July 30, 2023 • 24 mins
Terrah Bennett Smith, a Native New Yorker, has enjoyed a rich and multi-faceted career in the entertainment industry having worked as a director, producer, actress, singer/ songwriter, screenwriter, Life Coach, and Manager.
Tess Cacciatore is the CEO/Founder Global Women's Empowerment.Tess is an award-winning producer for the past 20+ years in the areas of entertainment, technology and philanthropy. Tess has dedicated her life to advocating for peace, justice, and equality around the globe.
Tess Cacciatore is the CEO/Founder Global Women's Empowerment.Tess is an award-winning producer for the past 20+ years in the areas of entertainment, technology and philanthropy. Tess has dedicated her life to advocating for peace, justice, and equality around the globe.
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(00:01):
Hello, ever, we want towelcome to the Ladies South podcast today.
I know, right, y'all,I've been busy behind the scenes trying to
do all the other things that haveto be done. But yeah, I
mean, how am I celebrating myselflike that? That seems like a little
bit like yo job going on.I am the narcisses after all, I'm
Jay. Oh right, and Iwill ourselves like I going professionalism to that.
(00:27):
I feel like we bought it.Oh yeah, I mean we have
to because we have two amazing peopleand I know, right in the world.
And I was like, oh,I feel like I'm gonna get judged
horribly, But that's okay. Itdoesn't really matter because y'all, we wrote
books and though he's are and Ithought divorces bed and I thought being grown
up with ze only our mere memoiin verse feign web, widows wet withos
debt and with web. Okay,so I didn't even left me. Yeah
(00:49):
you didn't even let me say literallyyour life guys pop poetry. Okays,
like, don't really me say thatliterally your life guys. But you can
find out everything you leaves it doing. And I thought ladies do um,
but you might hit he hear aboutours. You're hitting here for my wonderful
guests. Wonderful guests. Would youlike to introduce yourselves? Hey, I'm
Tera Bennett Smith and I'm Test Katchachari. We're so happy to be here today,
(01:14):
y'all in the and how like this, well in the ladies game,
in the women's game, I don'twomen. Yeah, the women's cave.
We're boss right across I can.I can look out my window and see
where Terrible its. So we're close. Not in the same location, but
we're close. Oh. I wasabout to be like, is the wine
happening? Lady? And also amI invited? Because I love coms?
(01:37):
Invited for wine? You would haveto do it virtually though, because we're
not we are not where you are. I also catch we'll be what We'll
be that two hours? Yeah,we'll be that two hours later. I'm
not good at math, I writepol okay, so um, I really
wanted to ask because both of youare just fun, normal women right in
(02:00):
your careers. Yes, how didy'all get started? And yes, y'all
get started y'all? Yo, goahead. Well, I'm from New York
City and I started in front ofthe camera, basically in dance classes because
my mother do us in dance classes, so we would stay off the streets.
And that kind of parlayed into doingBroadway, and I was a recording
(02:23):
artist and a lot of theater,and then moving out to La I just
I got sick of theater because Idid so much in New York that I
wanted to do more television and film. So I came out here and the
first thing I booked was a pilot, a spent off for the Facts of
Life, and then I just kepton booking jobs and then parlayed into behind
the camera, where I still doboth now as a director. My first
(02:46):
feature film was called Flip the Scriptwith Robin Gibbons Miguel Nunez, and that's
as a director, and then Ijust kept directing and producing. And I
also do workshops and empowerment workshops forwomen through my organization we Claim Haven.
We try to help you to redesignyour blueprint and and rewrite the script of
(03:07):
your life. That's kind of whatwe do there. And um, yeah,
I do all of that stuff.And I and I and I'm now
coaching and helping hopefuls who want toget into the industry, so they won't
bump their head ninety five times.They kind of I give them the from
point A to point B of whatthey have. Three amazing children, not
(03:29):
children, young adults. Now inthe midst of doing all of that.
Yes, life goes on, youknow, life goes on. So that's
me in a nutshell. Well,they have very large I'm so many questions.
Okay, not enough time, butso many questions. Time. I'll
do mind as quickly as possible.Uh g de Moines Iowa started dancing very
(03:51):
young, as Tera did UM.We actually lived down the street from one
another in New York. Not asfamiliar from here because we didn't know each
other back in the day. ButI too did soap operas and music videos.
I had a recording contract with CBSBobcat Records. UM loved behind in
front of the camera as well.That's why we have such similar interest in
(04:12):
what we're doing in the empowerment side. I have an organization called Global Women's
Empowerment Network UM, and I doa lot of things for advocacy for sex
trafficking, domestic violence, abuse,and healing. So those are kind of
the lanes. And then Tara andI met several years ago, over a
decade by now, and we cametogether to do a series that's out on
(04:33):
TV right now called The Right Term. We can talk all about that.
Yeah, okay, So I havea couple of things today. First,
Ryn Iowa, the Iowa state figureyoung. I heard me say yea when
you say de moi Iowa, becauseI would be like, fine, oil,
okay everything. Yeah. And thenwhen well you said you two,
(05:00):
I thought, oh my goodness,how do you remember those lines? Night
after night after night? I sometimesforget my own name once you once you
get them, you got them.And then every now and then you have
a brain fart. So you youmight stand there and somebody has defeated to
you. But you know, whenyou've been doing it a long time and
you're working with people, especially whenyou're doing theater, that means you're doing
(05:23):
the same project over and over,so someone can actually guide you back.
