hello welcome to the bathroom or show live streaming on the iHeart Network and / 185 broadcast station in 37 countries on your head Deb more my guest today is an award-winning TV and film director is a television film and Commercial director who is known for development of the award-winning Comcast series voices of civil rights movement and a documentary featuring James hemings entitled ghost and America's kitchen stay with us my interview with TV and film director at me where home is coming up<br> did the name Atkins die every year do my face in my darling I know one thing for sure is where it is and isn't everything movie<br> bother you say everything is going to be alright to say I wont. Do tonight I need you with me now need you to call me through I need a miracle of breaker do I need you<br>everything will be alright<br>Quadratec<br>everything will be okay<br> He's Got The Whole World in His Hands got the whole<br>TV and film director Anthony is coming up his work at the director including development of the award-winning NBC Comcast series voices of the Civil Rights Movement we will be back after the break one thing we can all agree on<br> promise of our Constitution and the hope that liberty and justice is for all people but here's the truth attacks on our constitutional rights yours and mine are greater than they've ever been the right for Altima Reproductive Rights the right of immigrant families the right to equal justice for black brown and lgbtq plus but we protect everyone's right to freedom of<br> the freedom of expression racial Justice lgbtq right the rights of the disabled we are here for everyone for over 100 years bought a half of millions of Americans protecting our boat and our voice I believe in the ACLU because they're for real to learn more about how the ACLU is fighting for your rights and mine go to my aclu.org today<br> welcome to the Bev Moore Show Anthony the ward winning Comcast series voices of the Civil Rights Movement this platform honors the Legacy and impact of America's civil rights champions<br> what can you share with us<br> so that Series has been one of the the blessings of my life and I had no idea what an unbelievable scope if it was going to have at the office. So it has now been about 10 years since we began that Journey it was early in 2013 in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington the Comcast decided to do a commemorative series you know a one-time thing multiple interviews that was going to be part of their Comcast newsmakers platform special Civil Rights march on Washington themed episodes for the the month of August and it went so well and they were so pleased with content that they decided to build on the series a little bit more in 2014 and then 2015 and 2016 now here we are<br> and dare I say we have conducted over 200 interviews thousands of man-hours it's it's unbelievable absolutely in love with the the produced edited content that we've created that is out on the voices of the Civil Rights Movement. Calm and various other platforms with Comcast. Perhaps more importantly a lot of these interviews have been archived with NBC Universal archives and will now be available you know this stuff is is preserved and we did have time with with John Lewis we've had Jesse Jackson Al Sharpton a lot of the of the name that you would immediately think of when you think about the Civil Rights Movement<br> but perhaps more importantly there are all of these folks all across the country who were crucial crucial parts of the story specifically in their geography just key players and their stories have not all been told and so to have the opportunity to sit down and give them a format how long for me to get it out and to just give us all a more complete picture of the Civil Rights Movement as it was and still is it it's it's incredible to project that I'm really really proud to participate in and it's the small group of us who were there at the very beginning and are still piecing this thing together all these years later even though it's gotten much much larger<br> wow it hurt it commemorates the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington<br> yes so that was that's where it started and then it started to roam 7ish Ali it was called his dream our story the legacy of the March on Washington once contact decided to extend this and make it a more expansive civil rights collection it was rebranded as voices of the Civil Rights Movement so now the content is not necessarily all anchored in the March on Washington by any means so you've got young folks who are now interviewed who may have a story to tell outside of the confines of that era that 19 you know 63 to 68 Prime civil rights are most of the content does hark it back. But it has its it's a wider net now and I just think it's a really good healthy platform if<br> Kelly documentary content and its it's just giving a platform for important stories to be told and they all do connect to civil rights in one way or another and you start to realize what a what a truly big story that is I mean it's it's one of America's defining stories<br> write the what I was playing for Black History Month that are rolling out one of the great things that they have done it Comcast is going back so it was a small-scale project it was just going to be these newsmaker pieces in August of 2013 so there wasn't a terrific amount of resourcing done to get unique visual than really really dive deep into some of these stories created very very simple 4 minutes documentary segments and out they went but now we're going back and actually taking some of these old at its expanding them cuz I no longer need to fit in this 4-minute Comcast newsmakers format they they've been freed from that and they have done a terrific job of researching finding and Licensing<br> some incredibly unique visual b-roll there's a lot of things that I think we're all used to any time of civil rights anniversary comes around for example the Little Rock Nine in Arkansas the desegregation of schools there a connection with that Comcast somehow you know that they really have an impressive research team over there anytime we're on the topic like that and we're going back and we are adding visual to a piece like this they managed to find things that I I haven't seen before which is saying a lot to type I shot a 90 95% of