Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Sauda Johnson McNeal.
- To highlight Sauda Johnson McNeal’s journey from a successful law career to filmmaking.
- To discuss her new film “Love the Skin You’re In”, its themes, production process, and personal significance.
- To inspire entrepreneurs and creatives to pursue their passions while balancing purpose and practicality.
Key Takeaways
-
Career Transition & Dual Roles
- Sauda started as an actor, realized the instability, and pursued law for financial security.
- Maintains dual careers: education attorney and filmmaker, blending purpose (helping youth) and passion (storytelling).
-
Film Details
- Title: Love the Skin You’re In.
- Themes: Self-love, family healing, caretaking, and African-American experiences.
- Cast includes Wendy Raquel Robinson, Marla Gibbs, and Oba Babatundé.
- Release: Limited theatrical run (Dec 17–23 in North Hollywood), streaming planned for February 2026 (Black History Month).
-
Production Challenges
- Unexpected permit issues caused shutdowns.
- Tight 4-week shooting schedule due to budget constraints.
- Importance of leveraging relationships and calling in favors for casting and resources.
-
Personal Connection
- Story inspired by Sauda’s own struggles with self-worth during college.
- Emphasizes therapy, faith, and support systems in overcoming self-doubt.
-
Entrepreneurial Insight
- First project was self-financed; future plans include raising private equity for films.
- Goal: Maintain creative control while expanding opportunities for others.
-
Impact & Audience Takeaway
- Encourages self-acceptance and repairing family relationships.
- Resonates with men on fatherhood and emotional presence.
- Highlights the underappreciated role of caretakers.
Notable Quotes
-
On purpose and passion:
“My purpose is to help young people. My passion is this filmmaking business.” -
On self-love:
“Love the skin you’re in is about total self-acceptance regardless of where you are on your journey.” -
On overcoming fear:
“Film is unpredictable… I said, okay, the other fears—do it anyway.” -
On family relationships:
“We are not promised tomorrow… Fix these family relationships if they’re possible to be fixed.” -
On entrepreneurial mindset:
“I absolutely would like to use other people’s money… but keep creative control.”
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald's hosts weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass.
Show the interviews and information that this show provides off
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(00:22):
a small business owner, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, influencer, or nonprofit
I want you on my show. Now, let's get started.
My guest transition from a successful law career that she's
still doing by the way, to develop and produce quality,
independent feature films that reflect different aspects of the African
American experience. They create films about Black women, by black
(00:45):
women that encourage us to share our self love journeys,
inspire each other to learn how to survive and thrive
through racism, sexism, agism, colorism. Please welcome to Money Making
Conversations masterclafe as lawyer, director, producer, writer Saouda Johnson McNeill.
(01:05):
How you doing, Sauta, I'm good?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
How are you sore?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Where are you at right now as I'm talking.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
To you, I am in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Okay, cool, So I gave you a lot of titles there.
So what you want to start? Gonna stop on the
legal because we're going to get to that film in
a minute, which is why you're actually on the show.
But I am a person who worked for IBM. My
degree is in mathematics, so I understand that you can.
And I decided to be a stand up comic. That's
all I wanted to be when I got out of college,
(01:34):
and I pursued there and became a writer, producer, manager
of extraordinary talent. And I have a podcast that you're
being interviewed on. So with that being said, you are
a lawyer by trade? How this filmmaking? Where was that
in the process of high school college that allowed you
(01:57):
to be a lawyer? What you were doing both now.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
To me so interestingly. I went to the University of
Southern California for acting for theater and came out to
Los Angeles from New York, pursued acting, got the tastes
of the real world, going out on auditions, and I said, hmmm,
I need to have a career where I can pay
the bills because I see that this is going to
(02:20):
be a lot of ed and flow. And I also
had someone who I was a mentor producer and she
was an attorney. So that inspired me to say, you
know what, one day I want to do that. I
want to practice law, pursue my acting, pursue my producing.
And so that was kind of the path I took.
I went to law school, became an attorney in New
(02:41):
York and California, fell in love with the law, but
didn't want to forget about my passion. So I have
what I say, purpose and passion. My purpose is to
help young people. I'm an education attorney, and my passion
is this filmmaking business.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Okay, Now, there are a lot of people out there
are afraid to do anything, afraid of change, afraid of
like the unexpected. Now you had logic in your life,
and I will tell you this. I can't act, by
the way. I'm very good as a stand up comedian,
but I wanted to be an actor, but I didn't
like the audition process. So stand up allowed me to
(03:18):
go on stage. I get paid for my talents, and
so I can control my career a lot better. So,
but your logic well, look, I'm an actor of going
ahead audition. When did the light bulb go in your
head when you say, look, I need an alternative plan
here besides just pursuing acting.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, after several auditions and several cars, yes, just several,
I would say, the first couple of years at aage, yes,
I just I started seeing that it wasn't strictly based
on talent that whether or not I would get selected
to do a project, and just a lot of the
politics that started learning about, Okay, are they really going
(03:58):
to actually ask me to be in this? Do I
know someone? Am I connected to someone? And I just
thought like I need to take dominion in my life.
And it just made more sense for me to go
to law school and make my own projects and put
myself in it and put other people who are very
qualified actors and actresses.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
You know, it's really interesting you're saying that, because it
almost feels like you put your dream on hole. You
made a professional decision. I did put your dream on
hop and now you're able to control your dream because
guess what, the dream that you're living now you really
have control of it versus previously logic would let you
(04:38):
believe that rishard. I am not going to let somebody
push me around. I can wake up in the morning.
If I don't want to audition, I don't have to audition.
If I want to pursue write something, I can connect
the dots. I have legal I can look at my
own paperwork. I trust my own brain. So really, you're
like the perfect person right now in the end history.
(05:00):
Right because you have legal clear understanding, you can produce
in projects, and you can also start in the projects
that you're producing and writing correct.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Well, you know, I definitely won't say perfect. I have
a team who's supported me and helping me and teaching
me along the way.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
This is ruseean and McDonald talking right. Okay, I can't
look at no legal paperwork. Okay, you put it. I
don't even do my taxes and I got a math degree. Okay,
So I'm just telling you who I am. So I'm
gonna throw out the word perfect because I know what
I have fears about doing looking at paperwork. It gets
past two pages, you're bought passing it to a lawyer. Okay,
(05:40):
So that means that you have that confidence to be
able to look at paperwork. That means that you have structure,
which means that you have discipline. Now you're going back
to doing what you want. When you write something, you
always felt you could act. This is your lifelong dream.
