October 17, 2025 • 35 mins
Longtime Altadena resident and Hollywood vet Andre Barnwell reflects on the community’s character—three distinct neighborhoods, strong Black homeownership, indie business vibe—and the night the Eaton Fire upended assumptions with 90-mph Santa Ana winds. Out of the devastation, he’s developing a youth-centered scripted series set in Altadena to create local jobs, showcase student talent, and reframe the town with optimism.
Why Listen
- First-person fire account from a 25-year resident
- Practical blueprint for community-rooted production
- How incentives are shifting filming geographies (GA/TX/Canada)
- Proof that hyper-local youth stories travel
Chapters
00:00 Intros • 02:14 Andre’s path (Philly → BET DC → LA)
04:59 Altadena’s map: East / Central / “The Meadows”
07:49 Indie business DNA; low-franchise culture
11:11 Altadena/Pasadena as “LA’s exterior lot”
15:11 Fire night: evacuations, horses running uphill, survivor’s guilt
21:01 The series idea; 26:22 Pilot shot, financing phase
Key Takeaways
- Place matters: Multi-generational Black homeownership strengthened resilience.
- Protect the vibe: Indie shops over franchises preserve identity.
- Build a pipeline: Student-led series = local crews, recurring jobs, long-term impact.
Notable Quotes
- “When you see an oak tree bend, that’s a whole different level.” — Andre
- “Let’s brand Altadena with something positive.” — Andre
Follow/Resources
- Andre’s YouTube: The Way We Do It — @TTWWDITV
- Seeking partners: pitch deck + pilot completed; financing underway
Host
Colby “Colb” Tyner — SVP, Programming, Urban One / Reach Media
📩 ctyner@radio-one.com • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbycolbtyner • IG: @officialcolbycolb • BlueSky: @colbycolb.bsky.social
How to Help
Urban One supports Brotherhood Crusade’s Wildfire Relief Fund aiding Altadena/Pasadena families affected by the Eaton Fire. Donate at BrotherhoodCrusade.org. Have updates or firsthand stories? Contact Colby.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I started at BT.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I was there for about twelve years, and so I
actually started as their budget director on the East on
the East Coast in DC and Georgetown, and I transitioned
to the West Coast and went on the creative side,
became an executive producer, showrunner, and director.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Welcome to Altadena After the Fire. I'm your host, Colby Cole,
and on this episode, we're going to speak to an
Altadena resident who was taking the darkness of the moment
that happened with the fire and all of the other
things that have occurred, and turning it into something positive
and actually something that could potentially reach a wider audience
(00:45):
and captivate people to remember this terrible fire that happened
in January twenty twenty five. Andre Barnwell, who is a showrunner,
a producer, executive producer, and someone in the entertainment business
who happened to live in Altadena, joins us today on
(01:07):
the podcast.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Thank you for your time and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Kobe.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
So, Andre talk a little bit about living in Altadena
because it's such a unique community. And as I've been
doing this podcast, I have, you know, found a lot
of people that I knew especially in the entertainment industry
black people that live in Altadena.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
And I had no knowledge of this community.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
So I've been learning over the past few months a
lot about it. So talk to you know, give us
some background on your time in Altadena.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
You know, it's funny how things just kind of play
themselves out, you know, Like I was mentioned to you before,
you know, from the East Coast. I grew up in Yayden, Pennsylvania,
right outside of Philly, so small, complete little town rights
outside of a major town. And then I end up
coming to California working at BT and Burbank and when
(02:02):
it was time to find a home, I was looking
for that try to kind of recreate the East Coast.
And if you know anything about the topography out here,
my boss at the time he lived in this place
called Altadena, which is right above Pasadena. And when I
was in Burbank, I kind of liked the vibe of Pasadena.
(02:23):
It was kind of like kind of low key, you know,
people didn't kind of ask you what you did, they
kind of said hi first. Where you know, Hollywood's got
a different kind of machine going over there, So didn't
really I didn't like that kind of a vibe. So
when it was time to purchase something, I wanted to
kind of recreate home. It's funny, like you my mom laughs,
it is like you go way across the country just
(02:45):
to pretty much find the same kind of thing that
you grew up in. And Alta Dina had that kind
of a vibe to it. And when my realature was
kind of taking me around the house that I looked at,
I was doing at night and it was an oak
tree in front of his house. And I grew up
in Yane, Pennsylvania with an oak tree on the side
(03:06):
of my house and Ivy and I was like whoa.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I was like, and this is at night and.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
I was like, no, that's it. I want that house.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And she's like it was you don't need to go
in and I was like, no, you know, it's got plumbing, electric,
I mean it's as a house.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I'm single, So I'm like, as long as it was working.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
And Kobe, that's literally how I just happened to find
that vibe. I guess because my boss kind of lived
up here. There was some kind of black presence. He
was from Detroit, and as I started to then stay
up here a little bit longer, I started to find
out the dynamics of out ta Dina, which is really interesting.
(03:47):
You know, I've been up here twenty five years, and
Altadena is sort of like in three pieces, right. There's
East South Sadena, which is kind of an affluent, kind
of non black area. Then there's Central Altadena, which is
a lot of a black area, but like a working
(04:08):
class black area with a lot of generational families. So
there's a grandmother, uncles, brothers, you know, they're all kind
of living with around each other. And then there's this
thing called like the Meadows, which is West Altadena, which
my house is on the way too, and that's sort
of like the Baldwin Hills View Park, kind of a
(04:30):
vibe for black people in Altasina. So it had those
kind of eclectic moves to it, real Loketo. Most people
you kind of know your neighbor neighbors, but you know,
people didn't really kind of get into your business. And
then later on I found out, you know, there was
such a high concentration of black ownership in this area.
(04:50):
And what they're saying that was was back in the
day in Pasadena, which is the flatland, whites wouldn't let
you purchase in Pasadena. But the hills weren't as back
in those days. The hills weren't like the exciting part
that kind of switched the sixties and seventies. Then wealthy
people thought the hills were needed to go. Back in
those days, the quote servants and working class people you
(05:14):
lived in the hills, and the wealthy people lived more
where it was already commercially developed.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
But the trick was.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
These these black families owned their homes, so they couldn't
get rid of them. So it wasn't like, you know,
you can raise the rents and you know, wipe out
black neighborhoods. These black owners owned their homes and I
don't know what it was culturally, but a lot of
their descendants stayed close, you know, so when there was
(05:42):
time for them to get their homes, they didn't tend
to you know, go to La they didn't tend to
go too far. They kind of stayed Alta Dina Pasadena,
and they kind of extended that.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
So there was an.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Economic strength and all of these different relative connected family
kind of locking onto properties, and that just made for
those who had you know, the wrong intentions trying to
get rid of people that almost made that impossible because
you know, you're on the same street with your uncles,
your aunties, your grandmom, and then your kids.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
You know, it's hard to.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Pull that many mortgages out on some mean spirited stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
So in Los Angeles, it's such an expensive place to live,
so it ain't like you just moving around if you
can't really even if you sold your house, you know
where you're gonna move to based on where everything else
costs a lot, right, So.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
And I'm pretty sure I mean what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You know, it's funny you brought up Yaden because I
grew up in Philadelphia, so I had a lot of
friends in Yateen, and Yateen was sort of like the
you know, the upper middle class, sort of sort of
suburban place for African Americans to excel and it was
a great community and everybody knew one another and it's
still a.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Great community today.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
So I could see why you gravitated to to this area.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
So, you know, talk to them about some of the businesses.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I mean, you you lived there for twenty five years,
so I'm pretty sure there are a lot of businesses
of residents that have businesses there.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
You know, what is that, Like, what's the vibe like
in Altadena?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Altadena has They're very sensitive about non non big commercial
businesses coming up here. They don't really like franchises, you know.