these pieces and I almost all of them so you become very familiar with what's out there and it's it's tempting to think that you seen it all but everytime I think I do they that they do a great job<br> somehow finding some peace of media that has not been Overexposed and were able to breathe fresh life into some of these older stories so we have some of our older interviews coming out some of those ones that were conducted in 2013 and 2014 but with all new visuals and very soon we are going to be rolling out a piece with Hank Aaron and Billy Aaron his wife we interview Hank only months before he passed away a couple of years ago and unfortunately weren't able to do another interview with him to finish the piece but his wife Billy sat down with a threesome Lee in Atlanta and we are at work cutting together a really really exciting piece is that is not necessarily tie into civil rights<br> but Hank Aaron went through a lot and in his time in Major League Baseball and it's it's it's an interesting lens to the view his story through so that will be coming out soon so it's it's this year is going to be a constant new releases there going to be a lot of the the theory which began in 2013 so<br> well I was just stay at the time I work for a commercial production company Cornerstone pictures out of Philadelphia and I was asked to come into a meeting I had done a it's a long strange story I identify a favor editing a piece together for a for a friend of mine who was covering this this book really I had no idea that the financier behind this book was a pretty major executive at Comcast I mean I truly had no idea and I did this this video edit of a book release party and all of a sudden I get this email from a Comcast address asking me to come in for a meeting I really don't know what for but I start the pieces together this person so she brings me up there and I think she was very very happy with the editorial quality above the piece that I did because it was we made a story<br> take me to something really compelling above this event she was happy with it and was telling me that they are now embarking on a couple of new projects and she really wants to have fresh eyes on it I think that Sheila Willard who was one of the executive producer at Comcast at the time who was behind this project really wanted a new a new look new eyes something outside of her established means and sources to sort of<br> put something fresh out there you know with an old form at the end of the day if it's talking head interviews lease together with with some b-roll but she saw something in that piece that I did for her not knowing who she was mind you where she wanted to give me a crack at it so in that sand that tells you also what a small-scale project this was at first and in 2013 they were willing to give me a shot at it so I did the first or interviews at the Comcast Center in Philadelphia in 2013 it was sort of a trial run and they were really happy with the look they're happy with the edit and off we went so it's just one of the one of those strange stories in life I mean thank God I said yes to that little favor I was doing for my friend with that video at it it's definitely one of those lessons I always tell my kids is it when in doubt you no say yes when you can<br> it was a calling it was calling it had your name on it yes<br> well I'm excited to find out more this month<br> thank you so much yeah it's going to be an exciting time voices of the civil rights movement that, and it's readily available on Comcast cable platforms as well to anybody out there who has Xfinity if you say voices of the Civil Rights Movement into your voice remote content O Plenty<br> who am I<br> we care Spa<br> would you<br> but because not because<br> baby car<br> I am<br> look up<br>and call the storm<br>Bobby Caldwell What you done<br> not because but because<br>my interview with award-winning TV and film director Anthony wertheim continues after the break<br> as a veteran you get a lot of advice<br> but wisdom is harder to come by<br> a lot of people imagine themselves in our shoes without understanding the weight on our shoulders<br> you can understand the pressure of finding your own way after serving in the military<br> but whew isn't none you've got support<br> you can't control the chaos but you can chart your way through it<br> steady yourself<br> take a breath<br> you're not alone<br> learn more at make the connection. Net<br> about the feature documentary James hemings ghost in America's kitchen the debuted at the Roxbury International Film Festival in 2021 winning best feature documentary<br> it has been quite the journey yes we are truly true points in 2028 did Premiere at that festival and it won best feature documentary best overall film with that by the way with Summer of Soul which I always am very proud that we were on the same award sheet as some result since that ended up becoming an Oscar winner a little later so in 2021 we had just put our feet in the water and soon after that we got distribution representation and all of these months later we just recently released on Amazon Prime video and it is something that we are everybody in this team behind this documentary It Started With Chef Asheville mcelveen and my show<br> we are always sort of see this as a calling and something that we just sort of have to do another one of those things that when there's too many coincidences and just strange things happening right I tend to follow the bread crumbs so the way all of this started a friend of mine out in La who was working for a company the time that was focusing on finding books that could be adapted or stories and books to the book itself wasn't necessarily something that could be a film but there was this character in it this is about Thomas Jefferson and his time in Paris right after the Revolutionary War war America in Jefferson is over in Paris for four years with some of our other founding fathers including Ben Franklin<br> Adams and he brings with him this guy James Hennings who is his brother-in-law and enslaved property bring him over with the sole purpose of having him trained to become the first Master Chef in America he wanted to take this part of fine cooking that was traveling over in France and give himself or himself with with the weapon of charm having that ability back in America<br> beneficial