DADDIES BOI Is a Slam Dunk of a Movie – Part 1: Introduction for a Series of Articles

DADDIES BOI is a film-short as well as a proof of concept pilot for a planned series about two best friends who are aging sugar babies and who navigate the gig economy through a new app called Daddies Boi. The story follows the two friends in L.A. navigating the hustle economy as they attempt to make ends meet and explore creative ways to thrive but mostly their efforts are about surviving.

Created by Zoe Tyson and Louie Rinaldi who said in an interview with the WORD Editor-Reviewer Gregg Morris, that they had infused humor and joy for depictions of sex work and sugar dating, which are often portrayed in darker tones. The filmmakers emphasize universal themes of finding one’s place, building friendships in unique spaces, and making it work regardless of age.

DADDIES BOI generated significant positive responses during its festival run, with screenings at NewFest and Temecula. The creators are in early conversations with distributors, with aspirations to secure a streaming service acquisition. The planned series would consist of six to eight episodes of approximately 30 minutes each for the first season, with outlines developed for three seasons total.

The production emphasized resourcefulness and collaboration, with Tyson and Rinaldi working with a lean budget while assembling a trusted team of artists they respected. Beyond DADDIES BOI, the creative partners said in a Q&A interview that they were  developing additional projects, including a remount of the play “Victoria” and a vertical series called “Divorce Ranch,” described as a historical comedy.

Slamdance Film Festival Overview

Slamdance Film Festival is an annual independent film festival and artist-led event that showcases work from emerging and grassroots filmmakers, especially those making their first or early films outside the mainstream studio system. It was founded in 1995 by a group of filmmakers who had been rejected by the Sundance Film Festival and wanted a platform where new voices could be seen and heard on their own terms.

Key characteristics:

Focus on emerging talent – The festival emphasizes low-budget, innovative films, especially debut features and shorts by first-time directors or  independent creators.
Filmmaker-led programming – Unlike many festivals, the program is selected by a broad pool of past Slamdance alumni filmmakers, each having an equal voice in what gets chosen.

Inclusive submission policy – It accepts films in all genres from around the world, with few restrictions on completion date, theme, or format; documentaries, narratives, animation, episodic content, and experimental works are all considered.

Award recognition – Slamdance is an Academy Award® and BAFTA-qualifying festival in several short film categories, meaning winners can become eligible for major awards consideration.

Alumni success – Many notable filmmakers got their start at Slamdance, including Christopher Nolan, Rian Johnson, Ari Aster, Bong Joon Ho, The Russo Brothers, Lena Dunham, and Sean Baker.

Location & timing – Originally held in Park City, Utah alongside Sundance, the festival plans have shifted to Los Angeles beginning in 2025, offering greater access and visibility in the heart of the entertainment industry.

In essence, Slamdance stands for “by filmmakers, for filmmakers” — a community that champions raw creativity, independent spirit, and new voices in cinema

DADDIES BOI generated significant positive responses during its festival run, with screenings at NewFest and Temecula. The creators are in early conversations with distributors, with aspirations to secure a streaming service acquisition. The planned series would consist of six to eight episodes of approximately 30 minutes each for the first season, with outlines developed for three seasons total.

The production emphasized resourcefulness and collaboration, with Tyson and Rinaldi working with a lean budget while assembling a trusted team of artists they respected. Beyond DADDIES BOI, the creative partners said they were developing additional projects, including a remount of the play “Victoria” and a vertical series called “Divorce Ranch,” described as a historical comedy.

 

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the WORD Editor Gregg W. Morris

 

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DADDIES BOI – the WORD Q&A With Slam Dunking Filmmakers
Part 2


Filmmakers Zoe Tyson and Louie Rinaldi

Synopsis

Desperate to maintain their lifestyles as their youth, & options, fade, two aging sugar babies dive headfirst into the bizarre underworld of the “desire economy.” When a provocative new app called Daddies Boi promises fast cash and fresh connections, the duo is forced to confront what they’re really selling, & what it’s costing them. As the lines between hustle and identity blur, their friendship, self-worth, and survival hang in the balance in this sharply funny, emotionally raw look at aging, agency, & the price of being wanted.

Q&A Is Edited for Style, Context, Clarification

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Okay. Louie’s joining right now. They were just having a little bit of a technical issue. I think he’s going to join from his phone, if that’s all right.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Oh, I usually have a tech work with me who would jump in this and fix it right away, but I’m afraid if I hit the wrong button, I’m going to delete the real one and all that other stuff.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Yeah. I’m the same way. I’m not super tech-savvy, so no worries here. We’ll keep it brass tacks.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Okay. So the so-called review. ..

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Oh, there’s Louie. I think we’re here.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecProducer,CoCreator:
Hey, I’m so sorry I’m late. I …

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Don’t apologize please, please. You don’t have to apologize.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecProducer,CoCreator:
Hello. Well, great to meet you, Gregg. Thanks for having me.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Nice meeting you.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Nice to meet you as well. How’s it going?

GreggMorris-theWORD:
I’m surviving. I’m thriving. It’s been crazy cold back here (Jersey City, NJ). I mean, I’m from Chicago, so I was used to going to school, going out when it was 20 below zero or 32 or whatever. Man, this cold just knocked me. I mean, it knocked everybody out. It was crazy, crazy.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Are you still in Chicago?

GreggMorris-theWORD:
No. Okay. So where am I? Right now, I’m in Jersey City. I teach at Hunter College in New York City, and then I write stories and cover film reviews and film festivals and …

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Wow. Amazing.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
… try to write an attack blog here and there for people I don’t like, like President Trump

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecProducer,CoCreator:
I hear you with that. Wow. That’s amazing. Well, a lot of connections there that… Zoe and I went to school in Chicago …

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Oh, where?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecProducer,CoCreator:
… but then, I’m from Long Island, so I’m from New York. We went to DePaul.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Oh, wait a minute. DePaul University?