They're kind of like like if you have a fast
food restaurant, like you own it, it's not like a chain.
They were very sensitive about major corporations having extensions. So
(07:39):
that's it kind of kept that kind of boutique kind
of a feel. Almost every every shop was like, you know,
individually owned. And so what that did is it kind
of kept a low profile. Now, if you wanted to
get into that kind of business, you can just go
down the hill into Pasadena, and Pasadena major city had
all of those things, but Altadena was able to keep
(08:02):
that kind of quaint, kind of low key kind of
a vibe where if you didn't know where you were going,
you're not just driving around Altadena, you know, because like
my street no sidewalks, and when the lights go out,
when nature turns the lights off, man, you know, it's coyotes, bears,
this all kind of stuff and you're just like two
(08:23):
blocks from civilization, but it's just so and so the
area just took on that kind of a low key,
not loud approach. You know, you met like even a
couple of hardware stores, you know, individually owned or if
it was a franchise, it was a tiny franchise and
they just would not allow like big construction to happen.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Everything was kind of on the small.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Sounds like Martha's Vineyard. The same thing happened. It happens
in Martha's vineyard. So you love living there. So it
just sounds like, you know, you like you, you have
an affinity. So and during the eighties and nineties there
was a lot of gang violence in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Did was Altadena sort of exempt from that?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
No, Altadena, Pasadena it has you know, growing up on
the Pennsylvania you know, the whole gang thing, which is
not you know, it was more like streets, you know,
regional things. So the whole gang culture, I just didn't
understand that because come from East coaches don't have it.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
But no, they have, they had.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
It is culturally ingrained in California and in major cities.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Gang culture. It's just it.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Gang culture tended to be more prevalent with the economic
status of the environment, and for a lot of Altadena
it just didn't have that kind of environment. But no,
it was It's present, just like you know everywhere. You know,
you got it. I remember my nephew sent me a
Phillies jersey, a red, a bright red one, and I said,
(09:57):
I love you to death, but.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I can only wear that in my house. So and
then he's like.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Well, how does the act that works with the Dodges though,
I mean everybody loves the Dodges, don't matter if you
griple blood, right, how does that work?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
No, you have to be you.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
You know, if you're want to do Dodgers, you maybe
be a Dodger white, you know what I mean with
just a turiny bit, yeah, because I mean it is
what it is out here, so you have to move smart.
So me, I just say, you know what, I'm an
Eagles fan anyway, so I'm gonna come on up Green
Sixers fan. So I didn't even get into any of
that except that, you know, I could wear some Flyer stuff,
but no Phillies unless it was no Phillies matter of fact,
(10:34):
let me just stop that, yeah, because it's no Philly stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
So with you being in the entertainment side of the business,
what type of movies and TV shows were being filmed
in Altadena because I just never remember, you know, you
know a show that I used to really like, The
Closer and Major Uh with the secondary show that came
against it, Major Crimes. That show was really good in
(10:59):
Los Angeles because it was really like painted Los Angeles,
like they covered the whole community.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
And I watched every episode of that show, and I
never ever heard of.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Altadena as a community. Now, it could have been, it
could have been a plot line or whatever. I just
missed it. But what kind of entertainment has been filmed
in that community?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, you know this community Altadena and Pasadena. Anything outside
of La you shoot there because it's less expensive to
shoot there. But it's it's it's almost being like exteriors
for La. It sort of reminds me of Jersey. You
do a lot of shooting in Jersey, but New York
(11:38):
is the credit, right, you know, so so it's it.
And and for Pasadena Alsina, they didn't really mind that
because you know, when you bring that attention, now you're
bringing a whole different audience to the communities, right, and
communities sort of like like in Altadena, I mean, no
one knows really what you do unless it's your your
immediate neighbor, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
So it keeps that.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So a lot of exterior shots and some things were
happening out here. But now because now remember this is
before the other states started getting aggressive and attracting television
film into their states. You know, George is very aggressive,
Louisiana is very aggressive, and now Texas just I mean,
(12:21):
they just wrote a they just wrote a check and
they're you know, they're like two hundred and fifty million
a year for the next six years to shoot in Texas.
You know, Canada is very aggressive. So it's going to
have to start to change in the sense that I
think people are kind of tired of just New York
City backdrops, LA backdrops, just because of the Internet, just
(12:43):
because of social influence, and now people are curious about
the rest of the world. So people are curious about
people who live in Mississippi and non big cities because
at the end of the day, Kobe, I mean, it's
you know, and for me wanted to do a high
school show. It's like, I don't need to do a
high school show in a major city to reflect high
(13:06):
school life, right, because you know, a locker is a
locker the cafetiers. A cafetier, your friends are your friends,
and so actually the more local and unique you are,
it by definition gives you a big store because people
can relate to that life. And so that's where you know,
in all of this tragedy. You remember, my background is
(13:27):
in comedy, so you know, comedy is kind of a
weird genre in the sense that a lot of great
comedians take tragedy and then turn that into something that
makes people laugh.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Right, that's a hard thing.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
So even my perspective as a as a producer, I'm
always looking at Okay, yes, these things happen, but how
to how you know, let's take the glass half.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Full as opposed to half empty.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
The same time I approach something, I always approach it
with that in mind.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
To January when the fires happened.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
So your property was spared, but you had a lot
of people that you knew who were affected by the fires.
Did you ever, as a resident there ever even fear
that because everyone I talked to, most of the people
were like, we never ever.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Thought in a million years this could ever happen here.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
We had moments, but it was like, nah, the hills
would protect us, and it would not happen. So talk
a little bit about that day and how quickly it happened,
and you know your observations as a resident for twenty
five years there.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah, you know, that's a great question because where I live,
I live on the crest of a hill and in
my section of Altadena. Not did I want my house
to burn down, but the winds is what they call
the Santa Ana winds, and the storms would come through
my part of the canyon, and even our insurance and
(14:59):
even how the the fire station addresses us in my
particular area is where the place where it's supposed to burn,
because we're literally off the lip of the mountain coming
down and it's a gully and that San Ana comes
through there, and so my whole time here has always
been so I've always been in that area. The people
(15:21):
that got burnt out this time is what I call
Central Altadena. It's the more flat land of Altadena. So
by the time the winds used to come my way
to them, they would get the winds, but they wouldn't
get the sixty mile an hour winds. They wouldn't get
to seventy Because where I live, it's sort of like
the brunt first. It hits my side first, and this
(15:43):
is where my trees are falling down and all kinds
of stuff happening. But when you sign up for my
particular air, and this is like West Altadena, when you
sign up for this particular area, you kind of signing
up kind of knowing that it's sort of like signing
up living in New Orleans under you know, under a
damn I mean, you know, yeah, big brick wall. Yeah, sorry, yeah,
(16:05):
you know what I mean. And you buy your house,
you like, well, you know, you don't want anything to happen,
but there's an eighty foot wall there for a reason.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
So no, Wow, when you go when you go back
to Katrina too, and you look at how the levee sword,
it's like wow, Like you literally just live right under
the water is right there.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
That's just so I'm telling.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
That these developers will build anywhere anything, so out of
this darkness. You know, you had a lot of friends
that you had to help through the process. You have
You've seen a whole bunch of stuff in your community
from the fire. You are developing a TV show sort
of based in Alta Dina, So talk a little bit
about this project that you're working on.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, So so you know, so when those storms happened,
I did not think that I was going to need
to evacuate, right because because we would get those sixty
seventy miles on our winds. But I have never experienced
ninety mile an hour winds. So when people are talking about, well,
y'all should have did this, y'all should have DoD did
this when you have oak trees bending, an oak tree
(17:11):
bending in front of your house, See that's the man
can't handle that one. That's that's a that's a whole
another level. I've never experienced those kind of wins before.
