June 17, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode of Odejuma, Harry chats with Alscott Worrell and Rodney Hawkins Jr., the creators and stars of the YouTube series, Transplants. They discuss the transformative nature of the show, the importance of telling authentic stories that reflect the lives of Black queer folks, and the impact it has had within the community.
The conversation covers a variety of topics, including the challenges of bi-coastal production and the significance of creating genuine queer characters. Alscott and Rodney share their personal experiences of trusting their instincts, the value of collaboration, and the responsibility of representation in media, highlighting the importance of community in their work.
Through humor, honesty, and heartfelt moments, this episode emphasizes that storytelling is not merely a form of entertainment; it serves as a means of being seen, imagining freedom, and building a legacy. If you appreciate Black creativity, queer joy, and the future of inclusive media, this episode is for you.
Watch Transplants here: Transplants Episodes + Aftershows - YouTube
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, my name is Harry andwelcome to Odejuma.
Odejuma recognizes the magicof storytelling.
From personal experiences tostories of adventure, from tales
of resilience to finding joyin the simple things, this story
seeks to inspire, entertain,and educate because there is power
in the stories of everyday people.
(00:21):
And these stories are worth telling.
Hey, y' all, How y' all doing?
Welcome to another episode of Odejuma.
And I'm super excited aboutthis episode, actually, because I
have the creators and stars ofone of my favorite YouTube shows,
(00:44):
Transplants.
High Score and Rodney.
How y' all doing?
We're doing good.
How are you?
Hi, how are you?
I'm doing really good.
I'm really excited to diveinto this conversation because I
really love the show.
I saw the show when it came, Isaid from Twitter.
I got the.
I saw when it was promoted on Twitter.
And yeah, that first season1A, there's a lot of hype, a lot
(01:05):
of conversation that is backedthose three episodes.
So I'm excited to dive intothis conversation, but also curious
to know about your journeys asfilmmakers, as actors, and just creating
this great work of art.
So I want to start with that.
Like, how did you all findyour journey into filmmaking?
How did that happen for y' all?
(01:26):
Whoever wants to go first cango first.
Yeah, I'll go first.
Yeah.
I started at a young age.
I started like writing littlesuperhero scripts, thinking that
I was going to be a childwriting star.
And then I went to like schoolfor culinary and kind of went in
a different direction.
And then in my adult years,early 20s, is when I like started
to pick up my first camera, myblackmagic cinema camera.
(01:48):
And it kind of was like wentfrom there.
I had my first screening fortwo short films that I did in Brooklyn.
And then I just kept kind ofgoing and creating and finally moving
to la where then that's whereI met Al Scott.
And, you know, we started tocreate transplants and not even thinking
that it would be here, whichis still like crazy to see viewership,
(02:10):
but we literally were in hisliving room just like, hey, let's
just, we got a camera.
Let's create.
Like we're just going tocreate a lane for ourselves.
And here we are today.
Similar to Rodney, minestarted when I was pretty young.
I don't think I knew what Iwas doing then.
We don't really talk about thejobs and television and film when
you come from a low income family.
(02:31):
And so it wasn't until I was28 that I really like sat and reflected
on what it was that I loved todo, and it brought me back to childhood
producing with my cousins.
I don't know if you rememberthose cameras that used to plug into
the VCR and you could record things.
So we used to produce our ownlittle shows.
And when Aaliyah first died,we produced our version of 106 in
(02:54):
park.
We called it 206 in park.
It was absolutely horrible.
But.
But it was such a good time.
And so, like, when I turned28, I was just trying to figure out,
like, what I wanted to do.
And film kind of, like, keptcoming up because it had been something
I had done consistently.
And so I took a master classfrom Shonda Rhimes, and I wrote my
(03:14):
first script, and I tried tofilm it.
And we got, like, three, maybefour episodes finished, and I just
didn't love it.
And so I did two short filmsand then moved to la.
And that's where Rodney and I met.
And we were going to doanother short film.
Prior to transplants, I can't remember.
We weren't.
I think it was, like, castingor something.
(03:34):
Something was, like, off, andwe weren't quite feeling it in the
way that we wanted to.
To move forward.
And so transplants came up.
We tried to film it ourselves.
I need to see if I can findthat footage.
But we tried to film it justRodney and myself, camera.
And it was a lot of work.
And so once we found otherpeople who were, like, willing to
invest the time because werealized we couldn't do it ourselves,
we were able to actuallycomplete it.
(03:55):
And so that's wheretransplants came.
That is pretty awesome.
And from what y' all aresharing, y' all are actually transplants.
I'll wear transplants at some point.
I don't know whether.
I don't know whether there's atimeframe from being a transplant,
you know, but that is kind oflike, you know, your experience also
moving from your home, fromwhere you were raised, to la.
(04:17):
How much of the show is autobiographical?
How much of it is fiction atthis point?
Honestly, it's so funny.
Cause when we first startedfilm, when we tried to film it our
first time, Chad, my characterin the show, did not get fired, but
then I got fired for the firsttime ever in life.
And once that happened, we,like, wrote it into the show.
(04:37):
So I feel like there areparts, for me that were personal,
and there were a lot of thingsthat were pretty true about my life,
but not all of it.
Yeah, for me, because weactually started to really come up
with the idea because of afunny story that I told Scott about
being choked by the trade.
So that was very true.
(04:58):
I can relate.
That is.
That is the first scene in the show.
I'm like, yo, y' all arecoming in hot.
Okay.
Yeah.
Oh.
Not mad at it at all.
For my character Dion, himjust, like, coming from money and
being a Nepal baby, in asense, you know, I couldn't relate
for that, so I did have topull that from somewhere.
But, yeah, I think there were.
(05:18):
There are a lot of.
A lot of qualities in Dionthat I do see in myself.
Yeah, I really.
I think what I really likeabout the show is how it talks about
the realities of figuring outyourself in that there's that gap
between, like, 25 and 35 whenyou're navigating adulthood as, like,
a young, black, queer person.
And we don't really get a lotof shows that capture that authentically.
(05:41):
And I really.
I think that's what.
That's what made you resonate.
You have over a million viewson your first episode.
How looking at the response ofthat first drop.
You know, what is the thingthat still shocks you about how the
community responded to, youknow, the work of art that you all
made?
Yeah, I know.
I mean, going back to ourscreening, I was new to L.
(06:04):
A.
And I really didn't know anybody.
I was like, I know, Scotty.
You better not start crying.
Not to right now.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
I didn't know anybody.
So to see 100 people in theaudience was like.
And, like, it was like, thisis our dream.
Like, this is our dream.
So to see those people, like,support us.
And, like, I remember me andAl Scott.
(06:25):
Oh, my gosh.
Sorry.
I remember me and Al Scott.
Like, we're, like, in the corner.
Like, we're watching people,like, laugh at our jokes.
And, like, it's just.
I did not expect to beemotional today, but it was.
It was just an amazing feeling.
And it's like, I want tocontinue to feel that.
And that moment, I will neverforget, like, that was, wow, all
(06:46):
right, I'm done.
I would say something similar.
I mean, even this moment, forme, is the part that, like, still,
like.
Or even.
You know what?
I can think of a few moments.
This is one of them.
But I think one of the momentswhere I, like, actually cried after,
aside from the screening,because we both cried a lot.
I think there are pictures ofus actually crying.
Just crying would be duringthe strike.
(07:09):
I went out with my niece, andwe were.
You know, we were picketingand showing our support for the wga.
And there were some WGAwriters who, like, recognized me
from the show and was like,hey, like, I love transplants.
And like, for me, that wassuch a moment of like, wow.
There are people who are inthis industry who are doing the things
(07:29):
that we're doing, but doingit, you know, through studios, and
they're getting paid to dothis, whereas Rodney and I are working
full time jobs or at onepoint, I was doing a lot of gig work.
So doing that and trying tofigure this out.
And so it was.
It's been really nice to seethat the show resonates with people
and that even.
That it resonates with peopleand that people who are not even
(07:50):
queer identify with what ourcharacters are going through.
Yes.
Yeah, I agree.
I have a couple of friends.
My friend, hey, Niko, her mom,like, literally has been waiting.
Like, she just text me theother day, like, are you sure?
Is it come?
I'm like, yes.
Like, her.
Her mom is like, you know,she's an older woman, so it's like,
for her to resonate, like,that feels amazing.
That means we're.
Yes, we are.
We wrote a queer show, but wewrote this for everyone, you know,
(08:13):
so that's true.
And I think a lot of peopletend to forget that queer stories
resonate with everybody.
Yes, it's a queer story, butat the heart of it is a human story
of two friends trying tofigure out life.
You know what I'm saying?
And I could also kind of relate.
Not like I'm a internationaltrans, but I moved from a different
country to the US in my 30s.
(08:34):
And so just trying to navigatelife also kind of, like, resonated
with the story.
I'm curious about, like,people who actually, like, I know
I kind of asked this kind oflike before, but the folks kind of
like, expect you to be likeyour characters when they meet you
in person.
Yes.
(08:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I've met people whoare like, I've gotten mixed reviews
from Chad.
I've met people who are like,your character is so mean.
Like, are you like that inreal life or, like, prejudging me
because they think they don'tlike Chad.
I'm like, there are somequalities about Chad that are very
true to who I am, but Chad initself is not who I am.
(09:16):
Yeah, yeah.
It's so funny.
I'll go a different route.
Like, I've actually gothitting up on, like, Jack, and people
were like, oh, like, you'reDion from, like, transplants and
asking me about My preference.
Because we all know Dion's preference.
And I'm just like, hmm, thisis interesting.
This is like a new level thatI never thought I would have to explain
before.
So, yeah.
Just to piggyback off of Scott.
(09:36):
Yeah.
I think, you know, we havequalities, but we're definitely different
from.
We're acting.
Okay.
Yeah.
Or even like we talked about alittle bit before we got on the call,
like, me being back in education.
So I recently moved from LA to Philadelphia.
And, like, when the kids don'tlike you, they don't Google you,
but the minute they start tolike you.
And so they didn't like mefor, like, the first month because
I'm very strict, but then theystarted to Google me and then they
(09:59):
saw that I was smoking andthey were like, going around the
school like, oh, we saw Mr.
W smoking weed.
And I'm like, actually, I'macting like this is not who I am.
Yeah.
Given Abbott elementary low key.
That is.
It's.
It's.
And then, trust me.
And they act just like some ofthe kids from Abbott.
(10:20):
So it's Philly.
I mean, Abbott is such a truedepiction of teaching in Philly.
Wow.
And also your.
Your transplant again from.
So how are you navigatingthat, though, also.
And also, what does thatcreative partnership look like between
y' all now that you all are indifferent cities also?
Yeah, I will.
