← Glamorous Trash: A Celebrity Memoir Podcast
Glamorous Trash: A Celebrity Memoir Podcast
Issa Rae’s Memoir + Behind the Bangs: The Power in Crafting Your Story
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- [00:01]
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- [00:53]
Chelsea DeVantes
Hello, and welcome to a very special episode of Glamorous Trash. This is a celebrity memoir podcast where we dig into all of the glamour and all of the tr. I'm your host, Chelsea DeVantes. I'm a TV writer, comedian, filmmaker, author, and sometimes I'm in stuff, too. And this is a very special episode because we are going to cover two things. First, we are going to cover highlights from Issa Rae's memoir, the Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, which was published in 2015. We're going to have a special focus for this memoir, book club reading and focus on how Issa Rae told her own story and used it to build her empire, including the actual timing of when she released her memoir. And I think it's going to be extremely inspiring for me. This time of year is for big bouts of inspiration. It's why we chose Issa's book and are dropping an episode on December 27th, just after the holidays. I feel like this is when you start thinking about the new year and what's ahead. If you saw this episode come up on your feed and hit play, it's likely because you and I are both, you know, dreaming about what's next, thinking big, planning ahead. Happy. Get a new planner and think you've changed your life energy. That's. That's what we're celebrating. A new planner will fix it all. That's the holiday today. And I want this episode, just like a new planner, to give you a big boost. We are moving into a difficult political time. It's really made me think deeply about what stories will be told in 2025, what stories will be allowed to be told, what stories will be platformed and celebrated, and whose story we need to hear the most. And yes, I'm talking about books and memoirs and art and movies, but I've also Been thinking about brands and journalism and products and small talk at your coffee shop. What stories are going to be shared? So in the second half of the podcast we are going to talk about how you can share your own story, be that an art you are producing or at your company, a brand you're building or you know, just your family. One of the themes of the podcast, theme of the podcast is that stories impact the human brain and the actions we take. Far more than a lecture, a fact sheet, an argument, a debate, the news. And I have hot research to back this up. Listen to this. People are 22 times more likely to remember a fact if that fact is told within a story. And they've now done studies with brands and businesses and consumer retention and the consumer retention rate of what you are selling jumps from 5% to 67% if it is presented in an engaging story. And you know, just from personal experience, I have this vague memory of a paper I wrote in high school on Henry Kissinger cuz it was an assignment but I did not remember almost any of it. And yet now that I've read this man's memoir stories and every goddamn female celebrity memoir, I could discuss him for days. I am a Kissinger expert now and it sucks. But listen, I got all of that through storytelling. So we've been working for months to launch something called behind the Banks. It's an official monthly course and writers community that will teach you how to tell your own story, write your own story and make your own story. That is going to be the second half of the episode. We're going to give away some hot tips, some tricks and we're going to introduce this new program. And if you already know you want to be a member of behind the Bangs, skip to the second half. The link to sign up is in the show notes. We are going to be capping signups because a lot comes with this program so we can only take so many people. So it's first come first serve. So go sign up now and make sure you sign up on a desktop, not your phone, desktop or laptop. It will save you money. It will save me money. Just sign up anywhere that is not your phone. But we will get into all of that later. And as a bonus reason to sign up, we will not be back with brand new episodes until mid January unless you are a subscriber. If you subscribe to any tier on Patreon, you get all of our bonus episodes. There's a new one coming at the very end of December. Or if that's not your thing. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. It comes straight to your feed. If you're on Spotify, your Patreon connects to your Spotify. It'll send all the bonus episodes straight to your phone. So new bonus content is coming for subscribers, but for everyone else, new episodes will be coming in mid January. First, let me bring on my podcast guest, and we're going to dive into everything. Issa Rae.
- [05:28]
Issa Rae
In 2011, I had been living in LA for about two years, and, you know, I had seen 30 Rock and I loved Curb youb Enthusiasm. And I thought that there was a specific type of black girl missing. And I always identified as kind of awkward. It was a revelation, actually, to me in my adult years and decided to create this character, awkward black girl. But I was just so frustrated. And I had this blog where I was constantly talking about the industry, and someone on my blog was like, girl, you talk a lot of like, why don't you just make something? And I was like, okay, I guess I can. I gathered some friends, I asked my best friend to film it and put out my first episode. And that web series ended up changing my life.
- [06:17]
Chelsea DeVantes
So our first guest today, who I've pretty much forced to be on every episode this month, is our podcast producer, Christina Lopez. What is up?
- [06:26]
Christina Lopez
Hey, how's it going, Chelsea?
- [06:27]
Jordan Moncada
Hi.
- [06:28]
Chelsea DeVantes
Listen, welcome back for the million. And a very special guest is also joining us, who is our executive producer, Jordan Moncada. Hi, Jordan.
- [06:38]
Jordan Moncada
Hi. It's like one big staff meeting.
- [06:41]
Chelsea DeVantes
One big staff meeting which consists of the three of us.
- [06:46]
Jordan Moncada
Here we go.
- [06:47]
Chelsea DeVantes
Now, before starting Glamorous Trash with me, Jordan worked at a variety of companies, including one of the first YouTube networks, Maker Studios. She assisted the president of Universal Pictures and then moved on to talent management at Rise Management, where she and I met. She worked with talent like Busy Phillips, Chris Pratt, Nick Kroll, Alison Brie. She worked with so many writers, directors, and comedians. She helped develop their brands and launch their careers. She later moved over to Color Creative, which is Issa Ray's management company, as one of the first few managers at the company. So that is why we are covering this book today. Because, Jordan, you have, like, extra. You have extra special expertise.
- [07:26]
Jordan Moncada
And I talk about it all the time, whether or not you want to hear it, but it's a huge inspiration for what we're building. So I figured no better story to tell as we're segueing into the program that we're building.
- [07:38]
Chelsea DeVantes
I have taken so much inspiration from Issa on my own, but when you came into my life, I was like, oh, yeah, we are Issa scholars. Because what she's done is, like, so mind blowing. Okay, so Jordan and I read Issa's book. Christina, you have not read this memoir yet. We're gonna, you know, recap it to you. So we chose this book because this episode is about telling your own story. Issa has done that masterfully and just figuring out who she is and making art about that as, quote, the Awkward Black Girl, the web series that she launched. And also because Jordan used to work for Issa. So, Jordan, please share with us the story of, like, working there, how that job came about. Like, give, give the hot goss.