So now when you write something, let me ask this question,
do you appear in any of the projects that you
write and produced? Yes, I'm mad. Let me tell everybody
(06:09):
who we talked to my guest transition from a successful
law career that she's still involved in to develop and
produce quality independent feature film that reflect different aspects of
their African American experience black women projects made by black women.
Tell us about this project that you came on the
show to talk about.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So the film is Love the Skin You're In And
as you mentioned, I did write it. I am one
of the producers with Kimberlee Ogletree also and the executive producer.
So I financed the project and thanks to the offices
of Salwey Johnson PC for helping me with that. And
(06:49):
I decided, you know what, it's time for me to
star in this because this is really ultimately what I
set out to do. So I also started the movie
and it's really with Obo Opportunity and my self as
the father and I'm his daughter, this dysfunctional relationship. They
have not spoken in twenty years, and now they're forced
to be back together in a caretaking situation, and it's like,
(07:11):
how do we face our own kind of self healing
based on our past and what is that process to
get to the other side where there's at least some
type of healthy outcome. So it's it's a great movie.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Now who else is starting in the movie.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
We have Wendy Roquel Robinson. We have v Legacy MS
Marvel gives.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Oh no, this is not our past. Wendy. Now that
for all of you. That's Ms Piggy from the Steve
Harvey sitcom on the WB. She's done way more things
after that, but that locked her in as a brand
that a lot of people know about. She's done tremendous projects.
She has an amazing foundation, caused the amazing Grace Conservatory
(07:51):
that she does in La. Now that's Wendy Roca Robinson.
Just to lock the talent. So I'm just letting you know, saouta.
She know we are very casual about her story, but
you just don't call Wendy and get her on a
project unless it's legitimate. Now, who else do you have?
And Oba. She hadn't even given out his credit opportunity.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yes, Oba, first of all over led the movie. I
just worked off of his energy. He coached me every day.
I first, I love everyone, Wendy mss Marla gives a
legacy and let me tell you something, Miss Marla. She
her memory was so on point, and when someone thought
that she needed help, She's like, no, I'm pausing to
(08:33):
take my moments. I got this. We were like, so.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Sorry, your moment on the thought so but no.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
She corrected, like, no, that's not what this is. Also
Kareem Grimes, who is an All American, and a few
other people Black Howard. So it was a really great casts.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
An independent movie. How did you cast this? Because people
to hear this, because a lot of people dream about
the industry, dream about being involved, dream about I got
an idea. I'm a writer's script. So let's go through
the steps. Okay, you are a practicing attorney, you wrote
(09:15):
a script. Let's start there.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Well, you know when you asked me about my life
in terms of becoming an attorney and then going into
the film industry, it's really full circle. Because I had
a legal relationship with Leah Butler, Black, who was the
casting director and had worked with her previously as an attorney,
and she was one of my clients. I mean we're
talking over ten years ago. And so when it was
(09:40):
time for a project that I was doing, when it
was like who do you want to cast, I'm like,
let's call Leah. So what I did in this project,
I've helped a lot of people legally because I've been
in attorney for over twenty years. I called on some
of those favors, those relationships Ala Kappa Alphae and asaurs.
I called them, who can you help me to get?
Let me tell you something, Leah she casts that film.
(10:03):
She's like, we're gonna get this person, this person because
this film is about positive black family caregiving community and
people are going to want to do this. So that's
how the casting process started.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Cool. Now, the title love the Skin You're In. Let's
break that down. What exactly does that mean? And why
was it entitled that?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So it's really you know, it's kind of like that
double edge sword type of situation. People think it's about race,
but it actually starts about self acceptance and self love.
Right regardless of where you are on your journey. A
lot of women may say, oh, I want to lose
weight or I want to gain weight, or oh my
hair is short, it's long, but it's about right now,
(10:47):
in this moment, this is who you are. So you
need to love yourself because this is how you look.
This is who you are right in this moment. So
really loving the skin you're in is just about total
self acceptance, regardless of if you're not happy with your finances,
your appearances, the relationship. It's about you still have to
get through this day. Let's just be full acceptance and
(11:08):
love yourself. So that's number one. Then the other part
of it, of course, is because we're talking about African
Americans and what we have been through, what we're going
through right now, it's about loving our skin and regardless
of how other people treat us and what we've gone
through historically.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Now, is it written that way because of personal situations
that happened to you that you can tell us about
now that you're using it as inspiration in a movie.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yes, So it is not completely autobiographical. It does bring
in other women's stories as well, but very much part
of my story. While I was in college, I had
a lot of self love issues and you know people
thought from the outside, and that's really what this is about.
Looking in you see this person, Oh, I'm at USC,
(11:58):
I'm on the track team major, I'm an AKA. This
person got it going on. But really a lot of
times you have no idea what's going on behind closed doors.
And during that time, you know, over twenty something years ago,
I really had a lot of self love issues, bad relationships,
didn't treat myself right, accepted a lot, didn't think I
(12:19):
was good looking, all of these different things, and now
I'm completely on the other side, have gone through therapy,
just having great friends, and I thought, what if I
write my story part of it so that there are
other people out there who know, like you could get
through this and there's ways to do it no matter
what the situation is, right, there's always a way if
(12:40):
we just for me, it was about God and therapy
and meditation.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Let's talk about that. Because you're an attractive woman, Okay,
I'm assuming that you ran track, you in shape, Okay,
you're articulate. I'm not trying to figure out where was
the self conscious moments. Because I had a daughter, you know,
she played tennis. She was like one of those prodigy
(13:05):
tennis players, you know, and all you always and you know,
she injured her knee, so she didn't she was on
the tour where she injured the knee. And now she's
worked for me, and I'm very happy cause I get
to say I love you to her every day and
hugger one of the great blessings of my relationship with her.
Now you had it all, and you still have it
(13:26):
all because you're still attractive, You're still aka, you know,
still got that attitude, y'all. Y'all, this is audio to
most of the people listening, but she is very animated,
by the way. And where was the self dowt? What
was pushing that negative thought process in your brain?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So you know, at that time, it was a couple
of things. One, I've always been in overachiever, so I
think I was very unrealistic at that time in terms
of the kind of goals that I set for myself.