(10:40):
I'm going to speak to Matthewa little bit about here, Matt.
So Matthew is our thirdexecutive producer.
He also is our line producer.
And so Matthew lives in NewYork and has always lived in New
York when we were filming Transplants.
So we've always had tonavigate the whole bicoastal thing.
Like, there have been timeswhere it's been 11pm or 1am on the
west coast and he is up, youknow, making sure.
(11:02):
So I feel like it has been oneof those things that's consistently
helped a lot to make sure thatwe are in.
It's helped a lot to make surethat we have had the chance to navigate
that already.
So me being here hasn't reallydisrupted the creative process as
much as it's made sure that weare communicating better and more
effectively.
Shout out to Matthew becausethey don't really associate him with
(11:23):
the show, but he's a huge partof why we're able to do anything.
So huge.
Shout out to Matthew.
I'm also, before I go into thenew season 1B, I want to talk about,
like, episode 3, two things, actually.
First of all is the concept ofa rent party.
I feel like I like when showsare also educational as well as,
you know, just fun as a light watch.
(11:45):
You're watching people justhave a good time.
But also, I never knew aboutrent parties and that it was a thing
that happen.
Is that something that wasintentional with the show, giving
a little bit of history lesson?
We've seen a couple of sitcomsdo that across the years, but was
that something that wasintentional for y' all when you were
writing the show?
Yes.
So rent party.
Well, first of all, like oldsitcoms, when you watch the Parkers,
(12:08):
you watch Moesha.
Like, they always did a reallygood job of balancing the fun with
the real life, with the history.
And so when we, like, weregoing through the season and figuring
out, like, how we wanted toend that first half of the season,
I definitely wanted tohighlight a rent party one because
I had lost my job.
And so I was thinking, like,it would be really nice if someone
was paying my rent or at leasthelping me.
(12:29):
But also, we don't talk abouta lot of our history because so much
of it is hidden or they'retrying to get rid of it like we see
in politics right now.
And so it was a veryintentional decision to include that
in the show so that people whodidn't know would have an opportunity
to be curious about it.
Definitely.
And I would definitely give AlScott credit because it was, like,
his idea to put the rent party.
(12:51):
And I didn't know about rentparties, to be very honest, so I
was just like, oh, like, Ididn't even know this existed.
I'm like, keep that in my back pocket.
You never know.
Okay, Pay this rent because LAis high.
Okay, High.
But, yeah, I think it was.
It was great to.
We got a lot of good feedbackfrom that, so I was happy that we
(13:13):
were able to put that historylesson inside the show.
That's pretty cool.
And thanks, y' all for doing that.
You're definitely educating meon what a rent party is.
I have that in my back pocketnow for when times get hard.
I definitely will betray oneand inviting the people to it.
Another thing about that thirdepisode, because I actually rewatched
it before, you know, I got upon this interview, the cliffhanger
(13:35):
that we were left with.
Right on.
All for both characters and,you know, the love stories that were
there.
Was it intentional to actuallyend on the cliffhanger also?
And how was that going toTranslate to season 1B?
That's a good question.
Ooh, Rodney, you want to takethis or you want me?
Yeah, I'll take this.
So for both characters, but tostart with Dion, I mean, it was the
(13:59):
big F bomb.
Right.
I think that's what took oursupporters by storm.
So I'm excited for what theaudience will see in part B of how
Corey and Dion's relationship,like, expands.
And just also Deon, because we.
I feel like Deion.
We see him as a surface personright now of, like, oh, he's just
(14:20):
dating the tree.
He's, like the average gay.
But, like, we actually startto see Deion and who he is with the
help of Chad, even though hehates to say it, but Chad definitely
helped shape Deon into a lotof his decisions.
And for the cliffhanger forChad and Brandon, I mean, one, they
have the dreamiest scene,like, I feel like, of the episode,
(14:40):
to be honest.
I think everyone resonates.
Like, they have a great chemistry.
So I'm, like, really excitedfor people just to see a couple or
a person that looks like theycould be a couple and be on a high
and, like, where they're gonnago in part B.
So I'm excited for the audience.
Yeah.
What I will add for episodethree specifically is so episode
(15:03):
three, when I wrote that,there was an extra scene that actually
came after that would cut.
So in that scene, there was,like, me, my character, and Rodney's
character actually cametogether and, like, had a conversation
to kind of, like, debriefabout the party.
And because it made a bettercliffhanger to not include it, we
(15:24):
decided to cut it and kind ofjust let it be that so that people
would want to come back.
That being said, I'm veryexcited for 1B because we do get
to see both of thoserelationships play out and how our
characters respond to them.
I will say we've releasedteasers for both of them that are.
And the.
The kind of gave it away for.
For my character that him andBrandon do end up, you know, rekindling.
(15:47):
And there is something there,but there is still more that has
not been revealed about howthat came about, what it looks like
after that moment, because somuch happens after that moment.
Yes.
And I would say the same forCorey and Dion.
Like, we get to see a lot ofDion's growth and the way that he
navigates that relationshipwith Corey and realizing that growth
(16:08):
is not linear.
It's one of those things that,like, there will be days where you
feel like you've made a lot ofgrowth, and then you will have a
moment where you regress.
And so I'm excited for peopleto see how those play out with both
of the characters.
I'm excited.
I'm excited to dive in to watch.
It's also really nice to see,like, black queer love on screen.
Certainly with the teaser thatwas shown, it seems like both characters
(16:30):
find a healthy form of loveand relationship, but also love has
his drama, you know, so it's fine.
We know that it'll be drama involved.
But it's nice to see a levelof black queer love that we don't
really get to see.
It's always very interracialand nothing against interracial folks,
but, you know, it'll be niceto see two black people who are queer
(16:51):
and who are loving on eachother, messiness and all.
So that's really good.
How many episodes are we gonnaexpect in season 1B?
There are four.
Episode 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Yeah.
Four.
Four episodes longer.
Yes.
Okay, so what is like, what islike the length?
(17:11):
The shortest is 22 minutes.
The longest is 27 minutes.
So in the first season was.
Or the first half of theseason, I think was 16 minutes for
the first episode.
And then episode three waslike 13.
But we pushed for like a fullnetwork length show.
So we.
We try to stick between the 22and like 28 minute ish mark.
(17:35):
And honestly we shot way morethan that.
And we in editing cut down alot because there are some things
that we filmed that justdidn't work.
And so we cut or it didn'twork in the way that it was written.
And so we had to reorganize.
Like editing is.
It's.
It's like a gift and a cursebecause it's a lot of work, but it
also allows you to reallychange the way story is told.
Yeah, yeah, I feel that.
And that is really.
(17:55):
That is.
I'm excited to hear all ofthese things, like, news to me.
And it's like I'm feeling veryexcited to see how the story goes,
how the story evolves, andalso just learning that a lot of
intention went into creatingthis next batch of episodes.
Can you talk to us about,like, the production aspect?
How did that happen?
Is that.
Is the creative team larger now?
(18:17):
How did funding work?
All that good stuff?
Yeah, the team.
So because the episodes gotlonger, the team definitely got bigger.
I would say, like, our coreteam has always been Rodney, Matthew
and myself.
And so that team has notgotten bigger, but the team, in terms
of the amount of people thatcame together to make it work was
just.
It's just phenomenal.
(18:38):
Like, even recently we had todo some reshoots and so Todd, who's
one of our actors, worked withRodney to get some stuff shot that
has been very helpful in like,filling some gaps that we went through.
And like, after looking atstuff over and over again, you start
to realize, oh, something's missing.
Which is one of the challengesto something being longer.
Right.
Like, you have to really makesure that, like, you are feeding
it to the audience in a waythat is not giving them too much
(19:01):
so that you're implying thatthey can't handle it, but it's giving
them enough that they canfollow the story.
And so I'm so thankful for ourvillage and the people that have
come because it has been alabor of love.
And we lost our dp, like maybelike three weeks into filming the
second half.
Director of photography forpeople who are not familiar with
film.
And so they're in charge oflike, make sure the visuals match
(19:23):
the director and the writersand the showrunners overall vision.
And so losing that meant thatwe lost a camera person.
We lost another thought partner.
And so it really came down toRodney having to DP the episodes
that he directed and myselfhaving to DP the episodes that I
directed, which is just like alot of hands on the same.
Like, it's a lot.
And it also.
You lose a little bit of that collaboration.
(19:44):
Right.
Because now you have one voicedoing all these things as opposed
to multiple.
But it has been.
It has been a journey, but onethat I feel like I've learned so
much from this that we cantake it to our next season, which
I'm excited.
Our actual second season.
I'm excited for you to knowmore about that when we get there.
But yeah, that's all I reallyhave to say.
(20:05):
Rodney.
Yeah, to your point, it was.
It was a labor of love.
Now I remember a specific.
A couple specific dates, butlike when I think that was episode
five, which was like our popup shop, which you guys will see,
and it was just me, and I was Scott.
That's it.
Like, we did not have a sound.
(20:26):
We did not have a.
No, we had Blair.
Blair did sound.
Okay.
We did just her.
She was in another room.
She was.
Yeah, so that's all we had.
So no pas, no nothing.
So.
But it's one of the best shotsthat we kind of like have and just
like experience.
So.
And oh, on top of that, wehad, I think nine extras.
Yeah.
So it was a lot of movingparts and it was a continuous scene
(20:49):
as well.
So anyone in television knowshow hard that can be.
You have to definitely be onPoint to make sure everything matches
up.
But I just remember it justmakes you want to do it even more.
And just seeing the finalproduct, yeah, it was some hard days,
but I wouldn't, I wouldn'ttrade it for anything and I wouldn't
pick anybody else because inthat moment I feel like we are all
stressed.
(21:09):
But like our Scott was like,well, we all have no choice so we
got to figure this out.
And I wouldn't want to do thiswith like anybody else.
Like Al Scott is like atrooper and I hope I'm that trooper
to him.
Like we still looking back atjust seeing what we have created.
I still cannot believe, like Iwatch it every day.
Look, not me about to getmotion game, but I literally watch.
(21:29):
I know it is just becausepeople don't understand how hard
it is.
You know, we're not backed bya studio.
We're putting our hard earnedmoney into that.
Speaking to the financialpart, like that was Matthew, Al Scott
and I like working full time jobs.
Like sometimes, look, I mighthave to eat noodles this week.
Like it was really that lifestyle.
But I wouldn't change it forthe world because people see the
(21:50):
labor that we put in and whenpeople see the final product, I think
that's just going to make usmore relatable and I can't wait,
you know, because we will bemainstream and I'm excited about
that journey coming up.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry.
The financial piece was a huge part.
So we did a fundraiser.
So our original strategy wasto film the first three episodes,
use that to launch ourfundraiser, and then use that money
(22:13):
to fund the rest of the episodes.
