Crafting Narratives: Insights from Filmmaker Kristina Thomas

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, friend. Welcome. Andwelcome back to Nosy AF conversations
about art, activism and socialchange. I am your host, Stephanie.
And this week we have thewonderful Kristina Thomas who is
a writer and director, a allaround filmmaker like Queen. She

(00:20):
knows all the films, she hasopinions on the film, she makes films,
she's a star. And I'm soexcited for this conversation with
her. We recorded thisconversation live at Lumpin Radio.
You know, I have my littleradio show I do twice a month. Hey,
and when we were recording, Idid not hit record at the first part

(00:40):
with, you know, all my musicand saying the TV or not tv, saying
the radio station andeverything. So that's why I'm talking
to you right now. So I'm gonnaplay the theme music, as you know
we always do, and then we'regonna launch right into the conversation
with Kristina Thomas. I am sohappy you are here today. Thank you
so much for being here. Andlet's start the show. Gotta get up,

(01:04):
tell the whole world you awinner winner Vision of a star with
a mission in the cause whatyou doing, how you doing, what you're
doing and who you are Flexyourself and press yourself Check
yourself, don't work yourselfif you know me then you know that
I be knowing what's up.
Hey, Stephanie.
Graham is nosy Ash. Okay. Wehave Kristina Thomas with us today,
you guys, and I am so happy.So Kristina Thomas is an East Oakland

(01:28):
born writer and filmmakerwhose path has been anything but
ordinary. She almost signedwith Def Jam Records as a teen, which
how cool. And worked as ayouth attorney in high school and
went on to bring her sharp,truthful storytelling to television
with credits on Deminade,Demimond, Demimod, we just rehearsed

(01:51):
that. And FBI International.Her filmmaking has earned recognition
from BET's Project Create,Women in Film, Holly Shorts, the
Blacklist, and so much more.Most recently, she won best short
narrative at the Brave MakerFilm festival and pitch competition
that's helping her develop herfirst feature. Worth it.
Welcome Kristina and thank youfor having me.

(02:13):
I'm so happy you're here.
And I also want to say to youjust so you feel better. When I was
working on Lovecraft countryand I was telling people, yeah, I'm
working on this show calledLove. They were like, love. And then
the show came out, everybodywas pronouncing it, pronunciating
it like so correctly. I waslike, I told you about this 5,000
years ago. And they're like,but it's on here now.

(02:35):
Yeah. You're like, put somerespect on me. I tried to teach you.
I tried to teach, teach you.Oh, my gosh. And also, y', all, Kristina,
we are so lucky. Has recently.You live here now?
Oh, yeah, I live here now.Yeah. I'm still going back and forth
to LA. I have a spot in LA,but, yeah, I'm teaching here at DePaul
University.
Yeah. How. How's that going?

(02:57):
It is. I'm learning a lotabout patience.
Okay.
Working with college studentsis kind of my first time. I've worked
with students from 6 to 18,like, literally first grade up until
high. But college students,you don't have to deal with their
parents. You have to deal withthem solely.
Right.
And they have so much moreanxiety, so much more tenacity. It's

(03:22):
like a weird mix, but alsojust. Yeah, it's. It's a different.
It's a different thing. Butit's my now third quarter.
Okay.
We. We doing the thing. Wedoing it.
We're doing it. Yeah. Youngfilm students, right?
Yes.
Wow.
And I'm trying to. I'm tryingto hype them up. Hype them up.
Hype them up.
Hype them up.
That's it. That's a bigundertaking. Teens or children? Youth.

(03:48):
Young filmmakers.
Yeah. Yeah, they are. Becauseyou're teaching with different levels.
And actually, when I waslooking for work this year, I was
a substitute teacher for fifthgrade for over 110 students at a
charter school in Vallejo, California.
Okay.
And I was teaching socialstudies, and I had to. I was literally
thrown in there as asubstitute, and I was teaching on
different levels. People whocan speak English, people who. They.

(04:12):
They had speech impediments orthey didn't know how to speak, and
you had to just deal withthat. And you only had them for 90
minutes out the day, and it's110 of them, and you just have to
do it. And you can't say, Idon't know how to deal with this.
You just have to do it.
Yeah.
So it's been. It's beenliterally a year of learning how
to work with different peoplewho you were almost, quote unquote,

(04:33):
forced to deal with and helpthem to make learning fun.
Yeah. And I feel like yourskill set in filmmaking can sort
of help with that. Right.Cause filmmaking is, like, always
sneaking on your feet. Like,do you find that.
Yeah, it's a lot of that. Justbecause you. I've always been a proponent
of making sure people feelcomfortable. And also, I come from

(04:54):
a long line of women in myfamily who are all teachers, and
I Said I would never be ateacher. I shall never. Like. My
mom even reminded me of thatbefore I got on back here. She was
like, you remember when youtold me the kid, now look at you.
I was like, that's not, that'snot how you treat your child.
Yeah, it's not.
Yeah, but it's. It's literallybeen another form of training. When

(05:16):
I go back into production andworking with different people. And
I think recently when I wasproducing content for the BET Awards
experience, the people that Iworked with for the first time as
a producer, they told my, myfriend who, who's my boss as well,
they were like, we want her again.
Yeah.
Like, she was so. She wasgreat. And my friend was like, I've

(05:36):
never heard that from peoplebefore, like from a producer, but
I guess producers get a badrap. But I'm glad. It's. It's helped
me a lot.
You know, the thing that I'vealways just, I think is just always
cool about you, obviously isthat you've worked on all these titles,
you know, but you still haveyour own filmmaking practice. Right?
Like you are making your own,you know, your own short films and

(06:00):
your own, you know, soon to befeature film. And like, what is that
balance? Like going back andforth, like, are you able to. Well,
yeah. What's that like?
I think the balance is knowingyour place. Because I know with working
on Saving all my love for thatwas part of a film fellowship program

(06:23):
project involved.
And that was a short film you directed?
Yeah, I directed. I was partof the program as a directing fellow.
I didn't write it. Tyler Youngwrote it and literally I had to just
direct. That's it.
Yeah.
I didn't have to take on aswriter and I, I literally told the
whole group, I'm like, when Iget on set, I'm just director. I'm
not producer, I'm not writer,I'm not nothing. You are your writer.