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Yep, the theater school.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yep.
GreggMorris-theWORD:
Well, I have a long… I’ll make this quick.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
No, please.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
So how do we want to do this? I want you to tell me what this movie is about. Now, I’ve read the literature, I’ve read everything. My description is just to get something going or to get me thinking, get me to open up stuff. But I’d rather hear it from your lips what this film is about and what do you expect audiences to get from it.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:

Well, we’ll start off that it’s actually a pilot or a proof of concept for a series. It’s a short film on its own, but it’s really a proof of concept and pilot for the overarching series that we have planned. But it is about a lot of different things, but I would say it’s about two best friends, aging sugar babies who kind of dive into the gig economy and explore it through a new app called Daddies Boi.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
A way I’ve been phrasing it even recently, just to get even shorter with it, is just two friends in LA navigating the hustle economy, just trying to figure out how to make it and how to make ends meet and getting creative and kind of the journey where that takes them, for sure.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
So where would this… Okay, I’m jumping ahead of time. Where would the series run?

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Well, I mean, you tell us, Gregg. We’re dying to find out. The idea ideally is that this is picked up for streaming acquisition, so with the idea that we would either be funded through some place, let’s use Netflix as an example, or that we’d have private funding, make the series, and then look for an acquisition.

But I think, I don’t know, Louie, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the hope is that with the traction and the really positive responses that we’ve been getting from these festivals and from the audiences that they would be bringing us in to develop the project with a network so that way, we can shoot the whole thing with the budget that we’re dreaming of having and not having to, I guess I would say, make so many sacrifices on that end.

I think that we were able to create a pretty fleshed out world with the budget that we did have, which was very, very small. So getting the idea to make that on a grander scale, I think generally, we’re thinking between six and eight episodes, about 30 minutes a piece for the first season, and we have a deep outline for all three, I think, at this point, right, Lou?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Three seasons?

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Mm-hmm.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah. I guess to circle back to the question, I think where, I think it’s going to determine … We’re opening those doors right now. We’re in early conversations with distributors. We have been having such a amazing, beautiful, successful festival run so far, so I feel like we’re meeting so many people along the way.

And the dream, of course, is a streamer, to get on one of those streaming services, and maybe see where that takes us from there. But we’re currently in talks with all of that, so it’s a really exciting time.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
It’s extra fun because right now, so we’ve done our world premiere at NewFest, which was in October in New York, and then we played a smaller festival, Temecula, which was in California about outside of LA. We’ve been fortunate enough to get into quite a few other festivals, some that we can announce, some that we can’t yet, but so we’ve seen this positive response and we’ve been able to see that programmers seem to enjoy it as they’ve been picking it, but we haven’t yet done the majority of what we’ve gotten into.

So it feels like there’s still so much ahead in terms of seeing the specifics about audience response. But one thing that’s kind of fun to note, I think, is at NewFest, we opened to the Episodic Showcase, and we’re doing the same here at Slamdance as well. So I think there’s an idea that at least from programmers, and definitely, we felt this from the audience at NewFest when you were talking about what the response has been is there’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

And so, I think feeling like we get to kick off these programs with that piece has felt really, I don’t know, like a good vote of confidence from them, but also, it’s been amazing to see that from the jump at NewFest, for example, the audience was totally with us because when you perform in a group of five, obviously, you’re wondering if being the first one, if there’s going to be some of that warmup or lag time for people to get comfortable. But they were with us from the very first jump, so excited to see how this plays later this week. Can’t believe it’s this week. That’s crazy.

the WORD Editor Gregg W. Morris

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:

Yeah, so soon. Yeah, I would say I think people are really excited by the overall concept. This is something that Zoe and I have been working on for so long, but is also based in a lot of truth of our real lived experiences kind of doing this gig work and daddy dating. And so, I think every time we’ve told these stories publicly prior to writing Daddies Boi, there’s always such a spark from other people of wanting to know more, really curious to hear more of these stories, these adventures. And so, I think it’s fun to see that reflected now in the audience perspective of watching it.

People get really excited.I think also we have always said too that part of the mission of all of this was always to breathe some humor and joy into the space where sometimes and often, it can be depicted in kind of like a darker tone to which we say like a CSI or Law and Order way, the kind of sex work and daddy dating. We wanted to show not only the community and the love, but the humor that it’s a really funny. There’s so much joy found in the space as well. And so, it’s really fun to watch the audiences receive that and to laugh along with us and to really ride that wave.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Well, and also, I think to even one more thing, I know we’re really just tangent-ing, but I think something I was curious about was to see how it was going to play with people outside of our own age group and if they were going to connect to the material even because some people would say, “What’s a sugar baby,” folks who are maybe from a different generation or whatever else. I’ve found at least so far that it really feels like regardless of what age bracket you’re fitting into, the messaging of trying to find your place and make it work wherever you are, at whatever age really holds true.