And I had to be, you know here by then,
I went to prep school, and I'm like, by this age,
I have to be this big time actress and I
have to be this big time attorney, and I have
(14:06):
to be married. And then men weren't really you know,
you go through relationships and some work, some don't right,
So all of these things weren't happening according to my plan,
because as you continue to live, you found out as
a God's plan. And I think with those disappointments, I
just I didn't know, like I just really didn't know
that they were a little bit unreasonable and high expectations
(14:28):
that's in such a short time, And so I started
to really beat myself up. I was this person who
just oh, you haven't done it, your failure, you haven't
done this yet, you haven't done that yet. And it
was just a lot of negative self talk. And I
really the first step, after talking to my family and
just praying, was getting therapy. And this therapist was like, look,
(14:49):
you are thirty years old and you've already had your
own law firm in New York and ran track and
you've done all of this. It's okay that you haven't
accomplished everything on your list.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
By please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with
more Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to Money Making
Conversations master Class hosted by me Rashaun McDonald. Money Making
Conversations master Class continues online at money Making Conversations dot
(15:19):
Com and follow Money Making Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, X
and Instagram. Everything we're talking about really is about the
movie Love the Skin You're In. She's the producer, she's
the writer, executive producer. We're going to talk about some
of the bigger challenges because when you write, personal projects
like this are the origin of it, and I can
relate to a lot of things. I remember as a
(15:41):
stand up comic I used to be. I used to
always worry about the next set. Was I going to
be as funny as I was the previous time I
was on stage, And that's always mess with me, and
people go, hey, may you funny? Won't you chill? Won't you?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Maybe I may not be as funny as I was,
but previously, you know, would you stop? And you can
really start running the people who care about you away
because they see something in you that you are basically destroying,
are not accepting? Correct?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah? Absolutely, I mean it's you know, even when we
talk about the movie, but just also in my life,
it's really about surrounding yourself around with people who have
your back and are positive and are for you. But
at the same time, sometimes people are like if you
don't see your own worth and value, then maybe I
need to give you a mine. Right. So that's just
(16:30):
the truth, I think in any situation, but particularly in
this film, everybody was on my team. They were there
for me, telling me you can do this, because even
in this journey, even making this movie, there's been a
lot of doubts along the way.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Well, you know, well, when you're walking into a new lane,
and the movie making business is a new lane, you
you know, I don't care how confident you are as
a lawyer. I don't care about how confident you are
when you walking the room. Being an executive producer of
a film or televison project is very engaging and very
(17:05):
things coming that you don't see coming. Talk about some
of the challenges of making this movie Love the Skin
You're in, I'm in and I'm interviewing Saouda Johnson McNeil.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
So you basically started off saying it's very difficult transitioning
and that is the truth. First of all, as everyone
knows film, it's unpredictable. You may think you have the
best project ever, goes out there and no one loves it,
it flops. That's just the reality. So there's like this
fear that already I kind of had, and I said, Okay,
(17:35):
feel the fear, do it anyway. So for me, it
was about the team. I started off with Kimberly Ogletree,
like I said, use the shield Alpha. She's this big
time producer and I asked her, Hey, will you come
on and help me? And that was one of the
main reasons I was able to even do all of this.
Her Ken Michael, the director, he was in Boomerang and Parenthood.
(18:00):
He's been in the industry for a long time. But
when you talk about unexpected, let's talk about getting shut
down when you're on set, when you've paid everybody, but
apparently the permit was with the county and not the city,
and on the block, one half of the block was
for the county. The other half of the block is
(18:20):
for the city. Who knew. So you just talk about
these unexpected situations where you are like, I just paid
for this whole day and you get shut down. So
that was one of the huge ones that I remember
being in tears and Ova was like, big girl, these
things happen, It's gonna be okay, We're gonna be back tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Well, you know, first of all is you're dealing with embarrassment,
you know, because people quickly go, girl, all wasted my time,
she ran out of money. She'll know what you do.
I knew I should because I don't care what you do.
In this business. Everybody has a bright idea. Execution is
the problem with a bright idea. And then when you
promise people because we're out there for a check. Now,
(19:05):
I don'kay, how good this script is? How much I
like you soada? I want my money now? That part,
that's the issue that makes it happen because as an
executive producer, you're following the dream and the process. But
let's go through the steps of it. How long was
the production window for your project?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
About four weeks?
Speaker 1 (19:26):
You take for four weeks?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yep. We did it from March through April, so it
was very quick.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Was that intentional?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yes, because it was expensive to go any longer, so
we had to get it done and we were in
and out. It was long days and just you know,
people again, they were there for money, but they also
were behind the dreams, so they're like, Okay, we're gonna work,
We're gonna do this, and know we're getting paid. But
people were tired and we knew that if we had
(19:58):
a bigger budget, we could have had, you know, more
weeks and more time, but it just wasn't feasible.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
So let me ask you this. So we're talking about
the movie. When is it coming out? And when can
we where can we see it? Let's get there, let's
get to the meat and potatoes to this interview.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I'm so happy you as it comes out December seventeenth
through the twenty third. It's a limited release in North
Hollywood at the No Hoo, Limbley No Host seven, and
then from there we have a distribution deal. So we
are looking for we're looking to be streaming in February.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
February awesome, so it's a Black History month, Yes, sir,
that's a tie into that content is king? Is this
a one off for you? Sauda?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
It is not a one off. We are already working
on our next project. I've already written two more. So
I am absolutely in this for the long haul.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So with that being said, because you know you did
this project and you have a distribution deal for for
February of twenty twenty six, what is your biggest takeaway?
Because I want people to hear this, because a lot
of people. We're based in Atlanta, so you know this
(21:12):
is a lot of productions go down the home of
Tyler Perry. So everybody wants to get in the movie.
Is that everybody wants to do, to produce their television,
everybody wants to act. But you had a basis for
your dream. You work, You developed a very successful company,
so you able to finance the things out of your
pocket to a certain degree. If wants to invest, I'm
(21:33):
sure she'll listen. Okay, she doesn't want to produce everything
out of her pocket. Okay, But with that being said,
what's the next steps in doing your projects? And what
is what do you consider a successful project from a
financial standpoint? Or is it all about building out the project,
producing the project, and then that's dream has been reached, distribution,
(21:58):
that's dream has been reached. Then we were about the
back end recoupment. Tell to me.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
So for this first one, it was straight up about
getting it done and with top quality acting and top
quality production. When you see the film, Love the Skin
You're in, people'll be amazed with the caliber acting talent
I already told you, as well as just what it
looks like visually with our DP Crystal Kelly. So of
(22:27):
course I would love to recoup, but at the end
of the day, this was just about us working, right
because it was right after the strike, so a lot
of people were very happy to be working because that's
part of what I want to do as well, make
sure that we are working. So of course I would
love to recoup, but if that doesn't happen, then I know,
put in the door, great project and we're on our
(22:49):
way in the future. I absolutely would like to use
other people's money. One of the things I'm working on
is a private equity firm so that I can start
raising money to not only help with my projects, but
other people out there as well. So I'm always on
this entrepreneurial kind of business mindset on how we can
continue to help each other because a lot of people
do not right. So when I talk about next steps
(23:12):
in terms of that project, I absolutely would be open
to someone else coming in willing to partner and helping us,
but I still want to make sure that we are
able to keep creative control.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
She is the executive producer and the star and writer
of Love the Skin You're In as a journey that's
very familiar with her life because she didn't love the
skin she was in. You know, everybody saw success, everybody
saw beauty, everybody saw I wish I was her. But
she didn't accept that. She questioned it, even to the
point her therapist was frustrated with her. She had a
(23:47):
law firm. We're thirty years old, law firm, acting beautiful form,
a track star graduate of the USC. She over there
sitting in I don't know what's wrong with me. I
just don't feel successful. That could be frustrating in the relationships.