We launched a fundraiser.
Did not go well.
We did not get any money from it.
And so now with episodes thatwere significantly longer and had
all of these differentcharacters that were not included
before because I think we didthe first three episodes, not including
extras, with three, with four.
No, five.
Me, Rodney, Chris, Isaiah and A.J.
(22:36):
yeah, just five characters.
And so the second half, likeChad has a therapist.
Like we meet Dion's mom.
You know, we introducedifferent love interests for both
of them.
We get to meet the person thatmy character moved to LA for and
get a backstory on how thateven happened.
So there's just so much thatreally went into it.
And the scene that Ronnie'stalking about, we did another like
(22:59):
a pop up shop for Cannabussy.
And it's literally half of theepisode where you wouldn't know it
when watching it, but Rodneyand I were the only people there.
We did the camera.
I set up the light.
I went to his house, and weset up the lighting the night before.
Like, it was just so manymoving pieces.
And as much as I'm thankfulfor extras, I don't like working
with extras because it requires.
(23:21):
I don't like working withextras when you're wearing 18 million
hats.
Yeah, it requires so muchinstruction and so much directing
and when you're trying to bein front of the camera and behind
the camera, and, like, it's just.
It's really hard to, like,really get into character as an actor
when you're doing so much.
And so, yeah, it just.
It was definitely a journey.
(23:44):
And it looks, like, so good,though, so I'm so excited.
Yeah.
And it's just.
Just want to just give you allgrace that you all did that by yourselves.
You should be incredibly proudof the work that you put into putting
that out there.
And like you said, it's justlike a stepping stone to bigger and
better things.
So just very proud of y' alland the work that you're putting.
(24:05):
And the community is alsoreally proud of y' all.
You know, it is something thatis good representation for us.
It's nice, like I said, to seeus in our fullness and with our flaws
and with our quirks and everything.
And.
Yeah, very, very thankful for that.
And.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I just want you tojust bask in the glory that you all
(24:26):
put out for extra episodesthat are longer.
Yeah.
And we're excited to see them.
I'm curious about the lessonsthat y' all have learned personally
as filmmakers from beinginvolved in this project.
What have you learned just ingeneral also, as writing these complex
queer characters?
(24:47):
How has that changed yourperception on how you perceive life,
how you move through life?
How has that also changed, too?
If y' all can talk a littlebit about that.
For me, I would say speakingto how writing these characters have
changed me, I think theypushed me to be more vulnerable in
my writing.
There are so many things aboutChad that I love, but I do think
(25:08):
there are moments in hindsightwhere I'm like, I could have pushed
Chad a little bit more.
I could have pushed hiscomplexity, his nuance a little bit
more.
And so that's one of thebiggest takeaways that I'm taking
away from this is like, howare you authentically showing up
for your characters andallowing them to have fun in a way
that is still going to educateand allow people to feel seen?
(25:30):
Yeah, I'll start there, andI'll let Ronnie.
Yeah.
Making the charactersauthentic I think that was important,
especially because for writingfor Dion, you know, I don't know
what it is to be rich and havea big company in the US But I also
wanted those conversationsbetween him and his mother to be
real, you know, and I thinkthat was important to stretch my
(25:51):
writing ability.
And like, though I have notexperienced that, what experiences
have I had with my mom or, youknow, people around me that put their
foot down on me and what thatlooks like?
So I'm excited with that.
And also just friendship.
I mean, we.
The show is based with.
To this.
This friendship and sometimesfrenemies, the way they treat each
other.
(26:11):
So even with that, just jollydrawing from a lot of inspiration
with my own friendship.
But also, you know, Al Scottwould challenge me a lot of the times,
like, hey, like, let's.
Let's push the envelope.
You know, though, like this.
We don't want to spoon feedyou guys, you know, we want you guys
to, you know, think outsidethe box.
So, you know, that personrallying, which was outsky at the
time as we were writing, waslike, really good for me, just expand
(26:34):
my writing ability.
On a personal.
On a personal level, I wouldsay to trust my gut.
I think sometimes when we getinto an industry where we don't 100%
feel valued or validated,because a lot of times people, they're
like, oh, you have a show onYouTube that's cute.
Like, there's always a littlebit of, like, shade towards it, right?
(26:56):
You kind of, like, don't.
I'm not gonna say you don'tvalue it, but, like, you can kind
of get in your head about it,especially living in LA and being
surrounded by people who,like, are working at the Netflixes,
are working at the Peacocksand the Paramounts, right?
But in every decision thatwe've made about the show, when I
have not trusted my gut, it'scome back to bite us in the ass.
(27:16):
And I think a huge one.
And I'll speak publicly aboutthis because I know he wouldn't mind.
And if he does, sorry,brother, but like, rdp, like, I wanted
to replace our DP after thefirst three episodes because I wanted
to explore, you know, what itwould look like for the second half
to look slightly different, right?
To, like, play around a littlebit more.
Also someone who had a littlebit more availability and flexibility
(27:38):
in their schedule.
And I wanted our dp, who alsowas Brandon in the show, I wanted
him to be able to solely focuson that.
And so we ended up not, youknow, replacing him because the Work
was strong, and, you know, hereally wanted to do it that moment.
I wish that I listened to mygut where we had just kind of replaced
him because him not being apart of the rest of the project really
did hurt our timeline, reallydid hurt the amount of investment
(28:03):
we were able to do in otherareas or put our energy in other
areas, because we were havingto now juggle this other job.
And finding a DP in LA whenyou're not paying them and, you know,
is a lot, because a lot ofthis has been volunteer labor, which
we're very, very thankful for.
And we've been putting out ourown money, right, to make this happen.
(28:25):
Because for Rodney and I, it'sbeen about creating and, like, being
able to show up and putcharacters out into the world that
we don't normally see, whetheror not we're getting paid for it,
because we love it.
Right?
And I'm so thankful becauseeveryone on this project has invested
their time and their energy.
And I know, like, this is nota personal attack on rdp because,
you know, the reality is apaid job came up.
(28:47):
He had to take it.
But at the end of the day,like, my gut was like, hey, do this,
and I didn't do it.
And so it's not the first time.
But that's like, one example,like, trusting your gut.
And not just when it comes tofilm, just in everything.
Like, if it's not aligning, ifsomething seems off, trust your gut
and you don't need a valid reason.
Right?
Just go with what you feel isleading you in that direction, because
(29:10):
nine times out of 10, you'renot going to regret it, but you're
going to regret not trustingyour gut.
Definitely.
And for personal me, I wouldsay just being more vocal, which
is very surprising.
A lot of people see Deion andhe's just this ball of energy.
I am actually the opposite.
Unless I, like, really knowyou, I'm very, actually timid.
A lot of people don't know that.
I was scared as hell when wedid our Q and A.
(29:32):
I was telling Elska.
I was like, oh, my gosh, I'mhaving a Z attack.
Like, literally.
Yeah.
I think now just learning fromthis experience.
I just want to be more vocal.
This is important for me to bevocal because we're creating and
we want to make sure that ourpoints are getting across and our
characters are reading well.
So I'm definitely excitedabout season two and just being that
vocal presence for my team.
(29:53):
So you guys are definitely ina treat, not only for part Two.
But for season two.
Yeah.
Okay, cool.
I'm so excited.
I'm excited for one part, too,but we'll get there.
Have y' all.
Have y' all read to season two already?
Because I'm hearing manyreferences to the second season.
We have not written it, but wehave come up with.
So part of our time off wasalso rebranding Transplants as a
(30:14):
show.
Originally, Transplants wasabout Dionne and Chad and their journey
as transplants.
And because there are so manystories, so many queer stories that
are not told, we wanted todiversify a bit.
And so.
And also just from a businessstandpoint, right.
Making sure that we'remarketable, but also not, you know,
pigeonholing ourselves into,like, one specific audience.
(30:35):
And so what came out of thatwas every season making it an anthology
and every season following adifferent set of transplants in the
new city.
And so our second season willhighlight a trans woman, which I'm
very excited about, especiallygiven the.
The shift in the way media ishandling our trans women and our
trans men.
And so we're very excitedabout that.
(30:56):
We're excited to be in a new city.
I'm excited for Rodney'sleadership on that.
I'm exc.
Excited.
Ronnie, what are you excited about?
Yeah, no, I'm excited to, youknow, be in those writers room and
also for us to shed light onnew writers, you know, so that's.
That's big.
That's something we'll belooking for because we have, unfortunately,
you know, it's been just meand Al Scott, so, you know, to bring
(31:18):
in other people and give otherpeople a chance, because that has
always been the goal, tosource and work in parallel so that
people could get a chance.
To be honest, everyone doesn'tget the chance.
What we did, we didn't, again,know that this was going to happen.
So now that we do have theplatform, I'm excited to give other
people opportunities as well.
That is beautiful.
(31:38):
And I'm excited to.
That's a very important storywith Dolores and, you know, the attacks
on trans rights right now globally.
And so, I mean, I'm kind ofexcited for that, too.
I'm also very curious aboutyour friendship, because working
with your friends sometimescan, you know, sometimes it ends
well, sometimes it doesn't.
How do y' all stay true tokeeping your friendship together?
(32:00):
Together, as well asmaintaining a very strong professional
relationship?
Yeah, I think the biggestthing is going to be communication.
And I think through thisjourney, Al Scott and I have learned
that just having fulltransparency, communication and also
just knowing each other'sstyles in communication.
Like, I think sometimes wejust want to work with people.
(32:21):
And, like, I know, like, forexample, it's big people out there.
We're like, oh, I just want towork with them.
But you don't even know whattheir management style is.
You don't know how they talkto you.
And you could get on set andbe surprised.
Right.
So, you know, that's why goinginto season two, I'm excited, too,
because I feel like me andOscar have definitely worked on that
a lot.
Just a relationship ingeneral, so.
And we have to be strong forthe people around us.
(32:42):
That's what's really important.
Because if we fell, theneveryone else fell.
Yeah.
And I don't know if you know,but Ronnie and I met on Instagram.
Like, we were not friends before.
We were friends beforetransplants, but we were not friends.
We became friends because weboth loved creating.
So Rodney hit me up onInstagram, and we had a short film
that we were going to do thatI spoke a little bit about earlier,
(33:05):
and that's how we started tobuild a friendship.
But I'll piggyback oneverything he says.
Communication, beingtransparent, knowing that there is
going to be conflict, buthealthy conflict is always going
to be the thing that moves usforward, not hold us back.
And so making sure that we arecommunicating, we are saying when
we don't like something orpushing back, you know, because without
those conversations, it's justlike this false.
(33:27):
This false sense of calm whichjust will blow up and.
And nobody will benefit fromit in the long run.
That's real.
That's real.