GreggMorris-theWORD:</strong
Wow.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
The idea of finding friendship in these unique spaces goes far beyond just being in your 30s and trying to hustle and figure out what the you’re doing. It’s universal themes, I think, even though it’s specific context.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Yes. Okay. So you have these universal things that are vibrating and ricocheting. You can feel it. You feel it. I felt it, and I believe audiences feel it, even if they don’t quite understand it right away that something is going on. It’s got you {meaning audiences} bouncing around or really excited and stuff. So I. just like that, and it’s game-changing, I think. It’s something that can do some game-changing. I …

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Thank you. We hope so.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Definitely, I think that’s a great way to frame. I think the whole show is an upbeat tornado.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Honestly, a tornado. Yeah. That was …

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
We talk about that a lot with how we write as it being kind of chaos …

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah. We worked with a writing teacher coach named Jessica Blank, who is amazing, highly recommend. Her work on her own is so … she’s so talented. But Jessica always said that Zoe and I … needed to find the crazy train in our writing, and some people needed to steer the crazy train, and we were steering it because she was like, “You guys got the crazy train down. You just need to know how to kind of steer it.” And so, that’s often our word.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutoveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah. We worked with a writing teacher coach named Jessica Blank, who is amazing, highly recommend. Her work on her own is so … she’s so talented. But Jessica always said that Zoe and I … needed to find the crazy train in their writing, and some people needed to steer the crazy train, and we were steering it because she was like, “You guys got the crazy train down. You just need to know how to kind of steer it.” And so, that’s often our word.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Yeah … [inaudible 00:16:08] … fun police. I’m trying to remember. She was telling people, “Remember the fun police aren’t coming,” and she was like, “I don’t know what you guys are doing with the fun police.” Things are out of control. We’re having too much fun.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah, we like to have some fun.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
So what else do you have going on? Okay, let me rephrase that. I’m going to assume that you’re also working on other stuff. If you don’t want to tell me what it is, if you’re just saying, “Yeah, we’re working on other stuff, but we don’t want to discuss it,” I won’t be upset.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
No. We’ll give you a little tease.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Oh, tease. Yes, yes.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
We can give some teases. We have a few different projects that are in the works.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah, we have a bunch of things in the works for sure. Well, we actually just worked on a play that I wrote called Victoria at the Elysian Theater in LA, so that premiered in November.

There’s actually going to be another workshop of it, I think, this June. So we produced that, and Zoe and I were also both in it, along with me writing it.
We’re gearing up for this summer to hopefully start production on a vertical series that we’ve been developing.

So we’ve been wanting to put something out into the world that is kind of free to the public, that kind of shows our voice and our artistry and the kind of crazy train worlds we like to concoct, and it’s a story that we’ve been sitting on for quite some time, but I’m not sure how in detail we’ll get with the story of it but …

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
We can say it’s loosely surrounding… We could call it a historical comedy. How about that?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Let’s call it a historical comedy for now.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – Executive Producer,CoCreator:
It’s a period piece.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
It’s a period piece. The idea is probably going to be probably six five-minute episodes, and the idea would be there. Yes, exactly what Louie said. This is something that can be free for consumption, another way for people to get a little more of a sense about what we do and how we operate and then with the idea of being able to sell this as well.

This is something that I think I see potentially even more ABC, NBC, I think, could work for a really broad mainstream audience, so we have a lot of excitement about what that could be. But I would say, yeah, historical comedy. We’re exploring for the vertical space.

We have a few other ideas, or not a few. We have many other irons in the fire, I would say, but definitely, Victoria, which will be remounted in June, and then, we can give the name, Divorce Ranch. Divorce Ranch is the name of the vertical series, and that’s what we’ll be hopefully starting production on the summer.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
So how did you guys start working together?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Well, we met in college at good old DePaul. So we were-

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah, we were 18 when we met, but we didn’t …

GreggMorris-theWORD:
I got to just throw that out there. What were you majoring in?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Acting. So we were both in the acting conservatory, so it was a very intensified environment, a lot of emotions running, so it was a really bonding experience, I think, from the get-go.

Zoe and I, I think in particular though of course, really hit it off, and we wound up living together in college and just became best friends. I think from there, we had worked together as actors, for sure, in different musicals or shows. But as the years passed, we branched out into writing together and producing, and that all kind of started with or our first kind of production we did together was a play called F#@% Julie.

That was part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival back in 2022, and that was nominated for Best Play actually. And so, that was our first production that we really mounted something of substantial worth, and we’re like, “Hey, let’s really do this some more.” We formulated our production company, and it’s been going well since.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Wow. So forgive my narrow-mindedness, so-

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Please, be narrow-minded.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
You’re independent filmmakers.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Mm-hmm.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
I can say that. Okay. Big deal, right? I figured that out. So what were your three biggest challenges to get your film going?

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
If they could all be one, it would be money, money, money.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Yeah.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
But I think that I would list personally money being the first one. The second one being just the fact that we were so new to this. Obviously, we came from a really strong theater background, and we were artists and I think very familiar with, even if it wasn’t independent film, I would say, independent art making generally, so anything that’s not super commercial is you’re wearing so many hats. So I think that just being new.

So I would say money, being new to all of this was something that took a significant amount of time just learning the ropes.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah, there’s a learning curve.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Yeah, how to put together a team, how do we fund raise? So not even the actual money, but how do we go about getting it in the right way and bringing in the right people and who are the right people, and testing out different business relationships, figuring out what works for us and what doesn’t.

And then, I would say the third probably being, honestly, biggest challenge… The first reading we did of this was in 2020. So the implicit challenge being then the next couple of years, while it was exciting because I think in some ways, we had more time to devote to being creative than I think either of us had expected initially, it also meant there was so much uncertainty in the world, not that that’s different now.

So I would say money, the newness, and then just kind of the cultural climate that we were in creating this created, I would say… I think those were probably the biggest challenges. What would you say, Lou?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah, I mean, of course, my mind went right to money as well. I do think that was… Of course, you also pointing out independent filmmakers. I think that’s what makes it… When people talk about that, I think it’s kind of a talk. We’re talking about money.

If you’re independent, it doesn’t mean you have this funding from this big source, well of whether that be Warner Brothers/Netflix now or whatever it might be because of some big corporate head or are you kind of on the boots ground saying, “Okay, how are we going to pay for these coffees? Where’s crafty coming from?” And I think those kind of things, we were doing all of that.

And so, I think the financial component, of course, is always an element, I think, for any art, just to live day to day, but figuring out how to make a piece of art that requires a real budget and to gather that team, as Zoe was talking about, but then also us knowing that everyone deserves to get paid their rate and we want to be able to do that and want to be able to cultivate that kind of production.

