November 19, 2025 • 55 mins
The Questlove Show sits down with acclaimed cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw for an in-depth conversation on filmmaking, visual storytelling, and creative purpose. Autumn traces her path from photography to shaping films like Sinners, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Last Showgirl, while reflecting on how family, heritage, and collaborations with Ryan Coogler and Spike Jonze have influenced her style. She breaks down the importance of trust on set, building meaningful partnerships, and inspiring the next generation. Go behind the camera with one of today’s most visionary creators.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Loft Show is a production of iHeartRadio. We's Up, y'all.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to the Quest Love Show, new era and format
for QLs.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
After close to a decade.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Of award winning podcast that you Know and Love, I'm
back from a lengthy hiatus to have conversations with people
I always wanted to get to know on a deeper level.
Earlier this week, I spoke to Autumn Derout Archipele. If
you've seen Sinners or Black Panther or Condu Forever, you've
experienced Autumn's incredible.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Work as a cinematographer.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
She also shot Beasty Boys Story and The Last Show
Girl and As He's and Sorry It's Right Now Special.
She collaborates on a higher level with Brian Coogler and
Spike Jones.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Autumn is a maverick.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And I love how she was open about setting boundaries
and a work, her influences, and how she finds joy
and family and tennis, Yes, tennis. As you're hear in
this comment, Autumn is soulful, innovative, and deeply passionate about
her craft. I told her at the end of our
top at I want to work with her someday, and
(01:10):
I meant that to the fullest. That feeling only deepened
after learning how she builds a vision, welcomes improvisation, and
captures a wider perspective on life and art.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
My vision for this new chapter of.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
LS is to get to know people I already do
on a different plane. And you know, we get to
meet new voices who inspired me and Autumn Deroud Archapyle
inspires me first with a work and men with this conversation.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
So please enjoy. Make sure you've.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Seen Sinners as Award Seasons is approaching. I highly recommend
it and look out for her upcoming collaboration with Ryan Coogler, which.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Is The X Files.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
All right, thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
How are you?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Thank you? No, your voice is so familiar to me.
It's like, you know, when you don't know somebody but
you've seen them you and listen to them. Wow, it
makes you feel like you know them, but you don't
know them. So it's nice to meet you.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It's not false modesty, but I'm always under the impression
that no one knows me, so I'm approaching this is
if you never heard of me, or don't know who
I am, or you know, but yeah, we're meeting we've
never met before.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Correct, I don't think, No, we actually haven't met before. No.
The appreciation is ditto, So thank you for all of that.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Thank you, Thank you. All right.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
My first question to you is, can you describe to
me the first twenty minutes of your morning This.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Morning, I have a son. He is nine years old,
but my husband's also DP. When we're both in town,
it is my job to get up and do all
the things that you would to get a child ready.
So I woke up, and I did set an alarm
because I just got back from Scad Film Festival where
we got to screen Sinners and talk about it. So
(02:58):
I woke up, I woke him up, I got his
lunch ready, I got it, his breakfast ready, his long hair,
so I brushed his hair and I chased him out
the door and his father took him to school. Then
I rushed to get ready for the zoom. And that's
what it was.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
So, as a child who grew up with parents that
did the same thing for a living, I got tricked
into the family business. Both my parents were singers. By
the time I was born.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
They were nightclub loungejacks. So yeah, in the seventies.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I was there from like five until you're really when
the roots started, so like from age five till eighteen.
I got tricked into the family business, mostly because they
didn't trust The idea of a babysitter wasn't a thing
until the late eighties. So in the seventies, you it's
like farm work. You just and I'm in the nightclub
(03:55):
at one in the morning, like operating lights, cutting gels, monitors,
all those things. If both of you do the same thing,
is there a hope that there's a creative epigenetic passing
of the torch? Are you leaving camera equipment? His version
of my first sony like you know, no.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I mean, I think for me, the allure is if
he does have an interest when he say, thirteen fourteen
in operating a camera, then I get to be close
to him because we only have one child, and then
I could bring in with me on all my jobs. Right,
So if he's really into it, it just allows me
to spend time with him because you know, when we
make these films, as you know, when you do music,
(04:42):
you're away for long periods of time. You have to
juggle life and you know, schedules, so he is interested.
I wouldn't say it's like his top thing. You know,
he's he's kind of a builder. He likes building stuff.
But he did bring his camera because he has a
nice camera to his camping trip recently and made a
bunch of videos and he was the only kid doing it.
(05:02):
So it's there. I'm just not, you know, on the cusp.
It's just like maybe it'll take off. Maybe.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
What was your first creative project in life?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
What I can remember the most, I think is being
in high school and you know they have the labs,
the photography labs. Yeah, the first time I felt like
ownership of something that I made was the black and
white photography class I took and having to go out there,
you know, the assignment like go take some pictures whatever
you like, like go talk to some people. And I
(05:35):
remember taking a bunch of pictures and I still have
them printed in a book. They're black and white. And
I felt like a sense of power because I had
made something. But also it was my own right, it
was my perspective. I've never been asked that, but it
immediately came to mind. So I feel like it had
to be that class because that was the first time
I think I did anything like I never I wasn't
(05:55):
a painter, I wasn't good at drawing. So that photography class,
I think was important. And like I guess that would
be like ninth grade.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Okay, what year was that? Do you remember who?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Let's call it ninety four, nineteen ninety four, ninety five.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Before then, was there a passion for photography? Were you
reading magazines and seeing like her Brits or any Leewoods
or any like?
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Did you have a north star for photography?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
It's interesting because I don't have anyone. Like my mom
works in business. She always traveled a lot. She raised me.
It was just me and my mom. I'm just myself
and she was a single mom until she remarried and
when I was in eighth grade. But you know, as
far as like she would take me to films, we
would go to museums. I always had art around me.
(06:46):
But my grandparents my mother's side is Filipino and she
was born in England and he was in the service,
and they traveled the world for his job, Like he
would be stationed in London and then he would go
to the Americas in New York and they my grandmother
always took photographs. I can't show you right now. It's
on a wall, but a lot of the photographs are
black and white photographs where they're center punched, and it's
(07:09):
just like single shots of like my grandmother in New
York or my grandmother in London, and they were always around,
Like my mom always had him around, And that must
have had an impact because till this day, like the
way that I frame, I find that there's similarities. But
that's like the first relationship I had with photography before
doing art history in LMU undergrad where you're learning about
(07:32):
you know, roth Cooe, where you're learning about Eggleston and
then you're more versed in it. But they always had
photos around our house growing up.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
You went to LMU, I did.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I went to ELMU for undergrad.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, okay, despite my quest loveness, I have a major
fear of public speaking, kind of a therapeutic challenge. This
was like December of the year before in twenty twenty five,
or my therapist was like she knew that Noah was
my favorite word. When it came to hey, quest, come
(08:06):
speak to the kids, Hey chus, you want to talk
to these you know, like and so it just so
happened that LMU had given me an offer to speak
to the graduating class, and I begrudgingly did it. Weird enough,
I've made it about me by just telling that class
how scared I was to do this, And somehow it
(08:28):
became like.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yeah, when was that obviously before the podcast, like before
this year?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah, well, okay, you know previously with the podcast. Uh,
you know, I had four other co hosts with me, Like,
I like community work, but when it's like one on one,
that's like there's too much intimacy.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
So even this is.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
More or less like a somewhat cathartic therapeutic exercise.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I was going to say, yeah, I like that, no thing.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I specifically wanted to talk to people like one that
I didn't know, like the back of my hand, and
you know, kind of two strangers meetings. So that's what
I'm doing. What is your favorite childhood memory from your home.
It doesn't have to be in a major event like
oh that time we went to Disneyland or whatever, but
just like, what's your version of a happy moment from
(09:22):
your childhood?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Give me all emotional and shit. I think it's mostly
like my it was always me and my mom, you
know together.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, what traits of yours do you think that you've
gotten from your parents, either creative or personal.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I think she's pretty resilient and very determined person. I
think being raised by someone and always listening to her
on the phone and doing her business work because she
does international trade business and interacting with people. I was
always worried about her, I think early on, you know,
(10:00):
going out by herself, because you've become kind of the caretaker,
you know, if it's just you and her. She's pretty tough.
So I always tried to follow in those footsteps. And yeah,
I mean we spent a lot of time together, you know,
it's just us too. Like I grew up in northern California.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Which city specifically, well.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
We first started out in San Leandro. I lived in
Hayward as well, Bay area, you know, near Oakland, and
we had a little apartment, you know, so I shared
a room with her early on, and then she moved
me to Danville, which is a less diverse community, to
go to a better school because it had a really
good public school program. So you kind of moved from
(10:43):
like a diverse area into you know, most you know,
I was probably the only mixed race kid. Maybe there
were a couple of black people and a couple of Asians,
but it was way, you know, nicer environment for her
to be okay with, like single parenting and having good education.
But that's my favorite. Yeah, I think just spending time
with her because I'm that quality time kind of person.
(11:05):
You know that that fills me up.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You said that you were a parent.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Is there a trade of yours that you feel like
you've passed onward to your child? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
I think my husband and I are always telling him
like and I believe it because I think, you know,
my mom told me, but you can do anything you
want to do, you know, you really anything that inspire you,
anything that you feel in your bones. Make sure you
know we're there to help you with that, but also
that like you, you have the ability to do that.
(11:38):
And I think I was told that. My husband grew
up in a very supportive He's Australian, but he has
a big family, a very loving family, and I do
feel like I reiterate that to my son a lot.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
So is it true that a friend of yours gifted
you or purchased you a cinematography class at UCLA.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, isn't that crazy. I haven't emailed him for a while.
But when I graduated LMU, I got a job for
AOL time warner. I was a temp you know, I
had to like graduate get some money, and I got
a temp job through a friend and I had to input.
Like you remember when AOL had banners, Like it was
(12:16):
the early stages, and the banners would pop up all
over the place, like on the side and the top,
and it would be like right, like buy this car,
buy this Honda. I used to put together spreadsheets for
those banners and support someone who was doing auto sales online.
So I had a cubicle at a desk and I
would do that. I would input all the stuff in
you know, nice little paycheck. And I just started to
(12:39):
be interested in cinematography. And I remember telling him and
his father owned els, which is one of the biggest
lighting companies that works with the premiers or big events
around Los Angeles. So there's like this weird through line.
And then on the side he's like, you know what,
I'll help you buy that class. Like I looked into
a night class. So when I would get off work,
(13:00):
go to UCLA for the cinematography class like a little
semester class, and I would learn what being a DP meant.
I did the class, I loved it, and then I
decided to quit, and he got me a job working
at els to help lay the red carpet and put
up the lights for the premieres. So I did, like
Mission Impossible, Devilwaar's product, you were on the night shift.
(13:24):
So I don't know if you've been to a premiere
a little early, but you see people crawling around taping
up the carpet, putting the lights up.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Totally.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I'm the DJ that they'll hire sometimes for events. Oh yes,
So I have to be there early to set up
and like, I love how the sausage is made in
any thing that I go to. So as a new director,
speaking of myself, I'm learning fast that my you know,
team has to be intact. I initially thought that as
(13:52):
a director that I'm part of the starting five players
on the floor, and I learned quickly that I'm the
coach and the cinematographer, the editor, the writer, the soundman,
the colorists, like all those people are the starting five,
and you're the coach. So because I came in backwards.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
At the top of the pyramid.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, you know, for most people in film, I noticed that, yes,
there's a pecking order for you. Was the desired destination
always cinematography.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
My comfort zone is definitely where I'm at. I mean,
I get asked a lot, I think, being a female
DP at this level, because there aren't that many of us,
you know, shooting this level of film historically, so the
question comes up a lot, well are you interested in directing?
