Finding Your Role in the Film Industry (as a Christian) w/ Tuesday Lewis-Harris, Producer

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Also for like actors, like, I understand, baby, that you have raw talent and you used to be in school plays and used to be in church plays. But you need to get in class to learn this industry because it is a million. I'm sorry, let me correct myself. A billion dollar industry. And they put. I mean, I'm speaking as a producer. There are price tags on actors. I hate to put it like that, but it is like you could take a certain actor to a studio and they're like, yeah, now if you, if you asking for a 30 million dollar budget, it got to be somebody that's worth a quarter of that or a 10% of that. You know what I'm saying? So at the end of the day, those are the things that come into play. And sometimes we think that it's personal and it's not personal.

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Tuesday I was so inspired by just reading your bio when I continue connected with you. Honestly, it was one. I think it was either Pod Match or one of these other things where we were kind of like in these circles of creators. But your story stuck out to me like immediately. And the story of your book and the name of your book really was like, whoa, okay, we gotta talk. So somebody's meeting you for the first time. And I know this is the hard part. You've been in media for a long time, so, you know, this kind of like, you know, BIO Tell us 20 things about you, all that kind of stuff. So this is the way I try to put it to make it a little more interesting for someone that's meeting you for the first time. What are those two or three things that you would want them to remember if they don't remember anything else about you? If they're going to, like, you know, move on to the party you just got shake their hand. But there's just a couple of things that you want them to remember the next time they see you. What are those things? When you meet somebody for the first time?

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Oh, that's. I've never been asked that before, Alan, but I like that question.

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I'm glad. I'm glad.

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So I guess those three things would be that first off that I'm a child of God like y'all. I am. I'm a daddy's girl. Okay? So anytime that you ever will meet me, or even if I'm not in a environment that is an environment that caters to the kingdom or like a h. A an environment of believers, I'm. I'm always talking about God everywhere that I go because he's Been so good to me. And he's my daddy. He, he is ABBA father. So that's going to be the first thing that I want you to know. I want you to know that baby, she, she does not play about her father because I'm going to always bring that up. And then the second thing would be that I am a wife and I'm a mother. Those are the two things that are most, most deep to my heart because God entrusted me with those titles and not those titles, those responsibilities and those mantles of being first of all his daughter and then second a wife and a mother to, to, to people that are called according to his purpose as well, my husband as well as my children. And then also that I am a entertainment entrepreneur. But just yesterday, Alan, I was thinking, I was like, I think I need to change that more so to a kingdom entrepreneur. Because that's really what it is. Because on the quest of being of, of fishing for men, of being a fisherman, a fisherman of men, to draw people to Christ in everything that I do, whether that's in the entertainment industry, whether that's in the non profit sector, whether that's in education, whether that's in any, any place that I set my footing, I am an ambassador for Christ and to draw people to him and his goodness so that they can be free and they can get to know them for themselves. So, so, and even not even having to mention it all the time, but just in the way that I walk, you know what I'm saying, In the way that I walk, in the way that I treat people, in the way that I build relationships with people. So that would be the thing that I would want people to like, remember when they come into relationship with me and they come to get to know me is those three things that I'm a child of God. First, I'm a wife and a mother, and that I'm a kingdom entrepreneur. I work for the kingdom. I'm an ambassador for the kingdom, Ellen. So that's pretty much it.

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Oh, well, look, if anything me would be again, the things that stick in their mind when they meet you. It would be not just those things that you just said, but the spirit and the heart behind what you said. Right? Because sometimes people have these labels, as you mentioned, but then there's the actual spirit and the intention behind it. So I have to ask you, because obviously we could talk about your family, we could talk about how you came to Christ, but I am interested, obviously, as this is a creative platform. You're right among your tribe Right. This is literally what this tribe is all about, is what you just said. The Kingdom entrepreneurs and the Kingdom creators. So I do want to ask you about the creative side, because so many of us, we do start in our families or we start in this, you know, this road, but there's some pivot point. There's something either in school or it's a class or as a teacher or as a parent, someone that sparks that first thing of I want to do blank. I want to be an actress, a singer. Singer or a dancer. There's somebody, right, or somebody in your family or somebody in your world that kind of. That first thing could be childhood, could be teenager, could be whenever. So who. And what was that first spark of creative artistry, of wanting to do this, even if it was before, you know, before you did professional. What was that first kind of person that gave you that inspiration to become creative?

