hello hi I am a documentary filmmaker
I’m a filmmaker what I love most about
filmmaking is the opportunity to see
things from a different lens you have
the ability to zoom in and look at
things at a granular level and pull out
so you can see the big picture the big
landscape it’s something we should all
do from time to time change our
perspective look at things just a little
bit differently I’m going to show you a
short film that inspired me and changed
my perspective interesting right
this film was made in 1896 the filmmaker
didn’t have distribution the filmmaker
didn’t have a studio deal but the
filmmaker had hustle the filmmaker had
given himself the green light this
filmmaker would write his own press
releases and he would invite the great
news men of the time into the living
room of his friends to talk about the
films he knew how to market he knew how
to PR he knew how to hustle hustle was
really important to him and this is what
he said about it everything comes to him
who hustles while he waits Thomas Edison
was that filmmaker he made 1200 films I
was impressed by him not withstanding
the content but his distribution was so
good that this content would create a
cultural misrepresentation and
stereotype that lives to this day so his
hustle was good but what he did say
inspired me everything everything comes
to him who hustles while he waits so at
that moment I was a wannabe filmmaker
who wanted to be a filmmaker and I know
and I knew what stood in between that
was my hustle so I decided to give
myself the green light that proverbial
light bulb went off and I said I can do
it and here’s what’s interesting about
that you all have a light bulb that you
get to control you get to flip the
switch on and no one else can flip the
switch off so there I was I
my green light I was ready to go I was
gonna be a filmmaker the problem was I
didn’t have a script I didn’t have a
camera I didn’t have a crew I didn’t
have a budget I actually didn’t have
anything other than my green light and
my hustle so I thought about this I
needed a process I needed a formula I
needed an equation to help me get from
point A to point B so this is what I
came up with and this is what would
power the engine of my hustle content
plus intent equals impact that’s how I
would get from being a wannabe filmmaker
to a filmmaker I’ll find the right
content something compelling and I would
intentionally take the right steps so
that the world could see this and the
impact that I wanted would be content
that would change people’s perceptions
about african-americans content that
would debunk stereotypes and myths
content that would bring the right
stories about the right people to the
table so I needed to find that right
content but for me finding that right
content shouldn’t be a problem I worked
in advertising I knew good content when
I saw good content I knew I wanted it to
be a gift back to the culture I knew I
wanted it to mean something I knew it
had to be important and it had to be
substantial and so how would I find it
as luck would have it the stars crossed
and I was listening to NPR one day and
Ford model Barbara Summers said it
happened November 28 1973 five American
designers took on five French designers
at the Chateau de Versailles and it’s
the most epic moment in fashion and
Americans won and their secret weapon 12
black models whoa
light bulbs on again I think I found my
content I think I found the story for my
first film and I did 75 hours worth of
footage later interviews in New York in
Paris
Versailles 73 was born
I am still fascinated by what happened
that night the Palace of Versailles it’s
just not like any Fashion Show that had
ever been before it is a battle between
the American and the French designers
when the Americans presented It was as
if a new century had arrived that was a
moment in history that changed the
course of fashion great content right
the type of content that I wanted to
tell so I had a film what was I gonna do
next so I talked to some friends and I
said hey guys I’ve got this great film I
know I wanted it to be distributed
I had great intent I wanted the world to
see the story it had been buried for 40
years so I wanted to bring it to light
so I said I’m gonna submit this film to
the Cannes Film Festival and they
laughed they’re like Deb you know that
might be a stretch you’re a first-time
filmmaker you’re not going to get into
the Cannes Film Festival it’s not going
to happen
lower your standards we know you have
your green light on and everything but
you might want to take a step back into
reality so did I listen of course I
didn’t listen I submitted my film to the
can Film Festival did I get in no I
actually didn’t get in but that’s okay
you know you know a little heartbroken
but I didn’t get in but I had intent and
and the beauty of intent is that these
are precise disciplined steps that you
take to get where you want to go
intentionality is never indiscriminate
intentionality is about focus it’s about
preparation it’s about knowing the steps