You know, they may say something. You know, if your line was
I really love those red shoes,they may say something like, so have
you found some shoes that you liked? Yet? Oh I really love those
The net will jarve. So there'sall kinds of little tricks of the trade,
but for the most part, it'sjust it's just muscle memories, like
(05:43):
riding a bike. Do you dothe same in television as well? A
little bit different because unless you're doinga live, live show, most shows
are prerecorded, so you get tostop and they call cut and then you
pick up your line. And televisionthey want your lines to be more accurate
because it's a time thing. Youknow, you have to they have to
(06:03):
get everything in and the writer you'renot allowed to take to take the writer's
awards and change them around unless theygive you permission. So unless they're on
our set, on our set,we do what we want to do.
Yeah, so I need to askyou about this set because if anybody,
all of our fans knows this questionis coming and we normally save it for
last but but since y'all talked abouta set, I have to say,
(06:25):
so craft services on your set?And also it's our life it's our life
goal since I was twelve years oldto have craft services on a set.
So I just want to know what'scraft services like for either of you.
Both of you, we'd like theair both stories. Well, I figured
since you're an Oreo Fried Oreo girls, you love you obviously all the questions
(06:46):
on the planet Earth. We've neverreally been asked about craft services. However,
we don't mind answering. We Youknow, when you're doing independent projects
and your independent producers, one ofthe key things you always want to make
sure is that people eat well,because you know, when you can't pay
them, the big, big bigbugs, they that tummies need to be
full, so we usually have wetry to keep it as healthy as possible.
(07:09):
That the staple things are always chipsand maybe some cookies or something like
that, because people can just wrapthose and you know they like the chips.
But I think for the most part, because we're fairly healthy eaters,
you want to make sure that yourcrew and your talent don't crash and burn
from too much junk food because it'lltake you up and then if you're still
(07:29):
shooting ten twelve hours, you willcrash and all you want to do is
go to sleep, So you haveto make smart choices. It's fast filming
with regard to filming in the codeand code. During COVID we had a
lot of very small sets, sowe filmed most of Celestid Turner Terra's part
in my home. So because Ilove cooking and I love catering, I
(07:50):
had my own little baby catering companyway back in the day. A lot
of times I would be cooking inthe kitchen while we're you know, running
to the store to get craft servicestuff, which as ter set chips and
cookies and apples and healthy stuff.So we made sure that we accommodated to
vegan um and allergies and all sortsof things. So I just want to
(08:11):
kitchen catch a Tori. So she'sa very Italian. Yes, I'm sorry.
We all would have the food,okay. So I'm just gonna say
that when and I we handle abroom and a very well, just in
case you ever need some volunteers onset, that you will still you're here,
you get looked up and you willbe on set and you might even
(08:37):
you might have hit it. Sowe do that too, okay. So
yeah, now we have to talkreally about about we're gonna get back on
schedule. Y'all gonna do it,Okay. So like the next question I
was gonna ask you about it.You both said you went behind the camera.
Can you tell us what it waslike going from in front or behind
(08:58):
the camera, and were there anychallenges for me? There was not really
a challenge because I think I wasinnately about business, you know, I
at a very young age and growingup in the Bronx and the projects.
We had a community terrace, whichis like a balcony that had like this
gated thing in and it had cementa semen seat that went across the whole
(09:22):
thing, and I would put onshows every weekend. I'd made people buy
tickets and one sided when we beatthe costumes and I'd had the drape up
and then all my family would comeand sit on the seamen. I get
all my neighbors and we sing DianaRoss songs and you know, so that
was kind of my thing. Iwas always running the business while I was
in front of the camera. SoI never thought that I wanted to direct
or anything. I just wanted toact, and it kind of happened.
(09:46):
I think my first thing was atheater project that a front of mine needed
a Direction's like, you've done somuch theater, And it was true.
I knew what to do because I'vedone so much. And then it just
kept parlaying in from one thing tothe next, so initially for a person
who was used to be in frontof the camera. It was an adjustment
because what happens at the end ofevery anything you do, you know,
(10:07):
the focus goes to the people onthe stage. It very rarely will go
to the people behind the camera.So I'm used to being the person on
the stage. So it was anadjustment. You know, at the end
of the show, nobody's coming upto be going, oh, there,
a great job. So I butwhat I learned was that as I sit
and I watched, I really becameempowered and excited about what I was able
to put together to help others.So it became less about my ego and
(10:31):
more about the fact that I contributedsomething that helped others. And that's really
what's the honest truth, how Icondition. Yeah, so I started in
front of the camera on stage aswell. I did a really wonderful theater
program a BFA at Steven's College.So we had to do set design,
set build, stage management, soundcostumes, everything. So there was a
(10:54):
full blown three year two summer stockprogram. And when I really got the
directing bug was the directing program thatI followed in and I did something really
crazy and I went off campus andI did this independent thing and made the
director department really mad at me,and they still talk about it after all
these years. So I feel like, you know, I'm a rebel in
(11:15):
a lot of ways, and andso I loved being on both sides.