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I was always around the arts, and my mom used to make Easter speeches, a big part of, like, our lives and us being able to, like, quote, Easter speeches whenever we had the Easter pageants and the Christmas pages and the stuff that, you know, we grew up doing. I grew up Baptist, so those are the things that we kind of grew up doing. And when my mom used to have me memorize my Easter speeches, I always. I remember I had one speech when I was like. I think I was about, like, six, and it was like, I can do anything, whether big or small, and I don't even remember the whole speech, but I remember that part, and I feel like that part was something that really stuck with me, whether it be something, because it's not something that I automatically just think about, you know what I'm saying? But I feel like due to the fact that, you know, giving those speeches and being on those platforms and ignited something else in me, because I'm not gonna say that I'm not a singer, because whatever God blessed me to do, I sing whatever God tell me to do. I'll be obedient now. But that's just something. My mama, she's a singer now, okay? So she sang my mom, my brother, they. They will sing. You ask them to sing a. A few notes, they gonna go ahead and brush that and sing me. I'm gonna be like this for church, this for choir. I'm just built a little different, but I feel like I had to. It's just like sports. You know how when you grow up in a. A family where everybody does this one thing, or you might have an older sibling to do this one thing? And I was the oldest sibling, but it's like something else kind of draws you. I was acting and TV and film kind of drew me more so than music did. And it's ironic because my dad isn't. He's an actual musician. So my dad's a musician. My mom sings, my brother sings. But I somehow. It's just four of us. Me, my dad, my brother, and my mom. I somehow got drawn to film. So I guess that was like the first. The first initial thing that kind of like ignited me. I. I like the fact of being able to put my emotion into it and express myself with the way that I read the words and put motion the words. And then after that, I went to a high school that was. It wasn't necessarily performing arts when I went there, but we had a teacher that came my freshman year that had came from the arts. We have a arts academy in Dallas called Booker T. And he came. And then we also had a theater teacher that was very prominent in her field and a dance teacher that was prominent in her field. And they came and they built this powerhouse at my, my school. Because before they came, before they came, it was just like technical theater. It was more technical theater based. But yeah, no, we didn't. And I never. I just grew. I grew up in, in church and always having the desire. And I feel like it's God that really gave me the desire because it was always there. But he sent the tribe, like, once I got to high school to like, send me out into the world. And even we had a. A fine arts director that year, high school. His name was Dr. Broden. And come to find out Dr. Broden was, I guess, baby, let me tell you, Dr. Broden is a visionary because apparently he was like Lizzo's Lizzo the artist. He was like her band teacher when she was in school. Yeah. So like, he had. He is. I feel like he was. God created him to raise up, you know what I'm saying? Because I ran into him recently, like a couple months ago, and I was like, Dr. Broden. I remember coming back home from college because they ignited it. They sent me off to college for theater. They sent me off to college. We did big shows and stuff like that. And they sent me off to college intentionally sending me out into the world to be able to be a part of the industry, my high school teachers and the fine arts director. So when I came back one summer, I remember being kind of down because I had got cast as an understudy for. For Fiddler on the Roof. Which you might not even know, Fiddler. Well, you might.

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Okay, okay, okay, I'm gonna stop you for I am definitely not all the way into the musical theater, but like you said, because as a music sunrise, Sunset was one of the first songs I was playing. So we will not geek out. I promise, y'all. We will not geek out too much.

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For sure. We're not gonna start singing it.

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Yeah, not yet. Not yet. Maybe on the bonus. On the bonus episode. Come back to hear us do a duet of anyway. Yes. But I know. I love how. I love what you just said. I want to piggyback right there because you just talked about being sent out, that this tribe showed up, saw your gifting, saw that you were just lit you up, right? It was lighting you up even before the tribe was there, before the resources, right? And so now I'm thinking of the listener, the watcher, Someone that's thinking, like, man, I'm in this small town, maybe they're in a church, a kind of church environment where they don't. They don't see a path to live that acting, theater, or writing or music. Any dream, right? It could be any dream, any creative dream. But tell me, what was that like at that moment when you realize, there's a path for me, there's a school for me, there's a place for me, like, talk a little bit about, like, you know, was that kind of where God answered a prayer at that moment that you were kind of waiting for that. What was that like with the moment you were getting ready to? Yeah, it sounds like you were launching into an actual career that.

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Right. At that point, I didn't realize it at that point, I just thought, okay, well, you know, now they're building a program at, you know, my high school. I graduated from Lancaster High School, Lancaster, Texas. I'm gonna go ahead and emphasize that. Lancaster.

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Okay, I got you. All right. Shout out.

