Kelly Edwards: Changing Course
Episode Description:
After seven years as a Senior Vice President at HBO, Kelly Edwards recently transitioned into a two-year first-look television writing deal at HBO where she will develop a slate of projects under her Edwardian Pictures banner. Kelly returns to Sista Brunch to talk with Fanshen and Anya about her recent career shift and her book, The Executive Chair: A Writer’s Guide to TV Development which debuted as an instant Amazon Best Seller.
TRANSCRIPT:
Fanshen Cox (00:12):
Hey, welcome back to Sista Brunch with me, Fanshen Cox.
Anya Adams (00:15):
And me, Anya Adams.
Fanshen Cox (00:17):
Sista Brunch is a podcast about Black women+ striving and thriving in media, entertainment and the arts. And we cannot wait to share more stories with you over the next few weeks.
Anya Adams (00:29):
We are so excited to bring you an update on a friend of the podcast, and now two-time guest, Kelly Edwards. Kelly was formerly the senior vice president at HBO for seven long years. She's recently transitioned into a two year, first look, television writing deal at HBO where she's-
Fanshen Cox (00:49):
Wow.
Anya Adams (00:49):
She's going to develop a slate of projects under her Edwardian Pictures banner, whoop whoop.
Fanshen Cox (00:54):
Fancy.
Anya Adams (00:55):
Her book, The Executive Chair, that's right, she was an exec. Now she has a two look deal. And then she wrote a book called The Executive Chair: A Writer's Guide to TV Development, debuted as an instant Amazon bestseller. She is currently writing for the Fox drama, Our Kind of People. And she splits her time between Los Angeles and Missoula, Montana, which is a lovely city.
Fanshen Cox (01:18):
It is, apparently it is. Someday we going to get there. And I got to say this, and it's not because she's a friend of Sista Brunch and it's not because I want her to hire me someday or work with her. I, for real, like y'all, this book, it's for writers, it says it's for writers. I needed this book. Every executive I've ever met, especially in development, needs this book. So anybody who wants to be in the industry, y'all should get this book. We are so glad to catch up with you, Kelly Edwards.
Anya Adams (01:48):
Well, hello there.
Kelly Edwards (01:50):
Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me back. I'm excited.
Fanshen Cox (01:52):
Yeah. Very glad to have you. This is amazing. We're not going to pat ourselves on the backs too much.
Anya Adams (01:58):
I mean, we kind of, though.
Fanshen Cox (01:58):
We will say that the last time you were here, you were talking about your dreams, and then suddenly after your appearance on Sista Brunch, all your dreams started to come true. So I mean...
Anya Adams (02:08):
Wait, Fanshen, are we dream makers?
Fanshen Cox (02:12):
I think we might be dream makers.
Kelly Edwards (02:15):
I owe it all to you.
Fanshen Cox (02:16):
Thank you. Somebody finally said it. And so Kelly, for real, talk to us about, because at that time I think you might have still been at HBO or you were just about to leave. And you were talking about this dream of being a screenwriter and how you were kind of finally saying that to the world.
Fanshen Cox (02:32):
And you had done Sundance, I think, and talking about just what an incredible experience that was. So walk us through everything that's happened since.
Anya Adams (02:40):
We want to [inaudible 00:02:41].
Kelly Edwards (02:40):
Sure. Yeah. I do think it's interesting how much a year makes a tremendous amount of difference. And it does feel like it just happened so quickly. I feel like I was shot out of a cannon.
Kelly Edwards (02:55):
And yet at the same time it also feels like this was 30 years coming. So in some ways it feels like it was the culmination of a lot of work along the way. But once the pieces were in place, it happened pretty rapidly. So yeah, I do think the last time I was with you, I was probably just completing my MFA, I think, from Emerson.
Anya Adams (03:18):
Yes, you were. Yes.
Kelly Edwards (03:19):
Yeah. So it was the last couple months of that, which was a fantastic experience. Some people have asked me, "Is it worth it going to get your advanced degree?" And I went to get it because I wanted to make sure that I had no barriers if I wanted to teach. So I wanted to make sure that I eliminated that, and HBO was paying for it. So there was no better, that's a sweet deal right there.
Kelly Edwards (03:41):
But I was winding that down, writing some material, and I had just finished Sundance, which had taken place in the end of 2019. And that really sealed the deal for me. I knew exactly what I wanted to do once I had done that program. And there was absolutely no question.
Kelly Edwards (03:59):
And the top of 2020, I was asked to re-up at HBO for another few years with a huge salary bump and a much bigger scope to work over. I did not hesitate and I just said no. Because I was very, very secure. I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Kelly Edwards (04:18):
And I knew also that, by that point I could do the job at HBO in my sleep. It was by that time, very by rote. I loved the opportunity to launch people's careers. And that was the thing that kept me, because I love those people. And every time we discovered some new talent, it was something that was sort of unexpected. And there's something very, very exciting about that.