you want to take and at that moment I
knew that I needed exposure so I have my
green light I’m feeling bold this is a
big move I had given myself the green
light I called the Cannes Film Festival
and spoke to the woman in the marsh
adieu film and I said hi i submitted my
film to the festival and i didn’t get in
and she said oh you want to market
screening then yes
she said what I have left is pal AJ Klem
do you know which one you’d prefer
J it was my mother’s
the initially my mother’s first name her
name’s Jeanette so I picked J for that
reason she said great your books may
12th 5:30 p.m. and PAL AJ and will show
your film it’s a market screening do you
know the press and buyers and agents
that you want to invite let me get back
to you on that so so the point of this
is when you give yourself the green
light you’re going to propel yourself
forward your Hustle is going to drive
you there and that intent is going to
get you right where you needed to be so
on May 12th at 5:30 p.m. and pal AJ my
film was going to show and at 528 I
stood up to introduce the film and and I
walk up to the front of the stage not
too different than this and I look into
the audience and I see six people mmm
and three of them had flown over from
Atlanta with me so yeah so this audience
of six people the lights are about to go
down the first frame is about to come up
then the doors burst open a ton of
people rush in because at that moment
you know the green light that I had
given myself was starting to look a
little yellow in fact it was starting to
flicker a whole lot and I was like this
is gonna be red any minute now but it
remained green and after the film was
over I learned in that screening was
Women’s Wear Daily
the French bureau chief who would write
a four-page editorial about the film The
Hollywood Reporter several festival
programmers agents buyers and a producer
from Los Angeles who would eventually
fall in love with this film enough to
option it into a feature film so intent
is critically important and what you do
when you get to intent is you recognize
that you can move forward with an
independent film with no distribution
just like Thomas Edison so while I
didn’t invite a bunch of newsmen into my
living room I did make sure that this
film opened New York Fashion Week
Toronto Fashion Week fashion weeks in
Australia Israel and Croatia and that it
was seen in theaters and no we didn’t
have a theatrical deal we had to floor
wall it which means that you had to
tributed yourself so la Atlanta New York
this film was distributed and while the
film was in the LA theaters one of the
programmers from Viacom saw the film and
ultimately gave it its broadcast
television debut content plus intent
equals impact that’s how you measure
your return on your hustle and sometimes
it may be personal sometimes it may be
professional sometimes it may be
cultural and sometimes it may be small
because everything you greenlight
doesn’t have to be a big theatrical film
it could be something that matters to
you something that you want to do that’s
personal big or small but it’s your
intent that’s going to drive it it’s
your hustle that’s going to give you
that impact and for me I had the bug
this green light was shining brighter
than it ever could and I wanted to make
another film and the content was there
you know it came to me just as a vision
there’s a story about 18 African
American athletes who challenged Jim
Crow and Hitler at the 1936 Olympics and
they won hearts and they won medals but
their stories were not in the history
books they had not been recognized at
the White House as many other athletes
had so that was the content the intent
and the impact would practically write
itself I wanted to make sure that these
athletes there 18 names went into the
history books correctly and their
achievements and their beats were
represented I want to make sure that
this film aired right in time for the
2016 11 ight inviting them 80 years
earlier and invite them to the White
House that was the intent also wrapped
up and that was the impact so four years
of research four years of hustle four
years of filmmaking the film was born
and this time we actually had a
distribution deal going into the opening
of this film we opened at the LA Film
Festival Comcast gave us a day and date
release so we were in theaters we
screened in Rio right before the Oh
in games and above all else there were
tons of media tons of PR but the one
thing that didn’t happen was this White
House situation and it was nagging me
because that was critically important
and then some folks at Procter & Gamble
saw the film their Olympic sponsors and
they made this happen it wasn’t just
Jesse it was other African American
athletes in the middle and Nazi Germany
under the gaze of Adolf Hitler that put
a lie into notions of racial superiority
whooped em and taught them a thing or
two about democracy and taught them a
thing or two about the American
character so we’re honored to have many
