- 19 hours ago
Shola Lynch and Reginald Hudlin turn the lens on Hollywood’s Black A-listers in a two-part documentary for AppleTV+'s 'Number One On The Call Sheet.'
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00:00Authenticity is everything, right?
00:02So we have to tell the truth.
00:04We have to be authentic to the culture.
00:06We have to do all those things.
00:07That's an integral, assumed part of our jobs.
00:11As an artist, as a craftsperson, as a storyteller,
00:15my name goes on it.
00:18And when my name goes on something,
00:21I want it to mean something.
00:22And what that means is the work.
00:24I did everything I can to tell the best story.
00:30Hi, I'm Shala Lynch.
00:34Hi, I'm Reginald Huttland.
00:36And we are the directors of...
00:39Number one on the call sheet.
00:41Black leading women in Hollywood.
00:43Black leading men in Hollywood.
00:46On Apple TV Plus.
00:48March 28th.
00:49I think we should start with our origin story.
01:00Which origin story?
01:03Right.
01:04Well, first, it was word on the street was Shala Lynch is this amazing young filmmaker.
01:10And she made this great movie about Shirley Chisholm.
01:15Oh, she made this great movie about Angela Davis.
01:19And everyone's just a fan, right?
01:20And by then, I had moved from New York.
01:23I'm living in L.A.
01:24But, like, word on the street had reached L.A., right?
01:29And you had met my brother, Warrington.
01:32And everyone's just raving.
01:33Oh, she's so great, da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
01:36So, that's a wonderful thing.
01:39Then, I get chosen by the Academy to produce the Governor's Awards.
01:47And the Governor's Awards is kind of a big deal.
01:50It's where they give the honorary Oscars.
01:54And when you get chosen to receive an honorary Oscar, there's a short film, a documentary that
02:01gets made about you.
02:03So, as the producer of the Governor's Awards, I get a list of filmmakers they worked with
02:07before that they really like.
02:09And I look at the list, and there are no black people on the list.
02:16But we were honoring Harry Belafonte, which happened because I had been quietly campaigning
02:24for Harry to get an honorary Oscar because he had gotten an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony.
02:32So, he was one away from an EGOT.
02:34And that could not stand.
02:36Could not.
02:37He had to get the EGOT.
02:39So, I called some friends who had been politicking, and it got done, right?
02:43So, victory won.
02:45Now, victory two, here I am producing the show.
02:49And, like, well, there's no black people on the list, which is crazy, period.
02:55And especially crazy, given Harry Belafonte and his career of activism, that's not going
03:01to do.
03:02So, I call the legendary Sharla Lynch, and I'm like, Sharla, I need to talk to you about something.
03:09Oh, I happen to be in L.A. Great.
03:12So, I go by the hotel.
03:14This is where I pick it up.
03:17He calls me up.
03:18He's like, oh, great, you're in L.A. Let's meet.
03:21So, we meet.
03:22And I was here for the International Documentary Association event, et cetera.
03:28So, we're sitting probably in the W, in Hollywood, and I'm like, ooh, a Hollywood meeting.
03:33And, you know, he orders a something, I order a something, and Reggie's, you know, being
03:39Reggie.
03:40And he says, and here's somebody I know and trust.
03:44So, like, you know, he says, I'm going to ask you to do something, and you're pretty
03:49much going to have to say yes.
03:51And not only that, you're going to have to kill it.
03:54And then he explains what he just explained about the Governor's Awards.
03:58And he says, I can either bring people along, or I can go with the list.
04:04So, are you going to do it, and are you going to kill it?
04:07I said, yes.
04:09I did hesitate.
04:10You did?
04:11Wait.
04:12You are so stupid.
04:14The key part of the story.
04:16Okay.
04:17What?
04:18What?
04:19Okay, so I say all that.
04:20And then he asks me which of the four people are being honored at the Governor's Awards.
04:24And I can't remember who they were, and he gets to Harry Belafonte.
04:27And I go, Harry Belafonte.
04:30Right.
04:31Okay, the part you're skipping is you're like, well, Reggie, this sounds great, but I'm really
04:37busy right now.
04:38Oh, right.
04:39I forgot about that.
04:40Of course you forgot about that.
04:41You erased that.
04:42So, she's like, I'm really busy right now.
04:44I just don't think I can fit it in.
04:45And I'm staring at you with laser beams, right?
04:48Yes.
04:49And you're feeling the heat of the laser beam.
04:51And then you go, wait, you're not giving me a choice.
04:55It's not a do-over event.
04:56It occurred to me, and I was like, Reggie, yes.