Kelly Edwards (04:41):
But at the same time, personally I was feeling like I was dying a little inside every day. You know, the idea of getting up every day to go do that, for me, the sheen was wearing off. And I knew that I have this sort of cycle, six year cycle anyway, where I want to learn a new trick. Every six years, if you look at my resume, every six years I've done something very wildly different.
Anya Adams (05:02):
Wow. That's so cool.
Kelly Edwards (05:05):
So, yeah, it scares my mom like crazy. She's like, "Oh my gosh. Is she going to work again?"
Fanshen Cox (05:10):
Tell her to talk to Gen Z. They don't believe in work at all. So...
Kelly Edwards (05:14):
Right.
Anya Adams (05:14):
We still want you to listen to the podcast, guys.
Fanshen Cox (05:19):
Yes please. Yes. There are valuable lessons here.
Kelly Edwards (05:22):
You got to follow the passion though. When I saw you guys last, it was at that place where I had made the decision to jump off the edge of the, whatever, lifeboat, bridge, whatever. And give up a hugely lucrative career where I really had no, there was no oversight. I had so much autonomy. And it was a great gig. But at the same time, I knew that I had more to contribute to the universe.
Kelly Edwards (05:47):
And I ended up taking this deal. It's a two year, first look deal that they offered me. And by July 16th I was done. And that was I think my last day. I think July 17th may have been my first day as a free woman.
Kelly Edwards (06:04):
And of course I went into panic mode because I thought, "Oh my God, what have I done?" My health insurance was going to run out in two weeks. And it was just, I was freaking out a little bit.
Kelly Edwards (06:16):
But at the same time, at the very end, somewhere early July, I had been introduced to somebody who had written a book and recommended that I talk to her publisher about writing a book for myself. And I got a call really, really quickly, maybe 48 hours after, she says, "Hey, you've got a book in you." I had this call from the publisher. And he said, "Hey, I'd love you to consider writing a book about the business from the executive side."
Kelly Edwards (06:45):
And I did a sample chapter in a week. I did a table of contents. And literally a week after I left HBO, I had a book deal.
Anya Adams (06:55):
Oh my gosh.
Kelly Edwards (06:56):
I've often likened it to-
Fanshen Cox (06:56):
Amazing.
Kelly Edwards (06:59):
You know, that freak out moment you get when you do something that most people would look at and go, "She's insane." To then the universe kind of catching me and saying, "It's going to be okay."
Fanshen Cox (07:12):
Listen, it didn't just say it's going to be okay, it was like, "You just did the right thing. We've been waiting for you, bitch. Why did it take you so long?" Because then it was like, here's all the riches that come with that. Kelly, let me ask you something real quick, because I think you talk about this in the book, which again, that's the way you kind of have all this information in front of you.
Fanshen Cox (07:31):
But when you say overall deal, can you talk about what that means, versus let's say... Because in the best of ways now, all kinds of Black folks like Megan The Stallion just got, or Megan Thee Stallion, sorry.
Anya Adams (07:42):
Yep. Thee.
Fanshen Cox (07:42):
Just got a deal with them. What do these different deals mean? And what does yours mean and look like for you?
Kelly Edwards (07:49):
Sure. And I think this is a really important conversation piece because not a lot of people are having this conversation. And we need to. Particularly as people of color because we have been left out of the conversation. So I actually don't, I have a first look deal, which is different than an overall.
Kelly Edwards (08:05):
An overall deal means that the company that I'm working for or that I have a deal with, is paying all of my expenses, and then some. It's an exclusive deal, so I have to take everything to them or whoever. Would have to take all their projects to them. And if they don't move forward, then the likelihood that they would be able to sell them elsewhere with another company is little to none. Usually they are very exclusive. So they're paying to take you off the market, but they're also paying a premium for that. So it's a huge check.
Kelly Edwards (08:32):
And that also allows that person, that writer, or that executive producer to create a staff and to look for IP and to commission material if they want to. So there's a lot of things that comes with that exclusivity that is incredibly valuable.
Kelly Edwards (08:47):
So if you want to be Dick Wolf or Bruckheimer or [Bramante 00:08:53], that's the way to do it, is to have a lot of people working for you who can also be developing material so that you have your hands in a lot of pies. And you have then not just one thing you're doing at a time, but many things.
Kelly Edwards (09:06):
And as we know, this is a numbers game. So you have to have many things in development because half those things, if not three quarters of the things, are going to fall apart. So you need to make sure that you have quite a bit of opportunity that you are fielding out there at the same time.