- [08:21]
Jordan Moncada
Yes. So it's one of my favorite stories because leading up to me going to Color Creative, I wasn't sure why I had all these jobs and where it was even going. And then the moment it happened, it was like my psychic moment of like, oh, this all clicks. This all makes sense. So when I was at Rise as an assistant, I was running the internship program, and I played a big hand in helping hire a lot of the assistants. And one of our first office assistants that we hired was this young woman named Amira Boyd. And she had not worked in entertainment before, And I mentored her, kind of took her under my wing, showed her the ropes of entertainment. And then a year and a half later, Pandemic came around, and she got a job opportunity to go work at CAA for this amazing agent, Talitha Watkins. So she went over there, and then about six months later, Issa had tapped her boss, Talitha, to come and run Issa Rae's management company. And then Amira told me about it, and I was like, oh, my God, that's such an incredible opportunity. Like, I'd like to say I had a hand in it, but it was really amazing of when you open the door for someone where it is that they can go. And I was kind of feeling in the Pandemic a little bit lost because, you know, going through all of our projects, Chelsea, and working with other clients, the industry can be really disheartening. And so I was trying to figure out, like, what is it that I want to do? And Amira came around. Now, this would have been, oh, my Gosh, this was 2021, and we don't.
- [09:54]
Chelsea DeVantes
Pay attention to time. On the podcast. This run where I carry time, it doesn't exist.
- [09:58]
Jordan Moncada
But I think it matters because my Lola had passed away, and I was sitting in this hotel room, and I was like, what the fuck am I doing? And then I get a Call from Amira being like, I know you're kind of figuring out what you want to do next. We're looking to hire one of the third managers at Color Creative. Would you just take a meeting over here? And it was. Taking a big leap was very scary, But I was like, all right, my word of the year is open. I'm going to explore this opportunity. And then met everyone there. And I was like, this is so much more than a management company. This is an empire. And there was like, 30, 35 employees at that time. And I was like, wait a minute. She started all of this off of a web series. And so all of these dots started to connect, and I'm like, oh, of course. This would be the trajectory of I bring Amira into this business. She goes leaps and bounds around and then comes back and is like, wait, can I help hire you at this place where the ethos of that company was literally to lift other people up. So it felt like full circle moment. That continues to surprise me when I look back at the story. And so that was how I got to Color Creative. And then I know we're gonna get deeper into more of the business, but I have to say, like, I am not a writer or any of that. But before, when I was not working at Color Creative, I really hid behind my story and everything that was going on with me and my career trajectory. And then the moment I got there and saw all of these people in this safe space that was built off of someone just embrac who they are, that was when I started to open up. And I hope you noticed, as you were my client coming over with me, that I really started to become more of myself and then really helped to, like, let my gifts come out, which I think in turn helped all of my clients to really shine. But we'll get into that piece.
- [11:50]
Chelsea DeVantes
Well, I love that. And, yeah, that was heavily influential not only in your life, but now my life. And just to recap for everyone, Color Creative is Issa Rae's management company. So I don't know if everyone really knows that in the industry, but Issa, you know, is her own artistic talent, doing her own projects. In addition to that, she has started a management company and several other, like, pipeline programs to help, like, usher in new talent. And so it's just really cool that, like, now there's a bunch of. We've gone off on our own since then, but, like, there's a bunch of clients who get, like, Issa's help in, like, breaking in the industry. And. Okay, so let's dive in to the book. I just want to give a general overview because, again, our focus is on all these incredible things Issa has done. So childhood. Issa grew up in Los Angeles, in Compton. As a teenager, her parents divorce. And that is a huge part of the memoir, if you're thinking about picking it up. She talks about this really painful divorce where she thought it was a pretty peaceful split, and then comes to realize that maybe her dad had cheated on her mom. But also, she's a teenager, so it's a lot for her. She writes beautifully about that. Okay, let's get into. We basically highlighted four stories and one hot tangent that I have to take us on. So the first story is page 38.
- [13:11]
Jordan Moncada
Which, by the way, Chelsea, I think we highlighted all of the same stuff, and I really like a good sign.
- [13:17]
Chelsea DeVantes
Okay. I would love to, like, compare pages. Maybe we'll post them on the Instagram or something. Okay. So she wrote, like, screenplays. She wrote a spec for the Cosby Show. She would, like, write Hollywood stars. I, like, love this about her. And. And she wrote this play called Judged Cover. And she wrote. I remember giving it to Monique, one of my best friends, to read. And the next school day, she came back and asked, are you going to play the lead? I planned on it. The script wasn't autobiographical in any means, but I could relate to feeling too unattractive. Also, the fact that she recognized that I could play the pathetic character I had written only confirmed my insecurity. Ten years later, I saw the movie Precious, and I remember thinking it was Judged Cover on steroids. Who the fuck's life was that? I sat in the theater with two best friends, Jerome and Devin, fuming as the final scene played. Not because I disliked the film, not because I couldn't relate to the story, but because Hollywood was so fucking excited about this movie. Then I thought, is that what it takes to create a sympathetic black female lead character? I could imagine the boardroom meeting. She has to be obese. She has to be super poor. She has to be illiterate. She has to have an abusive mother who molests her. She has to be the rape victim of her father. She has to be teenage and pregnant. She has to be HIV positive. She has to have a baby with down syndrome. Now we care about this character. Oh, my God, that's so tragic. Oh, my God, the ghetto. Oh, heavens, what a cautionary tale. Oh, to be black and poor in the ghetto. No wonder they're so mad and defensive all the time. Precious was the anti Tyler Perry Tyler Perry co produced Black Film of the Year and one of the Many Straws that Broke the Camel's Back. Okay, so this is like her sitting in this movie theater watching Precious, where it is a black female lead leading a movie. And she also writes. She's like, I am so grateful for the introduction to Gabrie Sidibe, who came on our podc, and it's so incredible. And me and her cried to each other's faces. I think it was like, our sixth episode. And she was like, I loved that, but I couldn't believe it was the only chance they were giving black female leads was this character. And that movie really was such a moment in time.
- [15:17]
Jordan Moncada
It was. And then she goes into all of these influences that kind of made who she was in the 90s of different black television shows reflecting her experience, and then how far we moved away from that in the 2000s, which, like, I don't think we even talk about that enough. And then it went from, like, relatable family characters of all different types of black families to then trauma porn. And that's what we're trying to move away from now.
- [15:48]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah. Yeah. It is so fascinating to look back on, like, the Cosby Show, A Different World, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, all that Living Single Kenan and Kel, New York Undercover, Martin, All American Girl, Moesha and Family Matters. These are some of the shows she lists. And you're like, yeah, what happened in the 90s where it's, like, you know, quote, unquote, worse? And it's like, no, it's so wild.
- [16:14]
Jordan Moncada
And is so reflective of why she was like, this is why I need to do this now. Like, I'm so mad. I need to make my own things.
