This and all other episodes of the MAKE IT podcast are brought to you in partnership with Women in Film and Television as part of the Voice of the Filmmaker Program. Please help us keep the conversation going.
In this special Juneteenth, Pride Month, and Father’s Day episode, we have a conversation with Author & Actor Chris Haley. We talk about his #1 Amazon Best-Selling book of poetry, ‘Fists & Rainbows: With One Fist In The Air and Holla!’, the current state of American society and fairness, how he defends his uncle Alex Haley’s legacy, reparations, how he manages his anxiety, tips on how to audition and remember lines, and how self-sabotage and self-doubt cost him work with Wayne Brady.
About Chris Haley
As Director of both the Study of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland at the Maryland State Archives Research Department and the Utopia Film Festival in Greenbelt, Maryland, Mr. Haley has served on many prestigious boards in the world of African American genealogy as well as in the Arts. They include the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation, Historic London Town Foundation, Jake Savage Foundation, Annapolis Arts Alliance Foundation and the Annapolis Film Festival among others.
Chris is well respected as a speaker at numerous venues throughout the United States where he has spoken on themes such as African American history, self-empowerment and genealogy.
He earned his B.A in English, and Drama minor at The University of Maryland - College Park, and resides in Landover, Maryland.
Fists and Rainbows is art and revolution responding to a moment in our culture that demands we hear the call of Toni Morrison that we use this moment to create and inspire; Fists and Rainbows does both!
About the MAKE IT Podcast
The MAKE IT podcast is a platform for the voice of independent filmmaker. We offer a variety of educational, aspirational, and entertaining content that promotes the success of creatives across the filmmaking community and the film industry.
Our Filmmaker Conversations with filmmaking professionals are dedicated to sharing the advice, knowledge, and insights of experienced filmmakers while exploring what it truly means to be an independent creative in the highly competitive world of filmmaking. Each filmmaker conversation is backed by thoughtful research that allows us to uncover the raw, authentic truths behind each filmmaker's journey.
Through our Indie Talks, we share our thoughts and perspectives on navigating independent film from the perspective of Advisory and Executive Producers. We discuss topics that are relevant to filmmakers across a wide spectrum of filmmaking perspectives, and we do our best to uncover hidden truths and new developments in the film industry. Our goal is to help filmmakers avoid the pitfalls and obstacles on the business side of film so that their filmmaking creativity can thrive.
Our Industry Insights provide bite-sized actionable advice that filmmaking professionals and creatives of all kinds can use to keep their heads up as they continue their filmmaking journeys. With advice sourced from the filmmaking community, we build upon the wisdom of our filmmaking guests to provide our audience with truly aspirational and inspirational content.
The Mistakes in the Making series gives our filmmaking friends an opportunity to speak directly to our filmmaking audience to share a specific lesson they've learned through a mistake they've made. We are firm believers that mistakes can be the gateway to success when we open our hearts and minds to learning from them, sharing them, and using them to Be Better.
The Film Investment series is a conversational series of 52 episodes geared towards the would-be film investor. Each episode, facilitated via a friendly conversation between hosts and friends Christopher Barkley and Jason McConnell, highlights a unique aspect of the film investment process. In addition to being a great resource for film investors, it serves as a reference for filmmakers regarding the many considerations that must be made when seeking film investment.
This and all other episodes of the MAKE IT podcast are brought to you in partnership with Women in Film and Television as part of the Voice of the Filmmaker Program. Please help us keep the conversation going.