(06:44):
You are the producer. And youknow, with filmmaking, when you're
first starting out, you'redoing all the roles.
Yeah.
But I'm really hoping to bebetter at just doing my role because
I want to do that when Iprofessionally and getting those
big bucks again, just doing myjob until I can do those multiple
things and have the. Just havethe manpower behind me to do all

(07:09):
those things and not bestressed out.
Yeah. Cause it's stressful.
It is stressful. I'm like, Iwanna be like Steven Spielberg. Like,
I wanna be almost like SpikeLee. I still feel like he's stressed,
but I. And I wanna be like AvaDuVernay, even though I think she's
stressed. But I just wannalighten the load for when I do the
multiple things, because Ihave a team of people that are gonna
support me and know theirroles, but above all, are supportive

(07:33):
and they know how to do theirrole. And it just isn't just a job.
It's still fun, and it's adream that has now come to fruition.
Yeah. I found that when I,like, go and crew on a film, I still,
in a way, see it as a part ofmy art because of just my contribution
to it. But I have found otherfilmmakers that will be on crew,

(07:55):
and they're like, no, this isjust my job. And I'm like, oh, no,
you have to.
Because sometimes it's just.You have to take that job.
Yeah.
I was on a PA shoot for acommercial. Just. I want to say,
just last December. Did notwant to take it.
Yeah.
But I took it. But on thefourth day, I said, this is my last

(08:18):
day. I saw one of my pa. Iended up being the key PA because
again, I had so muchbackground being a PA. And one of
my PAs got sexually harassedby two of the grips on Seth.
Oh, my goodness.
And then it was even worsebecause we were. We were putting
up tents in the rain. And, youknow, when you. When you shooting
in the rain, it's even worsebecause the PAs, we are the ones,

(08:40):
like, we have to be in therain. We can't have umbrellas, like,
above us as we're putting uptents and stuff. They treat us like
crap. And I was like, oh,yeah. This is why I moved all the
way up. Oh, this is why Itreat people with kindness. Because
I remember, like, doing thisposition. Oh, yeah. I have to treat
this like a job for now. Butalso, I can quit. And it was funny

(09:02):
because they begged me to comeback. And I was like, ah, I'm in
Oakland. I can't. Yeah, butyou have to sometimes make it a job,
because I literally was onlydoing that job because I wanted to
buy my parents Christmasgifts. Christmas gifts.
Yeah.
And even my mom was like, wasit worth it? I was like, kind of.
But I. Yeah, sometimes it doesmake me sad of just how people treat

(09:26):
each other on set when itcould just be totally different.
Yeah, Just be nice.
Yeah. Like, I've been onAbbott elementary set. Like, oh,
my God, they are so nice toeach other. I was like, can I stay
here? Can I be here forever?
Yeah. Everyone on somebodysomewhere was extremely nice. As
well, and it was like, wow,this is so. I love this. I was like,

(09:48):
you know, like, how peoplewere bringing folks through Zappos.
They used to bring, you know,the shoe company.
Yeah.
People used to have, like.They used to have corporate tours
through there to show, like,this is how you treat your company.
Because I guess they had,like, a really good office culture.
And I was telling theshowrunners of somebody somewhere,
I'm like, you all are like,the Zappos. Like, they should bring

(10:08):
other people through to seehow you all run your sets, because
you all are so kind.
But how were they kind, though?
They were kind by being, like,just very thankful for, like, everything
that everybody was doing. Theyhad really fun rap gifts. So if you

(10:29):
had been there for, like, allthree seasons, you had, like, a special
sweatsuit that you had on.
Oh, I love that.
Yeah. So, like, that wasreally fun. People were like, how'd
you get that? It's like, I'vebeen for three seasons. You know,
like, as your, like,dedication, they had all this fun
swag, and then they wouldjust, like, you know, laugh and joke
with the crew, too. Like, theywould just be there, and they wouldn't
separate themselves. Theywould, like, be in the mix.

(10:50):
Yeah.
So I thought that that wasreally, really nice. Cause there's
been other productions wherethe, you know, showrunners, they
might separate themselves andnot be in the mix. So I thought that
that was really cool. And thenthey were really encouraging to,
like, PAs, or if people hadquestions about writing, they would
talk to them about that. Youknow, not, like, while they're, like,
on set needing to make adecision, but they would, like, maybe

(11:12):
go up to somebody being like,oh, how is your. Like, how's your
writing going? You know, like,they would, like, remember, it's
just like, these are, like,little things. And the PAs would
say, like, oh, they rememberedthat. Like, I was into that. I'm
like, that is so sweet.
Yeah. My former showrunner,Derek Hass, an FBI international,
he was known for doing that.He did that for the crew in Budapest.

(11:33):
It was his last season, and hehosted a seminar with all the crew,
like, all the questions. Theywanted to know about the business.
Oh, wow. And then he did it onChicago Fire as well, too. And I
thought that was just so coolof him to do, because.
Really cool.
You know, a lot of showrunnersdon't get to do that, or they don't
have the time or they don'twant to do it because they're like.
They're probably thinking,like, nobody Wants to hear from my

(11:53):
little booty.
Yeah.
But he did. And I think thatsays a lot about him and his character
as well.
That is awesome.
Yeah.
When you're a big showrunner,will you host talk facts like that?
I mean, I'm doing it kind ofalready. I'm not even a big deal
runner.
You're like, I'm doing it now.Do it then.
Yeah. And I. And my friendskeep on telling me I need to stop.
I need to make people pay forit. But I just. Again, I came up

(12:15):
from. Nobody would want togive me advice. And the few people
I did, I cherish that a lot.Like my. One of my professors from
usc, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, hewas my first TV TV teacher who was
like, you can write, but youneed to take more classes.
Yeah.

(12:35):
And I had a professor inundergrad tell me I could not write.
Oh, wow.
So it was like. And still tothis day, like, he co created swat
and now he was developing withBET a couple of shows. Like, he still
answers my emails and stillgives me sound advice. He's like,
you know what? I can't answerthis in email. Let's hop on a zoom.
That's so nice.
And I've cried with him, like.And he's like, it's okay. It's okay.

(12:59):
Like you at the beginning,like, you ain't gonna cry years later
when you know what the heckthey're doing. So you're gonna be
fine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, there is thisdesigner. I hope it's okay to say
this, but there is a. She's adesigner. Chelsea Tams. Shout out
to Chelsea. But they have thisprogram where it's like, you could

(13:19):
take Chelsea to lunch and sheprovides a list of all her favorite
restaurants. And she's like,okay, I'll answer all your questions,
but you have to take me to eatat one of these places. Not a place
of your choosing. A place Iwant to eat. Okay. And here's the
list. And then she's like, youcan use our meal together as a receipt

(13:41):
to write off for your businesstaxes. So maybe if you were to ever.
If you're like, I don't wannacharge people yet or anything like
that, maybe you're like, well,you could take me to one of my favorite
restaurants.
Definitely do that. BecauseI'm a food person. And also I'm vegan,
so they literally gonna haveto be forced.
Oh, yeah.
To eat some vegan food. Andit's gonna be good.

(14:02):
How can I get you gonna beenjoying? You can be like, yeah,
this about this industry andthis about that. While you just getting
down.
Yeah. I'm about to be like,you gonna eat well, and your body's
gonna be nourished, but, yeah,I'm gonna like you.
A little bit of this food.Yeah, it's gonna be about. It's really
about them, but about you aswell. Cause you're eating. You're
like, I'm plan to go.
I might do that already. I'mlike, just take me out to a food
place. It's hard on thesestreets being a professor.