And so when I was when we had to evacuate,
I didn't even know half of Alcadna was burning because
the part of val Denia was burning never burned before.
(17:32):
It never ever burns over there like that. We're the
first ones to take on that. So, you know, I
stayed till I could that Tuesday night, and then you
know they're like, now y'all got to go. My neighbor,
a crazy neighbor next to me, he stayed. You you know,
you're always going to have a couple of people. But
for my neighbors, their house is gone. So when I'm
driving away, their houses are on orange fire. I mean
(17:55):
not smoldering, not a piece at her home, I mean
on fire.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
And so I just packed up what I could because
I was traveling.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
So I had a couple of some of some of
myself back and I had no idea it was gonna
be the left of time that I did.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And you have.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Since your neighbors burned. Was there any damage to any
of your property?
Speaker 1 (18:16):
No?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
And and and it's because they were down wind from me.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Got it, got it? Okay, you see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
So I didn't even know they're on fire. Only thing
Kobe was kind of crazy. There's a horse farm near
near where I lived, and me and my neighbor were
sort of out front, and we saw the horses running
up the up our street, going up the hill.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Now I live on a city hill, and I'm not
thinking like because.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I'm thinking of horses run away from the fire, but
horses never run uphill. But the fire was downhill and
they were running uphill to get away with it. So yeah,
it was just I don't know another word to say,
a perfect storm, but it just was I mean, I
I you know, and there's there's this guilt that you
(19:03):
have because my home is still here. And then I
go back to I mean, a third of Altadena is gone,
and I know there's all of this this, you know,
all of this excitement, but you know, being in in
television and understanding business, I mean a lot of it's
not coming back. I mean, it's just it is what
(19:24):
it is. I mean, there's just like Altadena is not
for sale. No Altadena is for sale. It was for
sale before the fires, and it's for sale after the fires.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
It's just there's a lot of wealthy people coming along
with big, big checks to just take the land from everybody.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Well, it's it's what we Altadena had feared. And what
I think is happening is is you know it's it's
foreign corporations through land companies are coming.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
It's not individual.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
It's not like people from Pacific Palisades who had money,
who don't want to rebuild there are now going to
move to Altadena. That's not what's happening. This is that corporate.
These are corporations and who to me, I can't prove it,
but to me want to put up multiplex apartment buildings
up here as opposed to individual homes to maximize their profits.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Buying book land to be able to build something. So
that talk about this project, So what what gave you
the you know, tell a little bit about what it is,
but also what inspired you to start putting this together?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So, so you know my backgrounds in television, in production,
and when I was in the Oak Tree Inn in Monrovia,
you know, sitting there watching television because I'm evacuated. You know,
I saw a piece on some young people because I
in Altadena, one of the high.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Schools that's close to me.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
I you know, I volunteer at the high school because
they have an academy, an arts academy. So you know,
I'm big and kind of like passing the baton now,
and I don't want to take this stuff that I've
learned with me, right, you got to on this side
of the ground, right, So I'm big, And if we
want to complain to other people about stuff, we got
to know how to do these things so then we
(21:07):
can do it ourselves. And there's a right way to
do things. So I was really big on that. So
I saw this interview and they're talking to high school
students and it was like one of the first times
that I saw in the news that they're actually talking
to young people and just one on one to them,
not their parents, not the buildings, not the structures. In
(21:30):
time after time, I just I felt the sense of
they wanted to get back to some kind of normalcy.
You know, there are sophomore in high school and they're
part of the sports team, or they're a cheerleader and
they're missing that and they don't care where they are
if they're on somebody's there aunties bench, you know, or
extended family. There's a sense of they wanted to kind
(21:53):
of get back. And I'm thinking, you know, you know
where we're from in Pennsylvania, it's god family football.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I could just imagine.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
It's like I didn't have my football when you know
those times you don't thinking about what you do locally.
I mean, high school is all about your high school,
your rivalries. You know, it's just so and yeah, you
know what I mean, just that world that is your world.
And I thought, I said, well, as we're rebuilding, I said,
and you know, I'm a creative person, like, well, how
(22:21):
can I participate in not only creating jobs which a
television show would do in this local area because there's
a lot of people in the business that are scattered
all throughout the data. And I'm like, okay, I guess
the governor's talk about funding. I heard Magic Johnson was
talking about funding, and everybody's talking about it. But I'm like, well,
but how does that get to the people? And I said,
(22:42):
especially how does that get to our young people? And
I just thought, all those those kids who are in
the arts, who are doing the plays and doing all
that stuff, hoping that something could happen. I said, well,
you know what, I know how to do that kind
of stuff. I came off of doing my own sketch
comedy show, so I know how to do episodic stuff.
And I appreciated, you know, my high school life. And
(23:04):
I said, well, why not just do something where the
young people are the stars. We can find talent here
because the talent is in Altadena and Pasadena, and do
something where it doesn't necessarily remind them of all the
terrible things have happened at Altadena but gives optimism. So
I wanted to kind of recreate an environment so so
(23:27):
they could see something that will remind them of what
high school life should be. And just and just do
it in a more of an entertaining format and then brand,
Like you were mentioning before, you know, brand Altadena. The
word Altadena's going around the world, but it's going around
the world, you know, in a tragic sense. I said, well,
(23:48):
you know, I got my degree in marketing from Howard.
I was like, let's brand it with something positive. In
my mind, I was thinking like, and I'm gonna age myself,
but you know Dallas the TV show, What that did
for Dallas and Dallas and Texas when they get a
TV show called Dallas.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
So I was like, why can't we do that same thing.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
I didn't want to do Pasadena because it didn't This
didn't really happen in Pasadena. This is a very Altadena
kind of thing. I said, well, why not just brand
This was something that even a kid from Nebraska could
watch and it doesn't necessarily remind you of all the
negative things, but the optimism that can happen in a
storyline that could be local but as well as intriguing broader.
(24:35):
And that's why I kind of added a couple of
elements to make it have a bigger appeal to it.
But that's where and I wanted to kind of challenge
all of the people who said they wanted to come
up here to help and start businesses. And Jos said, well, what,
let's let's help. Let's let's you know, let's help some
of these young people become stars, and let's do some
local production, because we know putting that money back in
(24:57):
the community only helps. And you know, it's nothing for
a series to go five years. So you know, that's
local cruise, that's buying local food. You know, that's a
lot of stuff where's not like throwaway money. You're actually
investing back into the community. And you know, you might
find the next Denzel, you might find the next halle Berry,
(25:20):
you might find the next Time Cruise.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I mean, they started somewhere, so I'm like starting.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
We just witnessed Forever from Maria brocka Kill, the Netflix
show that was number one on Netflix, which was about
young African American teams in Los Angeles. So there is
definitely a hunger for that type of content and that
that shows that there is some success there. And so
(25:48):
so where are you at in the process of creating
this show? What what place are you at right now
with it?
