Visionary costume designer Marie France shares the untold story behind the wardrobe for Prince's Purple Rain and Under the Cherry Moon, and how one sketch of a white ruffled shirt changed fashion history. From convincing Prince to wear lace for the first time to designing Apollonia's rock-and-roll rebellion in red and black, Marie reveals the high-pressure moment when she had to win over the music icon and trust her creative instincts.

Beyond her time working with Prince, Marie discusses her collaborations with Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, and Tupac, and how her different visions are fueled by reading, art, and philosophy, which she believes are just as essential to her craft in costume design. Marie reminds us that every project is a new puzzle, that boredom is the enemy of creativity, and that sometimes the most radical act is refusing to compromise your vision even when the industry tries to make you invisible.

Read Marie's interview in Black Star Rising and Purple Rain: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince (Duke Press): Chapter 18

https://www.dukeupress.edu/blackstar-rising-and-the-purple-reign

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:01:33 The Purple Rain Meeting: Convincing Prince to Hire Her
• 00:07:36 Designing the Iconic Ruffled Shirt in Real Time
• 00:12:24 Color Palettes and Character Design Philosophy
• 00:14:43 The Approval Process and Working with Prince's Vision
• 00:16:39 The Met Museum Exhibition and Fighting for Credit
• 00:20:51 Lace, Purple, and Shaping Prince's Fashion Legacy
• 00:22:59 The Difficult Transition: Leaving Prince's World for Cinema
• 00:28:32 Music vs Film: Different Design Approaches and Fan Connection
• 00:30:54 Navigating Marketing, Product Placement, and Creative Integrity
• 00:37:36 Working with Directors and Actors: Balancing Multiple Visions
• 00:41:42 The Accidental Career: From Paris to Bay Area to LA
• 00:44:35 Finding Purpose: The Moment She Knew This Was Her Path
• 00:46:30 Reflections on a Changing Industry and Advice for Young Artists
• 00:50:02 Global Cinema, Government Support, and the Future of Film

American actress Mattea Conforti’s career started on Broadway before she could drive. But lately, she attends Harvard and manages her breakout role of ‘Becka’ on Hulu's The Testaments. From playing young Elsa in Frozen 2 and starring in Matilda the Musical to now embodying Becka, a young woman navigating rebellion in The Handmaid’s Tale sequel, Mattea reveals what it takes to hold space for characters who are constantly fighting to express themselves in a world designed to silence them. She walks us through the process of building Becka's emotional arc across the season, from working with director Shana Stein (our previous episode!) to how some of her favorite courses at Harvard became essential for her character’s moral breaking point.

Watch The Testaments on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/the-testaments-9e859f3c-4ba0-48ed-8421-37b34ceffa04

Follow Matea Conforti: https://www.instagram.com/matteaconforti/?hl=en

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:00:46 Landing the Role of Becka While at Harvard
• 00:01:58 Balancing Academic Learning with On-Set Experience
• 00:04:03 Justice, Ethics, and Playing Becka
• 00:05:14 Reuniting with Director Shanna Stein
• 00:06:59 Filming Intense Scenes and Self-Care on Set
• 00:08:57 Growing Up as an Actor: Independence and Collaboration
• 00:10:52 Building the World of The Testaments and Sisterhood
• 00:12:43 Becka's Rebellion and Non-Verbal Storytelling
• 00:15:32 Playing Becka's Sexuality and Breaking Point
• 00:17:35 Finding Yourself in a Character
• 00:19:48 Psychology, The Heroine's Journey, and Women's Stories
• 00:20:52 What's Next for Becka in Season Two
• 00:22:15 Why Acting Brings Joy and Happiness
• 00:24:47 From Competitive Dance to Matilda: The Origin Story
• 00:26:42 Telling Stories That Inspire and Motivate
• 00:27:45 Closing Thoughts and What's Ahead

Director and executive producer Shana Stein joins Sparkle On to trace her path to directing some of television's most politically charged series, including Hulu's The Testaments, Amazon's The Boys, Power, 56 Days, Jack Ryan, and The Lincoln Lawyer. She shares how youth rebellion became the beating heart of her work on The Testaments (sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale) — a story about young women born into oppression who discover their power, rather than women who had freedom taken from them.

Shana walks us through how she thinks as a director: approaching each show as its own puzzle, finding the DNA that keeps fans coming back while bringing something new, and treating violence, movement, and color as tools to build tension rather than spectacle. Her signature, she explains, is giving showrunners more of what they love while quietly elevating it.