of their families here today we want so
these 18 athletes after 80 years were
finally recognized in the White House by
President Obama and that was impact this
film which was great content powered by
the engine of lots of intent created an
impact for 18 families for Olympic
history for American history for sports
history and that return on the hustle
was personal it was professional it was
also the right thing to do and then more
things happen because what once the
impact starts to go once your hustle is
really kicking in lots of great things
do happen to those who hustle while
they’re wait the film was screened at
the National African American History
Center supported by the Holocaust Museum
and we talked a little bit before about
how Edison would call all the newspapers
into the Friends of to the living rooms
of his friends and tell them about his
projects how he would publicize how he
would mark it I didn’t do that but it
did get this done let’s talk about the
the documentary the 1936 Olympics
everyone knows the story of America
beating the Germans a lot of people
don’t realize that at the same time
black athletes were at odds with America
that’s exactly right
now we often know about Jesse Owens oh
yeah that
black athlete we know about who won four
gold medals of course but there were 17
other black athletes that history has
forgotten about and this is a
documentary that tells their story it’s
their story but you’re right they were
kind of stuck in the middle because we
were dealing with Jim Crow and racism
here in America but yet you represent
your country in Nazi Germany 1936 but
now it’s been an incredible journey I
narrated the film I have to give props
and love to Deborah Robbie Draper who
wrote it and directed it yeah that’s
maybe that’s part right I was just
kidding
just kidding just kidding but that is
the best part
but that’s impact that’s the equivalent
of calling all the great newspaper men
into the living rooms of your friends
instead we were able to get blair
Underwood and Trevor Noah into the
living room of America to talk about
this film and to talk about this 80 year
snub that we wanted everyone to know
about great content Plus disciplined
steps that are intentional intent gets
you impact and when you put that all
together powered by your hustle you get
what I like to call the ROH the return
on your hustle so if you learn nothing
else from today’s talk
remember that you can greenlight
yourself embody your hustle and you’ll have a great impact on it thank you
I’m a filmmaker what I love most about
filmmaking is the opportunity to see
things from a different lens you have
the ability to zoom in and look at
things at a granular level and pull out
so you can see the big picture the big
landscape it’s something we should all
do from time to time change our
perspective look at things just a little
bit differently I’m going to show you a
short film that inspired me and changed
my perspective interesting right
this film was made in 1896 the filmmaker
didn’t have distribution the filmmaker
didn’t have a studio deal but the
filmmaker had hustle the filmmaker had
given himself the green light this
filmmaker would write his own press
releases and he would invite the great
news men of the time into the living
room of his friends to talk about the
films he knew how to market he knew how
to PR he knew how to hustle hustle was
really important to him and this is what
he said about it everything comes to him
who hustles while he waits Thomas Edison
was that filmmaker he made 1200 films I
was impressed by him not withstanding
the content but his distribution was so
good that this content would create a
cultural misrepresentation and
stereotype that lives to this day so his
hustle was good but what he did say
inspired me everything everything comes
to him who hustles while he waits so at
that moment I was a wannabe filmmaker
who wanted to be a filmmaker and I know
and I knew what stood in between that
was my hustle so I decided to give
myself the green light that proverbial
light bulb went off and I said I can do
it and here’s what’s interesting about
that you all have a light bulb that you
get to control you get to flip the
switch on and no one else can flip the
switch off so there I was I
my green light I was ready to go I was
gonna be a filmmaker the problem was I
didn’t have a script I didn’t have a
camera I didn’t have a crew I didn’t
have a budget I actually didn’t have
anything other than my green light and
my hustle so I thought about this I
needed a process I needed a formula I
needed an equation to help me get from
point A to point B so this is what I
came up with and this is what would
power the engine of my hustle content
plus intent equals impact that’s how I
would get from being a wannabe filmmaker
to a filmmaker I’ll find the right
content something compelling and I would
intentionally take the right steps so
that the world could see this and the
impact that I wanted would be content
that would change people’s perceptions