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Well, the place so I created the pitch deck for
the show. I have the first episode shot for the show,
and now I'm just I'm sharing that because to me,
what I love about just how platforms are working now
and being in California. You know, it's not about money,
because the money's out here. I mean, California is the
(26:17):
fourth largest GAGMP in the world. I think it's still there.
So you know, I'm wrapping that around my head. I'm
like the world, so the money is there, and I
think that corporations and businesses have good intentions, but I
think now as a creative I have to meet them
halfway now with developing it all, not just pitch them
(26:39):
an idea. So have it all laid out as a storyline.
Like you're saying, it's so pitch deck episode. I wrote
the first episode because I wanted to make sure they
knew what the intent was for it. The goal is
to then extend, you know, with new writers and new
(27:00):
directors for the series, and then the ultimate goal is
all the talent is going to come from up here.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
So that was the goal.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
I said, let me share that story and thank you
for allowing me on your platform. I said, let me
share that part first because that to me is the
most important part as opposed to pitching stuff and getting
into that Hollywood cycle. Well, this is not a Hollywood
cycle kind of scenario. This is outside. I mean, we
live in algasine and capacity and for a reason, right,
(27:30):
So it's definitely not that, and it's a new kind
of thing. And I wanted to show that you could
do great stories. I think I mentioned our senter to
you that there's there's two high school shows that to
me are bring back these kind of memories. And one
is One Tree Hill that they shot in North Carolina.
(27:50):
I think the WB did that one. And De Grossi,
which is a Canadian show. Yeah, that stayed focused. And
my big thing too, Kobe was I wanted to make
sure the students stayed the stars. I hated when you're
in a young environment, but it's about the teachers, or
it's about the coaches, it's about the parents. I'm like,
(28:13):
when I was in high school, I didn't care about
all that stuff. It was you your friends and how you
navigated through life.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
And I always gravitated.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
The only reality show I actually totally enjoyed when I
was growing up was Two a Days on MTV. It
was about a high school team in Hoover, Alabama, but
the stars of the show were the players. And I
just totally related to that, and I said, if I
ever get an opportunity to do something like that, and
that's what I want to present it with that in mind,
(28:43):
because I want them to get a shot, and I want,
like you said before, you know, a kid in Tennessee
can relate to Altadena because they're both seventeen years old
and they both go through those trials and tribulations. Some
of my characters, like My Little My cheerleaders and the characters,
they're the only tenth graders on their senior cheerleading team.
(29:05):
That is a huge I mean cheerleaders across the country
understand what that means. What kind of pressure them a
little two sophomores are going to have to have, especially
from their other sophomore friends, and they're on a senior squad.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
So I wanted to just give them an outlet to just.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
For at least a half hour in their day, just
you know, get back to They got their whole life
to work, you.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Know, like me and you.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
It's like I tell my nephew and it's like, man,
he got your whole life to work. I enjoyed high school.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
You know, so when we'll be able to see are
you going to put out the episode or are you
just waiting for something else before you release any of it?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Oh no, no, no, I'm totally in finance. Moved now,
so it's all about getting the finances for it. So yeah,
So this is the whole thing about like when they
say they wanted to reinvest in California and do stuff,
I wanted to present something invest in this, and so
I'm at that, But I didn't want to just be
talking it. I wanted to be able to have so
much of it done where it's almost like not necessarily
(30:07):
no brainer, but I want to reduce all the anxieties
that you invest in this. You're investing back in the community,
you're investing into the new star. So I'm literally at
that point.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's really just finding a
couple of producers that you know, it's it really is
a no brainer, Like you can employ folks and help
people recover at the same time tell the story. I'm
sure there's plenty of actors that lived in the Altadena.
You know, there's plenty of folks that were in the business.
So I think your idea is great and I wish
you the best of luck and thank you for thank
(30:39):
you this information. Now we got to just wait and
watch whenever it comes out, and hopefully you can get
it on a nice platform where a lot of people
can see it. But this was a great idea, Andre,
And you know, I applaud you for you know, utilizing
your resources for the entertainment business to create some some
some sort of content that can live long beyond tragedy.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
And you know it's great about a Kobe. You're the
first one that broke it. So when it's when this
becomes reality, and like, well, who broke it? I said,
my man back there went to temple, he broke this.
You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
So you saying that, yeah, well listen, man, we're all
in this together. And uh, you know, I think any
any ideas that people have to help the community recover,
I'm all for it. And let's keep it out here
because it's kind of fading in a news cycle. And
I know that the stress and the anxiety of losing
(31:33):
all of your belongings and your community weighs hard on
a lot of people. So and this will be a
lot of people will reminisce on this too. They'll know
they'll reminisce of their time in the Altadena when they
see it. So I'm wishing you, you know, positive vibes
and good luck to get it out. And how can
people follow you or connect with you so they can
keep up with with your projects?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Well, you know, fortunately I have a YouTube channel. I
don't know if I mentioned before, but when I was
at BT, I did a sketch comedy show called The
Way We Do It. So I put all and I
owned my I owned my show, uh, And so I
put the thirty six episodes of the Way We Do
It on my YouTube channel, The Way We Do It
So at t tww D, I t V UH and that,
(32:18):
and they can connect to me through that because great
talent which I had there. I do stuff with Ricky
Smile and some celebrities and that kind of stuff. So yeah,
so I wanted to do that as well, because you
wanted to kind of show young people just you know,
these tools that we have out here, we need to
take advantage of them. And to this date, I mean,
YouTube is still free. You have to put the work in,
(32:40):
but and it also helps when people just want to
evaluate you and if and if you have footage and
you have video of what you've done, like I shot
I directed the second season of it, so I don't
have to go back and get questioned about, oh, you
know how to do a directing. It's like, no, okay,
you know, check this one out. And so yeah, So
(33:01):
that's the way they can find me through my through
my YouTube channel.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
The way we do it would be great.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Well, thank you Andre for giving us some time today,
and good luck on this project, and good luck to
the community of Altadena.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Man.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
We send our prayers and warm energy of support to
get folks.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
Back on their feed.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
And I love your idea and I hope you're able
to get the funding and get it out and I
can't wait to watch it.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
And just to end it with you, Kobe, I you
know I follow you as well, and I appreciate what
you're doing over that radio one and I saw an
interview with you and you're talking about radio and how
that is such an integrained into black culture and that's
so huge, and I like how you've been very aggressive
with getting your creative folks and your sales folks on
(33:49):
one page and rebrand radio and take credit for what
you guys done. I mean, I see little things like that.
That's what young people pick up on, you know, and
you have to do it. And I know that's you
probably don't sleep a lot, but you're driving that and
you're creating a culture where people can mimic the positive culture,
(34:10):
you know, positive habits, and so that's so important. So
I appreciate you doing that because you know, I grew
up wdas you know what I mean. It's like I
grew up and when I was even at Howard hu R,
I mean, radio.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Is such a huge part of my lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Even to this day, I still got radios, and so
I applauded you doing that because that's really important and
letting these young people know why it's still important, especially
black culture. I mean, the radio and black culture is
just like salt pepper. So I thank you as well.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
All Right, Well, Andre Barnwell, good luck with your project,
and thanks for joining Altadena after the Fire.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Thank you, Kobe, have a great day.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Thank you for listening to Altadena after the Fire. If
you found this episode meaningful, please share it to help
spread awareness to support those affected by the Eating fire.