What I loved about being in NewYork and switching over to producing side was
that I felt like I had alittle bit more control of my career because
a lot of times, when you'reup for soaps and things like that,
you might be passed for a job. You're down to two people and you
get passed for someone who's shorter becausethe lead actor happens to be shorter or
(11:39):
brunette versus blonde, or depending onwhat kind of nationality they wanted. So
I felt like I could have morecontrol. And so I had a lot
of fun working with Terror on TheRight Turn because we got to do everything
together. Wait, so I've heardthe Right Turn a few times? Ye
Wait, I'm sorry before? Whatchallenges did y'all face? And then let's
ask about the right time I wasgonna be like and making the way I
(12:00):
was gonna do a one only questionmaking the right time? What challenge is
it? You faith and faith beforeyou got to that point where you have
said, you know what, weneed our own projects. I wouldn't call
anything a challenge, you know.I would just say they were opportunities to
move forward. I don't like theword challenge because it feels, you know,
it's like there were blocked. Ithink that what happens when you're faced
(12:22):
with what appears to be something,you find another way around it, and
then the more you do that,the easier it becomes to do that.
So for us, I would say, you know, we we were really
because I think we collectively and separatelydone so much, you know, as
far as what we are capable of. We're basically a two man, a
(12:43):
two female production. Tom like wecould, with maybe one other person,
you know, be the whole crewif we needed to. So that's why
I don't know about challenges. Iwould say, you know, the most
challenging part of it could be whenCOVID hit, how do we navigate around
COVID and the rules and the SAGand the union. And we were able
(13:05):
to do it by you know,just condensing our crew and yeah, and
you know, the project started outreally small and really small idea and then
developing to us having t shirt Campbellon and and all these different people on
the series. So it took itstarted to take on its own life,
and I think if there was achallenge, it would be catching up to
what kept happening. We had tocatch up to it. So I would
(13:28):
say that that attitude. I didhear an interview with Terriblefore and she said,
if it wasn't fotactif probably wouldn't havedone this. Wait, was that
okay to say, yeah, absolutelyall things. You didn't even check the
vote because yeah, this project probablyyou know, you something to this magnitude.
(13:48):
I mean, I could do itnow, but when you do it
your first time and you don't,you've never really I mean, I've produced
things a lot, but I've neverproduced a whole eight episode series and figure
out how to get it done.But this, you know, their days
when it feels overwhelming, and soyou have to it's nice to have somebody
who's not overwhelmed that day. Theycan have your back and vice versus.
(14:09):
You know, So, what didyou signing especially interesting about? This project
is special? And then of courseplease answer the challenge question. We keep
throwing it out there, right,So the challenge question. I think the
challenge would be I don't know.I look at things differently. Like Tera
said, there are opportunities for growth, so yes, I want an end
(14:31):
the given day you come up againstanything, whether it's getting to one place
to the other with bad traffic.I think it's how you look at life
that how you do one thing ishow you do everything. So you meet
the opportunity and you breathe through it, and it's how you react. I
think that's, you know, probablya safe way to answer that question,
because, believe me, every daywe're faced, you know, challenges.
(14:52):
So how do you how do youapproach it? How do you get through
it? As far as the rightturn, it started off as a small
project as to are mentioned in twentyfifteen, and you know, a short
answer is that it was an ideathat I had to do for a director's
contest and I was actually mentoring youngdirectors and Tera was coming into from the
segue of coming back into acting,and she said, I'll do the project
(15:15):
and we met with this other personwho we were working with. It I
directed in a pilot eduarda Costa fromItaly and it was a short, small
project that three years later we cametogether and so let's make something bigger of
it. So yeah, it wentfrom a ten minute piece to eight fifty
minute pieces. So when you lookat it, it's like, you know,
(15:37):
four films that we basically did singlehandedly without studios behind us during COVID,
and yeah, that could be considereda challenge, but we met every
brick on the road and took thebrook and put it in the house and
kept building the bricks until we hadthe right turn mansion. Yeah, that's
(15:58):
pretty much it in the mention,Yeah, I really do love that because
one On and I, as y'allknow team, right as in some days,
what's what's talking about? Some daysyou are a little bit like can
we do this? And then weDona look at me and be like,
oh, of course we can dothis. And then some days she's like,
I don't know why we do this. We're like, we all gotta
keep on going. I'm thinking that. So I understand what it's like to
(16:22):
have somebody have your back in thatway, and when you're feeling overwhelmed,
they're not, and then when they'refeeling overwhelmed, you're not, and it's
just pushes you to make a wonderfulproject. So let's talk a little bit
about The Right Turn, what it'sabout, and then the initiatives that y'all
are doing, the women empower menand how people can support and do this
and help you. You want todo the Right Turn test, you want
(16:45):
to start a horror So The RightTurn is this series on TV right now.
We have all eight episodes. Aswe mentioned, we have four episodes
up there right now, so youcan go to TV and watch it.
And it's w R i GHT andit's the story of Celeste Right Turner aka
Tara Bennett Smith, who comes tothe you know, fifty something crossroads,
(17:07):
divorced, grown children, what doI do with my life now? And
all kinds of really beautiful challenges getpresented in the pilot, like her ex
husband wants her back, and youknow where she going in her life with
regard to love romance. In hercareer. She owns a PR firm called
The Right Term PR, which handlesall social conscious programs, whether you're an
(17:30):
author. We have celebrities that areplaying themselves in the series, like William
kat from America's Greatest Hero. Taramentioned Titia Campbell's Sharman, Augustus, Elizabeth,
Isabella Hoffman, Charmela Devar. Wehave a really great Christopher Duncan.
We have a great cast of people, and even the people that aren't well
known, like the people I mentioned, the cast is built with just amazing
(17:52):
talent. Everyone came with full gameon and it was it's like we built
a family. So we're really excitedabout getting the last four episodes out,
which is what we're up to rightnow. Oh loving, can we talk
a little bit about like just tellus like two sentences about y'all's initiatives,
and then the last question is whatadvice do you have for for other women
(18:14):
who have to follow in your footsteps? And where can we find out more
about you in the right term.Yeah, yeah, we claim Haven really
focuses on women, although we dohave some men involved every now and then.