I'm gonna lighten things up alittle bit and ask some, like, fun
trivia questions, like, get toknow y' all questions.
The first one is, what are thetop three songs on Yalls playlist
right now?
Oh.
Oh, that's a good one.
(33:47):
I actually can think of a few because.
So I'm a huge music person.
One of my favorite parts hasbeen doing music transplants.
I'm so excited for secondseason because Rodney really loves
scores.
So just incorporating morescores into the season.
But right now, there is this artist.
I don't know how to say hisactual name, but it's spelled m n
(34:08):
d S n g or something.
I think it's like anabbreviation for my song.
Not 100% sure, but it's thissong called I hope you're doing okay
that I really, really love.
And I write to a lot of.
There's this band.
Did y' all Know that Cleo Soulis in a band.
So Cleo Soul is in this bandcalled Salt, and she's been in it
for very, very long time.
It's S A U L T.
(34:30):
And I really, really, like,love them.
Like, they have this songcalled Higher that she sings with
the band that I really love.
And then there's another onecalled Fearless.
I've been really finding musicwithout a lot of words.
Has been, like, my go tolately, because the world just feels
a little bit overstimulatingwith everything going on.
So those are my top three.
Yeah.
Listen to them get a chance.
They're so good.
(34:52):
So I just.
And I just seen Coco Jones,but Coco Jones thing for you is has
me in a chokehold right now.
I think I'm listening to thewhole album every time I'm in the
gym.
Also, similar to what else gotsaid listening to Scores.
So I've been listening to theSinners Score album lately.
It was so good.
Oh, my gosh.
Like, and rather be.
I think Haley.
(35:12):
What's his name?
Leon.
Yeah, Leon and Haley.
Rather be.
I love that song.
I love R B.
So nice.
Okay.
R and B.
I'm here for it.
I'm here for it.
If y' all could cast anyone onTransplants, like, anybody, who would
you want to see on the show?
Oh, that is such a good question.
I have a few people, but I'mlike, I have.
(35:33):
I have to thank my.
Like, my number one.
Number one.
You can give me your top threeif you have too many people on your
mind.
Okay.
Nicole, Bahari, Lovey, Simone,which was.
She was so good.
And forever.
It's just.
She's just so good.
(35:53):
Oh, this third one is wearingme out.
That could be a solid two.
Yeah.
And honestly, Monique, I'msorry, Monique.
Okay.
Monique.
Yeah.
I watch the Parkers everysingle day, and it's just like the
comedic time and like, the.
Just hands down, those were good.
How do I follow up?
Erica Alexander first tour.
(36:15):
Yeah.
I don't know where she wouldfit in, especially, like, with this
show, but I just want to workwith Meryl Streeps.
I'm sorry.
I'm like, I'm fitting.
I don't know where it could be.
I don't know where.
And Kelvin Harris Jr.
Ever since I seen hispreparation for the Lion King, I
(36:36):
was just like, oh, like himgiving the different variations during
his audition, I was like, oh.
Oh, yeah.
I wanna.
I would love to work with him.
Yeah.
And his.
And that press run was one ofmy favorite press runs.
That press Run and the pressrun for one of them days up to, hands
down, love the chemistrybetween the.
Between the actors and thosepress runs.
And that's pretty good.
(36:57):
My next question actually kindof answered it a little bit.
Sitcoms are like, veryinspirational or TV shows.
Do you all find very, like, doyou all draw inspirations from.
I don't know if you've everseen Broad City.
So when we came up withTransplants, the intersection that
I like to associate it with.
(37:19):
I know Insecure is not asitcom, it's more of a dramedy, but
was Insecure in a Broad City.
If you've never seen BroadCity, it's about two friends who
live in New York, and it's just.
It's a little ridiculous.
But also, if you've ever livedin New York, like, you kind of realize
how not ridiculous it is.
Like the episode where someonesteals their AC from the street corner,
(37:39):
which is such a real New York thing.
So, like, I feel like that'swhere, like, some of the ridiculousness
comes from, from in our show, which.
Go ahead.
Yeah, yeah, I would say that.
And then like I said earlier,like, the Parkers, like, making sure
that we are, like, creatingsome type of dialogue around things
that people wouldn't normallyknow about.
Yeah, I would have to agree.
(37:59):
Yeah, definitely.
Broad, steady and insecure,but also living single.
Like, I think living single.
And even shows likeGirlfriends, they just tackled those
conversations that normallyweren't had.
So.
And I feel like we did areally great job.
We got to give ourselves a paton the back for that.
We had a lot greatconversation, especially, I mean,
one through three.
But four, four through seven,you definitely.
We definitely get into some things.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, cool.
(38:20):
I'm excited about that.
Where is Yalls favorite travel?
Your favorite travel, Yourdream travel destination?
What would you say is theplace you want to go unwind and stuff
like that?
I would have to say.
I mean, I.
I travel often, but I, I.
Africa.
Like, I have.
I haven't been there, and Iwould love to go to Africa and.
(38:42):
But, like, be there for awhile where I can go to, like, Cape
Town, you know, Egypt.
Like, really go to different places.
So, yeah, I'd say Africa.
I don't know if I have a dream place.
I know how I want this placeto make me feel.
But as someone that's moved alot, I don't know if a place will
ever make me feel the waythis, that.
But, like, I like, I want togo somewhere that's full of nature.
(39:04):
So the first thing that cameto mind was actually Bali or, like,
Thailand, because those areplaces that have a lot of nature,
and I love nature.
And I feel like sometimesthere's just so much noise, especially
living in a city, that itwould be nice to go somewhere and,
like, live there for a fewmonths and just, like, be creative
and feed my creative inner child.
(39:24):
Right.
So, yeah, I would say one ofthose, like, tropical places.
One place that I do love thatdoes that is Mexico City.
I don't know if you've everbeen, but it's, like, one of my favorite
cities, so.
But yeah, I gave pretty cool.
Yeah.
The third season of the WhiteLotus was.
Was making me think aboutThailand a lot.
So I was like, ah, that's.
That looks like a verybeautiful, beautiful country.
(39:45):
Final fun trivia question.
What.
What are your.
What are yalls Guilty pleasure?
What's the thing that you knowguilty pleasure?
It depends on the day.
Okay.
I like sweets.
I'm huge.
I need to get over it, but Ireally like sweets, and I really
need to get over it becauseI'm getting older, and it just does
not agree my body anymore SWanything spicy.
(40:06):
Again, getting older.
Not really working out for meright now.
And kindness.
I love kind, like, kind people.
Those are my guilty pleasures.
My three guilty pleasure.
Well, as I am on a fitnessjourney because I am trying to get
shredded, I noticed that on mycheat days, I want potatoes.
(40:27):
I want every type of potato.
I want every type of starch.
I want macaroni and cheese.
It's getting bad.
Like, to the point where not macaroni.
And cheese with potatoes.
It's bad.
I just.
I want every start.
Yeah, I'm trying to, like, fixmy cheat days because I am not the
rock, so I can't have cheatdays like that.
But, yeah, I would say thatguilty pleasure watching the boondocks.
(40:51):
Like, watching the boondocks.
Yeah.
Like, I love a good episode.
I would definitely turn it on.
It's.
It's pure comedy.
It is.
I love it.
I would say that's it.
And a fine man.
I guess let's.
Let's just put out there afine chocolate man.
That is.
Yeah, I would say that'sprobably my good.
No interracial dating for you.
Shout out to that.
(41:15):
Shout out to that.
Thank you all for sharing allof your yalls.
Guilty pleasures.
Really, really love to.
I feel like I kind of, like,know y' all a little bit more with,
like, some of those responses.
So thank you for sharing.
Before we wrap up, I want tojust know, like, what do y' all want,
like, your legacy to be withthis show.
And I feel like that showsthat really impact the culture.
And personally, I feel likeTrans Mass is in a very sweet spot
(41:37):
where it can do that.
No pressure or anything.
But what do y' all want yourlegacy to be as you're moving into
this new iteration ofcreativity with this show?
For me, I.
When I.
When I think of legacy, Ithink sometimes we pinpoint certain
accolades, but for me, I wantto be proud of myself and whatever
(41:59):
that looks like.
And I want to love myself andjust be proud of the work that I
am creating and hopefully thatI am changing the paradigm and perspective
of people that watch my work.
And with that legacy, I wantto have a legacy where I'll be able
to help people that come after me.
And while I'm in the legacyand not being the token, you know,
(42:21):
I don't want to be just thetoken queer show.
I want it to be multiple showsand everyone growing and creating
financial stability and beable to be creative as their main
source of income.
So ultimately, just to.
To be proud of myself and formy grandmother to be proud of me.
She's not here with usanymore, but I always think of her
with everything I.
(42:41):
I've done in my life.
And, you know, at a young age,she always told me, you're going
to be whatever you choose to be.
So the fact that I'm even hereis just testament of that.
And, you know, I'm a gpk.
My parents were preachers, so,like, yeah, that faith has drove
me here, and I'm just excitedabout the future.
And to your point, Transplantshas done something that is very special,
(43:03):
and it's going to continue togrow and get bigger.
So I'm excited for that journey.
Yeah, for me, I think of it askind of like pillars.
I want.
It's important to me to build community.
It's important to me to educate.
And one of the things that Ilove about this show in general is
the amount of people who havecome on set with zero knowledge and
have left knowing how to do acertain job because they've been
(43:26):
taught how to do that job.
It's the moments where youtell me, hey, I didn't know what
a rent party was, and now I do.
Like, that is the legacy thatI want to leave.
I want to create art that canbe seen and can be felt and shows
the messiness of life.
Like, there is norelationship, no matter who we think
it may be that, you know,whether it's a platonic or Familial
(43:48):
or romantic.
Like, there is no relationshipthat's perfect.
And so I want to make surethat we are.
That I'm showing that onscreen, that whatever I'm doing is
building some type ofcommunity that you're learning and
that you're.
You're laughing.
There's so many sad things inthe world.
The last thing that I want todo is watch something that is going
(44:09):
to have me sad the entire way through.
And for me, I just don't thinkthat's realistic.
Like, I don't.
I remember being hit.
Hit by a drunk driver in,like, 20.
I think it was 2010, me and my friends.
And after we got hit andalmost died, we were, like, on the
side of the road, cracking upat jokes.
Because, like, that is thereality of life.
(44:29):
Like, no matter when it's sad,no matter how many, like, horrible
moments it is, like, you willfind that one moment of joy, and
it will.
It may.
It may not fix the situation.
Most times it doesn't.
But at least you feel goodabout it in that moment, right?
And so I would say those are,like, the things that are most important
to me.
And like Rodney said, justbeing proud of myself and making
(44:50):
sure to always be proud ofmyself, because even when I fail,
because that is how we learn.
You can't learn without the failure.