And so, I think that took all the things that she’s saying. It took more time. It took more knowledge of a learning curve of how to really achieve that. It, of course, then took the actual tangible money just to click go to be like, “Okay, guys, we’re actually doing it now,” and we did.

I think for me, personally, I think what we’re all talking around too, I think it is. It was wearing the many hats learning because while we’ve been on sets as actors and we’ve done on projects as maybe just writers or help contribute, I think it’s a different thing to be the writer, to be the executive producer, and then also to be like, “Okay, now, they’re calling action, and now, I’m also in the shot to act in.” And so, I think that was a learning curve and an exciting one, but it definitely was a learning curve to wear all those hats.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
For sure. I mean, all the permits and everything even. We had done stuff that was more in the realm even of content creation or Shorts or things that were more sketch based.

And then, when you’re suddenly doing something where you’re putting together all these contracts, which we didn’t do the majority of that, that was our amazing line producer, Hannah Sawicki, but suddenly, you’re needing permits for everything. You have to get approval from the neighborhoods that you’re filming in. I think there were a lot of things that when we committed to making this not just a project that was going to have a bigger budget than what we had had before, which again, we’re still talking small and not small small like $5 million, fucking off the record, but like $30,000, 20,000 to film, then I think it… Yeah, I lost my original train of thought, honestly, but yep, there I am.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
If you were invited to be a guest lecturer at a undergraduate film class, what would you tell the film students?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Wow.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
And let’s narrow it. The serious ones, what would you tell them? What could you tell them?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
I think I would, I mean, again, we’re still learning so much in terms of the actual film aspect of it, and yet, I would tell them, I think for sure, work with the people you love right now.

Don’t wait to get to the dream budget. Don’t wait until to get the yes from somebody else. Just do it right now. Whether it’s on your phone, whether you’re filming with a friend’s camera, just throw it together and just keep making the things that you enjoy because I think that’s what will be the avenue to all the other things and to talk about all the things we just brought up of money or time or crew.

I think the important thing is being able to do it now and feel that power and also to work with the people you love and respect because as artists, especially as students, you’re around so many people with amazing imaginations who have the artistic tools inside, but maybe feel restricted by experience or by finances.

It’s just like you have your community. And I think that’s what has helped us more than anything is that we have such a rich, true friend community of artists that we love and respect, and I think we wouldn’t have been where we are today without really tapping into that community.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
I agree. I mean, what I was going to say would connect completely to that. I have one more, which is really just simple, but just stay in your own lane. Your journey is not going to look like absolutely anybody else’s. I don’t mean by that shut everyone out, but more like remember that you are going to operate on your own timetable in your own way. I think I set, whether intentional or not, these ideas of wanting to reach certain milestones at certain stages, and the reality is it’s going to look different for absolutely everyone that you come up with. One of the best things and healthiest things I think you can do is to remember that, celebrate other people’s wins, trust that yours are coming and that they’ll happen on your own timetable.

But connected to what Louie said about make things right now, I read this quote a long time ago that was, “You are an accumulation of the five people you spend the most time with,” and I think about this all the time, and the idea of really surround yourself with people who they may not necessarily think like you, they may not be creative in the same exact sense of you, but that you feel nourished from their presence and that they really believe in you because if you have people around you, regardless of what’s going on that see you for who you are as an artist and that you feel nourished by, I think that can sustain you just as much as having a killer job or whatever it would be.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
One of the things that, I hope I say this right, that has me sort of in awe because I see something magical going on that I don’t understand is that you do… I’m talking about you guys as well as others too who are out there doing something in film besides just making money, being famous, I mean, is that- …
Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:

Which is great too from what I’ve heard.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Open to that as well, but …

GreggMorris-theWORD
This is what … I hope I phrase this right. The magic is, is that you can deal with a lot of people under a lot of different situations. I sort of liked the journalistic thing because I could go off by myself … journalism is changing now, so it’s much more complex, but I liked the idea that I could go off and be independent and work on my stuff with nobody knowing, but I realized that there was some kind of paranoid fear about, I don’t know what it is, but it’s the collaborating.

So when I see people who can marshal an army of talented people and get them to go in the right direction, I mean, even if they have to rewrite, rephrase, etcetera, it just puts me in awe. So I’m in awe of what you do.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Thank you so much.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Well, it’s a fact.

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DADDIES BOI – the WORD Q&A With Slam Dunking Filmmakers – Part 3 of 3

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah, thank you. You know what? I mean, I get that. I’ve often, growing up, was jealous of a painter or some kind of artistry like that where you can go away to a cabin alone and be by yourself and paint and not really have anything to do with it beyond that.

When other people are involved, you’re sending it out. But I think because theater was that first love for me, it’s such a community base. It’s so intrinsically built on that community vibe, that connection, making eye contact, saying how you feel, expressing yourself. I think that we had that so built in that it feels hard to separate that for me from not only just art, but just being a human being like that kind of raw connection. I feel like small talk can be hard for me sometimes because I’m like, “Let’s just get to it. Tell me your trauma.”

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Tell me the divorce. Yeah, yeah. For sure, I’m the same.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
I think that that is that kind of theater rehearsal room vibe, and I think that it definitely has served us though, I think, in terms of building a really secure, trusted group of people around us that we love, that we love to work with beyond just being friends with and to respect their art. It doesn’t even go say it lightly that Zoe and I working together. We’ve been friends for so long, and it could be a really big challenge to collaborate, but it’s been so easy for us, and it’s been…

I’m so grateful for it because I love doing this. I love doing my art, love expressing myself. I love being with Zoe and hanging out with her, and we get to do it together, and it’s also just so supportive. If I’m having an energetically low day, she can pick up the slack and vice versa, and it’s really nice to have someone on that road together because it can feel isolating at times, especially when it’s all new.

