Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations.
Speaker 2: It's to show that she is the secrets of success
Speaker 2: experience firsthand by marketing and Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I
Speaker 2: will know he's giving me advice on many occasions. And
Speaker 2: in case you didn't notice, I'm not broke. You know
Speaker 2: he'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry.
Speaker 1: Decision make because it's what he likes to do. It's
Speaker 1: what he likes to share.
Speaker 2: Now it's time to hear from my man, Rashaan McDonald
Speaker 2: money Making Conversations.
Speaker 1: Here we go. This is Rashan McDonald had to grab
Speaker 1: the mic because I was in there dancing because you know,
Speaker 1: we're about to talk about some great music. I know,
Speaker 1: I know, I know, but I'm about to mention some
Speaker 1: song gonna bring back some memories today because next month
Speaker 1: is that's June is a Black music month, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk to music. But let me let me get
Speaker 1: the intro started and so I can just lay everything correctly.
Speaker 1: Welcome to money Making Conversation master Class. As you know,
Speaker 1: I'm your whole Rashaan McDonald. Our theme is that there
Speaker 1: is no perfect time to start following your dreams. I
Speaker 1: recognize that we all have different definitions of success. For you,
Speaker 1: it may be the size of your paycheck. Mine is
Speaker 1: inspiring you. That's right, you who are listening, You who
Speaker 1: are driving, you, who are streaming this show nationwide? To
Speaker 1: accomplish your goals and live your very best life, It's
Speaker 1: time to start reading other people's success stories and start
Speaker 1: living your own. The reality is is that when I
Speaker 1: do this show and I look at myself, cause I
Speaker 1: get up every morning at four thirty Monday through Friday.
Speaker 1: I get up and I tell people when I get up,
Speaker 1: I'm not a happy It's not about a happy get
Speaker 1: up at four thirty in the morning. But to achieve
Speaker 1: my dream, to achieve my goals, I have to get up.
Speaker 1: I can't hit this snooze button. I can't think about
Speaker 1: what if somebody else did what I needed them to
Speaker 1: do so I can be successful. In the end, your
Speaker 1: dream is your dream. To achieve your dream, to make
Speaker 1: your dream happen, you have to make it happen. And
Speaker 1: I always tell people this. Everybody has a gift, not gifts.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about that gift. Let's hone in and that
Speaker 1: one town, that one skill, that God has given you.
Speaker 1: Lead with that gift, and don't let your friend's family
Speaker 1: or coworker stop you from planning or living your dreams.
Speaker 1: I will tell people this, between the ages of eighteen
Speaker 1: and twenty four, you are invincible, You're immortal, You're a dreamer.
Speaker 1: Can't nobody tell you nothing. When you get forty, fifty, sixty, seventy,
Speaker 1: get that same attitude back that can't nobody stop you,
Speaker 1: that you're invincible, that you're gonna live forever. Because even
Speaker 1: at eighteen, there was no guarantee that you would live forever.
Speaker 1: So why should you not have the same mentality when
Speaker 1: you're forty, when you're fifty and sixty, that you're going
Speaker 1: to live forever. Because your dreams, your legacy you create,
Speaker 1: can make you a legend, can make you a memory,
Speaker 1: can make you a person that has changed other people's life.
Speaker 1: I remember when I was diagnosed for cancer, and when
Speaker 1: you get diagnosed for cancer, the thing about it is
Speaker 1: that your light flashes before your eyes, and all I
Speaker 1: could think about was my future. But I settled down,
Speaker 1: I realized what I had done in my life. At
Speaker 1: that point, I was really comfortable if cancer was going
Speaker 1: to bring an end to my life. Unfortunately for me,
Speaker 1: it has not. So you have to live each day
Speaker 1: with a goal, with a desire to understand that when
Speaker 1: you wake up, have a sense of purpose when you
Speaker 1: wake up, have a goal. When you have that goal,
Speaker 1: achieve the plan that you are trying to achieve out
Speaker 1: of that and don't let nobody stop you from achieving.
Speaker 1: I guess she's that person. One of my favorite people
Speaker 1: I interview on my shows. You know sometimes on NPR
Speaker 1: you can't like promote or say you like something, but
Speaker 1: I gotta say I like her. She's one of my
Speaker 1: favorite people. My guess it's Deana Williams. She's the broadcaster, celebrity, strategist, curator,
Speaker 1: live event producer, celebrating fifty years in the music, broadcasting
Speaker 1: and entertainment industry. Professional. That's what she is. She's the
Speaker 1: person that's been there. Because it's really interesting and we're
Speaker 1: going to talk about this. We talk about longevity because
Speaker 1: when you're successful, you really doesn't think about longevity. To
Speaker 1: you get to that longevity part and then somehow you
Speaker 1: get nervous because you look it back, look back on
Speaker 1: what you've achieved, and you wonder if you can continue
Speaker 1: to achieve that some of the archives are really now
Speaker 1: in the library of Congress co founder. Check this out,
Speaker 1: Black Music One. It's on the National Museum of African
Speaker 1: American Music and Nashville Board. A regular TV wants Unsung
Speaker 1: and is referred to as the mother of Black Music One.
Speaker 1: She's established and she's going to get a big proclamation
Speaker 1: in the city of Philadelphia. Please welcome the one and
Speaker 1: only the Money Making Conversation Masterclass, Deanna Williams.
Speaker 3: How are you doing, Diana, ooh blushing, I'm another collar.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness for san Now you know I love,
Speaker 3: love any opportunity to interact with you for a myriad
Speaker 3: of reasons. One, you are so inspiring. You are when
Speaker 3: we talk about success, you are helping. You're giving the
Speaker 3: blueprint to listeners, to viewers of success because you are
Speaker 3: bringing on the air people who are grustlers, grinding and hustling,
Speaker 3: and you are a master grustler. So I'm honored to
Speaker 3: be with you today. I'm wc Okay, all right now,
Speaker 3: my daughter went to she went she attended school there,
Speaker 3: and shout out to David Lynton and.
Speaker 1: The oh David Lynton, he's sitting in here.
Speaker 4: Okay, he's sitting in the room.
Speaker 5: And I didn't know that that's my boy.
Speaker 1: You know, he got me on over here boy too,
Speaker 1: because you know, everybody has a dream, and I was
Speaker 1: talking about that earlier. But when you say, like, I
Speaker 1: remember when I when out, I left IBM, and I
Speaker 1: wanted to pursue a career as a standing comedian. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to do it. You know, I was just
Speaker 1: I was twenty six years old at the tem cauld't
Speaker 1: nobody tell me nothing, because I felt that I had
Speaker 1: to do it. And a lot of people said, don't
Speaker 1: do it. You're leaving a great job like IBM. And
Speaker 1: then thirty came, and then forty came. And I really
Speaker 1: tell you this to be honest, that it wasn't into
Speaker 1: my forties did I really realized that I had a gift,
Speaker 1: that I had the ability to do things that everybody
Speaker 1: else wanted to do. And people were starting to come
Speaker 1: to me for advice and starting to understand that I
Speaker 1: had a different way I looked at things when it
Speaker 1: came to marketing and branding. When I did this show,
Speaker 1: bringing people like you on the show. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: that journey in the early years when you were just
Speaker 1: a voice, but you were an incredible voice. And when
Speaker 1: did you realize that you were seeing things and giving
Speaker 1: advice to people that was a little bit different than
Speaker 1: they were getting anyplace else.
Speaker 3: Well, salute to you again for helping craft the careers
Speaker 3: of many super successful individuals. I wish i'd met you
Speaker 3: younger in life difference. But the person who inspired me
Speaker 3: there were two people other than my parents, my mother
Speaker 3: Nancy Newman and my father George Williams. And other than
Speaker 3: my parents and my grandparents, my family, my foundation, it
Speaker 3: was my ex Kenny Gamble and my best friend Kathy Hughes,
Speaker 3: who was the founder of everything with the one in It,
Speaker 3: Urban one TV, the Dollar one, everything. And so those
Speaker 3: are the individuals that helped shape me. But a good
Speaker 3: friend of mine, Hubert Law said to me when I
Speaker 3: was in college. He says, you have a great voice.
Speaker 3: You should do radio. So he was one of my
Speaker 3: you know, he was one of my early advocates. So
Speaker 3: I would give credit to those individuals. And a gentleman
Speaker 3: by the name of Van j And lastly, the person
Speaker 3: who gave me my first job with health benefits, his
Speaker 3: name Bob Nighthawk Terry, and he saw the movie Talk
Speaker 3: to Me.
Speaker 4: He was in the movie with P. D.
Speaker 6: Green.
Speaker 3: Nighthauw Terry was the gentleman who came in with the dogs.
Speaker 3: That was my former boss who gave me my first
Speaker 3: job in radio.
Speaker 1: Well know, not today. You know you got to have
Speaker 1: that boys back in the day. You have to talk
Speaker 1: certain way, got to have a voice. And as about personality,
Speaker 1: you really get really don't have to talk like you talk?
Speaker 1: Are the way everybody to have the articulate every word
Speaker 1: came I clear, But now everybody throw out the word authentic,
Speaker 1: you know, organic, relatable. How is that? How have you
Speaker 1: seen that? Has that changed the business?
Speaker 3: You know? Back I come from the era of radio personalities,
Speaker 3: where people who are very vibrant personalities like Frankie Crocker, Yes,
Speaker 3: By Higginson, who is the woman who inspired me, who
Speaker 3: was also on the air at WBLS in New York
Speaker 3: on one O seven point five. Uh. You know it
Speaker 3: kind of got wortered down at a certain point. But
Speaker 3: I think radio personalities we come for that tradition. You know,
Speaker 3: the great Jocko Henderson and Georgie Woods, the guy with
Speaker 3: the goods. These are legendary broadcasts.
Speaker 4: Mary Mason Louise Williams Bishop.
Speaker 3: That's that's what I come from. And while I am
Speaker 3: currently celebrating my fiftieth anniversary, I've seen all kind of
Speaker 3: changes in radio broadcasting. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 3: it's personalities. People want to hear a voice that they trust,
Speaker 3: they can rely upon, that they can set their watch.
Speaker 3: Oh wait, we don't set our watches anymore, but you
Speaker 3: know what I mean. They want they want that familiarity,
Speaker 3: they want somebody who feels like family. And that's the
Speaker 3: style of radio that I've always engaged. And even though
Speaker 3: now I'm doing talk radio, I've done music radio my
Speaker 3: entire career. But I'm a guest commentator on w u
Speaker 3: r D, which is progressive black talk radio in Philadelphia,
Speaker 3: So I get to do what you do.
Speaker 1: What you do, well, we know the beauty of you know,
Speaker 1: because you threw out a name. You know, you throw
Speaker 1: out a name just in my ex nite.
Speaker 3: Which one, oh my EXX you know, Piker Rock of
Speaker 3: my family and my very very dear friend Kenny Gamble,
Speaker 3: who is one of the architects of the found of
Speaker 3: Philadelphia with his partners.
Speaker 1: Don't go past that too fast, now, you know, South
Speaker 1: of Philadelphia. Come that music. We gotta talk about that
Speaker 1: music loop, Okay, because you see a lot of people
Speaker 1: don't know all they is the artists all if they
Speaker 1: hear the singer, they don't know who the master behind,
Speaker 1: mastermind behind, I miss you.
Speaker 3: You know Kenny Gamble, Leon Hoff, the great Drummer, Young Love,
Speaker 3: the Ojs, Kenny Gamble again.
Speaker 4: And Leon Hull ain't no stopping us now.
Speaker 3: Big Fadin and Whitehead, Gin and John great producers and songwriters.
Speaker 1: That's just a few, y'all. Because of the fact that
Speaker 1: you know, the soul trained thing.
Speaker 3: The soul Trained theme with Don Cornelius was done by
Speaker 3: Gambling Huff and it featured the three degrees and mss
Speaker 3: turn off the lights, my my borrow a cup of sugar,
Speaker 3: neighbor and my best friend until he made his transition.
Speaker 3: Theodore pender Grass, Teddy Pendergrass Girl.
Speaker 1: That was my song back in the day, boy, turn
Speaker 1: off get me excited because now going back to my
Speaker 1: younger days, when you know when when when a slow
Speaker 1: song meant something back in the club.
Speaker 4: Dates, Yeah, you know, you look across the you.
Speaker 1: Look across the floor and made eye contact. That's all
Speaker 1: you needed. If she looked your way, you looked that way,
Speaker 1: and you just did the head now, the head up
Speaker 1: or the head to the right of the head up,
Speaker 1: and she went cool. Then y'all made our way to
Speaker 1: the floor and.
Speaker 3: Exactly exactly, and you know what, Sad Jones, mel Lewis,
Speaker 3: Gambling Huff died two albums. I believe with them, the
Speaker 3: great Dexter Wanzelle, who was coming from a jazz tradition
Speaker 3: as well. So incredible musicians. They called from the Philadelphia
Speaker 3: Orchestra string layers and then they had the fiercest rhythm section.
Speaker 4: I love the music of the sound.
Speaker 3: Of Philadelphia, Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: International, you know the music, but it had a message
Speaker 1: in it too a lot of times, you know, like
Speaker 1: wake up everybody, they're sleeping in.
Speaker 3: Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes again with Teddy Pendergrass.
Speaker 1: Family Reunion for the Old James, the reunion.
Speaker 3: I got to have. And you know what, how about
Speaker 3: I always loved my mama. Dambling huffros that one as well, and.
Speaker 4: I always loved my mama come on, my favorite girl.
Speaker 1: Well, you know the thing the thing about it is
Speaker 1: that are we are now this generational Okay? You know
Speaker 1: you had pop but then you had rock and then
Speaker 1: you had the mothership landed. You know, it landed. You
Speaker 1: know it landed. When I was playing basketball in the
Speaker 1: early seventies, when the when the when the pea fonk came,
Speaker 1: make mother funk the phone come on now. But nobody
Speaker 1: was stopping them boys in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: No, not at all.
Speaker 3: And they were inspired. I thought, I heard you say,
Speaker 3: Barry Gordy. Barry Gordy and Motowns and Detroit set the
Speaker 3: standard for Gamble and Huff. They actually flew out. Gamble's
Speaker 3: first airplane ride was to Detroit to visit Motown, where
Speaker 3: they were interested in speaking to them to be songwriters
Speaker 3: producers at Motown. And when Gamble and Huff saw what
Speaker 3: Barry Gordy had done. And if you've ever been to
Speaker 3: the studio, which I'm sure you have, absolutely in a house,
Speaker 3: it's small, no way, all that great, big music from
Speaker 3: all those artists Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves and the Bandelas,
Speaker 3: Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Temptations, you're.
Speaker 1: Right there, you know, because sometimes we be in the mix,
Speaker 1: and so you know, it's like it's like you just
Speaker 1: be rolling through it and you don't realize you understand
Speaker 1: what's happening, but you don't really appreciate it because it's
Speaker 1: just happening. And you enjoyed a moment because greatness was
Speaker 1: all around you from those sounds and artists. And what
Speaker 1: was your head at at that moment?
Speaker 3: Yeah, very great question. I often reflect back to it.
Speaker 3: I knew that great things were happening. I was very
Speaker 3: cognizant of the fact that I was around tremendously talented people,
Speaker 3: not just my man, but the people that he signed
Speaker 3: to the roster. Junie carn is godmother to our children,
Speaker 3: Gamble and I had three children, So I was I
Speaker 3: was aware, and I was on the radio. So I
Speaker 3: was on the air.
Speaker 4: The first at WBLS.