This conversation also reaches beyond the set — into the privilege of saying no, the power of mentorship, and the leap of faith it took to leave a fast-tracked agent career at William Morris and betting on herself at AFI. Shana reminds us that the stories we tell can shape the next generation, and that sometimes the most radical act is playing make-believe for a living.

Follow Shana Stein: https://www.instagram.com/shanasteindirect/?hl=en

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:00:45 The Process of Being Chosen for Major TV Shows
• 00:02:31 Meeting on The Testaments After the 2024 Election
• 00:05:59 Youth Rebellion and The Testaments' Hopeful Energy
• 00:07:35 Entering Different Worlds and Embodying Dystopia
• 00:09:49 Working with Young Actors and Creating Safety on Set
• 00:12:53 Different Styles: The Testaments vs The Boys
• 00:15:21 Building Tension and Becka's Pivotal Arc
• 00:22:41 Research, Meditation, and Staying Open to Ideas
• 00:24:07 Color Grading, LUTs, and the Made-for-Hulu Look
• 00:28:14 Improving Your Craft and Cracking Each Show's Puzzle
• 00:31:49 The Four-Year-Old Who Wanted to Move to Hollywood
• 00:32:57 The Awakening: Theater Camp and Seeing Broadway
• 00:37:40 Quitting the Agency and Betting on Film School
• 00:39:25 The Path from Producing to Directing
• 00:40:49 The First Directing Opportunity and Taking the Leap
• 00:42:48 Betting on Herself
• 00:45:13 Saying No and Choosing Family Over Fear
• 00:48:19 Raising the Next Generation and Mentorship
• 00:50:27 Closing Thoughts and Sparkle On

Grace Hong (Nolo Grace) joins Sparkle On to share how creativity became her corporate exit strategy and why building a life aligned with your artistry is worth the decade-long journey. As the founder of Parasol Music, an artist-driven agency and music label with placements in Disney's Moana, Avengers Doomsday, and Avatar Fire and Ash, Grace reveals the winding path from Wall Street to songwriting, production, and vocal direction for projects like the Olympics Closing ceremony with Kate Hudson.

From crying in Bali to releasing a single with Sean Kingston, Grace walks us through her transformation into an artist. She shares why leaving her corporate career to travel the world was the only way to deprogram and stop running from her true creativity. She reminds us that false starts aren't failures, rejection is part of the process, and sometimes it takes 10 years of feeling lost before everything clicks into place. Her story proves that the creative journey is never linear, and the only way forward is to trust yourself, collaborate with intention, and keep building even when you can't see the finish line.

Follow Grace Hong / Nolo Grace: https://www.instagram.com/nolograce/?hl=en

Parasol Music: https://www.parasolmusic.com

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:00:40 First Memories of Music and Early Creative Blocks
• 00:01:48 Journaling as Creative Expression and Escape
• 00:03:56 Discovering Musical Ancestry and Breaking Through Fear
• 00:06:21 The Corporate Path and the Illusion of Struggle
• 00:07:26 Burnout, the Leap, and the Metamorphosis
• 00:08:47 The Slow Rebirth: Teaching Herself Music from Scratch
• 00:14:23 Meeting Her Producer Husband and Finding Her Voice
• 00:18:13 Relationships as Mirrors and Creative Containers
• 00:23:52 Collaborating with Kate Hudson, Ludacris, and the Olympics
• 00:28:31 Giving Notes Without Crushing the Artist
• 00:31:20 From Negative Self-Talk to Love Is Worth It All
• 00:34:14 Writing Truth: Pain, Beauty, and the Song Called Mother
• 00:36:29 Turning Fragments into Songs Through Collaboration
• 00:38:35 Community, Wealth, and the Nomad Journey
• 00:41:23 Building the Ultimate Creative Project
• 00:43:53 Ten Years of False Starts and the Album I Exist

Author and screenwriter Alanna Bennett joins Sparkle On to discuss her debut novel The Education of Kia Greer, her work on Netflix's XO Kitty, and why teen stories remain some of the most powerful narratives in Hollywood. From her journalism days at BuzzFeed News to breaking into the writers' room, Alanna shares how she carved out a career telling young adult rom-com stories that center young Black women, queer characters, and the messy, beautiful crossroads of girlhood.