So.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Well, thanks, y' all for thework that you do and for coming on
my podcast is talk about your show.
Um, I'm a fan, and I will bewatching this new season with Joy.
(45:14):
Yeah, I really appreciate y'all, and we're happy to support in
any way that we can.
So thank you.
Thank you for having us.
Of course.
No problem.
And thank you all for tuningin and watching on YouTube or listening
wherever you stream your podcast.
This is Odejo Ma.
Hi, my name is Harry andwelcome to Odejuma.
Odejuma recognizes the magicof storytelling.
From personal experiences tostories of adventure, from tales
of resilience to finding joyin the simple things, this story
seeks to inspire, entertain,and educate because there is power
in the stories of everyday people.
(00:21):
And these stories are worth telling.
Hey, y' all, How y' all doing?
Welcome to another episode of Odejuma.
And I'm super excited aboutthis episode, actually, because I
have the creators and stars ofone of my favorite YouTube shows,
(00:44):
Transplants.
High Score and Rodney.
How y' all doing?
We're doing good.
How are you?
Hi, how are you?
I'm doing really good.
I'm really excited to diveinto this conversation because I
really love the show.
I saw the show when it came, Isaid from Twitter.
I got the.
I saw when it was promoted on Twitter.
And yeah, that first season1A, there's a lot of hype, a lot
(01:05):
of conversation that is backedthose three episodes.
So I'm excited to dive intothis conversation, but also curious
to know about your journeys asfilmmakers, as actors, and just creating
this great work of art.
So I want to start with that.
Like, how did you all findyour journey into filmmaking?
How did that happen for y' all?
(01:26):
Whoever wants to go first cango first.
Yeah, I'll go first.
Yeah.
I started at a young age.
I started like writing littlesuperhero scripts, thinking that
I was going to be a childwriting star.
And then I went to like schoolfor culinary and kind of went in
a different direction.
And then in my adult years,early 20s, is when I like started
to pick up my first camera, myblackmagic cinema camera.
(01:48):
And it kind of was like wentfrom there.
I had my first screening fortwo short films that I did in Brooklyn.
And then I just kept kind ofgoing and creating and finally moving
to la where then that's whereI met Al Scott.
And, you know, we started tocreate transplants and not even thinking
that it would be here, whichis still like crazy to see viewership,
(02:10):
but we literally were in hisliving room just like, hey, let's
just, we got a camera.
Let's create.
Like we're just going tocreate a lane for ourselves.
And here we are today.
Similar to Rodney, minestarted when I was pretty young.
I don't think I knew what Iwas doing then.
We don't really talk about thejobs and television and film when
you come from a low income family.
(02:31):
And so it wasn't until I was28 that I really like sat and reflected
on what it was that I loved todo, and it brought me back to childhood
producing with my cousins.
I don't know if you rememberthose cameras that used to plug into
the VCR and you could record things.
So we used to produce our ownlittle shows.
And when Aaliyah first died,we produced our version of 106 in
(02:54):
park.
We called it 206 in park.
It was absolutely horrible.
But.
But it was such a good time.
And so, like, when I turned28, I was just trying to figure out,
like, what I wanted to do.
And film kind of, like, keptcoming up because it had been something
I had done consistently.
And so I took a master classfrom Shonda Rhimes, and I wrote my
(03:14):
first script, and I tried tofilm it.
And we got, like, three, maybefour episodes finished, and I just
didn't love it.
And so I did two short filmsand then moved to la.
And that's where Rodney and I met.
And we were going to doanother short film.
Prior to transplants, I can't remember.
We weren't.
I think it was, like, castingor something.
(03:34):
Something was, like, off, andwe weren't quite feeling it in the
way that we wanted to.
To move forward.
And so transplants came up.
We tried to film it ourselves.
I need to see if I can findthat footage.
But we tried to film it justRodney and myself, camera.
And it was a lot of work.
And so once we found otherpeople who were, like, willing to
invest the time because werealized we couldn't do it ourselves,
we were able to actuallycomplete it.
(03:55):
And so that's wheretransplants came.
That is pretty awesome.
And from what y' all aresharing, y' all are actually transplants.
I'll wear transplants at some point.
I don't know whether.
I don't know whether there's atimeframe from being a transplant,
you know, but that is kind oflike, you know, your experience also
moving from your home, fromwhere you were raised, to la.
(04:17):
How much of the show is autobiographical?
How much of it is fiction atthis point?
Honestly, it's so funny.
Cause when we first startedfilm, when we tried to film it our
first time, Chad, my characterin the show, did not get fired, but
then I got fired for the firsttime ever in life.
And once that happened, we,like, wrote it into the show.
(04:37):
So I feel like there areparts, for me that were personal,
and there were a lot of thingsthat were pretty true about my life,
but not all of it.
Yeah, for me, because weactually started to really come up
with the idea because of afunny story that I told Scott about
being choked by the trade.
So that was very true.
(04:58):
I can relate.
That is.
That is the first scene in the show.
I'm like, yo, y' all arecoming in hot.
Okay.
Yeah.
Oh.
Not mad at it at all.
For my character Dion, himjust, like, coming from money and
being a Nepal baby, in asense, you know, I couldn't relate
for that, so I did have topull that from somewhere.
But, yeah, I think there were.
(05:18):
There are a lot of.
A lot of qualities in Dionthat I do see in myself.
Yeah, I really.
I think what I really likeabout the show is how it talks about
the realities of figuring outyourself in that there's that gap
between, like, 25 and 35 whenyou're navigating adulthood as, like,
a young, black, queer person.
And we don't really get a lotof shows that capture that authentically.
(05:41):
And I really.
I think that's what.
That's what made you resonate.
You have over a million viewson your first episode.
How looking at the response ofthat first drop.
You know, what is the thingthat still shocks you about how the
community responded to, youknow, the work of art that you all
made?
Yeah, I know.
I mean, going back to ourscreening, I was new to L.
(06:04):
A.
And I really didn't know anybody.
I was like, I know, Scotty.
You better not start crying.
Not to right now.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
I didn't know anybody.
So to see 100 people in theaudience was like.
And, like, it was like, thisis our dream.
Like, this is our dream.
So to see those people, like,support us.
And, like, I remember me andAl Scott.
(06:25):
Oh, my gosh.
Sorry.
I remember me and Al Scott.
Like, we're, like, in the corner.
Like, we're watching people,like, laugh at our jokes.
And, like, it's just.
I did not expect to beemotional today, but it was.
It was just an amazing feeling.
And it's like, I want tocontinue to feel that.
And that moment, I will neverforget, like, that was, wow, all
(06:46):
right, I'm done.
I would say something similar.
I mean, even this moment, forme, is the part that, like, still,
like.
Or even.
You know what?
I can think of a few moments.
This is one of them.
But I think one of the momentswhere I, like, actually cried after,
aside from the screening,because we both cried a lot.
I think there are pictures ofus actually crying.
Just crying would be duringthe strike.
(07:09):
I went out with my niece, andwe were.
You know, we were picketingand showing our support for the wga.
And there were some WGAwriters who, like, recognized me
from the show and was like,hey, like, I love transplants.
And like, for me, that wassuch a moment of like, wow.
There are people who are inthis industry who are doing the things
(07:29):
that we're doing, but doingit, you know, through studios, and
they're getting paid to dothis, whereas Rodney and I are working
full time jobs or at onepoint, I was doing a lot of gig work.
So doing that and trying tofigure this out.
And so it was.
It's been really nice to seethat the show resonates with people
and that even.
That it resonates with peopleand that people who are not even
(07:50):
queer identify with what ourcharacters are going through.
Yes.
Yeah, I agree.
I have a couple of friends.
My friend, hey, Niko, her mom,like, literally has been waiting.
Like, she just text me theother day, like, are you sure?
Is it come?
I'm like, yes.
Like, her.
Her mom is like, you know,she's an older woman, so it's like,
for her to resonate, like,that feels amazing.
That means we're.
Yes, we are.
We wrote a queer show, but wewrote this for everyone, you know,
(08:13):
so that's true.
And I think a lot of peopletend to forget that queer stories
resonate with everybody.
Yes, it's a queer story, butat the heart of it is a human story
of two friends trying tofigure out life.
You know what I'm saying?
And I could also kind of relate.
Not like I'm a internationaltrans, but I moved from a different
country to the US in my 30s.
(08:34):
And so just trying to navigatelife also kind of, like, resonated
with the story.
I'm curious about, like,people who actually, like, I know
I kind of asked this kind oflike before, but the folks kind of
like, expect you to be likeyour characters when they meet you
in person.
Yes.
(08:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I've met people whoare like, I've gotten mixed reviews
from Chad.
I've met people who are like,your character is so mean.
Like, are you like that inreal life or, like, prejudging me
because they think they don'tlike Chad.
I'm like, there are somequalities about Chad that are very
true to who I am, but Chad initself is not who I am.
(09:16):
Yeah, yeah.
It's so funny.
I'll go a different route.
Like, I've actually gothitting up on, like, Jack, and people
were like, oh, like, you'reDion from, like, transplants and
asking me about My preference.
Because we all know Dion's preference.
And I'm just like, hmm, thisis interesting.
This is like a new level thatI never thought I would have to explain
before.
So, yeah.
Just to piggyback off of Scott.
(09:36):
Yeah.
I think, you know, we havequalities, but we're definitely different
from.
We're acting.
Okay.
Yeah.
Or even like we talked about alittle bit before we got on the call,
like, me being back in education.
So I recently moved from LA to Philadelphia.
And, like, when the kids don'tlike you, they don't Google you,
but the minute they start tolike you.
And so they didn't like mefor, like, the first month because
I'm very strict, but then theystarted to Google me and then they
(09:59):
saw that I was smoking andthey were like, going around the
school like, oh, we saw Mr.
W smoking weed.
And I'm like, actually, I'macting like this is not who I am.
Yeah.
Given Abbott elementary low key.
That is.
It's.
It's.
And then, trust me.
And they act just like some ofthe kids from Abbott.
(10:20):
So it's Philly.
I mean, Abbott is such a truedepiction of teaching in Philly.
Wow.
And also your.
Your transplant again from.
So how are you navigatingthat, though, also.
And also, what does thatcreative partnership look like between
y' all now that you all are indifferent cities also?
Yeah, I will.
(10:40):
I'm going to speak to Matthewa little bit about here, Matt.
So Matthew is our thirdexecutive producer.
He also is our line producer.
And so Matthew lives in NewYork and has always lived in New
York when we were filming Transplants.
So we've always had tonavigate the whole bicoastal thing.
Like, there have been timeswhere it's been 11pm or 1am on the
west coast and he is up, youknow, making sure.
(11:02):
So I feel like it has been oneof those things that's consistently
helped a lot to make sure thatwe are in.