- [16:21]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah. It's this incredible moment in Issa's life where, like, she has wanted to do this forever. She has grown up on all this incredible tv. She has, like, as a kid, written these, like, fan letters in. And yet she's entering a moment in culture where entertainment, Hollywood, everyone, for whatever reason, has decided, like, the door is closed, especially to black women. And so the other thing, again, I know my history from memoirs, but this is why I think millennials at their core are so fucked up, because we come of age in this exact moment in time where Playboy culture was going from bisexuality, and there's images of, like, Hef with men, and it's like, free love and sex and da, da, da, da to seven thin blonde girlfriends. RuPaul's popularity goes away. RuPaul's Drag Race isn't going to get big until later. And there's just this pocket right there in culture that then goes into 9 11, the 911 to purpose pipeline that really takes us away from a lot of cultural art for a good amount of years. And I think we're still kind of like trying to get back to the 90s, TV wise, which is very sad to say.
- [17:31]
Jordan Moncada
It's crazy. When you were saying millennials coming of age during this, like, weird time where Hollywood was going back, like, what Issa talks about are her influences or the things that she watched. Saved by the Bell, California Dream City, guys. I don't know if you guys watched those, but very white, obviously. So then to have that as your influence and then see these other things moving further away from what her experience was and then her anger, which I think only a millen is really seeing a kind of waking up of like, wait a minute, I'm going to do my own thing. And then timing that with YouTube and like the digital age and blogs and all of that, where she's like, oh, I can just do it over there. If I can't do it in the traditional space, now it's my time to do it in this other space.
- [18:17]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah, totally. Okay, so let's get to our second story. So it's 2001, and she writes to Gina Prince Blythewood, who wrote and directed Love and Basketball, which is one of my top five movies. I was just on another podcast doing an entire deep dive about love and basketball, and the podcast is called Podstruck, so go check it out. They go through rom coms. So she loved Love and Basketball too, and she wrote this letter to Gina Prince Blythewood, and Gina wrote back and Issa had written to her and was like, hey, I wrote a movie like, will you direct it? It's called Judged Cover. Gina writes back and says, thank you so much for your letter. It means a lot that Love and Basketball is your favorite movie. Much props to you for having a completed screenplay at 16. I didn't start writing scripts until I was in college. You definitely seem focused and know where you're going. I am flattered that you thought of me to direct your script. Unfortunately, I'm pretty tied up in the next couple of years with my own scripts. After directing Disappearing Acts, which I didn't write, I realized I feel much more fulfilled as an artist when I direct scripts I have written myself, like Love and Basketball. This does not mean I will never direct another script I or my husband has written. However, for now, that is what I am focused on. That and my new son. Smiley face. But again, thank you so much for thinking of me and good luck in all your endeavors. Sincerely, Gina Prince Blythewood.
- [19:34]
Jordan Moncada
It's so sweet. And this letter is what gets her to be like, I'm gonna keep going. Like, this is the encouraging message that I needed.
- [19:42]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah. And I think it subliminally plants the seed of you're gonna wanna direct your own stuff that you write. Like, that's, that's the more fulfilling way to be an artist. And I mean, her twice telling this 16 year old, thank you so much for thinking of me is the sweetest, coolest thing ever. I just love Gina so much. And what is so wild to me is Issa Ray's company making Project Greenlight Comeback, which is a TV show that would greenlight projects for people trying to break into the business. And one of the mentors is Gina Prince Blythewood.
- [20:19]
Jordan Moncada
I mean, so it's like, like the.
- [20:20]
Chelsea DeVantes
16 year old who wrote her the letter, like, they now work together and they're two, like, icons in this business. And she had written back also. That is gonna like, go into Issa's brand of, like, keeping the door open, helping others in. Because Gino was like, writing this teenager bag. Yeah. So let's get into our third story, which is the moment that Issa decides to start her web series. So she said. Having been in the industry for a couple of years, I'm not entirely sure it's blatant racism, as I had once assumed. It's more complicated than that. As Ralph Ellison once posited, we're invisible to them. We're simply not on their radar. As long as the people who are in charge aren't us, things will never change. Girls, New girl, two broke girls. What do they all have in common? The universal gender classification. Girl is white. In all three of these successful series, a default girl or two is implied and she is white. That is the norm of what is acceptable. Anything else is niche. If it weren't for YouTube, I would be extremely pessimistic. But I'm not anymore. YouTube has revolutionized content creation. If it weren't for YouTube, I would still be at studios trying to convince executives that awkward black girls really do exist. If it weren't for YouTube, I would have been indefinitely discouraged by network executives who suggested that actress video girl, Lil Wayne's babymother Lauren London, would be a great fit for the title character of the cable version of Awkward Black Girl. If it weren't for Social media. I wouldn't know that black women would even be a fully formed blip on the radar if it weren't for Internet forums and fan pages. Communities of dark women wouldn't be empowered by their natural hair. And a media society tells them their hair should be straightened or their skin should be. Online content and new media are changing our communities and changing the demand for and accessibility of that content. The discussion of representation is one that has been repeated over and over again. And the solution has always been that it's up to us to support, promote and create the images that we want to see. Ten years ago, making that suggestion would have required way more work than it does now. And my love of taking shortcuts probably wouldn't allow me to make any dents on that front. But with the ever evolving new accessible technologies, there are so many opportunities to reclaim our images. There's no excuse not to. I've never felt more purposeful in my quest to change the landscape of television.
- [22:20]
Jordan Moncada
In this industry, you truly have to make your own work and show the gatekeepers that, nope, there's an audience out there and they like the thing that I created without any of your notes. And now that's the thing that gets her in the door. That gave her a lot of autonomy. Like, I think the executive Amy Gravett at HBO really saw that and gave her a lot more creative freedom to make the show that she wanted to make and hire the people that she wanted to make it with. With Awkward Black Girl. Her producing Denise Davis, who I'm pretty sure she found from Facebook when she was looking for a producer and was like, I can't do this myself. I need to start building a team. Once they made that series, when you independently produce something and then try to sell it to the suits of Hollywood, the first person they're gonna kick off are the producers. Are all of the people that help make it, they want the face of it. And Denise was a producer. I think they gave her a co producer credit when she should have gotten executive producer credit. Cause she literally created the format with Issa.
- [23:23]
Chelsea DeVantes
But.
- [23:23]
Jordan Moncada
But it really just showed that Issa was going to lay herself on the line to bring the people with her that helped her get to the place, which I just think is so beautiful.