And so I see Johnson McNeil, I'm assuming that you're married.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I married a new mom. My son is eight months See.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
What I'm saying now, when did we get to that
point to accept the accept this? What I'm saying is
that I'm married. So that's that's a partnership, and we
accept the flaws, We accept everything. And how does his
support make you a better person today versus when you
were thirty struggling to find out who you are? So older?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
His support made all the difference because I couldn't have
done this without him. We met later in life. You know,
we've been married six years now and we actually funny story,
we both went to USC at the same time, but
we didn't know each other. We met on match dot
com and the connection was that we were both at
USC at the same time. But anyway, he's one hundred
percent has my back. What do you want to do?
(24:55):
What do you want to do out here for you?
Get it done? Everything I was writing, I was bouncing
off him with a man like this. You know, is
this too? Is this balanced enough?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
You know?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
I'm just pulling him in. I mean when you just
talk about saying I got you, even if you have to.
I took a year off from practice in law just
to focus on the film. He held it down, so
for a little bit we were just for one year,
one income. He held it down, completely positive all the time.
Couldn't have done it without him. And now we have
this beautiful baby.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Wow. The movie is called Love the Skin You're In.
It's you said December. What's date?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
In December seventeenth, North Hollywood, Limbley, NoHo seven.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Please come out and support is their website or landing.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yes, Love the Skin you'reinfilm dot com is our landing
page in rhyan Ash LLC. Which is the name of
the production company which I named after my father, Ronald
Ashford Ryan ashllc dot com. We're all over social under
both of those Love the Skin You're In film and
Rhyan ash.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
So when someone sits down, what's the takeaway? What are
you hoping this is? You know, you're making a movie
for black women by black women. I'm a man. What
would be my takeaway if I sat down and watched
your movie Love the Skin You're In.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Well, I think it really resonated with the men who
have seen it because a lot of them are fathers,
and they said that in their minds, they were always
doing what they were supposed to do, which they said
was about paying the bills or just making sure they're
schooed on the table, but that actual like being there
spending time. Some of that emotional disconnect for a lot
(26:39):
of the men that I've talked to was not there.
So that movie really hit home for some men, and
it actually made them go back and talk to their
children and say, you know what, I could have done this,
I could have done this differently. So for me, the
takeaway is, let's really just take a look at whatever
is happening in our lives and to see if there's
some work that we can do and make it better
(27:01):
fix these family relationships that they're possible to be fixed.
Have those conversations, because you know what, we are not
promised tomorrow. I love you. I love when you said
I love my daughter, and I can say that to her,
and you don't always have that opportunity, right, We don't
always have that opportunity because some of us don't have
our parents anymore. They don't they're not here. So let's
(27:21):
go ahead and let's have these relationships with our parents
while we still have them.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Absolutely, I SA would let's talk about this as we
wrap up this interview, which I think is really relatable.
I don't care skin color, raised gender. Is the care
taking aspect that I've interview so many people, and I
look back on my life, I'll go, where are these
old people coming from? You know, because it's suddenly like
(27:46):
an epidemic, you know, because the fact that we look
out now, it's like basically I felt when my parents
were coming along when I was growing up. You know,
they were working to retire. Now it looks like you're
working to take care of your parents that raised you.
And so from a caretaking standpoint, this movie will head
(28:08):
home with a lot of people because I feel they'll
personally dealing with this crisis that's happening to everybody's home
and they don't know what to do.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Absolutely. I mean that it was very important for me
in writing this project to touch on a lot of
different things. So you'll see gentrification, you'll see self love
and healing, but caretaking. I think that it's such an
underappreciated job. Right. You have the sons and the daughters
(28:39):
who are stepping up to ensure that they are making
sure that their parents are good. But it's not an
easy job, right, We're talking about some people have to
end up putting their jobs and being able to help
their family or bringing their parents in into their established
you know, with their husbands or their wives and their children.
That can create a lot of drama. Really just about
(29:01):
seeing and appreciating the caretakers and what they have to
go through to ensure that they're taking care of their parents.
And their parents are grateful because you took care of me,
And sometimes they're not grateful, which you'll see in the movie.
There's a little that but you still have to push
through because but for them, you wouldn't be here.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Well, it's just going to be grateful because I had
to do the same thing with my mom. My father
died a lot earlier than my mom, but we went
through the whole caretaking to rebuild out part of our
house so she can feel comfortable. Didn't want to leave
the house, you know, wind up basically rebuilding the house
that she didn't want to move from. But that's what
(29:42):
she wanted, and I was happy. You know, it gave
her central air condition and something she never grew up
She grew up with a you know, the window unit
and things like that, and so so I understand that
when I when I heard about your project, and it
became very relatable to me, and sometimes, you know, it
brings me to a of reflection and could I have
(30:04):
done more? But also I guess when the big takeaway
is that if you can't do more, do more, because
all you will have if you don't is regret. That's
what we're talking about this movie. You know, your LLC
is named after your father. You know, you look back
on your life, you see a journey where you can't
(30:24):
turn it around. You can become the person you want
to be. You can fulfill your dreams, you can control
your destiny. Like I said earlier, so you're living the
perfect life. Even before I learned about your ape on child,
even before I learned about you met your husband on
match dot com and y'all went to USC and he
probably walk around going, who is that fine chicken? And
(30:45):
they speaking to me to look and say it all
the time. I'm sure you run the track. I'm pretty
sure he saw you. I'm pretty sure he saw you.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
He did say I'm gonna do him.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
But all I know, I'm a mane. You girls, come
on now, you notice them, You notice them, y'all in
such great shape, y'all interidated people. Okay, but life is good.