about african-americans content that
would debunk stereotypes and myths
content that would bring the right
stories about the right people to the
table so I needed to find that right
content but for me finding that right
content shouldn’t be a problem I worked
in advertising I knew good content when
I saw good content I knew I wanted it to
be a gift back to the culture I knew I
wanted it to mean something I knew it
had to be important and it had to be
substantial and so how would I find it
as luck would have it the stars crossed
and I was listening to NPR one day and
Ford model Barbara Summers said it
happened November 28 1973 five American
designers took on five French designers
at the Chateau de Versailles and it’s
the most epic moment in fashion and
Americans won and their secret weapon 12
black models whoa
light bulbs on again I think I found my
content I think I found the story for my
first film and I did 75 hours worth of
footage later interviews in New York in
Paris
Versailles 73 was born
I am still fascinated by what happened
that night the Palace of Versailles it’s
just not like any Fashion Show that had
ever been before it is a battle between
the American and the French designers
when the Americans presented It was as
if a new century had arrived that was a
moment in history that changed the
course of fashion great content right
the type of content that I wanted to
tell so I had a film what was I gonna do
next so I talked to some friends and I
said hey guys I’ve got this great film I
know I wanted it to be distributed
I had great intent I wanted the world to
see the story it had been buried for 40
years so I wanted to bring it to light
so I said I’m gonna submit this film to
the Cannes Film Festival and they
laughed they’re like Deb you know that
might be a stretch you’re a first-time
filmmaker you’re not going to get into
the Cannes Film Festival it’s not going
to happen
lower your standards we know you have
your green light on and everything but
you might want to take a step back into
reality so did I listen of course I
didn’t listen I submitted my film to the
can Film Festival did I get in no I
actually didn’t get in but that’s okay
you know you know a little heartbroken
but I didn’t get in but I had intent and
and the beauty of intent is that these
are precise disciplined steps that you
take to get where you want to go
intentionality is never indiscriminate
intentionality is about focus it’s about
preparation it’s about knowing the steps
you want to take and at that moment I
knew that I needed exposure so I have my
green light I’m feeling bold this is a
big move I had given myself the green
light I called the Cannes Film Festival
and spoke to the woman in the marsh
adieu film and I said hi i submitted my
film to the festival and i didn’t get in
and she said oh you want to market
screening then yes
she said what I have left is pal AJ Klem
do you know which one you’d prefer
J it was my mother’s
the initially my mother’s first name her
name’s Jeanette so I picked J for that
reason she said great your books may
12th 5:30 p.m. and PAL AJ and will show
your film it’s a market screening do you
know the press and buyers and agents
that you want to invite let me get back
to you on that so so the point of this
is when you give yourself the green
light you’re going to propel yourself
forward your Hustle is going to drive
you there and that intent is going to
get you right where you needed to be so
on May 12th at 5:30 p.m. and pal AJ my
film was going to show and at 528 I
stood up to introduce the film and and I
walk up to the front of the stage not
too different than this and I look into
the audience and I see six people mmm
and three of them had flown over from
Atlanta with me so yeah so this audience
of six people the lights are about to go
down the first frame is about to come up
then the doors burst open a ton of
people rush in because at that moment
you know the green light that I had
given myself was starting to look a
little yellow in fact it was starting to
flicker a whole lot and I was like this
is gonna be red any minute now but it
remained green and after the film was
over I learned in that screening was
Women’s Wear Daily
the French bureau chief who would write
a four-page editorial about the film The
Hollywood Reporter several festival
programmers agents buyers and a producer
from Los Angeles who would eventually
fall in love with this film enough to
option it into a feature film so intent
is critically important and what you do
when you get to intent is you recognize
that you can move forward with an
independent film with no distribution
just like Thomas Edison so while I
didn’t invite a bunch of newsmen into my
living room I did make sure that this
film opened New York Fashion Week
Toronto Fashion Week fashion weeks in
Australia Israel and Croatia and that it
was seen in theaters and no we didn’t
have a theatrical deal we had to floor
wall it which means that you had to
tributed yourself so la Atlanta New York