Alanna reveals how a pandemic rewatch of Keeping Up with the Kardashians sparked the idea for The Education of Kia Greer, a novel about a 16-year-old reality TV star who dreams of a normal life. She explains how she researched narcissistic family dynamics, the dehumanization of young women in the public eye, and the specific terror of growing up famous without choosing it.

This episode explores the vulnerability required to be a full-time artist, the constant negotiation between authenticity and commercial demands, and why Alanna believes that losing a job for staying true to your values is better than selling a piece of your soul. She reminds us that rejection never stops, and that the only way forward is to stop avoiding the writing and start putting yourself out there. Alanna's work proves that the stories we're most afraid to tell are often the ones that matter most.

Read The Education of Kia Greer: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739902/the-education-of-kia-greer-by-alanna-bennett/

Follow Alanna Bennett: https://www.instagram.com/alanabennett

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:01:04 Finding Her Story Beat: The Young Adult Rom-Com Niche
• 00:02:27 Convincing Hollywood That Teen Stories Matter
• 00:03:59 Playing Pretend and the Power of Jenny Han Characters
• 00:09:34 The Twilight Between Childhood and Adulthood
• 00:11:41 Casting, Representation, and Fighting for Characters
• 00:14:01 Knowing When Not to Compromise
• 00:16:39 The Birth of Kia Greer: A Pandemic Rewatch and Kylie Jenner
• 00:19:25 Dehumanization, Celebrity Culture, and Online Discourse
• 00:21:55 Making It Her Own: Beyond Kardashian Fanfic
• 00:24:43 Researching Complex Relationships and Narcissistic Mothers
• 00:27:24 One Wild and Precious Life: Mary Oliver and Agency
• 00:29:21 The Three E's: Exploration, Expression, and Elation
• 00:31:54 The Rat King Metaphor: Collaboration in the Writer's Room
• 00:34:08 Kitty's Exploration and the Yuri Crush
• 00:35:17 Advice for Young Writers: There's No Exact Path
• 00:39:33 Overcoming Fear: The Day She Stopped Being Afraid to Write
• 00:43:46 Stepping Into the Light Every Day
• 00:45:58 What's Next and Where to Find the Book

Being fierce has always been part of her presence. El Rose joins Sparkle On to share her journey from being a bedroom musician to a performer who has learned to channel rage, mythology, and sexuality through music. Her former identity left little room for creative exploration—until a lonely period in San Francisco led her to a guitar shop, a louder voice, and eventually Austin's thriving music scene.

El unpacks her Gothic noir aesthetic and femme fatale persona, drawing inspiration from biblical figures such as Mary Magdalene and mythological goddesses such as Circe. She explains how female sexuality has been weaponized throughout history, and why her music reclaims that power with unapologetic rage. This episode dives into the chokehold of creation, the isolation of being misunderstood by those closest to you, and why playing electric guitar in public for the first time is exactly the kind of intensity that fuels her art. El reminds us that we are all meant to create — and that magic happens when we stop overthinking and let it out.

Follow El Rose: https://www.instagram.com/elrosemusic__

New Single Technicolor: https://open.spotify.com/track/6robqey5ABEDaaJAybGruR?si=yNFH8bwuQmOTDglfT_GI5w

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:01:00 The Hidden Identity: From Soccer to Songwriting
• 00:02:45 The San Francisco Turning Point and Moving to Austin
• 00:04:26 Fashion, Expression, and the Femme Fatale Aesthetic
• 00:09:49 Writing Rage: Mythology, Goddesses, and Scorned Women
• 00:11:09 Catholic Upbringing and the Absence of Women
• 00:13:30 Mary Magdalene, Sexual Shame, and Reclaiming Power
• 00:16:23 Sexual Energy as Creative Energy
• 00:21:03 Crafting Sound Through Mood Boards and Movie References
• 00:27:58 The Late Bloomer Advantage and Breaking the Rules
• 00:38:40 The Chokehold of Creation and Letting Go
• 00:46:39 Feeling Everything: The Artist's Role and Magic of Creation

Named one of Apple's Best Books of May, debut novelist Sarah Wang joins Sparkle On to discuss her novel New Skin — a visceral exploration of plastic surgery addiction, immigrant identity, and an intense mother-daughter relationship set in Los Angeles. Sarah reveals how she spent over a decade crafting a story that uses the world of reality TV and botched plastic surgery as a lens to examine class and debt in America.

Sarah shares her process of rewriting entire subplots even after selling the book, from navigating rejection with determination to knowing when to protect the beating heart of a story while staying open to critique. She proves that you only need one yes, and that the stories we're most obsessed with are the ones worth telling.