- [23:33]
Chelsea DeVantes
And not let them kick them off just because she was giving her moment. And also, maybe it was just the people involved. But I also wanna say it's because she had already produced, shot, and showed them episode and episode and episode that they could be like, oh, I've already Seen that it works because you did it yourself. Blood, sweat and tears. Therefore, now I'll give you a chance to keep doing it. And everyone always says, like, oh, you know, imagination is so limited in this industry. But I have an example was listening to another hot podcast about Sex and the City. The creator of Sex and the City would not cast Cynthia Nixon because he always pictured Miranda as a redhead. And when Cynthia was auditioning, she was blonde, because she's naturally blonde. And literally was just like, well, I thought she'd be a redhead. Therefore I cannot see this blonde woman as her for months and months and months and months to the point where, like, had she known, that could have maybe shown up to one of the auditions in like a red wig and he could have been like, whoa.
- [24:29]
Jordan Moncada
For such a creative industry, like, how you have to physically show who you are. Everything, everything is so frustrating.
- [24:37]
Chelsea DeVantes
You can't even be like, imagine I dyed my hair. They're like, ah, I can't. Okay, now I have a tangent. This is not about business. I'm sorry. I was supposed to focus on storytelling, but I can't. Okay, so I'm reading the book and I get to this dating story. And she said her cousin calls her one day and asked if she could give her friend Louis Issa's phone number. And she said Louis was gorgeous, tall, with an athletic build of a football player and Blasian features on account of his Senegalese and Vietnamese background. During that summer, I had seen his picture on High five, an international MySpace I used from time to time to keep up with my cousins and friends. And so they engaged in like a couple sentences, back and forth. And she said, the night I drove home for Christmas break, I called Lewis from a blocked number. He answered and I hung up. What the hell was wrong with me? I couldn't ignore the memories of my previous dating disappointments. He had seen my pictures. He already asked for my number. Why was this an issue? I practiced my sexy phone voice and then dialed with my number visible. He answered. Hello. Hi. I started with a tone that screamed phone sex operator. I shook my head and cleared my throat. I didn't have to do this. I could be myself. I continued in my normal voice. Sorry, allergies. Hi. It's great to finally talk to you. As corny as it sounds, from the very first five hour conversation Lewis and I had, I knew he was the one for me and that he would be the one I would end up with. The night before Martin went back to France. This is an ex boyfriend. We had the Worst sex ever. It was so selfish that I'm still bitter about it to till this day. Yes, love. A sex grudge. No matter what, I knew that the promise that we had made to make it work long distance, our relationship was officially over. I don't know whether or not Louis and I will be together forever, but I know that I genuinely love him and that he has made me a better person, which is more than I've gotten out of any other relationship with him. I finally come to the conclusion that my parents relationship doesn't have to inform my own. I've taken off the safety. And I was like, ugh, where's Lewis now? The goddamn memoir curse. And I look him up and they're married.
- [26:43]
Jordan Moncada
And did you see pictures of that wedding, by the way?
- [26:46]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yes, of course I did.
- [26:47]
Jordan Moncada
Christina, did you?
- [26:48]
Christina Lopez
Yes. She's beautiful.
- [26:50]
Jordan Moncada
Can I tell you?
- [26:52]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah. A France wedding.
- [26:53]
Jordan Moncada
A France wedding. I also didn't realize that she was fluent in French. Like, I didn't realize how I'm like, okay, hot. But the most beautiful wedding of really showing that, like, decade long, like, evolution of her style.
- [27:07]
Chelsea DeVantes
I always talk about the memoir curse of like, oh, no, like, don't introduce someone you know on the line in your memoir. And she has officially broken the curse because they are married. They are together. I think I took a picture of my face just to capture it. And I'm just like, I'm such a wreck. I don't know if we can ever show that. But I was just so shook when I was like, wait, she got married? Like, so where's Lewis now? And I was like, ah, they made it. She was right. True love. Fuck Martin and that sex.
- [27:38]
Jordan Moncada
And it's funny too, that she is the one. She. She's very private, actually about her life. And so that I think when I was working there, I don't even think I knew that she was getting married. And it's cool how for people that are not interested in telling their full story about, like, the deep parts of their life, you can still be honest and authentic and tell your story without going into the details. But I'm glad that she gave us that one strictly for whatever picture you're about to show us, because you do have to put that on the Patreon legally.
- [28:09]
Chelsea DeVantes
I was like, I was screaming. I was like, ah, this is amazing. I don't know why that's amazing, because.
- [28:15]
Christina Lopez
It happens so much in the books you read where, like, they're not together. They broke up before the book even came out in some instances.
- [28:22]
Jordan Moncada
Yeah, like he gone.
- [28:23]
Chelsea DeVantes
Like there was just no world in my head that the person she was married to was the guy in this book. Cause I was like, well, that'd be impossible for you to like introduce a man in the same paragraph about talking about shitty sex with your ex and that.
- [28:35]
Jordan Moncada
Like, you know, and we love that for her.
- [28:38]
Chelsea DeVantes
And I really loved it. I loved it. It. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break right now and we'll be right back. Thrive Cosmetics is my favorite makeup. They have thousands of five star reviews, they're cruelty free, and they have my brand new favorite product that I have used every single day since I got it. It is their brilliant eye brightener, the shade Stella. I use this in conjunction with their Liquid Lash Extensions mascara and it is gorgeous. I get so many compliments. It truly highlights your eyes and creates the most beautiful eyeshadow that has depth. Brighten your holiday look with Thrive Cosmetics Luxury beauty that gives back. Right now you can get an exclusive 20% off your first order at thrivecosmetics.com glamorous trash that's thrive Cosmetics. C A U S E M E t I c s.com glamorous trash for 20% off your first order, go get that brilliant eye brightener shade Stella. This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. The holidays mean more travel, more shopping, more time online and more personal info in places that could expose you to identity theft. That's why Lifelock monitors millions of data points every second.
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Chelsea DeVantes
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Chelsea DeVantes
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- [30:41]
Chelsea DeVantes
Okay, welcome back. Let's continue the conversation. Okay, our final story. So she is in New York City and she is pitching a college web series, Dorm Diaries, with the hope of turning it into a television show on BET or mtv. I'm reading that straight from the the book. And then she had, with the help of her father invested $10,000 worth of film and editing equipment. And three months prior, it hosted a successful fundraising benefit with more than 300 attendees. Which, by the way, if you've watched Insecure, you can read this and then think of certain episodes where she's, like, fundraising and holding events and, like, getting things together. Yeah. And then she gets robbed, like, by teenagers. Not only is she robbed and all of that equipment is gone, but there was a filmmaker whose master footage she had, and it had taken them two years to shoot their film in Jamaica. She had the masters. There was no copy. This is your lesson. There's always a copy. And you always. Someone else always has to have that copy. You got to separate the copies. It got stolen. And that footage is. Is gone. And she has to call them up and tell them that that is. That part is like my. I was like, throwing up.