It's helped a lot to make surethat we have had the chance to navigate
that already.
So me being here hasn't reallydisrupted the creative process as
much as it's made sure that weare communicating better and more
effectively.
Shout out to Matthew becausethey don't really associate him with
(11:23):
the show, but he's a huge partof why we're able to do anything.
So huge.
Shout out to Matthew.
I'm also, before I go into thenew season 1B, I want to talk about,
like, episode 3, two things, actually.
First of all is the concept ofa rent party.
I feel like I like when showsare also educational as well as,
you know, just fun as a light watch.
(11:45):
You're watching people justhave a good time.
But also, I never knew aboutrent parties and that it was a thing
that happen.
Is that something that wasintentional with the show, giving
a little bit of history lesson?
We've seen a couple of sitcomsdo that across the years, but was
that something that wasintentional for y' all when you were
writing the show?
Yes.
So rent party.
Well, first of all, like oldsitcoms, when you watch the Parkers,
(12:08):
you watch Moesha.
Like, they always did a reallygood job of balancing the fun with
the real life, with the history.
And so when we, like, weregoing through the season and figuring
out, like, how we wanted toend that first half of the season,
I definitely wanted tohighlight a rent party one because
I had lost my job.
And so I was thinking, like,it would be really nice if someone
was paying my rent or at leasthelping me.
(12:29):
But also, we don't talk abouta lot of our history because so much
of it is hidden or they'retrying to get rid of it like we see
in politics right now.
And so it was a veryintentional decision to include that
in the show so that people whodidn't know would have an opportunity
to be curious about it.
Definitely.
And I would definitely give AlScott credit because it was, like,
his idea to put the rent party.
(12:51):
And I didn't know about rentparties, to be very honest, so I
was just like, oh, like, Ididn't even know this existed.
I'm like, keep that in my back pocket.
You never know.
Okay, Pay this rent because LAis high.
Okay, High.
But, yeah, I think it was.
It was great to.
We got a lot of good feedbackfrom that, so I was happy that we
(13:13):
were able to put that historylesson inside the show.
That's pretty cool.
And thanks, y' all for doing that.
You're definitely educating meon what a rent party is.
I have that in my back pocketnow for when times get hard.
I definitely will betray oneand inviting the people to it.
Another thing about that thirdepisode, because I actually rewatched
it before, you know, I got upon this interview, the cliffhanger
(13:35):
that we were left with.
Right on.
All for both characters and,you know, the love stories that were
there.
Was it intentional to actuallyend on the cliffhanger also?
And how was that going toTranslate to season 1B?
That's a good question.
Ooh, Rodney, you want to takethis or you want me?
Yeah, I'll take this.
So for both characters, but tostart with Dion, I mean, it was the
(13:59):
big F bomb.
Right.
I think that's what took oursupporters by storm.
So I'm excited for what theaudience will see in part B of how
Corey and Dion's relationship,like, expands.
And just also Deon, because we.
I feel like Deion.
We see him as a surface personright now of, like, oh, he's just
(14:20):
dating the tree.
He's, like the average gay.
But, like, we actually startto see Deion and who he is with the
help of Chad, even though hehates to say it, but Chad definitely
helped shape Deon into a lotof his decisions.
And for the cliffhanger forChad and Brandon, I mean, one, they
have the dreamiest scene,like, I feel like, of the episode,
(14:40):
to be honest.
I think everyone resonates.
Like, they have a great chemistry.
So I'm, like, really excitedfor people just to see a couple or
a person that looks like theycould be a couple and be on a high
and, like, where they're gonnago in part B.
So I'm excited for the audience.
Yeah.
What I will add for episodethree specifically is so episode
(15:03):
three, when I wrote that,there was an extra scene that actually
came after that would cut.
So in that scene, there was,like, me, my character, and Rodney's
character actually cametogether and, like, had a conversation
to kind of, like, debriefabout the party.
And because it made a bettercliffhanger to not include it, we
(15:24):
decided to cut it and kind ofjust let it be that so that people
would want to come back.
That being said, I'm veryexcited for 1B because we do get
to see both of thoserelationships play out and how our
characters respond to them.
I will say we've releasedteasers for both of them that are.
And the.
The kind of gave it away for.
For my character that him andBrandon do end up, you know, rekindling.
(15:47):
And there is something there,but there is still more that has
not been revealed about howthat came about, what it looks like
after that moment, because somuch happens after that moment.
Yes.
And I would say the same forCorey and Dion.
Like, we get to see a lot ofDion's growth and the way that he
navigates that relationshipwith Corey and realizing that growth
(16:08):
is not linear.
It's one of those things that,like, there will be days where you
feel like you've made a lot ofgrowth, and then you will have a
moment where you regress.
And so I'm excited for peopleto see how those play out with both
of the characters.
I'm excited.
I'm excited to dive in to watch.
It's also really nice to see,like, black queer love on screen.
Certainly with the teaser thatwas shown, it seems like both characters
(16:30):
find a healthy form of loveand relationship, but also love has
his drama, you know, so it's fine.
We know that it'll be drama involved.
But it's nice to see a levelof black queer love that we don't
really get to see.
It's always very interracialand nothing against interracial folks,
but, you know, it'll be niceto see two black people who are queer
(16:51):
and who are loving on eachother, messiness and all.
So that's really good.
How many episodes are we gonnaexpect in season 1B?
There are four.
Episode 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Yeah.
Four.
Four episodes longer.
Yes.
Okay, so what is like, what islike the length?
(17:11):
The shortest is 22 minutes.
The longest is 27 minutes.
So in the first season was.
Or the first half of theseason, I think was 16 minutes for
the first episode.
And then episode three waslike 13.
But we pushed for like a fullnetwork length show.
So we.
We try to stick between the 22and like 28 minute ish mark.
(17:35):
And honestly we shot way morethan that.
And we in editing cut down alot because there are some things
that we filmed that justdidn't work.
And so we cut or it didn'twork in the way that it was written.
And so we had to reorganize.
Like editing is.
It's.
It's like a gift and a cursebecause it's a lot of work, but it
also allows you to reallychange the way story is told.
Yeah, yeah, I feel that.
And that is really.
(17:55):
That is.
I'm excited to hear all ofthese things, like, news to me.
And it's like I'm feeling veryexcited to see how the story goes,
how the story evolves, andalso just learning that a lot of
intention went into creatingthis next batch of episodes.
Can you talk to us about,like, the production aspect?
How did that happen?
Is that.
Is the creative team larger now?
(18:17):
How did funding work?
All that good stuff?
Yeah, the team.
So because the episodes gotlonger, the team definitely got bigger.
I would say, like, our coreteam has always been Rodney, Matthew
and myself.
And so that team has notgotten bigger, but the team, in terms
of the amount of people thatcame together to make it work was
just.
It's just phenomenal.
(18:38):
Like, even recently we had todo some reshoots and so Todd, who's
one of our actors, worked withRodney to get some stuff shot that
has been very helpful in like,filling some gaps that we went through.
And like, after looking atstuff over and over again, you start
to realize, oh, something's missing.
Which is one of the challengesto something being longer.
Right.
Like, you have to really makesure that, like, you are feeding
it to the audience in a waythat is not giving them too much
(19:01):
so that you're implying thatthey can't handle it, but it's giving
them enough that they canfollow the story.
And so I'm so thankful for ourvillage and the people that have
come because it has been alabor of love.
And we lost our dp, like maybelike three weeks into filming the
second half.
Director of photography forpeople who are not familiar with
film.
And so they're in charge oflike, make sure the visuals match
(19:23):
the director and the writersand the showrunners overall vision.
And so losing that meant thatwe lost a camera person.
We lost another thought partner.
And so it really came down toRodney having to DP the episodes
that he directed and myselfhaving to DP the episodes that I
directed, which is just like alot of hands on the same.
Like, it's a lot.
And it also.
You lose a little bit of that collaboration.
(19:44):
Right.
Because now you have one voicedoing all these things as opposed
to multiple.
But it has been.
It has been a journey, but onethat I feel like I've learned so
much from this that we cantake it to our next season, which
I'm excited.
Our actual second season.
I'm excited for you to knowmore about that when we get there.
But yeah, that's all I reallyhave to say.
(20:05):
Rodney.
Yeah, to your point, it was.
It was a labor of love.
Now I remember a specific.
A couple specific dates, butlike when I think that was episode
five, which was like our popup shop, which you guys will see,
and it was just me, and I was Scott.
That's it.
Like, we did not have a sound.
(20:26):
We did not have a.
No, we had Blair.
Blair did sound.
Okay.
We did just her.
She was in another room.
She was.
Yeah, so that's all we had.
So no pas, no nothing.
So.
But it's one of the best shotsthat we kind of like have and just
like experience.
So.
And oh, on top of that, wehad, I think nine extras.
Yeah.
So it was a lot of movingparts and it was a continuous scene
(20:49):
as well.
So anyone in television knowshow hard that can be.
You have to definitely be onPoint to make sure everything matches
up.
But I just remember it justmakes you want to do it even more.
And just seeing the finalproduct, yeah, it was some hard days,
but I wouldn't, I wouldn'ttrade it for anything and I wouldn't
pick anybody else because inthat moment I feel like we are all
stressed.
(21:09):
But like our Scott was like,well, we all have no choice so we
got to figure this out.
And I wouldn't want to do thiswith like anybody else.
Like Al Scott is like atrooper and I hope I'm that trooper
to him.
Like we still looking back atjust seeing what we have created.
I still cannot believe, like Iwatch it every day.
Look, not me about to getmotion game, but I literally watch.
(21:29):
I know it is just becausepeople don't understand how hard
it is.
You know, we're not backed bya studio.
We're putting our hard earnedmoney into that.
Speaking to the financialpart, like that was Matthew, Al Scott
and I like working full time jobs.
Like sometimes, look, I mighthave to eat noodles this week.
Like it was really that lifestyle.
But I wouldn't change it forthe world because people see the
(21:50):
labor that we put in and whenpeople see the final product, I think
that's just going to make usmore relatable and I can't wait,
you know, because we will bemainstream and I'm excited about
that journey coming up.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry.
The financial piece was a huge part.
So we did a fundraiser.
So our original strategy wasto film the first three episodes,
use that to launch ourfundraiser, and then use that money
(22:13):
to fund the rest of the episodes.
We launched a fundraiser.
Did not go well.
We did not get any money from it.
And so now with episodes thatwere significantly longer and had
all of these differentcharacters that were not included
before because I think we didthe first three episodes, not including
extras, with three, with four.
No, five.
Me, Rodney, Chris, Isaiah and A.J.
(22:36):
yeah, just five characters.
And so the second half, likeChad has a therapist.
Like we meet Dion's mom.