And I think why that is is because you know,
you get to a point on set where you're very
(14:48):
versed in how a set's run. You're next to the
director all the time I work with, you know, I
do the big budget films with a lot of the effects.
So they always just imagine, okay, well, well you must
be interested in direct now, you know. And I think
it's an interesting thing because I've now gotten to the
point of my career where you work so hard as
a female DP to be able to do those things,
(15:09):
and then now they're already trying to like ask you
to go this direction. So I hear that question a lot.
But I'm so I think passionate about the way things
are shot and lighting that I could never give that
up right, so it's easy for me to position myself.
And Ryan's like, hey, do you want to do this
Rihana video that's up my alley Because it's music related,
(15:30):
it's beauty related. I get to work one on one
with a star and make them look beautiful and make
them feel comfortable. But no, I think I'm lucky to
have found a partner in Ryan because we have similar
tastes and we like the same things, and I understand
him really well. But to do his job like it
(15:51):
is a very very difficult position to be. And as
you know, I don't have a story that's like so
in my bones that I have to tell and only
I'm the only one that can tell it. Not yet,
you know, maybe in the future there is something that
only I can tell as a director. But I really
do enjoy supporting him and the other directors I work with, because,
(16:13):
as you know, it's just it's a very complex job
to do everything well.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Number One, you mentioned Rihanna's Lifted Me Up video. What
was the creative decision behind doing that handheld as opposed
to you know, crane and you know this is Rihanna, Like,
I feel like every director has their uh, their Lawrence
(16:38):
of Arabia, dream of like the or Citizen King, like
the sprawling opening scene thing.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Uh, and you know handheld.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Is more of a we're all personal intimate things. But
what was your decision behind shooting it that way?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yeah, we had a crane that we used. You know,
the opening is a water shot. We shot some more
stuff that I didn't use with the wide shots of
the water before we went into intimate stuff. So that
was done on a crane to kind of crawl over
the sand. But I mean I came up in indies.
I came up shooting music videos, fashion films that didn't
(17:14):
have any money. So when you have a camera in
your hands and it is an extension of yourself and
your point of view, that's how you learn to find
where the camera needs to be right. And so I'm
very much an operator. I've operated most of my films,
all the stuff that I do. So when I'm having
(17:34):
to be in a situation where light is falling quickly,
I want to be with her. I want her to
move freely and do what she wants, but I also
want to capture and get the right shots. Then you
want to take as much control as you can, right
I don't want to worry about it being on a
dolly and moving the dolly. Then I have to worry
about the dolly grip. Then I have to worry about
all stuff. So I put it in my hands so
(17:56):
I have the most control and I'm most intimate with her,
similar to Last Showgirl, you know, with Pamela, like being
close to the woman so you can move with her
and find her beauty easily.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
In general, I want to know how much lee way
or access or preparation are you given to your subjects
that you're going to film, Like how do you even
map out the choreography of how you're going to shoot that,
what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, or is
(18:31):
this just taking direction from your director and you executing,
Like how much leeway are you given to well? Actually,
why don't we try this?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
And da da da da da. Like specifically, I want
to know for the Last.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Show Girl, Okay, well I'll start with that saying I
think the best thing that you can do is work
with people that allow you to exercise your creativity and
have trust in you. Right when I work with Gia,
you know, we started out running around, we shot Paloouto.
We're running around with a bunch of kids with her friends.
(19:06):
She's my best friend, so we talk every day. But
it's someone I know really well, and I know what
they like and I know where they want the camera.
It's intuitive, like I choose people to collaborate with that
we have that connection. So when it's with her, there's
a lot of trust in camera that she gives me.
And that's why that that kind of relationship works. Also
(19:27):
with that scene, I remember, you have to be the
best thing you can be as a DP is quick
to make decisions and have solutions. So I remember I
didn't have any prep there. I think Gia came up
and said, Jamie wants to dance on that thing in
the middle of the casino, right like we have some time,
you know, in between like some other senior shooting. She
(19:48):
wants to dance. She's gonna dance to this song. We're
gonna shoot it. I'm like, all right, cool. So then
I tell my gaffer, like to position the light and
a good spot. I just evaluate, you know, that kind
of podium that she wanted. I picked direction. I said,
I'm going to shoot it from here because it was
the best direction for lighting, and I moved a little
bit of a key light for and then we just
let her do her thing and I captured it, you know,
(20:09):
while she was dancing and handhealth and that was it.
And I think there are a lot of those types
of moments that in the film like that, because you
want to be free and vulnerable to like what the
actor may want to do, but you also want to
get those moments that the director wants, because Gia loves
those non communication moments where it's just following women around
(20:32):
and letting them. Like Pamela, we went on the parking
lot on a weekend and Pamela just started dancing around
and being funny and cute and we just captured it.
So there's a lot of that For.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
You, though, how do you decide the thin line of
what would be deemed an unflattering shot but staying true
to what's needed to really make that film come alive.
Because of course, you know, a lot of us know
Pamela Anderson for like all these slow motion and glam
shots and everything's perfectly edited and whatnot. But for you,
(21:07):
how aware of you on how this has to look
to make this film come along?
Speaker 3 (21:13):
We had been discussing it Gia and I for a
long time prior to when we actually ended up shooting it.
So she was always looking for someone to be vulnerable
and not like have a lot of makeup on, to
not go through makeup at the top of the day,
and because that can be time consuming, to just be
(21:34):
themselves right, to just be raw, and so that was
the directive that was someone she wanted to play it.
We knew that we didn't have a lot of money
to make this film. We knew that we'd make it
with a small group with friends on film. It would
be very intimate where we would have all the control,
and that was the most important thing because we made
a film before that where we didn't have as much control,
and we wanted to make a film where we had control.
(21:56):
She has all the control, I have all the control,
and we make it. That's very rare. As you know,
it shouldn't be rare because we're the filmmakers and we
both have director in our title, but it does happen,
and it's unfortunate when you don't. So with this film,
it's very much our retelling of that story, which is nice,
like you can watch it and only you made those mistakes.
(22:18):
You weren't forced into anything. As you know Pamela, I mean,
she's just amazing, And same with Jamie. It's like they're
okay with just being themselves. They're at that point where
they're so confident in who they are that it's so
enlightening to be able to shoot women like that, right,
and so they put their trust in you that you
know what it should be lit, like you know where
(22:40):
the camera should be. So for that like I wanted
to have a lower footprint, which meant using a lot
of available light, which meant going into space is using
a lot of practicals. And then just how I exposed it.
You just need to know your exposure right, what you
can push and what you can't. And that's just like
having experience and trial and error, I think in spaces.
So and then you as a woman, like I know
(23:01):
where the beauty shops are, you know what someone will
look powerful or where the camera needs to be. And
then I also made lenses for that picture, so Hannah
Vision and I made some lenses that have never been
made before, anamorphic sixteen lenses because I couldn't find any
lenses that I liked, so we made some so it
has a very particular look that I feel is very
(23:22):
flattering because it's very soft, old vintage glass. But I
detuned it in a way that has a lot of
fall off and is more dreamy. So that also helps
when you're thinking about how this should look. You know,
to pair the film stock with a beautiful lens, which
also in turn, I think, as you know, like lighting
and lensing are in conversation with each other. A lighting
(23:45):
can only look great if the camera's in the right position,
and it depends on what that lenses. So yeah, it
was very thought through, but always with the intention of
having a small footprint and not getting in the way
of the process.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
What is your attraction to the anamorphic style of shooting, like,
did you see it happened before or are you in
a place where you're just like, I want to push
forward the things that I'm not seeing that I wish
I seen.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Yeah, well, see, I went to AFI, so you know
it's a playground for you to explore and ask questions
and you have access to like camera houses and stuff.
So early on before AFI, I was in love with
the format because I saw films like Manhattan, The Last Emperor,
these films are shot on anamorphic. They have a lot
of scope, and I didn't exactly knew like the logistics
(24:36):
of that format at the time, but it was like,
what am I responding to? That makes me feel like,
this is cinematic? What is this like? Because I saw
a similarity in this format, right, you have twice the
field of view, faces look different, there's more fall off,
like all these characteristics that come with it. And then
when I was at film school, I looked into it
more and started shooting my own anamorphic and then you
(24:58):
figure out how to use the format. But for me,
it's just something that I think early on, when I
was researching filmmaking, I was responding more to film shot
and anamorphic and now it's just like kind of my thing.
But I don't push it on directors. That's the thing.
The director has to want to shoot in that format.
You don't want to like push them into it if
they're not into it.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
From one to ten, what is your tolerance level for
a micromanaging director versus someone that just lets.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
You have the space to do what you do.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Have you had an experience with a micromanaging director that's
always oh damn.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
You don't even let me get okay.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
And the opposite, we could say, a more pleasant situation
where you're given the leeway to show what you know
and your education and it works out fine. Like you've
been on both sides of the fence. Is there a
way for you to describe both to me without compromising
and putting yourself in No?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
No, of course. I think the thing about it is
is when you get to a point where you feel
like you have something to offer, right, and you can
relate in music where it's like you have something to say.
It's inside, it's in your bones. And the people that
recognize that and see it in you and see it
in your work and then ask you to come break
bread with them and join their family and say, you
(26:41):
know what, I see that magic and I want you
to join me to help me tell this story because
only you can be the person to tell it. And
those are the people that I want to work with.
And I've been lucky enough to work with those people
like a Gea, like a Ryan, even with Spike, like
you know, even though it was in a movie like
these are very collaborate people. They're very talented people, and
(27:02):
they have their own point of view and they know
how to kind of explain it to you. And then
they want to collaborate with you, right, So they have
a vision that they hand off to you, that you
work together with them, and it's very clear and it's
a great relationship. And on the other hand, I've been
in a situation where I think I've been hired because
of my work, but then when we get to the
(27:25):
point at which I need to execute my you know,
and help them, they want to micromanage me. And so
I'm not even allowed to get that out right. So
it's already a conflict because it's like, you know, come
play this music. Oh wait, don't play that, Like, well,
the motherfucker why am I here?
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Why am I here?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
So now you're from the Bay Area. I was waiting
for Ella or motherfucker? All right? Good.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
So I'm like, I think, for me, I don't put
myself in those situations anymore. Life is too short. I
have a family. I have to be away. And that's
what's so beautiful with Ryan. It's like, you know, we
go when we make these films, well Conda took a
year long, and it's like he protects my time, he
protects the effort that I put in. I know it
will be worthy. I know I will be respected. I
(28:10):
know that I will be able to collaborate on the
highest level. So I tend to look for that opportunity
because it is hard as an artist to just be
you know, told no all the time, or the trust
isn't there, or not being able to be brave like
I want to work with brave people. I don't want
to work with restricted people like scared people. Is that answer?
(28:31):
I'm going off on a tangent.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Talk your shit, talk your shit. Yeah, I like that.
All right.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
If you were to recommend me three films that probably
touches you the most, what would those three films be?
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Hannah and Her Sisters? So what do you allen? Film?
The Last Emperor? Bertolucci, and Barry Lyndon Kubrick. Have you
seen any of those?
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Of course, yeah, well that's great. Yeah it's not us.
