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Crafter Corner #6
Black to the Future Genre TV Panel
AKA Dropping Knowledge
by Aadip Desai
James Moorer, our Director of Outreach & Diversity Initiatives, and I just concluded the BLACK TO THE FUTURE Genre TV Panel, held on March 24th, 2022 from 5-630pm pt. Sorry for the delay in posting about it. It's been crazy here on the bridge of the U.S.S. Roadmap, a Defiant-class ship. We're tough, we're overpowered, we can cloak, and we're small!
LOOK AT OUR AMAZING PANELISTS!
- Bianca Sams (Charmed, Don't Look Deeper, Titans, The Originals, Training Day)
- Brandon Schultz (Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks)
- Christina Walker (The Flash, Tales, October Faction, Salvation, Still Star-Crossed)
- J Holtham (Handmaid's Tale, Supergirl, Jessica Jones, Cloak and Dagger, Pitch)
- Kimberly Ndombe (Legacies, Sorry For Your Loss, Chicago Fire, Raising Dion, Good Trouble)
- Lamont Magee (Green Lantern, Black Lightning, The Quad)
We estimate that this was one of the best panels of TV writers ever assembled. The X-Men of Genre TV writers. We covered many topics during our free-wheeling 90-minute Zoom chat, but there shall not be spoilers here. They brought the realness.
Speaking of which - here's the video info:
Meeting Recording:
https://roadmapwriters.zoom.us/rec/share/6cczVOfmMrNgJdrSezb0pxoApsR6axqN-CENlHWymO4Whln7B00f7g0eB2xZyJQV.MqsrFjCzDKNPGD2b
Access Passcode: ByM9G*6R
DROPPING KNOWLEDGE:
At 1:20:00 mark, our illustrious panel answered James' call for advice for writers who are trying to break in. They dropped serious knowledge! I can't do it justice here, so you must watch the video. It's as much about how they said it, as what they said! You felt it in your HEART!
"Find your allies and don't give up!" - Christina Walker
"You have to find your audience even if it's an audience of one. " - Brandon Schultz
"Learn to trust your voice. Learn to trust what you have to say... Still learn. Practice your craft but find your voice. Work to find that thing that only you can say about the world and really believe in it" - J Holtham
"We have a distinct cadence. The stuff we champion...it's our fingerprint. You have to establish your own literary fingerprint. You cannot give up. You cannot win if you give up the fight." - Lamont Magee
"Once you get into [writers'] rooms. Learn how to compromise. FIght for the things you want. You have to know when to let go. It's not your show." - Kimberly Ndombe
"When you are the only, my big thing is reminding myself to protect my joy and my sanity at all costs. You are not one thing!" - Bianca Sams
IKR?
Aadip Desai
Director of Brand Management and Marketing at Roadmap
TV Writer (ABC, Disney Junior, Sony TV, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Netflix)