05:01But he wasn't going to let me say no.
05:03No, there was no no.
05:05Which I appreciate.
05:07Right.
05:08I will always appreciate that.
05:09This is the life-changing moment.
05:11Yes.
05:12And I get it.
05:13We all are juggling a lot of things, but this is not a no.
05:16This is like, here is your quest.
05:19Get her done.
05:20And, you know, one of the things is, it's a small budget.
05:23It's for, you know, it's an awards video, but we had the idea.
05:27We wanted to elevate it to a short film and to honor Harry Belafonte.
05:32And, you know, it was such, it was so exciting to do and to be able to go, bam, literally, with the first shot.
05:41And the room went, and it played.
05:44And it was such a good night.
05:45But here's what happened before that, right?
05:47Okay.
05:48So, sure enough, she's killing it.
05:50She's killing it.
05:51She's putting together this amazing short film.
05:54Exactly why I knew she was the one, and she's doing the damn thing.
05:59It's all good, right?
06:01And, again, I'm sort of the producer, so I'm just the buffer between her doing her thing and the Academy.
06:09And I'm getting these weird notes, right, about...
06:13So many notes.
06:15And I'm like, wait a minute, what's happening right now?
06:18And they finally admit, you know, we think we won the civil rights battle, but the civil rights battle was still going on.
06:29And there were people within the Academy who were like, why are we giving this award to Harry Belafonte?
06:35And why are you bringing up this political stuff?
06:37And it's like, because that's why we're giving it to him, because he's the man, and he changed things for the better.
06:44And I'm like, oh, my God, the fight continues.
06:48And just to tell the truth about him became this fight.
06:53So my job was to, like, block and tackle all the bull so she could do her damn thing, which she did.
07:02And there was no compromise, and she rocked the room, and it was a thing of beauty, but...
07:09And Harry Belafonte was happy.
07:11Yes.
07:12Sidney Poitier gave me a hug.
07:14Right!
07:17Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier are there, right?
07:19Yes.
07:20Because Harry's only condition to accept him the award was Sidney had to give it to him.
07:25Okay.
07:26And I've given a lot of awards to Harry Belafonte.
07:29Yes.
07:30I've given it to him at BET, I gave it to him at the NAACP Image Awards, I gave it to him at the Image Awards, because the least we can do is honor the Titans that made it possible for us to do any damn thing.
07:46And the moral of the story, though, is sometimes you have to take a chance to bring somebody along.
07:53Yes.
07:54And you have to, A, reach out and empower people who deserve to be empowered.
08:01Number two, understand that wars are never over.
08:06And their generation fought, which is why we're honoring them.
08:11And guess what?
08:12It's our turn to fight now.
08:13And you better get your knuckle game up.
08:17And before you think this has nothing to do with being number one on the call sheet, it has everything to do with being number one on the call sheet.
08:23Right.
08:24Right?
08:25You got to bring people along.
08:28You got to honor the past.
08:30You got to be aware of the present, but not so mired in the negativity.
08:35Yes, there's some terrible shit going on always, et cetera.
08:40But if you focus on that, you're never finding the way forward.
08:45And what I love about the films we made, this story, right?
08:49And thanks for tapping me for this one.
08:51You know, the guys were sitting around, you know, I'm sure.
08:53Like, I imagine it smoking cigars.
08:55Him, Jamie, Datari, Kevin Harp going, yeah, man, we're amazing.
09:00Yeah, we're so great.
09:01We do so much.
09:02Wouldn't that be a fantastic documentary?
09:05Fantastic, fantastic.
09:06You know what I mean?
09:07And then maybe we should do one about the women, too.
09:11Who's going to do that?
09:13At least they knew that, I mean, I'm sorry, Reggie.
09:17At least they knew to hire somebody, a woman to do it.
09:20Yes.
09:21No, I mean, part of these movies are documenting black film history.
09:25Period.
09:26Right?
09:27And look, we're in this amazing period of black girl magic, which is great.
09:32Yeah.
09:33The world is full of unintended consequences.
09:35So now, with all this wonderful black girl magic, we now have to lift up men.
09:42Right?
09:43And that doesn't mean you don't lift up women.
09:47It means you lift up everyone.
09:49Yes.
09:50Right?
09:51And we both have a son and a daughter.
09:53Right?
09:54Both of us, we, again, at least half our time is talking about parenting.
09:58Right?
09:59And, like, tricks.
10:00Like, what'd you do with that?
10:01How'd you handle that?
10:02He's not kidding.
10:03He's not kidding.