- [32:00]
Jordan Moncada
Oh, my God. Always have a backup. And having just shot our own thing and being the person.
- [32:04]
Chelsea DeVantes
Well, remember, I was like, where's the footage going? Split it up. Split em up. They can't see it again.
- [32:08]
Jordan Moncada
But at one point, it's like someone has to hold the hard drives. And the hard drives were being held by me. And so the amount of anxiety that I had. But we always had the backups. And I have a backup and whatever. But always have a backup. And always have insurance.
- [32:22]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah. And always have the backup in a separate place. So Issa goes into a really dark period, obviously, and she had lost all of her scripts, so she could not go to her meetings that she had set up because she didn't have anything to show them anymore.
- [32:37]
Jordan Moncada
Can you imagine having a conversation with the filmmaker who spent two years shooting in Jamaica?
- [32:41]
Chelsea DeVantes
No, I don't even want to imagine it because that will give me too much anxiety. And it didn't happen to me. Like, that's. It's too much. So then, then she's in such a dark period. She starts studying for the LSAT and is like, maybe my dad was right. Maybe I need to go to grad school and have a backup plan. Maybe I got robbed because it's a sign. And she had founded a nonprofit organization called the Black Film Academy, a short film collective comprised of filmmakers of color determined to reform the image of black film. So she's working at this non profit, which for anyone who is seen insecure, should call forward to where her character works at a nonprofit. But she's thinking to herself, like, who am I? What is my life? I'm not sure this is my purpose. And she said, suddenly it hit Me, I'm awkward and black. One of them I already knew, but the other I had just discovered. It was like a frustrated student discovering she had dyslexia. I'm not stupid. I just have a learning difference. It made sense. My shyness. All the times I was dismissed for not being black enough. My desire to reframe the images of black film and television, which I started to do when I created a series in college called Dorm Diaries. My inability to dance. These were all the symptoms of my awkward blackness. This is an identity. I thought I could make T shirts. I could make sketches, commercials for T shirts. Ooh, and what if they were animated? Without knowing it, I started pinning an outline for what would be my first and second episodes of Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. I grew excited. This was my purpose. This particular moment of despair had sparked my creativity. This is a moment I have had before where it's like. Like you realize something that is gonna change your life. You're just like, oh, my God, this is who I am. And yet, like, you've been it for years. So it's like, how is this a surprise?
- [34:22]
Jordan Moncada
Yeah.
- [34:23]
Chelsea DeVantes
How did I not know this? Like, why? But you just, like, can't see yourself clearly sometimes.
- [34:28]
Jordan Moncada
Sometimes, you need to lose everything and start a blank page of, who am I? Like, what am I gonna write about? You have nothing to compare it to. Like, you have to start from scratch as you are now, which means reflecting on the past and connecting all of these dots. And I feel like we talk about this all the time, because in entertainment, you get into the system and you create something you love, sell that, and then just get all of these notes that you lose who you are. And sometimes, like, we talk about this, just do a blank page and write whatever it is that you want to write, because that's what's right.
- [35:02]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah. You have to go and find yourself again. And she finds herself. And this is the psychic woman that happens. So she goes back to Los Angeles for her cousin's graduation, and one of her friends had just gotten a job at the mailroom at caa. We sat on the beach, updating one another on our lives. Then one of my friends turned to me and asked, why are you still in New York? What do you mean? I asked? You got robbed. You're broke. It's like you're willingly struggling for no reason. She continued, everybody you know is in Los Angeles. You should just come here. We could do so much together. I thought about it for a minute. I can't just get up and Leave. They laughed. Why not? The question haunted me. What was really keeping me there? It wasn't like I had a husband and kids I was tied to or an amazing high paying job. Why was I there still? I was young, I didn't have to be tied to any one place. I told them I'd think about it and I did. On the plane ride back to New York, I had pretty much made up my mind. My roommate Kiki had graduated and gotten a job offer in Los Angeles. So she was happy to hear the news. That July I moved back to LA with plans to take the reins on my life once more. I didn't make it in New York, but hopefully the assets that were stolen from me will help someone else make it.
- [36:04]
Jordan Moncada
Chills.
- [36:05]
Chelsea DeVantes
It's perfect. Another key thing which is go towards support, go towards community. Like she had all this community waiting for her. She was like so alone in New York. Sorry Christina. To do New Yorkshade but like I, I also felt the same thing in New York. Like I really didn't get to be who I was till I was in Chicago and could find my community.
- [36:24]
Christina Lopez
Saying this as someone who's lived in LA for 14 years and like is not necessarily planning to go back to her home town. New York is a really tough, tough, tough, tough city. And I think the importance is that she left home at all. And I think that's always important. Just get an experience of trying to make your own life on your own terms because that prepared her to do that when she did get back and had all that support. I think the toughness and the endurance that she had to have to try to make her way in New York really prepared her for the adversity she'd face in the industry because she had already been through losing somebody else's footage, losing her work, you know, and so if it wasn't for that experience, her entire life could have been different.
- [37:10]
Chelsea DeVantes
So that's such a good point.
- [37:13]
Christina Lopez
But I would say also alternatively, LA can be very isolating. LA could be very cold and it's hard to make friends here sometimes. So I, you know, I think it benefit her that she grew up here.
- [37:24]
Chelsea DeVantes
Well yeah, that's what I meant. She already had her people. It's not like LA is a right, a beacon of open arms.
- [37:30]
Christina Lopez
Yeah, I do like that it is a city that you can like reinvent yourself constantly. Like you can move to a new neighborhood and become a completely different person and never see the people you did in the old neighborhood because it is so spread out and large. But Yeah, I think there's perks and benefits to both cities, and I love both cities very much.
- [37:46]
Chelsea DeVantes
No, me too. So this is kind of like the end of the big four stories. It is a shorter memoir. We skipped some family stuff. So definitely pick up the book if you want to read more. I mean, it's only 204 pages. That is really short. But the last thing I want to say is, in her acknowledgments, she writes to Larry Wilmore, you are a dream. I will miss you, but you'll never get rid of me. Thank you for being so positive and so funny and so awesome and so humble and such a damn boss. Which to that, I say I think she was shooting her pilot for Insecure, going through development process, and it was getting picked up as she was writing and finishing this pilot, because Larry Wilmore was her producer who shepherded that project, and the only reason she would be saying goodbye to him is if he had, like, gotten it up and was moving on. And so she was writing a memoir and launching Insecure at the same time, I think, which is wild.
- [38:37]
Jordan Moncada
And also a very Chelsea Devonta's thing to do, by the way. You started an overall deal. Jon Stewart sold the pitch, did an overall deal while writing a memoir.