It can feel scary and overwhelming. There’s a lot of energy, and it’s amazing to have someone who you actually love and trust on that journey. Let’s just hop on the crazy train and see where it takes us.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
See where it goes. Well, and I think even when we would talk about, we’ve talked about this a lot, but I think creating something like this, and then the festival world is a whole new thing. Once you’re done with post-production, you’re like, “Wait, okay, this is a whole different section of the world I wasn’t even familiar with.”

I think had either of us known how much time, energy, emotion, sacrifice, all of this would’ve taken to, not to necessarily make anything, but to make this and to make it in the way that I think we’re both so proud of, I think while, of course, we both have projects that we’d be spearheading, one is the writer or one is the director or whatever else, getting to do this together for the first time made it feel so much more …

Doable is not a sexy word, but it made it feel so much more conquerable, I think, to have someone on your team where exactly what Louie is saying, where if one of us would say, “Okay, I’m passing you the baton. I need a break,” or whatever it would be because it becomes kind of a day in, day out, let’s call it healthy obsession, I think a project like this and moving forward.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
[inaudible 00:32:59] … Yeah, you have to be a little obsessed, I think a little crazy to see an independent film through because you got to get that obsession, and you got to be just a tad bit unstable, I think.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Okay, so here’s another awkward questions. It’s an awkward question because I’m awkward in expressing this, but …

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
You’ve been great, but I can’t wait to hear what it is.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Sorry. How do I phrase this? I’ve been practicing this. I thought I would have it like that.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Take your time until you’re ready with the delivery. We will wait.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
That might take hours.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Oh, God.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Well, we’ll talk amongst ourselves.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
You’re doing… I’m going to say this as best I could do. People are interviewing you about your film, and they’re talking to you, and if they’re good, they’re listening to you. Has occasions come up when they didn’t ask you questions that you wished they would’ve asked because you thought they were important. Does that make sense?

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Has anybody not asked or have we not been asked about something we really want to talk about with this? Is that what you’re saying?

GreggMorris-theWORD:
No. No, it’s… I have this criticism, as in the businesses, that journalists, interviewers, they’re rarely listening to the people that they’re interviewing as much as I think they should, and so they overlook stuff. And what you do in the business as a reporter, you’re taking notes and stuff. You call them back, and I called them back, and asked, “Oh, I forgot to ask this or something,” or “I should have asked this.”

So I’m wondering if there were times when they didn’t ask you what you wished they had asked you, what you might’ve wished they asked you, and I’m going to shut up with that one. But yeah, that’s pretty much it.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
I mean, I would say everyone that we’ve spoken to has been wonderful, so I wouldn’t say anyone’s missed anything, but also say, Louie and I are huge chatterboxes, so I think we could talk about anything forever in that way. I mean, I think one thing we haven’t really or we’ve talked about it, but I think something I always want to really express is just like… I thought about this a lot because I was on vacation last week, and we were still kind of working while I was out there, and I was just thinking, we’ve really worked so hard on this. We really want to see this win.

I think it’s been such an unbelievable experience to see filming go the way we want, to see, “Oh my God, festivals are interested,” especially after a huge bout of noes in the beginning where we were suddenly thinking, “Oh, God, are we going to get any visibility? How is this going to work?” I think that’s the thing that I always want to share the most is just like, this is so tender and special to us, and to get to share this in a wider and wider audience, I mean, it’s the dream. I want, with everything, to see this go as far as it can go.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah, and I guess to what you were kind of saying or what I was interpreting from what you were saying, Gregg, I think, is

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Oh, God. Did I get it wrong?

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
No, I’m not saying you. I was just going to say, again, we’ve just started on some of this, the kind of press for Daddies Boi, and like Zoe said, everyone’s been so wonderful.

I do think it’s been interesting to see with some journalists who ask more specific pointed questions and then what is kind of a more roundabout general question, so it feels really personal, and it feels like a real conversation or to ask a really new one or what you just asked, haven’t been asked that before. And so, that’s a first. But again, what Zoe just said, I totally agree. Of course, we’ve been put in so much work and I think we’re just seeing it through.

There’s so many doors opening right now, which is really exciting. And through these interviews, to have people even take the time out of their day to have watched it or ask questions about how we made it, it’s a big moment to take a step back as well, just to be like, ‘Wow, we really have put so much work in.’ There’s this product we can put out there in the world that people are not only seeing but responding to,” and so it’s an exciting time.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Yeah. I have to say this again, it’s a galvanizing movie. I felt moved. No doubt audiences will.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Thank you.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
That’s magic. Have to say, this is magic to be able to create something like that that affects millions.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
That’s the goal.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
From your lips to God’s ears, yes.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
That’s right.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Yes, and.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Okay. Oh, we’re going long. No, I’m not trying to try to get rid of you. I just said it was going to be 30 minutes or something, and so I can’t think of any more questions.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Well, if you have one come up, I know you said …

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Yeah, feel free to reach back out.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
… if you ever want to email us or anything, we’re very, very reachable, for sure.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Okay, that sounds good. Let’s see. What else? I think that’s it.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Awesome.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Okay, great. Well, I mean, thank you so much for taking the time out, Gregg. It was a great moment to talk with you, and I think another, you’re a really great listener and asking some really specific questions.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Yeah. For real, thank you for holding space with us and kind of letting this just feel less like question answer and more just like a dialogue and really getting to connect, so this has been a real pleasure.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Yes. When I say yes, I can’t think of a better way to spend time than dealing with you. I mean, it just makes me feel good. I mean, I’m upbeat. I mean, this is the end of the day. Nope, I’m still early.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
But we’re doing good here at this halfway through the day mark.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Okay.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Well, I hope you enjoy Jersey City.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Jersey City is very diverse. I mean, I like that. I mean, it’s a nice … yeah, I like the diversity. I like the urban in some areas and pastoral in other areas. I like the Middle East people down the road. I’ve discovered all these African people that live in the area and live in Jersey City. It’s like a mini New York, a mini Big Apple, and without … it’s got its challenges, but …

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
You can get some good food, for sure, too.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Oh, yeah. Yes, yes, yes.