10:04So, and which makes our work, our day job, even more supercharged.
10:14Right?
10:15Because we both come from political households.
10:18We both came in it with a sense of mission.
10:22Yes.
10:23And we also have to say, we both came in with fantastic partners.
10:27Yes.
10:28Like, partnership, personal partnership is just as important as the work partnership.
10:33Right.
10:34Exactly.
10:35So, when you're actually doing the real work of raising the next generation.
10:41Right?
10:42And you go, okay, there's a bunch of theories that we all have, but how are we actually going
10:46to do this?
10:47How do we raise children in today's world?
10:51And what do we, what did we get from our parents that is relevant?
10:55And what do we, what do we get from our parents, which is baggage?
10:58Yes.
10:59Right?
11:00Yes.
11:01And that's the real work.
11:03And part of it is make, when you make movies like this, I mean, for me, you tell me, I'm
11:09always thinking about my kids.
11:11Cause I'm like, you need to know this, but how do I get you to watch it?
11:15You know, someone last night at the premiere was saying, oh my gosh, this is a roots moment.
11:20And I was like, oh, because if it is a cultural moment and enough people watch it becomes part
11:28of a cultural conversation, whether you agree with our choices or not, it's the conversation
11:33that we're interested in.
11:34And no one will be able to interview this group of leading men and the group of leading
11:40women that I talked to ever again.
11:43It, it's like, imagine if we had had that for the seventies.
11:46Yes.
11:47Right.
11:48And so here we have this chance and it is a, it is a piece of history.
11:56It's a capsule.
11:57And what's incredible about it is because of all the four mothers and fathers, because
12:03of the Cindy's and the Hatties and everybody, this generation is killing it.
12:09They are actually number one on the call sheet.
12:11Right.
12:12You know what I mean?
12:13Not like number one on the call sheet in my own mind over here, et cetera.
12:17You know what I mean?
12:18They're like killing it.
12:19And what I didn't realize is we think we know these people because we see them on the red carpet,
12:27this, that, and the other thing.
12:28But when you see it, I was literally blown away each time by how much I learned from each woman and wanted the film to recreate that for the audience.
12:43Like, so I hope the curiosity and the wonder and, you know, the, the grief and sadness.
12:49Yes.
12:50But also the, oh, the fire and the love of craft all come through.
12:56Yeah.
12:57A hundred percent.
12:58I mean, that's what struck me.
12:59I'm like, wow, everybody is really smart.
13:03But wait a second, you know, most of these guys.
13:06Yes.
13:07So I really wanted to ask you what you learned.
13:09I still learned so much.
13:11And you're right.
13:12I knew the vast majority of them I had a relationship with.
13:16And it was great because even though we have a relationship, we may have worked together or we may have socialized together.
13:24I don't get to, we're all working.
13:27So we don't get to hang, hang.
13:28Right.
13:29Right.
13:30So we're talking.
13:31And because we're not talking about a specific project.
13:35Right.
13:36They're not having to hype something.
13:37I'm not trying to sell them an idea.
13:39We're just talking about life.
13:41Right.
13:42So when I ask them questions that I may not normally ask, which is like, well, did you have a plan?
13:51And half of them did.
13:53Half of them did not.
13:54You know, how do you even define success?
13:59And the definitions of success were all over the place.
14:04Right.
14:05Because, I mean, when Fishburne says, what is it about the diversity of roles?
14:09You go, oh, okay.
14:12That's a measurement.
14:13And I relate to that because I'm like, I'm always like, wow, I've made a movie and a TV show and a comic book.
14:20And I did a lot.
14:21You know, I did a live concert.
14:23And I go, well, no one else cares that I did all those things.
14:26But I care.
14:27Right.
14:28So we all have our own measurements.
14:30And then there are folks who are just like extraordinary businessmen.
14:34They're moguls.
14:35And they are smart, smart.
14:37And you just go, God, they are incredible.
14:40Right.
14:41And all these people, no matter what their path, they're all at number one.
14:47It's bananas.
14:48It's bananas.
14:49It's bananas.
14:50It really is bananas.
14:51And, you know, for the women, they wanted to talk about their love and craft and how they've gotten to number one.
14:59But they also wanted to talk about pay inequity.
15:01Yes.
15:02Right.
15:03Real.
15:04Real.
15:05Right.
15:06You know, they wanted to talk about the kind of behind the scenes struggles over things that we don't, we take for granted, like hair and makeup.
15:14Having somebody who can do black hair and, you know what I mean, dress a certain kind of body.
15:19But also, they all just want to work and be seen.