A lot of times women as weage, we kind of lose who
we are. We become somebody's wife, somebody's mother, somebody's everything, and
(18:34):
then one day you look around andyou're not even quite sure who you are
because we are we're multitaskers. Weare givers of everything to everyone. To
make sure you know everyone's taking careof and sometimes we negate taking care of
ourselves, and a lot of womendon't even take a day off to you
know, I'm having a meet day, especially moms and you know, women
(18:56):
who'll marry. Then there's the job, you know, the stresses of being
a woman, corporate job or anyjob where you have to be always on
your piece and ques. But youcan't be too much of a bee,
you know, but you got tobe strong. But if you're strong,
but don't be a bee, becausethen you're not. So it's all this
stuff that we navigate. And I'vedone workshops where you know, I've talked
to women who are who are lawyersand principles at school and I asked them,
(19:18):
so, what is your passion foryou? They had no clue.
Success will make a lot of money, but there were things that they've always
wanted to do for themselves that they'venever done and very insecure about. So
what my program does is, youknow, we we help you to redesign
your blueprint. Meaning you may besuccess, but you also may be carrying
baggage from your parents and your familyand whatever they dictated to you. You
(19:42):
know that you don't even know you'reliving out because you've done it so long
as you're norm and so. Butthose are blueprints that was set for us
at a young age that we followedall the way through our adulthood. So
through with the blueprints, we writea reading, get to design the blueprint
of a life that you want,and then you have to re write the
script that you literally write your life, because we're all living in a play.
(20:03):
Everything, this whole conversation is aplay. You know, it's a
production. This is my production.I've invited you in, and you and
you and and you, and it'syour production. You've invited me in today,
but tomorrow I won't be in yourplay because you've written me out.
So there are people that need tobe written out our production every day.
There are people who don't serve usthat needs to get written out. Just
like if we're sitting in a movieand we don't like the movie, we're
(20:26):
not going back. But we keeppeople in our lives who don't serve us
because for whatever reason. So it'sabout rewriting your script and redesigning your life
so that you can now live thelife, whether it's fifty forty whatever,
you can live out the rest ofyour life with an intention and a purpose
that services you. So that's whatreclaim him? Yeah right, reclaim Yeah,
(20:49):
we can talk. I'll send itto you. I do workshops and
private things whatever you guys need.Absolutely I can be very important to do
that. I'm sorry, go ahead. I just wanted to say, where
can you well find find more aboutthat? You watch you claim haven dot
com. I am Haven ha Vendot com. You can also reach me
(21:10):
at the Tara t r r AH. Bennett Smith on ig and Tara
Bennett Smith on Facebook. Thank youso much. Yes, so for my
initiatives, I've been doing nonprofit activismwork all my life. From a teenager,
I was volunteering. I started myfirst nonprofit in ninety two called the
World Trust Foundation, which was empoweringyoung people and doing the revealed to heal
(21:36):
from trauma, and it transformed intoGlobal Women's Empowerment Network in two twelve and
since then, I do a lotof workshops like Tara in the women's world,
but I also have done more ofa deeper dive in another avenue with
regard to sex trafficking, domestic violenceand healing from those kinds of trauma.
(21:56):
I presently have a film out onthe Film Festival, which we tagged in
when we were filming The Right Turnin fact Terror plays the Hotel rescue Worker,
and two of our other cast membersfrom The Right Turn are cast in
that as well. It's right nowon the festival market. We've already gotten
twelve film festival awareness including can WorldFilm Festival for Justice, Social Justice and
(22:18):
Best Director which I was the director. And I'm leaving next week to go
to DC for the Whistleblowers Film Festival. It's a whole week of ten year
Whistleblower festivals and events and Capitol Hilland all kinds of stuff because it's really
going to be a place where Ican be able to step foot back into
(22:41):
Washington, DC for the advocacy forsex trafficking. But if you have a
namement you and you do you wantto do some great Italian while you're here,
right, yeah, you'll be likeI can send you guys to link
to where to get the tickets ourfilm screens on the twenty second of July,
the opening day of the film festival. Definitely go absolutely. I mean,
(23:03):
you don't know this, but I'lltalk about it later. This is
a lot of where can people findout donate help you out with your your
if you know, to Gwen dotGlobal there's a donate page. And definitely
we're working in collaboration with other organizationsthat are doing boots on the ground rescue
and rehabilitation. So there's a lotmore in the background of that whole other
(23:26):
game plan. Well, thank youso much, so much, But like
taking time out of your schedule andcoming on on our show, I'm so
glad to be able to do thiswith Tara too. Yeah, I know
it kind of worked at as thingsalways work out as they should. It's
never in the never accidents. Everythinghas. When I found out that you
both had the same link on thesame time, I started praying and God
(23:48):
said, calm down, No,it's bright because neither one of us knew
that we were both on your show, and it just as God planned.