Louie Rinaldi (they/them) – ExecutiveProducer,CoCreator:
Well, thank you again. And again, like Zoe said, feel free to reach out if you have any other questions that come to you.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
Okay.

Zoe Tyson (she/her)– ExecutiveProducer, CoCreator:
Absolutely.

GreggMorris-theWORD:
You guys be safe out there.


Filmmakers Zoe Tyson and Louie Rinaldi

 

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U.S. and Israel Launch Illegal War on Iran, Call for Regime Change
By Sharon Zang (Article was originally published by Truthout)

Update in the Works. Article was in the works before the Ayatollah was reported slain.

The first casualties reported by Iran were those from strikes on an elementary girls’ school. The U.S. and Israel carried out a series of unprovoked and devastating strikes on Iran on Saturday, sparking retaliation from the country as U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Iranians to overthrow their government.

Iranian media reported strikes across the country, including in the capital of Tehran and around the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, The Associated Press reported. It’s unclear if Khamenei and other top leaders survived.

One of the strikes, reportedly launched by Israel, destroyed an elementary school for girls in the southern city of Minab, killing at least 85 people, Iranian semi-official outlet Tasnim News Agency reported — seemingly the first reported casualties of the conflict.

Iran retaliated with strikes targeting Israel and U.S. bases in numerous Gulf Coast countries, including in a strike on the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Many U.S. bases in the region were partially evacuated prior to the first U.S.-Israeli strikes.

In a video address posted as the first strikes were launched, Trump described the attack as “a massive and ongoing operation.”

“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We are going to annihilate their navy,” Trump said. He said that U.S. casualties are acceptable for this “noble” goal. “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war.”

Trump urged members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and police to “lay down [their] weapons and have complete immunity, or in the alternative, face certain death.”

“To the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”

Netanyahu struck a similar tone in his remarks in Hebrew on Saturday. “As a people who desire life, we have no choice but to engage in this campaign,” Netanyahu said, per a translation by AP. “The Iranian people in all their diversity — Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Balochs, Abkhazians, and all other citizens of this wonderful nation — this is your opportunity to establish a new and free Iran.”

These remarks are a dramatic departure from Trump’s speech following the U.S.’s strikes on Iran last June, signalling a much more drawn out assault. In June, Trump immediately demanded that Iran end the war in a brief address following the strikes. He declared the strikes a success, and said, “this cannot continue,” threatening more strikes if Iran didn’t relent.

In Saturday’s speech, Trump repeated numerous falsehoods, including statements that Iran “rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions” — a clear and blatant lie.

Rather, these attacks come in the middle of indirect negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials on Iran’s nuclear program, in which Iranian officials have openly stated that they never plan to possess a nuclear weapon. On Friday, just hours before the strikes, mediator Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi said that “a peace deal is within our reach.”

“The single most important achievement, I believe, is the agreement that Iran will never ever have nuclear material that will create a bomb,” Al Busaidi said in an interview with CBS News. More negotiations were supposed to take place next week.

“I don’t know why the U.S. administration insists to start a negotiation and then, in the middle of them, attack the other party,” said Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday, likening the timing of the attack to the U.S. strikes mid-negotiations last June. “Everybody was happy” after the most recent round of negotiations on Thursday, he said.

CNN reports, citing a U.S. official, that the U.S. “has planned an escalating series of strikes with off-ramps along the way.” They would take place “over a one to two-day period with pauses to reset and assess battle damage.” However, it’s unclear how there can be “off-ramps” when the U.S. and Israel are openly angling for regime change.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has reportedly called for Congress to reconvene as soon as possible for votes on a war powers resolution, which Schumer has cosponsored. Both he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) put out statements, however, expressed support for military action against Iran,, largely only criticizing Trump for the lack of clear messaging and process around the assault.

Leaders of other Western countries, including Canada’s Mark Carney and the U.K.’s Keir Starmer, said that they are in support of the U.S., with Starmer even going as far as to say, “Iran can end this now,” without offering any explanation as to how that could actually occur.

Many U.S. lawmakers denounced the attack, urging against a war with Iran.

“Trump is acting on the violent fantasies of the American political elite and the Israeli apartheid government, ignoring the vast majority of Americans who say loud and clear: No More Wars,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) in a statement.

“President Trump will pretend this is about democracy and the rights of the Iranian people. Don’t be fooled, Trump does not care about the Iranian people,” she went on. “Our government has imposed brutal sanctions that have destroyed the Iranian economy and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. You cannot ‘free’ people by killing them and destroying their country.”

Israel framed the strikes as “preemptive,” but many critics said that that is a farce.

“Preemptive self-defense under international law requires an imminent armed attack, not political disagreement, not long-term rivalry, not speculative future threats. There has been no evidence of imminent attack from Iran that would justify bombing Tehran in broad daylight,” said the National Iranian American Council President Jamal Abdi in a statement.

“Bombing Tehran will not bring security,” Abdi went on. “It will endanger civilians, place U.S. service members at risk, empower the most repressive and violent elements inside Iran, and destabilize the region for years to come. For Iranians already suffering under repression, sanctions, and economic hardship, this escalation will mean only more pain.”

“‘Preemptive strike’ is the favorite lie that the genocidal government of Israel tells us before they kill children,” Tlaib said.

Civil liberties group Defending Rights & Dissent called for Trump and all cabinet members involved in the assault to be impeached.