15:24And I think that's what translates, I think, for a wider audience, is who is not number one on their own call sheet.
15:33I don't mean diva style, but I mean like, this is my life.
15:37This is what I want out of it.
15:38These are the people I want in my circle, you know.
15:42And to hear these stories from these 17 women who have figured it out for themselves and are still figuring it out.
15:49Because, you know, one of the lines I love in the men's film is, what do you do when you get to the top of a mountain?
15:56Make more mountain.
15:57Right.
15:58You got to keep going.
15:59You can't stop dreaming, you know.
16:01Right.
16:02And it's interesting because part of the challenge for these actors, right, is you're making movies that fit the era that you're living in.
16:11Yep.
16:12Right.
16:13And, you know, when you look at the movies of the 70s, some of them were written by great playwrights.
16:20Right.
16:21Yeah.
16:22And you just go, hey, I mean, we have a few great playwrights, but we don't have what we had in the 60s and 70s.
16:28Yeah.
16:29Right.
16:30And is that what people want to see?
16:33Or do they like, no, I really want to see a big popcorn movie.
16:37And believe me, I love popcorn movies, so I'm not knocking it.
16:41Yeah.
16:42And I think about that in particular when it comes to women, right, because, you know, women getting the nuanced, detailed characters that they deserve, right?
16:54Like when you see Denzel and Viola in Fences, right, you go, thank God this movie exists, right?
17:01And a lot of critics talked about Viola did to Denzel what Denzel does to actors in other movies.
17:09Like, but the thing is, well, but Denzel directed, so he was like, please, Viola, do the thing, because I know who you are.
17:18And she got to do the thing, and that was transformative for her career.
17:22Yes.
17:23Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
17:25One thing I think we need to do, though, is shout out, you know, like, the directors get all the gloss, but we don't make these films alone.
17:31Oh, God, no.
17:32There's like, the credits are meaningful.
17:34And, you know, for us, we wouldn't have gotten half of the, the women didn't sit down to speak to Shala Lynch, you know, maybe one day, but not today.
17:43That's okay.
17:44And so it is, you know, the work that you did, but Datari Turner, right, with Foxhole, who had all those relationships, too.
17:51Yeah.
17:52You guys, like, come on, come on.
17:53Well, I mean, first of all, it was Datari's idea to do this thing, right?
17:57So that was incredible.
17:58And then he is, you know, and partnered with Jamie, who was like, yeah, let's do that.
18:06And then them going to Kevin Hart, and Kevin goes, yeah, let's do that.
18:10So already, that teamwork between the three of them is extraordinary and wonderful.
18:17Yeah.
18:18Right.
18:19And then they're like, okay, let's call Reggie, you know, because Jamie and I have worked together on a bunch of projects before.
18:25And, you know, Jamie and I have a very comfortable work.
18:29And he was like, well, yeah, Reggie.
18:30And then it was like, yes, oh, yes, Shala.
18:34So suddenly all the pieces are coming together, and then we put together our respective producers and our respective DPs.
18:41And the, I mean, it's such a cliche, but it's like, no, it really is a giant army effort.
18:50Yes.
18:51And we're so grateful to every member of the team, because it's like.
18:57It does not happen alone.
18:58No.
18:59And it's a, you know, documentary, so it's documentary money, right?
19:04So you're definitely working another job.
19:08You know.
19:09Yes.
19:10West Indian background, more jobs, more jobs, more jobs.
19:13Right.
19:14Ten jobs, man.
19:15Right.
19:16Right.
19:17Exactly.
19:18So everybody's got ten jobs.
19:19Yes.
19:20Particularly at this point in our industry, which is an incredible inflection point.
19:24Yes.
19:25So all those things.
19:26That's true.
19:27I mean, I have a company I use when I cast documentaries, Cultivated, which is really fantastic.
19:35But a lot of it came down to personal relationships.
19:38Yeah.
19:39It was, you know, me either calling the person or Datari calling the person, calling their agent, calling their publicist.
19:48It was a lot of that.
19:49And again, that's where Chrisette came in handy because she was a publicist.
19:53So she had relationships with other publicists.
19:57Yes.
19:58So we came in.
19:59We thought we could schedule all the interviews in two weeks to a day.
20:02Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.
20:03And boy, oh boy, these are working people.
20:07It was not easy to get the schedules aligned or even to schedule the interviews.
20:14So I have to shout out the 17 women that came.
20:17She sat in the chair.
20:18Amen to that.
20:19Really?
20:20For real.
20:21For real.
20:22When you have a brand and you're number one on the call sheet, the implications are even greater.
