Post In Black

In Episode 2 of Post in Black, we sit down with editors and former ACE interns Kakhi Maxwell Jr. and Annabelle Toe. They break down their journeys from early American Cinema Editors (ACE) internships to carving out successful careers in post-production today. About the Guests: Kakhi Maxwell Jr. is an editor and post-production professional currently working on the hit series Reasonable Doubt. He brings a unique perspective to the cutting room, sharing his incredible journey from working in construction to pivoting into reality TV, and ultimately landing in major narrative television. Annabelle Toe is a Los Angeles-based editor and USC School of Cinematic Arts alum whose credits include editing the narrative feature Bigger Problems, directing and editing the film project Dibii, and working across short narrative films like With Love, Grandma. Kakhi and Annabelle share honest insights on breaking into the edit bay, building lasting industry connections, and applying real-world lessons from current sets and cutting rooms to advance your career.

We are BACK!  Film composer and singer-songwriter Shameka Dwight kicks off the Season 7 Premiere of Post in Black! Discover how she navigates scoring and independent music production.

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE: Welcome to the monumental Season 7 Premiere of the Post in Black podcast! We are kicking off this brand new season of celebrating Black excellence behind the lens and speaker by sitting down with the phenomenal singer, songwriter, producer, and film composer Shameka Dwight.

From landing original music on television soundtracks to releasing her deeply evocative project, Where Is Your Heart? | Cinematic Folk Songs, Shameka is a true visionary in the music and post-production space. In this season opener, she takes us behind the scenes of her brilliant creative process. Shameka gets completely raw and honest about learning to trust her own production instincts, navigating the complex world of sync licensing, and overcoming the industry expectations that try to box in Black creators.

Whether you're an aspiring music editor, a filmmaker looking for scoring secrets, or a fan of powerful storytelling, this episode is an absolute masterclass in creative resilience.

Our conversation with Brian Vickers, Lead Music Supervisor at Walt Disney Studios, is both inspiring and insightful as he shares how an early passion for music evolved into an extraordinary career.

Brian has worked on a ton of projects like Project Runway, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Khloé & Lamar, Kourtney & Kim Take New York, The Real World and Bad Girls Club, including trailer campaigns for Avengers: Infinity War, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Black Panther and The Incredibles 2, to name a few.

If you've ever found yourself obsessed with a movie soundtrack or a perfectly placed song over a scene, this is the episode for you. 

Brian takes us on a journey as to how he, as a Howard University grad from Birmingham, Alabama, ended up moving to Los Angeles in 2008, right before the writers' strike and how the industry's pivot to reality TV steered his early career. 

We talk about how the Bernie Mac Show was the series that opened his eyes to music supervision, his thoughts on AI in the music industry and what he wants aspiring creatives interested in sync to know about being 'sync friendly.'

It'll become immediately apparent that Calmatic is keenly ingenious and artistically perceptive. Within the span of this conversation, the award-winning director takes you on a journey that reaffirms why it's so important to trust your art and creative instinct. Infused with your unique experiences and chance-taking, your wildest dreams can come true.

The strides he's earned in the industry are already major. Both released in the same year, 2023, to be exact, he directed two huge remakes, House Party and White Men Can't Jump. He won an MTV Music Video Award for Best Direction for Old Town Road and a Grammy Award for Best Music Video. He's worked with industry titans Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Anderson .Paak, Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z, to name a few. His success in directing commercials has landed him a coveted place among Super Bowl commercials and work featured for many, many global brands including Apple, Sprite, NBA, Uber, Chase and Nissan. He was also named Director of the Year by Ad Age.

We get to find out what it was like directing Kendrick Lamar's 'squabble up' music video, being a filmmaker and artist from South Central LA.

Even the corners of this conversation are riveting. We talk about how being motivated by passion helps creatives cultivate their own style. Not only does he share amazing advice but we get a lesson on how quality doesn't always have to be perfect.

Marcus Myrick does not shy away from being a 'nepo baby' and it's endearing. 

His projects include G.I. Joe: Renegades, Family Guy, The Looney Tunes Show, Tron: Uprising, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters, Camp Lazlo! and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. He was also an assistant editor on Black Dynamite. With such an impressive list of projects, Marcus shares how his father, Ron Myrick, a veteran in the animation industry, played a pivotal role in his career of choice. 

Now, with over 20 years in the industry, we talk about that longevity as well as what being an animatic editor is in post-production. We dive into how the industry continues to evolve regarding technology and content and how during times when opportunities are few, connections mean everything. 

Marcus offers advice for aspiring editors and adds what he's learned from his dad and how it's helped him navigate his career and life.

On this episode of Post In Black, we talk to film and television editor Angela Latimer. Angela's career began as an assistant editor, where she worked on films and series like The Old Guard, Downsizing and Drop Dead Diva, to name a few. More recently, she has been an editor on some of television’s most talked-about series, including Forever, Grown-ish, Bel-Air, Hush and First Kill.

Having always wanted to get into the entertainment industry but not necessarily knowing how, she shares how editing first started off for her as a side hustle. We also get into how moving to LA and getting a Master of Fine Arts in Editing from the American Film Institute was a culture shock that proved to be a pivotal power move that enhanced her approach to editing.

Angela lauds the power of thinking outside the box and how it's propelled her craft. She also shares priceless insights from her unique perspective as an editor in the film and television space.

What do Malcolm X, Barack Obama and Janet Jackson all have in common?

Listen long enough to this fantastic conversation with Kaela Brown, an assistant finishing colorist at Marvel Studios and you'll find out.

Kaela's extensive experience in post-production includes a ton of popular projects like Euphoria, Loki, The Morning Show, Eyes of Wakanda, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Agatha All Along, X-Men '97 and Dish Nation.