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Yeah, it's Dallas county, but it's Lancaster. So I don't think it really resonated with me that that's what God was doing at the time. Until, like, that moment when I told you I ran into Dr. Broughton. And when I ran into him, I said. Because I remember coming home and him telling me, well, one day they're going to be buying your movies. He told me that, like, we was doing filler on the roof. And it was my first time, like, Lancaster is a small town, prominently African American. And I went out to a school where I was one of the three black African American girls in the theater program. So I got cast for a role and they felt like my dialect wasn't ready for that role. So they, they did auditions again and they actually opened up the role and gave it to a young man instead. It was the role of Yenta. So when I came home, I was a bit discouraged. And that's when Dr. Broughton, he was talking to me, it was homecoming. And he said, well, don't you be discouraged because they're going to be buying your movies. And that's the part, Allen, that stuck with me the most. When I was on my journey and I first moved to LA and I, I, and God started just moving miraculously and things just start happening at an accelerated pace. I remember doctors, Dr. Broden's words say, don't worry about that because one day they're going to be buying your movies. That's what stuck with me. So at the time I didn't realize it. I was just so focused on, oh, Jesus. I don't even really know. I, I know how I got here, but I know that now everything was aligned and orchestrated by God because I remember being at this small town community, it wasn't a community college, it was a junior college. And they're not even open anymore. But I remember being there, being in a theater facility and looking at the wall and I saw a poster for New York Film Academy and I said, oh, if only I was good enough to go to New York Film Academy. And after I finished my bachelor's degree, the Lord moved my family and I, my husband and my husband and I moved to California along with our kids. And I took a sabbatical from work, or I took a short sabbatical from work and I got accepted into the master's program at New York Film Academy, Los Angeles. So it was like God would give me little, little snippets of little different things to let me know I was on the right path. But at the time I didn't know. But he sent the right people. He sent the right people to give me the right mindset, you know, and not all those people were perfect. Like, one of my teachers, I'mma be real raw with you. One of my teachers was like, well, maybe we should be prepared to teach you how to be a theater teacher. And I was like, I mean, I don't mind teaching because I love, that's, that's my thing. I love to teach. But I was like, well, how about being a theater teacher, but also teaching them how to be sent out into the actual industry, not just keeping it in the classroom, but teaching them how to be sent out into the industry. So I feel like once I became an adult and I was able to look back over in my. Over my life, I was like, wow, God has set it up like that the entire time. He set it up. He set me up to be able to be in a position that I'm in.

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Oh, gosh, I love this so much. And there's a phrase that just pops into my head when you said that, which is, you can't read the label from inside the bottle. When you're inside the moment, you're just living it, right? You're just working toward what God has for you, but you can't see it. He sees the end from the beginning, but we can't see the end from the beginning. He only lets us see what is. What's the. What's the verse? A lighter to my feet. Yes, right, Lambert. To my feet and a lighter to my path. He doesn't let you see the end of the path. I heard somebody say this other day in my church that if he saw. If he showed us the end of the path, we turn around and run away. Because we're not. We're not. We're not ready for all the giants and the things at the end. Matter of fact, that's what the children of Israel did. They saw the giants and they ran away. So I love what you said, though, that the words, even the people that didn't believe in you, how important is it for you to have those words spoken either over you, to you, or even the words that you speak to others? Because you're obviously in acting and theater. Writing scripts, like writing, you know, is a big part. Words are a big part of what you do. So how important have those. Either encouraging words, discouraging words, you know, all the things that kind of make your vocabulary of how you interact with the world. Like what. How. How important is that? Because I feel like sometimes we don't realize what we're letting in our, you know, Bible says life and death is the power of the tongue. So how. How has that impacted you in other ways in terms of, like, how you use words and how words have been spoken over you?

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Oh, I am very, very, very, very, very intentional about my words. Very intentional about my words. I don't let anything come out of my mouth. If I. If I do let something come out of my mouth. And it's not what God says about me, or it's not about what God should, or what God would say, or what the word of God says, or it doesn't align with the word of God, I will immediately rebuke that word. I rebuke that word, and I renounce any covenant that I made with that word. That's how intentional I am with words, Alan.

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That's. I think next to the words is obviously the WISD people that you're. That you're learning from. So I want to talk a little bit about what you do professionally now, because the people is so important in terms of the collaboration, the community. Can you names or not name necessarily individuals, but explain, like, the community? Because I'm not into the theater and film as much. Right. I'm on the outside looking in a lot as a musician. So can you explain, like, the community and the culture how you've had to, like, integrate yourself, especially if it's not Christian? Right.

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Yeah.

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How have. How is the community of theater and art and film either helped or harmed or hurt, you know, been an obstacle in terms of you achieving your dreams, you know, once. Now that you're in it.

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Yeah.

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You know, how is that community working or how does it work for you?

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So when it comes to community, ooh, I feel well, I learned my biggest lesson about the community by moving to Los Angeles. Okay. I feel that there is community, but you have to find your tribe. You have to find your tribe. So for me, I find myself still kind of building that community because Jesus, like, it's literally how. And I'm not trying to say that this is me. I know that there are other believers out there that work in the industry, but I feel like now we're in a season where God is drawing us together so that we can build accordingly, you know?

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Yes. I. I'm so glad you said that, because that's honestly where I often feel, even as we do this. And I'm speaking to all of us again, people like us who are trying to, you know, honor God, bless God, but also do things with excellence outside of the four walls. Right. And it can still feel like you're alone. Even when you said what you just said, which is, we're being drawn together. You and I are talking. There's so many other Christian creatives that I have been able to talk to over the last, you know, eight years that I've been doing God and gigs. And yet you can wake up on a Saturday morning and see, I don't know, five likes on your Instagram or whatever it is, you know, whatever your metric is at the time or. Or the phone hasn't rung for a while. Right. The auditions haven't Come in or whatever. And that discouragement comes in. That's why I feel. And I'm so glad you said you're looking and you're still building your tribe. So what else helps fuel you in those, like, lower moments whenever you do feel discouraged? Like, how do you get through it? Because I can imagine there's some great highs, but there's got to be some lows as well, you know? So is it your tribe? Is it the word? Is it your family? Like, what keeps you going when things aren't going so well, especially creatively?