Some people say like, oh, I haven't seen Last Emperor,
but that means yes in aphile, I suppose.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
I lived on a tour bus for twenty plus years,
and the thing is, yeah, I'm not going to just
pretend that we were all these criteering collection nerds.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
It just became a point where I.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Got tired of watching Friday and Juice and Scarface on
the tour bus.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
So I live in the East Coast, so in Philadelphia,
New York, there's a you know, independent places like a
TLA Video or Kim's Video.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Where a lot of those.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
And even when I go to the like to La,
like going to a Respudenz or going to a Sunset Boulevard,
they just.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Shut down the tower like it used to be Tower Records,
and it turned into Amiba.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah yeah, tower, but also Amiba yeah yeah. And then
that's when I discovered, oh, Criterion collect and now I
want to watch, you know, things that I haven't seen before. Well,
I'll ask you, are you a Criterion person or a
two B person?
Speaker 3 (30:09):
To be honest, I didn't do the deep dive on
Too be It and Criterion. I think I was after college.
But now I'm just like, you know, Apple TV, which
doesn't give you any of the extras, obviously, don't you that? Yeah,
well but I do. I'm not gonna lie to you,
like and I talked a lot about this with my husband.
The more and more you shoot movies or work on
(30:31):
film sets, Unfortunately, the less and less you watch movies,
especially how they're made, because you you, I mean, you're there,
you start to you know, you get to a point
where but I did when I was coming up, Like
a Thin Red Line is another one that I'd add
to that three where I remember watching the criterion of
a Thin Red Line to find out, you know, how
(30:53):
they made that, and I was just blown away because
I didn't know anything at the time, So I think
it was more alluring when I didn't know stuff.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
We have to rapifire you on your profession.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
For the Disease special, I was just so obsessed with
the diagonal framing, just the unorthodox framing of it. He
just walked me through just the creative of that special.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Spike and I met because he wanted to do a
music video that didn't end up happening. We did that
before Beastie Boys.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Who was it for?
Speaker 3 (31:29):
It? By the way, you know who it's for, but
I forget.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
I can't say, but.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
You would know. You would know, Okay, but it's escaping
me now like someone important, and I was very excited.
We went and scouted it. It didn't happen, so then
we did Disease together. And what was cool about it
was Disease was performing in Manhattan Beach in a smaller
comedy club down by the beach, and so that was
our first kind of, I guess dress rehearsal. So Spike
(31:56):
took me down there. I met him there. He had
a camera on his back the whole show. And this
is like hour and a half I guess hour and
a half show, and I had a camera on my
back digital and we shot the show as like a
dress rehearsal of like let's see how we vibe with disease.
And this is something Spike wanted to do to kind
of see the angles that would be good. It's not
the space that we were going to shoot it, but
(32:17):
it was kind of just learning, like a learning process.
And what was so funny was, you know, having a
camera on your back for an hour and a half
is a pain in the ass. But I remember thinking like, well,
Spike's doing it. I'm not taking this camera off my back,
you know what I mean, Like, because we were rolling
the whole time. We rolled the whole show, and it
just forced you to kind of find perspectives and angles
that were interesting because you know, it is when you
(32:39):
hold on an angle for a long time, you know,
it can get boring, and then you it makes you
think about where's a better angle. So you're always one
uping yourself trying to figure out what those angles are.
But you're also keeping an eye on the other operator
to see where they are right, so you can kind
of dance.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
With each other and there's only the two of you.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
There's only two of us, and you didn't do a
pre this mizone, this is your zone.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
I think that was the point of that dress rehearsal.
Like we definitely had a talk when we went into
the space. Right it's an empty comedy space. You know,
we knew you'd be on stage, he'd have a little stool.
And then Spike obviously was like, okay, well I think
this or that because I remember adjusting some lights. So
there was a conversation about it. But I think in
the moment when you're trying to move around, you also
have to just like think on your feet too. Even
(33:24):
though we would say like okay, I'll take this side
or that side, because I allowed him like he was,
I think, you know, you want to make sure you're
not stacking up, and sometimes I think he might have
told me, like we can go to the audience sometimes
all stay on him, watch me. If I stay on him,
then you go here, you know. So there's a conversation
that you would have with that operator. And so that
was our dress rehearsal. Then fast forward we're in New
(33:45):
York and you know, we also did a dress rehearsal there,
but we're shooting on film, and I think in conversations
with a Ziz, you know they wanted to shoot it
on film. And one of the biggest references I think
Spike amy was those old Richard Pryor shows that were
shot on sick so I'll watched those. Obviously made sense
to me. But it was a tall order because shooting,
(34:07):
I think we had six cameras shooting simultaneously, knowing when
to you have to change the mags so you don't
miss a beat on each angle right, you have to coordinate.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
All of that.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
So it was a It was a lot of prep
in the sense, like I remember with Spike, he's very specific,
but also he wants to try things, so like we
would set the camera up in different zones and we
would figure out that was the right zone, and then
we mapped it out. We also did a lighting test
where we you know, we lit it, We lit the backstage,
we tried some things, we developed it, we watched it
(34:40):
to see if he liked it. So there was a
lot of prep, I would say in that sense, because
when you take it to film, you know, accidents can happen,
so you need to be on top of your game
and make sure all the operators and all the mags
whiches are on time. We had all the monitors set
up HD tap and I would you know, you know,
you're doing a little bit of core nation. Spike did
(35:01):
operate the on stage camera for one of the shows,
I believe, and I think we shot two nights my Trippin' maybe,
but yeah, I mean it was all coordinated, and so
I think it was nice to do that smaller show
with him. But he wanted it to feel alive, right,
He wanted it to have the texture and the kind
of quality that came from those old Richard Pryor shows
(35:23):
where you can feel the grain alive. And so yeah,
there was a lot of discussion, but we got very lucky.
I mean, I wouldn't say we had like a bunch
of jams or you know, because that shit is like
you're sweating. Trust me, you're sweating.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I wish concert films were shot that way. Like I
just Spike is an idol of mine.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Like yeah, he's so fun, Like I would say that right,
It's like it was fun to work on and it's
fun to watch because he creates that environment when you're
making a film, like let's just do this, let's go here,
let's you know, like I'm an operator, you know, it was.
It was fun.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So I experienced Sinners, flew out to La. My preferred
destination points in Los Angeles is either the New Beverly
to watch movies and Vista House to watch, both owned
by Quentin Tarantino. Pretty much from not since I was
(36:21):
a child. I come from also a place where before
the VCR, you would go to a movie house at
eleven in the morning and just stay all day, sometimes
watching two three times in a row a film because
you're like, there's no way IM see this ever get
in life. And I will watch Sinners three times in
a row.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
What are you talking about? What?
Speaker 1 (36:44):
I was obsessed?
Speaker 3 (36:45):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
I was obsessed.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
So how much experience did you have with the large
format sixty five millimeter, well one that format, but also
with Imax, like is sixty five millimeter the same or
is it two different cameras that you have to operate
at once.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Yeah, no, so it's the same negative running through both
cameras but in different ways, So two different cameras. Like
you just said, the anamorphic format is the wide screen,
which is that two seven six hateful eight format that
people are familiar with, and that is a sixty five
millimeter negative running vertically through a camera which is a
(37:28):
Panavision camera called a System sixty five camera. That camera
is very heavy. That camera is not necessarily a handheld camera, right,
it's a studio camera. It's on a dolly or whether
it's on a crane or stuff like that. There's a
high speed version of that that allows you to shoot
high speed. That's a little bit lighter that we put
on a steadicam sometimes, for instance the ononer that goes
(37:51):
and follows missus Chow across the street and her daughter
in the grocery store scene. So that's steadycam. And then
you have the Imax camera, which is sixty five negative,
same negative, but it's going through the camera horizontally and
it's fifteen perfs, not five perfs, so much bigger, negative
real estate, different cameras. So that's Imax camera. I had
(38:13):
not shot any of these before, and you know, neither
had my team, so Ryan myself.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Yeah, not even for a black Panther was that used
at all.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
No, So when you see that's the thing I think
what was so great about Ryan's video where he explained
all the formats is that a lot of people get
a bit confused about when they go see an Imax
film if it's Digital Imax or if it's film Imax.
The only team that we're familiar with, like my you know,
you and I that are shooting this format would be
(38:45):
Hota and well Christopher Nolan, Christopher Nolan and Hoyta and
then obviously Wally Fister with The Dark Knight was the
first Imax film I went to see at the City Walk,
And so that's the filmmaking team that's shooting film Imax
in know, a large format that goes in between the formats.
So so yeah, so when it came time to do this,
we did our own testing, but it's not available to everyone.
(39:08):
To be honest, those cameras that we use, there's only
four of them for the system cameras, so it's not
like multiple movies can be shot at the same time
because those are the cameras that are used. So if
that team is not using those cameras, then you know,
we were lucky enough to get to use those cameras.
So yeah, that's the format thing. And yeah it came up.
I don't know if you read, but Ryan originally saw
(39:30):
it as a sixteen millimeter picture. That's how we were
supposed to do it as That's why I made those
lenses for Last Show Girl because I was kind of
thinking ahead and thinking like, oh, let me let me
test these out and then we can use them on
that film because we shot right after. But then we
you know, obviously Ryan up the ante as he as
he does, and we went you know, we tested thirty
(39:52):
five and then we tested large format.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
So yeah, how much rehearsal do you get before it's
the day the Day of Reckoning? Not to make it
sound o apocalyptic, but it has to be a intimidating
no like our mistakes allowed.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
I mean, I go back to what you that question
you asked me for about my lane. I don't like
how you said public speaking, you get nervous and stuff
like I would assume when you're in your element and
you're playing music, like that is your space, and I
feel very confident in what I do and when I'm
doing that's where I feel most comfortable. Prep is a
(40:29):
pain in the act, right when you're doing you have
you do all the tests and you have to like
figure everything out. That's very tedious. But if you put
a camera in my hand and I now know how
to use it, game on, right. So I think for
us we always have on movies, let's call it like
eight to twelve weeks of prep. That's just rough number,
But you have a lot of weeks to go over
this stuff. You do not have eight to twelve weeks
(40:49):
of prep to just mess around with the camera, because
obviously there's a cost to that prep, right, So say
you prep that kind of camera package for five weeks
something like that. So what that means is you're at
the camp, your AC's are at the camera house. They're
testing the lenses that you want to use. We're running
film through all of the magazines through the camera, we're
looking at the film gate, we're doing shutter tests. So
(41:10):
there's a lot of logistics that go into like making
sure that these cameras are going to behave properly. You
have a lot of technicians that are helping you do that,
and I always feel like for me, I said this
to the students recently. When I came up in film school,
I didn't know as much as everybody else, so I
was learning from a bunch of people, most of them
were men, and I hated the feeling when someone was
(41:31):
staring at me, look at me in the eyes, saying like, well,
I don't understand what you're saying, Like I don't know
what you want me to do, Like they were forcing
me to like figure out how to explain what I wanted,
you know, how I wanted the lighting to look, how
I wanted to move the camera, And I felt very uncomfortable, right,
And you can imagine like there's not you know, many
of us. So I vowed to not have that happen
(41:52):
to me throughout my career. So I had to go
out always make sure I knew the cameras, always make
sure I knew exactly what I wanted for lighting, and
I learned. So I'm a very technical person and so
I make sure that my shit is tight because I
don't want anyone staring at me and being like, well,
I don't understand what the fuck you talking about. You know,
I don't know what you want. So I find that,
like when I have that prep time, it becomes like
a very tedious thing where I'm working with my team
(42:12):
making sure that like I know the shit so that
when we get on set and it's d day, like
you say that nothing can get in the way of
Ryan telling his story. That all the people that I've
brought to support him, the focus pullers, the g and E,
everyone is tight. Then that gives us the creative freedom
to do what we want, so we're not having mistakes happen.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Im that situation.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
How are you adaptable to freestyling or your plan B,
your Plan C in case something goes awry? Is that
also a part of the process of doing this?