Speaker 3: Then I went into television for a minute. Then I
Speaker 3: came back to Philly and I was on w d
Speaker 3: a S one oh five point three when it is
Speaker 3: a monster heritage station absolutely in Philadelphia, and that's the
Speaker 3: station where you know great like for instance, there's a
Speaker 3: woman named Patty Jackson. She has been on the air.
Speaker 1: Full lea because I gotta go to break you know
Speaker 1: the rules and radio.
Speaker 3: Yes, if I do, I got to go.
Speaker 1: I'm coming right back. Now, we're gonna talk about your
Speaker 1: proclamation in Philadelphia. Come back, We're going to talk about
Speaker 1: black music, money, We're going to talk about the museum
Speaker 1: in Nashville, all these things. My friend has had a
Speaker 1: major book. See that's where you bring friends on because
Speaker 1: you got to remind them of the blessings they've given us.
Speaker 1: Be right back with more money making conversations, Deanna Williams.
Speaker 7: We'll be right back with more money making conversations. Masterclass
Speaker 7: with Rushan McDonald.
Speaker 8: You are now tuned into the money making Conversations. Minute
Speaker 8: of Inspiration with Rashaan McDonald.
Speaker 1: Comedian Kim Coles is known for her famous role as
Speaker 1: a cast member on the hit TV series Living Single.
Speaker 1: Now Kim has been sharing her gifts of public speaking,
Speaker 1: motivation and training leaders in community groups, companies, and women conferences.
Speaker 9: And what it really is about is creating a community
Speaker 9: of like minded individuals in which my business partner and
Speaker 9: I coached them through building their business. We did a
Speaker 9: masterclass on self care. It really means rest setting boundaries.
Speaker 9: It means saying nowhere, saying yes, deplete you further. It
Speaker 9: means filling your cup so that you can serve fathers.
Speaker 9: My ladies are more busy now than they were before
Speaker 9: the pandemic hit because they realized, all I've got a vision,
Speaker 9: I've got to keep going, and I'm building an empire
Speaker 9: that will last longer than me. This is about building legacy.
Speaker 1: If you want to hear this full interview with Kim Cole,
Speaker 1: visit Moneymaking Conversations dot com. Keep winning.
Speaker 7: Now, let's return to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashaun McDonald.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm talking to Deanna Williams. She's been proclaimed oftentime
Speaker 1: as the mother of Black music monk. But before if
Speaker 1: you've watched TV ones on song, you've seen her. You
Speaker 1: have seen Dianna Williams. You already heard all this music.
Speaker 1: So when you try to go back and get one
Speaker 1: of those those greats, they gonna roll her in. Go queen,
Speaker 1: start talking. Give give us the truth, because you know
Speaker 1: the truth because you saw it all you saw. Not
Speaker 1: only you saw it, you played it, You participated. You
Speaker 1: at the concerts, used at the events where the music
Speaker 1: was revolutionizing the sound. But it was all coming off
Speaker 1: the East coast, and then you had Detroit, then you
Speaker 1: had the West coast. Those sounds and that music, and
Speaker 1: I be remiss because I want you to go back
Speaker 1: and talk about my girl, Patty Jackson, because I cannot.
Speaker 1: She's done so much for my career. She's done so
Speaker 1: much as you've done for my career being able to
Speaker 1: give me a voice and given the talents that I've
Speaker 1: worked with a voice. Because people don't understand black radio
Speaker 1: is a little bit different in our community because black
Speaker 1: radio tells us how to vote. Black radio tell us
Speaker 1: where to go, tell us about the weather, tell us
Speaker 1: how to get up in the morning, tell us when
Speaker 1: to go to bed, tell us makes us feel good
Speaker 1: about ourselves. It makes us party about our says, remind
Speaker 1: us of respect. Black radio is powerful and it should
Speaker 1: never go away because of the fact it's an emotional
Speaker 1: tool to our future.
Speaker 3: Do you agree exactly?
Speaker 4: I completely totally agree.
Speaker 3: Black radio is the clarion voices of our community and
Speaker 3: it has been and will continue to be as long
Speaker 3: as humanity exists. And prior to the break, what I
Speaker 3: was saying about Patti Jackson is that she has been
Speaker 3: on the air in the same time slot for thirty years.
Speaker 3: Unheard of white, purple, Polka Dot orange. She is a
Speaker 3: voice in the community and as you reference my career
Speaker 3: celebrating fifty years. Patti Jackson and I are part of
Speaker 3: a group called the Inaugural thirty thirty Black women broadcasters
Speaker 3: from all over the country. Our archives last Friday were
Speaker 3: installed into the Library of Congress. We started the morning
Speaker 3: out at the White House with Steve Benjamin and the
Speaker 3: new Press Secretary Well she's a year in her position,
Speaker 3: Carine Jean Pierre, and Erica who's in charge of African
Speaker 3: American media, Erica Lowe. It was incredible, but shout out
Speaker 3: to all those women for their illustrious careers and being
Speaker 3: voices on the regular in our community. As you said, Rashaan,
Speaker 3: where do you go vote?
Speaker 4: Who's coming to town?
Speaker 3: What place did you be? What you know? It's voting,
Speaker 3: it's time to register, Where to go, where to get help?
Speaker 3: Where to get social services? Where who's hiring? Job theres
Speaker 3: That's what we do. We do more than just play
Speaker 3: feel good music. We are the voices in our community
Speaker 3: to alert, to inspire, to inform.
Speaker 1: You know, it's really interesting. Like I'm from Houston, Texas,
Speaker 1: I can remember or stationed down there called Magic one
Speaker 1: oh two. I can tell you right now today the
Speaker 1: very first song that that station played in nineteen seventy
Speaker 1: seven when it came up with Johnny get talk on
Speaker 1: Johnny Guitar Watson song ah Wait one. Do you remember
Speaker 1: real Mother for you?
Speaker 3: Oh? Yes?
Speaker 1: And you know. And so that's how powerful music is
Speaker 1: because it can lock you into an emotion. It can
Speaker 1: also inspire you to be great. Now when you talk
Speaker 1: about black music, when I cannot get off this air
Speaker 1: is talk. Let people hear the story of how that
Speaker 1: came about, how you very instrumental alone with mister Gamble
Speaker 1: and coming about tell us about how black music mark
Speaker 1: came about. And now it is recognized every June.
Speaker 3: Well credit goes to Kenny Gamble. Again, we were a
Speaker 3: couple at the time, so obviously as a couple we
Speaker 3: worked together on everything, including the children. But Gamble went
Speaker 3: to Nashville and he saw what the Country Music Association
Speaker 3: was doing with their unity, carving out a region calling
Speaker 3: it Music City, being very smart about the economics of
Speaker 3: the creativity, and he said, we need to do that
Speaker 3: in the black music industry. And so he came back
Speaker 3: under the offices of another organization that he established called
Speaker 3: the Black Music Association. June Black Music Month was born
Speaker 3: and Clarence Avons, who's known too many in the industry
Speaker 3: and outside as the Godfather, called the White House as
Speaker 3: President Carter's administration to host an event at the White
Speaker 3: House for the Black music industry.
Speaker 4: And it was a little bit of everybody.
Speaker 3: Billy Eckstein was there, Chuck Barry, Evelyn Champagne, King, MFSB, Dexter, Wanzell,
Speaker 3: Andre Crouch, They all performed and in the audience was
Speaker 3: Barry White, Gloug Robert Gordie, just Frankie Crocker, myself, Dabele
Speaker 3: and I. You know, it was my first time going
Speaker 3: to the White House. So June seventh, nineteen seventy nine,
Speaker 3: Jimmy Carter declared June Black Music Month, and that was
Speaker 3: forty four years ago and we've been celebrating ever since.
Speaker 3: Myself as well as DJ ed Wright worked with Gamble
Speaker 3: for the further establishment of June Black Music Month. And
Speaker 3: in two thousand, I went to President Clinton, I went
Speaker 3: to Congress, I got legislation passed a bill called the
Speaker 3: Black Music Month Bill, acknowledging the multi billion dollar industry
Speaker 3: that black music is all genres. With Sean, you know, absolutely,
Speaker 3: it's not just it's all genres. But the number one
Speaker 3: genre in the world right now is hip hop music.
Speaker 3: As we celebrate fifty years of hip hop. So that
Speaker 3: was the origin gamble Ed Wright and myself carving out
Speaker 3: a month for us to highlight. That doesn't mean that
Speaker 3: July first, we don't celebrate black music. It's the three
Speaker 3: six five celebration. But June is a concentrated period of
Speaker 3: time for us to elevate and celebrate.
Speaker 1: Now, now this is amazing when I hear all this conversation,
Speaker 1: because you know, you can say, you know, hip hop
Speaker 1: is the number one stream music, but guess what. Guess
Speaker 1: what he's sampling from?
Speaker 3: Often from R and B and jazz, no question about that.
Speaker 3: And tribe call quest with a Q tip. They definitely
Speaker 3: borrowed liberally sampling from jazz and R and D.
Speaker 1: Absolutely Now the nash New Museum of African African American
Speaker 1: Music in Nashville, Now what is that museum in Nashville.
Speaker 3: The museum is in Nashville because it became a partnership
Speaker 3: between the public and private sector and they raised, we raised,
Speaker 3: I'm on the board, hundreds millions of dollars necessary to
Speaker 3: build the museum. So people overlook and I didn't know
Speaker 3: this either, Rashaan, that Nashville a rich tradition in gospel
Speaker 3: as well as jazz. Jimmy Hendricks was there in the
Speaker 3: late sixties. Jimmy Hendricks was living in Nashville, so and
Speaker 3: country music. I know some people want to dispute this,
Speaker 3: but the reality it came from black people. White people
Speaker 3: developed their own style of country music. The country music
Speaker 3: and black folks and the blues and gospels always in Nashville.
Speaker 3: And the biggest ambassadors around the world in the eighteen
Speaker 3: hundreds were the Jubilee singers, and people overlook that as well.
Speaker 1: Well, you know that a lot of people forget all that.
Speaker 1: You know, the Tennessee, Alabama, you know if you look
Speaker 1: at you know, the whole when you look at the
Speaker 1: Aretha Franklin, her story when she was going down to Alabama,
Speaker 1: you know, muscle shows, that's what she was going down
Speaker 1: that she was going all the way down there to
Speaker 1: get the best musicians.
Speaker 3: And absolutely a local musicians.
Speaker 4: And hey, all those early Aretha Franklin.
Speaker 3: Songs that we love, we're backed by a lot of
Speaker 3: white boys and black people too. Bernard Party was was
Speaker 3: a great.
Speaker 1: I wonder why she's on on the song all the time.
Speaker 1: It's like, I just actually like to just shut up
Speaker 1: and just let her talk because you're so elegant, first
Speaker 1: of elegant in your tone and also the information you
Speaker 1: just throw out. You know, it's like, you know, like
Speaker 1: I said, you know, it's never too late to manage somebody.
Speaker 1: So you know we'll talk later. Off there, you know, right,
Speaker 1: I met you earlier.
Speaker 3: Now, oh well, sure, sure we're connected forever. So Nashville
Speaker 3: is the home of the National Museum of African American Music,
Speaker 3: located on Fifth and Broadway in the heart of downtown Nashville.
Speaker 3: One side is the original grandelopri the other side is
Speaker 3: the Bridgestone Arena. So we are like in the heart
Speaker 3: of downtown and we cover all genres and sub genres
Speaker 3: of Black music from field Hollows straight through to hip
Speaker 3: hop right now. So you got to you gotta come
Speaker 3: see the museum. And I encourage everyone to go to
Speaker 3: n m a a m dot org. That's name a'am
Speaker 3: and that's the acronym of the museum, so.
Speaker 4: You can peruse it.
Speaker 3: You can see our galleries. We have seven galleries, fifty
Speaker 3: six thousand square foot facility, a Contemporary her Story and
Speaker 3: History Museum of Music.
Speaker 1: Now you've got a proclamation coming up in Black Music
Speaker 1: mont Wise in Black Music Month. I wonder why this
Speaker 1: happened in Philadelphia, but tell us about it, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I will tell you this. I was honored
Speaker 1: recently at the Black Media Awards and went over there,
Speaker 1: and you know, you don't get old when people recognize you.
Speaker 1: It doesn't get old in the fact that you have congratulations,
Speaker 1: thank you know, congratulations on you. Because of the fact.
Speaker 1: I'm just reminding everybody that you know, when people knock
Speaker 1: on your door, they call you or remind you of
Speaker 1: what you're doing now or what you've accomplished, it's truly
Speaker 1: a blessing. And and for you to be honored in
Speaker 1: Philadelphia in Black Music Month, tell us about it and
Speaker 1: tell us, Uh, your expectations are they gonna let you
Speaker 1: talk or you gonna take their wards? You're gonna walk around,
Speaker 1: take some photos? What's going on?
Speaker 4: Oh that's beautiful.
Speaker 3: We're gambling. I as two of the founders that live
Speaker 3: still in Philadelphia, are being recognized by Philadelphia City Council
Speaker 3: on June eighth, and we are receiving proclamation for our
Speaker 3: work as the co founders of June Black Music Month
Speaker 3: and still living. We're champions of music and Philly. I'm
Speaker 3: on the board of the Recording Academy, which is the
Speaker 3: Grammy organization. Gamble is still very active in perpetuating culture
Speaker 3: amongst black folks and others in the city of Philadelphia.
Speaker 3: So we are very excited, and our children very excited.
Speaker 3: Their parents recognized.
Speaker 1: You know, they just thought they just need to have
Speaker 1: a party out there. You know, missus Me and Missus
Speaker 1: Jones be jamming, love trained. The sound of Philadelphia. It
Speaker 1: just be you know, the ship, a harship of horseship
Speaker 1: of come on, n they can, just they can. It's
Speaker 1: really amazing. The genius you have put the word genius
Speaker 1: because there's something that that that I can't comprehend. My
Speaker 1: degree is in math, so I know understand logic, I
Speaker 1: understand numbers. I understand two plus two its four. But
Speaker 1: the creativity, the process of being able to manipulate sound
Speaker 1: and put together words and make those words just resonate
Speaker 1: not only years but decades later. And the fact that
Speaker 1: you were part of that is still a part of that.
Speaker 1: Being able to tell this story on my show today,
Speaker 1: I just want to thank you. I want to thank
Speaker 1: you for taking the time to come on masterclass.
Speaker 3: Oh, thank you Rashaan for everything. Like I said, what
Speaker 3: you do, you are a master.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. But again, let me just tell you
Speaker 1: this now. You know, I'm just letting everybody know the
Speaker 1: world know. She said, I wish I'd have met you earlier,
Speaker 1: because you know, this about the This is about the
Speaker 1: fourth time I've interviewed you, Diana. Okay, And every time
Speaker 1: we always say we're gonna get together. Remember the first
Speaker 1: time we supposed to, we were working on some TV
Speaker 1: show where we're gonna go, Yeah, we're gonna be like
Speaker 1: the masters, sitting over here and you know, talk to
Speaker 1: young people trying to make careers out of that went
Speaker 1: no where because guess what, we didn't talk no more.
Speaker 3: Okay, it's not too late.
Speaker 4: It's never too late.
Speaker 3: That's an advocate of it. It's never too late to
Speaker 3: actualize your dreams.
Speaker 1: She threw out a word that I knew nothing. I've
Speaker 1: never heard, actual lives. Because you know why, I would
Speaker 1: never say that word, because I will fumble through it.
Speaker 4: Actual I know you wouldn't know, you wouldn't.
Speaker 1: I love you incredible congratulations and you know, uh, this
Speaker 1: is live this live radio. I wanted people hear radio.