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Well, that's. That's a good question, Alan. So I stay motivated because my job in the industry, I have a different job than everybody else. I'm a producer, so I have to create opportunities for people. I have to create opportunities. So I work alongside. I have writers reaching out to me every day with scripts. Then I have actors over here who are looking for work. So I go to the studios to try to get the funding to be able to carry out these projects. So I'm kind of like, I feel like the weight is on my shoulder to get it done, because I know that if I don't get it done, I mean, of course God can choose somebody else, but why would I trust God to choose somebody else? That could be the same or their heart can be turned. Like a lot of people who God has chosen and put out into the world, they. They have been turned and compromised. Why would I entrust what God has given me with somebody else? So what I did recently, I just did this vision board a couple weeks ago. It says, without you, there's no them. And that can sound a little cocky because at first I was like, holy Spirit. Because the way that we do our vision board parties, I did. We do it in my church. We asked the Holy Spirit to, like, show us what we should be, you know, looking at. And I ran into that. And that's literally how I feel every day. I'm motivated by the actors that I go speak with on different panels. I'm motivated by the writers that's. That's reaching out to me to pitch their work to studios and help them get their stories out there. That's what I'm motivated by. Because I know that their opportunities, their open doors are going to come through me. And not necessarily that I have to harvest them, but I'm the seed or I'm the one with the key. So since God has given me the key, I have to create opportunities for these people to be able to thrive in their gifts. Because Their gifts make room for them. So I feel like that's a lot of the reason why it's a little lonely at times. But I feel like recently God has been sending people. He has been sending people in different spectrums to work alongside with me so we can build what needs to be built, if that makes sense.

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I love that you already are saying like what I feel many of us in the creative space are feeling, which is if you don't kind of like if you build it, they will come type of thing where you, you can't wait for other people to come and fulfill that dream. You can't wait for other people to come and create that opportunity. You create the opportunity. God gives you the strength and the ability and the wisdom, right? But then he's like, you go and build the place where people will. Then, you know, I think of Isaiah where he says, he will make you the restorer of walls, the restorer of cities. You know, we'll build things that people, Other. Other people will come into the kingdom relationship, right? We're just building our little corner of the kingdom, his kingdom, so that people can come in. So you're in the artist and the film space. I wonder, what do you wish more people knew? Especially those are actors or producers or film script writers that are coming to you, right? Because now you've been. I've seen your, your resume. We read it at the beginning of the, of the episode. Like you've been working on some major, some major stages, right? And so with some major people, what do you wish more people who maybe be moving out there? Dude, I have. They got this dream. What do you wish they already knew or would get down pat before they come to you, before they go into a studio, before they walk in? Something that you learn quickly as a producer, that you wish more people knew before they try, you know, to achieve this dream or jump into this industry?

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Well, one thing that I really push with writers that I work with, because I work with writers all the time. And you ever heard Erykah Badu say how she's sensitive about. Oh, yes.

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Oh, yeah. Very, very famous. Because it's true. I mean, she. We wouldn't use those words necessarily, but it's. We all say it because it's true.

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Yes. Writers most of the time are very sensitive about their works. And one thing that we have to understand is when God gives us a gift, he expects us to cultivate that gift. So that might look like you making an investment to get a writing coach that can help you kind of like streamline your stories or make your stories flow better. Because one thing about it is a, I've been a creative executive for production company before where I read scripts nonstop and executives, they read the first 15 pages and if they're not enticed by the first 15 pages, it's a pass. Okay? So that's the first thing. Like make sure that you get a coach that's going to, that, that knows what they're doing. Look them up, look up their credentials and make sure that you get someone that can help you understand how to develop story because that's, that's very important. You don't write a story the same way you write a book. There are two different entities. A book might go more into details, it will go into more details. It'll give more to give more sensory language, you know what I'm saying?

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Versus yeah, paints the picture.