Speaker 3 (42:50):
Yes, No, one hundred percent, because I think what Ryan
loves to do too, and I appreciate this is like
in prep, we bored everything he wanted to board the
whole film boarded it. We do previous for the most
you know, complex sequences like the one or the musical
wunner or the train sequence. Stuff that we need to
like guide a bunch of different teams, but also see
(43:12):
ahead of time how it's going to plan out, so
we know how we're shooting it, but it doesn't mean
that we get there. We don't change it. And that's
what I love is like you have a plan because
you have to with that many people and this complex
stuff we're doing, but we can throw it out if
we want to because we're in the space Michael B.
Jordan is you know, we're doing a blocking with him
and all of a sudden, you know the sun's coming in,
(43:34):
or you see these special moments that you want to
adapt quickly too, because the actor is now in the
actual space giving you shit in the rehearsal, so you
don't want to stick to maybe what you thought of
on the page in an office like six weeks ago.
So yeah, we adapt, And I love that about Ryan
because we have a plan, but we also like feel
it out as well, and that's where you know, you
can get extra stuff or you can have different versions
(43:55):
of things. But no, I think the more you know,
the more you can play jazz on set. Right, Like
if you prep your shit tight before then you can
be more free flowing and not be erratic I guess.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
I would assume that music sequence. I mean, there's so
many iconic sequences, but for me, that's the one that
grabbed me the most, and it came so early, so
I don't know if I should call that the epicenter
of the heartbeat of the film.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
But that's one of the things we're.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Obsessed about, where it's like, how did that look on page?
Because I feel like what was captured wasn't specifically written
on page like it just I'll ask you, what was
the most difficult sequence to shoot in that film?
Speaker 3 (44:49):
Yeah, it wasn't that one. I answered this once because
I think someone asked me when I was talking about
Imax on something and well, to go back to how
it was written. It was beautifully written. But you know
something like that is written in description, right because it's
so like ethereal and surreal, and so when I first
read it has so much imagination, So you read it,
(45:11):
it makes you think, like on your own by yourself,
right when you read it. And then I have a
meeting with Ryan and then he's explaining what he wants
to do with it, right, how it makes him feel,
what his drive is for the scene. And then that's
when it starts to fill itself out, and then you
have meetings about it. He also did some rough drawings boards,
you know, prior to us flashing it out fully, so
I kind of after you see those, you have a
(45:33):
bit of an idea of what he wants, but it
is a kind of evolves, you know, based off of
what he read. If you read that, which I'm sure
the script will come out at some point. It's beautifully written,
and so it is actually that cool on the page,
but visually I think it turned into something much greater, obviously,
but no, I think for me the hardest scene was
the last scene that we shot, the fight in the river,
(45:56):
the night fight, And I think for me, why I
say that's the heart this is because number one, it's
night shoots. Those are always difficult, But when there is
VFX involved, I find it difficult because with VFX we
try to get as most as we can in camera,
but there's a lot of stuff that's being done way later,
right and as a DP on set, you want to
(46:17):
know what that's going to look like. You want to
know how they're going to manipulate the image. You want
to know the kind of the path that it's going
and so when I don't have control, that's when I
find it difficult because I need control. So that scene,
I think, in itself was more complex because we did
some work on it. Obviously we did most of it
in camera. We did burn him, but you can see
there's a lot of collaboration between make up, the effects,
(46:41):
the actors, how we shot it. So that was the
trickiest thing for me, I think, because it has an evolution,
there's a fire, tornado, all this stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
Where did you watch it for the first time with
an audience.
Speaker 3 (46:52):
A real audience. I don't want to call it real
because it was the premiere, you know what premieers are, right.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
But did you go to see it with non industry
people like.
Speaker 3 (47:02):
I did after the premiere? So I would say the
first time I saw it, well, the first you know,
we watched it one hundred million times because we're doing
the QC. I got to watch the print, I gotta
do the HDR, I got to watch the digital projection.
So I see it a bunch with Ryan.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
So you're tired of it a film like.
Speaker 3 (47:16):
This, you aren't because it makes you so happy. You know,
it speaks to you like it speaks to your history,
your culture, your your family, your relatives. So I didn't
have a problem with it, you know, like watching it
a bunch of times, I was very proud of it.
So you're like, when you watch it, you're like, uh,
but no. I watched it with a regular crowd in
quotes regular at the premiere in New York. And then
(47:37):
the first time I really watched it was at City Walk.
I went to City Walk and I watched it with
a real crowd. And you know, I think I get
emotional every time I watch it, for sure.
Speaker 2 (47:47):
Yeah, I assume that the X Files are next, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:52):
How familiar were you with the.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Series before you signed on to it, Like were you
obsessive or like what was the process of tackling that?
Speaker 3 (48:02):
I was not. I am not. My mom loved that show.
It's funny because I think Ryan said something to media
recently that he's making it for his mom or like that,
you know, she really loved that show, so he wants
to do right by her. But my mom, I guess
it was like in a time and of her place,
like to watch that and be obsessive about like next
week is this? And she would do that. But I
(48:24):
never got that into it. I mean, I'm not versed
in it. I did watch it throughout my life. Sometimes
I found myself watching it. But I'm okay with that
because I feel like, what's nice about maybe not knowing
everything is you can be more imaginative because when he
hands me the script, it's a new version of that,
right right, same roots. I think not too long ago,
(48:44):
I watched the first the pilot episode to revisit it,
but I try not to get too much in my head,
Like I'm more big on like him, having a conversation
with him about what things mean, and doing my own
homework than like watching it all and filling my head
with like what was it makes sense?
Speaker 2 (49:00):
So you didn't like watch the box set twelve times
over to make sure?
Speaker 3 (49:04):
No, no, no, no, We're we're about to get into prep.
So I'm not in prep officially yet, so I'm going
to have to revisit that.
Speaker 2 (49:12):
Well, especially with your line of work, how long do
you give yourself in between projects to even commit to
another project and go through the process of like sitting
with it, doing some research and starting your notes.
Speaker 3 (49:24):
Like, no, no, it's such a good question because I
think because my husband also a DP and he's he
does movies, bigger movies as well. That I don't want
to work all the time, you know, like I don't.
I'm not like a back to back to back person.
I think Last show Girl and Sinners, these are like
my two best friends, so I you know, that had
(49:45):
to happen like that. I wasn't going to not do
those ones. But it's not something that like, I pour
so much of myself into it that it's very draining
by the end of it. So I'm not even thinking
about like calling my agent, like what else do you
for me? You know, Oh, it's not doing that.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
You're not a stacker.
Speaker 3 (50:03):
I'm not a stacker.
Speaker 1 (50:04):
Yeah, I'm a stacker.
Speaker 3 (50:07):
Well you'd be. Yeah, that's the thing. I think many
people are. There are reasons why I'm not. But I
also like fill it in with commercials. So like, for instance,
you know, I finished Sinners, I'm back at home, and
now I'm flying to Barcelona to shoot a soccer commercial.
So I get to exercise, you know, shooting. I'm not
doing a narrative, which is my favorite, but because we
(50:29):
get to do commercials in between. I've been doing commercials
since Sinners wrapped and the pilot, Like our dates have
shifted a bit, so the pilot I was supposed to.
You know, it's like when things shift, you kind of
run with it. So I haven't put anything in front
of that.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Our commercial is your version of me going to a
jam session at a jazz club to try new things out.
Speaker 3 (50:52):
Yes, that you get to work with your friends, right,
Like your friend can call you like come jam with me,
and they're like, okay, I'll come chat with you for
a week.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
What is your other talent that's not film related?
Speaker 3 (51:02):
Tennis? I played tennis, okay, but I'm not like going
pro or anything. But I find that like is very
helpful to me, Like I have a coach, I'll go play,
like I'm going to go play after this.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
What is your go to movie theater? Snack?
Speaker 3 (51:18):
Oh, popcorner, raisinets mixed together.
Speaker 1 (51:21):
Mixed together? Okay. What's the film that you've seen the
most in your life?
Speaker 3 (51:26):
Probably Heat.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
I'm showing that for my birthday this year.
Speaker 3 (51:29):
Oh you are?
Speaker 2 (51:30):
I run out of movie theater the Saturday before my
birthday and I curate not a twenty four hour but
like sixteen to seventeen hour all day film festival.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
Like cartoons cartoons in the morning, and.
Speaker 2 (51:46):
Then a musical whatever I liked in the eighties, something
in the nineties, a gangster flick, and usually ends with
like a really horrible b film like that. How do
you manage stress? Like how do you what's your self
care routine?
Speaker 3 (52:01):
I like to be I'm a homebody because I spend
so much time outside, you know, like I just did
that film festival. I'll push myself to go do things
because I think they're important. And like being at that festival,
you know, as a representative. You know, they had me there,
they gave me like I was part of a panel,
(52:23):
but also the students that were there, Like I was
texting Ryan and I was telling them. I was like
I could count on two hands how many black women
came up to me and said thank you for what
you do and they wanted to meet me, like that
was unheard of, like on two hands. So I had
more than five and they were lovely students. And then
when I have those experiences, it makes me go, you
(52:44):
know what, this is why I'm going to go out
and talk. This is why I'm going to do the interviews,
because some girl is going to read it and it's
going to be something that is important to her and
so all that stress, you know, because you got to
stack all the stuff, you know, it is for this
time and period. It's worth it. And I do see
Ryan doing that too. He's very inspirational in that regard,
(53:06):
where like he he gives a lot of people his
time and energy. And also his family is a great
family person and I see that in him. So I
want to extend that as well because I've been given
this opportunity that many people do not get. So my
self carries. I'll do all the stuff, but then when
it's time to rest, I like to be in my
home by myself if my son's at school or whatever
(53:28):
it is. But I need a loane time. I need
some space and time for myself, or I'll go Placennis
Hennis is my Yeah. But if I'm on set and
I'm stressed, someone might, you know, I might get upset,
yell at somebody, go out a cigarette maybe something like that.
Speaker 2 (53:41):
Yeah, this has been really educational, and I thank you
for giving me the honor of this conversation.
Speaker 1 (53:48):
I am such a fan of your work.
Speaker 2 (53:51):
Thank you so much, and I hope to one day
to work with you.
Speaker 3 (53:55):
Very like Zacher, I like, you got a stack of
shit that you need to do.
Speaker 1 (54:00):
I am.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
I'm definitely working until like twenty thirty two, so I
really appreciate it, and thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
This is Autumn Arkapale Am I pronouncing that correctly.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
Yeah, it's actually well you could say Arkapau. I think
they it's my husband's last name, but they changed it.
It's Arkapove, but when they immigrated it they changed it
to Arkapau, you know, but yes, Arka Paul beautiful.
Speaker 2 (54:25):
Well, thank you very much for talking to the Quest
Loft Show, and ladies and gentlemen, I will see you
on the next go round.
Speaker 3 (54:31):
All right, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (54:39):
Quest Left Show is hosted by me A Mere Quest
Love Thompson. Executive producers are Sean g Brian Calhoun and me.
Produced by Britney Benjamin and Jake Paine. Produced for I
Heearten by Noel Brown, edited by Alex Convoy, iHeart Video
(55:00):
support by Mark Canton, Logos Graphics and animation by Nick
by Loewie. Additional support by Lance Colman. Special thanks to
Kathy Brown. Special thanks to Sugar Steve Mandel. Please subscribe,
rate review and share the Quest Love Show wherever you
(55:22):
stream your podcast. To make sure you follow us on
socials that's at QLs. Check out hundreds and hundreds of
QLs episodes, including the Quest Love Supreme Shows, and our
podcast archives.