for all of us but for him especially at the time so he takes James over to do this cuz clearly he must have sent this guy is uniquely talented and can do this is over in Paris with Jefferson is running the kitchen within two years of being there which is highly unusual stuff today trained in similar circumstances and then says in the documentary of self it took him much longer to achieve that status the incredibly talented man who is responsible for bringing french fries caroni and cheese whipped cream firm ice cream all of that came back to America via James Hennings it all went through a slave Kitchen on Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Plantation<br> James and Jefferson had a very interesting relationship James is also a very important political figure who had his actions directly influenced American history and I first got introduced to this in that book I was almost shaking by the fact that I never heard of this guy<br> it's right it's right there are great books to cover this time. Other than than creme brulee there's a wonderful book by Annette gordon-reed call the hemingses of Monticello and it goes through all of it in great detail and very you know the historical details are all there but somehow the story just kind of gets over and bike complete coincidence<br> and this is at a time when I'm really really taken with the idea of what do we do with this story because I'm working on the Civil Rights project so you start to get an ear for lost important stories that need to be preserved and once I was exposed to this I really really want to figure out like what what can I do with this and I meet Asheville mcelveen who is the founder of the James Hennings Society we happen to have a friend that happened I knew it's too much it's too strange. I'm going to have coffee with this guy that I'm going to go wherever the road leads and James hemmis ghost in America's kitchen started off as a sales take we we put together three minutes of really compelling content<br> and we weren't sure if we were pitching a narrative film The scripted film unscripted documentary or docu-series frankly we kind of whoever we were talking with morphe the the failsafe and the pitch deck into whatever it needed to be and we were I'll tell you that we were so close with multiple partners to getting something going but I started to notice you know I like more than two calendar years had gone by and we had just been in in Cell mode pitching and failing and getting close and having a follow-up call but I started to get the feeling because I would hear different versions of the same statement everybody was so interested also interesting how is the story not known but in terms of content is it food or is it history<br> there was this nervousness most potential Partners about breaking what is the entry point for this for this film because you know Lite content whereas history is heavier and there was definite the nervousness about trying to convince it to but clearly it is both so I started to feel that we were going to be stuck on the vine eternally if we didn't just sort of take a leap of faith so we started getting more and before you know it over 18 months or so we had that the vast majority of the content for what would eventually become James hemmis ghost in America kitchen and once we release it or had those limited screenings at film festivals and whatnot it was very clear that this was this was hitting a chord with people folks<br> you are number one interested in culinary history or Foodies documentary junkies of which I am anybody they were engaged in 2022 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and they kicked us out of there eventually because the Q&A did not stop after the movie and yeah it was one of those moments Asheville and I when we're leaving there just to look at each other and your your kind of overwhelmed why what's happened because all of these people were just exposed to this story to this man just lost Legacy James Cummings that is it's it's a it's an overwhelming story and it's an overwhelming Legacy and it's troubling to just be learning about it right now<br> I have an emotional reaction to that so you know it's we're doing all we can to just try to get it out there and and let people know it's on trying for you and just be a resource to keep spreading this the story of the lost American pioneer<br> out of all of that what would you say is the biggest challenge you faced during production<br> my own mind you know I'll tell you what that the thing that gets you with these things when you don't have that official partnership and you don't necessarily know where it's going<br> and you know we did a shoot one weekend in Virginia and I was missing it was an event it was an important thing to capture for the film everything aligned needed to do it but you know I miss my wife birthday and I was looking up postponing my daughter's birthday party that all of those things are obviously going to happen and you start to wonder what am I doing is is this going to work cuz there's no guarantee and there's no partnership in place that Asher has you on the other side no matter how good it is or isn't it anybody's going to see it so there's a little panic attack moment that I think you are working in that passion project space until it's more sometimes you really do Wonder<br> we're all of its going to lead and then your own motivation can become an issue I found in that was always more more difficult for me than any logistical challenge we faced<br> stop time watching people<br> Nicole<br>everybody get down hit the back<br> Brown<br> he wants to<br> this is the best more show live streaming on the iHeart Network + on / 185 broadcast station in 37 countries around the world have more interview with director Anthony were home continues after the break we are strong we are resilient and we will get through this together but these are stressful times and it's important to also practice good self-care it's normal to feel overwhelmed anxious or afraid but there is hope reach out to someone connects with your friends stay in touch with your community and know that you are not alone learn more at we are broadcasters.com hope furnished by the National Association of broadcasters and this station you have to award-winning documentaries<br> and 2004-2006<br> before