Make art with your friends || Issue #24
Team work makes the dream work y'all (the y'all is back. thank Beyoncé)
Hi Friends!
Happy Friday Y'all. This week's newsletter is powered by the new Beyoncé album, Cowboy Carter. If you haven't gotten there yet, feel free to take a moment now. We'll wait. (or read this excellent essay by Taylor Crumpton that brilliantly contextualizes how in this new work Beyoncé Is Boldly Defying Country’s Stereotypes)
While on the subject of monumental accomplishments, I want to take a moment to congratulate Genevieve Roth and Invisible Hand, and Greg Propper and the whole team at Proper Daley for this week's Day of Unreasonable Conversation.
We got to attend the conference and be with amazing friends doing amazing work in the world. Special shouts out to: Brad Jenkins, Baratunde Thurston, W. Kamau Bell (all three of these guys are in our upcoming Black Twitter series, BTW), Michelle Jawando, Sarah Jones, Deon Jones, US Senator Warnok, Christine Blasey Ford, and a truly epic conversation between Hallie Berry and First Lady Jill Biden. The day was impactful, the conversations resonant, and the vibe welcoming. A trifecta of experience architecting that we are grateful for, benefit from, and admire. Brava, friends. 👏🏽
TRENDING - Community 👯💃🏿👩🏽🦽👩🏻🤝👩🏿
Which brings me to this week's point. At Culture House we talk a lot (a lot) about the what Rae coined as our Content Supply Chain. How we make our shows and experiences is as important as what we are making, and why we are making it. If our work and the way we make it doesn't empower, respect, include, center and honor the team behind it in the right way…then what are we doing here?! And if it doesn't feel like making art with your friends, we are doing something wrong. Our community is everything to us. And this week gave us so many reasons to be grateful for the experiences we have when we band together.
This past Sunday night, a modern and more fun Gang of 7 united in Washington DC to attend the Mark Twain Awards at the Kennedy Center. In his acceptance speech, Kevin Hart repeatedly and passionately talked about how his success is almost solely because of the friends and family he surrounds himself with - the community that has lifted him up throughout his decades long rise. It was a powerful reminder that to go far, you gotta go together.
We can't tell you too much about the ceremony yet - but watch on Netflix May 11th. (also shout out to Kristen Wong, executive producer of the ceremony. It was flawless👩🏻🍳 ).
Building community and generating belonging is one of the core practices that the head of Culture House Immersive, Mikhael Tara Garver brings to her work. This week I was super excited to get off zoom and put together a formal Convo with Mikhael to dive more into the why and how of building an immersive studio and our narrative immersive experiences work. We can’t wait to share more from this convo in a few weeks.
How do you all build and maintain your community? Who and where do you turn for a sense of belonging? Let us know, put us on, come sit with us.
We are in this together.
IN THE CULTURE
LISTEN: Congratulations on the first week of The Bright Side Podcast!!! It’s so so good. If you need a lovely and thoughtful pick me up in the mornings, drop in here. Co-hosted by journalist, TV host, and podcaster, Danielle Robay and Emmy-nominated journalist, host, and producer, Simone Boyce, The Bright Side brings your daily dose of culture and inspiration – with the latest trends, celebrity interviews, and real conversations with women doing amazing things while navigating life’s transitions, big and small. The Bright Side is a talk show created to inspire, educate, and empower women as they tackle life each day and add joy to their morning routines.
COMING SOON: Congratulations to all our friends behind the new film Mysterious Ways ! Filmed in New Zealand, the film has opened to glowing reviews and they are currently bringing the film to the states! The film is a testament to how to make audiences feel seen. And we love a little international art, don't we?! Save the Date for the US premiere the film at Laemmle Noho 7 on 4/17, along with additional screenings at the Royal Theatre in Santa Monica on 4/18 and Glendale Laemmle on 4/20. Director Paul Oremland, along with the Producers and some of the cast, will be flying in from New Zealand to attend.
For the first of two times this year, I am taking to the high seas. Next week I will be speaking on board Summit At Sea alongside legends D-Nice and dream hampton. We will be talking about Leveraging Purpose into Powerful Platforms & Social Change. After resuming my life on terra firma, I head to Savannah, Georgia for the Ragan Women In Communications Conference to talk about making entertainment with a purpose.
Thats it for this week, wishing everyone safe square dancing and the best of luck memorizing this complex set of Beyoncé lyrics.
Thanks for being part of our community. We adore you.
Xo
Carri, Rae and Nicole