Resources, tools, tips and tricks for storytellers who want to take control of their career, their stories, and their futures.
THE SWEET BUILD: It's all about the work...
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WORK...Was this forwarded to you? Join us and subscribe here. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WORK... Hey, Reader, Many of you know my story. I moved to Los Angeles at 35 years old with one screenplay. I was determined to get that movie made. I had no idea how to get a movie made. After a lot of knocking on doors, rejection, mistakes, and heartache, that film, entitled REALLY LOVE, was made. In total, it took ten years. That experience, and the almost ten years I’ve been in Hollywood, have taught me a lot. Many of those lessons I’ll be sharing over time in this newsletter. These years have also shaped how I approach my craft, career, and the business. And that philosophy can be summed up as: It’s all about the work. I know this isn’t a sexy declaration. But it has worked for me tremendously. It has allowed me to thrive. In ten years, I’ve:
WHAT IS THE WORK? The actual work. The creating. The working on craft. The getting better. The butt in the seat. There’s the inner work. Tools to help us navigate oppressive and toxic systems, strengthen our self worth, and create space for our missions. There’s the work of service. Giving back to the ecosystem. Supporting your fellow artists. Knowledge exchange. Mentorship. There’s the audience building. Establishing relationships with the communities we create for. Being of service to them. Handling stories of our communities with care. There’s the building of new systems. New paradigms. Dismantling of old ones. Taking risks. Giving opportunity to those who may not get it otherwise. So let’s dive into each individually. THE ACTUAL WORK I believe we owe it to ourselves and our audiences to show up as our best in the moment. I believe one of our goals should be to become masters of our craft, a lifelong journey nonetheless. But it’s also about making work by any means necessary. I’m not one of those who is like, grab your iPhone, make a movie. Creating can be expensive. But it is imperative that we find ways to make our work. We have to be creative, resourceful, collaborative and start with the low-hanging fruit. Is it an IG series instead of a short film? Do you rent out a small community theater and put the work up on its feet? Do you turn a movie into a podcast or a novel? You can read the script for my short film tender, a story I took from a pilot I wrote. To me, one of Hollywood’s dirty secrets is that it actually doesn’t make stuff, really. If you think about the volume of work that is available compared to what actually gets made. Instead, we’re often waiting around for Hollywood to “understand” our projects only to never actually make them. Scripts rot on desks or become stuck in development hell. Making work is also important from a career standpoint. It helps us get hired. It’s important from a craft standpoint. It’s how we get better. Making work without corporate oversight helps us to find our voice, style, and audience. BTW: If you're having trouble starting or finishing your projects, check out my book The Creative Comeback Workbook. THE INNER WORK Early in my Hollywood journey, when I realized how nutty this business is, I got into therapy and have been in therapy consistently for seven years. I also meditate. I go hiking every Sunday. I surround myself with my village. We have seen how Hollywood has done a number on too many. Or has destroyed their physical or mental health. We need therapeutic practices to help us deal with our unresolved trauma, to navigate these toxic systems, and create space for our freedom and the freedom of others. We also have to embrace our value as people and artists. There is no room for us to undervalue ourselves or our work. Therapy also helps me to break through the walls and fears of telling authentic and unapologetic stories. The other day, I was talking to an emerging writer who talked about his dream job. I don’t think we should make any job the dream. I think the mission is the dream. Because I operate from a mission, I am very clear that Hollywood is only one way that I am actualizing that mission. Someone recently asked me: What was your big break? What finally got you in the door? Therapy was my big break. Because now I know there isn’t a “door.” I am the door. When we know that no institution is our source, we can define success on our own terms. WORK OF SERVICE From 2012 until recently, I ran The Create Daily, a service for my fellow storytellers to find opportunity and grow their careers. We put on workshops and courses. During Covid, I did an IG Live series with my showrunner, producer, director friends. A fun way to exchange knowledge. For me, the work is also about