Black Girl Nerds

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome actors Mike Colter and Antonio Fargas to discuss their latest film Murder City. The film follows Neil (Mike Colter), a cop and dedicated family man with a glimmer of warmth behind his otherwise coarse husk. Financially down on his luck, Neil decides to take a job selling a load of dope with his deadbeat father, Graham (Antonio Fargas), which turns out to be a DEA trap. Mike Colter has been nominated for two back-to-back Critics Choice Awards (Lead Actor in a Drama Series) for his role as priest-in-training “David Acosta” on the streaming series Evil, which is currently airing its third season. Antonio Fargas is a legend in the film, television and theater industry. He is a remarkable talent who has portrayed a wide and vast array of characters throughout his long and storied career. His unforgettable characters “Huggy Bear” in Starsky & Hutch, “Bunky” in Shaft, “Link Brown” in Foxy Brown and “Lindy” in Carwash, clearly established Fargas as a bona fide icon. Murder City is currently streaming on Tubi. Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome actor  Teyonah Parris and author Blair L.M. Kelley. Segment 1: Actor Teyonah Parris is best known for portraying Monica Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Disney+ series WandaVision. She will appear in the upcoming film The Marvels reprising the role of Monica and she can currently be seen in the Netflix film They Cloned Tyrone co-starring John Boyega and Jamie Foxx. Hosted by: Jamie Segment 2: Blair LM Kelley, Ph.D. is an award-winning author, historian, and scholar of the African American experience. A dedicated public historian, Kelley works to amplify the histories of Black people, chronicling the everyday impact of their activism. Kelley is currently the Joel R. Williamson Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the incoming director of the Center for the Study of the American South, the first Black woman to serve in that role in the center’s thirty-year history. Kelley’s newest book, Black Folk: The Roots the Black Working Class, begins with the question “What does it mean to be Black and working class?” Hosted by: Ryanne Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome directors Kelley Kali and Numa Perrier. Segment 1: Kelley Kali has a new film called Jagged Mind which made its premiere this past week at the 27th Annual American Black Film Festival in Miami Beach. The psychological thriller is currently streaming on Hulu. Host: Jamie Segment 2: Numa Perrier is the director of the Netflix film The Perfect Find, her first studio movie. She made her first feature debut at SXSW with her film Jezebel. The Perfect Find debuts June 23rd. Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we bring you Jersey Club Queen UNIIQU3 (Cherise Gary) and actor Jordyn Curet of Star Wars: Visions. Segment 1: UNIIQU3 is probably best known for her song with TT the Artist "Off The Chain," which was sampled by Chloe Bailey and Murda Beatz for her debut solo single "Have Mercy." In addition to being one of the progenitors of Jersey Club, UNIIQU3 also has a strong focus on building community, especially in her hometown of Newark, NJ. Host: Ryanne Segment 2: n a galaxy far far away the talented actress, Jordyn Curet, has joined the cast of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2. Alongside Daveed Diggs and Anika Noni Rose, she plays ‘Livy” for the second installment of the popular series, which premiered on May 4th and is currently streaming Disney+. But there's more to Jordyn than just her amazing acting skills. Outside of acting, she is passionate about making life better for kids like herself.  Host: Ryanne Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome actor Rome Flynn. He stars in the series With Love currently streaming on Prime Video. With Love is a romantic dramedy centered on siblings Lily and Jorge Diaz as they navigate big life changes and rely on their equally big family to get them through. Flynn appeared in the second season of Netflix’s superhero drama, Raising Dion as Tevin Wakefield, a former long-distance runner and Olympic track coach who becomes Dion’s trainer and mentor.  Host: Ryanne Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome multi-hyphenate Keith L. Underwood, creator of the comic series 'Califia and the Timeless Sentries'. Keith L. Underwood is an independent public relations expert with over twenty years in the communications industry. He is an international advertising and marketing strategist, content creator, media writer, brand manager, print and digital media consultant, event coordinator, and creative director. In 2014, Underwood was the founder and digital content creator of WarriorsOfWonder.com, a digital media platform featuring the latest news, reviews, and info centering on diversity in the comic book genre. In 2016, Underwood created Califia and the Timeless Sentries. Califia and the Timeless Sentries is a science fantasy property about Califia, a Nubian Amazon queen after whom the state of California was named, who joins forces with other legendary heroes to fight cruelty and injustice in a world where time, space, science, and sorcery defy the laws of nature. The Califia and the Timeless Sentries science fantasy, motion comic web series is currently available on YouTube @califiacomics. Host: Ryanne Music by: Sammus and SkyBlew Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast we welcome actor Crystal Renee’ Hayslett of BET's Sistas and TV showrunner Tze Chun of Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.  Segment 1: Crystal Renee’ Hayslett is an actor and featured in Will Packer Productions and Universal Pictures feature film Praise This, released on Peacock on April 7.  