What is a successful moment in your career so far? I would say that a “proud moment” in my career has been founding a feminist-humanist of color mentoring and advocacy program called the Women’s Leadership Project. Over the past decade, the WLP has been based in South Los Angeles schools like Gardena High School, Washington… Read More What is a successful moment in your care

What is your biggest concern with the future? As far as this industry is concerned, one of my biggest concerns is the unrelenting barrage of negative and marginalizing images of women of color in mainstream TV, film and video. Although there have been some improvements in our media representation, white males and a select group… Read More What is your biggest concern with the fu

What’s a defining moment in your life? Being the first African American woman to publish a book (Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics and the Values Wars) on atheism, race and politics in 2011 was defining because of the invisibility of black atheists and the predominance of Christian religious faith in the U.S. The book… Read More What’s a defining moment in your life? B

Why did you decide to get into this industry? I’m an author of non-fiction and fiction. I decided to produce, write and direct this film adaptation of my 2015 novel White Nights, Black Paradise with an all-black crew and predominantly black cast of insanely talented actors out of frustration with the parade of white savior/redeemer/villain… Read More Why did you decide to get into this indu

What are you working on next? In addition, if people want to find out more about you, where can they find you on social media? @tansysimpson on instagram. http://www.tansysimpson.com for the website. I am working on two fantastic hybrid feature documentaries at the moment, so that is keeping me busy: Other than that, we shall… Read More What are you working on next? In additio

@tansysimpson: What, if anything, do you collect? Stories – I love podcasts, I listen to everything, I love hearing people’s stories. And I’ve got broad tastes – history, crime, documentary. I’ll devour it all. Radio is such a different storytelling medium, but I always draw from these podcasts when prepping a new project. Of course,… Read More @tansysimpson: What, if anything, do you

@tansysimpson: What advice do you have for other women in the industry? Be yourself, be brave, be humble and be generous. And this. It is a reality that a man walks on set with respect already in place – it’s his to lose. A woman walks on set (in the same role), and respect, well,… Read More @tansysimpson: What advice do you have f

@tansysimpson: What is a successful moment in your career so far? Having a diverse group of wonderful storytellers in my life. I went to film school, not knowing what to expect. I walked out with an armor of friendship and mentorship, and for that I walk taller everyday. For me success is measured by the… Read More @tansysimpson: What is a successful mome

@tansysimpson: What is your biggest concern with the future? It’s tough out there – lots of things concern me. Getting work, getting good work, getting more good work and on and on. And that’s just professionally! So, I am going to translate concern to fear, and then answer properly with Cheryl Strayed’s words, “Hello Fear.… Read More @tansysimpson: What is your biggest conc

@tansysimpson: What’s a defining moment in your life? My grandfather died whilst I was shooting a short film for my second year of grad school. He was very old, but it was a shock for it to happen when it did. I was close to him and here I was, stuck in LA, and shooting… Read More @tansysimpson: What’s a defining moment