Read New Skin: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/sarah-wang/new-skin/9780316607704/?lens=little-brown

Follow Sarah Wang: https://www.instagram.com/daikonoclast/

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:01:10 LA, Plastic Surgery, and the Spark for New Skin
• 00:02:50 Not a Cautionary Tale: Addiction, Class, and Debt in America
• 00:04:46 The Ten-Year Journey and Internal Pressure
• 00:06:47 Plot Building Through Revision and Rewriting
• 00:08:21 The Power of Community and Workshopping
• 00:13:39 Writing Is Not Therapy: Universal Truths in New Skin
• 00:16:46 Crafting Dialogue and Character Through Revision
• 00:18:02 Research, Reality TV, and Avoiding Replication
• 00:22:56 COVID, Scapegoating, and Game Theory on Reality TV
• 00:26:35 Writing From What Keeps You Up at Night
• 00:28:12 Letting Go and Embracing Reader Interpretations
• 00:29:52 Determination, Rejection, and Only Needing One Yes
• 00:31:36 Holding Onto the Core and What's Next

Devi Jags flips the mic and lets herself be interviewed for the first time, revealing the raw, unfiltered origin story of Sparkle On. From surviving violent events in college and rediscovering her fire through writing, Devi unpacks how creativity became her lifeline and why she refuses to let anyone define themselves by a single identity.

This solo episode dives into the messy, relentless, punk rock era of building a movement from scratch. Devi gets honest about the loneliness of wearing every hat, and what she's building behind the scenes beyond the podcast, and how the Sparkle movement is for that young girl who once felt like nothing.

She reminds us that magic exists, flying is possible, and the only way forward is to journal, lose control, and try, even when you're terrified of failing.

This is Sparkle On at its most vulnerable, and defiant.

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:00:50 The Origin Story of Sparkle
• 00:03:25 The Accidental Podcaster
• 00:06:41 The Reality of Podcasting
• 00:11:41 When Writing Works But the Podcast Doesn't
• 00:13:52 The Art of the Interview and Capturing Sparkle
• 00:15:06 Following Obsessions and Trusting Your Taste
• 00:17:58 Season Three and Doubling Down on Creativity
• 00:19:07 The Punk Rock Era: Rebelling Against Templates
• 00:22:41 Why This Movement Matters
• 00:25:42 Living in Alignment and Finding Purpose
• 00:29:56 Who This Podcast Is Really For
• 00:34:00 Inspiration, Action, and Believing in Magic
• 00:35:55 Building Something Bigger in Public
• 00:37:56 The Power of Songwriting and Storytelling
• 00:39:49 Journal Every Day

Singer-songwriter Joy Melan joins Sparkle On to share how fantasy and intentional melancholy fuel her transcendent old pop sound. From discovering her voice at 17 through poetry to performing with her band, The Wild, across Austin's collaborative music scene, she describes the delicate art of writing songs that help her listeners safely revisit their pain.

From Lady Gaga's unapologetic expression to the fashion rebellion of early 2000s movie heroines, Joy's style is entirely tied to her sound. In this episode, she explains how she dresses for the vision of her music, how she navigates a song’s story, and why her newest creative challenge is learning to write from a place of happiness rather than tragedy.

Brian Menke joins Sparkle On to share his journey from depression to healing through painting and music. A college friend of Devi's from Xavier University, Brian, opens up about the dark years when he lacked emotional outlets, turning to partying and self-destructive patterns.

Years later, Brian discusses how creativity became his lifeline, teaching us that art is “expression, not perfection.” He shares the interplay between his painting and songwriting, how Austin's collaborative creative community gave him permission to fully embrace his authentic self, and proves that our deepest wounds can become our most beautiful work.

• 00:00:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 00:00:54 College Depression and Early Struggles
• 00:04:00 The Creative Superpower and Self-Destruction
• 00:06:28 The Paintbrush Moment
• 00:08:34 Music and Painting as Different Expressions
• 00:11:10 Moving to Austin and Finding Permission
• 00:12:51 Toxic Masculinity and Embracing Feminine Energy
• 00:20:22 Expression Not Perfection: Teaching Art
• 00:18:17 The Blank Canvas and Trusting the Process
• 00:32:49 Vulnerability, Snapshots, and Helping One Person
• 00:36:36 What's Next and Touch the Art Show