this film was distributed and while the
film was in the LA theaters one of the
programmers from Viacom saw the film and
ultimately gave it its broadcast
television debut content plus intent
equals impact that’s how you measure
your return on your hustle and sometimes
it may be personal sometimes it may be
professional sometimes it may be
cultural and sometimes it may be small
because everything you greenlight
doesn’t have to be a big theatrical film
it could be something that matters to
you something that you want to do that’s
personal big or small but it’s your
intent that’s going to drive it it’s
your hustle that’s going to give you
that impact and for me I had the bug
this green light was shining brighter
than it ever could and I wanted to make
another film and the content was there
you know it came to me just as a vision
there’s a story about 18 African
American athletes who challenged Jim
Crow and Hitler at the 1936 Olympics and
they won hearts and they won medals but
their stories were not in the history
books they had not been recognized at
the White House as many other athletes
had so that was the content the intent
and the impact would practically write
itself I wanted to make sure that these
athletes there 18 names went into the
history books correctly and their
achievements and their beats were
represented I want to make sure that
this film aired right in time for the
2016 11 ight inviting them 80 years
earlier and invite them to the White
House that was the intent also wrapped
up and that was the impact so four years
of research four years of hustle four
years of filmmaking the film was born
and this time we actually had a
distribution deal going into the opening
of this film we opened at the LA Film
Festival Comcast gave us a day and date
release so we were in theaters we
screened in Rio right before the Oh
in games and above all else there were
tons of media tons of PR but the one
thing that didn’t happen was this White
House situation and it was nagging me
because that was critically important
and then some folks at Procter & Gamble
saw the film their Olympic sponsors and
they made this happen it wasn’t just
Jesse it was other African American
athletes in the middle and Nazi Germany
under the gaze of Adolf Hitler that put
a lie into notions of racial superiority
whooped em and taught them a thing or
two about democracy and taught them a
thing or two about the American
character so we’re honored to have many
of their families here today we want so
these 18 athletes after 80 years were
finally recognized in the White House by
President Obama and that was impact this
film which was great content powered by
the engine of lots of intent created an
impact for 18 families for Olympic
history for American history for sports
history and that return on the hustle
was personal it was professional it was
also the right thing to do and then more
things happen because what once the
impact starts to go once your hustle is
really kicking in lots of great things
do happen to those who hustle while
they’re wait the film was screened at
the National African American History
Center supported by the Holocaust Museum
and we talked a little bit before about
how Edison would call all the newspapers
into the Friends of to the living rooms
of his friends and tell them about his
projects how he would publicize how he
would mark it I didn’t do that but it
did get this done let’s talk about the
the documentary the 1936 Olympics
everyone knows the story of America
beating the Germans a lot of people
don’t realize that at the same time
black athletes were at odds with America
that’s exactly right
now we often know about Jesse Owens oh
yeah that
black athlete we know about who won four
gold medals of course but there were 17
other black athletes that history has
forgotten about and this is a
documentary that tells their story it’s
their story but you’re right they were
kind of stuck in the middle because we
were dealing with Jim Crow and racism
here in America but yet you represent
your country in Nazi Germany 1936 but
now it’s been an incredible journey I
narrated the film I have to give props
and love to Deborah Robbie Draper who
wrote it and directed it yeah that’s
maybe that’s part right I was just
kidding
just kidding just kidding but that is
the best part
but that’s impact that’s the equivalent
of calling all the great newspaper men
into the living rooms of your friends
instead we were able to get blair
Underwood and Trevor Noah into the
living room of America to talk about
this film and to talk about this 80 year
snub that we wanted everyone to know
about great content Plus disciplined
steps that are intentional intent gets
you impact and when you put that all
together powered by your hustle you get
what I like to call the ROH the return
on your hustle so if you learn nothing
else from today’s talk
remember that you can greenlight
yourself embody your hustle and you’ll have a great impact on it thank you
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