Speaker 1 (55:38):
Quest Loup Show is a production of iHeartRadio
Quest Loft Show is a production of iHeartRadio. We's Up, y'all.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to the Quest Love Show, new era and format
for QLs.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
After close to a decade.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Of award winning podcast that you Know and Love, I'm
back from a lengthy hiatus to have conversations with people
I always wanted to get to know on a deeper level.
Earlier this week, I spoke to Autumn Derout Archipele. If
you've seen Sinners or Black Panther or Condu Forever, you've
experienced Autumn's incredible.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Work as a cinematographer.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
She also shot Beasty Boys Story and The Last Show
Girl and As He's and Sorry It's Right Now Special.
She collaborates on a higher level with Brian Coogler and
Spike Jones.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Autumn is a maverick.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And I love how she was open about setting boundaries
and a work, her influences, and how she finds joy
and family and tennis, Yes, tennis. As you're hear in
this comment, Autumn is soulful, innovative, and deeply passionate about
her craft. I told her at the end of our
top at I want to work with her someday, and
(01:10):
I meant that to the fullest. That feeling only deepened
after learning how she builds a vision, welcomes improvisation, and
captures a wider perspective on life and art.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
My vision for this new chapter of.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
LS is to get to know people I already do
on a different plane. And you know, we get to
meet new voices who inspired me and Autumn Deroud Archapyle
inspires me first with a work and men with this conversation.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
So please enjoy. Make sure you've.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Seen Sinners as Award Seasons is approaching. I highly recommend
it and look out for her upcoming collaboration with Ryan Coogler, which.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Is The X Files.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
All right, thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
How are you?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Thank you? No, your voice is so familiar to me.
It's like, you know, when you don't know somebody but
you've seen them you and listen to them. Wow, it
makes you feel like you know them, but you don't
know them. So it's nice to meet you.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It's not false modesty, but I'm always under the impression
that no one knows me, so I'm approaching this is
if you never heard of me, or don't know who
I am, or you know, but yeah, we're meeting we've
never met before.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Correct, I don't think, No, we actually haven't met before. No.
The appreciation is ditto, So thank you for all of that.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Thank you, Thank you. All right.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
My first question to you is, can you describe to
me the first twenty minutes of your morning This.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Morning, I have a son. He is nine years old,
but my husband's also DP. When we're both in town,
it is my job to get up and do all
the things that you would to get a child ready.
So I woke up, and I did set an alarm
because I just got back from Scad Film Festival where
we got to screen Sinners and talk about it. So
(02:58):
I woke up, I woke him up, I got his
lunch ready, I got it, his breakfast ready, his long hair,
so I brushed his hair and I chased him out
the door and his father took him to school. Then
I rushed to get ready for the zoom. And that's
what it was.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
So, as a child who grew up with parents that
did the same thing for a living, I got tricked
into the family business. Both my parents were singers. By
the time I was born.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
They were nightclub loungejacks. So yeah, in the seventies.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I was there from like five until you're really when
the roots started, so like from age five till eighteen.
I got tricked into the family business, mostly because they
didn't trust The idea of a babysitter wasn't a thing
until the late eighties. So in the seventies, you it's
like farm work. You just and I'm in the nightclub
(03:55):
at one in the morning, like operating lights, cutting gels, monitors,
all those things. If both of you do the same thing,
is there a hope that there's a creative epigenetic passing
of the torch? Are you leaving camera equipment? His version
of my first sony like you know, no.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I mean, I think for me, the allure is if
he does have an interest when he say, thirteen fourteen
in operating a camera, then I get to be close
to him because we only have one child, and then
I could bring in with me on all my jobs. Right,
So if he's really into it, it just allows me
to spend time with him because you know, when we
make these films, as you know, when you do music,
(04:42):
you're away for long periods of time. You have to
juggle life and you know, schedules, so he is interested.
I wouldn't say it's like his top thing. You know,
he's he's kind of a builder. He likes building stuff.
But he did bring his camera because he has a
nice camera to his camping trip recently and made a
bunch of videos and he was the only kid doing it.
(05:02):
So it's there. I'm just not, you know, on the cusp.
It's just like maybe it'll take off. Maybe.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
What was your first creative project in life?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
What I can remember the most, I think is being
in high school and you know they have the labs,
the photography labs. Yeah, the first time I felt like
ownership of something that I made was the black and
white photography class I took and having to go out there,
you know, the assignment like go take some pictures whatever
you like, like go talk to some people. And I
(05:35):
remember taking a bunch of pictures and I still have
them printed in a book. They're black and white. And
I felt like a sense of power because I had
made something. But also it was my own right, it
was my perspective. I've never been asked that, but it
immediately came to mind. So I feel like it had
to be that class because that was the first time
I think I did anything like I never I wasn't
(05:55):
a painter, I wasn't good at drawing. So that photography class,
I think was important. And like I guess that would
be like ninth grade.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Okay, what year was that? Do you remember who?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Let's call it ninety four, nineteen ninety four, ninety five.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Before then, was there a passion for photography? Were you
reading magazines and seeing like her Brits or any Leewoods
or any like?
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Did you have a north star for photography?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
It's interesting because I don't have anyone. Like my mom
works in business. She always traveled a lot. She raised me.
It was just me and my mom. I'm just myself
and she was a single mom until she remarried and
when I was in eighth grade. But you know, as
far as like she would take me to films, we
would go to museums. I always had art around me.
(06:46):
But my grandparents my mother's side is Filipino and she
was born in England and he was in the service,
and they traveled the world for his job, Like he
would be stationed in London and then he would go
to the Americas in New York and they my grandmother
always took photographs. I can't show you right now. It's
on a wall, but a lot of the photographs are
black and white photographs where they're center punched, and it's
(07:09):
just like single shots of like my grandmother in New
York or my grandmother in London, and they were always around,
Like my mom always had him around, And that must
have had an impact because till this day, like the
way that I frame, I find that there's similarities. But
that's like the first relationship I had with photography before
doing art history in LMU undergrad where you're learning about
(07:32):
you know, roth Cooe, where you're learning about Eggleston and
then you're more versed in it. But they always had
photos around our house growing up.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
You went to LMU, I did.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I went to ELMU for undergrad.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, okay, despite my quest loveness, I have a major
fear of public speaking, kind of a therapeutic challenge. This
was like December of the year before in twenty twenty five,
or my therapist was like she knew that Noah was
my favorite word. When it came to hey, quest, come
(08:06):
speak to the kids, Hey chus, you want to talk
to these you know, like and so it just so
happened that LMU had given me an offer to speak
to the graduating class, and I begrudgingly did it. Weird enough,
I've made it about me by just telling that class
how scared I was to do this, And somehow it
(08:28):
became like.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yeah, when was that obviously before the podcast, like before
this year?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah, well, okay, you know previously with the podcast. Uh,
you know, I had four other co hosts with me, Like,
I like community work, but when it's like one on one,
that's like there's too much intimacy.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
So even this is.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
More or less like a somewhat cathartic therapeutic exercise.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I was going to say, yeah, I like that, no thing.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I specifically wanted to talk to people like one that
I didn't know, like the back of my hand, and
you know, kind of two strangers meetings. So that's what
I'm doing. What is your favorite childhood memory from your home.
It doesn't have to be in a major event like
oh that time we went to Disneyland or whatever, but
just like, what's your version of a happy moment from
(09:22):
your childhood?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Give me all emotional and shit. I think it's mostly
like my it was always me and my mom, you
know together.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, what traits of yours do you think that you've
gotten from your parents, either creative or personal.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I think she's pretty resilient and very determined person. I
think being raised by someone and always listening to her
on the phone and doing her business work because she
does international trade business and interacting with people. I was
always worried about her, I think early on, you know,
(10:00):
going out by herself, because you've become kind of the caretaker,
you know, if it's just you and her. She's pretty tough.
So I always tried to follow in those footsteps. And yeah,
I mean we spent a lot of time together, you know,
it's just us too. Like I grew up in northern California.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Which city specifically, well.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
We first started out in San Leandro. I lived in
Hayward as well, Bay area, you know, near Oakland, and
we had a little apartment, you know, so I shared
a room with her early on, and then she moved
me to Danville, which is a less diverse community, to
go to a better school because it had a really
good public school program. So you kind of moved from
(10:43):
like a diverse area into you know, most you know,
I was probably the only mixed race kid. Maybe there
were a couple of black people and a couple of Asians,
but it was way, you know, nicer environment for her
to be okay with, like single parenting and having good education.
But that's my favorite. Yeah, I think just spending time
with her because I'm that quality time kind of person.
(11:05):
You know that that fills me up.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You said that you were a parent.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Is there a trade of yours that you feel like
you've passed onward to your child? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
I think my husband and I are always telling him
like and I believe it because I think, you know,
my mom told me, but you can do anything you
want to do, you know, you really anything that inspire you,
anything that you feel in your bones. Make sure you
know we're there to help you with that, but also
that like you, you have the ability to do that.
(11:38):
And I think I was told that. My husband grew
up in a very supportive He's Australian, but he has
a big family, a very loving family, and I do
feel like I reiterate that to my son a lot.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
So is it true that a friend of yours gifted
you or purchased you a cinematography class at UCLA.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, isn't that crazy. I haven't emailed him for a while.
But when I graduated LMU, I got a job for
AOL time warner. I was a temp you know, I
had to like graduate get some money, and I got
a temp job through a friend and I had to input.
Like you remember when AOL had banners, Like it was
(12:16):
the early stages, and the banners would pop up all
over the place, like on the side and the top,
and it would be like right, like buy this car,
buy this Honda. I used to put together spreadsheets for
those banners and support someone who was doing auto sales online.
So I had a cubicle at a desk and I
would do that. I would input all the stuff in
you know, nice little paycheck. And I just started to
(12:39):
be interested in cinematography. And I remember telling him and
his father owned els, which is one of the biggest
lighting companies that works with the premiers or big events
around Los Angeles. So there's like this weird through line.
And then on the side he's like, you know what,
I'll help you buy that class. Like I looked into
a night class. So when I would get off work,
(13:00):
go to UCLA for the cinematography class like a little
semester class, and I would learn what being a DP meant.
I did the class, I loved it, and then I
decided to quit, and he got me a job working
at els to help lay the red carpet and put
up the lights for the premieres. So I did, like
Mission Impossible, Devilwaar's product, you were on the night shift.
(13:24):
So I don't know if you've been to a premiere
a little early, but you see people crawling around taping
up the carpet, putting the lights up.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Totally.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I'm the DJ that they'll hire sometimes for events. Oh yes,
So I have to be there early to set up
and like, I love how the sausage is made in
any thing that I go to. So as a new director,
speaking of myself, I'm learning fast that my you know,
team has to be intact. I initially thought that as
(13:52):
a director that I'm part of the starting five players
on the floor, and I learned quickly that I'm the
coach and the cinematographer, the editor, the writer, the soundman,
the colorists, like all those people are the starting five,
and you're the coach. So because I came in backwards.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
At the top of the pyramid.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, you know, for most people in film, I noticed that, yes,
there's a pecking order for you. Was the desired destination
always cinematography.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
My comfort zone is definitely where I'm at. I mean,
I get asked a lot, I think, being a female
DP at this level, because there aren't that many of us,
you know, shooting this level of film historically, so the
question comes up a lot, well are you interested in directing?
And I think why that is is because you know,
you get to a point on set where you're very
(14:48):
versed in how a set's run. You're next to the
director all the time I work with, you know, I
do the big budget films with a lot of the effects.