(14:25):
Yeah.
Professor budget.
Oh, my gosh. So wait, okay, soyou grew up in Oakland. What was
that like?
It was best life ever. It kindof reminds me. Chicago kind of reminds
me a little bit of EastOakland. I say East Oakland specifically,
and I think Chicago peoplethat y' all do this outside. West
side, north side. Mine was theworst part of town. It was either

(14:48):
gonna be west side, the WestOakland, or East Oakland was gonna
be the worst. And East Oaklandwas the worst.
Okay.
And I still had a great time.I knew all my neighbors. Yes, we
had gunshots. Even myneighbors shot a bullet by accident
when he was drunk through mydad's truck. And we knew the neighborhood
addict who would just walkthrough the neighborhood. And one

(15:10):
time I locked eyes with himand I ran. And I went to one of the
best, worst school, middleschools. And my mom said she was
a teacher. She was OklahomaUnified School District teacher.
She was like, you're not gonnago to any public schools. You're
gonna go to public schools upuntil high school, and then I'm gonna
put you in the Catholicschool. And that's where I saw my

(15:33):
life kind of change, where itwas away from my friends who were
from the quote unquote hood.And I was put in Jack and Jill my
junior year. Like, I was putin the black elite. Like, if Jack
and Jill is like a group foryoung adult black kids who want to
learn more, the area in whichthey live and go to museums and get

(15:56):
cultured with African Americanhistory. And then there's a. There's
a camp every year. A. I forgotwhat you call it, but every year
there's like, a contest. Like,I won the T shirt contest one year
at the Jack and Jill.
Do you remember what thedesign was?
It was. I literally still haveto have it to this day. It's like
a big black man, and there's,like, a flag, and there's, like,

(16:16):
some other things. It was likea. It was. It was a theme that year.
And then I did the HBCU tourfor two weeks during my high school
year, which I also almost gotkicked out of school for that. And
that's how I learned aboutkind of racial discrimination within
my own school, that my mommade me very aware of that because
I didn't. I think in EastOakland, we didn't. I didn't see

(16:37):
race or racial disparities. Ilearned about it, but I didn't feel
like I actually absorbed itbecause I think my parents always
kept me involved in activitiesin the community. My mom, she always
has something going on thechurch. And my dad, he had several.
Several jobs. He was a policeofficer. He worked. He did frames.

(16:59):
He framed pictures, Darryl'sframes and things. And then he. My
high school years, he was theexecutive for Boy Scouts of America
and United Way. So my weekendswere always occupied with some community
event. So I was very embreadedin the community, in my chur, above
all, with all these otheractivities. So that's why a lot of

(17:20):
my friends who still thinkthat I'm upper. I'm like an uppity
black girl, because of the wayI talk and the way I was raised,
they were happy for me becausethey felt like it put me in a better
position to get out of EastOakland, but still have the roots
in place where I know where Icame from.
Yeah. It's so interesting thatyou bring up Jack and Jill. I've
been researching Jack and Jillfor, like, a project that I've been

(17:42):
doing around proms. And, like,prom sendoffs is like an everyday
debutante ball, in a way. AndI've been really just interested
in just basically, like,learning about Jack and Jill, only
because, like, debutantes seemto have come from Jack and Jill as
one of the spaces.
Yeah.
So that's why, like, so not somuch of researching Jack and Jill

(18:04):
per se. But they're in theconversation as I do this research
around debutante balls.
Yeah. There is a book that ablack man wrote about that of all
the, like, all the blackfraternities and things like that.
And it became a TV show, of course.
Yeah, I'm reading it now.
Yeah, I read that because Iwas trying to get on that show. But
it also helped me understandwhere it all came from because I
don't think I ever reallylearned where Jack and Jill came

(18:25):
from. It was just more. So myaunt got her sons in it, my cousins,
and she didn't want me to bein it. And that's where I also learned
in high school about the paperbag test.
Wow.
And Also how supposedly,quote, unquote, hood I was.
Wow.
The family member. And I foundout, literally, I think literally,

(18:47):
like last year, why my auntdidn't want me in Jack and Jill.
Cause she thought I was hoodand she didn't. And she. My mom wasn't
in the sorority. And so sheliterally, like, put us on a scale
of like, okay, she's this,she's this and she's this. She can't
get in Jack and Jill withoutme. And I forgot what the thing was

(19:07):
where she finally was like,oh, she can get in. But it was my
junior year of high schoolinstead of. And elementary school,
where usually that's probably.
Where everybody's in it. Yeah.You're like, I'm about to go to school.
College now.
Yeah. And I. I know probablythere were two guys that I knew who
was sweetest and probably themost unuppity ones. And then there

(19:30):
was one who were in the same.You know, were in the same field.
But he literally didn't see meas his on his level. Which made me
really sad. But it just. Itreminded me of la. This was all preparing
me for. To live in la.
Yeah. One last question aboutJack and Jill. I have.

(19:50):
Yeah, go ahead.
If I know that there are somewhite folks. Hope it's okay to say
that that did debutantes. Andthey'll be like, maybe in the art
world or whatever. They don'twant anybody to know that they were
debutantes. It's sort of likea. I don't know. I think. Cause of
the whole elite thing, like,they want to seem like they're like,

(20:10):
of the people and like, maybe not.
Like they have some of that. Iforgot what they call it. But they
had that same situation. Well,the same celebration in France.
Yeah.
And then they have thequinceanera. Yeah. Everybody has
their own.
I don't know why it's a bigdeal, but I wondered if that was
like, if Jack and Jill wassupposed to be like a secret or if

(20:31):
it's okay to sort of say it.Made me wonder. Cause, like, yeah,
people, they'll. When I talkabout this, they'll be like, oh,
yeah, I did that. But, youknow, like, don't say, you know,
like, don't tell anybody.Like, if anybody knew I did that,
I'm like, I don't really seethe big deal. I think it's sort of
interesting, honestly.
It's a 50. 50.
Yeah.
Some people are like, I don't.I don't want other people to know
because they don't want you tosee them in a different light.

(20:53):
Yeah. It's a judgment thing. Iget it.
Yeah. And even with me, I kindof. When I was at Howard, when people
were, like, introducingthemselves and, like, their background,
I didn't want people to reallyknow because I didn't feel like I
was cool enough or again, inthat upper elite crew for Jack and
Jill to be like, they don'tneed to know that. But other people
were very proud because,again, they had been. Been in it

(21:15):
since a child and they were apart. A rich type family.
Yeah.
So. Yeah.
So you spoke about or, like,in your history of my research of
you. You know, you went to.You did all the law stuff as you
were younger and then. But atsome point, now you're a filmmaker.