- [38:48]
Chelsea DeVantes
Well, listen, very inspired by her, but also, I remember you pointing this out and telling me, like, she published this memoir with the launch of her TV show as a launch to the public. Like, this is me. This is who I am. Like, getting to know her as she's bringing her art to you. And this also happened with Quinta's memoir. So Quinta Brunson put out a memoir, and a year later, like, her TV show is going. And it's these, like, dual ways to, you know, really get to know a human and their art, which I love. Give me a memoir and give me your TV show.
- [39:19]
Jordan Moncada
Like, do all of it, and then. And then tell me how to do it. Which is what they did.
- [39:23]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah, which is what they did. For the second half of the episode, we are going to talk about Issa's businesses. Post memoir. She truly created an empire. She has a restaurant. Restaurant. It's amazing. We're gonna talk about how it inspired us and how we have a big announcement ourselves, and we're gonna be talking a lot about creativity. So if you just wanted the Issa stories, hop off. First, I wanna give some ISA Post Memoir updates, which is that she started her own Patreon. She started her own business. She has a management company. She has restaurants. She had a YouTube series about helping people build their own table and, like, helping them rise to be independent content creators. And she created Hooray, which is her production company. And obviously she's gone on to, like, be in movies, make movies, like, produce movies. We just talked about Project Greenlight. She has real estate, music. Like Jordan, you can speak more.
- [40:25]
Jordan Moncada
So as she's doing her web series, she sells her show and then is writing this memoir, as you said. So all of that's coming up. And at the exact same time, she is continuing to foster her YouTube community and give resources to other people. So educating them, but then also using her production company that at the time was called Issa Rae Productions, to do experimental writers rooms for podcasts and really to shepherd in the next emerging voices from her community. All these creatives that she was mentoring started to get agents and managers. And then someone in Issa's life was like, like, you know, you're basically managing these people, and then you're sending them off to work with other managers who are, like, great, but maybe don't understand working with black artists, artists of color and maybe should be represented by people that are more like them, understand their stories. Because we know, like, your managers and agents are the mouthpiece of the creatives in the entertainment industry. So if you don't have someone that's advocating for you and your voice in an authentic way, like, your pitch is wrong. So that was what started the management company.
- [41:40]
Chelsea DeVantes
So Jordan came to me a few years ago and pitched Breaking off and Making Glamorous Trash a thing. And to be honest, I didn't fully get it at first. I just wanted to, like, keep making my art. And Jordan had this vision for more, I think, really inspired by the work you had done and Issa. And when we rebranded to Glamorous Trash, it was the intention of changing the name so that it could be a brand to hold space. It's Wicked week for other avenues and other goals and dreams we have in a way that, like, Celebrity Book Club felt like really niche, like, to celebrity Book club only, whereas Glamorous Trash felt like it could speak to more authentically what we're trying to do. With which the mission statement is, when someone has the courage to tell their own story, it empowers others to embrace their own. And that was hard won through. Well, my personal tears. I really personally learned this lesson with you by my side. You are the one who taught me that lesson and lived that lesson with me. So we are launching behind the Bang, which is a creative community where we can pass on all the stuff that took so long to get, I. I've been doing this for 15 or 16 years. And to get to this information, like the actual information, like what a general meeting is, how to actually write the log line, how to actually structure a joke. It's like it's behind brick walls where, I don't know, Harvard men sit throwing water balloons at you. It was just so hard to get to all of it. And so we have always built into our mission statement, keep the door open and create a pipeline. And so now we finally have created a way for us to actually hand that over. So this is a year long creative program monthly. It is designed to help writers and creatives tell their own stories. Story.
- [43:43]
Jordan Moncada
So our hope is by the end of 2025, you come out of it knowing your story and having a plan to actually make it happen in whatever medium.
- [43:56]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah. And also, I am someone like, tangible. Give me the tangible tools. Like, I don't want these, like big flowery things. It's like, give me an actionable tool. And for me, this was something I went back and forth on as we were creating this because I. I love teaching. It's the part of me that was so hungry for information, I was just like scrounging around for it, just being like, someone give me information. But the part that held me back from doing this is that I can't take time to teach out of the career I am currently in the middle of, which also includes reading a lot of goddamn books for this podcast. And I just turned in a script to a network we sold a show for. We're in the final stages of the edit of this pilot we shot. We have pitches. We're in the middle of taking movie that keeps getting and losing its funding and then getting it back. You know, it's a. It's a real roller coaster. But then I would think to myself, my best teachers were always the ones who were currently in the thick of it, who were currently directing shows, working on things. Because that's when you're like, at your sharpest and your information is like, of the moment. And then when I read that Lucille Ball memoir and she was like, the way to pay back the people who gifted you is to gift it forward. I was like, all right, Jordan, we gotta do behind the Bangs. And I feel like we've come up with a really great structure both for the person taking behind the bangs and for us making it. So this is a Patreon tier you can sign up for. It is going to be 12 months long. Here's what is included in the tier. It is a monthly 30 minute live lesson on Zoom with me and Jordan. It'll be recorded for later access followed by a 30 minute minute Q& A about that lesson or just about anything else that is going on. And we're going to go through the curriculum in a moment. The other thing you get is a monthly accountability writers group where you are going to meet in a writer's group with like minded people and that is going to be moderated by an incredible writer from the Problem with John Stewart, Maria Ranges. She's amazing and she's going to moderate the writers groups. And then you are also going to get an exclusive behind the Bangs chat space for resources, advice, inspiration to talk about the lessons throughout the month month and then you'll get take home worksheets starting with my nine resources that changed my entire writing life. And two of them are podcasts. One is a leaked PDF, one's a website, two are books. But one of the books, it's like there's only one chapter you should read. So all of that is like in this PDF of like the things that actually helped my writing. And this is the behind the Bangs curriculum and it's going to take you from start to finish. How to tell your story, make your story DIY your story. Basically how to really get started.
- [46:39]
Jordan Moncada
So this program is for writers and storytellers of all mediums at any stage in their creative journey, because a great story is universal and it can apply from all different mediums. And Chelsea, when you and I first started working together, you had all the samples. You had your TV scripts, you had.
- [46:59]
Chelsea DeVantes
Feature, I had my web series, my hot web series, all the things.
- [47:03]
Jordan Moncada
And what attracted me to your writing was there was so much in there that I was like, oh, there's a deeper story. This was before I even met you. There was a deeper story in you that you had to tell. And when we met, we're kind of just like talking all over the place. So I picked up bits and pieces of your childhood and your journey to get to where you are. But it really took getting to a to deepen your writing, finding out the thing that you were hiding from that you didn't want to tell in full to really open up who you are. And from that moment that you, you told your story on your podcast, on your terms, to people that really did need to hear it, your writing completely changed. And also just your work, I mean your, your work ethic was always so strong, but your ability to move through your life in personal and in the creative industry just completely changed because you weren't being held back by this shame and this secret that you didn't want to talk about. And our hope is that for the people that come into our program, no matter what medium, you are going to come out of it this year feeling a sense of freedom to be able to do everything that you want to do, because that's going to apply to every area of your life.