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It has to paint the picture, right? But a screenplay, we don't need all that. We don't need you to put the like. No, you just need to tell, you just need to tell the, the director what the overall in your director script include that, include all the scenery and the sensory verbiage in the director script, you know, or just give us a brief description, you know, and let us know what it, what it is so we, we can bring the vision of light to life. But at the end of the day you don't need all of that. So that's where a coach comes into play to kind of coach you through how your script should look. It shouldn't be more than 120 pages. 120 pages, that's a long time. Each, each page is like a minute and a half, you know, so those are certain things that writers can work on. And then also developing your story and make sure that your story has an overall message. What is the overall message that you want your viewers to receive when they see your movie? When they see your story? So that's for, for, for writers, but also for like actors. Like I understand baby that you have raw talent and you used to be in school plays and used to be in church plays. But you need to get in class to learn this industry because it is a million, I'm sorry, let me correct myself. A billion dollar industry. And they put, I mean, I'm speaking as a producer. There are price tags on actors. I hate to put it like that, but it is like you could take a certain actor to a studio and they're like, yeah, now if you, if you asking for a 30 million dollar budget, it gotta be somebody that's worth a quarter of that or a 10 of that. You know what I'm saying? So at the end of the day, those are the things that come into play. And sometimes we think that it's personal and it's not personal. It's based on the fact of being like those brides with their oil. You know what I'm saying? You have to be prepared. You have to prepare yourself. When you in the hidden place, when don't nobody know who you are, you need to be in acting classes, you need to be in improv classes, you need to be networking with other actors. Because in the industry, we don't network up. We network across and we build. That's how we do in the film industry. It's not like corporate America. So those are the things that you have to kind of learn along the way. It's like you network across, you build your tribe, their tribe builds the next people. Network across, you build. That's how this industry works. So I would encourage anybody that wants to be in the film industry, whether that's writer, whether that's producer, whether that's an actress. And then also one thing, let me get to this. And I'm.

[00:28:13 - 00:28:18]
No, you're doing, you're dropping gems. You need to hear all of this. Someone, someone is writing furiously right now.

[00:28:18 - 00:29:41]
I hope so. One thing is that I've noticed from our community because I went to, me going to, moving to Los Angeles and going to New York Film Academy, it put me in a different community. Right. But what I noticed from our community, coming from where I'm from, I came from a small Dallas actors community before I was launched into the industry. A lot of people think that you're supposed to get paid right off bat. And that's not how this work. Oh, this don't work like that. This industry not like it doesn't work like that. Like sometimes you have to, you gotta take some, some interns. It's like interning. You gotta do some internships first before people will trust you with paying you large lump sums of money. You know, So I, I've had to take that on the chin. I've had to take a couple gigs that I didn't get paid for. I had to develop some projects that I didn't get paid for. And it's not always right. And I don't agree with that. But it's why I am where I am. And hopefully when we build kingdom, the as the kingdom allows us to build, people won't be working for free because People got to eat, you know what I'm saying? But when it comes to you trying to get out there as an actress, like your first gig, if you're not, if you're not prepared like that, or you don't have no resume, it might be for free, you know, or let's not say for free, because every industry, if we look at it, Alan, they.

[00:29:41 - 00:31:38]
Have internships, you know, you're being paid in experience, which. Yes, yeah, I know we fight this so much in terms of both, whether it be music, anywhere in creative space where we feel like we are being taken advantage of. Right. But I love the fact that you're focusing, number one on the way, the reality of the situation, Right. Which is this is the way things work. But the other part is really the sowing seeds, like you are sowing into what you want to become. And that, that absolutely means the Bible is very clear about that. The harvest is for later. You don't get to harvest the second you plant the seeds. So I think for us as believing creatives, yes, we should understand that. Now, of course, I'm talking. It's easy to say that on this side. Right. I'm not the person. I want to make sure that you said that because I'm thinking of the people who are thinking, okay, when is this going to pay off? How much free is too much free? How long am I supposed to wait for this dream to come to pass? How long am I supposed to wait for God to give me like the shining light and everything comes? So I know that we're, I'm not trying to, you know, do like the sugar coating of, of the, of the, of the industry. Like you're saying right now you have to make some sacrifices. But I do want to give them that encouragement as well. So once they do the things you're talking about, once they are going to the classes, they are subjecting themselves to teaching and learning and instruction. What would be a light bulb moment for you where you saw this thing come to pass either for yourself or for somebody that came into your world? Like, give me the, the highlight reel of when they did blank. This was the result. It could be your personal story, right? Something where you saw like, this is why it works. This is why we stick with it. This is why we follow through and we trust God, but we also do the work. Give me something where either someone in your story or you saw like the results.

