REALITY OF REALITY

Dometi Pongo is a journalist and host the MTV series True Life Crime, MTV News’ Need to Know and Conversations in Context on the Smithsonian Channel. He’s already done a ton in his short career and we get into how it all happened so fast for him (hint: he’s really smart and talented) and what his goals are for the future. We talk shop, Black Lives Matters and why he decided to start taking groups to Ghana a few years back. Enjoy!

Find Dometi and his shows here:

dometi.net

http://www.mtv.com/shows/true-life-crime/episode-guide

https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/details/series/conversations-in-context

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A lot of people in our industry know Stefanie Ziev, not just from her time as a network executive, but as their personal life coach. Stef’ coaches lots of people inside and outside our industry and now she’s launching a new podcast called Permission to Choose with guests like Mario Lopez and Darin Olien, co-host of the new Netflix show with Zac Efron. Stef and I talk about her career trajectory, how she’s navigating the pandemic (plus tips on how you can keep your sanity) and how to throw off those golden handcuffs and pursue the career or position you really want. I am in my feelings on this one and this might be the first time I actually cry on my own podcast.  You’ve been warned!

Find out more about Stefanie, her podcast and how to hire her here:

stefziev.com

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Casting director Jazzy Collins made headlines when she came out publicly to renounce ABC’s The Bachelor for not doing enough to cast people of color and criticize their lack of diversity behind the camera as well. Jazzy breaks down her powerful post, talks about how she experienced the show as a Black woman and how she’s hoping to change the industry from the inside when it comes to diversity. We also dig into her fun career casting shows like Flirty Dancing and The Circle and what the future looks like. Enjoy!

Courtney Sexton has the best job on the planet! As Senior Vice President for CNN Films since 2013, Courtney works day-to-day with filmmakers to supervise the production of documentary films for theatrical exhibition and distribution across CNN’s platforms. Some of the films we talk about include “Blackfish”, “Three Identical Strangers” and the new doc on HBO Max “On the Trail” – about women journalists covering the campaign trail for CNN. Courtney tells me how these docs came to be, what she’s looking for in a film, and who her “white whale” is as a documentary subject. You might be surprised!

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I’m thrilled to have Karina Longworth on the podcast today. Karina is the host of the very successful podcast YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS–every season is another deep dive into a story about old Hollywood. This latest season, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, is about the life and career of producer Polly Platt. I can’t remember the last time a series affected me so deeply. Karina is a former film critic and writer of books – most recently of Howard Hughes – and her writing and research skills are in full display in this podcast. We get into Polly’s story, how this podcast was able to come together, whether Polly’s experience in Hollywood as a woman would be different today and how doing the podcast effected Karina on a personal level. 

Karina’s podcast YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS:

http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-must-remember-this/id858124601

Karina’s latest book:

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My friend and TV blogger Brian Samuels is back for another recap of all the best shows we’re watching and recommend. From Fauda to Lenox Hill to Outcry to The Last Dance, we tell you about everything we love from the last few months. And of course we’ll tell you what we love to hate watch (looking at you Selling Sunset) and what you definitely want to miss. Enjoy!

Brian’s blog:

http://tvuncovered.com

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Tracy Tutor’s back for another round on the podcast! Tracy is the only female real estate agent on MILLION DOLLAR LISTING LA and a powerhouse rock star bad ass boss woman. Today we’re talking about her new book – Fear is a Four Letter Word – which is already a best seller (and a book I think every woman should read). We talk about the book, the impossible client from Malibu, the Pasadena drama with David and James and some new changes in her personal life since her divorce.

Buy Tracy’s book here:

https://www.amazon.com/Books-Tracy-Tutor/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ATracy+Tutor

Follow Tracy on IG:

https://www.instagram.com/tracytutor/

Listen to my first podcast with Tracy here:

Tracy Tutor – MILLION DOLLAR LISTING

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Carlos King is an uber successful Executive Producer who owns Kingdom Reign – a full service production company here in Los Angeles. He cut his teeth running shows like The Real Housewives of Atlanta and of course my favorite reality show ever Oprah: Season 25 Behind the Scenes. He created and now produces the hit show for OWN Love and Marriage Huntsville and the Netflix series Styling Hollywood. Carlos and I talk about how he started in reality TV, what it was like to meet Queen Oprah and how that show changed his life, why Black reality stars are judged by a different standard than their white counterparts and how he transitioned from show runner to running his own company.

Checkout Carlos’s company:

http://www.kingdomreignent.com/carlos-king/

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Back for the third time on the podcast: Laura Richards. Laura is a Criminal Profiler, Behavioral Analyst and Victims Rights Advocate. Today she’s back to talk about the recurring subject of serial predators and how they’re portrayed in unscripted content. I wanted to have Laura back on since Gihslane Maxwell is in the news now. She was finally arrested in the Jeffrey Epstein case and is being held without bail. We’re talking about JEFFREY EPSTEIN: FILTY RICH – the multi-part documentary now streaming on Netflix. We also touch down on ATHLETE A – an excellent doc also on Netflix which looks at how a group of journalists in Indianapolis  exposed Dr. Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of young gymnasts. Laura gets into how our language needs to change when we talk about these cases, the psychology behind these predators and what we can do to hold them and their enablers accountable. 

https://www.laurarichards.co.uk

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Today on the podcast, I’m continuing my conversation I started a few weeks ago with Black producers in the unscripted industry.  I’m talking to another amazing group of women: Erika Bryant, Jamala Gaither and Nakia Williams-Richardson. Erika is a seasoned Executive Producer who’s worked on shows like OWN’s Family or Fiance and Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta and Married to Medicine. Jamala is a Supervising Producer who just wrapped the HBO Max show The Event, produced Kevin Hart’s What the Fit for YouTube, Flirty Dancing for Fox and Encore! for Disney Plus. Nakia is a content creator and producer – working on shows like American Portrait for PBS, Real Housewives of Atlanta and Potomac for Bravo and Black Ink Crew for VH1. We cover a lot – including what it’s like to be the only black woman on a crew, the obstacles that have stood in their way in the business and what can be fixed to get better content and more representation behind the camera.

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