- [48:18]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah, it's really interesting because I had come really far in my career without owning my story and telling my story because I didn't want to. I was like, I want to be a successful, cute career lady. We don't need to talk about this, like, dark shit. I just want to, like, be successful. I had had a ton of jobs before then, and, you know, I did not want to have the story of someone who lived through domestic violence. I just, you know, and I talked about it in the book. I just, like, found that to be, like, a very ugly, sad, painful story. And so I didn't want that to be my story because I wanted a different one. And what is so wild is that when I finally owned my story, figured out what it meant to me and how to tell it, I never would have known that I. I was never going to be my full self until this happened. Does that make sense? Like, I thought I was going to be like, it's going to be fine. I'm doing great. I'm doing better without the story.
- [49:05]
Christina Lopez
It makes total sense.
- [49:06]
Chelsea DeVantes
And yeah, now that I'm here and I have brought it in, I'm like, oh, my God. I was missing out on, like, 50% of myself because I was afraid of this thing.
- [49:14]
Jordan Moncada
And I said this to you recently, but after all of this, after even telling your story, selling the book, writing the book, having gone on this book tour, and you connecting with other people, because of that, I've seen you become more free. And I'm like, why does this bitch have so much energy? Oh, because the energy that you spent holding you back from this thing is, like, unleashed and now. Yes, sure, you could say that it took you longer to get to this point, although you're young and there's so much time. But, like, you had to get to this point so you could teach people. So that we could teach people in going on this journey that, like, it. It's only going to free you if you do this.
- [49:56]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah, I love that you said that. And this is like, yeah, I know we're talking about me. And I'm like, a Little self conscious.
- [50:01]
Jordan Moncada
But I do think it applies to everyone. And I love to use. And I think you're just a concrete example of that. And what we're hoping to do with behind the Bangs is everybody that comes in can learn from this stuff of like, yeah, come to this program and be set free. Like, you know.
- [50:15]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah. Well, it's interesting cause it's like, that's why I love memoirs. Because when they shared their story and all the ways I saw myself in that story, it changed my life. It set me free. It made me be like, oh, my God, I'm not gross. I'm not alone. Demi Moore also found out her dad wasn't her dad when she was 14. Like, we are all one. And so to, you know, then add my story to all the stories out there in case anyone, you know, of my ilk, like, found themselves in it. Yeah, it's the whole theme. And the theme being that, like, no one can be you but you, but being you can be so hard. So we're trying to give the tools to write that reflection for yourself. Oh, I am this person. I mean, yes, it is like, yeah, I want to open the door. We want to help people in, but it's also, for me at least, it's quite selfish. It's like, I love television, I love podcasts, I love entertainment. We need more people here who are ready to fuck shit up, who have those nuanced, impassioned, incredible voices. And like, there are so many hurdles to getting here. And we need more people in this industry.
- [51:17]
Jordan Moncada
Whether you're the showrunner, whether you're like, like a lower level writer, whatever, a producer. We need people that have stories that are relatable, authentic, and honest to bring their perspectives in. Maybe not even to physically be writing this stuff down, but to feel confident that you can go into every room and share your perspective because you're confident.
- [51:38]
Chelsea DeVantes
Let's go through just a general syllabus. So the first three months are how to find your story, how to choose which idea to pursue, how to craft the perfect log line, how to write an outline. Then the next three months are how to really write your story. So how to write the perfect first page, how to give and receive great notes, which is a really hard skill set that I would be thrilled to pass on because it is a skill set. And how to revise and rewrite efficiently. Then we go into the next module, which is pitching your story, how to create an incredible pitch deck, how to create a standout portfolio, and breaking down how projects get made, which is where we're going to feature some special guest talent agents talking about the actual sales side of your art. And then finally, in the last module, it's going to be making your story, funding your creative vision, how to find and work with collaborators and how to independently produce your own work. So finding your story, writing your story, pitching your story and making your story. By the end of the year, you could be on set for your thing, you could be in production for your thing. You will have every single tool. And I think special to this is we're going to show you all of the things we have used on our own projects, not just recently, but currently. Like we just shot something a few months ago and Jordan did all of the producing and funding and collaborating on that and she'll show you like all of our paperwork and all of our processes.
- [53:02]
Jordan Moncada
All of the paperwork. I'm gonna show all the. All of the paperwork.
- [53:05]
Chelsea DeVantes
Yeah, you got. That's what you guys want, right? Hot paperwork.
- [53:07]
Jordan Moncada
It really is meaningful, though.
- [53:08]
Chelsea DeVantes
No, but I'm serious. It's like even just knowing, like, this is the better website. This what? This one. There's one website that will change your life production wise.
- [53:16]
Jordan Moncada
Oh my gosh.
- [53:16]
Chelsea DeVantes
And it's just like, yeah, I wish I had known that for my first 10 short films.
- [53:20]
Jordan Moncada
And by the way, when we were putting together, when we were starting from zero producing this project, the people that I reached out to were other producers that had also done independent work. And that I think is the. One of the most important parts of what behind the bangs is, is that community is having that online chat access to all of these people within this group. So when you're looking for someone to help revise your script, when you're looking for someone who has sound mixers that they've worked with or line producers they work with before or like business plan templates, like all of these things that's gonna come within your community and they're gonna help get you through the year to actually make these things happen.
- [54:02]
Chelsea DeVantes
I really like, if you read the book, you know, I really ended on a thesis of community. I think the times I've suffered in life is when I kept myself away from community. And so every time people ask for advice, I'm like, find a community. Because two things happen. One, this business is extremely difficult. Every. Honestly, what job isn't? Every business is so hard. Your community will keep you alive. Your community will keep you together emotionally, whole, sane. Like holding hands with other people is like the way to get through this roller coaster. And the second half of that is, is the practicalities of like, what do you make? It's sharing your salaries, it's sharing all kinds of things. But the funny thing about community being so important is that it's often really hard to find it and to build it. It takes a lot of work. That's the truth. And where I found my strongest communities were in structures that already existed. Like the Chicago comedy scene, where it was like there was structure there in order for me to find my people. So that's what we're hoping to provide with this. With your writers groups, we're going to provide the structure and the people and the bat signal for you to come and find your community. And what you get out of it will be what you put into it. You've got to give in order to get. But I'm hoping that we're just like creating, creating a hot tub to start the community, you know what I mean? Because you do. You need structure, you need time, you need all this stuff. And so that's what the program is. You're going to sign up for it and you're gonna get your writer's group. Yes.