You know, we introducedifferent love interests for both
of them.
We get to meet the person thatmy character moved to LA for and
get a backstory on how thateven happened.
So there's just so much thatreally went into it.
And the scene that Ronnie'stalking about, we did another like
(22:59):
a pop up shop for Cannabussy.
And it's literally half of theepisode where you wouldn't know it
when watching it, but Rodneyand I were the only people there.
We did the camera.
I set up the light.
I went to his house, and weset up the lighting the night before.
Like, it was just so manymoving pieces.
And as much as I'm thankfulfor extras, I don't like working
with extras because it requires.
(23:21):
I don't like working withextras when you're wearing 18 million
hats.
Yeah, it requires so muchinstruction and so much directing
and when you're trying to bein front of the camera and behind
the camera, and, like, it's just.
It's really hard to, like,really get into character as an actor
when you're doing so much.
And so, yeah, it just.
It was definitely a journey.
(23:44):
And it looks, like, so good,though, so I'm so excited.
Yeah.
And it's just.
Just want to just give you allgrace that you all did that by yourselves.
You should be incredibly proudof the work that you put into putting
that out there.
And like you said, it's justlike a stepping stone to bigger and
better things.
So just very proud of y' alland the work that you're putting.
(24:05):
And the community is alsoreally proud of y' all.
You know, it is something thatis good representation for us.
It's nice, like I said, to seeus in our fullness and with our flaws
and with our quirks and everything.
And.
Yeah, very, very thankful for that.
And.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I just want you tojust bask in the glory that you all
(24:26):
put out for extra episodesthat are longer.
Yeah.
And we're excited to see them.
I'm curious about the lessonsthat y' all have learned personally
as filmmakers from beinginvolved in this project.
What have you learned just ingeneral also, as writing these complex
queer characters?
(24:47):
How has that changed yourperception on how you perceive life,
how you move through life?
How has that also changed, too?
If y' all can talk a littlebit about that.
For me, I would say speakingto how writing these characters have
changed me, I think theypushed me to be more vulnerable in
my writing.
There are so many things aboutChad that I love, but I do think
(25:08):
there are moments in hindsightwhere I'm like, I could have pushed
Chad a little bit more.
I could have pushed hiscomplexity, his nuance a little bit
more.
And so that's one of thebiggest takeaways that I'm taking
away from this is like, howare you authentically showing up
for your characters andallowing them to have fun in a way
that is still going to educateand allow people to feel seen?
(25:30):
Yeah, I'll start there, andI'll let Ronnie.
Yeah.
Making the charactersauthentic I think that was important,
especially because for writingfor Dion, you know, I don't know
what it is to be rich and havea big company in the US But I also
wanted those conversationsbetween him and his mother to be
real, you know, and I thinkthat was important to stretch my
(25:51):
writing ability.
And like, though I have notexperienced that, what experiences
have I had with my mom or, youknow, people around me that put their
foot down on me and what thatlooks like?
So I'm excited with that.
And also just friendship.
I mean, we.
The show is based with.
To this.
This friendship and sometimesfrenemies, the way they treat each
other.
(26:11):
So even with that, just jollydrawing from a lot of inspiration
with my own friendship.
But also, you know, Al Scottwould challenge me a lot of the times,
like, hey, like, let's.
Let's push the envelope.
You know, though, like this.
We don't want to spoon feedyou guys, you know, we want you guys
to, you know, think outsidethe box.
So, you know, that personrallying, which was outsky at the
time as we were writing, waslike, really good for me, just expand
(26:34):
my writing ability.
On a personal.
On a personal level, I wouldsay to trust my gut.
I think sometimes when we getinto an industry where we don't 100%
feel valued or validated,because a lot of times people, they're
like, oh, you have a show onYouTube that's cute.
Like, there's always a littlebit of, like, shade towards it, right?
(26:56):
You kind of, like, don't.
I'm not gonna say you don'tvalue it, but, like, you can kind
of get in your head about it,especially living in LA and being
surrounded by people who,like, are working at the Netflixes,
are working at the Peacocksand the Paramounts, right?
But in every decision thatwe've made about the show, when I
have not trusted my gut, it'scome back to bite us in the ass.
(27:16):
And I think a huge one.
And I'll speak publicly aboutthis because I know he wouldn't mind.
And if he does, sorry,brother, but like, rdp, like, I wanted
to replace our DP after thefirst three episodes because I wanted
to explore, you know, what itwould look like for the second half
to look slightly different, right?
To, like, play around a littlebit more.
Also someone who had a littlebit more availability and flexibility
(27:38):
in their schedule.
And I wanted our dp, who alsowas Brandon in the show, I wanted
him to be able to solely focuson that.
And so we ended up not, youknow, replacing him because the Work
was strong, and, you know, hereally wanted to do it that moment.
I wish that I listened to mygut where we had just kind of replaced
him because him not being apart of the rest of the project really
did hurt our timeline, reallydid hurt the amount of investment
(28:03):
we were able to do in otherareas or put our energy in other
areas, because we were havingto now juggle this other job.
And finding a DP in LA whenyou're not paying them and, you know,
is a lot, because a lot ofthis has been volunteer labor, which
we're very, very thankful for.
And we've been putting out ourown money, right, to make this happen.
(28:25):
Because for Rodney and I, it'sbeen about creating and, like, being
able to show up and putcharacters out into the world that
we don't normally see, whetheror not we're getting paid for it,
because we love it.
Right?
And I'm so thankful becauseeveryone on this project has invested
their time and their energy.
And I know, like, this is nota personal attack on rdp because,
you know, the reality is apaid job came up.
(28:47):
He had to take it.
But at the end of the day,like, my gut was like, hey, do this,
and I didn't do it.
And so it's not the first time.
But that's like, one example,like, trusting your gut.
And not just when it comes tofilm, just in everything.
Like, if it's not aligning, ifsomething seems off, trust your gut
and you don't need a valid reason.
Right?
Just go with what you feel isleading you in that direction, because
(29:10):
nine times out of 10, you'renot going to regret it, but you're
going to regret not trustingyour gut.
Definitely.
And for personal me, I wouldsay just being more vocal, which
is very surprising.
A lot of people see Deion andhe's just this ball of energy.
I am actually the opposite.
Unless I, like, really knowyou, I'm very, actually timid.
A lot of people don't know that.
I was scared as hell when wedid our Q and A.
(29:32):
I was telling Elska.
I was like, oh, my gosh, I'mhaving a Z attack.
Like, literally.
Yeah.
I think now just learning fromthis experience.
I just want to be more vocal.
This is important for me to bevocal because we're creating and
we want to make sure that ourpoints are getting across and our
characters are reading well.
So I'm definitely excitedabout season two and just being that
vocal presence for my team.
(29:53):
So you guys are definitely ina treat, not only for part Two.
But for season two.
Yeah.
Okay, cool.
I'm so excited.
I'm excited for one part, too,but we'll get there.
Have y' all.
Have y' all read to season two already?
Because I'm hearing manyreferences to the second season.
We have not written it, but wehave come up with.
So part of our time off wasalso rebranding Transplants as a
(30:14):
show.
Originally, Transplants wasabout Dionne and Chad and their journey
as transplants.
And because there are so manystories, so many queer stories that
are not told, we wanted todiversify a bit.
And so.
And also just from a businessstandpoint, right.
Making sure that we'remarketable, but also not, you know,
pigeonholing ourselves into,like, one specific audience.
(30:35):
And so what came out of thatwas every season making it an anthology
and every season following adifferent set of transplants in the
new city.
And so our second season willhighlight a trans woman, which I'm
very excited about, especiallygiven the.
The shift in the way media ishandling our trans women and our
trans men.
And so we're very excitedabout that.
(30:56):
We're excited to be in a new city.
I'm excited for Rodney'sleadership on that.
I'm exc.
Excited.
Ronnie, what are you excited about?
Yeah, no, I'm excited to, youknow, be in those writers room and
also for us to shed light onnew writers, you know, so that's.
That's big.
That's something we'll belooking for because we have, unfortunately,
you know, it's been just meand Al Scott, so, you know, to bring
(31:18):
in other people and give otherpeople a chance, because that has
always been the goal, tosource and work in parallel so that
people could get a chance.
To be honest, everyone doesn'tget the chance.
What we did, we didn't, again,know that this was going to happen.
So now that we do have theplatform, I'm excited to give other
people opportunities as well.
That is beautiful.
(31:38):
And I'm excited to.
That's a very important storywith Dolores and, you know, the attacks
on trans rights right now globally.
And so, I mean, I'm kind ofexcited for that, too.
I'm also very curious aboutyour friendship, because working
with your friends sometimescan, you know, sometimes it ends
well, sometimes it doesn't.
How do y' all stay true tokeeping your friendship together?
(32:00):
Together, as well asmaintaining a very strong professional
relationship?
Yeah, I think the biggestthing is going to be communication.
And I think through thisjourney, Al Scott and I have learned
that just having fulltransparency, communication and also
just knowing each other'sstyles in communication.
Like, I think sometimes wejust want to work with people.
(32:21):
And, like, I know, like, forexample, it's big people out there.
We're like, oh, I just want towork with them.
But you don't even know whattheir management style is.
You don't know how they talkto you.
And you could get on set andbe surprised.
Right.
So, you know, that's why goinginto season two, I'm excited, too,
because I feel like me andOscar have definitely worked on that
a lot.
Just a relationship ingeneral, so.
And we have to be strong forthe people around us.
(32:42):
That's what's really important.
Because if we fell, theneveryone else fell.
Yeah.
And I don't know if you know,but Ronnie and I met on Instagram.
Like, we were not friends before.
We were friends beforetransplants, but we were not friends.
We became friends because weboth loved creating.
So Rodney hit me up onInstagram, and we had a short film
that we were going to do thatI spoke a little bit about earlier,
(33:05):
and that's how we started tobuild a friendship.
But I'll piggyback oneverything he says.
Communication, beingtransparent, knowing that there is
going to be conflict, buthealthy conflict is always going
to be the thing that moves usforward, not hold us back.
And so making sure that we arecommunicating, we are saying when
we don't like something orpushing back, you know, because without
those conversations, it's justlike this false.
(33:27):
This false sense of calm whichjust will blow up and.
And nobody will benefit fromit in the long run.
That's real.
That's real.
I'm gonna lighten things up alittle bit and ask some, like, fun
trivia questions, like, get toknow y' all questions.
The first one is, what are thetop three songs on Yalls playlist
right now?
Oh.
Oh, that's a good one.
(33:47):
I actually can think of a few because.
So I'm a huge music person.
One of my favorite parts hasbeen doing music transplants.
I'm so excited for secondseason because Rodney really loves
scores.
So just incorporating morescores into the season.
But right now, there is this artist.