That was a thank you for coming on my show
and having a wonderful conversation. And I don't want this
(31:20):
relationship to be a one off because again, you're a
dreamer and you are a multitask or you understand multiple
multiple forms of income, but you understand the power relationships.
But more importantly, what I try to do on money
Making Conversations Master Fast is encourage people to continue to
move forward to relationships matter, dreams can be accomplished, but
(31:43):
more importantly, see it through. Kind of like when you
play it's a ka, you're doing the same thing.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
You already know. It's all about the goal.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
In this case, pinking green, pink and green lovely. Thank you,
my friend, for coming on Money Making Conversation Masterclass. I
appreciate you. This has been money Making Conversation Masterclass with me,
Rashaun McDonald. Thanks to our guest and our audience. Visit
Moneymakingconversation dot com to listen or registered to be a
(32:17):
guest on my show. Keep leading with your gifts, keep
winning
Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald's hosts weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass.
Show the interviews and information that this show provides off
for everyone. I'm talking about you. It's time to stop
reading other people's success stories and start living your own.
If you want to be a guest on my show,
Money Making Conversations Masterclass, please visit our website, Moneymakingconversations dot
com and click to be a guest button. If you're
(00:22):
a small business owner, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, influencer, or nonprofit
I want you on my show. Now, let's get started.
My guest transition from a successful law career that she's
still doing by the way, to develop and produce quality,
independent feature films that reflect different aspects of the African
American experience. They create films about Black women, by black
(00:45):
women that encourage us to share our self love journeys,
inspire each other to learn how to survive and thrive
through racism, sexism, agism, colorism. Please welcome to Money Making
Conversations masterclafe as lawyer, director, producer, writer Saouda Johnson McNeill.
(01:05):
How you doing, Sauta, I'm good?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
How are you sore?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Where are you at right now as I'm talking.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
To you, I am in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Okay, cool, So I gave you a lot of titles there.
So what you want to start? Gonna stop on the
legal because we're going to get to that film in
a minute, which is why you're actually on the show.
But I am a person who worked for IBM. My
degree is in mathematics, so I understand that you can.
And I decided to be a stand up comic. That's
all I wanted to be when I got out of college,
(01:34):
and I pursued there and became a writer, producer, manager
of extraordinary talent. And I have a podcast that you're
being interviewed on. So with that being said, you are
a lawyer by trade? How this filmmaking? Where was that
in the process of high school college that allowed you
(01:57):
to be a lawyer? What you were doing both now.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
To me so interestingly. I went to the University of
Southern California for acting for theater and came out to
Los Angeles from New York, pursued acting, got the tastes
of the real world, going out on auditions, and I said, hmmm,
I need to have a career where I can pay
the bills because I see that this is going to
(02:20):
be a lot of ed and flow. And I also
had someone who I was a mentor producer and she
was an attorney. So that inspired me to say, you
know what, one day I want to do that. I
want to practice law, pursue my acting, pursue my producing.
And so that was kind of the path I took.
I went to law school, became an attorney in New
(02:41):
York and California, fell in love with the law, but
didn't want to forget about my passion. So I have
what I say, purpose and passion. My purpose is to
help young people. I'm an education attorney, and my passion
is this filmmaking business.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Okay, Now, there are a lot of people out there
are afraid to do anything, afraid of change, afraid of
like the unexpected. Now you had logic in your life,
and I will tell you this. I can't act, by
the way. I'm very good as a stand up comedian,
but I wanted to be an actor, but I didn't
like the audition process. So stand up allowed me to
(03:18):
go on stage. I get paid for my talents, and
so I can control my career a lot better. So,
but your logic well, look, I'm an actor of going
ahead audition. When did the light bulb go in your
head when you say, look, I need an alternative plan
here besides just pursuing acting.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, after several auditions and several cars, yes, just several,
I would say, the first couple of years at aage, yes,
I just I started seeing that it wasn't strictly based
on talent that whether or not I would get selected
to do a project, and just a lot of the
politics that started learning about, Okay, are they really going
(03:58):
to actually ask me to be in this? Do I
know someone? Am I connected to someone? And I just
thought like I need to take dominion in my life.
And it just made more sense for me to go
to law school and make my own projects and put
myself in it and put other people who are very
qualified actors and actresses.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
You know, it's really interesting you're saying that, because it
almost feels like you put your dream on hole. You
made a professional decision. I did put your dream on
hop and now you're able to control your dream because
guess what, the dream that you're living now you really
have control of it versus previously logic would let you
(04:38):
believe that rishard. I am not going to let somebody
push me around. I can wake up in the morning.
If I don't want to audition, I don't have to audition.
If I want to pursue write something, I can connect
the dots. I have legal I can look at my
own paperwork. I trust my own brain. So really, you're
like the perfect person right now in the end history.
(05:00):
Right because you have legal clear understanding, you can produce
in projects, and you can also start in the projects
that you're producing and writing correct.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Well, you know, I definitely won't say perfect. I have
a team who's supported me and helping me and teaching
me along the way.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
This is ruseean and McDonald talking right. Okay, I can't
look at no legal paperwork. Okay, you put it. I
don't even do my taxes and I got a math degree. Okay,
So I'm just telling you who I am. So I'm
gonna throw out the word perfect because I know what
I have fears about doing looking at paperwork. It gets
past two pages, you're bought passing it to a lawyer. Okay,
(05:40):
So that means that you have that confidence to be
able to look at paperwork. That means that you have structure,
which means that you have discipline. Now you're going back
to doing what you want. When you write something, you
always felt you could act. This is your lifelong dream.
So now when you write something, let me ask this question,
do you appear in any of the projects that you
write and produced? Yes, I'm mad. Let me tell everybody
(06:09):
who we talked to my guest transition from a successful
law career that she's still involved in to develop and
produce quality independent feature film that reflect different aspects of
their African American experience black women projects made by black women.
Tell us about this project that you came on the
show to talk about.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So the film is Love the Skin You're In And
as you mentioned, I did write it. I am one
of the producers with Kimberlee Ogletree also and the executive producer.