- [55:32]
Jordan Moncada
And then with the writers group, when you sign up, there's gonna be a Google form that goes out that has a list of questions and you can choose what mediums you're interested in, times that work for you, for the accountability group. And we're gonna do our best to separate everyone out based on interests so you could be with other like minded.
- [55:49]
Chelsea DeVantes
People so you can sign up today, December 27th. We're closing signups in five days, maybe sooner because we need to cap the amount of people who are here in order to have a really great writers community and intimate environment. Remain intimate. And our first workshop kicks off on January 7th. So these will be on Zoom. They'll be live. We're going to be talking about making sure you are telling the right story. So if you come in, you're like, I don't know what story I'm going to tell. This first workshop is for you to find which story you're going to focus on. If you're like, I already know what story I'm focusing on, then this workshop will help you test it. Are you telling the right story? Have you hit all of the inflection points to know, like this is how you go forward. And then your writers groups will start about two weeks after that and we will record everything so you will get the playback. In case you can't ever make the Zoom, you'll be able to see it back. So the community is open for you to sign up now. And also the pricing. It's $55 a month, so you're kind of paying like, $25 for the lesson and the Q and A and then like $25 to come to your writer's group. We tried to price this to remain as affordable as possible compared to other writing programs. They're laughing at how little we're charging, but affordability is, like, also I think, at the core of this brand. Maybe that's the trash part of Glamorous. It has to be affordable.
- [57:07]
Jordan Moncada
We want to make it accessible.
- [57:09]
Chelsea DeVantes
And yet we had to cover our costs. We have to cover the structure and time and labor. It's not just the three of us who put our time in to make this happen. There's a few other people behind the scenes to actually do the scheduling and the actual moderating of the writers workshops. So that is the cost. And also, I want to make sure it is at the level where you yourself are committed, like, to have a great community takes that investment that, like, we are in this together. Like, we are showing up, we are going hard, we are boosting each other up. And if you do not have those resources, but you know you need this in your life. Of course, we are offering a limited number of scholarships. Listen, this whole thing is about, like, all boats rise when the hot tub rises. Okay, so you need a scholarship. We're gonna link it in the show notes. It's just a small application form. We are so happy to welcome everyone in who needs this program. And again, again, you can be a writer, a podcaster, a social content creator. You can have a business. You can just want your small talk to go better. You could be like, I'm getting on Tinder this year, and I need. I need to fuck some dates up with my amazing story.
- [58:11]
Christina Lopez
Yeah. If you have to make a case for your bonus, we're gonna teach you the storytelling skills to be able to get that.
- [58:16]
Jordan Moncada
Okay.
- [58:17]
Chelsea DeVantes
Ah, Christina, So true. So true. And so I'm really excited to launch this. And as soon as you sign up, you will get my nine resources for things that just fully changed my writing. And as a small reminder, I have one of the weirdest resumes ever in that I have written late night comedy, half hour family sitcom, half hour streaming, rated R sitcom. I have done animation, I have done movies, I have done this podcast, I have written a memoir. And I have done all of those different things because I use the same storytelling skill sets in every single one. I've not Gone to grad school. You know what I mean? Like, oh, you know, now I'm writing in, like, this format or this format. I take these storytelling tools and I apply them to everything. So those are the tools that we're teaching, because a good story is universal. And the tools that make a good story can apply to every single genre that you are working in.
- [59:16]
Christina Lopez
Right? And just keeping a reminder, we're just getting started. This is just the start of it. So if you don't get a chance to sign up in time for it, this is just the beginning. And there will be more opportunities in the future.
- [59:27]
Chelsea DeVantes
We are working on so many incredible, incredible projects here. And, you know, Christina and I might have some announcements and. But if, you know, this is my moment, 2025, I want to tell my story, free my story. You know, work into that creative process. And you want to be a part of behind the Bangs sign up because we are capping the signups. If we get to that number first, signups will be closed. No matter what, though January 4th signups end because we've got to start the program. We've got to get you in your groups. We've got to get into the schedule. We've got. We got to get things going. So sign up fast. Sign up now. You will not be able to sign up once it's capped, and you will not be able to sign up after January 4th. If you're like, but I'm going to join in June. You can't, unfortunately, the program is a year long. I just want to remind you, sign up on your laptop, sign up on your desktop, don't sign up on your phone. I will save money. You will save money. Like, make sure you sign up on your laptop. It is on Patreon. Patreon.com Chelsea Vantes. It is the behind the Bangs writing tier. If you are already a member of the Patreon, you can just upgrade your tier to behind the Bangs. You will still get all of your other benefits. Every benefit of the podcast, Patreon, is included in the behind the Bangs tier. So you will get all of it. You just upgrade and move your tier over. And we're limiting the spots because the accountability groups need to be smaller. They're going to be moderated by one of my favorite humans in the world, Maria Randazzo, who helped me run the Jon Stewart Writers Room. So we've worked very closely together, and it'll help give some intimacy to that space where Maria will moderate and bring in the lessons. Make sure everyone's, like, on their game, talking about craft and connecting. And then of course you will be able to network across, which is an Issa Rae term that Jordan taught to me that I absolutely love. Which is where you're not like trying to get a hold of Tina Fey though. Wouldn't that be amazing? You are trying to get a hold of your friends in behind the Banks, the person in your writing group. You are going to network across and hold hands and create something beautiful together. If you want more information, a newsletter went out about it today. It will be linked in my bio. We can link something in the show notes. You can read all about it on the Patreon. You can read our syllabus, our curriculum. You can see all of the details. If this is something you're considering, again, it is all linked in the show notes. It's linked on my Instagram. I'm sure we've posted something about it today that is on the grid. Go click that behind the bangs. It is linked in the show notes. Patreon.com chelseadevantes we are very excited. And listen, signups are open right now.
- [61:52]
Jordan Moncada
Happy New Year.
- [61:54]
Christina Lopez
Happy New Year. Happy new you.
- [61:56]
Jordan Moncada
That's right. We had to.
- [61:58]
Chelsea DeVantes
Okay, a huge thank you to our podcast producer Christina Lopez, our EXC Executive producer Jordan Moncada, our sound engineer Marcus Hamm, and our amazing associate producer Jaron Padre. I also want to let you know that if you love audiobooks but you want to support independent bookstores, go to Libro FM where it is easy to download audiobooks and support local bookshops. And right now you get two Libro FM audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership using code TRASH. That's right, TRASH TRX A S H2 audiobooks for the price of 1 at Libro FM. And if you have questions, go to the Patreon Chat Lounge and I will see you there.