It's all great to be here becauseit's always good to be on a call
with Tara and talk about our mutualthings. And I admire her work she's
doing with empowerment and all that couldstop at university. Thank you ladies as
(24:08):
well for doing what you're doing.Yes you will, I will help us
up. Thank you coming on ourshow. I really appreciate and just remember
y'all that you can find out everythingyour ladies are doing on www. Dot
and I thought ladies dot com.While you're dare, take a moment go
to the middle of the page andsee the charities that we probably support hopefully
can support them. Also, wethank you in advance but that and just
(24:29):
remember, y'all, wisdom is allaround you. You're open to finding it
and accepting as a piece of love. You guys from Mom and Jay,
Bye bye, oh yeah, thanksfor listener.
Hello, ever, we want towelcome to the Ladies South podcast today.
I know, right, y'all,I've been busy behind the scenes trying to
do all the other things that haveto be done. But yeah, I
mean, how am I celebrating myselflike that? That seems like a little
bit like yo job going on.I am the narcisses after all, I'm
Jay. Oh right, and Iwill ourselves like I going professionalism to that.
(00:27):
I feel like we bought it.Oh yeah, I mean we have
to because we have two amazing peopleand I know, right in the world.
And I was like, oh,I feel like I'm gonna get judged
horribly, But that's okay. Itdoesn't really matter because y'all, we wrote
books and though he's are and Ithought divorces bed and I thought being grown
up with ze only our mere memoiin verse feign web, widows wet withos
debt and with web. Okay,so I didn't even left me. Yeah
(00:49):
you didn't even let me say literallyyour life guys pop poetry. Okays,
like, don't really me say thatliterally your life guys. But you can
find out everything you leaves it doing. And I thought ladies do um,
but you might hit he hear aboutours. You're hitting here for my wonderful
guests. Wonderful guests. Would youlike to introduce yourselves? Hey, I'm
Tera Bennett Smith and I'm Test Katchachari. We're so happy to be here today,
(01:14):
y'all in the and how like this, well in the ladies game,
in the women's game, I don'twomen. Yeah, the women's cave.
We're boss right across I can.I can look out my window and see
where Terrible its. So we're close. Not in the same location, but
we're close. Oh. I wasabout to be like, is the wine
happening? Lady? And also amI invited? Because I love coms?
(01:37):
Invited for wine? You would haveto do it virtually though, because we're
not we are not where you are. I also catch we'll be what We'll
be that two hours? Yeah,we'll be that two hours later. I'm
not good at math, I writepol okay, so um, I really
wanted to ask because both of youare just fun, normal women right in
(02:00):
your careers. Yes, how didy'all get started? And yes, y'all
get started y'all? Yo, goahead. Well, I'm from New York
City and I started in front ofthe camera, basically in dance classes because
my mother do us in dance classes, so we would stay off the streets.
And that kind of parlayed into doingBroadway, and I was a recording
(02:23):
artist and a lot of theater,and then moving out to La I just
I got sick of theater because Idid so much in New York that I
wanted to do more television and film. So I came out here and the
first thing I booked was a pilot, a spent off for the Facts of
Life, and then I just kepton booking jobs and then parlayed into behind
the camera, where I still doboth now as a director. My first
(02:46):
feature film was called Flip the Scriptwith Robin Gibbons Miguel Nunez, and that's
as a director, and then Ijust kept directing and producing. And I
also do workshops and empowerment workshops forwomen through my organization we Claim Haven.
We try to help you to redesignyour blueprint and and rewrite the script of
(03:07):
your life. That's kind of whatwe do there. And um, yeah,
I do all of that stuff.And I and I and I'm now
coaching and helping hopefuls who want toget into the industry, so they won't
bump their head ninety five times.They kind of I give them the from
point A to point B of whatthey have. Three amazing children, not
(03:29):
children, young adults. Now inthe midst of doing all of that.
Yes, life goes on, youknow, life goes on. So that's
me in a nutshell. Well,they have very large I'm so many questions.
Okay, not enough time, butso many questions. Time. I'll
do mind as quickly as possible.Uh g de Moines Iowa started dancing very
(03:51):
young, as Tera did UM.We actually lived down the street from one
another in New York. Not asfamiliar from here because we didn't know each
other back in the day. ButI too did soap operas and music videos.
I had a recording contract with CBSBobcat Records. UM loved behind in
front of the camera as well.That's why we have such similar interest in
(04:12):
what we're doing in the empowerment side. I have an organization called Global Women's
Empowerment Network UM, and I doa lot of things for advocacy for sex
trafficking, domestic violence, abuse,and healing. So those are kind of
the lanes. And then Tara andI met several years ago, over a
decade by now, and we cametogether to do a series that's out on
(04:33):
TV right now called The Right Term. We can talk all about that.
Yeah, okay, So I havea couple of things today. First,
Ryn Iowa, the Iowa state figureyoung. I heard me say yea when
you say de moi Iowa, becauseI would be like, fine, oil,
okay everything. Yeah. And thenwhen well you said you two,
(05:00):
I thought, oh my goodness,how do you remember those lines? Night
after night after night? I sometimesforget my own name once you once you
get them, you got them.And then every now and then you have
a brain fart. So you youmight stand there and somebody has defeated to
you. But you know, whenyou've been doing it a long time and
you're working with people, especially whenyou're doing theater, that means you're doing
(05:23):
the same project over and over,so someone can actually guide you back.
You know, they may say something. You know, if your line was
I really love those red shoes,they may say something like, so have
you found some shoes that you liked? Yet? Oh I really love those
The net will jarve. So there'sall kinds of little tricks of the trade,
but for the most part, it'sjust it's just muscle memories, like
(05:43):
riding a bike. Do you dothe same in television as well? A
little bit different because unless you're doinga live, live show, most shows
are prerecorded, so you get tostop and they call cut and then you
pick up your line. And televisionthey want your lines to be more accurate
because it's a time thing. Youknow, you have to they have to
(06:03):
get everything in and the writer you'renot allowed to take to take the writer's
awards and change them around unless theygive you permission. So unless they're on
our set, on our set,we do what we want to do.