So they always just imagine, okay, well, well you must
be interested in direct now, you know. And I think
it's an interesting thing because I've now gotten to the
point of my career where you work so hard as
a female DP to be able to do those things,
(15:09):
and then now they're already trying to like ask you
to go this direction. So I hear that question a lot.
But I'm so I think passionate about the way things
are shot and lighting that I could never give that
up right, so it's easy for me to position myself.
And Ryan's like, hey, do you want to do this
Rihana video that's up my alley Because it's music related,
(15:30):
it's beauty related. I get to work one on one
with a star and make them look beautiful and make
them feel comfortable. But no, I think I'm lucky to
have found a partner in Ryan because we have similar
tastes and we like the same things, and I understand
him really well. But to do his job like it
(15:51):
is a very very difficult position to be. And as
you know, I don't have a story that's like so
in my bones that I have to tell and only
I'm the only one that can tell it. Not yet,
you know, maybe in the future there is something that
only I can tell as a director. But I really
do enjoy supporting him and the other directors I work with, because,
(16:13):
as you know, it's just it's a very complex job
to do everything well.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Number One, you mentioned Rihanna's Lifted Me Up video. What
was the creative decision behind doing that handheld as opposed
to you know, crane and you know this is Rihanna, Like,
I feel like every director has their uh, their Lawrence
(16:38):
of Arabia, dream of like the or Citizen King, like
the sprawling opening scene thing.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Uh, and you know handheld.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Is more of a we're all personal intimate things. But
what was your decision behind shooting it that way?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yeah, we had a crane that we used. You know,
the opening is a water shot. We shot some more
stuff that I didn't use with the wide shots of
the water before we went into intimate stuff. So that
was done on a crane to kind of crawl over
the sand. But I mean I came up in indies.
I came up shooting music videos, fashion films that didn't
(17:14):
have any money. So when you have a camera in
your hands and it is an extension of yourself and
your point of view, that's how you learn to find
where the camera needs to be right. And so I'm
very much an operator. I've operated most of my films,
all the stuff that I do. So when I'm having
(17:34):
to be in a situation where light is falling quickly,
I want to be with her. I want her to
move freely and do what she wants, but I also
want to capture and get the right shots. Then you
want to take as much control as you can, right
I don't want to worry about it being on a
dolly and moving the dolly. Then I have to worry
about the dolly grip. Then I have to worry about
all stuff. So I put it in my hands so
(17:56):
I have the most control and I'm most intimate with her,
similar to Last Showgirl, you know, with Pamela, like being
close to the woman so you can move with her
and find her beauty easily.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
In general, I want to know how much lee way
or access or preparation are you given to your subjects
that you're going to film, Like how do you even
map out the choreography of how you're going to shoot that,
what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, or is
(18:31):
this just taking direction from your director and you executing,
Like how much leeway are you given to well? Actually,
why don't we try this?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
And da da da da da. Like specifically, I want
to know for the Last.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Show Girl, Okay, well I'll start with that saying I
think the best thing that you can do is work
with people that allow you to exercise your creativity and
have trust in you. Right when I work with Gia,
you know, we started out running around, we shot Paloouto.
We're running around with a bunch of kids with her friends.
(19:06):
She's my best friend, so we talk every day. But
it's someone I know really well, and I know what
they like and I know where they want the camera.
It's intuitive, like I choose people to collaborate with that
we have that connection. So when it's with her, there's
a lot of trust in camera that she gives me.
And that's why that that kind of relationship works. Also
(19:27):
with that scene, I remember, you have to be the
best thing you can be as a DP is quick
to make decisions and have solutions. So I remember I
didn't have any prep there. I think Gia came up
and said, Jamie wants to dance on that thing in
the middle of the casino, right like we have some time,
you know, in between like some other senior shooting. She
(19:48):
wants to dance. She's gonna dance to this song. We're
gonna shoot it. I'm like, all right, cool. So then
I tell my gaffer, like to position the light and
a good spot. I just evaluate, you know, that kind
of podium that she wanted. I picked direction. I said,
I'm going to shoot it from here because it was
the best direction for lighting, and I moved a little
bit of a key light for and then we just
let her do her thing and I captured it, you know,
(20:09):
while she was dancing and handhealth and that was it.
And I think there are a lot of those types
of moments that in the film like that, because you
want to be free and vulnerable to like what the
actor may want to do, but you also want to
get those moments that the director wants, because Gia loves
those non communication moments where it's just following women around
(20:32):
and letting them. Like Pamela, we went on the parking
lot on a weekend and Pamela just started dancing around
and being funny and cute and we just captured it.
So there's a lot of that For.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
You, though, how do you decide the thin line of
what would be deemed an unflattering shot but staying true
to what's needed to really make that film come alive.
Because of course, you know, a lot of us know
Pamela Anderson for like all these slow motion and glam
shots and everything's perfectly edited and whatnot. But for you,
(21:07):
how aware of you on how this has to look
to make this film come along?
Speaker 3 (21:13):
We had been discussing it Gia and I for a
long time prior to when we actually ended up shooting it.
So she was always looking for someone to be vulnerable
and not like have a lot of makeup on, to
not go through makeup at the top of the day,
and because that can be time consuming, to just be
(21:34):
themselves right, to just be raw, and so that was
the directive that was someone she wanted to play it.
We knew that we didn't have a lot of money
to make this film. We knew that we'd make it
with a small group with friends on film. It would
be very intimate where we would have all the control,
and that was the most important thing because we made
a film before that where we didn't have as much control,
and we wanted to make a film where we had control.
(21:56):
She has all the control, I have all the control,
and we make it. That's very rare. As you know,
it shouldn't be rare because we're the filmmakers and we
both have director in our title, but it does happen,
and it's unfortunate when you don't. So with this film,
it's very much our retelling of that story, which is nice,
like you can watch it and only you made those mistakes.
(22:18):
You weren't forced into anything. As you know Pamela, I mean,
she's just amazing, And same with Jamie. It's like they're
okay with just being themselves. They're at that point where
they're so confident in who they are that it's so
enlightening to be able to shoot women like that, right,
and so they put their trust in you that you
know what it should be lit, like you know where
(22:40):
the camera should be. So for that like I wanted
to have a lower footprint, which meant using a lot
of available light, which meant going into space is using
a lot of practicals. And then just how I exposed it.
You just need to know your exposure right, what you
can push and what you can't. And that's just like
having experience and trial and error, I think in spaces.
So and then you as a woman, like I know
(23:01):
where the beauty shops are, you know what someone will
look powerful or where the camera needs to be. And
then I also made lenses for that picture, so Hannah
Vision and I made some lenses that have never been
made before, anamorphic sixteen lenses because I couldn't find any
lenses that I liked, so we made some so it
has a very particular look that I feel is very
(23:22):
flattering because it's very soft, old vintage glass. But I
detuned it in a way that has a lot of
fall off and is more dreamy. So that also helps
when you're thinking about how this should look. You know,
to pair the film stock with a beautiful lens, which
also in turn, I think, as you know, like lighting
and lensing are in conversation with each other. A lighting
(23:45):
can only look great if the camera's in the right position,
and it depends on what that lenses. So yeah, it
was very thought through, but always with the intention of
having a small footprint and not getting in the way
of the process.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
What is your attraction to the anamorphic style of shooting, like,
did you see it happened before or are you in
a place where you're just like, I want to push
forward the things that I'm not seeing that I wish
I seen.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Yeah, well, see, I went to AFI, so you know
it's a playground for you to explore and ask questions
and you have access to like camera houses and stuff.
So early on before AFI, I was in love with
the format because I saw films like Manhattan, The Last Emperor,
these films are shot on anamorphic. They have a lot
of scope, and I didn't exactly knew like the logistics
(24:36):
of that format at the time, but it was like,
what am I responding to? That makes me feel like,
this is cinematic? What is this like? Because I saw
a similarity in this format, right, you have twice the
field of view, faces look different, there's more fall off,
like all these characteristics that come with it. And then
when I was at film school, I looked into it
more and started shooting my own anamorphic and then you
(24:58):
figure out how to use the format. But for me,
it's just something that I think early on, when I
was researching filmmaking, I was responding more to film shot
and anamorphic and now it's just like kind of my thing.
But I don't push it on directors. That's the thing.
The director has to want to shoot in that format.
You don't want to like push them into it if
they're not into it.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
From one to ten, what is your tolerance level for
a micromanaging director versus someone that just lets.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
You have the space to do what you do.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Have you had an experience with a micromanaging director that's
always oh damn.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
You don't even let me get okay.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
And the opposite, we could say, a more pleasant situation
where you're given the leeway to show what you know
and your education and it works out fine. Like you've
been on both sides of the fence. Is there a
way for you to describe both to me without compromising
and putting yourself in No?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
No, of course. I think the thing about it is
is when you get to a point where you feel
like you have something to offer, right, and you can
relate in music where it's like you have something to say.
It's inside, it's in your bones. And the people that
recognize that and see it in you and see it
in your work and then ask you to come break
bread with them and join their family and say, you
(26:41):
know what, I see that magic and I want you
to join me to help me tell this story because
only you can be the person to tell it. And
those are the people that I want to work with.
And I've been lucky enough to work with those people
like a Gea, like a Ryan, even with Spike, like
you know, even though it was in a movie like
these are very collaborate people. They're very talented people, and
(27:02):
they have their own point of view and they know
how to kind of explain it to you. And then
they want to collaborate with you, right, So they have
a vision that they hand off to you, that you
work together with them, and it's very clear and it's
a great relationship. And on the other hand, I've been
in a situation where I think I've been hired because
of my work, but then when we get to the
(27:25):
point at which I need to execute my you know,
and help them, they want to micromanage me. And so
I'm not even allowed to get that out right. So
it's already a conflict because it's like, you know, come
play this music. Oh wait, don't play that, Like, well,
the motherfucker why am I here?
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Why am I here?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
So now you're from the Bay Area. I was waiting
for Ella or motherfucker? All right? Good.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
So I'm like, I think, for me, I don't put
myself in those situations anymore. Life is too short. I
have a family. I have to be away. And that's
what's so beautiful with Ryan. It's like, you know, we
go when we make these films, well Conda took a
year long, and it's like he protects my time, he
protects the effort that I put in. I know it
will be worthy. I know I will be respected. I
(28:10):
know that I will be able to collaborate on the
highest level. So I tend to look for that opportunity
because it is hard as an artist to just be
you know, told no all the time, or the trust
isn't there, or not being able to be brave like
I want to work with brave people. I don't want
to work with restricted people like scared people. Is that answer?
(28:31):
I'm going off on a tangent.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Talk your shit, talk your shit. Yeah, I like that.
All right.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
If you were to recommend me three films that probably
touches you the most, what would those three films be?
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Hannah and Her Sisters? So what do you allen? Film?
The Last Emperor? Bertolucci, and Barry Lyndon Kubrick. Have you
seen any of those?
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Of course, yeah, well that's great. Yeah it's not us.
Some people say like, oh, I haven't seen Last Emperor,
but that means yes in aphile, I suppose.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
I lived on a tour bus for twenty plus years,
and the thing is, yeah, I'm not going to just
pretend that we were all these criteering collection nerds.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
It just became a point where I.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Got tired of watching Friday and Juice and Scarface on
the tour bus.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
So I live in the East Coast, so in Philadelphia,
New York, there's a you know, independent places like a
TLA Video or Kim's Video.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Where a lot of those.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
And even when I go to the like to La,
like going to a Respudenz or going to a Sunset Boulevard,
they just.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Shut down the tower like it used to be Tower Records,
and it turned into Amiba.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah yeah, tower, but also Amiba yeah yeah. And then
that's when I discovered, oh, Criterion collect and now I
want to watch, you know, things that I haven't seen before. Well,
I'll ask you, are you a Criterion person or a
two B person?