(21:36):
So how. Where did thetransition come from?
Yeah, in high school, I waspart of this program called Donald
P. McCollum Youth Court. Iforgot how I found. Found out about
it, but I did it for two yearswhere I was a defendant lawyer and
a prosecuting lawyer and alsoa clerk of the court. Cause we all
had to rotate in the program.And I think I got paid, like, $16

(21:56):
an hour.
That's pretty good.
Three times a week for threehours after school. And I had to
research cases and everything.And it really came from, like, ooh,
I get to be paid, but also Iget to hopefully lead to one day
being, you know, kind of beingthe dream that my dad never got to

(22:16):
have. My dad. Yeah, my dad wasa lawyer. He was. Well, he was going
to law school, and he didn'tpass the bar because he couldn't
take the T, didn't pass atest. But when his professor actually
gave him the exam, like,verbally, he passed.
Wow. Yeah.
But back in that day, youcouldn't do that. Everything had
to be written on paper. Andyears later, he found out he actually

(22:38):
had adhd.
Okay.
And that's the only reason.And so he ended up. I forgot. He
ended up becoming a paralegalfor a little bit as well, too. But
I saw that as my chance when Igot older. Because at first I thought
I was gonna be architect, Iwas gonna be a lawyer. But then again,
the whole singing thing, too.I was like, I wanna be a singing
lawyer. And all this stuff Ilearned about Gordon Parks my junior

(23:01):
year. And then I was on anHBCU tour, and one of the campuses
that I went to was Howard.
Okay.
And I learned about their filmschool. And I was like. I literally
walked on Howard's campus andwas like, I'm home. Like, literally,
that's. I know people say thatall the time about, like, I went
there, and I was like, this isthe dream. I literally went there,
and I was like, oh, this is.This is home. This is where I'm supposed

(23:23):
to be. And I almost went toAlabama State. Side note. Cause I
was like, ooh, they got goodfood and they got a theater. Perfect.
Oh, my God.
Does Alabama have a film program?
Yeah, they have. They have afilm theater program. And there is
a woman who is a famousactress. She still. She teaches there.
Oh, wow. I had no idea. Yeah.
And she was the one that wasguiding us around on the tour, and
I was like, oh, my God, am Iabout to go to Alabama? And the hot

(23:44):
and the heat and.
Oh, my God, yeah.
And. Yeah, it was in between.Those two actually ended up not applying
at all to Alabama, and Iapplied only to Howard and all the
California state schools, ofcourse. But that started my filmmaking
path. And then, of course,when I got to dc, One of my professors
and one of the people thateverybody was just like, oh, you
just have to take him, oryou're just gonna. You're gonna learn

(24:07):
about him was Haile Garima.
Oh, gosh.
Yeah. He. He owns a bookstore,a coffee. Coffee and bookstore, Sankofa,
across the street fromHoward's campus. And I used to go,
like, every now and again. Andthen I went to take his class and
became his intern for hisdocumentary film, which still hasn't
come out, but still, I learnedso much about filmmaking and independent

(24:28):
filmmaking. That's theimportant part, the independent filmmaking
part of it, because, you know,you can't be running out on the streets
with a film camera. But on theEast Coast, I feel like you can,
and you're like, maybe getfine, but they'll probably be like,
can we be in it for a second?
Yeah.
And then everything will becool. But you learn, like, you run
and gun it. You. You spend thepennies to. To get the film made.

(24:51):
And, like, I shot my firstmusic video with Hans Charles, who's
now an acclaimed Cinemat andac and lighting designer. Like, he
is top tier with Brad.Bradford Young, who was in the. In
the program as well, too, who.You know, Bradford Young did almost.
Yeah, almost all of AvaDuVernay's films. I was with them

(25:11):
during the time, so it wasjust. I was learning so much. And
Howard really produced a lotof great cinematographers, but I
think it was one of the fewthat I was like, I like cinematography,
but I want to direct andwrite. Yeah.
We have Five minutes till thebreak. So I'm trying to think if
this story would work, butHolly Gurima came to speak at Columbia

(25:33):
College.
Oh.
And he was great. And I cannotthink of the film that he screened
right now, but I rememberthere was a guy in the audience who
told Holly Grima he thoughthis films fell short. And everybody
was like, ooh. And Holly Greenwas like, I don't think so.

(25:56):
Well, he is that guy. He doesnot care.
Yeah. He was just like, gosh,I wish I remember what the guy said.
But there was another guy inthe audience who tapped that man
on the shoulder who told HollyGrima his film fell short. And he
said, would you like to step outside?
But that's like. That's love.That's love right there.

(26:19):
Yeah. And the guy was like,you know what? Have a good day. And
he grabbed his backpack and,like, slung it over his should in,
like, what's this?
A. Okay. Yeah.
And he had to, like, navigatethrough, you know, like, the stadium
seats, like, of a movie theater.
Yeah.
And, like, get out. And he,like, stormed out of the presentation.
And we all were just like.Halle was not laughing, but, like,

(26:41):
he had, like, this, like, lookon his face, like, what are y' all
doing out there?
Yeah.
And. But, man, I was dyinglaughing. Cause I'm just like, sir,
don't talk to Holly that way.And then two, you know, explain.
Like, he didn't really explainhis reasoning why. And then you get
upset, and you just leave.
And I think that's where youget better in time as a filmmaker,
like, expressing yourself andlearning how to say, like, why I

(27:05):
didn't like that film. Like,I'm teaching my students right now.
And the rewriting, the featureclass and the feature writing class
and now the Introduction toScreenwriting for Majors class, where
we talk about, why do you likethat film? Or why do you hate that
film? And I can now say that,like, me and my friends have had
a battle about weapons. I cantell you what I liked about it, what

(27:27):
I disliked about it, and howsometimes I feel like we are eating
up, just eating up. Like, oh,my God, this film is so good. Because
this one person, like,translated what I thought I was not
understanding from the film,the symbolism, and I was like, so
you had to have somebody elsetell you.
Yeah.
How the film was good and notbad. I think that's what we forget.

(27:49):
We're in a generation where wehave ChatGPT and other people to
translate for us, but I stillfeel like we don't have the consciousness
as much anymore to digestfilms and digest reading material
because we can just listen toit. And they say it's good for you
to now have audio books. Butwe lose the reading the page, reading
the words, translating how itmakes us feel on the page. And also,

(28:11):
I love the smell of books. I'mone of those random weird people.
They do smell good.
And they do smell good. But Ithink that's one of the things that
I. I got better at learninghow to love Akira Kurosawa. I finally
watched Seven Samurai at work.
Oh, I love that.
I watched it at work. And youknow, that's a three and a half hour

(28:32):
movie. And I broke it upthroughout the week when Hulu had
the Criterion channel and myboss, Randy Huggins was like coming
in during break. He was like,you on break? I was like, yeah, I'm
on break. I'm watching thismovie. Shh. Because you know, I'm
reading subtitles. He waslike, okay, I'll get out of here.
And they were just like a lotof the writers in that room, they

(28:55):
were just asking like, whatthe heck is going on? Da da da da
da. But I think I've nowgotten better at loving those films
because of the fable, thefables that Akira Kurosawa has created
for filmmakers now today thatthey even Spike Leez's day is doing
another Akira film.
Yeah. I wonder if that wouldbe like a fun screening series, like
to take it an hour a day or isit just something you gotta go through.