Yeah, so I need to askyou about this set because if anybody,
all of our fans knows this questionis coming and we normally save it for
last but but since y'all talked abouta set, I have to say,
(06:25):
so craft services on your set?And also it's our life it's our life
goal since I was twelve years oldto have craft services on a set.
So I just want to know what'scraft services like for either of you.
Both of you, we'd like theair both stories. Well, I figured
since you're an Oreo Fried Oreo girls, you love you obviously all the questions
(06:46):
on the planet Earth. We've neverreally been asked about craft services. However,
we don't mind answering. We Youknow, when you're doing independent projects
and your independent producers, one ofthe key things you always want to make
sure is that people eat well,because you know, when you can't pay
them, the big, big bigbugs, they that tummies need to be
full, so we usually have wetry to keep it as healthy as possible.
(07:09):
That the staple things are always chipsand maybe some cookies or something like
that, because people can just wrapthose and you know they like the chips.
But I think for the most part, because we're fairly healthy eaters,
you want to make sure that yourcrew and your talent don't crash and burn
from too much junk food because it'lltake you up and then if you're still
(07:29):
shooting ten twelve hours, you willcrash and all you want to do is
go to sleep, So you haveto make smart choices. It's fast filming
with regard to filming in the codeand code. During COVID we had a
lot of very small sets, sowe filmed most of Celestid Turner Terra's part
in my home. So because Ilove cooking and I love catering, I
(07:50):
had my own little baby catering companyway back in the day. A lot
of times I would be cooking inthe kitchen while we're you know, running
to the store to get craft servicestuff, which as ter set chips and
cookies and apples and healthy stuff.So we made sure that we accommodated to
vegan um and allergies and all sortsof things. So I just want to
(08:11):
kitchen catch a Tori. So she'sa very Italian. Yes, I'm sorry.
We all would have the food,okay. So I'm just gonna say
that when and I we handle abroom and a very well, just in
case you ever need some volunteers onset, that you will still you're here,
you get looked up and you willbe on set and you might even
(08:37):
you might have hit it. Sowe do that too, okay. So
yeah, now we have to talkreally about about we're gonna get back on
schedule. Y'all gonna do it,Okay. So like the next question I
was gonna ask you about it.You both said you went behind the camera.
Can you tell us what it waslike going from in front or behind
(08:58):
the camera, and were there anychallenges for me? There was not really
a challenge because I think I wasinnately about business, you know, I
at a very young age and growingup in the Bronx and the projects.
We had a community terrace, whichis like a balcony that had like this
gated thing in and it had cementa semen seat that went across the whole
(09:22):
thing, and I would put onshows every weekend. I'd made people buy
tickets and one sided when we beatthe costumes and I'd had the drape up
and then all my family would comeand sit on the seamen. I get
all my neighbors and we sing DianaRoss songs and you know, so that
was kind of my thing. Iwas always running the business while I was
in front of the camera. SoI never thought that I wanted to direct
or anything. I just wanted toact, and it kind of happened.
(09:46):
I think my first thing was atheater project that a front of mine needed
a Direction's like, you've done somuch theater, And it was true.
I knew what to do because I'vedone so much. And then it just
kept parlaying in from one thing tothe next, so initially for a person
who was used to be in frontof the camera. It was an adjustment
because what happens at the end ofevery anything you do, you know,
(10:07):
the focus goes to the people onthe stage. It very rarely will go
to the people behind the camera.So I'm used to being the person on
the stage. So it was anadjustment. You know, at the end
of the show, nobody's coming upto be going, oh, there,
a great job. So I butwhat I learned was that as I sit
and I watched, I really becameempowered and excited about what I was able
to put together to help others.So it became less about my ego and
(10:31):
more about the fact that I contributedsomething that helped others. And that's really
what's the honest truth, how Icondition. Yeah, so I started in
front of the camera on stage aswell. I did a really wonderful theater
program a BFA at Steven's College.So we had to do set design,
set build, stage management, soundcostumes, everything. So there was a
(10:54):
full blown three year two summer stockprogram. And when I really got the
directing bug was the directing program thatI followed in and I did something really
crazy and I went off campus andI did this independent thing and made the
director department really mad at me,and they still talk about it after all
these years. So I feel like, you know, I'm a rebel in
(11:15):
a lot of ways, and andso I loved being on both sides.
What I loved about being in NewYork and switching over to producing side was
that I felt like I had alittle bit more control of my career because
a lot of times, when you'reup for soaps and things like that,
you might be passed for a job. You're down to two people and you
get passed for someone who's shorter becausethe lead actor happens to be shorter or
(11:39):
brunette versus blonde, or depending onwhat kind of nationality they wanted. So
I felt like I could have morecontrol. And so I had a lot
of fun working with Terror on TheRight Turn because we got to do everything
together. Wait, so I've heardthe Right Turn a few times? Ye
Wait, I'm sorry before? Whatchallenges did y'all face? And then let's
ask about the right time I wasgonna be like and making the way I
(12:00):
was gonna do a one only questionmaking the right time? What challenge is
it? You faith and faith beforeyou got to that point where you have
said, you know what, weneed our own projects. I wouldn't call
anything a challenge, you know.I would just say they were opportunities to
move forward. I don't like theword challenge because it feels, you know,
it's like there were blocked. Ithink that what happens when you're faced
(12:22):
with what appears to be something,you find another way around it, and
then the more you do that,the easier it becomes to do that.