Speaker 3 (30:09):
To be honest, I didn't do the deep dive on
Too be It and Criterion. I think I was after college.
But now I'm just like, you know, Apple TV, which
doesn't give you any of the extras, obviously, don't you that? Yeah,
well but I do. I'm not gonna lie to you,
like and I talked a lot about this with my husband.
The more and more you shoot movies or work on
(30:31):
film sets, Unfortunately, the less and less you watch movies,
especially how they're made, because you you, I mean, you're there,
you start to you know, you get to a point
where but I did when I was coming up, Like
a Thin Red Line is another one that I'd add
to that three where I remember watching the criterion of
a Thin Red Line to find out, you know, how
(30:53):
they made that, and I was just blown away because
I didn't know anything at the time, So I think
it was more alluring when I didn't know stuff.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
We have to rapifire you on your profession.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
For the Disease special, I was just so obsessed with
the diagonal framing, just the unorthodox framing of it. He
just walked me through just the creative of that special.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Spike and I met because he wanted to do a
music video that didn't end up happening. We did that
before Beastie Boys.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Who was it for?
Speaker 3 (31:29):
It? By the way, you know who it's for, but
I forget.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
I can't say, but.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
You would know. You would know, Okay, but it's escaping
me now like someone important, and I was very excited.
We went and scouted it. It didn't happen, so then
we did Disease together. And what was cool about it
was Disease was performing in Manhattan Beach in a smaller
comedy club down by the beach, and so that was
our first kind of, I guess dress rehearsal. So Spike
(31:56):
took me down there. I met him there. He had
a camera on his back the whole show. And this
is like hour and a half I guess hour and
a half show, and I had a camera on my
back digital and we shot the show as like a
dress rehearsal of like let's see how we vibe with disease.
And this is something Spike wanted to do to kind
of see the angles that would be good. It's not
the space that we were going to shoot it, but
(32:17):
it was kind of just learning, like a learning process.
And what was so funny was, you know, having a
camera on your back for an hour and a half
is a pain in the ass. But I remember thinking like, well,
Spike's doing it. I'm not taking this camera off my back,
you know what I mean, Like, because we were rolling
the whole time. We rolled the whole show, and it
just forced you to kind of find perspectives and angles
that were interesting because you know, it is when you
(32:39):
hold on an angle for a long time, you know,
it can get boring, and then you it makes you
think about where's a better angle. So you're always one
uping yourself trying to figure out what those angles are.
But you're also keeping an eye on the other operator
to see where they are right, so you can kind
of dance.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
With each other and there's only the two of you.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
There's only two of us, and you didn't do a
pre this mizone, this is your zone.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
I think that was the point of that dress rehearsal.
Like we definitely had a talk when we went into
the space. Right it's an empty comedy space. You know,
we knew you'd be on stage, he'd have a little stool.
And then Spike obviously was like, okay, well I think
this or that because I remember adjusting some lights. So
there was a conversation about it. But I think in
the moment when you're trying to move around, you also
have to just like think on your feet too. Even
(33:24):
though we would say like okay, I'll take this side
or that side, because I allowed him like he was,
I think, you know, you want to make sure you're
not stacking up, and sometimes I think he might have
told me, like we can go to the audience sometimes
all stay on him, watch me. If I stay on him,
then you go here, you know. So there's a conversation
that you would have with that operator. And so that
was our dress rehearsal. Then fast forward we're in New
(33:45):
York and you know, we also did a dress rehearsal there,
but we're shooting on film, and I think in conversations
with a Ziz, you know they wanted to shoot it
on film. And one of the biggest references I think
Spike amy was those old Richard Pryor shows that were
shot on sick so I'll watched those. Obviously made sense
to me. But it was a tall order because shooting,
(34:07):
I think we had six cameras shooting simultaneously, knowing when
to you have to change the mags so you don't
miss a beat on each angle right, you have to coordinate.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
All of that.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
So it was a It was a lot of prep
in the sense, like I remember with Spike, he's very specific,
but also he wants to try things, so like we
would set the camera up in different zones and we
would figure out that was the right zone, and then
we mapped it out. We also did a lighting test
where we you know, we lit it, We lit the backstage,
we tried some things, we developed it, we watched it
(34:40):
to see if he liked it. So there was a
lot of prep, I would say in that sense, because
when you take it to film, you know, accidents can happen,
so you need to be on top of your game
and make sure all the operators and all the mags
whiches are on time. We had all the monitors set
up HD tap and I would you know, you know,
you're doing a little bit of core nation. Spike did
(35:01):
operate the on stage camera for one of the shows,
I believe, and I think we shot two nights my Trippin' maybe,
but yeah, I mean it was all coordinated, and so
I think it was nice to do that smaller show
with him. But he wanted it to feel alive, right,
He wanted it to have the texture and the kind
of quality that came from those old Richard Pryor shows
(35:23):
where you can feel the grain alive. And so yeah,
there was a lot of discussion, but we got very lucky.
I mean, I wouldn't say we had like a bunch
of jams or you know, because that shit is like
you're sweating. Trust me, you're sweating.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I wish concert films were shot that way. Like I
just Spike is an idol of mine.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Like yeah, he's so fun, Like I would say that right,
It's like it was fun to work on and it's
fun to watch because he creates that environment when you're
making a film, like let's just do this, let's go here,
let's you know, like I'm an operator, you know, it was.
It was fun.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So I experienced Sinners, flew out to La. My preferred
destination points in Los Angeles is either the New Beverly
to watch movies and Vista House to watch, both owned
by Quentin Tarantino. Pretty much from not since I was
(36:21):
a child. I come from also a place where before
the VCR, you would go to a movie house at
eleven in the morning and just stay all day, sometimes
watching two three times in a row a film because
you're like, there's no way IM see this ever get
in life. And I will watch Sinners three times in
a row.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
What are you talking about? What?
Speaker 1 (36:44):
I was obsessed?
Speaker 3 (36:45):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
I was obsessed.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
So how much experience did you have with the large
format sixty five millimeter, well one that format, but also
with Imax, like is sixty five millimeter the same or
is it two different cameras that you have to operate
at once.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Yeah, no, so it's the same negative running through both
cameras but in different ways, So two different cameras. Like
you just said, the anamorphic format is the wide screen,
which is that two seven six hateful eight format that
people are familiar with, and that is a sixty five
millimeter negative running vertically through a camera which is a
(37:28):
Panavision camera called a System sixty five camera. That camera
is very heavy. That camera is not necessarily a handheld camera, right,
it's a studio camera. It's on a dolly or whether
it's on a crane or stuff like that. There's a
high speed version of that that allows you to shoot
high speed. That's a little bit lighter that we put
on a steadicam sometimes, for instance the ononer that goes
(37:51):
and follows missus Chow across the street and her daughter
in the grocery store scene. So that's steadycam. And then
you have the Imax camera, which is sixty five negative,
same negative, but it's going through the camera horizontally and
it's fifteen perfs, not five perfs, so much bigger, negative
real estate, different cameras. So that's Imax camera. I had
(38:13):
not shot any of these before, and you know, neither
had my team, so Ryan myself.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Yeah, not even for a black Panther was that used
at all.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
No, So when you see that's the thing I think
what was so great about Ryan's video where he explained
all the formats is that a lot of people get
a bit confused about when they go see an Imax
film if it's Digital Imax or if it's film Imax.
The only team that we're familiar with, like my you know,
you and I that are shooting this format would be
(38:45):
Hota and well Christopher Nolan, Christopher Nolan and Hoyta and
then obviously Wally Fister with The Dark Knight was the
first Imax film I went to see at the City Walk,
And so that's the filmmaking team that's shooting film Imax
in know, a large format that goes in between the formats.
So so yeah, so when it came time to do this,
we did our own testing, but it's not available to everyone.
(39:08):
To be honest, those cameras that we use, there's only
four of them for the system cameras, so it's not
like multiple movies can be shot at the same time
because those are the cameras that are used. So if
that team is not using those cameras, then you know,
we were lucky enough to get to use those cameras.
So yeah, that's the format thing. And yeah it came up.
I don't know if you read, but Ryan originally saw
(39:30):
it as a sixteen millimeter picture. That's how we were
supposed to do it as That's why I made those
lenses for Last Show Girl because I was kind of
thinking ahead and thinking like, oh, let me let me
test these out and then we can use them on
that film because we shot right after. But then we
you know, obviously Ryan up the ante as he as
he does, and we went you know, we tested thirty
(39:52):
five and then we tested large format.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
So yeah, how much rehearsal do you get before it's
the day the Day of Reckoning? Not to make it
sound o apocalyptic, but it has to be a intimidating
no like our mistakes allowed.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
I mean, I go back to what you that question
you asked me for about my lane. I don't like
how you said public speaking, you get nervous and stuff
like I would assume when you're in your element and
you're playing music, like that is your space, and I
feel very confident in what I do and when I'm
doing that's where I feel most comfortable. Prep is a
(40:29):
pain in the act, right when you're doing you have
you do all the tests and you have to like
figure everything out. That's very tedious. But if you put
a camera in my hand and I now know how
to use it, game on, right. So I think for
us we always have on movies, let's call it like
eight to twelve weeks of prep. That's just rough number,
But you have a lot of weeks to go over
this stuff. You do not have eight to twelve weeks
(40:49):
of prep to just mess around with the camera, because
obviously there's a cost to that prep, right, So say
you prep that kind of camera package for five weeks
something like that. So what that means is you're at
the camp, your AC's are at the camera house. They're
testing the lenses that you want to use. We're running
film through all of the magazines through the camera, we're
looking at the film gate, we're doing shutter tests. So
(41:10):
there's a lot of logistics that go into like making
sure that these cameras are going to behave properly. You
have a lot of technicians that are helping you do that,
and I always feel like for me, I said this
to the students recently. When I came up in film school,
I didn't know as much as everybody else, so I
was learning from a bunch of people, most of them
were men, and I hated the feeling when someone was
(41:31):
staring at me, look at me in the eyes, saying like, well,
I don't understand what you're saying, Like I don't know
what you want me to do, Like they were forcing
me to like figure out how to explain what I wanted,
you know, how I wanted the lighting to look, how
I wanted to move the camera, And I felt very uncomfortable, right,
And you can imagine like there's not you know, many
of us. So I vowed to not have that happen
(41:52):
to me throughout my career. So I had to go
out always make sure I knew the cameras, always make
sure I knew exactly what I wanted for lighting, and
I learned. So I'm a very technical person and so
I make sure that my shit is tight because I
don't want anyone staring at me and being like, well,
I don't understand what the fuck you talking about. You know,
I don't know what you want. So I find that,
like when I have that prep time, it becomes like
a very tedious thing where I'm working with my team
(42:12):
making sure that like I know the shit so that
when we get on set and it's d day, like
you say that nothing can get in the way of
Ryan telling his story. That all the people that I've
brought to support him, the focus pullers, the g and E,
everyone is tight. Then that gives us the creative freedom
to do what we want, so we're not having mistakes happen.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Im that situation.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
How are you adaptable to freestyling or your plan B,
your Plan C in case something goes awry? Is that
also a part of the process of doing this?