“Trump’s aggression this morning against Iran is unconstitutional, unlawful, and immoral,” said Chip Gibbons, Defending Rights & Dissent’s policy director. “There was no emergency, this was a planned war of choice by Trump coordinated with Israel, a foreign government credibly accused of violating international conventions prohibiting apartheid and genocide.”

“Congress must immediately reconvene and invoke the War Powers Resolution,” Gibbons went on. “While that is an urgent first step, that is not sufficient. Trump must be impeached and removed from office, along with all members of his cabinet who played a role in this crime against our Constitution.”

This article was originally published by Truthout and is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 

 

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Truthout publishes: Investigative reporting (e.g., on policing, incarceration, labor issues, environmental policy). Opinion essays and analysis from academics, journalists, and movement organizers. Interviews and long-form features. Coverage of grassroots movements, especially around racial justice, immigration, and climate activism.It often features contributors associated with progressive academia and advocacy networks. The site has published work by well-known left-leaning commentators and scholars.

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Funded primarily through reader donations and grants, rather than advertising. Frequently runs fundraising drives emphasizing independence from corporate ownership.

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Appeals to readers who are skeptical of mainstream corporate media. Strong readership among activists, academics, progressive organizers, and policy critics.

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Supporters view it as a corrective to centrist or corporate media framing. Critics argue its coverage can be ideologically driven and sometimes less restrained in tone than traditional legacy outlets. From a media-analysis perspective—especially given your sustained interest in newsroom ethics and ideological framing—Truthout represents a model of mission-driven journalism rather than conventional “objective” reporting. Its value and limitations depend largely on whether one prioritizes activist transparency over conventional neutrality norms.

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Filmmakers Stanley Nelson, Marcia Smith Selected as BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA’S 2026 Trailblazers

It’s all a part of BPM’s PitchBLACK, sponsored by Netflix and PBS, the largest pitch session for independent filmmakers and creative technologists creating Black content. The annual PitchBLACK Forum will be held on Wednesday, April 29.

Winners of up to $150,000 in production funding will be announced at the PitchBLACK Awards; NPR’s Britany Luse will moderate and Artists’ Chat with Nelson and Smith at the event.

Stanley Nelson

The married duo, documentary filmmakers and co-founders of Firelight Media, will receive BPM’s most prestigious honor at the PitchBLACK Awards on Thursday, April 30, at 6:30 p.m.

The PitchBLACK Awards ceremony celebrates the winners of the PitchBLACK Forum, the nation’s largest pitch competition for independent filmmakers and creative technologists creating Black content. The Forum takes place Wednesday, April 29, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and creatives will take the stage to vie for up to $150,000 in production funding.

Registration is required for the PitchBLACK Forum, which can be attended in person or virtually; tickets for the awards program go on sale via Ticketmaster in March. Sponsored by Netflix and PBS, PitchBLACK returns to The Apollo Stages at the Victoria in Harlem for the second year in a row.

Director Stanley Nelson and Writer-Producer Marcia Smith have shaped modern documentary storytelling and the field around it, pairing revelatory films with lasting infrastructure that helps other artists thrive.

Nelson is widely regarded as a leading chronicler of the African American experience in nonfiction film, work that has earned him a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, a Peabody recognizing his body of work and the National Medal in the Humanities.

Smith has has helped advance documentary filmmaking as a writer, producer and nonprofit leader, earning recognition for her work and leadership including a Writers Guild Award, a Muse Award and BlackStar’s Luminary Award. Through Firelight’s Documentary Lab, they have helped launch the careers of more than 100 nonfiction filmmakers of color and built Firelight into a nationally respected home for nonfiction work by and about communities of color.

BPM’s Trailblazer Award is presented to documentary filmmakers whose body of work and commitment to mentoring emerging filmmakers producing Black stories are exemplary. Past recipients include Michèle Stephenson & Joe Brewster (2019), Marco Williams (2021) Orlando Bagwell (2022), Yoruba Richen (2023), Sam Pollard (2024), and Lillian E. Benson (2025).

“Not only has Marcia and Stanley’s prolific body of work set superior standards for the field and blessed the world with a plethora of important African American stories, their dedication to creating new opportunities for other underrepresented and underserved media makers has made it possible for the industry to grow in ways that better reflect its increasingly diverse audiences,” said Leslie Fields-Cruz, executive director of Black Public Media. “Black Public Media is thrilled to bestow our highest award on these two independent media titans.”

 

In honor of Nelson and Smith’s remarkable accomplishments, BPM will present a two-week, online retrospective of their films, Monday, April 27, through Sunday, May 10. The 2026 BPM Trailblazer Retrospective may include We Want the Funk! (2025), The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015), Freedom Riders (2010), Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple (2007), A Place of Our Own (2004), The Murder of Emmett Till (2003), Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind (2000), The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (1999) and Two Dollars and a Dream (1989). All PitchBLACK registrants will receive free, on-demand access to the slate of films on the BPM website throughout the streaming window.

Through its PitchBLACK initiative, Black Public Media has awarded more than $2 million to 26 film and immersive projects since 2015. Many have gone on to national primetime premieres on public media broadcast and streaming platforms.

Each year, the PitchBLACK Forum & Awards draw leaders from public television, commercial television, documentary film, emerging media and funding worlds. At the Forum, five documentary film teams will pitch their projects in the morning, followed by five immersive media teams in the afternoon, with projects judged by panels of industry professionals.

Winners will be announced at the PitchBLACK Awards on Thursday, April 30. The event will feature an Artists’ Chat with Nelson and Smith about their careers and the future of public media, moderated by NPR journalist and podcast host Brittany Luse.

The recipient of BPM’s 2026 Nonso Christian Ugbode Fellowship, a memorial award named for BPM’s first director of digital initiatives recognizing under-30 artists in immersive media, will also be announced. Held in-person, the PitchBLACK Awards will be broadcast at a later date by NYC Media.

