Don't @ Me with Justin Simien

This week on Don’t @ Me, my friend and Dear White People writing producer/director Sam Bailey joins me as we tackle navigating the “industry of dreams” as Black creatives. The Chicago-bred, Emmy-nominated director and I talk about her being inspired by messy brown women, co-creating the hit web series Brown Girls, and operating as an outsider in Hollywood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In another live Zoom edition of Don’t @ Me I’m joined by Broadway-turned-TV superstar Alex Newell. We discuss his part in shaping his role as the gender-nonconforming neighbor Mo in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, growing up queer in the Black church, and why he is the perfect candidate to play Dreamgirls’ Effie White. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week’s episode of Don’t @ Me, the insanely hilarious Malcolm Barrett introduces me to his alter ego Verbal the Rapper. The actor-writer-rapper talks about starting Ammunition Theatre Company, not talking to white schoolmates for an entire year, and figuring out how to bring positive change as a Black creative amid protests and quarantine. Plus he drops a freestyle none of us saw coming! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week’s episode of Don’t @ Me, tap in and get therapized by the beloved Fab Five member Karamo Brown. From learning to live for joy, to facing pushback in shaping his Culture Expert role on Queer Eye and which of his fellow co-hosts is his favorite, Karamo spits nothing but gospel truths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s Don’t @ Me, my friend director Tiffany Johnson catches us up on her career growth in television! We discuss picking your battles, the role of the artist in times of trauma, and an all-Black Love Witch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this live via Zoom episode of Don’t @ Me, I welcome back my bestie, writer-director Dime Davis. We look at how far she’s come since her last visit as a newly Emmy-nominated director on A Black Lady Sketch Show, her work on season two of BET’s Boomerang, and how she knew her worth even before she blew up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Don't @ Me w/ Jarrett Hill? My friend, renowned journalist and fellow podcast host Jarrett Hill, asked to interview me on my podcast and how could I say no? Tune in to hear us break down my upcoming film BAD HAIR -- the inspiration, the backlash, the ancestral energy in it -- we get into it all. Check out the film, releasing October 23rd on Hulu! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Radha Blank came by for this week’s Don’t @ Me and she did not come to play! I talk to the brilliant writer-director of the Sundance darling “The 40-Year-Old Version.” Beware of gems dropping as Radha gets real about directing herself in her feature debut, commanding respect on set as a Black woman, and the Purple Rain reference in her film you just might’ve missed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tune in for a conversation with the godfather of Black gay cinema, Patrik-Ian Polk. The Punks writer-director talks to me about commerce vs artistic vision, American culture’s Black gay spirit, and how he ended up on a Prince tribute album. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Freshly emerged from Venus’s shell and into our (virtual) studio, Laverne Cox joins me for another Zoom edition of Don’t @ Me. We unpack her beginnings as a hustler, why EVERYONE should watch RuPaul’s Drag Race, and how she plans on coming out of quarantine spiritually evolved.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Everybody's favorite awkward Black girl Issa Rae joins us again and talks all about our sense of ownership over Black art, her expanding into Raedio, and the Insecure/Dear White People crossover you didn't realize already happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In another live Zoom edition of Don’t @ Me, I sit down with star-on-the-rise, actress Chanté Adams (The Photograph, Roxanne Roxanne) and talk all about her rapid ascension from college grad to movie star, her self-care routine, and seeing her relationship with the arts as a marriage.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a special live Zoom edition of Don’t @ Me, I’m joined by writer/director/fellow Texan Terence Nance as he talks Selah and the Spades, working with Solange, and the secret plot to 2001 Space Odyssey you probably missed — so don’t miss it!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In part two of my conversation with talented Zola director Janicza Bravo, she calls out Hollywood demons, pitches VR porn and discusses why she didn't want to do the "titty version" of Zola.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In part one of this two-part episode, tune in to hear filmmaker Justin Simien and the only Black Panamanian Jewish woman in comedy, Janicza Bravo, as they break down the dark comedy of being a Black director, the mixed response to Janicza’s debut film Lemon, and interrogating Whiteness in her work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Justin goes deep with Alma Har'el, the visionary director behind Honey Boy, written by and starring Shia LaBeouf (available now on VOD). Check out this one-of-a-kind conversation on fighting imposter syndrome on set, the healing properties of cinema, and Alma's unconventional path to directing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join filmmaker Justin Simien as he talks to stand-up comedian Sam Jay about her new Netflix special Sam Jay: 3 in the Morning, working with white people at SNL and whether or not cocaine is compatible with Black People. Don't @ Me is back ya'll!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the season finale of Don’t @ Me, Boots Riley shares his history, muses, and the long road to one of 2018’s finest films, Sorry to Bother You. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Justin talks about what it’s like to be a filmmaker outside of the traditional studio system with producers Alana Mayo from Michael B. Jordan's new production company, Outlier Society, and independent producer Cameron Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grab a snack for this chat with David Gelb, creator of Chef’s Table and director of Jiro Dreams of Sushi. He tells Justin about food as narrative subject and the making of a career in documentary film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You might recognize Dear White People’s Ashley Blaine Featherson (Joelle) and Courtney Sauls (Brooke). There is so much more to an actor’s life than getting a good part (think: never-ending auditions and scant parts for black women). Ashley and Courtney sit down with Justin and go deep on what success looks like for them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Justin is joined by Green Book director and writer, Peter Farrelly, and Kris Bowers, the film’s composer. They discuss the "white savior" trap films like this often fall into, the steps Peter took to avoid it, how Kris created the score, and the talents of the film’s stars Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Justin sits down with Issa Rae, the original Awkward Black Girl, to talk about what happens after your dreams come true, and what it's like to be expected to create work that covers the entire black experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Justin talks destiny with some true destiny experts. None other than Kelly Rowland from Destiny's Child and up-and-coming actor and singer Elle Lorraine talk about how they knew what their destiny was, when they knew it, and who inspired them along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writers Marvin Lemus and Travon Free solve the world's problems. Or, maybe they don't? Plus, Kanye West, black celebrity, and why Dia de los Muertos is not a Halloween costume. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How political is black art, and how much can black people critique it? A recent New York Times piece by Wesley Morris suggests that black art in this day and age is being critiqued for its politics rather than for its quality. Justin sits down with writers Chuck Hayward and Jarrett Hill to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Janet Mock is a director, producer, writer, activist, and a two times over New York Times bestselling author. But if she had to define her life's work, she'd tell you she was a storyteller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet the man responsible for “Netflix and chill,” bingeing, and a new business model that allowed for shows like Dear White People. Justin is joined by his boss, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lena Waithe is an actress and producer, but always a writer first. The Emmy-winner returns to talk about her projects in development (Queen and Slim, Twenties, Them), her creative process, and how she stays hungry.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When political institutions shut out wide swaths of people, the path to change is often through culture. Hip-hop scholar Jeff Chang gets political with Justin, calling out the strengths and stressors among black and Asian communities in California and American culture more broadly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zazie Beetz is back, with her writer-actor boyfriend David Rysdahl. Justin also brought his boyfriend, Rick Proctor, into the studio. Both baes are white. We discuss the deep personal growth and public perils of our interracial love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zazie Beetz (Atlanta, Deadpool 2) opens up about her struggle with anxiety, her biracial identity, and what becoming a public figure has meant for her personal journey on subjects like race and gender. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robin Thede broke new late night ground with her excellent (and widely adopted) show The Rundown on BET. What’s next for her and will we ever see a return of The Rundown? Plus, what to watch when we’re avoiding the news cycle: namely, POSE and Random Acts of Flyness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DuVernay is her last name. Array is her company. But on social media and to film and TV audiences worldwide, the director of A Wrinkle in Time and Selma needs very little introduction. Her name is simply Ava. Ava and Justin met when they both worked in publicity, and discuss how Hollywood will only make room for more voices and stories through systemic change. Plus, how Ava balances the stories she wants to tell and the desire to be recognized through awards, and her upcoming project for Netflix, Central Park Five. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film “The Watermelon Woman” was the first feature directed by a black lesbian. Cheryl traces her personal story and blend of AIDS activism, academia, and art school that prompted her to make the film, and the too-hot-to-touch subjects she’s exploring in her next feature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Angel Lopez is the new mold of Hollywood gatekeeper: gay, Latinx, a producer who also writes, a professional astrologer. He and Justin get real about being your authentic self in an industry built on sameness that’s obsessed with sales and sequels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kimberly Peirce’s breakout film “Boys Don’t Cry” was ahead of its time in 1999. Justin and Kim talk about the language around gender and sexuality, from who can say “butch” to what happens when previously accepted terms go out of vogue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who can use the N-word? How many writers and artists have a film like Moonlight waiting to be made? What was ScarJo thinking? We get into it with Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, platonic life partners and the incredible duo behind the new film Blindspotting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Barry Jenkins gained worldwide recognition with Moonlight, his film about the life of Chiron, a young black man in Florida struggling with his sexuality and a drug-addicted mom. Also of course, the whole Oscars catastrophe. Despite evidence (and awards) to the contrary, Barry doubts his own brilliance. We get into that, the best movie ever made (and the worst in recent memory). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Actors Marque Richardson and Kellee Stewart digest the new documentary, Whitney, which explores the complicated life of Whitney Houston. Plus, how Marque and Kellee learned to inhabit people’s lives in their characters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Justin is joined by friends and fellow directors Tiffany Johnson and Dime Davis. Each one has a different journey to finding their voice as a filmmaker. All three are nurtured by peers, and terrified of speaking ill of another black person’s film (even in a Don’t @ Me environment). Plus, nerding out about Caberet and the classic movie musical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join in as Justin sips and spills some tea with Lena Waithe (The Chi, Master of None) and Misha Green (Underground). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices