Felicia D. Henderson on Longevity in TV and Expanding Beyond the Box
TV & Film Trailblazer Felicia D. Henderson is redefining storytelling for Black audiences with her work from Soul Food to her directorial debut The Rebel Girls. In this first episode of Sista Brunch Season Seven, Felicia opens up with host Fanshen Cox about her journey from corporate finance to TV writer, navigating Hollywood, the power of magical realism, and mentoring young Black girls. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about creativity, opportunity, and breaking barriers in entertainment.
00:00 Welcome to Sista Brunch Season Seven
00:36 Special Thank You: Pop Culture Collaborative, Women Make Movies & Patreon Supporters
01:16 Introduction to Felicia D. Henderson
02:13 Felicia’s Journey from Corporate Finance to TV Writing
03:04 Early Career: NBC Fellowship and Warner Brothers Writers Workshop
05:24 Learning Every Department at NBC
06:28 First Script & Comedy Beginnings: Roseanne, Family Matters
07:00 Transition to Dramas: Soul Food and Beyond
08:06 Shoutouts to Warner Brothers & NBC Universal Programs
10:32 Serendipity & Networking Moments that Launched Her Career
12:25 On Being a Good Person & Going the Extra Mile
12:33 Imposter Syndrome: Felicia’s Perspective
15:38 Transition to Directing: The Rebel Girls + Let’s Talk Tech Segment
16:43 Magical Realism & VFX in Storytelling
20:42 Distribution, Awards & Recognition
22:35 Storytelling & Historical Perspective: Avoiding Trauma Porn
24:05 Join the Sista Brunch Community on Patreon
25:31 Financial Insights: Budgeting, Investors & Favors
29:56 Signature Sista Brunch Question: Advice to Younger Self
34:36 Closing Remarks & Credits
About the Guest
Felicia D. Henderson is a celebrated TV writer, showrunner, and director known for creating Soul Food and directing the short film The Rebel Girls. Her work focuses on amplifying Black stories, blending historical context with magical realism, and empowering young girls of color through storytelling. Felicia is also a board member of Shero’s Rise, a leadership academy for Black and brown girls, and a faculty member at Northwestern University’s Film and Television department.
Transcript
[00:00:00]
Special Thank You
Special Thank You
Fanshen: [00:00:00] Hi everyone. We are so excited for you to listen and watch our first episode of season seven. But before we do, we have to say thank you to a few different people and organizations. First, thank you so much to Pop Culture Collaborative for supporting Sista Brunch and helping us build an ecosystem to reach people across the world, nurture them, and uplift Black women and Black underrepresented creatives in film, TV, and media.
[00:00:36] We also want to thank our fiscal sponsor, Women Make Movies. And finally, a big thank you to Tatiana Johnson for being a paid subscriber on Patreon. If you’d like to join us, you can at patreon.com/SistaBrunch. Tatiana, thank you not just for being a patron, but for supporting the podcast in so many ways. In fact, we’re here in this beautiful studio because of you at Upodcaster Studios. Thank you so much, Tatiana, Pop Culture Collaborative, and Women Make Movies. Now let’s get into this first episode!
Introduction
Fanshen: [00:01:16] Welcome back to season seven of the Sista Brunch Podcast. I’m Fanshen Cox and I am the co-creator and the host of the Sista Brunch Podcast. And we have another amazing guest. We are bringing you the podcast this season from a beautiful studio in the heart of Hollywood that is black owned. Upodcaster. We are so proud to be bringing our podcast here for this season and we are so proud to have today’s guest to tell you about her story. And she is, her name is familiar to all. She is really an icon, a person who helped create a space for black storytelling when at a time when we really didn’t have a lot of options. So, Ms. Felicia D. Henderson, welcome to the Sista Brunch Podcast.
Felicia: [00:02:13] Thank you, Fanshen. I’m so happy to be here. It’s been a long time coming.
Felicia’s Journey
Fanshen: [00:02:20] It has been a long time coming. And we’ll talk about this. I know I got to see Rebel Girls as during your Oscar push and this should have been nominated for an Oscar. We’ll just say that, but we’ll talk about that some. And in fact, we love to start with your journey. I mean, what you’re known for in the beginnings of your career, of course, is Soul Food creating the TV show. And now you have done all the way through to your directorial debut with Rebel Girls. So take us as far back as you’d like to. That lets us know your journey to getting to a place, to doing Soul Food, and now to being a director.
Felicia: [00:03:04] Yes. Thank you so much. Wow. Okay. We don’t have that kind of time, but you know, but it’s interesting to start, you know, at the beginning and then we’ll jump ahead.
Fanshen: [00:03:15] Sure. Yes.
Felicia: [00:03:17] But you know, I was working in corporate finance and my boss said, you know, if you’re going to stay in corporate finance, you’re going to need to get an MBA. So I started looking for money because I didn’t have any. And, and there was the Peabody foundation in conjunction with NBC. The network had a fellowship for full ride at the University of Georgia where the Peabody’s are housed and for MBAs who were interested in managing in network television. So I was like, it’s a full ride. Suddenly I was very interested in management and television. And that’s what I wrote. My essay was like all I’ve ever wanted to do. Right? And, but I had been working in like mergers and acquisitions and you know, trading financial futures like a kid or Peabody. But suddenly that’s what I want to do. And I got the fellowship.
Fanshen: [00:04:15] Amazing.
Felicia: [00:04:16] And, and so it really starts there, which again was NBC. So that gave me my introduction to NBC. I didn’t know anyone in the business. Even though I’m from here, from Pasadena.
Fanshen: [00:04:27] I was gonna ask. So you are, you’re from Pasadena.
Felicia: [00:04:29] So even though I was from here, I didn’t really know anyone. And, and from that and getting a chance to meet the CEO of NBC and then finishing my MBA in corporate finance allowed me then to apply to the NBC management training program. So it was at, in the, at NBC in Burbank that I read my first scripts and I was just fascinated. And it was like when NBC was the number one network. So it’s a lot of great stuff. It was maybe the end of The Cosby Show, but the beginning of Seinfeld and Friends, stuff like that. And it was just like, you read all these scripts and some of them, pilots, were just really bad and I didn’t understand. I’m like, so let me. When it’s bad, do you still pay them? Like I knew nothing and they’re like, yes, they still get paid. I was like, this is a fascinating business.
Fanshen: [00:05:24] I kind of like this.
Felicia: [00:05:26] So really, you know, I, in that program I went through almost every department and really learned, you know, how a network is run. And then from there the man who was the president of NBC at the time Warren Littlefield said, I really think you’re a writer. I see the notes you give on the shows we assign you. And I was like, I don’t think I am. He’s like, no, I think you are, and told me about the Warner Brothers Writers Workshop. And I had to write a script. So it was my first script ever. At the time, it was only a comedy program, so that’s how I started in comedy. And so I wrote my first script, which was the original Roseanne show, and I got in the program. So, you know what?
Fanshen: [00:06:15] We’re gonna have to just be. Stop being surprised by.
Felicia: [00:06:17] All of them is a story of good fortune, of blessings of.
Fanshen: [00:06:25] But of talent meeting, meeting those opportunities.
Felicia: [00:06:28] Yeah, absolutely. You know, it really is, though, about being ready. It’s about, you know, working hard. It’s about looking around and saying, I’m gonna outwork everyone because you can be talented and still never get a break, you know, if you rely on that talent but don’t want to do the hard work. So that was really the beginning, and that was about 25 years ago, and I started as an apprentice on a show called Family Matters.
Fanshen: [00:07:00] Yes.
Felicia: [00:07:00] Yeah, the Urkel Show. Some people. I always say the first house I bought was the house that Urkel built, you know, so. And from there, you know, I spent several years then in comedy and on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Moesha and Sister, Sister and Everybody Hates Chris before transitioning to. Well, Everybody Hates Chris was after Soul Food, but Soul food was again. As a result, I’m a real believer in making sure, as you start to feel people trying to put you in a box, start fighting your way out of it before they can put up that fourth wall, you know? So I went back to school.
Fanshen: [00:07:42] I’m so sorry. Because I’m fascinated, and I know we don’t have enough time today, but you’ll have to come back for each of those shows. Did you, were you moving up the ladder?
Felicia: [00:07:54] Oh, yes.
Fanshen: [00:07:55] Right. So did you start.
Felicia: [00:07:56] Started as a writer’s. As an apprentice on Family Matters. So, yeah, so I was a Warner Brothers Writers Workshop trainee.
Fanshen: [00:08:06] And I will say, too. Shout out to Warner Brothers. Shout out to NBC Universal now, NBC Universal, because I’m a little hard on studios, that they have a lot of DEIA programs. They have a lot of labs and things, and we don’t always hear about them hiring the people who go through those programs. You are a testament to at least some folks get hired.
Felicia: [00:08:29] It was a different time because at the time. So shout out to them, but not a shout out to them for ending the program. Let’s be clear.
Fanshen: [00:08:36] Yep.
Felicia: [00:08:37] So it was really the Disney program and the Warner program were the only ones. So it was incredibly prestigious, incredibly difficult to get into. And. And at the time, diversity really meant women and, you know. It meant white women. It meant, you know, people over 40. So I think the year I was in was like 18 of us, and that was around the average 18 to 20 per year. And about 50% of those would get staffed on a show as an Apprentice. And. Believe it or not, again, it wasn’t. The program didn’t place me on Family Matters. I wasn’t placed on a show at all.
Fanshen: [00:09:21] Well, see, and then I take it all. You know what? I take all that.
Felicia: [00:09:26] Take it back. Don’t take it back.
Fanshen: [00:09:27] No, no.
Felicia: [00:09:28] Because, you know, going back to this pattern a lot. No, no. Like, you know, some of our first black showrunners, the Winnie Hervey’s of the world, came through that program.
Fanshen: [00:09:39] Okay.
Felicia: [00:09:40] And, you know, there are. Without her footsteps, you know, we. I wouldn’t be here.
Fanshen: [00:09:45] Okay?
Felicia: [00:09:46] So people like her, you know, and. And some other people, lots of good people have come through that program, but it was you. You know, it’s politics everywhere. You have to be someone’s favorite no matter where you go. And I wasn’t. And then I just happened to run into someone, you know, while I was walking around the lot who’s like, hey, aren’t you in that program? Like, yeah, it’s ending. I didn’t get place. He’s like, really? Well, I’m the exec on, you know, Family Matters, and I don’t think they took anyone out of the program. They didn’t really like any of the scripts. He’s like, let me ask if they read your script. They had not, because I wasn’t a favorite. So they’d never seen it. And they read it and said, we’ll meet with her. And I was, I was like at work a week later.
Fanshen: [00:10:32] Oh, my goodness.
Felicia: [00:10:33] So had I not run into Andy Horn? Big shout out to Andy. Andy, yes, yes. Who I had met while at NBC, as in a. As. As a man in the management training program.
Fanshen: [00:10:46] Okay.
Felicia: [00:10:46] He was an assistant. He was Quincy Jones’s assistant on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. And so. Or an assistant in his company anyway, and we just hit it off. And so running into him on the Warner Brothers lot, where he was now working at Warner Brothers, was very fortuitous for me.
Fanshen: [00:11:06] I love that. And that that is A don’t burn your bridges moment, but also within people that you connected with.
Felicia: [00:11:12] Right.
Fanshen: [00:11:12] Like, you know, you don’t have to stay friendly with everybody, but the ones that you do and you connect, you. You hang on.
Felicia: [00:11:19] Yeah. And if you can’t stay, like, friendly, you can’t stay in touch. Just make sure when you have that relationship, it’s something that they remember fondly.
Fanshen: [00:11:30] Yeah.
Felicia: [00:11:30] You know what I mean?
Fanshen: [00:11:31] Exactly.
Felicia: [00:11:32] Right. So that they. When you come up. I mean, the job. When I went to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, there was a co-executive producer who. The showrunners like, does anyone know this writer? And it was me. And there was then a co executive producer just went home that night and was telling his wife about some of the people who were meeting. And his wife was an assistant on another show that I had been when I was in the management training program. She’s like, oh, I know her. She would come on set, you know, she would come in the offices, and whenever she was, like, there for lunch, she’d always ask the assistants, did you guys want anything? Or, we’re going out. Do. Like. She was always so nice to the assistance. And that, of course, then made an impression on her husband who went back to work. Like, here’s one. We should really go ahead and meet, you know? Okay, so it’s just like, it’s so simple, right? Just be decent to people.
Fanshen: [00:12:25] Just be a good person. Be a good person. Do your work. Show up. Right?
Felicia: Yes.
Fanshen: [00:12:29] Kind of. Do a little extra work.
Felicia: [00:12:31] Do a little extra work.
Imposter Syndrome
Fanshen: [00:12:33] So, okay, at what point. What was the point of becoming a show creator? And how did you. Did you have imposter syndrome or were you ready at that point? I mean, it sounds like you’ve had some confidence all along.
Felicia: [00:12:50] I gotta tell you, it’s. I find imposter syndrome really funny because you.
Fanshen: [00:12:55] You’re like, what is that?
Felicia: [00:12:56] I have never had that. Like, I have that.
Fanshen: [00:12:59] Yes. Be like Felicia, everybody. Yeah, we talk about that a lot, right?
Felicia: [00:13:04] Mostly because how am I an imposter if I did the work? Like, I got. Nobody gave me anything. I’ve never, ever felt like, oh, my God. I’m like, no, I should be here.
Fanshen: Yes.
Felicia: [00:13:16] Yes, I should be. Like, even other places, in fact, okay. You know, so I never have felt that, but, I mean, I felt super blessed. I have continued to have moments where I’m pinching myself, you know, just for my good fortune. But, no, but I will tell you, I have, you know, I have moments where I’m like, what do I want to do next? How do I keep growing? Like I said, oh, I see you trying to build that box around me, let me kick down that wall before you can seal it. And you look at it like, well, how. What else do I do? And that’s when I was like, well, what I do, I do naturally. I never studied writing, so I was very curious about what is it called? What. What are the, you know, the, the. What is the structure? What are the rules? What is it all? And so I applied to the UCLA MFA program so that I could learn just, you know, the, the theory behind what I did naturally and in. And learn to write screenplays. Like, I just didn’t know. And I got into UCLA and, you know, wrote my first full length screenplay, which was autobiographical about a part of my family, my relationship with my brother who had gotten into trouble and about all I was willing to do to help him get out of it. And it won the screenwriting contest there right at the time that Paramount Studios and Showtime was looking for a writer to adapt the Soul Food film into a series. So it just was. And it was interesting because when I met on it with the Paramount drama development executive, she was like, we have. There’s a comedy writer named Felicia.
Fanshen: [00:15:10] I was like, you’re like, actually, that’s. But that’s not. That has a box that you’re trying to put.
Felicia: [00:15:16] That’s me. You know, she’s like, no way. But had I not gone to UCLA, had I not written a, you know, drama, family drama feature and just with my comedy resume said, I want to be considered, they’re like, they would have never considered you.
Fanshen: [00:15:33] You had now really proven yourself to be able to do both.
Felicia: [00:15:37] That’s right.
Let’s Talk Tech: The Rebel Girls + VFX
Fanshen: [00:15:38] And speaking of, like busting out of all of the boxes, you are now a director. So much fun. So let’s talk about a couple things. We’re going connect our let’s Talk Tech segment with. With you talking about Rebel Girls. Tell us about the film. And then for let’s Talk Tech, is there a piece of technology that just in the same way you went to UCLA for the MFA to learn the structure of screenwriting, even though you already knew, but then to really. And then for your technology piece, what did you have to learn to be a good director on Rebel Girls?
Felicia: [00:16:17] Oh, that’s a good question. I want to. I also want to make sure it’s called The Rebel Girls. Oh, because there’s a series of books called Rebel Girls. So want to make sure?
Fanshen: [00:16:26] Absolutely. Okay, we’ll move and we’ll make sure. Okay, good. Yep, yep. So, so should I lead into, lead in?
Felicia: [00:16:33] I, I think it’s okay, but just going forward, I should have, I should have told you.
Fanshen: [00:16:37] No, I’m so glad you said it. And I’m sure I should have picked up on it. So the rebel girls.
Felicia: [00:16:43] Yeah. You know, what, with the rebel girls, I really knew that I wanted to include this idea of magical realism. I knew that I wanted to. If my story was set in the civil rights era, in the middle of the movement, I knew I didn’t want to. And I don’t say just in a pejorative way, of course, but I knew I wanted to do more than just be like a biopic. And, and so I thought, how do we explore the internal lives of these girls who are, you know, captured, making sure that they look three dimensional, making sure that we as a people don’t look monolithic. And I’m thought, God, they’re girls. They’re 10 to 16. So how do we show, like, everything girls of that age go through? So it became really important, you know, I love visual effects anyway, and it became very important to go, well, how do I enter their fantasy world? What do they want to do with their lives? And it was a fun way to be thinking about the story all the time, because in a way, it felt a little bit like the way we think of animation. Like, when you’re doing animation, you can do anything. You can jump out that window, turn it back, flip, come back and sit back in your chair.
Fanshen: Yes.
Felicia: [00:18:09] You know, and so I thought about it like that while working on the story. So visual effects and all of the tools that are related to visual effects, like CGI is just the beginning, just became the way that I think. And I loved it so much. And being able to take some of, like, you know, even our still photography and use that as part of what we were doing to show their dreams and doing little things. Like there’s a horrible moment where they are splashed with dirty water. And I thought even in their fantasy sequences, I want to remind the audience they’re still locked up in that stockade. So through visual effects, we’re able to place that horrible bucket. And if you saw it again, you’d be like, oh, no matter. She’s singing, you know, for President Kennedy at this big ball. But if you watch her come down the stairs in the corner, the stairs is that nasty bucket. And so for me, technology allowed me to tell my story. You know, visual effects allowed me to tell my story in a way or to be even more creative than I would have otherwise. So, no, I’m not walking around using visual effects in my everyday life. But what I am now, as a storyteller, I am always thinking of ways to use visual effects. And it just frees your mind.
Fanshen: Yes.
Felicia: [00:19:48] You know, as a storyteller, to think about, oh, I could. And, you know, as they’re running at the end to escape. As they’re running, their clothes change, you know. Yeah. You know, so it’s just like, oh, they’re freedom clothes. Yeah. Now, obviously, you’re not running to freedom and going, and now it’s time to change my clothes.
Fanshen: Yes.
Felicia: [00:20:12] And with. With, you know, looking at the. The fantasy of it all and really the symbolism behind it, again, visual effects allowed us to say, oh, in their minds, they are free now.
Fanshen: [00:20:29] Yes. Beautiful. It’s right. So VFX is a way to liberate us and liberate our stories in the way that these girls liberated themselves.
Felicia: Yes.
Distribution + Awards
Fanshen: [00:20:42] I wish we had time to talk more about the film itself, but we’re gonna be putting this. You’ll be our first episode for Black History Month because there are some things that we want to make sure the audience knows, like they’ll be able to see the film right now.
Felicia: [00:20:59] So one of the most wonderful things that has happened with the film is that we made a deal with American Airlines. And so you take American. American Airlines, domestic flight, but they include Canada and domestic. So U.S. and Canada, you can watch the film. And also coming up, Black History Month is the African American Critics association gala, and we are being honored as the best live action film. Short. Live action short film. Like, best live action film is Sinners. Of course, we won’t be doing that.
Fanshen: [00:21:39] Close. A close second.
Felicia: [00:21:42] Yes. But we have won the best live action short by, you know, black critics. And that is everything that really is. It is like, for this story in.
Our Stories + Magical Realism
Fanshen: [00:21:54] Particular, because it is. You know, I. I think we’re in a time of struggling with trauma stories. You know, they call it trauma porn. Right. That it’s hard for black folks to be able to tell stories that have a historical perspective. And folks are saying, well, we don’t want it. But first of all, we were never the ones that got to tell those stories. So we’ve seen them, but it wasn’t, you know, we weren’t directing them. We. But then you adding this magical realism element, I think is part of how we can do it in a way that isn’t traumatizing. Retraumatizing for us. Right.
Felicia: [00:22:35] And, yeah, I have such a, I’m very challenged by this idea.
Fanshen: Me too.
Felicia: [00:22:40] Pisses me off.
Fanshen: Me too.
Felicia: Good.
Fanshen: [00:22:42] I’m with you. Yes.
Felicia: [00:22:43] It pisses me off that black people would be helping a white Hollywood to erase. Not just white Hollywood, America, to erase our. Our history.
Fanshen: Right.
Felicia: [00:22:55] Because that’s what it really is. We didn’t come up with this term of black joy, but we’ve embraced it.
Fanshen: Yeah.
Felicia: [00:23:02] As if without realizing what it really is. And so I don’t believe. I don’t ever use trauma porn. I find it incredibly disrespectful to our history. I also believe, though, that we do have a responsibility to tell stories in a new way so that people aren’t bored. Right. Because first and foremost, our job is to entertain.
Fanshen: Yes.
Felicia: [00:23:29] So we can tell our stories and be entertaining. First and foremost. You know, we also tend to tell, even in the black community, just the stories of the great men. So no disrespect, but we’ve seen 1000 MLK projects. Right. But what about, like, this story of the children who arguably reinvigorated the civil rights movement has never been told because it’s about girls. And we tend to go, how can we tell that story of the great men one more time?
Finances
Fanshen: [00:24:55] Our next question is on financials, and this is really just on in that same way that the historical perspective is important to continue to tell those stories. And it’s also important to talk about financials so that we avoid the imposter syndrome. So we hear numbers and wrap our heads around what things cost. So maybe just talking about the budget, especially because you included VFX. Do you want to talk about that? And. Or salaries for writing.
Felicia: [00:25:31] Oh, my gosh. Well, I wrote it, so there was no salary for me, you know, and I directed it, so there was no salary.
Fanshen: [00:25:41] You produced it. I mean, you had produced, but you really. Right.
Felicia: [00:25:45] You did all showrunner. So I had. Not that I didn’t learn a ton from the process, but I think that the reason I don’t talk about the budget, to be honest, is because, yes, I had investors, two investors in particular, who financed probably like 98% of it.
Fanshen: Amazing.
Felicia: [00:26:07] One investor probably financed 80% of it, and then another one took us to about 98, and then about 5 more took us the last, you know, percentage point. Or. Or. And because it is, you know, because I had so many favors, and as a person who never asks anyone for anything, I grew, you know, because I was. Had to say to Kurt Farquhar, who’s my composer. He’s the only composer I’ve worked with, like, in 25 years. But, you know, Kurt, how much? Like, what would it. And he was like, girl, you know, you can’t afford me. What do you need? You know? And so he just came to the table for free. And my post house that did the finishing and my amazing colorist at the foundation in Burbank, I’ve done two series with them. And so they’re like, just come and. You know, and the same with my sound design, with my sound house, I’ve done two series with them. Those are both places, though, that I will work with for the rest of my career. But they just did it because, you know?
Fanshen:[00:27:28] I’ll just say, I think that’s a perfect answer to the financials question. We, you know, obviously, sometimes we talk specific numbers, but also to understand that it is okay to ask for favors, especially if you don’t do it frequently. Right.
Felicia: Yes.
Fanshen: [00:27:45] You probably could have asked more.
Felicia: [00:27:46] Right. But no, you have to, like, I wouldn’t do that again. You know what I mean? I would have to, like. I learned that I didn’t raise enough money. I learned that I did not consider the festival circuit because originally. Yeah. Oh, my God. Which was astronomical.
Fanshen: Right.
Felicia: [00:28:06] But I. I mean, like, literally two. I think we were in 15. I think we won, like, 13 of 15 festivals. And I didn’t go to all of them, but it was. But I went to, like, Cannes, you know, and that was a little bit of money.
Fanshen: Received an award again. Yeah.
Felicia: [00:28:25] Yes, I received an award there. And the inaugural Black Women Can.
Fanshen: Yes.
Felicia: Legacy Award.
Fanshen: Yes.
Felicia: [00:28:39] And so but I paid for that. Like the American Black Film Festival, which is an amazing festival, is the only one that all expenses were paid. Yeah. In Miami.
Fanshen: Yes.
Felicia: [00:28:57] Thank you, Nicole and Jeff. Friday. Yes.
Fanshen: [00:28:59] We love the Fridays.
Felicia: Yes.
Fanshen: [00:29:01] Feel free to bring Sista Brunch on because we love y’all.
Felicia: [00:29:03] All. Okay, Exactly. You should be at like, I know you.
Fanshen: [00:29:07] We were just talking about. We’ve done ESSENCE a couple times, but we need to. Yes, we. Yeah, we love that.
Felicia: [00:29:14] And it was an amazing time. And you know, but everywhere else I think, you know, it’s like, oh, we could give you a hotel for a night at maybe two other festivals. But, you know, so I didn’t. To raise more money. But also my goal was to do a short film that was also a proof of concept for a limited series. Yeah, right. So I wasn’t really thinking, like, oh, I need to go.
Fanshen: [00:29:40] Yes, right.
Felicia: [00:29:41] Yes. Still the goal.
Fanshen: Good.
Felicia: [00:29:43] Still the goal. And so I wasn’t really thinking I’d do all these festivals. I was thinking, and now I take it to studios, pitch it. Right then it was like, oh, my God, it’s a whole festival thing now.
Signature Sista Brunch Question
Fanshen: [00:29:56] As it needs to be. I am so sorry. Our producer is standing at this point telling us to wrap up. We have our final question. We’re going to do it. Okay, so you and your younger self are sitting down to a Sista Brunch. What are you both eating and what are you both drinking? And you can either make her young or over 21 up to you, depending on what you want to be drinking with her. And then what do you tell her?
Felicia: [00:30:21] Okay, that’s a lot of questions. Okay, first of all, younger Felicia and present day Felicia are both eating pizza.
Fanshen: [00:30:33] Top favorite toppings?
Felicia: [00:30:34] It’s always been like my favorite. It’s that if you had to go to an island and there was one, it would be pizza. I don’t get to eat it as much as I want. Because as you get older, you can’t just be eating pizza every day.
Fanshen: [00:30:49] My doctor said I gotta stop.
Felicia: [00:30:51] Yes, exactly. So, but I tend. I’m mostly vegetarian. I’m now like veganish. You know, so. But so it’s mostly vegetables. It’s always vegetable, like a bunch of different vegetables. I. I love, you know, sun dried tomatoes and stuff like that and mushrooms and olives and so, yes, it just like, you know, older Felicia’s eating a better pizza.
Fanshen: Yeah, yeah.
Felicia: [00:31:20] Younger Felicia was eating like Gino’s frozen that my mama would bring home, you know, so. So that, that is what we’re eating. Okay. I don’t really drink.
Fanshen: That’s okay.
Felicia: [00:31:33] Although about every six months at a Mexican restaurant, there will be a margarita. Yeah, I do love myself a good margarita, but it’s literally probably two times a year, so. But I love Arnold Palmer’s. I love sparkling water. Younger Felicia’s just drinking flat. You know, she would have probably thought, like, oh, why is there bubbles? And it’s not like a Coke? Like, what is that? So she is, you know what she’s drinking Dr. Pepper.
Fanshen: [00:32:01] Oh, I love.
Felicia: [00:32:02] I was obsessed.
Fanshen: [00:32:03] Pizza, Dr. Perfect combination.
Felicia: [00:32:05] I have to say, I was obsessed. If it wasn’t in the house, I was like, I don’t understand. Like, why does no one love me in this house? Like, it was ridiculous. And the last part was.
Fanshen: [00:32:16] What do you tell her?
Felicia: [00:32:17] Oh, wow. I guess it does depend on her age, I think. And that’s probably the best version to talk to because the teenage version, because she had the most difficult time. I started, by the time I went to UCLA as an undergrad as well, and got. Then went back and got my MFA and my PhD from UCLA.
Fanshen: [00:32:48] We didn’t even talk about that.
Felicia: [00:32:49] Yes. Yes. Well, I will not leave here without giving a shout out to Northwestern and my Wildcats, where I’m on faculty now. So go Wildcats in the film and television department.
Fanshen: Yeah.
Felicia: [00:33:01] But the teenage years were really rough as I tried to figure out who I was and also what I was to do. Where do you fit in? Even when you’re in the popular group? What is your place in your space and who are you? It was trying to figure that out. And being a working class kid who always was around students who had more, because I was always an AP kid or gifted kid or, you know, had lots of opportunities that my background alone would not have afforded me. So it was. It was a tough time and trying to figure all of that out. And so what I would say to her. Is, hold on. You will figure out who you are, where you belong, and what your purpose is. And everything you’re doing now will lead to your purpose, which is one to create and to empower young girls of color. And had I not known exactly what it was to need to be empowered, I would not be so good at my commitment to them. So also shout out to Shero’s Rise, which I’m on the board of, which is a sort of Saturday leadership academy that focuses on black and brown girls.
Closing
Fanshen: [00:34:36] Felicia D. Henderson. This has been way too short.
Felicia: Yes, it has.
Fanshen: [00:34:40] We have to have you back, and I know you came a long way.
Felicia: [00:34:44] No worries at all. We are so glad to be grateful.
Fanshen: [00:34:46] We’re, we’re honored. We’re proud to have you on the podcast.
Felicia: Thank you.
Fanshen: [00:34:51] Yes, this has been so. Thank you for having me, everyone. See this incredible short film. Help do, do what you can to help get it made. If any executives are listening to this podcast, give her a call. All right. Thank you so much.
Felicia: [00:35:06] Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. And congratulations to you guys for the amazing job that you’re doing, giving us a voice, giving us a place to speak our truth.
Credits
Fanshen: [00:35:19] Sista Brunch is brought to you by TruJuLo Productions. Our show creators are Anya Adams, Christabel Ncabuadi and me, Fanshon Cox. Our season seven producers are Tasha Rogers and Samantha K. Henderson. Our associate producers are Charlie T. Savage and Ashanti Groves.
Sista Brunch is recorded on the unceded territory of the Tongva and the Chumash people in Los Angeles and specifically in Hollywood at Upodcaster Studios, a black owned studio right in the heart of Hollywood.
We are so grateful for your support for joining our community on Patreon at Patreon.com/sistabrunch or donating at givebutter.com/sistabrunch. Thank you so much for joining us and we will see you next week.