Speaker 1: It's gonna get syndicated nationally through all my HBCU campuses
Speaker 1: that carry my show and podcasts. But more importantly, you
Speaker 1: are a You are an incredible person. Thank you for
Speaker 1: coming on, Money Making Conversation master class, the.
Speaker 3: One Queen, Thank you, the.
Speaker 1: Mother of Black music.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: If we celebrate every June.
Speaker 3: And celebrate y'all read to your children, scream or by
Speaker 3: the music of your favorite artists, go see live shows.
Speaker 4: You know, there's so.
Speaker 3: Many different ways you can and guess what consumers are
Speaker 3: part of the celebration. It's not just for the artists
Speaker 3: or the songwriters or the producers. It's the executives. It's you,
Speaker 3: it's David Lynton, it's the listeners of double it's everybody
Speaker 3: who consumes black music. So happy Early Black Music Month
Speaker 3: to all, and.
Speaker 1: We talked soon. I appreciate you, Thank you, Bye bye.
Speaker 1: He is coming up next, Sergeant Major Keith L. Craig,
Speaker 1: the super connected Hollywood whisperer. I'm gonna tell you something.
Speaker 1: The word connected, the word relationship is why Hollywood works.
Speaker 1: If you don't have the relationship. You don't know anybody.
Speaker 1: Talent is there. Talent is important, but you gotta be
Speaker 1: connected where I'm talking to next in my next break
Speaker 1: a connector a connector, don't go nowhere. One Making Conversation
Speaker 1: Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. Be right back with Sergeant Made There,
Speaker 1: Major Keith L. Craig.
Speaker 7: We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversations Masterclass
Speaker 7: with Rushawn McDonald.
Speaker 5: HBCUs represent Black Excellence. If you attend or are an
Speaker 5: alumnus of an HBCU, we want to hear about your story.
Speaker 5: The MYHBCU Story Digital Library will allow current HBCU students
Speaker 5: and alumni to share their stories.
Speaker 1: Registration is open to everyone.
Speaker 5: More information is available at HBCU college day dot com.
Speaker 5: Click my HBCU Story. Next, you can upload a photo.
Speaker 5: The photo can be recent or from when you attended
Speaker 5: your HBCU. Then share your academic or social experience at
Speaker 5: your HBCU, which can be your favorite class, hangout, joint,
Speaker 5: homecoming game, student center, honor, off campus party, greek show,
Speaker 5: and how attending an HBCU changed your life. We also
Speaker 5: want to hear stories if you pleasure a fraternity or
Speaker 5: sorority The goal is to use your my HBCU story
Speaker 5: to promote and uplift the HBCU brand. Your HBCU prepared
Speaker 5: you for success, and now we want everyone to read
Speaker 5: about your black excellence. Our information is available at HBCU
Speaker 5: College day dot com. You can click my HBCU story
Speaker 5: to share your story.
Speaker 7: Now let's return to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashaan McDonald.
Speaker 1: Hi, this is Rashan McDonald. Welcome back to Money Making
Speaker 1: Conversation master Class. I'm a dreamer, y'all. All right, Maybe
Speaker 1: you don't know that about me, but I come from
Speaker 1: the neighborhood. I come from an inner city, six sisters,
Speaker 1: two brothers, And the interesting thing about me was that
Speaker 1: I watched television, and television showed me a world that
Speaker 1: I wasn't living in. It showed me the possibilities. And
Speaker 1: I used to always watch Jaques Cousteau was my man.
Speaker 1: When I was growing up. I was so Joques Gusteau.
Speaker 1: And when I went to college, guess what. I worked
Speaker 1: offshore because I wanted that. I wanted that experience. I
Speaker 1: wanted to be in the ocean. I were working eighty
Speaker 1: miles out in the golf on a on an all rig.
Speaker 1: They will fly me out there on the health helicopter
Speaker 1: and I stay out there for two weeks. And so
Speaker 1: I tell people, you know, if you don't dream it,
Speaker 1: you don't think about it, you don't make it a possibility,
Speaker 1: then it cannot happen. Well, my next guest is a
Speaker 1: person who that's what he does. He makes the impossible possible.
Speaker 1: Sergeant Major Keith L. Craig, the super connected Hollywood whisperers,
Speaker 1: a go to for independent filmmakers, producers, directors, development deals,
Speaker 1: finance options, distribution and budgets. I don't want to lose
Speaker 1: anybody on this because because of the fact that if
Speaker 1: he doesn't do what he do, then you don't watch
Speaker 1: what you see on television. You need him. This year,
Speaker 1: they have fifty new titles to be released across digital
Speaker 1: platforms including Amazon, Google Play, Apple, Roku and then select
Speaker 1: theaters in less than thirty days. Because he in partnership
Speaker 1: poor to Craig clients, film will go global. Please welcome
Speaker 1: to the money making Conversation mathterclass the one and only
Speaker 1: Sergeant Major Keith L. Craig. How are you doing, sirt?
Speaker 4: How are you doing? Thank you for the introduction, glad
Speaker 4: to be here.
Speaker 1: Well, guess what, Sergeant Major. Let's let's start right there.
Speaker 1: First of all, thank you for the service. Let's get
Speaker 1: a history there, because you let me know there's a
Speaker 1: military in you. How did it all get started?
Speaker 4: A long time ago, age seventeen, I went into the military.
Speaker 1: So it was a really long time ago, sir. Was
Speaker 1: lasted last week, can be last week? It was.
Speaker 4: It was a long time ago, you see in a
Speaker 4: storyteller already.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely do you think? Do you think, sir?
Speaker 4: But yes, a long long time ago, at age seventeen,
Speaker 4: my mom actually actually had to sign me into the military.
Speaker 4: I heard you earlier say that, you know, you're from
Speaker 4: a community that was it wasn't it wasn't supportive as
Speaker 4: far as launching you into you know, your tomorrow. So
Speaker 4: with me, you know, my mom and I was once homeless,
Speaker 4: you know. So you know it's from there that I
Speaker 4: actually you got my wheel to succeed, right, So my
Speaker 4: you know, I had some people in my past once
Speaker 4: told me that I wasn't going to amount too much
Speaker 4: because I didn't necessarily like to do what you know,
Speaker 4: we were doing down there. As far as shark sharecropper
Speaker 4: was concerned. But uh, fast forward, I went to the
Speaker 4: military and and just had some great assignments and and there,
Speaker 4: you know, I learned the I learned discipline. I know,
Speaker 4: you know, the power of you know, having morals and
Speaker 4: values and integrity and honors, being honest and selfless service
Speaker 4: to others, and and that pretty much led me to
Speaker 4: to have some great assignments. And actually was deployed six times,
Speaker 4: spent over two years in in Iraq. In one of
Speaker 4: those years, I was part of intelligence brigade that actually
Speaker 4: gathered the intelligence that led to the captives of dam
Speaker 4: Hussein was at the time arch Emmy number one. Fast
Speaker 4: forward twenty ten, I actually uh took three thousand men
Speaker 4: and women over to Haiti for poor the Prince to
Speaker 4: help to sustain the city that were you know, over
Speaker 4: there because of the earthquake. Twenty eleven, twenty twelve, I
Speaker 4: was part of the logistical unit in Afghanistan in between
Speaker 4: Kabul and Kandahar. Will actually supported see a team six
Speaker 4: as we crossed the burn into to take out a
Speaker 4: summer bin laden. So as you can see, I've been
Speaker 4: around and with the places I've been and the people
Speaker 4: I've met, throughout the years, I was able to excel
Speaker 4: in the military and make it all the way to
Speaker 4: the top one percent, which is a sergeant major. And
Speaker 4: for those those you listeners who don't know what the
Speaker 4: sergeant major is, because Hollywood has done an awesome job
Speaker 4: of teaching people what you know, a colonel is or
Speaker 4: a general is or at role is right, but they
Speaker 4: don't know this that every one of those rushan has
Speaker 4: a sergeant major as a senior advisor. They don't make
Speaker 4: a move unless they, you know, unless they you know,
Speaker 4: have dialogue with the sergeant major. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: So yes, and that's kind of how that was my
Speaker 4: army career.
