Episode Details

Hello, Hello!

Make It friends and family, Chris here to announce that starting today, with the episode you are about to hear, we’ll be publishing our segments and bonus content on this feed daily. 

Why are we doing this? Because there’s a good chance you’re already listening to our episodes over the span of the week, we decided to publish our segments from each long-form episode to make it easier for you to enjoy the entire thing. 

Also, Nick and I are always looking for new ways to spice things up, meet our audience in the middle, and improve the show for you. There you have it: daily goodness in segments, plus bonus content from MAKE IT. 

Of course, we’ll still be releasing long-form episodes every two weeks on Friday—that hasn’t changed. Thanks as always for your support, and be sure to let us know what you think on any of our platforms at Beacons.

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In this Filmmaker Q&A segment, veteran producer and director Tia A. Smith shares her journey from broadcast journalism at Ithaca College to becoming a powerhouse in television and film production, including her leadership roles at BET and Viacom. She discusses the critical importance of pre-production, the balance between creative vision and cultural responsibility, and how her background in sociology and gender studies shaped her approach to storytelling and character development. Tia emphasizes the need for producers to create safe ecosystems on set while protecting the story and managing both artistic and executive demands.

We also talk about:

• The challenges of managing creative teams and handling on-set crises as a producer

• The evolution of Black entertainment and the responsibility that comes with programming decisions

• Building a production company and developing leadership principles for mentoring others

• The importance of finding your authentic voice as a filmmaker rather than chasing trends

• How college experiences in hands-on filmmaking and academic studies create foundations for long-term careers

Products, software, websites, people, or places mentioned:

Ithaca College

Syracuse University

Cornell University

BET (Black Entertainment Television)

Viacom

ET (Entertainment Tonight)

Kiss FM

Producers Guild

Image Awards

Greg Diggs

Donnie Simpson

Kathleen Kennedy

Rasheed Stephens

Gold Morgan

Errol Sadler

Method Man

RZA

Darius Rucker