So I financed the project and thanks to the offices
of Salwey Johnson PC for helping me with that. And
(06:49):
I decided, you know what, it's time for me to
star in this because this is really ultimately what I
set out to do. So I also started the movie
and it's really with Obo Opportunity and my self as
the father and I'm his daughter, this dysfunctional relationship. They
have not spoken in twenty years, and now they're forced
to be back together in a caretaking situation, and it's like,
(07:11):
how do we face our own kind of self healing
based on our past and what is that process to
get to the other side where there's at least some
type of healthy outcome. So it's it's a great movie.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Now who else is starting in the movie.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
We have Wendy Roquel Robinson. We have v Legacy MS
Marvel gives.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Oh no, this is not our past. Wendy. Now that
for all of you. That's Ms Piggy from the Steve
Harvey sitcom on the WB. She's done way more things
after that, but that locked her in as a brand
that a lot of people know about. She's done tremendous projects.
She has an amazing foundation, caused the amazing Grace Conservatory
(07:51):
that she does in La. Now that's Wendy Roca Robinson.
Just to lock the talent. So I'm just letting you know, saouta.
She know we are very casual about her story, but
you just don't call Wendy and get her on a
project unless it's legitimate. Now, who else do you have?
And Oba. She hadn't even given out his credit opportunity.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yes, Oba, first of all over led the movie. I
just worked off of his energy. He coached me every day.
I first, I love everyone, Wendy mss Marla gives a
legacy and let me tell you something, Miss Marla. She
her memory was so on point, and when someone thought
that she needed help, She's like, no, I'm pausing to
(08:33):
take my moments. I got this. We were like, so.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Sorry, your moment on the thought so but no.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
She corrected, like, no, that's not what this is. Also
Kareem Grimes, who is an All American, and a few
other people Black Howard. So it was a really great casts.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
An independent movie. How did you cast this? Because people
to hear this, because a lot of people dream about
the industry, dream about being involved, dream about I got
an idea. I'm a writer's script. So let's go through
the steps. Okay, you are a practicing attorney, you wrote
(09:15):
a script. Let's start there.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Well, you know when you asked me about my life
in terms of becoming an attorney and then going into
the film industry, it's really full circle. Because I had
a legal relationship with Leah Butler, Black, who was the
casting director and had worked with her previously as an attorney,
and she was one of my clients. I mean we're
talking over ten years ago. And so when it was
(09:40):
time for a project that I was doing, when it
was like who do you want to cast, I'm like,
let's call Leah. So what I did in this project,
I've helped a lot of people legally because I've been
in attorney for over twenty years. I called on some
of those favors, those relationships Ala Kappa Alphae and asaurs.
I called them, who can you help me to get?
Let me tell you something, Leah she casts that film.
(10:03):
She's like, we're gonna get this person, this person because
this film is about positive black family caregiving community and
people are going to want to do this. So that's
how the casting process started.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Cool. Now, the title love the Skin You're In. Let's
break that down. What exactly does that mean? And why
was it entitled that?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So it's really you know, it's kind of like that
double edge sword type of situation. People think it's about race,
but it actually starts about self acceptance and self love.
Right regardless of where you are on your journey. A
lot of women may say, oh, I want to lose
weight or I want to gain weight, or oh my
hair is short, it's long, but it's about right now,
(10:47):
in this moment, this is who you are. So you
need to love yourself because this is how you look.
This is who you are right in this moment. So
really loving the skin you're in is just about total
self acceptance, regardless of if you're not happy with your finances,
your appearances, the relationship. It's about you still have to
get through this day. Let's just be full acceptance and
(11:08):
love yourself. So that's number one. Then the other part
of it, of course, is because we're talking about African
Americans and what we have been through, what we're going
through right now, it's about loving our skin and regardless
of how other people treat us and what we've gone
through historically.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Now, is it written that way because of personal situations
that happened to you that you can tell us about
now that you're using it as inspiration in a movie.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yes, So it is not completely autobiographical. It does bring
in other women's stories as well, but very much part
of my story. While I was in college, I had
a lot of self love issues and you know people
thought from the outside, and that's really what this is about.
Looking in you see this person, Oh, I'm at USC,
(11:58):
I'm on the track team major, I'm an AKA. This
person got it going on. But really a lot of
times you have no idea what's going on behind closed doors.
And during that time, you know, over twenty something years ago,
I really had a lot of self love issues, bad relationships,
didn't treat myself right, accepted a lot, didn't think I
(12:19):
was good looking, all of these different things, and now
I'm completely on the other side, have gone through therapy,
just having great friends, and I thought, what if I
write my story part of it so that there are
other people out there who know, like you could get
through this and there's ways to do it no matter
what the situation is, right, there's always a way if
(12:40):
we just for me, it was about God and therapy
and meditation.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Let's talk about that. Because you're an attractive woman, Okay,
I'm assuming that you ran track, you in shape, Okay,
you're articulate. I'm not trying to figure out where was
the self conscious moments. Because I had a daughter, you know,
she played tennis. She was like one of those prodigy
(13:05):
tennis players, you know, and all you always and you know,
she injured her knee, so she didn't she was on
the tour where she injured the knee. And now she's
worked for me, and I'm very happy cause I get
to say I love you to her every day and
hugger one of the great blessings of my relationship with her.
Now you had it all, and you still have it
(13:26):
all because you're still attractive, You're still aka, you know,
still got that attitude, y'all. Y'all, this is audio to
most of the people listening, but she is very animated,
by the way. And where was the self dowt? What
was pushing that negative thought process in your brain?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So you know, at that time, it was a couple
of things. One, I've always been in overachiever, so I
think I was very unrealistic at that time in terms
of the kind of goals that I set for myself.