(29:18):
But you gotta go through?Cause I'm doing it now with Gaspar
Noe. No. Yeah. I just watched Climax.
How long is that movie?
Climax is two hours and it hasno. They had no script.
Ah.
They just had a basis idea.Like this dance group is going to
go on the road the next dayand everybody's gonna have this secret

(29:38):
punch that turns intodifferent things.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
Okay, I might be down forthat. We have to take a quick break,
but we will be right back.
Yes.
Hey, artists, are you tired ofthat admin pile growing taller than
your project pile? I get it.That's why I created Artist Admin

(30:03):
Hour, a weekly copy workingsession where we tackle the boring
but essential things together.Every Wednesday, 7 to 9pm Central
Time, we hop on zoom cameras,optional pajamas encouraged. And
knock out invoices, grantapps, emails, whatever's been haunting
your to do list. It's bodydoubling for artists who need gentle

(30:24):
accountability without thenetworking pressure. You get to choose
your price. 15 or 30 bucks amonth. Because behind every bold
vision is a well organizedartist who knows their worth. Join
us@artistadminhour.com andlet's handle business like the creative
kingpins we are. And we areback. WLPNLP Chicago, 105.5 FM radio

(30:53):
Lumpin F, 105.5 FM Lumpinradio. And we are back. And we have
Kristina Thomas with us, y'.
All.
You know, before we went tobreak, we were talking about the
film.
Wait, Akira Kurosawa.
Yeah, but the Noi.
Oh, and Gaspar Noe Climax.

(31:14):
Yeah, I need to see that.
Yeah. It's on hbo. HBO isstarting to have some of the Criterion
Collection films. And sothat's why I was able to see High
and Low before I actually seethe Spike Lee version. Highest to
lowest. Again, another KiraKurosawa film he's trying to do.
Yeah, well, not another one,but he's doing another Asian film
because, you know, he did OldBoy, his version of Old Boy, which

(31:34):
I have thoughts, but it'sstill like, you know, these. These
films get recycled. LikeMagnificent Seven, that's based off
of Seven Samurai, which I wassaying during the break. Like, I
watched that because I. It waslike some filmmaker was just like,
you don't know who Ikura is. Iwas like. And went to Hulu when they
had the Cartarian collectionand watched that during my breaks

(31:55):
as a writer's assistant in awriter's room for. It was like a
BET show. I'm forgetting whatthe name. Oh, Rebel.
Oh, Rebel. Okay.
It was the other show, thesecond to last show that John Singleton
executive produced. And that'salso how John Singleton was like.
He finally. He talked to meone day. He, like, came in the room
and he was like, oh, you'rewatching that? I was like, oh, my

(32:16):
God. My. My freaking, like,mentor in my head is here asking
me questions. So. Yeah.
What a dream.
Yeah. And I didn't takeadvantage of that. He literally.
We talked. We were talkingabout something. It was something
big that happened in the news,and I was giving my thoughts, and
I definitely, in my head, waslike, girl, shut up. But he was like,
yo, email me anytime if youneed anything. Here's my assistant.

(32:39):
Like, email. And I never didbecause I was so scared I was gonna
say the wrong thing.
Yeah.
And then two years later, hepassed away.
Wow. I'm sorry. Yeah, well,it's gonna be with the Lord now.
Yeah. But I can say I got towork alongside him.
Yes, you can.
And I felt validated that hejust let me talk. He didn't, like,

(33:00):
tell me like, girl, you needto shut up.
Yeah.
You don't know this life.
He probably really wanted tohear what you had to say. Cause I'm
sure he knew he had the powerto do that if he didn't want to hear.
Yeah. Because even just I wasthe token girl on that show too.
Because the show was about anOakland detective, and I'm from Oakland,
and I was teaching them aboutOakland. Oakland Jargo. And it was

(33:22):
just really fun because I dobelieve that John Singleton also
went to Oakland a lot, too. Heknew some people from there, and
so it was great learning fromhim, but also seeing him see that
I was putting the work in tolearn about other filmmakers. Where
a lot of filmmakers from ourtime, 80s and 90s, who have copied

(33:43):
people from the past, from the50s and 60s, especially Kira Kurosawa.
Seven Samurai MagnificentSeven, I think has now come out three
different versions asMagnificent Seven.
Yeah.
So I'm surprised we haven'tmade that into a. What is it? A short
mini series?
Yeah, seriously.
Because you literally could.With Seven Samurai, that whole. I

(34:04):
told my students probablyrandomly throughout the quarter to
watch that film. And theGodfather, which I saw last summer
on the plane.
Oh, wow.
Yes. From LA to New York.Because I was like, I don't know
what the hype is with this.Let me just. Oh, let me just see
this. And I was in the middleseat, so I had nowhere to go. Girl,
when I tell you, I gassed, Iyelled, I screamed, and people were

(34:27):
like, what is happening inthat middle seat? That film teaches
you so much and is a lesson intelling a story, but also making
it so good. Within three and ahalf hours. It's. It's. Yeah. Oh,
my God. Two films that I wasjust like, Seven Samurai, three and

(34:48):
a half hours. And. And. Andthis film, Godfather three and a
half hours. What have I not learned?
Is well worth it. Gonna bethree and a half hours.
No. Okay, that was. That's my.That's my. I feel like my ode to.
Oh, my gosh. Why am I blankingon his. Who did. Oh, my gosh, Moonlight.

(35:12):
Oh, now I'm blanking.
Yes. Our. Our fellow blackman. I. He did a film called. Oh,
my God, Now I'm blanking on itbecause I found Barry Jenkins. Barry
Jenkins did a. His film in SanFrancisco. His first feature film
in. In San Francisco. And itwas a film where I was like, oh,

(35:33):
my God. He did a film that Iwanted to do. But this is 2008. I
forgot how I ran. I think aNETFLIX situation.
Okay.
Where I randomly found it andI was like, oh, my God, this guy
is amazing. And he did it inthe Bay Area. He must be from the
Bay. And I found out he's fromFlorida. Then I think four years
later, he came out from with Moonlight.
Wow.
I believe. And so I made afilm worth it, which ended up becoming

(35:57):
almost based off a true storyabout a guy who I thought I was on
again, off again for years. Iwent to go see him and he literally
was like, I can't talk to you.Like, can you hang out with your.
Your friend for a little bituntil I get off work? I stayed for
two days in New York with myfriend, waiting to talk to him, like,
to confess my love for him.And next thing you know, he's like,

(36:19):
hey, let me meet you at thetrain station. Go to the train station.
Waiting for him at the trainstation because I'm taking a train
to D.C. because I wanted to gothe inauguration in D.C. yeah. It's
all in January 2013. And. AndI get on the train. He doesn't make
it. And then he calls me onthe phone and says to me, hey, this
isn't going to work out. Like,I can't do this anymore. I was like,

(36:40):
oh. With tears, like, what doyou mean you can't? And he was like,
you're not worth what you'renot worth fighting for.
Oh.
And my phone clicked. Nosignal, no nothing. Train goes through
Philadelphia, still trying toget service. Nothing. And I get to
D.C. and I'm like celebrating,you know, the second term of Obama

(37:02):
while, like in the cold, like Obama.
Yeah.
And I. And I literally. Thestory came to fruition when I was
on the Muppets as a director'sassistant. And the assistant UPM
was like, can you come to myoffice? I was like, okay. She was
like, close the door. I justwonder, Kristina, like, you're beautiful

(37:24):
and you're so pretty and like,why don't you have a man? And I literally
sat down. I was like, let metell you this story. And she was
the one that told me, you needto tell that story.
Okay.
And I made it into that. Thatstory. Barry Jenkins first film.
I was like, I'm gonna do it inthe vein of it takes place over 24

(37:47):
hour esque between two people.But I made it between four different
people. So it's kind of like afour triangle esque situation. And
I made it a story about whenyou try to find love and you think
you found love, but what if itisn't? And how do you Figure that
out while also try not tobreak your heart. But maybe it needs

(38:08):
to break.
Yeah, that's frustrating. I'mso. I, I, yeah, that, that's gonna
be a tough film to watch.
Yeah. And I've, I had a lot ofproducers interested, but they were
like, yeah, this is too indie.Oh, but it's been a great sample.
Everybody is like, oh my God,I would love for you to write this
thing. Can you pitch us thisidea on this feature? Cause we'd
love this one, but we can'tproduce this. Cause indie. We need

(38:29):
something comm. Does that meanwhen it's indie, it's under, it's
under a mill. Oh, under 250.If you're really doing it and they
want to make something that'sgoing to make them millions and they're
not doing what they did in the90s. Which don't, don't judge me
right now.
Okay, we won't judge.
But my favorite film is Love Jones.

(38:50):
Okay, that's good.
And until literally, I thinkI, I came here for my friend Ashley's
birthday two years ago that Ifound out wasn't in Philadelphia.
It took place in Chicago.
Yeah.
I'm so sorry.
Chicago film.
And I just, I think I also sawthe record store that was in the
movie the other day. And I waslike, oh my God, my life has just
changed. But it was just, thatwas the 90s. You had people who were

(39:13):
not kind of big names, but bignames in all these films. But they
were considered indie becausethey weren't a per particular budget.
Okay.
But they were making Miramaxmoney. What was it? Paramount. And
it was another, anothercompany that they were making. They
were making the money back onthose films because when black people

(39:33):
showed up.
Yeah, okay.
And they were like, oh, it'sjust an indie film. But when black
people show up, it becomessuch a big, like even Preacher's
Wife. I don't think theythought that was gonna do well. Yes,
we had Whitney Houston, butcome on. Denzel Washington on the
coming off Devil in the BlueDress. Come on, baby. Like you had
those films in the 90s. EvenTarantino. I don't would have had

(39:56):
Tarantino. Yes, he did have,he has that skill. But still indie
films really dominated andthey took more chances. Like Christopher
Nolan. Like, we would havenever seen those people actually
have a filmmaking career, Ibelieve, because executives were,
weren't, are not taking asmuch of a chance on those people

(40:17):
like they did in the 90s.
Yeah.
Even film festivals, we weretalking about that too. Like Film
festivals are not. I don'tthink they're taking as much of a
chance on independentfilmmakers unless they A known name
in the film. And even me, Ihave a known person, known people
in my film. And still it'slike. But they're not a list. They're

(40:40):
like, almost there. But we'renot this level for our film festival.
And I just. I wish there.There's such talented women in the
film. They're so great. Like,they're. I literally like the one
of them. Venus. Venus, I gotto work with finally, and she was
on Salute your shorts in the 90s.
Oh, my gosh. I loved Saluteyour Shorts.

(41:02):
Yeah. And she, you know, shewas on all the shows. She was on
Family Matter. She was onSister. Sister. Yeah, all them. And
we ended up, you know how we met?
How?
Dodgeball.
Oh, no way.
And I literally. And we wereon the same team, a team called hey
girl. Hey.
I love it.
And she finally, like, we hadbeen playing for like, I think three
tournaments. And I finallytold her. I was like, I so love you

(41:24):
and I looked up to you. Oh, mygosh, girl, whatever. But I always
thought I wanted to work withher. And finally on this project,
I was. She was like, yeah, Iheard about your film. Why did you,
like, hook me up? I was like,I didn't think you want to be my
film. She was like, girl, youbetter get me.
Yeah. She's like, I'm anactress. I like to act.
Ask me to act. Yeah. So I willsay also, too, that short films have

(41:48):
been helping a lot of. A lotof actors who in the past who need.
Well, not need. They actuallyjust need to. Need more people to
see them again and know thatthey got the chops. And even Leolanda
Snowball, who's in the filmtoo, she just. Man, she's still so

(42:09):
dope. I gotta text her and belike, how you doing, lady?
Yeah, right. Yeah. Stay intouch with people.
Yeah. She was. She was thesweetest on set. Like, I really.
And I also admired her. Ididn't know. I didn't know. She's
been on all your favoritefilms shows, all your kids shows
that almost a random person inthe background who has a line or

(42:30):
three, she's been in thisgame. Like, she was talking about
some stuff on Living Singlethat was like, oh, my God, tell me
more.
Yeah. Wow. You know, there'sso many actors like that where you're
like. When you think back,you're like, wow, they've done a
lot of stuff, but becausethey're not this, you know, name,
as you say. I guess they getoverlooked, which is just. It's not

(42:50):
cool.
Yeah. And I feel likeTristina, who is also our lead in
the film too. She's getting upthere. She was in a Jennifer Lopez
film. She had a line, but it'sjust like I want. She's. She's getting
there. But she needs that likebig film like that, that multi millionaire,
millionaire whatever film toget like the prestige that I know

(43:10):
she has in her as well too.But it's just. It's hard out here
to get on those films.
Yeah. Why do we put ourselvesthrough it? Such a hustle?
I think it's just. I thinkit's just because we love it.
Yeah.
Like, I had my friend who is apsychic, she told me she was like,
you were never gonna doanything else. This is. That challenges
you. You want things thatchallenge you. You don't want things

(43:32):
that just are easy. Whichagain, that's my love life as well
too. But I think this is justone place where even with being a
lawyer, I don't think it wouldhave challenged me as much. It probably
would have because I had towrite all the documents and the,
you know, prosecutingstatements and stuff like that. But
I think this is challenging.You gotta come up with that idea

(43:55):
out of nowhere. Especiallywhen I was on a sci fi show. Gosh
dang. You gotta createmonsters out of nowhere. But I was
so thankful for our leadshowrunner, J.J. abrams, who was
just like, create a monster.Think of the worst thing, think of
the best thing. Think of armsand legs and.
Yeah, yeah. It seems like,what was I gonna say? Something about

(44:23):
keeping it going. But wheredid my train of thought go? Oh, the
lawyer. It seems like maybe ifyou would have been a lawyer. I've
met so many lawyers thatstopped being lawyers and now all
of a sudden they are somethingelse. So maybe you would have eventually
found filmmaking anyway.
Oh, yeah, I definitely wouldhave in some capacity. Just because

(44:44):
again, I actually stoppedwriting. I mentioned that early of
I had a professor sophomoreyear, I believe I took a. It was
like the first act of a screenpl.
Yeah.
And after class I justremember her just saying, you can't
write.
What a hater.
And I don't remember anythingelse, but I remember that stuck with

(45:04):
me forever. And the onlyreason why I stuck with directing
is because I had Oneprofessor, this 6 foot 3 linebacker
looking new Jersey professor,James Rada. Tell me, like, keep going.
Because I missed one of hisclasses because I took his advice

(45:24):
in class, he was just like, ifyou really want to do this, then
you need to go. Go out thereand do it. And I really wanted to
be a music video director. Iwas one of those people in the 90s.
I was watching, making thevideo, and I was looking at all the
names of the directors at theend of the video, in the beginning
of the end. And I was takingtheir names, like Sanaa Hamry and
Chris Robinson and X. I waslooking at all that. And I one night

(45:47):
looked at all those MTVvideos, made a list of 20, called
all of them. I even got, like,one of their cell phone numbers off
the web at the time. Two ofthem hit me back. One of them was
like, good luck. The other onewas like, hey, do you want to write
me, like, a whole synopsis ofwhat you think this music video would
be? And then he. He sent it tome, and then he sent me the actual

(46:08):
breakdown of how the musicvideo will go. And he was like, hey,
if you happen to be in NewYork this weekend, we're shooting
on Sunday. Let me know, girl.Like, I was in D.C. never been to
New York by myself. I tookthat Chinatown and Chinatown bus,
which back in the day was $20round trip.
Wow.
Got a hooker hot in midtown.Made my way to set. It was for Mario's

(46:30):
music video. Here I go again.Okay, in parentheses. And who was
the lead girl? Cassie.
Oh, no way.
And she was. She was thenicest. She was even like, like,
talking to me on set and waslike, oh, my God, I have friends
at Howard and you guys, like,oh, my God, I gotta visit soon. Da
da da, da da. And Ray K. Was amusic video director. And if you

(46:53):
follow him, his next big musicvideo was Poker Face by Lady Gaga.
Oh, okay, okay.
And now he's like, I don'tthink he's doing it as much anymore,
but I think he. A lot of themusic video people, they're trying
to transition in tv, TVdirecting or movies. And if they
can't, like, Francis Lawrence,if you're not Francis Lawrence, like,

(47:15):
yeah, it's really hard totransition out. But it helped me.
I came. Well, long storyshort, came back to class, told my
professor, because he wasgonna fail me. And then he again
did what that assistant UPMdid. Closed the door in the office.
He was like, I'm giving you anA for the rest of the semester.
Wow.
Because you did the one thingthat I told everybody for semesters,

(47:37):
every single year, and you'rethe only one that did it.
Were they surprised when youshowed up on set when they were like,
hey, we're filming Sunday, ifyou wanna come. Or did.
No. He literally was like, oh,I'm glad you came. Okay. And then
put me to work.
Oh, I love it.
Oh, and then I didn't tell youthey paid me.
Oh, that's really nice.
I got a surprise check for,like, $235, I think it was, so. It
was.
That's really nice.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.I. I've had a life that was at 19.

(48:02):
Yeah.
What was I doing that was really.
Listen.
But I wanted it.
Yeah.
That was like my first tasteof like, oh, I don't hate this.
Yeah.
So that's why. Yes. I wouldprobably would have found my way
back, but it was just like,this has been in me. This is the
only thing that kind of exc Me like.
And you still don't hate it.

(48:23):
Sometimes I do hate it, butdeep down, I just find my way back
into to loving it because itbrings me joy. I can write so many
different things, and peopleare like, oh, my God, you wrote that.
Oh, my God, you translated myown words into something beautiful.
And I'm trying to work my wayback into reading a poem every night

(48:44):
because they say poetry alsohelps you get your mind to creatively
think of different things.
Oh, okay.
And kind of get you out of themindset of just like, okay, I'm reading
a sentence. Poetry expands.Expands your mind to just lyrical,
rhythmic, expressive wordplay sometimes.
I love that I should read apoem every day as well. I feel like

(49:08):
I've heard that before. And Ido have poem books. I need to just
take them out.
I randomly found my mom'sCourtne Parks poetry book.
Ooh, yeah.
Random.
Yeah.
It was like, his photography.And then a poem with it that he wrote.
Oh, no way. Yeah, I love that.Yeah, that's a great. Yeah, that's
a great book. It'll be one ofthose tonight. I feel like, oh, that's

(49:31):
where I was gonna go because,you know, I did film school to work
in film. And then I will seeso many friends who, like, they will
be fine. Or not friends, but,like, colleagues. Let me get it straight.
You're not my friend. No, I'mjust kidding. I'm just kidding. But
I'll see, like, colleagues whothey' like, now, film is their job.
Right. Like, they're fine withjust, you know, just doing it as

(49:53):
that and then, like, notpursuing it. Extra to do the extra.
Like you've done the extra islike, just out of the question. They're
not interested anymore. And soI think that's really cool. And it
makes me sad. Cause I'm like,oh, my gosh. I remember when we were
in film school, like, youwanted to, you know, make all these
big action films and all that.And you're like, now you don't want
to do that anymore? And you,like, seem like you're bitter towards

(50:14):
the industry. Like. No, thatmakes me so sad. So it's just encouraging
to see you, like. Yes. Andmore, you know. Yes, I'm gonna write
for this show. Yes, I wannamake my own films. Yes, I'm gonna
read my Gordon park poetry book.
Yeah. But also, I've beendiscouraged. And I mentioned this
briefly with you off the mic,because I couldn't find a job. I

(50:36):
haven't been able to find areal, real job in the industry these
last two years. And teachingand substitute teaching has been
the thing. And I recentlyfinally got this professor position
at. And. And it took me toChicago. I've never been to Chicago.
Oh, I've been to Chicago once.
Yeah.
But this is like my secondtime. And then I'm moving here. And
I don't really have anyfriends or real family. I have one

(50:59):
cousin here. But I think ifit's me, I'm. I'm a Christian woman.
I'm like, asking God, why areyou taking me here? I've been in
LA for over 15 years. What youdoing with my life?
Yeah.
Why are you transitioninghere? And I feel like I reinvigorated
my love for. For film, TV andwriting through teaching students
who are trying to figure outhow to do it and also how to. How

(51:20):
to judge it. Honestly, wejudge films. We are. We are people
who are just like, critiquingfilms and we don't even know it.
But I'm also trying not to.I'm trying to get them off the computer
where they're forming theirown opinion about what they like
about the episode, the. Thescript or the movie, instead of going
to chat GBT to translate itfor them.
Yeah.

(51:40):
And for them to be creativewithout assistance, if that makes
sense, and build their ownlanguage. Yeah. I have to be able
to translate that to them. Andso that's why I'm being professor.
I'm really having to breakdown why. This is the plot, this
is the character. And it'shelped educate me again with being
like, oh, Kristina, this iswhy your. Your script ain't working.

(52:00):
Cause remember this one thingthat you try to do, you're teaching
Your kids, like, oh, you gottado this, this, and this.
Yeah, it, like, gets you backto basics, too.
Hell, yeah.
Yeah, that's good. Good.
Yeah, that's good.
Yeah. These with the. I'mtrying not to tell myself this anymore,
but I had, you know, like,with the COVID and everything like

(52:22):
that, and then the writerstrikes and everything, I was like.
I felt like it zapped away mycreativity. And so I've just been,
like, you know, was stuck, butnow I have ideas. And, you know,
thankfully, this, like, youknow, being here with Lumpin, have
my podcast project that'salways kept me, like, always able
to focus on something and,like, being able to learn about other
people's practices and where Imight see myself in my own practice.

(52:45):
And that's made me happy and,you know, brought me joy. And it's
also, I've, like, been, okay,I'm gonna burn down the practice,
and I'm rebuilding. I'm justrebuilding. But then I'm like, maybe
I shouldn't say burn down.We'll say, like, pivot or refresh.
Bring back, you know, or,like, back to the basics. Like, even
I was like, let me, you know,just, like, get a photo book and

(53:07):
do some of these lightingexercises. You know what I mean?
Because at least that way,I'm, like, following a plan versus
trying to figure somethingelse out by myself and just get myself
back in the mix.
Yeah. Cause a lot of peopletalk trash about people. They're
like, oh, you can't get thisjob back in your industry. Like,
you must have tried hardenough. I'm like, it's not even our
industry. It is all ofAmerica. We are out of work. We are

(53:30):
in the worst of times forpeople trying to get a regular job.
We have to get two to threedifferent jobs. And even a lot of
my writer friends, they are innonprofit work. One was working for
a paralegal. One went back tonursing because she was a nurse before
this, she got her degree innursing, which is not even bad because
I found out how much theygirl. 120,000 a year. Go, girl.

(53:53):
Oh, I'm not mad. I'm not mad.I love that for her.
But again, these are jobswhere we start to think. Because
I'm still in two writersgroups, we start to tell ourselves,
like, in these, like, we oncea month, we, like, do a formal. Hey,
what are you doing? A formalcatch up. And we all said the same
thing. We're like, oh, I'mwriting this thing about what I'm
learning as a teacher orlearning As a nurse. As a nurse.

(54:13):
And now I'm writing a spec forChicago Med because of the things
I'm learning now as a nurse.Post Covid, we're learning how to
adapt to new. The new culturalnorm before we go back, because we
are all determined to go back,and I feel like where there is gonna
be a shift. Please, Jesus,Lord, have mercy upon this land.

(54:35):
That we'll get back into ourwriter's room, where we'll have even
more stories to tell, andthey'll be even more powerful. And
that's all I can. That's all Ican think about and be hopeful about,
that we will transition intotelling more powerful stories that
people are gonna relate tobecause of the changing times we're
on shows. I think we'vediscussed, as a lot of our shows

(54:57):
are from people, everydaypeople. We tell everyday stories,
and that's why people watchthem. Like, watching Chicago Fire,
man, I remember that memorableepisode where it was a whole episode
in a building, and it was themultiple characters, like, going
to these three differentfloors where all this action was
going on. But we were havingso much backstory, and we were feeling

(55:20):
for this person, and it waslike, almost kind of a crossover,
because one of the Chicago PDpeople, their father lived in the
building. They were like, Ihave to go. And the firefighter like,
no, we will get you. You stayright. Know your place. But also,
we've got you, man. So it'sjust like, those things just like,
oh, my God. And I got to readthat episode too. And it was like,
oh, my God, is he gonna findthe father? And the father was trying

(55:41):
to help. One of the older menon the building was like, oh, my
God. Father was. Is he stillalive? And then he takes that breath
I love. I'm that sucker. Theysay that, like, you're like, he's
live. Commercial break.
Commercial break. Yeah. I lovea good story, man. I love, love a
good story. They're so needed.

(56:02):
Yeah.
You know, even with, like, theInternet, like, with Instagram, I
feel like now everybody's,like, curating their life, and I'm.
Like, they say that's thething now.
But I miss when people werejust like, check me out. I went to
the coffee shop, and this ismy latte and avocado toast. Now this
is my dog. Like, you know,it'd just be these little squares
that would shape, like,someone's world. But now you don't

(56:24):
see that anymore. It's just,like, everybody's highlight reel.
And I'm just like, I reallymissed when we had the story.
Yeah, no, I do that. Becausenow if you. I would invite you to
go see my page, the White RobeStories, where I just tell stories
every Friday about my life.Like, one story for a minute and
30 about what happens. Whathappened, like, 20 years ago or what

(56:47):
happened last week.
Oh, how long have you beendoing that?
I've been doing it for thelast year.
Oh, okay.
I didn't know that because Ijust wanted to get it out. And people
were like, you should do apodcast about this. Cause was it
just like. It's just, again,everyday life, but you're in your
white robe. Because all I hadwas time to be in my white robe talking
to a screen.
You easily could. You canalways, like, extract the audio and

(57:08):
just put it on a podcast feed.
That's what everybody keeps ontelling me, but I'm just like, I
gotta learn that. That's awhole nother skill I gotta learn.
Right? It's. It's. Yeah. It'slike, don't add anything else to
my plate.
But that's what we have to doas creators.
Yeah.
And so that's. Again, we. Weare learning other skills that are
gonna probably lead us to ournext job. That is gonna lead us to

(57:30):
the job.
Yeah. Cause if anything keepsyou visible, right?
Yeah. And that's what theykeep on saying. They're like, you
need to be this. You need tobe a creator. And I'm like, do I
have the capacity withgrading? Cause I have two feature
classes, 16 each. And then atthe end of the quarter, I have to
read 16 times 16, 16, 32features, and grade them in a week

(57:52):
and a half.
Are you a fast reader?
I am not. Because I try totake my time and I try to give notes.
And that's why I'm like, Itold them already. I was like, if
you give me your script, theday it's due, just know I'mma really
try, but you cruising for abruising. All right.
Oh, my gosh.

(58:13):
Yeah.
Kristina, I'm so happy thatyou came to Lumping Radio. Oh, my
gosh. Where can we find outmore about you?
I invite you to go to mywebsite, christinarenethomas.com
Instagram. It's KristinaThomas. And. Yeah, that's it.

(58:37):
My middle name is Renee.
Oh, with an E. With T's.
Yep.
I see it. I see it. I love that.
Wow. We are, like, totally vibing.
Yes, ma'. Am. Yes, ma'. Am.
Oh, my gosh. Well, listen, y',all, you guys check out Kristina's
website check out. Wait. WhiteRobe Stories.
Yeah. If you would like to.

(58:57):
Yeah, why not? It. Let's.Let's invite the people. Is it. It's
at White Robe Stories on Instagram.
The White Robe Stories.
Okay.
Which two? My exes startedfollowing me, and it's very one of
them I actually talked about.
Oh, my God.
They don't know. They don't know.
Well, that's on them. You knowthat's on them. And thank you, Liz,

(59:20):
so much for tuning in to Nosyaf. And we will see you soon. This
has been another episode ofNosy af. I'm your host, Stephanie
Graham. What did you thinkabout today's conversation? I would
love to hear your thoughts.Head over to the Nosy AF website
for all the show notes relatedto this episode. You can also find

(59:41):
me on Instagram. EphanieGraham, what would you know? Or online@missgram.com
where you can sign up for mynewsletter where I share exclusive
updates about my studiopractice as well as this podcast.
Until next time, y' all staycurious and take care. Bye.

All Episodes

Chapters

What we talk about

Things We Mentioned

All about Kristina Thomas

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

The Breakfast Club

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Crafting Narratives: Insights from Filmmaker Kristina Thomas