I don't know how to say hisactual name, but it's spelled m n
(34:08):
d S n g or something.
I think it's like anabbreviation for my song.
Not 100% sure, but it's thissong called I hope you're doing okay
that I really, really love.
And I write to a lot of.
There's this band.
Did y' all Know that Cleo Soulis in a band.
So Cleo Soul is in this bandcalled Salt, and she's been in it
for very, very long time.
It's S A U L T.
(34:30):
And I really, really, like,love them.
Like, they have this songcalled Higher that she sings with
the band that I really love.
And then there's another onecalled Fearless.
I've been really finding musicwithout a lot of words.
Has been, like, my go tolately, because the world just feels
a little bit overstimulatingwith everything going on.
So those are my top three.
Yeah.
Listen to them get a chance.
They're so good.
(34:52):
So I just.
And I just seen Coco Jones,but Coco Jones thing for you is has
me in a chokehold right now.
I think I'm listening to thewhole album every time I'm in the
gym.
Also, similar to what else gotsaid listening to Scores.
So I've been listening to theSinners Score album lately.
It was so good.
Oh, my gosh.
Like, and rather be.
I think Haley.
(35:12):
What's his name?
Leon.
Yeah, Leon and Haley.
Rather be.
I love that song.
I love R B.
So nice.
Okay.
R and B.
I'm here for it.
I'm here for it.
If y' all could cast anyone onTransplants, like, anybody, who would
you want to see on the show?
Oh, that is such a good question.
I have a few people, but I'mlike, I have.
(35:33):
I have to thank my.
Like, my number one.
Number one.
You can give me your top threeif you have too many people on your
mind.
Okay.
Nicole, Bahari, Lovey, Simone,which was.
She was so good.
And forever.
It's just.
She's just so good.
(35:53):
Oh, this third one is wearingme out.
That could be a solid two.
Yeah.
And honestly, Monique, I'msorry, Monique.
Okay.
Monique.
Yeah.
I watch the Parkers everysingle day, and it's just like the
comedic time and like, the.
Just hands down, those were good.
How do I follow up?
Erica Alexander first tour.
(36:15):
Yeah.
I don't know where she wouldfit in, especially, like, with this
show, but I just want to workwith Meryl Streeps.
I'm sorry.
I'm like, I'm fitting.
I don't know where it could be.
I don't know where.
And Kelvin Harris Jr.
Ever since I seen hispreparation for the Lion King, I
(36:36):
was just like, oh, like himgiving the different variations during
his audition, I was like, oh.
Oh, yeah.
I wanna.
I would love to work with him.
Yeah.
And his.
And that press run was one ofmy favorite press runs.
That press Run and the pressrun for one of them days up to, hands
down, love the chemistrybetween the.
Between the actors and thosepress runs.
And that's pretty good.
(36:57):
My next question actually kindof answered it a little bit.
Sitcoms are like, veryinspirational or TV shows.
Do you all find very, like, doyou all draw inspirations from.
I don't know if you've everseen Broad City.
So when we came up withTransplants, the intersection that
I like to associate it with.
(37:19):
I know Insecure is not asitcom, it's more of a dramedy, but
was Insecure in a Broad City.
If you've never seen BroadCity, it's about two friends who
live in New York, and it's just.
It's a little ridiculous.
But also, if you've ever livedin New York, like, you kind of realize
how not ridiculous it is.
Like the episode where someonesteals their AC from the street corner,
(37:39):
which is such a real New York thing.
So, like, I feel like that'swhere, like, some of the ridiculousness
comes from, from in our show, which.
Go ahead.
Yeah, yeah, I would say that.
And then like I said earlier,like, the Parkers, like, making sure
that we are, like, creatingsome type of dialogue around things
that people wouldn't normallyknow about.
Yeah, I would have to agree.
(37:59):
Yeah, definitely.
Broad, steady and insecure,but also living single.
Like, I think living single.
And even shows likeGirlfriends, they just tackled those
conversations that normallyweren't had.
So.
And I feel like we did areally great job.
We got to give ourselves a paton the back for that.
We had a lot greatconversation, especially, I mean,
one through three.
But four, four through seven,you definitely.
We definitely get into some things.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, cool.
(38:20):
I'm excited about that.
Where is Yalls favorite travel?
Your favorite travel, Yourdream travel destination?
What would you say is theplace you want to go unwind and stuff
like that?
I would have to say.
I mean, I.
I travel often, but I, I.
Africa.
Like, I have.
I haven't been there, and Iwould love to go to Africa and.
(38:42):
But, like, be there for awhile where I can go to, like, Cape
Town, you know, Egypt.
Like, really go to different places.
So, yeah, I'd say Africa.
I don't know if I have a dream place.
I know how I want this placeto make me feel.
But as someone that's moved alot, I don't know if a place will
ever make me feel the waythis, that.
But, like, I like, I want togo somewhere that's full of nature.
(39:04):
So the first thing that cameto mind was actually Bali or, like,
Thailand, because those areplaces that have a lot of nature,
and I love nature.
And I feel like sometimesthere's just so much noise, especially
living in a city, that itwould be nice to go somewhere and,
like, live there for a fewmonths and just, like, be creative
and feed my creative inner child.
(39:24):
Right.
So, yeah, I would say one ofthose, like, tropical places.
One place that I do love thatdoes that is Mexico City.
I don't know if you've everbeen, but it's, like, one of my favorite
cities, so.
But yeah, I gave pretty cool.
Yeah.
The third season of the WhiteLotus was.
Was making me think aboutThailand a lot.
So I was like, ah, that's.
That looks like a verybeautiful, beautiful country.
(39:45):
Final fun trivia question.
What.
What are your.
What are yalls Guilty pleasure?
What's the thing that you knowguilty pleasure?
It depends on the day.
Okay.
I like sweets.
I'm huge.
I need to get over it, but Ireally like sweets, and I really
need to get over it becauseI'm getting older, and it just does
not agree my body anymore SWanything spicy.
(40:06):
Again, getting older.
Not really working out for meright now.
And kindness.
I love kind, like, kind people.
Those are my guilty pleasures.
My three guilty pleasure.
Well, as I am on a fitnessjourney because I am trying to get
shredded, I noticed that on mycheat days, I want potatoes.
(40:27):
I want every type of potato.
I want every type of starch.
I want macaroni and cheese.
It's getting bad.
Like, to the point where not macaroni.
And cheese with potatoes.
It's bad.
I just.
I want every start.
Yeah, I'm trying to, like, fixmy cheat days because I am not the
rock, so I can't have cheatdays like that.
But, yeah, I would say thatguilty pleasure watching the boondocks.
(40:51):
Like, watching the boondocks.
Yeah.
Like, I love a good episode.
I would definitely turn it on.
It's.
It's pure comedy.
It is.
I love it.
I would say that's it.
And a fine man.
I guess let's.
Let's just put out there afine chocolate man.
That is.
Yeah, I would say that'sprobably my good.
No interracial dating for you.
Shout out to that.
(41:15):
Shout out to that.
Thank you all for sharing allof your yalls.
Guilty pleasures.
Really, really love to.
I feel like I kind of, like,know y' all a little bit more with,
like, some of those responses.
So thank you for sharing.
Before we wrap up, I want tojust know, like, what do y' all want,
like, your legacy to be withthis show.
And I feel like that showsthat really impact the culture.
And personally, I feel likeTrans Mass is in a very sweet spot
(41:37):
where it can do that.
No pressure or anything.
But what do y' all want yourlegacy to be as you're moving into
this new iteration ofcreativity with this show?
For me, I.
When I.
When I think of legacy, Ithink sometimes we pinpoint certain
accolades, but for me, I wantto be proud of myself and whatever
(41:59):
that looks like.
And I want to love myself andjust be proud of the work that I
am creating and hopefully thatI am changing the paradigm and perspective
of people that watch my work.
And with that legacy, I wantto have a legacy where I'll be able
to help people that come after me.
And while I'm in the legacyand not being the token, you know,
(42:21):
I don't want to be just thetoken queer show.
I want it to be multiple showsand everyone growing and creating
financial stability and beable to be creative as their main
source of income.
So ultimately, just to.
To be proud of myself and formy grandmother to be proud of me.
She's not here with usanymore, but I always think of her
with everything I.
(42:41):
I've done in my life.
And, you know, at a young age,she always told me, you're going
to be whatever you choose to be.
So the fact that I'm even hereis just testament of that.
And, you know, I'm a gpk.
My parents were preachers, so,like, yeah, that faith has drove
me here, and I'm just excitedabout the future.
And to your point, Transplantshas done something that is very special,
(43:03):
and it's going to continue togrow and get bigger.
So I'm excited for that journey.
Yeah, for me, I think of it askind of like pillars.
I want.
It's important to me to build community.
It's important to me to educate.
And one of the things that Ilove about this show in general is
the amount of people who havecome on set with zero knowledge and
have left knowing how to do acertain job because they've been
(43:26):
taught how to do that job.
It's the moments where youtell me, hey, I didn't know what
a rent party was, and now I do.
Like, that is the legacy thatI want to leave.
I want to create art that canbe seen and can be felt and shows
the messiness of life.
Like, there is norelationship, no matter who we think
it may be that, you know,whether it's a platonic or Familial
(43:48):
or romantic.
Like, there is no relationshipthat's perfect.
And so I want to make surethat we are.
That I'm showing that onscreen, that whatever I'm doing is
building some type ofcommunity that you're learning and
that you're.
You're laughing.
There's so many sad things inthe world.
The last thing that I want todo is watch something that is going
(44:09):
to have me sad the entire way through.
And for me, I just don't thinkthat's realistic.
Like, I don't.
I remember being hit.
Hit by a drunk driver in,like, 20.
I think it was 2010, me and my friends.
And after we got hit andalmost died, we were, like, on the
side of the road, cracking upat jokes.
Because, like, that is thereality of life.
(44:29):
Like, no matter when it's sad,no matter how many, like, horrible
moments it is, like, you willfind that one moment of joy, and
it will.
It may.
It may not fix the situation.
Most times it doesn't.
But at least you feel goodabout it in that moment, right?
And so I would say those are,like, the things that are most important
to me.
And like Rodney said, justbeing proud of myself and making
(44:50):
sure to always be proud ofmyself, because even when I fail,
because that is how we learn.
You can't learn without the failure.
So.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Well, thanks, y' all for thework that you do and for coming on
my podcast is talk about your show.
Um, I'm a fan, and I will bewatching this new season with Joy.
(45:14):
Yeah, I really appreciate y'all, and we're happy to support in
any way that we can.
So thank you.
Thank you for having us.
Of course.
No problem.
And thank you all for tuningin and watching on YouTube or listening
wherever you stream your podcast.
This is Odejo Ma.
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