20:27And I think it took a lot longer to reach the right people and build the trust.
20:32And I'm grateful to all of you with the personal relationships to make it happen.
20:37Yeah.
20:38I knew I could kill it once it happened.
20:41But it was a lot because, again, they are extraordinarily busy people.
20:46They're incredibly successful people.
20:47Yes.
20:48And this is not their movie, right?
20:51And what are you up to, right?
20:55And my thing is always like, this is not 60 Minutes.
20:59I'm not here.
21:00I'm not digging for scandal.
21:02I just want to have an honest conversation.
21:06And they were like, oh, this is that thing.
21:10And eventually kind of the word just goes to get out.
21:13Because they all talk.
21:14Yeah.
21:15They're like, what is this thing?
21:17Oh, no, they're cool, you know?
21:19So it takes time.
21:21And then, you know, for the women, what we were thinking about is a lot, you know, sometimes you go and the lighting isn't right and whatever.
21:30So we brought in Bradford Young.
21:33I worked with my producers, Mishka and Nanette, and we got Bradford Young to come in and design the lighting.
21:40So there was beauty light, two cameras.
21:43And I wanted, because they didn't know me, they weren't going to let me in their house.
21:48Reggie, different story.
21:50But I wanted to create the set that was the backdrop for an intimate conversation.
21:56And never in my life have I gone so pastel.
21:59Like, I was like, it's like a box of chocolates.
22:02You open the box and each one is so beautiful from the white chocolate to the dark chocolate.
22:07And then each one is so different inside.
22:10And, like, so I say all of this.
22:12And I also, you know, my feminist theory classes, I don't mean to compare anybody to an object, et cetera.
22:17I mean this in a metaphorical, beautiful way.
22:21But that's a really good point, which is that, to me, when I started seeing what you were doing, I was like, oh, that's super cool.
22:29And it's very different from what we're doing.
22:32And that's beautiful.
22:34Because she's a woman making a movie about women with women.
22:39And, you know, I'm a guy, you know, making a movie about guys with a bunch of guys.
22:45And the movies reflect each thing.
22:49All the guys are center shot and they're all like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:55It was, it was so like, it was so much fun to watch.
22:58The women, each one is on the side, literally giving them their flowers.
23:02There's the beauty light.
23:03There's the second camera.
23:04It's just different.
23:05And the way we cultivated the personality of each story and honored, which is different than like marketing bullshit,
23:16but honored in a true, real way, each individual story.
23:20So that through our conversations, the audience can get to know a little bit about each person.
23:26Yeah, because, I mean, with all these people, I'm fans of them.
23:31Yes.
23:32Right?
23:33I'm like, yo, I'm a fan.
23:34Yes.
23:35And I get a fan, I'm a fan who gets to ask questions.
23:37And then there's people like, no, I really know you.
23:40And I want to bring out the things I know about you that people don't know.
23:46And when they find out, they're going to be like, oh, like, like, I love the beat when Eddie Murphy goes, look, what keeps me from making like going off the deep end mistakes is I'm spiritually grounded.
24:01And people are going to be like, what?
24:03What?
24:04Right.
24:05But it's like, yeah, he's telling you like, no, this is what's really going on.
24:08Yeah.
24:09Like, you may not get it, but I'm telling you right now, you can accept it or not.
24:14And that's what you get in this movie.
24:19Yes.
24:20Those moments.
24:21And we ask the questions that sometimes people outside of that won't ask.
24:28Yes.
24:29Every story I tell and a lot of them, whether it's a documentary or a scripted movie, you know, I have a feeling of like, well, don't waste everyone's time and money.
24:42Right.
24:43Authenticity is everything.
24:45Right.
24:46So we have to tell the truth.
24:48We have to be authentic to the culture.
24:49We have to do all those things.
24:51That's an integral assumed part of our jobs.
24:54A thousand percent.
24:56I, you know, I'm even a little bit more baseline.
24:59As an artist, as a craftsperson, as a storyteller, my name goes on it.
25:06And when my name goes on something, I want it to mean something.
25:11And what that means is the work.
25:13I did everything I can to tell the best story, you know, best narrative, the best, the truth, the best story possible with whatever the budget was, whatever the constraints were.
25:25I was going to go 110 percent.
25:28That's what a film by Shala Lynch means.
25:30What68da Lynch means.
25:34.
25:35Goodbye.
25:36.
25:37.
25:40.
25:41.
25:42Youa.
25:43,
25:44.
25:45.
25:46,
25:46Okay.
25:47Whoa.
25:48.
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