So for us, I would say, you know, we we were really
because I think we collectively and separatelydone so much, you know, as
far as what we are capable of. We're basically a two man, a
(12:43):
two female production. Tom like wecould, with maybe one other person,
you know, be the whole crewif we needed to. So that's why
I don't know about challenges. Iwould say, you know, the most
challenging part of it could be whenCOVID hit, how do we navigate around
COVID and the rules and the SAGand the union. And we were able
(13:05):
to do it by you know,just condensing our crew and yeah, and
you know, the project started outreally small and really small idea and then
developing to us having t shirt Campbellon and and all these different people on
the series. So it took itstarted to take on its own life,
and I think if there was achallenge, it would be catching up to
what kept happening. We had tocatch up to it. So I would
(13:28):
say that that attitude. I didhear an interview with Terriblefore and she said,
if it wasn't fotactif probably wouldn't havedone this. Wait, was that
okay to say, yeah, absolutelyall things. You didn't even check the
vote because yeah, this project probablyyou know, you something to this magnitude.
(13:48):
I mean, I could do itnow, but when you do it
your first time and you don't,you've never really I mean, I've produced
things a lot, but I've neverproduced a whole eight episode series and figure
out how to get it done.But this, you know, their days
when it feels overwhelming, and soyou have to it's nice to have somebody
who's not overwhelmed that day. Theycan have your back and vice versus.
(14:09):
You know, So, what didyou signing especially interesting about? This project
is special? And then of courseplease answer the challenge question. We keep
throwing it out there, right,So the challenge question. I think the
challenge would be I don't know.I look at things differently. Like Tera
said, there are opportunities for growth, so yes, I want an end
(14:31):
the given day you come up againstanything, whether it's getting to one place
to the other with bad traffic.I think it's how you look at life
that how you do one thing ishow you do everything. So you meet
the opportunity and you breathe through it, and it's how you react. I
think that's, you know, probablya safe way to answer that question,
because, believe me, every daywe're faced, you know, challenges.
(14:52):
So how do you how do youapproach it? How do you get through
it? As far as the rightturn, it started off as a small
project as to are mentioned in twentyfifteen, and you know, a short
answer is that it was an ideathat I had to do for a director's
contest and I was actually mentoring youngdirectors and Tera was coming into from the
segue of coming back into acting,and she said, I'll do the project
(15:15):
and we met with this other personwho we were working with. It I
directed in a pilot eduarda Costa fromItaly and it was a short, small
project that three years later we cametogether and so let's make something bigger of
it. So yeah, it wentfrom a ten minute piece to eight fifty
minute pieces. So when you lookat it, it's like, you know,
(15:37):
four films that we basically did singlehandedly without studios behind us during COVID,
and yeah, that could be considereda challenge, but we met every
brick on the road and took thebrook and put it in the house and
kept building the bricks until we hadthe right turn mansion. Yeah, that's
(15:58):
pretty much it in the mention,Yeah, I really do love that because
one On and I, as y'allknow team, right as in some days,
what's what's talking about? Some daysyou are a little bit like can
we do this? And then weDona look at me and be like,
oh, of course we can dothis. And then some days she's like,
I don't know why we do this. We're like, we all gotta
keep on going. I'm thinking that. So I understand what it's like to
(16:22):
have somebody have your back in thatway, and when you're feeling overwhelmed,
they're not, and then when they'refeeling overwhelmed, you're not, and it's
just pushes you to make a wonderfulproject. So let's talk a little bit
about The Right Turn, what it'sabout, and then the initiatives that y'all
are doing, the women empower menand how people can support and do this
and help you. You want todo the Right Turn test, you want
(16:45):
to start a horror So The RightTurn is this series on TV right now.
We have all eight episodes. Aswe mentioned, we have four episodes
up there right now, so youcan go to TV and watch it.
And it's w R i GHT andit's the story of Celeste Right Turner aka
Tara Bennett Smith, who comes tothe you know, fifty something crossroads,
(17:07):
divorced, grown children, what doI do with my life now? And
all kinds of really beautiful challenges getpresented in the pilot, like her ex
husband wants her back, and youknow where she going in her life with
regard to love romance. In hercareer. She owns a PR firm called
The Right Term PR, which handlesall social conscious programs, whether you're an
(17:30):
author. We have celebrities that areplaying themselves in the series, like William
kat from America's Greatest Hero. Taramentioned Titia Campbell's Sharman, Augustus, Elizabeth,
Isabella Hoffman, Charmela Devar. Wehave a really great Christopher Duncan.
We have a great cast of people, and even the people that aren't well
known, like the people I mentioned, the cast is built with just amazing
(17:52):
talent. Everyone came with full gameon and it was it's like we built
a family. So we're really excitedabout getting the last four episodes out,
which is what we're up to rightnow. Oh loving, can we talk
a little bit about like just tellus like two sentences about y'all's initiatives,
and then the last question is whatadvice do you have for for other women
(18:14):
who have to follow in your footsteps? And where can we find out more
about you in the right term.Yeah, yeah, we claim Haven really
focuses on women, although we dohave some men involved every now and then.
