Happy Friday, Dear Listener!

As you may recall, 2024 was a transformative year for me. I birthed my son, Theo, but I also brought another creation to life: the Hulu documentary, THE HONORABLE SHYNE.

For those who may not be familiar with his name or story, you’re in for a ride. Shyne’s journey from rapper, to felon, to politician is one that has defied the odds.

Back in the late 90s, Shyne was one of the first rappers Diddy signed to Bad Boy Records. After an explosive rise in Hip-hop, he was implicated at a night club shooting a in 2001 that sent him down a life-altering path. After almost a decade of incarceration, Shyne was deported back to his home country of Belize where he shifted gears into local politics. During production in 2023, Shyne was running for Prime Minister of Belize.

It’s quite literally jaw-dropping.

Which brings me to this episode’s guest, the wonderful director Marcus A. Clarke!

Alongside Jason Perez (in red pictured below), we spent 3 years producing the doc with ColorCreative for Andscape.

We were weeks away from picture locking when we had to hit pause after the Diddy news broke. We needed time to reflect, realign and reconsider our thesis.

It was a really hard shoot, as they all tend to be, but I always knew we were in good hands with Marcus at the helm. I’m grateful I got to be a part of telling Shyne’s story of redemption, identity, and the power of personal transformation.

Sometimes, those curveballs are a blessing and help make an even stronger film.

Marcus is a Brooklyn-born director and producer. He got his start in commercials and worked his way up the production ladder to eventually produce. He got his stripes working with Spike Lee before shifting gears into directing.

Some of his directing credits include:

• Apple's feature-length documentary, The WIZRD, following Atlanta rap superstar Future

• Three episodes of Netflix's reboot of Unsolved Mysteries V1

• Three of eight installments in the Netflix Original Hip Hop docu-series Rapture, produced by Mass Appeal.

Now that there’s been enough distance from the production, we were able to reminisce on the twists and turns along the way to capture Shyne’s multifaceted journey.

We tackled:

• Mounting a shoot halfway around the world in 4 weeks

• Filming a master interview at Mayan ruins in Belize

• Pivoting when the Diddy charges dropped

Tune in as we learn about Marcus’ beginnings in commercials, to earning his stripes on Spike Lee’s sets, and I also finally got an honest answer about whether or not aliens truly exist.

As always, thanks for doing this life thing with me!

ICYMI

The Creators of the #StayinLA Petition

Zello Support is Rebuilding Hollywood

Cynthia Erivo on Producing DRIFT

AOP POLL

UPCOMING HAPPENINGS

Workshop - Budgeting for Creatives workshop with me! Announcing this month. Limited slots with Patreon peeps having first dibs. Join Now!

SXSW - I’ll be at SXSW March 7-11th. Will you be there? Hit me up! Let’s connect.

WILDFIRE RESOURCES

UTA Oscar Party -  Canceled and they are donating all funds to victims. Link

Sean Penn FTW - SoCal Fire Fund From CAA and Sean Penn’s CORE Raises $5.9 Million to Support Wildfire Victims Link

Supporting Artists -  List of Resources for Artists & Art Workers. Link

PRODUCER’S CORNER

• READ | Indie Filmmakers Find New Audiences with a Time-Tested Exhibition Model. Link

• LEARN | Budgeting Software - Used Saturation on a shoot and really dig it. Streamline️ production budgeting, payments, and actualization. Link

• GROW | The Social Media Trap - How to stop comparing yourself. Link

• WATCH | Bob Trevino Likes It - This indie won SXSW last year. I loved it so much. Comes out March 21st! Link