[00:31:38 - 00:35:23]
Right? So I'll start off first of all with me being an actress because that's how I first started off. In this industry. So when I started investing in myself and started taking classes and started being among people who were already doing this, I started to receive knowledge not only. Not only my craft started being developed, but I started knowing where to go to to be able to get paying jobs. You know what I'm saying? I started to know how to get an agent and how to get a manager and how to do all these different things. So you paying, you, you're planting a seed, but also with you planting that seed, you're receiving a harvest, right? Then it might not be a financial harvest, but you're receiving the information that you need to receive that might not be so openly described in the public. And it's not. And it's not that some people do gay keep, but sometimes it's just like any professional industry. Like, you just have certain things that people know, and you get that knowledge along the way by being in the right rooms, you know? So like, a couple of my first jobs had to be free. But after a while, once you start building their resume from their free work and then you ask them for your film, you know, because you need film. You need. They need to see. When you. When you submit for work and you're acting, asking somebody to represent you as a agent or a manager, they want to see your film. They want to see your real. They want to see the work that you've done. Well, that's where the free work come in. When you do free work, you make sure that in exchange I'm not working for free. In exchange, you're gonna give me some of them clips. I'm gonna get some clips and make sure that that's in your contract that you receive real work. It's called real work. R E E L. Or receive, like, footage from your scenes, and then you post your footage from your scenes in the website where we submit for acting work, I'm giving y'all some real gems. Now, people pay for this stuff, okay? So. And that's also what you would submit to an agent or a manager. So those are the things that you get in exchange when you have to work on a free set, okay? So when it came to producing, I graduated from the Film Cat New York Film Academy. And after I graduated, I had to do an internship after working. Listen, Alan, I worked for Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs. If y'all don't know what Goldman Sachs is, it's one of the biggest financial firms in the world. I worked for Goldman Sachs, resigned from that position because I wanted to go back and pursue my dreams. This was during COVID I went. Took a sabbatical from work. I went and got my Masters in Production, and after my masters, I still worked an internship in a field that I didn't work in, that I had never worked in before to build my resume. So those are the things it's like. It's not, how much do you want it for us? Because we're believers, we don't do a. How much you want. It's like, how obedient are you going to be? Are you going to be obedient and walk in obedience to plant those. Sow those seeds? Because if you sow a seed, the word of God says that you shall reap a harvest. And I was obedient. Did it always feel good? No. But let me tell you what happened when I was obedient. I might have not been getting paid for my internship, but let me tell you, that year, there were unexpected checks coming in the mail constantly. God made the increase. God made the increase because of my obedience. So sometimes we have to walk in obedience and trust God in the process, because he's going. He's doing something with. With it. Anything that he tells you to do, he has a plan. A plan that exceeds our. Our imagination beyond our wildest dream. Right? That's what it says.

[00:35:23 - 00:35:27]
That's what the book says it seemingly abundantly. Above all, it can ask or think.

[00:35:28 - 00:35:59]
So those are the things that you just. You just have to understand, like, you're not putting in. Because, child, there's been some times where I have invested money, and then I go to sleep and I'll be like, oh, Lord, why did I do that, God? Did you really tell me to do that? Like, I maybe invested 2,000 on the class, but then the information I got from the class landed me an agent. And then my family goes on to be able to book an agent and make $25,000 in one day. I made my 25. My. My $2,000 back, you know?

[00:35:59 - 00:36:02]
Oh. Oh, 10 times. 10 times.

[00:36:02 - 00:36:24]
So I'm just giving y'all examples, and I know y'all listen, y'all better thank Alan for this platform because he giving y'all gems. Okay? Like, these are gems that people pay for. So, like. But it's necessary. And that's what. We just have to understand, that sometimes you have to plant a seed. We can't always want to get, get, get, get, get. Sometimes you gotta give. And that comes a part of giving, too.

[00:36:25 - 00:36:51]
100%. Oh, gosh. Okay. So to look, first, let me tell you, this is not Gonna be your last time on this platform because you just said that this is free game. We're gonna make sure they also have chance to invest into this. So we're going to talk after this. After this episode. We're going to make sure that there's a place, and the place is called Cotton Gigs 360 Gold, by the way. Yes. So we do already have a mastermind where we're going to be giving more gems like this.

[00:36:51 - 00:36:51]
Nice.

[00:36:51 - 00:36:57]
And the reason I say that. I'm being. I'm being. I'm being. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Serious, right?

[00:36:57 - 00:36:57]
Yeah.

[00:36:57 - 00:37:44]
I'm seriously kidding, for sure. It absolutely has to be where we challenge each other to grow. You're challenging those who are in this industry who are number one. You're doing it with such authenticity, which is what attracts me to you. And your message is that you're doing so with unapologetic faithfulness to your calling. You said at the very beginning, you said you want to make sure that somebody got the understanding that they walk into this gifting, which you clearly are. And you said it. Now, here's, here's, here's. And I hate to go this. But this is in my book, so I'll go ahead and put a thing in there because I saw you posted on your Instagram Proverbs 18:16. Right. As your theme. I believe that's a theme verse for you. Is that type. Was that what that. Okay. So that's the man's gifts. Makes room for him. Correct.

[00:37:45 - 00:37:45]
Yep.

[00:37:45 - 00:37:47]
I also put that in my book.

[00:37:47 - 00:37:47]
Wow.

[00:37:47 - 00:37:49]
But I put it in a different context.

[00:37:49 - 00:37:49]
Yeah.

[00:37:49 - 00:38:12]
And here's why. I am not a theologian. Don't come for me theologians if I'm wrong. But I'm checking this with you Tuesdays. See what you think that scripture is put in context right after. He's talking about bribery. So what's funny about that is that we creatives like to use this as a verse that says, well, my gift, my talent makes room for me.

[00:38:12 - 00:38:13]
Yeah.

[00:38:13 - 00:38:20]
When David or Solomon, whoever wrote it, was really kind of saying, your money will make room for you.

[00:38:20 - 00:38:21]
Come on.