taking a position with NFL films in 2009<br> how did you handle that transition sounds so long ago but it doesn't seem long ago but it really molded your future didn't it<br> it did you know it all does come together and I'm thankful for all the experience along the way and it's it's tempting to sort of disregard certain experiences and think that you're on to a bigger better thing you never know when you going to be looking back on a certain experience at that trust an old friend and very thankful that you had it on there I think 2004 or something like that loved it there but they don't hire a lot if it's not a direct path to just walking right in the door and having a full-time job so I went out and the freelance World production assistant work working locations department and I always try to have a a side project something I was working on and you know the most recent one before going to NFL was this documentary called loaded that I just a buddy of mine turned me on to this this really<br> incredibly unique publication that was happening out of Denver called modern drunkard magazine and their their their founder lead writer was sort of this almost like a cult leader personality having this big event in Denver so I don't I do this very happy with how it came out cuz it was Sweat Equity doing our thing but once I got the job at NFL films and sort of settled into the more I became an indoor cat if you will with production I didn't know that I was ever going to end up back in that space where I'm I'm trying to make movies without knowing exactly what I'm going to do with them on the other side but then you know all those years later after getting a job with Cornerstone pictures in 2010 and working there I'm still there to this day it wasn't something that I was doing terms of independently creating<br> content trying to get documentary content out into the world but then you know I meet Asheville in 2017 and all those years before I'm just you know that muscle memory of grinding sort of willing things to happen if you have your hands in a ton of projects bad as I seen you know there is a repetition<br> yes but yeah I know I know<br> yes it did it cuz it is it really helps you grow into the that you are what do you think are the most important elements of filmmaking<br> well you know I honestly think it's easy to get lost in Aesthetics and that is very important important<br> you don't want to make unnecessary mistakes and self-inflicted wounds in introduction but at the end of the day I really do think it's story and that has become I think even more clear in the post-pandemic world where we've we've seen a dip that is never kind of at the end of it even in the in the commercial world we did a shoot for a beauty product curly in the pandemic we were sending the newest iPhone and ring lights two models in instructing them how to shoot their own content and of course there were different but you watch it back and it still works because of the writing was good the music was right the performances were good so I think at the end of the day you have to be excited about the<br> story you're telling and if you are and you're you are true to whatever vision is that you have it's going to be exciting to other people to try to get this important to get as many production elements right as you can but I also have seen people sometimes talk themselves out of doing something because everything's not quite right yet you know don't have all the funding don't have enough resources and maybe they're smarter than me I'm not sure<br> I get you really great cuz you need to grind through those moments where you don't have to do that that's for your projects so nobody's paying you to do that it is hard to get past that sometimes you have these little little moments passion to tell you story will will go a long way and I think I can cover a wide variety of<br> I don't know if mistakes of the word but when when you have the core elements of your story if you're telling a story well I don't think that people are going to nitpick your content because everything wasn't just just right so I I think it's important for people to to sort of trust themselves and if you're going to do something you got to commit to it because you don't want to have half finished passion projects for sure. Now you joined Cornerstone Cornerstone Stone pictures and what year when<br> 2010 okay<br> you do the NFL films<br> I can imagine yeah now you have produced from what I have seen you have produced a lot if you've been there with Cornerstone and prevention children Children's Hospital of Philadelphia starkist Chesapeake Energy Hershey Park<br> thank you and Con Air<br> and then collaborating with Comcast for 9 years on the expansion of the civil rights that we've already talked about and then<br> then you also<br> this is a lot I mean I'm I'm talking a lot as the center of Disease Control the national Focus for developing Alzheimer's disease and prevention for the United States<br> I was really proud of the work we did with them and we got that in right right before the world kind of shut down in 2020 I actually started 2020 in Alaska working with the CDC on this campaign for the campaign was about opioid prescription drug abuse awareness and it's documented content so produced a a series of documentaries with real recovering addicts telling their stories and he's had to fit into either to Minotaur or 30 second containers which is always a challenge but I just felt like it was an incredible process we were thrilled with the results the other campaign won an Emmy photography component to it but I was responsible for as well so we really felt great just about the<br> who did not unlike the Civil Rights project there was a small group of people in this little troop traveling all over the country creating these little documentaries and we're really really excited about how they they turned out to the CDC was with with a great partner and I see it next which was the advertising agency who we were partners with were fantastic so I have to tell you I love them the documentary World the movie world but it is not for a lack of enthusiasm for the commercial space I actually I find commercial work to be very rewarding I have to admit I like the taste of it you have a little fling for a couple months then do another one<br> yeah yeah and