Consider donating to the Brotherhood Crusades Wildfire Relief Fund at
Brotherhood Crusade dot org. Your contributions provide essential resources like food, medicine,
(35:14):
and housing assistance to families and need. If you have
updated information or a first hand story to share, we'd
love to hear from you. Contact details are in the
show notes. Alt Dina After the Fire is an Urban
one podcast. Executive producer and host Kobe Kobteyer, Assistant producer
(35:34):
Jahi Whitehead, Director of Podcasting Dre Smith. Special thanks to
the Urban Onecare's team and our founder Kathy Hughes. Thank
you for tuning in. See you next time.
I started at BT.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I was there for about twelve years, and so I
actually started as their budget director on the East on
the East Coast in DC and Georgetown, and I transitioned
to the West Coast and went on the creative side,
became an executive producer, showrunner, and director.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Welcome to Altadena After the Fire. I'm your host, Colby Cole,
and on this episode, we're going to speak to an
Altadena resident who was taking the darkness of the moment
that happened with the fire and all of the other
things that have occurred, and turning it into something positive
and actually something that could potentially reach a wider audience
(00:45):
and captivate people to remember this terrible fire that happened
in January twenty twenty five. Andre Barnwell, who is a showrunner,
a producer, executive producer, and someone in the entertainment business
who happened to live in Altadena, joins us today on
(01:07):
the podcast.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Thank you for your time and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Kobe.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
So, Andre talk a little bit about living in Altadena
because it's such a unique community. And as I've been
doing this podcast, I have, you know, found a lot
of people that I knew especially in the entertainment industry
black people that live in Altadena.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
And I had no knowledge of this community.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
So I've been learning over the past few months a
lot about it. So talk to you know, give us
some background on your time in Altadena.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
You know, it's funny how things just kind of play
themselves out, you know, Like I was mentioned to you before,
you know, from the East Coast. I grew up in Yayden, Pennsylvania,
right outside of Philly, so small, complete little town rights
outside of a major town. And then I end up
coming to California working at BT and Burbank and when
(02:02):
it was time to find a home, I was looking
for that try to kind of recreate the East Coast.
And if you know anything about the topography out here,
my boss at the time he lived in this place
called Altadena, which is right above Pasadena. And when I
was in Burbank, I kind of liked the vibe of Pasadena.
(02:23):
It was kind of like kind of low key, you know,
people didn't kind of ask you what you did, they
kind of said hi first. Where you know, Hollywood's got
a different kind of machine going over there, So didn't
really I didn't like that kind of a vibe. So
when it was time to purchase something, I wanted to
kind of recreate home. It's funny, like you my mom laughs,
it is like you go way across the country just
(02:45):
to pretty much find the same kind of thing that
you grew up in. And Alta Dina had that kind
of a vibe to it. And when my realature was
kind of taking me around the house that I looked at,
I was doing at night and it was an oak
tree in front of his house. And I grew up
in Yane, Pennsylvania with an oak tree on the side
(03:06):
of my house and Ivy and I was like whoa.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I was like, and this is at night and.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
I was like, no, that's it. I want that house.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And she's like it was you don't need to go
in and I was like, no, you know, it's got plumbing, electric,
I mean it's as a house.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I'm single, So I'm like, as long as it was working.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
And Kobe, that's literally how I just happened to find
that vibe. I guess because my boss kind of lived
up here. There was some kind of black presence. He
was from Detroit, and as I started to then stay
up here a little bit longer, I started to find
out the dynamics of out ta Dina, which is really interesting.
(03:47):
You know, I've been up here twenty five years, and
Altadena is sort of like in three pieces, right. There's
East South Sadena, which is kind of an affluent, kind
of non black area. Then there's Central Altadena, which is
a lot of a black area, but like a working
(04:08):
class black area with a lot of generational families. So
there's a grandmother, uncles, brothers, you know, they're all kind
of living with around each other. And then there's this
thing called like the Meadows, which is West Altadena, which
my house is on the way too, and that's sort
of like the Baldwin Hills View Park, kind of a
(04:30):
vibe for black people in Altasina. So it had those
kind of eclectic moves to it, real Loketo. Most people
you kind of know your neighbor neighbors, but you know,
people didn't really kind of get into your business. And
then later on I found out, you know, there was
such a high concentration of black ownership in this area.
(04:50):
And what they're saying that was was back in the
day in Pasadena, which is the flatland, whites wouldn't let
you purchase in Pasadena. But the hills weren't as back
in those days. The hills weren't like the exciting part
that kind of switched the sixties and seventies. Then wealthy
people thought the hills were needed to go. Back in
those days, the quote servants and working class people you
(05:14):
lived in the hills, and the wealthy people lived more
where it was already commercially developed.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
But the trick was.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
These these black families owned their homes, so they couldn't
get rid of them. So it wasn't like, you know,
you can raise the rents and you know, wipe out
black neighborhoods. These black owners owned their homes and I
don't know what it was culturally, but a lot of
their descendants stayed close, you know, so when there was
(05:42):
time for them to get their homes, they didn't tend
to you know, go to La they didn't tend to
go too far. They kind of stayed Alta Dina Pasadena,
and they kind of extended that.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
So there was an.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Economic strength and all of these different relative connected family
kind of locking onto properties, and that just made for
those who had you know, the wrong intentions trying to
get rid of people that almost made that impossible because
you know, you're on the same street with your uncles,
your aunties, your grandmom, and then your kids.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
You know, it's hard to.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Pull that many mortgages out on some mean spirited stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
So in Los Angeles, it's such an expensive place to live,
so it ain't like you just moving around if you
can't really even if you sold your house, you know
where you're gonna move to based on where everything else
costs a lot, right, So.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
And I'm pretty sure I mean what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You know, it's funny you brought up Yaden because I
grew up in Philadelphia, so I had a lot of
friends in Yateen, and Yateen was sort of like the
you know, the upper middle class, sort of sort of
suburban place for African Americans to excel and it was
a great community and everybody knew one another and it's
still a.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Great community today.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
So I could see why you gravitated to to this area.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
So, you know, talk to them about some of the businesses.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I mean, you you lived there for twenty five years,
so I'm pretty sure there are a lot of businesses
of residents that have businesses there.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
You know, what is that, Like, what's the vibe like
in Altadena?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Altadena has They're very sensitive about non non big commercial
businesses coming up here. They don't really like franchises, you know.
They're kind of like like if you have a fast
food restaurant, like you own it, it's not like a chain.