Speaker 3 (42:50):
Yes, No, one hundred percent, because I think what Ryan
loves to do too, and I appreciate this is like
in prep, we bored everything he wanted to board the
whole film boarded it. We do previous for the most
you know, complex sequences like the one or the musical
wunner or the train sequence. Stuff that we need to
like guide a bunch of different teams, but also see
(43:12):
ahead of time how it's going to plan out, so
we know how we're shooting it, but it doesn't mean
that we get there. We don't change it. And that's
what I love is like you have a plan because
you have to with that many people and this complex
stuff we're doing, but we can throw it out if
we want to because we're in the space Michael B.
Jordan is you know, we're doing a blocking with him
and all of a sudden, you know the sun's coming in,
(43:34):
or you see these special moments that you want to
adapt quickly too, because the actor is now in the
actual space giving you shit in the rehearsal, so you
don't want to stick to maybe what you thought of
on the page in an office like six weeks ago.
So yeah, we adapt, And I love that about Ryan
because we have a plan, but we also like feel
it out as well, and that's where you know, you
can get extra stuff or you can have different versions
(43:55):
of things. But no, I think the more you know,
the more you can play jazz on set. Right, Like
if you prep your shit tight before then you can
be more free flowing and not be erratic I guess.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
I would assume that music sequence. I mean, there's so
many iconic sequences, but for me, that's the one that
grabbed me the most, and it came so early, so
I don't know if I should call that the epicenter
of the heartbeat of the film.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
But that's one of the things we're.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Obsessed about, where it's like, how did that look on page?
Because I feel like what was captured wasn't specifically written
on page like it just I'll ask you, what was
the most difficult sequence to shoot in that film?
Speaker 3 (44:49):
Yeah, it wasn't that one. I answered this once because
I think someone asked me when I was talking about
Imax on something and well, to go back to how
it was written. It was beautifully written. But you know
something like that is written in description, right because it's
so like ethereal and surreal, and so when I first
read it has so much imagination, So you read it,
(45:11):
it makes you think, like on your own by yourself,
right when you read it. And then I have a
meeting with Ryan and then he's explaining what he wants
to do with it, right, how it makes him feel,
what his drive is for the scene. And then that's
when it starts to fill itself out, and then you
have meetings about it. He also did some rough drawings boards,
you know, prior to us flashing it out fully, so
I kind of after you see those, you have a
(45:33):
bit of an idea of what he wants, but it
is a kind of evolves, you know, based off of
what he read. If you read that, which I'm sure
the script will come out at some point. It's beautifully written,
and so it is actually that cool on the page,
but visually I think it turned into something much greater, obviously,
but no, I think for me the hardest scene was
the last scene that we shot, the fight in the river,
(45:56):
the night fight, And I think for me, why I
say that's the heart this is because number one, it's
night shoots. Those are always difficult, But when there is
VFX involved, I find it difficult because with VFX we
try to get as most as we can in camera,
but there's a lot of stuff that's being done way later,
right and as a DP on set, you want to
(46:17):
know what that's going to look like. You want to
know how they're going to manipulate the image. You want
to know the kind of the path that it's going
and so when I don't have control, that's when I
find it difficult because I need control. So that scene,
I think, in itself was more complex because we did
some work on it. Obviously we did most of it
in camera. We did burn him, but you can see
there's a lot of collaboration between make up, the effects,
(46:41):
the actors, how we shot it. So that was the
trickiest thing for me, I think, because it has an evolution,
there's a fire, tornado, all this stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
Where did you watch it for the first time with
an audience.
Speaker 3 (46:52):
A real audience. I don't want to call it real
because it was the premiere, you know what premieers are, right.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
But did you go to see it with non industry
people like.
Speaker 3 (47:02):
I did after the premiere? So I would say the
first time I saw it, well, the first you know,
we watched it one hundred million times because we're doing
the QC. I got to watch the print, I gotta
do the HDR, I got to watch the digital projection.
So I see it a bunch with Ryan.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
So you're tired of it a film like.
Speaker 3 (47:16):
This, you aren't because it makes you so happy. You know,
it speaks to you like it speaks to your history,
your culture, your your family, your relatives. So I didn't
have a problem with it, you know, like watching it
a bunch of times, I was very proud of it.
So you're like, when you watch it, you're like, uh,
but no. I watched it with a regular crowd in
quotes regular at the premiere in New York. And then
(47:37):
the first time I really watched it was at City Walk.
I went to City Walk and I watched it with
a real crowd. And you know, I think I get
emotional every time I watch it, for sure.
Speaker 2 (47:47):
Yeah, I assume that the X Files are next, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:52):
How familiar were you with the.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Series before you signed on to it, Like were you
obsessive or like what was the process of tackling that?
Speaker 3 (48:02):
I was not. I am not. My mom loved that show.
It's funny because I think Ryan said something to media
recently that he's making it for his mom or like that,
you know, she really loved that show, so he wants
to do right by her. But my mom, I guess
it was like in a time and of her place,
like to watch that and be obsessive about like next
week is this? And she would do that. But I
(48:24):
never got that into it. I mean, I'm not versed
in it. I did watch it throughout my life. Sometimes
I found myself watching it. But I'm okay with that
because I feel like, what's nice about maybe not knowing
everything is you can be more imaginative because when he
hands me the script, it's a new version of that,
right right, same roots. I think not too long ago,
(48:44):
I watched the first the pilot episode to revisit it,
but I try not to get too much in my head,
Like I'm more big on like him, having a conversation
with him about what things mean, and doing my own
homework than like watching it all and filling my head
with like what was it makes sense?
Speaker 2 (49:00):
So you didn't like watch the box set twelve times
over to make sure?
Speaker 3 (49:04):
No, no, no, no, We're we're about to get into prep.
So I'm not in prep officially yet, so I'm going
to have to revisit that.
Speaker 2 (49:12):
Well, especially with your line of work, how long do
you give yourself in between projects to even commit to
another project and go through the process of like sitting
with it, doing some research and starting your notes.
Speaker 3 (49:24):
Like, no, no, it's such a good question because I
think because my husband also a DP and he's he
does movies, bigger movies as well. That I don't want
to work all the time, you know, like I don't.
I'm not like a back to back to back person.
I think Last show Girl and Sinners, these are like
my two best friends, so I you know, that had
(49:45):
to happen like that. I wasn't going to not do
those ones. But it's not something that like, I pour
so much of myself into it that it's very draining
by the end of it. So I'm not even thinking
about like calling my agent, like what else do you
for me? You know, Oh, it's not doing that.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
You're not a stacker.
Speaker 3 (50:03):
I'm not a stacker.
Speaker 1 (50:04):
Yeah, I'm a stacker.
Speaker 3 (50:07):
Well you'd be. Yeah, that's the thing. I think many
people are. There are reasons why I'm not. But I
also like fill it in with commercials. So like, for instance,
you know, I finished Sinners, I'm back at home, and
now I'm flying to Barcelona to shoot a soccer commercial.
So I get to exercise, you know, shooting. I'm not
doing a narrative, which is my favorite, but because we
(50:29):
get to do commercials in between. I've been doing commercials
since Sinners wrapped and the pilot, Like our dates have
shifted a bit, so the pilot I was supposed to.
You know, it's like when things shift, you kind of
run with it. So I haven't put anything in front
of that.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Our commercial is your version of me going to a
jam session at a jazz club to try new things out.
Speaker 3 (50:52):
Yes, that you get to work with your friends, right,
Like your friend can call you like come jam with me,
and they're like, okay, I'll come chat with you for
a week.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
What is your other talent that's not film related?
Speaker 3 (51:02):
Tennis? I played tennis, okay, but I'm not like going
pro or anything. But I find that like is very
helpful to me, Like I have a coach, I'll go play,
like I'm going to go play after this.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
What is your go to movie theater? Snack?
Speaker 3 (51:18):
Oh, popcorner, raisinets mixed together.
Speaker 1 (51:21):
Mixed together? Okay. What's the film that you've seen the
most in your life?
Speaker 3 (51:26):
Probably Heat.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
I'm showing that for my birthday this year.
Speaker 3 (51:29):
Oh you are?
Speaker 2 (51:30):
I run out of movie theater the Saturday before my
birthday and I curate not a twenty four hour but
like sixteen to seventeen hour all day film festival.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
Like cartoons cartoons in the morning, and.
Speaker 2 (51:46):
Then a musical whatever I liked in the eighties, something
in the nineties, a gangster flick, and usually ends with
like a really horrible b film like that. How do
you manage stress? Like how do you what's your self
care routine?
Speaker 3 (52:01):
I like to be I'm a homebody because I spend
so much time outside, you know, like I just did
that film festival. I'll push myself to go do things
because I think they're important. And like being at that festival,
you know, as a representative. You know, they had me there,
they gave me like I was part of a panel,
(52:23):
but also the students that were there, Like I was
texting Ryan and I was telling them. I was like
I could count on two hands how many black women
came up to me and said thank you for what
you do and they wanted to meet me, like that
was unheard of, like on two hands. So I had
more than five and they were lovely students. And then
when I have those experiences, it makes me go, you
(52:44):
know what, this is why I'm going to go out
and talk. This is why I'm going to do the interviews,
because some girl is going to read it and it's
going to be something that is important to her and
so all that stress, you know, because you got to
stack all the stuff, you know, it is for this
time and period. It's worth it. And I do see
Ryan doing that too. He's very inspirational in that regard,
(53:06):
where like he he gives a lot of people his
time and energy. And also his family is a great
family person and I see that in him. So I
want to extend that as well because I've been given
this opportunity that many people do not get. So my
self carries. I'll do all the stuff, but then when
it's time to rest, I like to be in my
home by myself if my son's at school or whatever
(53:28):
it is. But I need a loane time. I need
some space and time for myself, or I'll go Placennis
Hennis is my Yeah. But if I'm on set and
I'm stressed, someone might, you know, I might get upset,
yell at somebody, go out a cigarette maybe something like that.
Speaker 2 (53:41):
Yeah, this has been really educational, and I thank you
for giving me the honor of this conversation.
Speaker 1 (53:48):
I am such a fan of your work.
Speaker 2 (53:51):
Thank you so much, and I hope to one day
to work with you.
Speaker 3 (53:55):
Very like Zacher, I like, you got a stack of
shit that you need to do.
Speaker 1 (54:00):
I am.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
I'm definitely working until like twenty thirty two, so I
really appreciate it, and thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
This is Autumn Arkapale Am I pronouncing that correctly.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
Yeah, it's actually well you could say Arkapau. I think
they it's my husband's last name, but they changed it.
It's Arkapove, but when they immigrated it they changed it
to Arkapau, you know, but yes, Arka Paul beautiful.
Speaker 2 (54:25):
Well, thank you very much for talking to the Quest
Loft Show, and ladies and gentlemen, I will see you
on the next go round.
Speaker 3 (54:31):
All right, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (54:39):
Quest Left Show is hosted by me A Mere Quest
Love Thompson. Executive producers are Sean g Brian Calhoun and me.
Produced by Britney Benjamin and Jake Paine. Produced for I
Heearten by Noel Brown, edited by Alex Convoy, iHeart Video
(55:00):
support by Mark Canton, Logos Graphics and animation by Nick
by Loewie. Additional support by Lance Colman. Special thanks to
Kathy Brown. Special thanks to Sugar Steve Mandel. Please subscribe,
rate review and share the Quest Love Show wherever you
(55:22):
stream your podcast. To make sure you follow us on
socials that's at QLs. Check out hundreds and hundreds of
QLs episodes, including the Quest Love Supreme Shows, and our
podcast archives.
Speaker 1 (55:38):
Quest Loup Show is a production of iHeartRadio
Hosts And Creators
Laiya St. Clair
Questlove
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