A lot of times women as weage, we kind of lose who
we are. We become somebody's wife, somebody's mother, somebody's everything, and
(18:34):
then one day you look around andyou're not even quite sure who you are
because we are we're multitaskers. Weare givers of everything to everyone. To
make sure you know everyone's taking careof and sometimes we negate taking care of
ourselves, and a lot of womendon't even take a day off to you
know, I'm having a meet day, especially moms and you know, women
(18:56):
who'll marry. Then there's the job, you know, the stresses of being
a woman, corporate job or anyjob where you have to be always on
your piece and ques. But youcan't be too much of a bee,
you know, but you got tobe strong. But if you're strong,
but don't be a bee, becausethen you're not. So it's all this
stuff that we navigate. And I'vedone workshops where you know, I've talked
to women who are who are lawyersand principles at school and I asked them,
(19:18):
so, what is your passion foryou? They had no clue.
Success will make a lot of money, but there were things that they've always
wanted to do for themselves that they'venever done and very insecure about. So
what my program does is, youknow, we we help you to redesign
your blueprint. Meaning you may besuccess, but you also may be carrying
baggage from your parents and your familyand whatever they dictated to you. You
(19:42):
know that you don't even know you'reliving out because you've done it so long
as you're norm and so. Butthose are blueprints that was set for us
at a young age that we followedall the way through our adulthood. So
through with the blueprints, we writea reading, get to design the blueprint
of a life that you want,and then you have to re write the
script that you literally write your life, because we're all living in a play.
(20:03):
Everything, this whole conversation is aplay. You know, it's a
production. This is my production.I've invited you in, and you and
you and and you, and it'syour production. You've invited me in today,
but tomorrow I won't be in yourplay because you've written me out.
So there are people that need tobe written out our production every day.
There are people who don't serve usthat needs to get written out. Just
like if we're sitting in a movieand we don't like the movie, we're
(20:26):
not going back. But we keeppeople in our lives who don't serve us
because for whatever reason. So it'sabout rewriting your script and redesigning your life
so that you can now live thelife, whether it's fifty forty whatever,
you can live out the rest ofyour life with an intention and a purpose
that services you. So that's whatreclaim him? Yeah right, reclaim Yeah,
(20:49):
we can talk. I'll send itto you. I do workshops and
private things whatever you guys need.Absolutely I can be very important to do
that. I'm sorry, go ahead. I just wanted to say, where
can you well find find more aboutthat? You watch you claim haven dot
com. I am Haven ha Vendot com. You can also reach me
(21:10):
at the Tara t r r AH. Bennett Smith on ig and Tara
Bennett Smith on Facebook. Thank youso much. Yes, so for my
initiatives, I've been doing nonprofit activismwork all my life. From a teenager,
I was volunteering. I started myfirst nonprofit in ninety two called the
World Trust Foundation, which was empoweringyoung people and doing the revealed to heal
(21:36):
from trauma, and it transformed intoGlobal Women's Empowerment Network in two twelve and
since then, I do a lotof workshops like Tara in the women's world,
but I also have done more ofa deeper dive in another avenue with
regard to sex trafficking, domestic violenceand healing from those kinds of trauma.
(21:56):
I presently have a film out onthe Film Festival, which we tagged in
when we were filming The Right Turnin fact Terror plays the Hotel rescue Worker,
and two of our other cast membersfrom The Right Turn are cast in
that as well. It's right nowon the festival market. We've already gotten
twelve film festival awareness including can WorldFilm Festival for Justice, Social Justice and
(22:18):
Best Director which I was the director. And I'm leaving next week to go
to DC for the Whistleblowers Film Festival. It's a whole week of ten year
Whistleblower festivals and events and Capitol Hilland all kinds of stuff because it's really
going to be a place where Ican be able to step foot back into
(22:41):
Washington, DC for the advocacy forsex trafficking. But if you have a
namement you and you do you wantto do some great Italian while you're here,
right, yeah, you'll be likeI can send you guys to link
to where to get the tickets ourfilm screens on the twenty second of July,
the opening day of the film festival. Definitely go absolutely. I mean,
(23:03):
you don't know this, but I'lltalk about it later. This is
a lot of where can people findout donate help you out with your your
if you know, to Gwen dotGlobal there's a donate page. And definitely
we're working in collaboration with other organizationsthat are doing boots on the ground rescue
and rehabilitation. So there's a lotmore in the background of that whole other
(23:26):
game plan. Well, thank youso much, so much, But like
taking time out of your schedule andcoming on on our show, I'm so
glad to be able to do thiswith Tara too. Yeah, I know
it kind of worked at as thingsalways work out as they should. It's
never in the never accidents. Everythinghas. When I found out that you
both had the same link on thesame time, I started praying and God
(23:48):
said, calm down, No,it's bright because neither one of us knew
that we were both on your show, and it just as God planned.
It's all great to be here becauseit's always good to be on a call
with Tara and talk about our mutualthings. And I admire her work she's
doing with empowerment and all that couldstop at university. Thank you ladies as
(24:08):
well for doing what you're doing.Yes you will, I will help us
up. Thank you coming on ourshow. I really appreciate and just remember
y'all that you can find out everythingyour ladies are doing on www. Dot
and I thought ladies dot com.While you're dare, take a moment go
to the middle of the page andsee the charities that we probably support hopefully
can support them. Also, wethank you in advance but that and just
(24:29):
remember, y'all, wisdom is allaround you. You're open to finding it
and accepting as a piece of love. You guys from Mom and Jay,
Bye bye, oh yeah, thanksfor listener.
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