"la mart park" Discussed on The Times: Daily news from the L.A. Times
"Now that you've made it and have a seat at the table, what would you say has changed about meetings with Hollywood executives? Just more of a willingness to make what I want to make to buy what I'm pitching on the downside. I love constructive feedback. I love, you know, really smart executives. And I have found that the more successful people think you are the more scared or hesitant they are to criticize your work. Yeah. And I hope that people that I work with my creative partners in the future are never scared to be like, hey, this ain't it or let's think about trying to develop this a bit more. And I've seen that happen and I've almost had to beg to be like, no, tell me this is trash and tell me to do better. I'm happy to. You gotta keep prentice on speed dial. I'm sure he will remain that person for you. Telling like it is busy. He's got a thousand projects. But yes, I definitely have. I've definitely hit him up even for this new show. Hey, you want to come on board? You want to come direct something real quick? You want to. And he's like, I just finished working with you. Please. Are you finding that insecure has moved the needle in terms of showing Hollywood executives? How valuable these stories are? Are you still being advised to add more white characters to the next projects you have going on? Definitely not. Yes. Yeah, I have seen how it has moved the needle. I've seen, you know, how it is influenced other studios, to green light, certain projects, and I am proud of that, you know, in the same way that the shows that came before me. I know very well that there's no insecure without shonda and scandal. I know, you know, that possibly there's no insecure without even girls, you know? That's stuff like that isn't lost on me. And so I see how Hollywood almost needs permission to be like does this work out? All right, okay, then we can take a chance on this, but I definitely credit the shonda movement. Thank you, shonda. Thank you Sean. Well, another part of the show's legacy that many have reflected on, including our own paper, is the way the show has sort of rehab the image of south Los Angeles by really showcasing its beauty and depth. And in the end, ESA is living with Lawrence in a beautiful home in la Mart park. What did you want to say with that detail? I think that was more just my own dream. That was me putting my own utopia in Isa's, you know, final journey. And yeah, I live where I grew up. And I'm happy to live here. You know, I'm being a kid right in my bike through my neighborhood and being like, I want to live here when I grow up. I want to come back and to be able to do that is such a blessing and blows my mind, even now when I walk, I walk past my childhood home. Dang, this is crazy. That I was actually able to do that and to manifest that. And, you know, I wanted that for Easter D two. We both care about LA in our community so much. That send me my happy ending is her happy ending. Or happy start, I should say. Happy start. I like that. There's this sweet moment in the finale where Issa is driving around and seeing all the people and places she used to frequent. And there's the moment where she drives by the dunes complex and a dad is taking his daughter's photo outside. And I remember talking to prentice ahead of the premiere, we shot him outside the dunes and he was saying how they had to stop because fans of the show were parked out there trying to take photos in front of it. Did he cross your mind that something like this would happen when you were scouting locations for the show that it would bring people out to see the community in this way? Absolutely not. And that was such a pleasant surprise that people have made the dunes like a Hollywood landmark. You know, that was that Yoda by the way taking a picture of his daughter. We had to send him out properly as a lot of show that he still banging on the block. It's so cool. I actually just, I went to trade of Joe's a couple months ago and my cashier was like, girl, you the reason is always traffic in front of my street. And I was like, what? She was like, yeah, I live by the dunes. And I was like, what? Oh, that's so, I'm sorry. And she was like, yeah, people stay taking pictures in front of it. And so I was like, okay, my bad. And then I was like, I want to drive to see myself. You know, I get tags and photos every single day with people taking pictures in front of it. But I wanted to just go drive by myself to see if people were doing it. And sure enough, they were just people outside and you know those low key little mind. Of people just, you know, gather opposing in front of the dunes. And I was like, damn, poor residents. And I took my own video of them posing. I was looking busted. People were like, why didn't you get out? Because I was looking busted and you know people were gonna be like, hey, can we get a picture? Or they're gonna be like, excuse me, can't get off the waist so I could take a picture of the doom. So I don't know what's that. But one day I'll go back. Heavily made up. And happened to show up. How do you feel about changing the fabric of the community in that way? Like, as you said, making Hollywood landmarks out of these spaces and maybe changing them forever. If you meet in the sense that it's on people's radars in a way that makes it culturally significant to black people, I'm very proud. If you meet in the sense that now people want to move here and live here that aren't necessarily made up of the fabrics of this community that I have regrets, you know, I've definitely gotten blames for the influx of tech Bros and Hollywood communities wanting to move here in that way. I'm like, oh, damn. That was not the intention. I just wanted to showcase how beautiful our neighborhoods are. But I do love that at least the show will be a time capsule of the fact that these were very black neighborhoods and proud black neighborhoods. Yeah. Well, from the beginning of your career, you wore every creative hat. You're the star of the writer, the creator, the director, in the 5 years since making this show in the more traditional TV space. Is there one thing you miss about the sort of homegrown style of making content? Yeah, definitely the rawness. I still kind of miss that of just, you know, as much as I do love to collaborate, and I love the process of development, part of me still misses.
Hollywood
shonda
la Mart park
south Los Angeles
ESA
Issa
Sean
prentice
Lawrence
Yoda
LA
Joe