And I had to be, you know here by then,
I went to prep school, and I'm like, by this age,
I have to be this big time actress and I
have to be this big time attorney, and I have
(14:06):
to be married. And then men weren't really you know,
you go through relationships and some work, some don't right,
So all of these things weren't happening according to my plan,
because as you continue to live, you found out as
a God's plan. And I think with those disappointments, I
just I didn't know, like I just really didn't know
that they were a little bit unreasonable and high expectations
(14:28):
that's in such a short time, And so I started
to really beat myself up. I was this person who
just oh, you haven't done it, your failure, you haven't
done this yet, you haven't done that yet. And it
was just a lot of negative self talk. And I
really the first step, after talking to my family and
just praying, was getting therapy. And this therapist was like, look,
(14:49):
you are thirty years old and you've already had your
own law firm in New York and ran track and
you've done all of this. It's okay that you haven't
accomplished everything on your list.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
By please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with
more Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to Money Making
Conversations master Class hosted by me Rashaun McDonald. Money Making
Conversations master Class continues online at money Making Conversations dot
(15:19):
Com and follow Money Making Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, X
and Instagram. Everything we're talking about really is about the
movie Love the Skin You're In. She's the producer, she's
the writer, executive producer. We're going to talk about some
of the bigger challenges because when you write, personal projects
like this are the origin of it, and I can
relate to a lot of things. I remember as a
(15:41):
stand up comic I used to be. I used to
always worry about the next set. Was I going to
be as funny as I was the previous time I
was on stage, And that's always mess with me, and
people go, hey, may you funny? Won't you chill? Won't you?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Maybe I may not be as funny as I was,
but previously, you know, would you stop? And you can
really start running the people who care about you away
because they see something in you that you are basically destroying,
are not accepting? Correct?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah? Absolutely, I mean it's you know, even when we
talk about the movie, but just also in my life,
it's really about surrounding yourself around with people who have
your back and are positive and are for you. But
at the same time, sometimes people are like if you
don't see your own worth and value, then maybe I
need to give you a mine. Right. So that's just
(16:30):
the truth, I think in any situation, but particularly in
this film, everybody was on my team. They were there
for me, telling me you can do this, because even
in this journey, even making this movie, there's been a
lot of doubts along the way.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Well, you know, well, when you're walking into a new lane,
and the movie making business is a new lane, you
you know, I don't care how confident you are as
a lawyer. I don't care about how confident you are
when you walking the room. Being an executive producer of
a film or televison project is very engaging and very
(17:05):
things coming that you don't see coming. Talk about some
of the challenges of making this movie Love the Skin
You're in, I'm in and I'm interviewing Saouda Johnson McNeil.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
So you basically started off saying it's very difficult transitioning
and that is the truth. First of all, as everyone
knows film, it's unpredictable. You may think you have the
best project ever, goes out there and no one loves it,
it flops. That's just the reality. So there's like this
fear that already I kind of had, and I said, Okay,
(17:35):
feel the fear, do it anyway. So for me, it
was about the team. I started off with Kimberly Ogletree,
like I said, use the shield Alpha. She's this big
time producer and I asked her, Hey, will you come
on and help me? And that was one of the
main reasons I was able to even do all of this.
Her Ken Michael, the director, he was in Boomerang and Parenthood.
(18:00):
He's been in the industry for a long time. But
when you talk about unexpected, let's talk about getting shut
down when you're on set, when you've paid everybody, but
apparently the permit was with the county and not the city,
and on the block, one half of the block was
for the county. The other half of the block is
(18:20):
for the city. Who knew. So you just talk about
these unexpected situations where you are like, I just paid
for this whole day and you get shut down. So
that was one of the huge ones that I remember
being in tears and Ova was like, big girl, these
things happen, It's gonna be okay, We're gonna be back tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Well, you know, first of all is you're dealing with embarrassment,
you know, because people quickly go, girl, all wasted my time,
she ran out of money. She'll know what you do.
I knew I should because I don't care what you do.
In this business. Everybody has a bright idea. Execution is
the problem with a bright idea. And then when you
promise people because we're out there for a check. Now,
(19:05):
I don'kay, how good this script is? How much I
like you soada? I want my money now? That part,
that's the issue that makes it happen because as an
executive producer, you're following the dream and the process. But
let's go through the steps of it. How long was
the production window for your project?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
About four weeks?
Speaker 1 (19:26):
You take for four weeks?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yep. We did it from March through April, so it
was very quick.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Was that intentional?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yes, because it was expensive to go any longer, so
we had to get it done and we were in
and out. It was long days and just you know,
people again, they were there for money, but they also
were behind the dreams, so they're like, Okay, we're gonna work,
We're gonna do this, and know we're getting paid. But
people were tired and we knew that if we had
(19:58):
a bigger budget, we could have had, you know, more
weeks and more time, but it just wasn't feasible.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
So let me ask you this. So we're talking about
the movie. When is it coming out? And when can
we where can we see it? Let's get there, let's
get to the meat and potatoes to this interview.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I'm so happy you as it comes out December seventeenth
through the twenty third. It's a limited release in North
Hollywood at the No Hoo, Limbley No Host seven, and
then from there we have a distribution deal. So we
are looking for we're looking to be streaming in February.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
February awesome, so it's a Black History month, Yes, sir,
that's a tie into that content is king? Is this
a one off for you? Sauda?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
It is not a one off. We are already working
on our next project. I've already written two more. So
I am absolutely in this for the long haul.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So with that being said, because you know you did
this project and you have a distribution deal for for
February of twenty twenty six, what is your biggest takeaway?
Because I want people to hear this, because a lot
of people. We're based in Atlanta, so you know this
(21:12):
is a lot of productions go down the home of
Tyler Perry. So everybody wants to get in the movie.
Is that everybody wants to do, to produce their television,
everybody wants to act. But you had a basis for
your dream. You work, You developed a very successful company,
so you able to finance the things out of your
pocket to a certain degree. If wants to invest, I'm
(21:33):
sure she'll listen. Okay, she doesn't want to produce everything
out of her pocket. Okay, But with that being said,
what's the next steps in doing your projects? And what
is what do you consider a successful project from a
financial standpoint? Or is it all about building out the project,
producing the project, and then that's dream has been reached, distribution,
(21:58):
that's dream has been reached. Then we were about the
back end recoupment. Tell to me.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
So for this first one, it was straight up about
getting it done and with top quality acting and top
quality production. When you see the film, Love the Skin
You're in, people'll be amazed with the caliber acting talent
I already told you, as well as just what it
looks like visually with our DP Crystal Kelly. So of
(22:27):
course I would love to recoup, but at the end
of the day, this was just about us working, right
because it was right after the strike, so a lot
of people were very happy to be working because that's
part of what I want to do as well, make
sure that we are working. So of course I would
love to recoup, but if that doesn't happen, then I know,
put in the door, great project and we're on our
(22:49):
way in the future. I absolutely would like to use
other people's money. One of the things I'm working on
is a private equity firm so that I can start
raising money to not only help with my projects, but
other people out there as well. So I'm always on
this entrepreneurial kind of business mindset on how we can
continue to help each other because a lot of people
do not right. So when I talk about next steps
(23:12):
in terms of that project, I absolutely would be open
to someone else coming in willing to partner and helping us,
but I still want to make sure that we are
able to keep creative control.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
She is the executive producer and the star and writer
of Love the Skin You're In as a journey that's
very familiar with her life because she didn't love the
skin she was in. You know, everybody saw success, everybody
saw beauty, everybody saw I wish I was her. But
she didn't accept that. She questioned it, even to the
point her therapist was frustrated with her. She had a
(23:47):
law firm. We're thirty years old, law firm, acting beautiful form,
a track star graduate of the USC. She over there
sitting in I don't know what's wrong with me. I
just don't feel successful. That could be frustrating in the relationships.
