjay Shah is currently the co-showrunner of Season 1 and 2 of Apple TV's "Central Park."  His was previously a writer on the long-running series "King of the Hill," co-executive producer on the Fox comedy series "Enlisted," and writer and producer of "Fresh Off the Boat," from creator/showrunner Nahnatchka Khan.

No More Tokens: @nomoretokens

Mahesh Kotagi: @maheshkotagi

Daniel Marcha: @marchamakesmovies

Dawan Owens is an actor and comedian.  He also created a support and mentorship group for actors of color at John Rosenfeld Studios in LA. 

Some of his credits include the ABC, Kerry Washington-produced pilot "Man of the House" starring alongside Alyson Hannigan and Leslie Bibb; a series regular role on Tyler Perry's "If Loving You Is Wrong;" and recurring roles on Nextflix's "The Ranch," ABC'S "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", OWN's "Greenleaf," and Hulu's "All Night."

Floyd Reeves is a producer, writer, and the founder of Broken Barriers Productions – a social network for filmmakers of color – and Broken Barriers Entertainment, a Los Angeles based production company that creates content for digital, film, theater, and TV.

Broken Barriers has created over 80 events in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York.

Today we sat down with Gabrielle Ruiz and Pallavi Sastry, hosts of the very successful What Are Friends For Podcast!

They are both super talented and have built amazing careers in entertainment. We chat all things showbiz, advice on how to make it, and the best grocery store in the world!

Listen to What Are Friends For

@WAFFpodcast

Gabrielle Ruiz: @GabrielleRuiz

Pallavi Sastry: @HiPallaviSastry

No More Tokens: @nomoretokens

Mahesh Kotagi: @maheshkotagi

Daniel Marcha: @marchamakesmovies

Broadway actor and star Eric Anthony Lopez joins us this week! We chat about his experiences on Fox’s American Idol, diversity in the Broadway community, and acting in the record-breaking, longest-running Broadway musical, Phantom Of the Opera.  

Phantom of the Opera has the distinction of being the ONLY musical to continue performances SAFELY during COVID 19.

Eric Anthony Lopez made history by becoming the youngest actor in The Phantom of The Opera franchise to tackle the leading opera tenor role of “Ubaldo Piangi,” which he is currently covering (in addition to playing “Passarino” eight times a week) on the World Tour through 2023.

Eric Anthony Lopez: @eric.anthony.lopez

No More Tokens!: @nomoretokens Mahesh Kotagi: @maheshkotagi Daniel Marcha: @marchamakesmovies

With her infectious personality and unique sense of humor, Pittsburgh native Sujata Day has established herself as a performer, creator, writer, and director. She regularly performs in Upright Citizen Brigade's hit Asian AF show. Sujata is known for her starring role as CeCe in Issa Rae’s The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. She's recurred for three seasons on HBO's Insecure. Sujata is a #Sundance Lab fellow, Sundance Film Festival influencer, and Sundance Collab advisor. Her short film, Cowboy and Indian, sold to a major studio for series development with Sujata writing, producing and starring. She served as #HBO Visionaries Ambassador in 2019. She directs This Is My Story, a series in which beloved storyteller LeVar Burton narrates real life personal experiences of everyday racism. Sujata's debut feature film, #Definition Please, currently screens on the film festival circuit.

FB/IG/Twitter: @sujataday

TOBY LOUIE is an award-winning independent producer, originally from San Francisco, CA.

Toby produces television, recently making SNEAKERHEADS with Olive Bridge Entertainment for #Netflix. He has three new projects in the works, including an #Apple TV+ pilot with Annapurna, a docu-series about the #Lakers, and a project with Stay Gold.

His feature film, NIGHT OWLS, was released in 2015 to rave reviews and sold to #MGM. Toby has subsequently had films at many of the major festivals, including #Sundance, #SXSW, and #Tribeca.

In Memory of Chadwick Boseman

Liz Fields is an Asian-Australian-American writer and filmmaker who has traveled to 40 different countries across six continents searching for stories that illuminate human existence, struggles, and truth.

Liz became a staff writer at #ABC and was part of the #Emmy Award-winning team that launched #VICE News on #HBO. As a filmmaker, she explored the insanity of the modern American condition as a 2016 #presidential campaign embed, produced a #Netflix series on the global drug trade, and won a Gracie award and GLAAD nomination for her work on issues affecting minority women and the trans community.

Enjoy the episode!

Shannon Bills (f/k/a Shannon Malecki) is a casting associate at Greenstein Daniel Casting. In her seven years of casting she has worked on over 50 TV comedies such as #NBC's Superstore, American Housewife, Shrill and #Netflix #NeverHaveIEver. Last year she decided to take on a new passion coaching actors. Her goal is to motivate and excite actors about the work they're doing. She takes a holistic approach to acting by intuitively looking in and figuring out blocks that are keeping you out of alignment with what you desire most.