Going from a journalism major to working in marketing on shows for luminaries like Katie Couric, Ellen DeGeneres and Queen Latifah, Kaela's first major opportunity came from the very place that had initially ejected her.

Her unique perspective and experience as a Black woman working in an arena where she infuses color science into some of Hollywood's biggest productions is awe-inspiring and she has quite the advice for others seeking to do the same.

If you've ever wondered how the coloring of a project informs the emotional aspect of the story, what the workflow of a colorist can look like and why you shouldn't second-guess your dreams, this is the conversation for you. 

Dave Kalema is an assistant editor at Library Films. His journey into post-production is interestingly unique, and we're sure it'll be an inspirational conversation as he steadily drops gems of wisdom throughout.We talk about his eclectic upbringing and how growing up between Uganda and the US gave him the valuable skill of adaptability. With sports as an early passion, it was this avenue that gave him his first look at both business and editing.We learn about the times in his life when putting himself out there and creating opportunities from nothing gave him the trajectory he needed. He also shares how he impressively navigated without connections.Later in the episode, we're joined by Jennifer Sofio Hall and Bedonna Smith, phenoms and founders of Industry Standard. They share what was so rare about Dave's story that he was offered a residency at Industry Standard, a program for creative professionals that aims to connect talent with opportunity. Their recollection is so moving, surely it'll help you dive into your unique story in order to rise to the top. #EditingJourney #BehindTheScenes #PostProduction #OpportunityDave Kalemahttps://www.instagram.com/davekalema/Industry Standardhttps://www.industrystandard.workhttps://www.instagram.com/industrystandard.work---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***GIVEAWAY ALERT***A huge thank you to our sponsors at Avid for the incredible opportunity to raffle off a one-year subscription to Media Composer as a thank you for watching.To enter, please visit https://postinblack.com/avid/ to register and submit your information. The link will remain active for a week after each episode airs and we’ll announce the winner the following week via IG Live and via email.Stay tuned for more episodes of Post In Black's sixth season as we continue to amplify the stories and experiences of Black professionals working in post-production. Look out for new episodes every second and fourth Wednesday.Host: David Hunter Jr. | Executive Producers: Daniel K. Hunter, David Hunter Jr, Tatiana M. Johnson | Producers: Eric Johnson, Aurelia Belfield | Editors: SutchiLee Productions | Audio Post Production: Trailblazer StudiosTheme Song: "Sanctuary" by Chvrles Produced by Made for More Entertainment in association with Trailblazer Studios and SutchiLee Productions

Amanda Jones has had quite a career, as evident in this really insightful conversation about her journey as a film and television composer. One of her latest projects, Number One on the Call Sheet, is a prolific, eye-opening two-part Apple TV+ documentary featuring candid conversations with some of the entertainment industry's biggest stars, like Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Idris Elba, Whoopi Goldberg, Viola Davis, Denzel Washington and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, to name just a few.

Amanda's career includes BET's Twenties from Lena Waithe, OWN's Cherish the Day, produced by Ava DuVernay and A Black Lady Sketch Show, produced by Robin Thede and Issa Rae. We learn about the empowerment she received from this powerful group of Black women so early in her journey.

Amanda earned her first Emmy nomination for Home, an Apple TV+ series and became the first Black woman nominated for an Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score) Emmy. Later, Amanda was awarded a Daytime Emmy Award for Home.

The idea of following one's passion resonates heavily throughout this conversation. Amanda shares that her love of sounds, more specifically music, started around the age of 3. After graduating from Vassar College and later, studying film scoring and orchestration at Berklee College of Music, she landed an internship with Hans Zimmer and it was an opportunity at Lionsgate that helped give her a more 360-degree sense of the business side of things.

Other takeaways from this multifaceted chat hone in on creating a sonic language for films and TV, the importance of asking questions, communication and collaboration during the creative process, having a strong creative voice, knowing when to delegate as well as fighting off stigmas reserved for women of color and mothers.

A co-founder of Composers Diversity Collective, Amanda's other credits include Somebody Somewhere, Good Trouble, Naomi, Young Love, 7 Days, Dreamland: The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street, Definition Please, Moving On, The Perfect Find, Mea Culpa, Jodie and the new Apple TV+ series, Murderbot.  

We talk to award-winning actor, writer, producer, playwright and educator Fanshen Cox, a dynamo in the entertainment industry.

Born for great things, we begin our highly anticipated conversation celebrating February birthdays and the intriguing meaning behind her name which seemingly foreshadowed her professional path and progress in Hollywood.

With a passion for acting at a young age, Fanshen talks about later moving to LA and becoming captivated by the idea that as an actor, she should write and produce her own material, which led to a renowned one-woman show that eventually her childhood friends, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, signed on to executive produce.

As the founder of TruJuLo Productions, it becomes quite clear that Fanshen's legacy is largely one of pushing for necessary change in Hollywood as she's also the co-author of the Inclusion Rider and producer and host of Sista Brunch, a Webby-nominated podcast that highlights Black women working in Hollywood.

Currently, as the DEIA Initiative Manager for the California Film Commission, we get her perspective on the ever-changing cultural, political and creative shifts in the industry, historically and currently and how enterprising creatives should move forward.

If you're looking for inspiration, this is the conversation for you!🌟

#DiversityInFilm #HollywoodChangemaker #InclusionRider #DiversityInFilm #SistaBrunch #MattDamon #BenAffleck #TruJuLo #CaliforniaFilmCommission #ActorLife #FilmProducer #PodcastInterview #WomenInEntertainment #BlackExcellence #CreativeGrind