They were very sensitive about major corporations having extensions. So
(07:39):
that's it kind of kept that kind of boutique kind
of a feel. Almost every every shop was like, you know,
individually owned. And so what that did is it kind
of kept a low profile. Now, if you wanted to
get into that kind of business, you can just go
down the hill into Pasadena, and Pasadena major city had
all of those things, but Altadena was able to keep
(08:02):
that kind of quaint, kind of low key kind of
a vibe where if you didn't know where you were going,
you're not just driving around Altadena, you know, because like
my street no sidewalks, and when the lights go out,
when nature turns the lights off, man, you know, it's coyotes, bears,
this all kind of stuff and you're just like two
(08:23):
blocks from civilization, but it's just so and so the
area just took on that kind of a low key,
not loud approach. You know, you met like even a
couple of hardware stores, you know, individually owned or if
it was a franchise, it was a tiny franchise and
they just would not allow like big construction to happen.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Everything was kind of on the small.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Sounds like Martha's Vineyard. The same thing happened. It happens
in Martha's vineyard. So you love living there. So it
just sounds like, you know, you like you, you have
an affinity. So and during the eighties and nineties there
was a lot of gang violence in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Did was Altadena sort of exempt from that?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
No, Altadena, Pasadena it has you know, growing up on
the Pennsylvania you know, the whole gang thing, which is
not you know, it was more like streets, you know,
regional things. So the whole gang culture, I just didn't
understand that because come from East coaches don't have it.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
But no, they have, they had.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
It is culturally ingrained in California and in major cities.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Gang culture. It's just it.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Gang culture tended to be more prevalent with the economic
status of the environment, and for a lot of Altadena
it just didn't have that kind of environment. But no,
it was It's present, just like you know everywhere. You know,
you got it. I remember my nephew sent me a
Phillies jersey, a red, a bright red one, and I said,
(09:57):
I love you to death, but.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I can only wear that in my house. So and
then he's like.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Well, how does the act that works with the Dodges though,
I mean everybody loves the Dodges, don't matter if you
griple blood, right, how does that work?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
No, you have to be you.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
You know, if you're want to do Dodgers, you maybe
be a Dodger white, you know what I mean with
just a turiny bit, yeah, because I mean it is
what it is out here, so you have to move smart.
So me, I just say, you know what, I'm an
Eagles fan anyway, so I'm gonna come on up Green
Sixers fan. So I didn't even get into any of
that except that, you know, I could wear some Flyer stuff,
but no Phillies unless it was no Phillies matter of fact,
(10:34):
let me just stop that, yeah, because it's no Philly stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
So with you being in the entertainment side of the business,
what type of movies and TV shows were being filmed
in Altadena because I just never remember, you know, you
know a show that I used to really like, The
Closer and Major Uh with the secondary show that came
against it, Major Crimes. That show was really good in
(10:59):
Los Angeles because it was really like painted Los Angeles,
like they covered the whole community.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
And I watched every episode of that show, and I
never ever heard of.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Altadena as a community. Now, it could have been, it
could have been a plot line or whatever. I just
missed it. But what kind of entertainment has been filmed
in that community?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, you know this community Altadena and Pasadena. Anything outside
of La you shoot there because it's less expensive to
shoot there. But it's it's it's almost being like exteriors
for La. It sort of reminds me of Jersey. You
do a lot of shooting in Jersey, but New York
(11:38):
is the credit, right, you know, so so it's it.
And and for Pasadena Alsina, they didn't really mind that
because you know, when you bring that attention, now you're
bringing a whole different audience to the communities, right, and
communities sort of like like in Altadena, I mean, no
one knows really what you do unless it's your your
immediate neighbor, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
So it keeps that.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So a lot of exterior shots and some things were
happening out here. But now because now remember this is
before the other states started getting aggressive and attracting television
film into their states. You know, George is very aggressive,
Louisiana is very aggressive, and now Texas just I mean,
(12:21):
they just wrote a they just wrote a check and
they're you know, they're like two hundred and fifty million
a year for the next six years to shoot in Texas.
You know, Canada is very aggressive. So it's going to
have to start to change in the sense that I
think people are kind of tired of just New York
City backdrops, LA backdrops, just because of the Internet, just
(12:43):
because of social influence, and now people are curious about
the rest of the world. So people are curious about
people who live in Mississippi and non big cities because
at the end of the day, Kobe, I mean, it's
you know, and for me wanted to do a high
school show. It's like, I don't need to do a
high school show in a major city to reflect high
(13:06):
school life, right, because you know, a locker is a
locker the cafetiers. A cafetier, your friends are your friends,
and so actually the more local and unique you are,
it by definition gives you a big store because people
can relate to that life. And so that's where you know,
in all of this tragedy. You remember, my background is
(13:27):
in comedy, so you know, comedy is kind of a
weird genre in the sense that a lot of great
comedians take tragedy and then turn that into something that
makes people laugh.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Right, that's a hard thing.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
So even my perspective as a as a producer, I'm
always looking at Okay, yes, these things happen, but how
to how you know, let's take the glass half.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Full as opposed to half empty.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
The same time I approach something, I always approach it
with that in mind.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
To January when the fires happened.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
So your property was spared, but you had a lot
of people that you knew who were affected by the fires.
Did you ever, as a resident there ever even fear
that because everyone I talked to, most of the people
were like, we never ever.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Thought in a million years this could ever happen here.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
We had moments, but it was like, nah, the hills
would protect us, and it would not happen. So talk
a little bit about that day and how quickly it happened,
and you know your observations as a resident for twenty
five years there.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah, you know, that's a great question because where I live,
I live on the crest of a hill and in
my section of Altadena. Not did I want my house
to burn down, but the winds is what they call
the Santa Ana winds, and the storms would come through
my part of the canyon, and even our insurance and
(14:59):
even how the the fire station addresses us in my
particular area is where the place where it's supposed to burn,
because we're literally off the lip of the mountain coming
down and it's a gully and that San Ana comes
through there, and so my whole time here has always
been so I've always been in that area. The people
(15:21):
that got burnt out this time is what I call
Central Altadena. It's the more flat land of Altadena. So
by the time the winds used to come my way
to them, they would get the winds, but they wouldn't
get the sixty mile an hour winds. They wouldn't get
to seventy Because where I live, it's sort of like
the brunt first. It hits my side first, and this
(15:43):
is where my trees are falling down and all kinds
of stuff happening. But when you sign up for my
particular air, and this is like West Altadena, when you
sign up for this particular area, you kind of signing
up kind of knowing that it's sort of like signing
up living in New Orleans under you know, under a
damn I mean, you know, yeah, big brick wall. Yeah, sorry, yeah,
(16:05):
you know what I mean. And you buy your house,
you like, well, you know, you don't want anything to happen,
but there's an eighty foot wall there for a reason.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
So no, Wow, when you go when you go back
to Katrina too, and you look at how the levee sword,
it's like wow, Like you literally just live right under
the water is right there.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
That's just so I'm telling.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
That these developers will build anywhere anything, so out of
this darkness. You know, you had a lot of friends
that you had to help through the process. You have
You've seen a whole bunch of stuff in your community
from the fire. You are developing a TV show sort
of based in Alta Dina, So talk a little bit
about this project that you're working on.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, So so you know, so when those storms happened,
I did not think that I was going to need
to evacuate, right because because we would get those sixty
seventy miles on our winds. But I have never experienced
ninety mile an hour winds. So when people are talking about, well,
y'all should have did this, y'all should have DoD did
this when you have oak trees bending, an oak tree
(17:11):
bending in front of your house, See that's the man
can't handle that one. That's that's a that's a whole
another level. I've never experienced those kind of wins before.
And so when I was when we had to evacuate,
I didn't even know half of Alcadna was burning because
the part of val Denia was burning never burned before.
