There was a lot of Synergy this week- from people and places to this wallpaper and my shirt. I am grateful and wishing the same for you, Fam. More of this please, thank you! X
Going over lines? Reading the paper? Nope. Sudoku. It’s Sudoku. (Btw @zacharyquinto is quite good at it) BTS Ep204 #BrilliantMinds returns with the last six episodes on Wednesdays starting 5/27 at 8pm @nbc
The gorgeous cats are out of the bag! Remember when I said I worked on something I couldn’t tell you about? Here it is!
I am over the moon and beyond grateful to have worked with these Incredibles! X
REPOST- What would you do for your Ride or Die? An exclusive first look at the new Ride or Die series! Available July 15th @primevideo
@alcalderon : “Can I slide across the table like MAGIC MIKE?” Me: “Wait, CAN YOU?” #AlCalderon: “Yeah!” Me to Choreographer #MelissaJJMoore: “Can you coach Al to slide across the table like in MAGIC MIKE? #MelissaJJMoore: “Sure!” And that’s how that happened ;) BTS ep 210 #BrilliantMindsNBC (Yes that’s @casimere warming up in the BG- adorbs!) The last six episodes of #BrilliantMinds begins 5/27 Wednesday nights at 8pm on @nbc
Top Dogs @zacharyquinto & River & @brianaltemus BTS Ep210 #BrilliantMindsNBC returns for the last six phenomenal episodes of the series on 5/27 Wednesdays at 8pm on @nbc
By now you’ve probably heard already but if you haven’t I’m incredibly sorry to tell you that Brilliant Minds wasn’t picked up by NBC for a third season. Note: the last six episodes are still going to air on 5/27 on NBC but that finale will now be the series finale. It’s a tremendous bummer for our lovely Showrunner #MichaelGrassi, all the Writers- (Oh the writing this season— I Love You for it Fam!), the irreplaceable crew and of course the simply stellar cast. This was my family for two seasons. What a privilege. The pure joy of working with these people is something I will and already carry with me daily. That’s what needs to be remembered. Pro Tip: Found took seven years to come to fruition- seven years of ‘No’s’ and ‘I don’t get it’ before #NkechiOkoroCarroll received the nod. I believe Brilliant Minds took three or four. Showrunners give their lives to these projects. I am grateful for their perseverance. Grateful Michael Grassi thought me the right person to go on this journey and that we had 33 episodes together with some of our crew able to return and only adding more fabulous artists to our cast. A show is a wish. A wish that you will allow yourself to entertain new ideas and people who look like you and people who may not. That you will return week after week to watch what will happen and, if we’re lucky, take a little piece of what you saw with you - that it might inform or give clarity to a moment or feeling. So many of you have taken this wish to heart and watched and posted and reposted and laughed and cried with us and I’m incredibly grateful. Many more posts to come. And six gorgeous episodes on 5/27 that I hope you’ll watch and love. Until then thank you thank you thank you. XX
Loved seeing this Queen, Ms A’lelia Bundles, the Great Great Granddaughter of Madam CJ Walker and author of the book on which the Netflix series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker is based. (I am grateful to gain steam from Legends like her and the one who portrayed her, Ms Octavia! @octaviaspencer ! Shout out to that Queen too.) Ms Bundles @aleliabundles was at the #mahistoricalsociety @mhs1791 to discuss her new book Joy Goddess about her mother- Madam CJs daughter. I mentioned before on how when I would be having a challenging day I’d think about the incredible strife Madam CJ Walker lived through, how she did business: she was a washerwoman, took in boarders and rode the train across the country in the early 1900s to sell the products she created and then ran a factory all while and supporting women in the midst!Thinking about what she lived through would get me through. I submit this is exactly the time to think of her and her daughter, A’Leila Walker, now. In Madam’s own words: “This is the greatest country under the sun. But we must not let our love of country, our patriotic loyalty, cause us to abate one whit in our protest against wrong and injustice.” Ms. Bundles’ book #JoyGoddess is available just about everywhere books are sold but please do consider purchasing from a local bookstore if you’re so inclined. Light to you, Fam xx (Tshirt- my gift the the #SelfMade crew by @philaprint )
Last weekend something dope manifested. #1 Niece @manimanidavis called because she had a dream. She dreamt that she suggested an appreciation party for my Sister’s Husband because he’s been doing a wonderful job supporting her during her health journey. She asked if I was down, I said let’s make it a surprise and we did it! My Great Nephew and his GF burned to the point where you walked into the kitchen sweating and didn’t leave without wing in hand. #1 Niece decorated, the drink cart was prepped and the R&B playlist was poppin’. I brought a jar, index cards and pens and everyone wrote down why they’re grateful for @benjamin.marshall.56 and when he read them there were wide smiles and wet eyes. We had crackers and cheeses, banana pudding and pineapple upside cake and wines and tequilas. We played Taboo* and yelled over one another and laughed until it literally hurt. (So damn good!) We told this Gent, who dutifully and beautifully cares for my Sister @danice_d_marshall how much we love and appreciate him and he beamed. And we all extolled the magnitude of love we have for each other and how incredible it was to be together. I’m still smiling from it. The next day it dawned on me: #1 Niece had a dream. She shared it with me and in less than a week, we made it a reality. That’s manifestation at its best, yo! That’s the power we have together. We can literally make each other’s dreams come true. What’s your dream right now (even in the thick, you gotta have them —still!) Share it with someone. Make it Known. Let them and the universe conspire to make it real. It is all still possible. It is all still possible. Believe. *And yes, our team won Taboo, twice ;)
Seeing this building reminds me why I love art- installations, graffiti, paintings, opera, ballet ;) sculptures, theater, film, tv- all of it. All of it. I don’t know how or why this was decided upon. A group of neighbors endeavored to do it? A management company embraced the idea? A lone artist went door to door and handed out colored lightbulbs? I love beauty in all forms and the artists of every discipline who create and gift it to us. I would not have seen this if I didn’t look up. This is what I suggest you to try. Bring your head and heart out of the temporary muck for a few moments a day- longer if you can afford it- deliberately build time into seeing what else is here- what little gifts await on walls, streets and roads, in the wind as it overtakes you, in the bright songs of birds and neighborly nod of a person you don’t yet know. I believe you must give your head and heart relief. And, when you do, you’ll actually start to see even more beauty. I have hope. I have evidence of it. I see it in this building. I see it in you. xx
That Brilliant Minds BTS I’ve been talking about starts now!!! (New Episodes of Season 2 air 5/27- we got Wednesdays at 8pm on NBC!) Okay this is from season one, the episode I had the pleasure to direct (103 - The Lost Biker) written by the wonderful Sara Saedi @saaaranotsarah If you recall the episode, a patient was fainting consistently (no spoilers here in case you haven’t seen- Season 1 is available on @hulu now as well as @peacock btw) but Dr. Wolf had the idea to play The Three Stooges (her favorite) while the patient was hooked up to electrodes (the beep boops!) to see what would transpire. None of the interns knew who #TheThreeStooges were. Turns out, in real life, Spence @spencemooreii didn’t know them either! Here he and Ashleigh @ashleighlathrop are watching video of them just before we film. I was walking by and thought this looked like a family photo (especially with Gus in the mix) and, perhaps, the beginning of something to come for the characters ;) Tee hee. #BrilliantMindsNBC returns to @nbc on Wednesdays at 8pm! 5/27 Fam! xx