[00:38:21 - 00:38:29]
Because a man's gift, literally, if you give somebody some money and you walk into that room, you going to the front.

[00:38:29 - 00:38:30]
Yeah.

[00:38:30 - 00:38:48]
So we have to be very understanding as creators that we can, like you said, cannot rely on our talent alone. But we have to bring whatever that resource is. It might be the might. Right. Some people, some might. It's a widow's might. God. It's not like, oh, well, don't Bring it because it's too small, but you got to put something in the pot.

[00:38:48 - 00:38:49]
Yeah.

[00:38:49 - 00:39:39]
To show him that you're willing to go that extra step. And then, like he said, we. Like you said for your life, he blessed you. So this is too good. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to wrap this up and. And let them come to part two. But I do want to say this part because I really love so much of this. But I think it comes back to what you said about the words and about Dr. B and somebody who was willing to speak into you. You are clearly now not just a producer. Even though you've got the resume, you've got the clientele, and you've got all these things, clearly there's something else that you're trying to build. So tell me a little bit about what's next for you. What are you trying to build in terms of community? You know, your heart for creatives, it echoes exactly what I'm trying to do for mine. So I want to hear from your heart, like, what is the next. What do you want to see happen as a result of you now having this platform in this place where God has lifted you to.

[00:39:39 - 00:40:24]
For sure. So one of the things that I feel is even if we see the shift in the kingdom, there's a shift in the kingdom. Okay. If we even recognize what's going on around us. God is shifting things. He's shifting things. And when God is shifting things, we have to be prepared and we have to be ready. So I feel like God is moving me to build a compassion community of, like. Because what people don't understand about the industry, because I don't. I know that this is a creative platform, but I add. I just speak by the Holy Spirit, but this. That this is going to touch the. The right timelines, the right platform, I mean, not platforms. What is it? The timeline? The algorithm.

[00:40:25 - 00:40:26]
Yeah, the algorithm. Exactly.

[00:40:27 - 00:41:16]
All those things. What people don't understand about the industry is every creative. Every creative can be a part of a film. Every creative. Right. That picture behind you. The picture that you have behind you. Do you understand that we have to have the rights to be able to put those types of pictures in certain films? We have to have the rights to do that. So that means that. That Arthur. I mean, that Arthur, that artist would get compensated for their. Their artwork to be in your film. The music that you hear in film, it has to be scored. It has to be scored. So we have to have Kingdom music. Come on. Because music Is let me tell y'all about that music because I ain't got much time. But hey, you already know what music is.

[00:41:16 - 00:41:16]
Yep.

[00:41:16 - 00:43:53]
I mean think about who was, who was over music in the heavens before he got kicked out of heaven. So music, music is way more deeper than what people think it is. We need more people that are putting out Kingdom music and put it into the film orchestrated into. We need more Christian Kingdom, not even more Kingdom scorers. People that are scoring films need to be Kingdom artists. Right? We need designers. You have to have wardrobe, you have to have clothes designs, you have to have stylists, you have to have people. That one thing that we have to have when we setting up a film, when we go into pre production is we hire a stylist, a set designer, a wardrobe designer, all these designers that have to come up with looks for the entire film. All these are, these are all intricate places where people can make money. Cuz you feel when you're creative and your parents don't know that, they might tell you you need to find something else to do because ain't no money and you pay real job, find your real job. Cuz how you going to make money by being an artist? How you gonna gonna make money by being a wardrobe stylist? Hello. They all work together. They all work together. So I want to create a platform of all these people where we have a community and we're able to just build, build, hear me say build, build, build. It is the season to build, build, build. Hear me by the Holy Spirit, build, build, build. That's what I'm interested in doing right now. So we're building community, we're building a place for Kingdom entrepreneurs to be in position because the time is now. Because God is doing a new thing. Hear me by the Holy Spirit. So that, that's what I'm working on right now is building those communities, building those sectors of individuals, building those different components of different industries. Because when the, the, the, the, oh Jesus, the harvest is plentiful. Do you understand? It is plentiful. And you have to have people that are equipped. You still have to be equipped. You can't just, you can't, you can't just say, oh, I'm a believer in God. And because God, because God is my fortress and he's my father, I'm going to be put in this position. No, God is a, he's a person of excellence as well. So you have to be trained well to do these things. They can't, it can't be any type of Quality. It has to be a quality 100.

[00:43:53 - 00:44:12]
Oh, gosh, Tuesday, look, you have literally lit a fire under me at this point because. Yeah, I want to go out the build I'm envisioning as you're speaking, and this is what the words do. We go back to those words. Right. I love how this always comes full circle and how Lord really just leads our path and even in how we share this and it goes to the right person who's hearing it right now.

[00:44:12 - 00:44:12]
Yeah.

[00:44:12 - 00:44:40]
The words that we're speaking. Right. They are life. The words you're speaking are about building something that will outlast them. The things that you're talking about giving people an opportunity to live out their gift, to live out their calling inside. Even inside someone else's vision, your vision can become manifest inside someone else's vision of that film. Of that. I gotta tell you, because I'm laughing in my heart as you talk about the picture behind me. Because the picture behind me was painted by my wife.