Speaker 1: So let's go down on that career because I think
Speaker 1: it's important as one of the things that you know,
Speaker 1: this big giant press releeve. People always saying how you
Speaker 1: guests on your show for show, But sometimes I get
Speaker 1: these press release that come out and I go, wow,
Speaker 1: I need to talk to him because of the fact that,
Speaker 1: you know, we talk about options in our community, we
Speaker 1: talk about the negativity of you know, sometimes I'm gonna
Speaker 1: tell you some sergeant made I look at television and
Speaker 1: I see, you know, violence and I'm just praying it
Speaker 1: they're not going to put a black person's face on
Speaker 1: the screen, because it appears far too often than I
Speaker 1: want to say it should. And so I remember once
Speaker 1: when I was really an advocating military service. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of people in the black community, like you know,
Speaker 1: trying to were resisting the values that I was trying
Speaker 1: to say that a young person who doesn't may not
Speaker 1: have the options to go to college should at least
Speaker 1: look at it, don't just announce it. Tell us about
Speaker 1: the values, because I don't want to go past that,
Speaker 1: because because it still holds a lot of tremendous values
Speaker 1: right now, and quite frankly, the military community is struggling
Speaker 1: to enlist people, to get people to enlist.
Speaker 4: Okay, well, yes, obviously I actually a hold an MBA now,
Speaker 4: but you know I got that inside of the military,
Speaker 4: you know, And I also have no student loans because
Speaker 4: of that, because as as as a as a soldier
Speaker 4: that's in the military, you actually have the ability to
Speaker 4: go to school and get your education while you're serving.
Speaker 4: So it's kind of like, you know, you it's a
Speaker 4: win win for those who don't want a student loan.
Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying. So, you know, oftentimes we
Speaker 4: talk about society, you know how it kind of steers
Speaker 4: us to it kind of presents a road map to us,
Speaker 4: like you you should go to college right as you
Speaker 4: go to college, that that will determine your job, but
Speaker 4: that also determines a certain amount of debt as you
Speaker 4: as you leave the university, you know. So, So I
Speaker 4: was actually this past weekend speaking at the Howard University
Speaker 4: and one of the things I spoke to people about
Speaker 4: was professional score. You know, believe it or not, society
Speaker 4: is keeping score of the things that you've done before
Speaker 4: you leave college. As you enter college, for instance, it's like,
Speaker 4: what was the GPA, what was the NCAP scoreps? You
Speaker 4: know what was Were you part of community out there?
Speaker 4: You know when you go to church, boy scout, girl scout?
Speaker 4: So you have to always build.
Speaker 1: On your brand.
Speaker 4: So the military forded me an opportunity to go get
Speaker 4: educated and be able to have a launch point to
Speaker 4: choose anything that I wanted to do from the military,
Speaker 4: because it's obviously it brands you to where it doesn't
Speaker 4: matter what color you're choosing, red or blue, whatever side
Speaker 4: you choose, and everybody accepts people have served their country
Speaker 4: because we believe red, white and blue, you know.
Speaker 1: You know, so, so what when did you start to
Speaker 1: transition into seeing Hollywood or entertainment as an option.
Speaker 4: When I was deployed over in iraq U, I saw
Speaker 4: organization that would bring over entertainment to try to take
Speaker 4: our of mind off of combat for two or three
Speaker 4: hours you know year because we spent three sixty five,
Speaker 4: three and sixty five days uh in deployments. So but
Speaker 4: I never saw any entertainment that looked like us, you know,
Speaker 4: saying for us the minorities. Right. So it was at
Speaker 4: that point as a senior, as a senior advisor, a
Speaker 4: senior soldier in an elements soldiers came to me, uh
Speaker 4: and asked me, you know, sergeant major, what can we
Speaker 4: do to have somebody that we like?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 4: I started to reach out and and reach out to
Speaker 4: Hollywood and and meet a few people and then brought
Speaker 4: over the likes of BB King and the temptations and
Speaker 4: things that nature and it you know, it kind of
Speaker 4: felt good to make people happy. So that's what I
Speaker 4: you know, I started, I got the bug right then, Like, okay,
Speaker 4: so you so you.
Speaker 1: Started out basically a promoter you're producing shows, bringing in
Speaker 1: talent that was appealing to to an artist that felt
Speaker 1: that they were not getting to they were they were,
Speaker 1: they were happy to be entertained, but wasn't really feeling
Speaker 1: the entertainment.
Speaker 4: Right, right, It's absolutely right. The most of the entertainment
Speaker 4: was from Kentucky or Tennessee. If you understand that mean
Speaker 4: right absolutely.
Speaker 1: Like I said, until you participate that you put yourself
Speaker 1: in a position to be able to have power. And
Speaker 1: like I said, as a position you in sergeant major,
Speaker 1: you positioned yourself to be a promoter, to be a
Speaker 1: producer skill set that guess what people do every day,
Speaker 1: you know, Promoters are just advertisers. Promoters are just you know,
Speaker 1: companies that somebody promotes these grocery stores, somebody promotes these cars,
Speaker 1: somebody promotes these football games, these basketball games. That's all
Speaker 1: he was doing in the smallest stage. But you were
Speaker 1: learning to skill and that skill allowed you to start
Speaker 1: starting seeing beyond what you were doing in the military.
Speaker 4: Correct, absolutely absolutely. As a and I was a senior
Speaker 4: logistation in military. So when I got that call to
Speaker 4: go out to Hollywood's and meet some executives out there,
Speaker 4: and I was looking around. You know, what could I do?
Speaker 4: You know, there was producer, there was there was distribution,
Speaker 4: there was you know, theistic things that nature. The one
Speaker 4: thing that I saw that the science connected and the
Speaker 4: science made sense to me. Logistics and distribution is pretty
Speaker 4: much the same, right. You know, there's a there's a need.
Speaker 4: Uh you know, there's a component that needs to be
Speaker 4: carried somewhere and people need that thing, so you help
Speaker 4: delivered that. So that that made sense to me. So
Speaker 4: I just went to u c l A And got
Speaker 4: certified in the Business of Entertainment and from there it
Speaker 4: started on my plights.
Speaker 1: Now, now let's let's put it. Let's be honest about it.
Speaker 1: This is this whole relationship you in the military. Sergeant
Speaker 1: made you. Yes, you cared a certain amount of respect
Speaker 1: when you walked in the room. People. I know, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna give you my respects. Thank you for your service.
Speaker 1: Cause first wall, you protected me and you don't even
Speaker 1: know me. So that is that is a that's a
Speaker 1: mindset that people have to wrap their head around. There
Speaker 1: that somebody has chosen to protect this entire country in
Speaker 1: parts that person may never go or never see. And
Speaker 1: but that's a special person that does that. But when
Speaker 1: you walk in the room with these producers, these executives,
Speaker 1: these these individuals who are decision making, do you feel
Speaker 1: that because you were in the military allowed you a
Speaker 1: certain ability to make a better make stronger relationships, or
Speaker 1: create relationships you might not have had if you were
Speaker 1: not in the military.
Speaker 4: I would say being in the military, it taught me
Speaker 4: how to enter a room. Right, there's a certain way.
Speaker 4: There's a certain way as a man, you know, Oh woman,
Speaker 4: you have to carry yourself right, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: There's a strict there's a certain dress code associated with that. Because,
Speaker 4: believe it or not, we we we are always judged
Speaker 4: and scores always kept on how we move. So it's
Speaker 4: very important that you know, they always want to put
Speaker 4: us in a box based on our pigmentation. So it's
Speaker 4: very important that you move as a you know, like
Speaker 4: a professional. Yes, you know, because you are being so
Speaker 4: it's it's.