Crystal also stars as ‘Fatima’ in Tyler Perry’s Sistas and its spinoff Zatima. Season 6 of Sistas will premiere on BET 5/31. Host: Ryanne Segment 2:  Tze Chun is Executive Producer and Showrunner of the Gremlins animated prequel Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai for Warner Bros Animation and Amblin which premieres on May 23rd on Max, and served as Showrunner and Executive Producer of Boots Riley’s upcoming Amazon Prime show I'm A Virgo which premieres in June 2023. Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast we drop a bonus episode to feature the animation team behind the upcoming film Elemental from Disney and Pixar Studios. Featured in the interviews are director Peter Sohn, producer Denise Ream as well as directing animators Gwendolyn Enderoğlu and Allison Rutland. Director Peter Sohn joined Pixar Animation Studios in September 2000 and has worked on Academy Award®-winning feature films including Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and “WALL•E.” Sohn made his directorial debut on the Pixar short "Partly Cloudy", before going on to direct his first feature The Good Dinosaur. He was also an executive producer on Luca, which debuted on Disney+ in June 2021. Denise Ream joined Pixar Animation Studios in October 2006 as the associate producer on the Academy Award®-winning feature film Up. Ream continued on to produce 2011’s Cars 2, working alongside director John Lasseter, and Pixar’s original November 2015 feature film, The Good Dinosaur, with director Peter Sohn. Currently, Ream is serving as the producer on Disney and Pixar’s upcoming feature Elemental, again alongside Director Peter Sohn. Gwendolyn  Enderoğlu joined Pixar Animation Studios in July 2013. She has worked as an animator and character development artist on Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Coco, Onward and Luca. As a directing animator, Enderoğlu helps oversee the animation team. Along with the two other directing animators, Enderoğlu’s role was to test and help develop the show’s unique character rigs and animation style, as well as give notes, feedback and advice to the animators to help them execute the director’s vision and elevate each shot in the film. Allison Rutland joined Pixar Animation Studios in April 2009. She worked as an animator on several Academy Award-winning feature films including Toy Story 3, Brave, Inside Out, and Coco. Rutland also served as the Directing Animator on Onward. Disney and Pixar’s Elemental is an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where fire, water, earth and air residents live together. The story introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in and the person she wants to be. Elemental premieres in theaters nationwide June 16th. Host: Jamie  Edited by: Jamie Broadnax Music by: Sammus

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast we interview actor Sung Kang of Fast X and the team behind FX's The Secrets of Hillsong Stacey Lee and Sarah Amos. Segment 1: Sung Kang is an American-born Korean actor, most recognizable for his recurring role in the multi-billion dollar Fast and Furious franchise for Universal Pictures. Sung will next reprise the role of Han Lue in Fast X, the highly-anticipated tenth installment of the Fast franchise, starring opposite Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Jason Momoa, and Helen Mirren. The film is set to release on May 19, 2023. Host: Ryanne Segment 2: The Secrets of Hillsong is a four-part documentary series based on the explosive original reporting on the megachurch’s scandals by Vanity Fair journalists Alex French and Dan Adler. Directed by Stacey Lee, The Secrets of Hillsong features the first interviews with former pastors Carl and Laura Lentz since their public ousting from the church, which for years counted musicians, actors, athletes and other celebrities among its flock. Sarah Amos Executive Producer Sarah Amos currently serves as the vice president of Development & Production (Non-Fiction TV, Documentaries) at Condé Nast Entertainment. Before joining CNE, Amos was the VP of Development and Production for Marvel Entertainment’s New Media division, overseeing the video, livestreaming and audio content slate and was an executive producer on the Disney+ original series Marvel’s 616 and Marvel’s Hero Project. Stacey Lee Director / Producer Stacey Lee is a New Zealand-born, California-based director whose work is defined by a highly visual and emotive storytelling style. Her documentary work has received accolades, including Best Music Documentary at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards, and has premiered at international film festivals, including Toronto, Cannes and Tribeca Film Festival, winning Best in Show at Atlanta and Tacoma Film Festival.   FX’s The Secrets of Hillsong premieres May 19 and streams the next day on Hulu Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast we interview actors Katy O'Brian and Jay Lycurgo. Segment 1: Katy O'Brian is an actor, writer and martial artist. She is best known for her roles as Jentorra in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, George in Syfy's zombie show Z Nation, Major Sarah Grey in The CW's superhero series Black Lightning and Kimball in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. She plays Imperial communications officer Elia Kane in the second and third seasons of The Mandalorian. Host: Jamie Segment 2:  Jay was cast in a supporting role in Matt Reeves’ upcoming blockbuster feature The Batman. He as most recently seen in the role of ‘Tim Drake’ aka ‘Robin’ in the HBO Max series Titans, where he quickly became the fan favorite and the first POC to portray the character. Currently, he can be seen starring as the lead in Joe Barton’s upcoming fantasy series Half-Bad for Netflix Host: Ryanne Music by: Sammus, Sky Blew and Shubzilla Edited by: Jamie Broadnax