Sponsors also include Andscape, PBS and Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN). Additional sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting Tonya Thomas at: tonyat@blackpublicmedia.org.

Since 1979, BPM has funded and helped distribute quality film and immersive work while developing creatives. The national nonprofit also produces and distributes original content, including its signature series, AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange and its digital offshoot, AfroPoP Digital Shorts.

Stanley Nelson

To learn more about PitchBLACK, visit blackpublicmedia.org or follow BPM (@blackpublicmedia) on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Nelson is the foremost chronicler of the African American experience working in nonfiction film today. His documentary films, many of which have aired on PBS, combine compelling narratives with rich and deeply researched historical detail, shining new light on both familiar and under-explored aspects of the American past.

A MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Nelson was awarded a Peabody for his body of work in 2016. He has received numerous honors over the course of his career, including the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts Sciences. In 2013, President Barack Obama presented Nelson with the National Medal in the Humanities.

Nelson’s latest documentaries include Sound of the Police for ABC News Studios/Hulu, and Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom and Becoming Frederick Douglass for PBS.

His previous documentary Attica for SHOWTIME Documentary Films was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards® and earned him the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary. In 2021, Nelson also directed Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy for Netflix and Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre, with co-director Marco Williams for History, which was nominated for three Primetime Emmy® Awards.

Nelson’s feature for American Masters, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019, marking his tenth premiere at the prestigious festival — the most of any documentary filmmaker.

The film won two Emmy® Awards at the 42nd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards and was nominated for Best Music Film at the 62nd Grammy Awards. His film The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2016) won the 2016 NAACP Image Award. Other notable Nelson films include Freedom Riders (2010, three Primetime Emmy® Awards and included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress), Freedom Summer (2014, Peabody Award),The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (1999, Emmy-nominated), Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple (2006, Tribeca Film Festival Special Jury Prize) and Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind (2000, Sundance Premiere). The Murder of Emmett Till 2003) uncovered new eyewitnesses and helped prompt the U.S. Department of Justice to reopen the case.

Smith is co-founder and former president of Firelight Media, which produces documentary films, provides artistic and financial support to emerging filmmakers of color and builds impact campaigns to connect documentaries to audiences and social justice advocates. Under her leadership, Firelight Media was honored with a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Firelight Media’s flagship Documentary Lab program has supported more than 100 emerging filmmakers over the past decade, who have premiered at festivals such as Sundance, and gone on to earn numerous festival, Peabody and Emmy awards.

She has written several films alongside documentarian Stanley Nelson including: Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities; Through the Fire: The Legacy of Barack Obama; Freedom Riders; Jonestown: The Life and Death of the Peoples Temple; Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind; and The Murder of Emmett Till. Smith received a Primetime Emmy nomination and won the Writers’ Guild Award for best nonfiction writing for her work on The Murder of Emmett Till, and was honored with a 2016 Muse Award from New York Women in Film & Television, as well as the 2019 Luminary Award from BlackStar Film Festival. She will also serve as the writer for Firelight’s upcoming four-hour documentary series, Creating The New World, on the transatlantic slave trade.

Smith is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sits on the Peabody Board of Directors (East Coast) and is a member of the Board for Martha’s Vineyard Film Society.

About Black Public Media (BPM)

BPM supports the development of visionary content creators and distributes stories about the global Black experience to inspire a more equitable and inclusive future. For 45+ years, BPM has addressed the needs of unserved and underserved audiences. BPM-supported programs have won five Emmys®,10 Peabodys, five Anthem Awards, 14 Emmy® nominations and an Oscar® nomination. BPM continues to address historical, contemporary and systemic challenges that traditionally impede the development and distribution of Black stories.

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Part 3: MEDUZA Wrap-Up Summary, Plus Additional Credits. On Digital Platforms Today, February 20, 2026

MEDUZA follows Ukrainian artist-turned-sniper Pavlo Aldoshyn from the first days of the war in 2022. Pavlo played a sniper in a film prior to the 2022 invasion, and these skills led him to be recruited as a sniper when the war began. Throughout the film, Pavlo’s inner life connects to a range of stories around the globe, including a Japanese widower searching the ocean for his wife, and an Amazonian tribesman describing the loss of a mythical ladder uniting earth and sky.

This fascinating documentary stars famous Ukrainian actor Pavlo Aldoshyn (“White Raven”) who was also a contestant on Ukraine’s version of The Voice before the war. The shoot took place over two years following the invasion, with some pre-invasion footage obtained from Pavlo and his wife, Katarina

The team was Director Roc Morin and Leïla Wolf, Morin’s producer and longtime film collaborator who passed away in January. Morin had reported on the war starting in 2014 as a print journalist, and following the full-scale invasion, flew to Poland, walked across the border, and hitchhiked to Lviv because there was no organized transportation heading into the country at that time.

While in Kyiv, Wolf was introduced to Pavlo who happened to be on a brief leave from the front line. Over the course of the filming, interviews were conducted in Kyiv, Kharkhiv, and near the front line. Upon meeting Pavlo, Morin was struck by Pavlo’s unique spiritual perspective of himself in the context of the war. Witnessing Pavlo’s psychological transformation over the course of the two years of filming, and the impact of his involvement in the war on his spiritual mythology and relationships, forms the core of the film and shows the intimate costs of war. Pavlo is still fighting on the front lines for his country, even today.

MEDUZA was directed by Roc Morin (”You Are My Audience”, Producer of Werner Herzog’s “Family Romance LLC”) and produced by Leïla Wolf (”You Are My Audience”). MEDUZA has a running time of 1:30 and will not be rated by the MPAA. The film shot in the United States, Ukraine, Japan, India, and Ecuador. F is on digital platforms today, February 20, 2025, tied to the 4-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

 

the WORD Editor Gregg W. Morris

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