Speaker 1: How you move, and it's really and it's important that
Speaker 1: you people hear that, you know, because of the fact
Speaker 1: that you know, we could, we could, you know as
Speaker 1: young people. We all were young. You know, I had
Speaker 1: to before I lost all my hair. I had a
Speaker 1: big afro. I remember, in fact, we're going to go
Speaker 1: to break when we come back and tell this a
Speaker 1: little short story about how I didn't want to conform
Speaker 1: to my company's dress code and guess what, there was
Speaker 1: no success for me. Frustration and that's all he's talking about.
Speaker 1: Be right back with more Sergeant Major talking about he's
Speaker 1: a whisper, y'all, but he talks loud on my show.
Speaker 7: We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversations Masterclass
Speaker 7: with Rashawn McDonald.
Speaker 8: You are now tuned into the Money Making Conversations Minute
Speaker 8: of Inspiration with Rashawn McDonald.
Speaker 1: This week, I sat down with award winning actor, best
Speaker 1: selling author, and entrepreneur Heal Harper. He stopped by and
Speaker 1: talked about how his thyrout cancer diagnosis led to his
Speaker 1: role as a health and wellness ambassador, teaching everyday people
Speaker 1: how to live healthier lives.
Speaker 6: We believe that a lot of the root cause of
Speaker 6: cancer has to do with what we put on our skin.
Speaker 6: Our skin is the largest organ on our body and
Speaker 6: endors everything. Just as if you ate it, your ender consistent,
Speaker 6: your liver, your kidneys have to deal with it. And
Speaker 6: they said the reason why it'll never be tested because
Speaker 6: the same companies that make the lotions that contain the aluminum,
Speaker 6: the petroleum, the paramis and the oils and all these things.
Speaker 6: The same companies who make that are all the same
Speaker 6: companies as a drug company, So they're never going to
Speaker 6: do a long term study of the effects of their product.
Speaker 1: If you want to listen to this full interview with
Speaker 1: hell Harper, it's available on money Making Conversations dot com.
Speaker 7: Now let's return to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashaan McDonald.
Speaker 1: I'm on the phone with He's here, Sergeant Major Black Panther.
Speaker 1: I want to bring up that movie. I'm pausing because
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about how important that movie was for me personally,
Speaker 1: how important that movie was for me in the in
Speaker 1: the in the industry, because we had never had a
Speaker 1: movie come out that that sold the tickets that it sold,
Speaker 1: that was directed by a black director, and you happen
Speaker 1: to be a distributor, probably the long African American distributor
Speaker 1: on that movie. Tell about your tell us about your
Speaker 1: role and some of the achievements that you were able to,
Speaker 1: groundbreaking achievements that you were able to do with the movie.
Speaker 1: Black Panther.
Speaker 4: Yes, I was part of the team, and you're right,
Speaker 4: You're correct, I was the only black guy that was
Speaker 4: part of the strategy for distributing Black Panther. And what
Speaker 4: I mean about distribution, Uh, you know, I was one
Speaker 4: of the people that designed the strategy as far as
Speaker 4: what what demographic market aread of Black Camp will be
Speaker 4: released in right, and that's based on know everything from
Speaker 4: Race Creed, you know. So yes, I was a part
Speaker 4: of that, uh, that strategy on how he was going
Speaker 4: to launch that and Black Panther went on to make
Speaker 4: one point three billion dollars. So yes, at the time
Speaker 4: when questions were asked of me, do you think that
Speaker 4: this would be a successful movie, because, like you said, uh,
Speaker 4: it was directed by black you know, Ryan Coogler, a
Speaker 4: black director, and it was the first film in history
Speaker 4: to have an all black cast, which was you know,
Speaker 4: angela basket far As with a good chat with Bozeman,
Speaker 4: Michael be Jordans on and so forth. You know, it
Speaker 4: was a risk for the studios from their vantage points,
Speaker 4: you know. So but yes, all those things were factors
Speaker 4: in it, and and even all the way down to
Speaker 4: when we were talking about you know, what months should
Speaker 4: we should we release it in and uh, obviously you
Speaker 4: know I see the month of February. Why because it's
Speaker 4: Black History Month. You know, that means something to us.
Speaker 4: So absolutely, I was very proud to do that, and
Speaker 4: also excited to get get phone calls from the likes
Speaker 4: of stars that were actually renting out the theater so
Speaker 4: that the underprivileged community could actually go and screen the movie.
Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying, the ones that couldn't afford it.
Speaker 4: So very proud of my people, if you will, my
Speaker 4: brothers and sisters who who did things like that, who
Speaker 4: had the means to make that available to everybody.
Speaker 1: You know, Sergeant Major, I'm talking to Sergeant Major Keith L. Craig.
Speaker 1: You know, I've been in Hollywood since ninety three, went
Speaker 1: out there in nineteen ninety doing stand up comedy. I
Speaker 1: actually started writing on television shows in ninety four and
Speaker 1: been fortunate to write on anywhere from The Parkers, the
Speaker 1: Jamie Fox Show, The Sister Sisters, the Robert Townsend Show,
Speaker 1: The Parkers I mean Robert towns to Your Parenthood, as
Speaker 1: well as Arsenial Hall and that whole period of writing.
Speaker 1: And I hope put it is distributing the whole put relationship.
Speaker 1: Tell everybody what exactly is your role in Hollywood?
Speaker 4: Well, my role in Hollywood is, like say, I think
Speaker 4: the young people call the plug, right, because my clients
Speaker 4: are the networks. When you talk about hbos, the Stars
Speaker 4: to show Times, you know, the the netflixes and all
Speaker 4: those along with it, broadcasting the digital pieces of it.
Speaker 4: You know, I have the ability to when people have
Speaker 4: finished films, to get their content, to find they find
Speaker 4: a good home for their for their content.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 4: I think that's very, very, very important. And I also
Speaker 4: you mentioned earlier why they called me to holl with whisper.
Speaker 4: I think it has something to do with us trying
Speaker 4: to protect the filmmakers because you know what we we
Speaker 4: We speak to five and six filmmakers every day, and
Speaker 4: what we're noticing is they go into the filmmaking piece
Speaker 4: of it with understanding that it's three it's three pieces
Speaker 4: to filmmaking, the pre production and production the post production.
Speaker 4: So the flaw in that though, is by the time
Speaker 4: you finish post production, your editing, so and so forth,
Speaker 4: you actually are out of money, you know. So it's
Speaker 4: what my partner and I, Jeff Porter, what we do
Speaker 4: is we teach people there are six phases. Maybe teaches
Speaker 4: the wrong word, but we we coach teach a mentor
Speaker 4: that there are six phases.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 4: The additional three phases is branding, marketing, and then distribution.
Speaker 4: So it's very important that you say almost a third
Speaker 4: of your budgets that you're looking at as a production
Speaker 4: budget to make sure that you'll feelm actually it does
Speaker 4: the business that you wanted to do at the box office.
Speaker 1: Now, let me ask you this, because you know the
Speaker 1: streaming is out here. You got a big old writers
Speaker 1: strike going on, and you're in distribution, and then you
Speaker 1: got all these titles. You know, I look at a
Speaker 1: lot of streaming channels out there and that go and
Speaker 1: they say the word free, and then I see all
Speaker 1: these these movies, these blockbusters from back in the day,
Speaker 1: and they start and collect all these catalogs. As a distributor,
Speaker 1: how do you align yourself with certain channels or streaming
Speaker 1: channels to say this is where I want to take
Speaker 1: your product or do you wait for them to ask
Speaker 1: you for the opportune to distribute your products?
Speaker 4: Do you mean the filmmakers, Yes, sir, you you know,
Speaker 4: we we both right, we we we look for films
Speaker 4: that we you know that we're interested in right and
Speaker 4: also you know, filmmakers look for us people that are
Speaker 4: interested in getting results, because as we make a name
Speaker 4: for ourselves, obviously my my resume you know, makes people.