it's done right but you still have you still have it under your hat under your hat you know because that's a really powerful when I saw that I was really impressed<br> thank you and I'm blessed to work at a company that is cornerstones been around for 32 years in the Philadelphia area but very very nationally tried and we do work all over the place and the two Founders executive producers of the company Bill Jeremy Gloria Lewis Arvada talent that it gets at being executive producers and understanding the commercial World's End and how to make clients 8 advertising agency folks happy and to bring value to them so it has been definitely still making Clinic much more so than just the art of filmmaking but just in managing the process the people collaborating working with all different types of folks from different different agencies different clients different budgets so I have nothing but good things to say about Cornerstone in<br> better filmmaker as a result of thousands of my time there and them still there<br> that's awesome to your base in New York City<br> Philadelphia actually right outside okay<br> and you got I got you okay<br> gotcha. You and you're going to be doing many more I said do you have any upcoming projects that that we can be on the lookout for one that is a it's a short form documentary we are actually hoping to get this thing submitted just in time for the Tribeca deadline which is coming at the end of this month it is a short-form documentary about Nancy person who is an incredible artist based out of New York City who has a resume that you won't find another one like this are utterly her own she is responsible for and sold to the FBI the technology for facial aging facial more things so if you see if there's been a missing person and they show a photograph on television of what they might look like today<br> that was my God originator with Nancy and she she conceptualize this in 1968 which is outrageous cuz there was no computer tech to the back up like that but then once technology caught up she gets that out into the world in the early 80s and then went on to become a photography Pioneer doing some very very celebrated ography series and a painter who has had exhibits at MoMA and I mean all over the world she did at a Time Magazine cover in fact just a couple years ago and she has some incredibly<br> unique views on her art is the it is undeniable extract up of the way she lives her life the way she sees the world she cannot help but create art and she has a really interesting view on reality that the big part of the movie and anybody who has ever done any reading on simulation Theory or is interested in the philosophical ideas behind determinism<br> Nancy's<br> everything that she does and says will be of interest to you except I'm looking forward to getting that out we we are still kind of going back and forth on on title and artwork and all of that but it says it's coming soon I think the next month we're going to have a version of that out in the world and I have a feature doc that I'm working on about Nina Caruso who is a New York comedian and she is aspiring to be the first female hijabi boxer professional boxer she is wearing Muslim who has penetrated all of these worlds and dumb so remarkably successful she is she's going places she's a social media influencer she's headline Caroline's comedy club and she has decided<br> and is completely committed to being a professional boxer at the age of in her mid-twenties never having trained to do this and being a full-time who is booked at Big Time show so she is going to be I told her I won't say any specific cuz I don't think they're promoting it yet but she will be on a national reality show later this year so I know how we're going to close this with one last question<br> do you have any advice for aspiring filmmakers who are just starting out<br> well you know I have to go back to what works for me which is and I hate to say but it's it's saying yes wherever possible and that can even be to yourself sometimes I think it's very easy to be pretty protective of our time and reasonably so but when you are a young filmmaker<br> it is better to be exposed to something then sitting at home waiting for opportunities I think one of the unique things about this industry is the the exposure the access that you have at every level so if if I'm directing a commercial<br> I'm right in the same room with and communicating with a production assistant who maybe is on their first paid commercial production and that person and that's the case with with every production TV TV movies everything so unique networking opportunity in the world when opportunities arise I would just try to take them wherever possible cuz down as mentioned some of my my biggest break came from very very unlikely connections and they all were rooted<br> in agreeing to do something that wasn't necessarily what my end goal would be sometimes big big things have humble beginnings so I think allowing yourself to enjoy the the journey and not audit situations too much don't find reasons to not do something every once in a while yet you might take some underpaid job on some film crew and you know hopefully you want to do too much of that but every once in a while you will make a connection from one of those from one of those jobs or strike up a conversation find a relationship that will be invaluable down the line and and you only need only need a couple of those don't really make a difference<br> great advice of God you are very very very lucky that I've been in some of the situations that I have been and I'm very very grateful you are you are very successful and you've made some great choices and you know everyone's it's listening I I hope they take that to heart but congratulations to you and your team and I want to thank you<br> for being my guest on the Bev Moore Show<br> thank you so much babe I really appreciate it's been a pleasure<br> that's on sale for this week I hope you enjoy my amazing guess TV and film director Anthony werhun<br> listening to the BevMo show live streaming on the iHeart Network worldwide<br> I'm bev more until next time.<br> Yeah that's like the ocean yeah the voices in your head you don't really know how<br> always in motion, you don't need to win me over you don't need address<br> no no<br>I mean I know you're scared<br>