(17:32):
It never ever burns over there like that. We're the
first ones to take on that. So, you know, I
stayed till I could that Tuesday night, and then you
know they're like, now y'all got to go. My neighbor,
a crazy neighbor next to me, he stayed. You you know,
you're always going to have a couple of people. But
for my neighbors, their house is gone. So when I'm
driving away, their houses are on orange fire. I mean
(17:55):
not smoldering, not a piece at her home, I mean
on fire.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
And so I just packed up what I could because
I was traveling.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
So I had a couple of some of some of
myself back and I had no idea it was gonna
be the left of time that I did.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And you have.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Since your neighbors burned. Was there any damage to any
of your property?
Speaker 1 (18:16):
No?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
And and and it's because they were down wind from me.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Got it, got it? Okay, you see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
So I didn't even know they're on fire. Only thing
Kobe was kind of crazy. There's a horse farm near
near where I lived, and me and my neighbor were
sort of out front, and we saw the horses running
up the up our street, going up the hill.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Now I live on a city hill, and I'm not
thinking like because.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I'm thinking of horses run away from the fire, but
horses never run uphill. But the fire was downhill and
they were running uphill to get away with it. So yeah,
it was just I don't know another word to say,
a perfect storm, but it just was I mean, I
I you know, and there's there's this guilt that you
(19:03):
have because my home is still here. And then I
go back to I mean, a third of Altadena is gone,
and I know there's all of this this, you know,
all of this excitement, but you know, being in in
television and understanding business, I mean a lot of it's
not coming back. I mean, it's just it is what
(19:24):
it is. I mean, there's just like Altadena is not
for sale. No Altadena is for sale. It was for
sale before the fires, and it's for sale after the fires.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
It's just there's a lot of wealthy people coming along
with big, big checks to just take the land from everybody.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Well, it's it's what we Altadena had feared. And what
I think is happening is is you know it's it's
foreign corporations through land companies are coming.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
It's not individual.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
It's not like people from Pacific Palisades who had money,
who don't want to rebuild there are now going to
move to Altadena. That's not what's happening. This is that corporate.
These are corporations and who to me, I can't prove it,
but to me want to put up multiplex apartment buildings
up here as opposed to individual homes to maximize their profits.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Buying book land to be able to build something. So
that talk about this project, So what what gave you
the you know, tell a little bit about what it is,
but also what inspired you to start putting this together?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So, so you know my backgrounds in television, in production,
and when I was in the Oak Tree Inn in Monrovia,
you know, sitting there watching television because I'm evacuated. You know,
I saw a piece on some young people because I
in Altadena, one of the high.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Schools that's close to me.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
I you know, I volunteer at the high school because
they have an academy, an arts academy. So you know,
I'm big and kind of like passing the baton now,
and I don't want to take this stuff that I've
learned with me, right, you got to on this side
of the ground, right, So I'm big, And if we
want to complain to other people about stuff, we got
to know how to do these things so then we
(21:07):
can do it ourselves. And there's a right way to
do things. So I was really big on that. So
I saw this interview and they're talking to high school
students and it was like one of the first times
that I saw in the news that they're actually talking
to young people and just one on one to them,
not their parents, not the buildings, not the structures. In
(21:30):
time after time, I just I felt the sense of
they wanted to get back to some kind of normalcy.
You know, there are sophomore in high school and they're
part of the sports team, or they're a cheerleader and
they're missing that and they don't care where they are
if they're on somebody's there aunties bench, you know, or
extended family. There's a sense of they wanted to kind
(21:53):
of get back. And I'm thinking, you know, you know
where we're from in Pennsylvania, it's god family football.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I could just imagine.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
It's like I didn't have my football when you know
those times you don't thinking about what you do locally.
I mean, high school is all about your high school,
your rivalries. You know, it's just so and yeah, you
know what I mean, just that world that is your world.
And I thought, I said, well, as we're rebuilding, I said,
and you know, I'm a creative person, like, well, how
(22:21):
can I participate in not only creating jobs which a
television show would do in this local area because there's
a lot of people in the business that are scattered
all throughout the data. And I'm like, okay, I guess
the governor's talk about funding. I heard Magic Johnson was
talking about funding, and everybody's talking about it. But I'm like, well,
but how does that get to the people? And I said,
(22:42):
especially how does that get to our young people? And
I just thought, all those those kids who are in
the arts, who are doing the plays and doing all
that stuff, hoping that something could happen. I said, well,
you know what, I know how to do that kind
of stuff. I came off of doing my own sketch
comedy show, so I know how to do episodic stuff.
And I appreciated, you know, my high school life. And
(23:04):
I said, well, why not just do something where the
young people are the stars. We can find talent here
because the talent is in Altadena and Pasadena, and do
something where it doesn't necessarily remind them of all the
terrible things have happened at Altadena but gives optimism. So
I wanted to kind of recreate an environment so so
(23:27):
they could see something that will remind them of what
high school life should be. And just and just do
it in a more of an entertaining format and then brand,
Like you were mentioning before, you know, brand Altadena. The
word Altadena's going around the world, but it's going around
the world, you know, in a tragic sense. I said, well,
(23:48):
you know, I got my degree in marketing from Howard.
I was like, let's brand it with something positive. In
my mind, I was thinking like, and I'm gonna age myself,
but you know Dallas the TV show, What that did
for Dallas and Dallas and Texas when they get a
TV show called Dallas.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
So I was like, why can't we do that same thing.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
I didn't want to do Pasadena because it didn't This
didn't really happen in Pasadena. This is a very Altadena
kind of thing. I said, well, why not just brand
This was something that even a kid from Nebraska could
watch and it doesn't necessarily remind you of all the
negative things, but the optimism that can happen in a
storyline that could be local but as well as intriguing broader.
(24:35):
And that's why I kind of added a couple of
elements to make it have a bigger appeal to it.
But that's where and I wanted to kind of challenge
all of the people who said they wanted to come
up here to help and start businesses. And Jos said, well, what,
let's let's help. Let's let's you know, let's help some
of these young people become stars, and let's do some
local production, because we know putting that money back in
(24:57):
the community only helps. And you know, it's nothing for
a series to go five years. So you know, that's
local cruise, that's buying local food. You know, that's a
lot of stuff where's not like throwaway money. You're actually
investing back into the community. And you know, you might
find the next Denzel, you might find the next halle Berry,
(25:20):
you might find the next Time Cruise.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I mean, they started somewhere, so I'm like starting.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
We just witnessed Forever from Maria brocka Kill, the Netflix
show that was number one on Netflix, which was about
young African American teams in Los Angeles. So there is
definitely a hunger for that type of content and that
that shows that there is some success there. And so
(25:48):
so where are you at in the process of creating
this show? What what place are you at right now
with it?
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Well, the place so I created the pitch deck for
the show. I have the first episode shot for the show,
and now I'm just I'm sharing that because to me,
what I love about just how platforms are working now
and being in California. You know, it's not about money,
because the money's out here. I mean, California is the
(26:17):
fourth largest GAGMP in the world. I think it's still there.
So you know, I'm wrapping that around my head. I'm
like the world, so the money is there, and I
think that corporations and businesses have good intentions, but I
think now as a creative I have to meet them
halfway now with developing it all, not just pitch them
(26:39):
an idea. So have it all laid out as a storyline.