Speaker 4: You know, let's let's at least just check these guys
Speaker 4: out and from there we just do good business, you
Speaker 4: know what I'm saying. We, like I said earlier, we're
Speaker 4: all about transparency and integrity, things that nature. And we
Speaker 4: have direct relationships with these platforms. So if you bring
Speaker 4: a film to us, it's not a it's not if
Speaker 4: you can get it there. We have relationships. We know
Speaker 4: what these networks and these digital platforms are looking for,
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying. Even when we shit on
Speaker 4: a monthly basis with these broadcasters, these network stations, right,
Speaker 4: the conversation is, you know, we're looking for a BOC.
Speaker 4: These are the components of what we're looking for right now.
Speaker 4: Whether it be all female lead driven cat with humor,
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying, Or is it are you
Speaker 4: looking for, you know, horror with some mystery in it.
Speaker 4: Well we know what those we know what those apps are.
Speaker 4: So when we come back once we find a filmmaker
Speaker 4: that we we think either they're going into making the film,
Speaker 4: you know, with with with those components you know of
Speaker 4: that production there, or we you know, we take what
Speaker 4: they have, we find what they already have, and we
Speaker 4: shot and we bring it to the networks and that
Speaker 4: you know, we sign a liscens to deal.
Speaker 1: Well know, it's interesting because I'm really trying to wrap
Speaker 1: my head around this because you know, it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: as a writer, I knew I got a check for
Speaker 1: writing there's a stand up. I got a check for
Speaker 1: telling my jokes. As a manager, I got commission check.
Speaker 1: How does it you know, I'm not trying to get
Speaker 1: in any detail, but how does a person like you
Speaker 1: make money? So people can understand how the process works.
Speaker 4: Sure, as as as a distributor, right, there's obviously there's
Speaker 4: services fees. Right, so when you bring a movie, a finish,
Speaker 4: a finished movie to us whatever, there's a there's a
Speaker 4: services fee attached to that based on we service you.
Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying. We get your film on Netflix,
Speaker 4: then you know, become a partner. It's a partnership. Okay,
Speaker 4: So you say, you say, you know, you say, Sergeant
Speaker 4: Major Stargy, Major Craig, I have a film. Okayon simme
Speaker 4: over Screenlink's take a look at it. You know, once
Speaker 4: we look at that film, we say, okay, we think
Speaker 4: we got a home for that film. Let's let's send
Speaker 4: it over and talk to you know, this personal with
Speaker 4: this network. See what they say and from Once we
Speaker 4: get the the the ya from that network, we come
Speaker 4: back and reports to this is this is the offer.
Speaker 4: You know, we got a offer. We're gonna do a
Speaker 4: counter and ask for these type of you know, these changes,
Speaker 4: these stipulations.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this. Now you got my mind flowing. Now, okay,
Speaker 1: so do you do? Do you do like specials like
Speaker 1: music specials if it's produced, could I bring that to you?
Speaker 1: Or you just do films a series? What what can
Speaker 1: one bring to you?
Speaker 4: Well, if you could bring everything for us to take
Speaker 4: a look at it, right, Obviously the full features are
Speaker 4: the most sought after things by the broadcasters. But when
Speaker 4: you're talking about the music productions, right, obviously you have
Speaker 4: to have their clearances associated with that, right, So you
Speaker 4: got to make sure all your homework are done. If
Speaker 4: you got song that somebody else own, well you got
Speaker 4: to go get clearance right, right, for all of that,
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying. So, and we would require
Speaker 4: all of that. You got to make sure you got
Speaker 4: e ando insurance arison no missions insurance. This is the
Speaker 4: insurance is to cover you if somebody assues you because
Speaker 4: you didn't get total clearance. Are your work or your
Speaker 4: move too fast? You know what I'm saying. So it's
Speaker 4: very important, you know, to just check all your blocks
Speaker 4: out and we'll make sure if you're bringing something to us,
Speaker 4: first of all, it has to have the production value
Speaker 4: based on what you say in the budget was right,
Speaker 4: you know optically. These people are professionals, so they know
Speaker 4: what something costs or did not cost, you know what
Speaker 4: I'm saying. So we look at the production value to
Speaker 4: make sure you got the red cameras or the black
Speaker 4: magics and so on and so forth, and and the aalent,
Speaker 4: you know, the acting, the talent. Everything is you know
Speaker 4: a component of for successful you know, partnership.
Speaker 1: Wow, hey, sergeant major, please tell people how they how
Speaker 1: they can reach out to you. Is a website?
Speaker 7: Is it?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: What number? How they can reach you? Because I next
Speaker 1: time I bring you on, We're gonna start this different.
Speaker 1: We're gonna take some phone calls because you you pushing
Speaker 1: that information that people need to know because don't nobody
Speaker 1: know where to go.
Speaker 4: Understand, I'm saying you can find us at pcfimimedia dot com.
Speaker 4: That's pcfimimedia dot com. I'm on Instagram at official Keith
Speaker 4: al Craig Official Keith.
Speaker 3: Al Craig All one word.
Speaker 4: I also have a website Keith Craig dot org or
Speaker 4: r G or you can email me at Keith dot
Speaker 4: Craig at pcfmimedia dot com.
Speaker 1: Okay, now, slow that down. That gonna get busy. That
Speaker 1: that that gonna get busy right now. So because your role,
Speaker 1: if somebody has projects, don't just be emailing Sergeant may
Speaker 1: just be emailing them. If you got content that you
Speaker 1: don't know where to take it, content that you want
Speaker 1: to some advice on where to distribute it, then Sergeant
Speaker 1: Major can get you that. Can you give out that
Speaker 1: email address one more time, Sergeant Major?
Speaker 4: Sure, that's Keith dot Craig at Pcfilmanmedia dot com. That's
Speaker 4: one word, Pcfilmandmedia dot com. Spell it out one word
Speaker 4: admia dot com.
Speaker 1: Wow, you know you're whispering to me? Now, you're not
Speaker 1: only whispering you're talking to me right now because because
Speaker 1: I'm just telling you man, as a black person, we
Speaker 1: don't know where to go. We don't know where to go.
Speaker 4: We don't know.
Speaker 1: We're just being creative. We're making stuff. At least we're
Speaker 1: getting a professional person telling us this wont work, or
Speaker 1: this work, or you need to do your homework, do
Speaker 1: better production, invest more timing. You got the wrong cameras,
Speaker 1: You need to get your license, you need to get everything,
Speaker 1: your release on, all your talents. Stuff like that. We
Speaker 1: don't know. But if you contact him here, get you
Speaker 1: started in the right direction. Sergeant Major, thank you man
Speaker 1: for coming to my show. And I want to bring
Speaker 1: you back, man, if you don't mind, I want to
Speaker 1: take phone calls so people can ask you questions and
Speaker 1: let's do it like a class on money making conversations.
Speaker 1: Master class. Good with that.
Speaker 4: I would I would love to come back. I would
Speaker 4: love Rashwan. Please, it's been it's been an honor and
Speaker 4: and and you know, a gift to come on. Thank
Speaker 4: you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you. He's the whisperer, y'all, but he talks
Speaker 1: me loud. Sajan Major, thanks for coming on. Money Making
Speaker 1: Conversation Master Class. We talked soon my friend. I want
Speaker 1: to thank everybody for listening to my show mate. I
Speaker 1: cannot do this show without you. Guys. I get up tired,
Speaker 1: but when I get to this show man, I am
Speaker 1: fired up. Talk to you next time on Money Making
Speaker 1: Conversation Matter Class. This is Rashan McDonald. We be out.
Speaker 7: Thank you for joining us for this edition of Money
Speaker 7: Making Conversations Master Class. Money Making Conversations Masterclass with rough
Speaker 7: Shan McDonald is used to buy thirty eight fifteen Media Inc.
Speaker 7: More information about thirty eight fifteen Media Inc. Is available
Speaker 7: at thirty eight fifteen media dot com. And always remember
Speaker 7: to lead with your gifts