And so I see Johnson McNeil, I'm assuming that you're married.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I married a new mom. My son is eight months See.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
What I'm saying now, when did we get to that
point to accept the accept this? What I'm saying is
that I'm married. So that's that's a partnership, and we
accept the flaws, We accept everything. And how does his
support make you a better person today versus when you
were thirty struggling to find out who you are? So older?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
His support made all the difference because I couldn't have
done this without him. We met later in life. You know,
we've been married six years now and we actually funny story,
we both went to USC at the same time, but
we didn't know each other. We met on match dot
com and the connection was that we were both at
USC at the same time. But anyway, he's one hundred
percent has my back. What do you want to do?
(24:55):
What do you want to do out here for you?
Get it done? Everything I was writing, I was bouncing
off him with a man like this. You know, is
this too? Is this balanced enough?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
You know?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
I'm just pulling him in. I mean when you just
talk about saying I got you, even if you have to.
I took a year off from practice in law just
to focus on the film. He held it down, so
for a little bit we were just for one year,
one income. He held it down, completely positive all the time.
Couldn't have done it without him. And now we have
this beautiful baby.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Wow. The movie is called Love the Skin You're In.
It's you said December. What's date?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
In December seventeenth, North Hollywood, Limbley, NoHo seven.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Please come out and support is their website or landing.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yes, Love the Skin you'reinfilm dot com is our landing
page in rhyan Ash LLC. Which is the name of
the production company which I named after my father, Ronald
Ashford Ryan ashllc dot com. We're all over social under
both of those Love the Skin You're In film and
Rhyan ash.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
So when someone sits down, what's the takeaway? What are
you hoping this is? You know, you're making a movie
for black women by black women. I'm a man. What
would be my takeaway if I sat down and watched
your movie Love the Skin You're In.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Well, I think it really resonated with the men who
have seen it because a lot of them are fathers,
and they said that in their minds, they were always
doing what they were supposed to do, which they said
was about paying the bills or just making sure they're
schooed on the table, but that actual like being there
spending time. Some of that emotional disconnect for a lot
(26:39):
of the men that I've talked to was not there.
So that movie really hit home for some men, and
it actually made them go back and talk to their
children and say, you know what, I could have done this,
I could have done this differently. So for me, the
takeaway is, let's really just take a look at whatever
is happening in our lives and to see if there's
some work that we can do and make it better
(27:01):
fix these family relationships that they're possible to be fixed.
Have those conversations, because you know what, we are not
promised tomorrow. I love you. I love when you said
I love my daughter, and I can say that to her,
and you don't always have that opportunity, right, We don't
always have that opportunity because some of us don't have
our parents anymore. They don't they're not here. So let's
(27:21):
go ahead and let's have these relationships with our parents
while we still have them.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Absolutely, I SA would let's talk about this as we
wrap up this interview, which I think is really relatable.
I don't care skin color, raised gender. Is the care
taking aspect that I've interview so many people, and I
look back on my life, I'll go, where are these
old people coming from? You know, because it's suddenly like
(27:46):
an epidemic, you know, because the fact that we look
out now, it's like basically I felt when my parents
were coming along when I was growing up. You know,
they were working to retire. Now it looks like you're
working to take care of your parents that raised you.
And so from a caretaking standpoint, this movie will head
(28:08):
home with a lot of people because I feel they'll
personally dealing with this crisis that's happening to everybody's home
and they don't know what to do.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Absolutely. I mean that it was very important for me
in writing this project to touch on a lot of
different things. So you'll see gentrification, you'll see self love
and healing, but caretaking. I think that it's such an
underappreciated job. Right. You have the sons and the daughters
(28:39):
who are stepping up to ensure that they are making
sure that their parents are good. But it's not an
easy job, right, We're talking about some people have to
end up putting their jobs and being able to help
their family or bringing their parents in into their established
you know, with their husbands or their wives and their children.
That can create a lot of drama. Really just about
(29:01):
seeing and appreciating the caretakers and what they have to
go through to ensure that they're taking care of their parents.
And their parents are grateful because you took care of me,
And sometimes they're not grateful, which you'll see in the movie.
There's a little that but you still have to push
through because but for them, you wouldn't be here.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Well, it's just going to be grateful because I had
to do the same thing with my mom. My father
died a lot earlier than my mom, but we went
through the whole caretaking to rebuild out part of our
house so she can feel comfortable. Didn't want to leave
the house, you know, wind up basically rebuilding the house
that she didn't want to move from. But that's what
(29:42):
she wanted, and I was happy. You know, it gave
her central air condition and something she never grew up
She grew up with a you know, the window unit
and things like that, and so so I understand that
when I when I heard about your project, and it
became very relatable to me, and sometimes, you know, it
brings me to a of reflection and could I have
(30:04):
done more? But also I guess when the big takeaway
is that if you can't do more, do more, because
all you will have if you don't is regret. That's
what we're talking about this movie. You know, your LLC
is named after your father. You know, you look back
on your life, you see a journey where you can't
(30:24):
turn it around. You can become the person you want
to be. You can fulfill your dreams, you can control
your destiny. Like I said earlier, so you're living the
perfect life. Even before I learned about your ape on child,
even before I learned about you met your husband on
match dot com and y'all went to USC and he
probably walk around going, who is that fine chicken? And
(30:45):
they speaking to me to look and say it all
the time. I'm sure you run the track. I'm pretty
sure he saw you. I'm pretty sure he saw you.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
He did say I'm gonna do him.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
But all I know, I'm a mane. You girls, come
on now, you notice them, You notice them, y'all in
such great shape, y'all interidated people. Okay, but life is good.
That was a thank you for coming on my show
and having a wonderful conversation. And I don't want this
(31:20):
relationship to be a one off because again, you're a
dreamer and you are a multitask or you understand multiple
multiple forms of income, but you understand the power relationships.
But more importantly, what I try to do on money
Making Conversations Master Fast is encourage people to continue to
move forward to relationships matter, dreams can be accomplished, but
(31:43):
more importantly, see it through. Kind of like when you
play it's a ka, you're doing the same thing.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
You already know. It's all about the goal.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
In this case, pinking green, pink and green lovely. Thank you,
my friend, for coming on Money Making Conversation Masterclass. I
appreciate you. This has been money Making Conversation Masterclass with me,
Rashaun McDonald. Thanks to our guest and our audience. Visit
Moneymakingconversation dot com to listen or registered to be a
(32:17):
guest on my show. Keep leading with your gifts, keep
winning
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