Like you're saying, it's so pitch deck episode. I wrote
the first episode because I wanted to make sure they
knew what the intent was for it. The goal is
to then extend, you know, with new writers and new
(27:00):
directors for the series, and then the ultimate goal is
all the talent is going to come from up here.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
So that was the goal.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
I said, let me share that story and thank you
for allowing me on your platform. I said, let me
share that part first because that to me is the
most important part as opposed to pitching stuff and getting
into that Hollywood cycle. Well, this is not a Hollywood
cycle kind of scenario. This is outside. I mean, we
live in algasine and capacity and for a reason, right,
(27:30):
So it's definitely not that, and it's a new kind
of thing. And I wanted to show that you could
do great stories. I think I mentioned our senter to
you that there's there's two high school shows that to
me are bring back these kind of memories. And one
is One Tree Hill that they shot in North Carolina.
(27:50):
I think the WB did that one. And De Grossi,
which is a Canadian show. Yeah, that stayed focused. And
my big thing too, Kobe was I wanted to make
sure the students stayed the stars. I hated when you're
in a young environment, but it's about the teachers, or
it's about the coaches, it's about the parents. I'm like,
(28:13):
when I was in high school, I didn't care about
all that stuff. It was you your friends and how you
navigated through life.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
And I always gravitated.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
The only reality show I actually totally enjoyed when I
was growing up was Two a Days on MTV. It
was about a high school team in Hoover, Alabama, but
the stars of the show were the players. And I
just totally related to that, and I said, if I
ever get an opportunity to do something like that, and
that's what I want to present it with that in mind,
(28:43):
because I want them to get a shot, and I want,
like you said before, you know, a kid in Tennessee
can relate to Altadena because they're both seventeen years old
and they both go through those trials and tribulations. Some
of my characters, like My Little My cheerleaders and the characters,
they're the only tenth graders on their senior cheerleading team.
(29:05):
That is a huge I mean cheerleaders across the country
understand what that means. What kind of pressure them a
little two sophomores are going to have to have, especially
from their other sophomore friends, and they're on a senior squad.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
So I wanted to just give them an outlet to just.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
For at least a half hour in their day, just
you know, get back to They got their whole life
to work, you.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Know, like me and you.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
It's like I tell my nephew and it's like, man,
he got your whole life to work. I enjoyed high school.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
You know, so when we'll be able to see are
you going to put out the episode or are you
just waiting for something else before you release any of it?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Oh no, no, no, I'm totally in finance. Moved now,
so it's all about getting the finances for it. So yeah,
So this is the whole thing about like when they
say they wanted to reinvest in California and do stuff,
I wanted to present something invest in this, and so
I'm at that, But I didn't want to just be
talking it. I wanted to be able to have so
much of it done where it's almost like not necessarily
(30:07):
no brainer, but I want to reduce all the anxieties
that you invest in this. You're investing back in the community,
you're investing into the new star. So I'm literally at
that point.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's really just finding a
couple of producers that you know, it's it really is
a no brainer, Like you can employ folks and help
people recover at the same time tell the story. I'm
sure there's plenty of actors that lived in the Altadena.
You know, there's plenty of folks that were in the business.
So I think your idea is great and I wish
you the best of luck and thank you for thank
(30:39):
you this information. Now we got to just wait and
watch whenever it comes out, and hopefully you can get
it on a nice platform where a lot of people
can see it. But this was a great idea, Andre,
And you know, I applaud you for you know, utilizing
your resources for the entertainment business to create some some
some sort of content that can live long beyond tragedy.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
And you know it's great about a Kobe. You're the
first one that broke it. So when it's when this
becomes reality, and like, well, who broke it? I said,
my man back there went to temple, he broke this.
You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
So you saying that, yeah, well listen, man, we're all
in this together. And uh, you know, I think any
any ideas that people have to help the community recover,
I'm all for it. And let's keep it out here
because it's kind of fading in a news cycle. And
I know that the stress and the anxiety of losing
(31:33):
all of your belongings and your community weighs hard on
a lot of people. So and this will be a
lot of people will reminisce on this too. They'll know
they'll reminisce of their time in the Altadena when they
see it. So I'm wishing you, you know, positive vibes
and good luck to get it out. And how can
people follow you or connect with you so they can
keep up with with your projects?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Well, you know, fortunately I have a YouTube channel. I
don't know if I mentioned before, but when I was
at BT, I did a sketch comedy show called The
Way We Do It. So I put all and I
owned my I owned my show, uh, And so I
put the thirty six episodes of the Way We Do
It on my YouTube channel, The Way We Do It
So at t tww D, I t V UH and that,
(32:18):
and they can connect to me through that because great
talent which I had there. I do stuff with Ricky
Smile and some celebrities and that kind of stuff. So yeah,
so I wanted to do that as well, because you
wanted to kind of show young people just you know,
these tools that we have out here, we need to
take advantage of them. And to this date, I mean,
YouTube is still free. You have to put the work in,
(32:40):
but and it also helps when people just want to
evaluate you and if and if you have footage and
you have video of what you've done, like I shot
I directed the second season of it, so I don't
have to go back and get questioned about, oh, you
know how to do a directing. It's like, no, okay,
you know, check this one out. And so yeah, So
(33:01):
that's the way they can find me through my through
my YouTube channel.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
The way we do it would be great.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Well, thank you Andre for giving us some time today,
and good luck on this project, and good luck to
the community of Altadena.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Man.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
We send our prayers and warm energy of support to
get folks.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
Back on their feed.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
And I love your idea and I hope you're able
to get the funding and get it out and I
can't wait to watch it.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
And just to end it with you, Kobe, I you
know I follow you as well, and I appreciate what
you're doing over that radio one and I saw an
interview with you and you're talking about radio and how
that is such an integrained into black culture and that's
so huge, and I like how you've been very aggressive
with getting your creative folks and your sales folks on
(33:49):
one page and rebrand radio and take credit for what
you guys done. I mean, I see little things like that.
That's what young people pick up on, you know, and
you have to do it. And I know that's you
probably don't sleep a lot, but you're driving that and
you're creating a culture where people can mimic the positive culture,
(34:10):
you know, positive habits, and so that's so important. So
I appreciate you doing that because you know, I grew
up wdas you know what I mean. It's like I
grew up and when I was even at Howard hu R,
I mean, radio.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Is such a huge part of my lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Even to this day, I still got radios, and so
I applauded you doing that because that's really important and
letting these young people know why it's still important, especially
black culture. I mean, the radio and black culture is
just like salt pepper. So I thank you as well.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
All Right, Well, Andre Barnwell, good luck with your project,
and thanks for joining Altadena after the Fire.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Thank you, Kobe, have a great day.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Thank you for listening to Altadena after the Fire. If
you found this episode meaningful, please share it to help
spread awareness to support those affected by the Eating fire.
Consider donating to the Brotherhood Crusades Wildfire Relief Fund at
Brotherhood Crusade dot org. Your contributions provide essential resources like food, medicine,
(35:14):
and housing assistance to families and need. If you have
updated information or a first hand story to share, we'd
love to hear from you. Contact details are in the
show notes. Alt Dina After the Fire is an Urban
one podcast. Executive producer and host Kobe Kobteyer, Assistant producer
(35:34):
Jahi Whitehead, Director of Podcasting Dre Smith. Special thanks to
the Urban Onecare's team and our founder Kathy Hughes. Thank
you for tuning in. See you next time.
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