[00:44:40 - 00:44:40]
Wow.

[00:44:40 - 00:45:02]
Who doesn't. Who's not even who. She would never in a million years consider herself an artist. Oh, look at the so. And she's one of those closet creators I've been trying to pull out and get to. She's the same way. She's got the gifting. She's. She can do management, she's an office manager, but she's also got the creative right. Just like you had to exercise both those roles in terms of, like, your other job.

[00:45:02 - 00:45:02]
Yeah.

[00:45:02 - 00:45:40]
So I love the fact that right now someone is listening who has been inspired. But the last thing we got to say, because then we're going to. We got to let them get part two. If there's something that you would have said to yourself back when you were back in that high school, back before the tribe arrived, before the performing artists came in and told you this dream is real. You can go to school, you can become a producer, you can become an actress. Before all of that, I wonder. I wonder, what would you say to that young lady now that you know all that you know because someone else is in that same space before all that comes, what would you say to yourself now that you know what you know now?

[00:45:41 - 00:46:15]
I believe that I would say to myself is that it gets greater later. And I would just encourage myself to just trust the process and trust God in the process. And that's what I've been doing, is just trusting God. It's. It hasn't always been easy. And one of the things that I always talk about and I have to I have to put Donna Lawrence on. You know, I have to just shout out Donna Lawrence because let me tell you, my aunt gave me. She. I used to sing in the choir because I told you I'm a singer. But I, you know, I. She. She brought the song Encourage Yourself to me when I was a freshman in high school.

[00:46:16 - 00:46:16]
Wow.

[00:46:16 - 00:47:10]
And I used to lead this song. And Alan, when I tell you that that song was literally the song of my life, that's how intricate. Like, sometimes music is prophecy. It's prophecy. And that's how that. That song encouraged me on my journey, because I would have to sing it in my spirit. I would have to sing it because it was exactly what I had to go through. When I tell you when she's. Everything that she said, sometimes you feel like nothing left. The whole song was my journey at that time. And it. It helped me stay in alignment because I would always go back to this song. I would always go back to this song. When I felt like I was isolated and I feel like I was lonely. I had to encourage myself sometimes. You know, even the gift song from Donald Lawrence, like, I mean, I don't know why we give Donna Lawrence a shout out right now.

[00:47:10 - 00:47:47]
No, no, look, look, like you just said, we're gonna make sure he's gonna get some royalties in a second because we're gonna turn this on and. And make. And make sure they encourage them themselves in the Lord, because I'm the same way with my songs. But this. This is exactly like I said. I couldn't have prayed for a better interview. You are a gift to the body of Christ. You are a gift to creatives. Please tell them how they can stay in connected with you, even if they are just looking to support you or if they are looking to find their next role. If they need your assistance, they need your. Your book, which we haven't even had a chance to mention to get inspired by. Tell them how they can find you and be more and staying connected with you.

[00:47:47 - 00:48:51]
Okay, so on all. On Facebook, Instagram and Tick Tock, I am Tuesday Lewis Harris. So on all platforms, you can follow me on Tuesday Lewis Harris and just stay connected. Because I mostly post everything that I do, mostly on Instagram, for the most part. So if you want to really stay connected, follow me on Instagram because that's where most of my information kind of flows through. And most of my, like, classes or seminars or anything that I'm doing, it'll flow through Instagram. So just stay connected. Follow me on Instagram and. Yeah, like, just Stay encouraged and stay even with God and gigs like stay connected to this platform because God is doing a new thing and you just, you don't want to miss it and you want to be a part of what God is doing because this could be your, your key into where God is calling you to, to go to the, to the next level. So just stay with God, stay connected and you know, in everything that you do, acknowledge God and he's going to direct your path.

[00:48:51 - 00:49:13]
Amen. I'm telling you Tuesday, like I said, I am looking forward to the next chance I get to be inspired by you. And I wasn't going to make any jokes because I'm sure you heard the jokes a million times. But whether it's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, I want to make sure that we stay connected with your amazing platform. God bless you, my sister. Thank you so much for being a part of the God Geek Show.

[00:49:13 - 00:49:16]
Same. Thank you so much for having me, my friend.

[00:49:16 - 00:50:03]
Thank you for watching this episode if that blessed you. You got to make sure that you stay connected with this community and this channel so that you can get more where that came from. We're sharing great interviews, tactics, strategies, mindsets, lifestyle style choices. Everything is going to help you become a totally confident creative. And don't miss an episode of the gotten Gig Show. If you are staying connected to our channel, you'll be able to find us anytime we release new episodes and you can check out some of our archives of almost 200 episodes now that we've shared over the last few years. Make sure you check out one of the suggestions right now because it's probably perfect for you to continue to develop as a creative and continue to stay connected with us because we're here to help you become the creative that God created you to be. We'll see you in the next episode.