making sure there are more of us in this game and that there are more of us creating new playing fields. And the latter is a major focus for this newsletter. It’s also supporting other storytellers’ work. Sharing, buying, donating. Watching on Youtube. Showing up at opening weekend. Liking it on social media. It’s crucial. AUDIENCE BUILDING I believe if you have the people on your side, you’re unstoppable. I also think we have to get past our fears of sharing the work. Not sharing our work is selfish. Oh, it’s not perfect. I’m scared of what people will say. That’s all ego. Chances are, we weren’t the only ones who worked on the project, so we’re also denying the other artists the ability for audiences to experience their craft. It’s also very important that we prioritize sharing the work with the people we actually made it for. Too often we just want to share it with institutions and other entities like film festivals. Festivals are important from a career perspective, but it shouldn’t be our only method of distribution. THE BUILDING Having spent nearly a decade in Hollywood, after more than fifteen years working in media, it became clear to me that in order to see ourselves in ALL of our glory, we’re going to have to do it ourselves. So about three years I started a media + production company called HONEY CHILE that develops, creates, and produces stories by, for, or about Black women 40+, across film, TV, digital, audio, books, and events. Honeys, as we like to call our audience! Stories by meaning anything that I do, no matter what it is about. Stories for meaning anything Honeys may be interested in, which is wide because our story palates are vast, and stories about Honeys, means explicitly centering a Honey. In these three years, we’ve set up television projects at CBS Studios and Lifetime, one of which is based on a book by Honeys. We have a project in development at Amazon based on the NYT-bestselling romance SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE. We released our proof of concept and short film LOOK BACK AT IT and it screened in over 30 film festivals and won 8 awards, including the Audience Award at BlackStar Film Festival, and it was nominated for a Humanitas Prize in Screenwriting. Our debut podcast from our audio division, CHILE, PLEASE was nominated for an NAACP Image Award, two years in a row. We’ve grown a highly engaged community across social media, newsletters, and more touch points. We co-hosted the first HONEY CHILE Fest, where hundreds of Honeys convened in my hometown of Baltimore, and we put on our first live show for CHILE, PLEASE. We teamed up with the Black Femme Supremacy Film Festival run by Baltimore native Nia Hampton. And we also showcased work by Baltimore women and nonbinary filmmakers. It was a sold-out event. And our latest initiative is to reimagine financing models. Soon, we’re launching The HONEY Fund, a fiscally-sponsored (all donations are tax write-offs) fundraising effort that would allow HONEY CHILE to fund an array of independent projects across audio, digital, film, and TV that center historically excluded voices, stories, collaborators, and audiences. THE SWEET BUILD My goal is to encourage and embolden you to:
We’re building careers on our own terms. We’re building our audiences. We’re building new tables. We’re building companies. We’re building ecosystems. We’re building new ways of doing things. And we’re building artists who know their value. Who’s with me? BTW: Bring your community along, forward them this email and encourage them to subscribe.
IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...Promote your project or business in The Sweet Build. Want to get in front of 1,300+ motivated storytellers? We're offering an introductory flat rate of $500. Inquire today by responding to this email. This email was sent by Kit. And I really enjoy working with them because I can also sell products through them. I sold the first 21-Day Creative Comeback Challenge completely through Kit. It's an awesome one-stop shop. Here's my Kit affiliate link. Ever wonder how people send those automated DMs? Well, I did! We use Manychat. It's a great way to send links to products, podcasts, articles, and more. You also know who's super interested in your content and can follow-up accordingly. Here's my Manychat affiliate link. How do I stay organized? I feel like I've tried all the productivity software girls. And none can see Notion. She has it all. It takes some time to learn, but chile... once you do! You can build custom databases (we track contacts, projects, more), create custom pages and more. I LOVE it. Here's my Notion affiliate link. |
THE SWEET BUILD with Felicia Pride
Resources, tools, tips and tricks for storytellers who want to take control of their career, their stories, and their futures.
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