Kelly Edwards (09:22):
For what I have, I have a first look deal, which means that I'm not exclusive, but I do take everything first to HBO. And I pitch it to them, and if they say that they're not interested, then I take it elsewhere and I pitch it elsewhere.
Kelly Edwards (09:35):
So as of this moment, they have not bought anything from me, but I take everything to them and everything else that I've taken out has actually had a life somewhere else. So I've been developing other projects with other companies. I just have to make sure that I clear it with HBO or HBO Max first. So that's the difference.
Kelly Edwards (09:54):
And it's not as much money for me. It's a nominal amount of money, but it's enough to keep me afloat, which is all I wanted in launching my career. So I get a paycheck every month, and that paycheck has been enough to allow me to hire somebody part-time to help me with my social media profile and to help me do coverage and to look for books and to track down rights.
Kelly Edwards (10:16):
So I have a very, very small staff that I pay out of that. But for the most part, that money goes to paying myself so that I can pay my mortgage.
Kelly Edwards (10:28):
And then if something moves forward or if I get on staff, then they are still paying me. They have the ability to do a suspend and extend, which means that they would pause my deal and then start it up once I was off the show. But they opted not to do that. They opted to keep paying me concurrently along with my show deal money.
Fanshen Cox (10:48):
A real quick question with that. How long are first look and overall deals? Like if it's your first one, is there a certain amount of time that you might make that deal for, or it just depends on what they want?
Kelly Edwards (11:00):
It depends. I've heard of some people having first look deals just for a year. I was lucky enough to get two. It might have had something to do with the fact that I had already had 18 months left on my contract. So they may have taken that into account. They were still going to pay me for 18 months anyway. So why not convert some of that money into a deal? So I don't know what they were thinking was on that side, but it worked out really well for me.
Kelly Edwards (11:23):
And then there's something called a housekeeping deal, which is, it's something that I had. When I was at Paramount, I was an executive producer and we had an overall deal. I partnered with a man who had had a deal already. And so we partnered up together. We had an overall deal.
Kelly Edwards (11:37):
And then at one point they converted the overall deal into a housekeeping deal. So instead of them paying for office space, for assistants, and for any copies and expenses, which is what we had under the overall deal, we went to: no, no, no, they're only going to pay for the office space. It was only going to be, the housekeeping was just the location and the assistant, but everything else was done on commission.
Kelly Edwards (12:05):
So every time I sold something, I would get money, but I was not getting a regular salary. And that, by the way, hurt like crazy. That was tough. A real couple of years that were really, really lean for me.
Fanshen Cox (12:18):
What are you supposed to be doing in between?
Kelly Edwards (12:21):
Well, you're just supposed to be selling like crazy. The problem is, is that when you have a deal like that... Like for example, if I had a deal like that at a company that desperately wanted a lot of material, then I have an opportunity to pitch and to sell and to set up a lot of things. Which then kick back checks to me. Every time I set something up, I would've gotten a check.
Kelly Edwards (12:41):
But when we were working under Paramount, Paramount had very few slots, we were only really allowed to sell to CBS and to UPN. Those places only had so many available places to, time slots to sell. Yeah.
Kelly Edwards (12:55):
They also limited us too, because we weren't allowed to use the Paramount big showrunners. We couldn't go to them. We couldn't go to the big guys. They had charged us, because we were a little tiny company, with finding the new, the next person, the next big thing.
Kelly Edwards (13:12):
And what we did was, we did find quite a few of those next big things, and then they wouldn't buy them. So we were hampered by that. So I was actually just telling people on Clubhouse recently, there was, all the things that had slipped through my fingers. Like Gossip Girl, we had the Gossip Girl work. We had-
Fanshen Cox (13:27):
Wow.
Kelly Edwards (13:28):
Desperate Housewives. Because we had been working with Marc Cherry for years, pitching.
Fanshen Cox (13:33):
Wow.
Kelly Edwards (13:33):
We had Diablo Cody's first script. We had sold her project to UPN and that's, I think way before... Her book had come out, but Juno had not come out. So we had all these people right before they hit it big, and then we weren't able to sell those.
Kelly Edwards (13:51):
So it was a really tough place to be. At least now, there's so much out there, there's so many places that you could sell to. So there's a lot of opportunity, potentially, if you can get past the pitching problem, which is that everybody wants three and four pre-pitches before you pitch. And then it's notes and notes and notes before you can even get to the finish line. That's a challenge.
Anya Adams (14:15):
This is Sister Brunch with Fanshen Cox and Anya Adams. Stay tuned for more of our conversation with our amazing and inspiring guest, Kelly Edwards.
Anya Adams (14:40):
Hey, we're back. Check out more of our conversation on breaking into the industry with Kelly Edwards.
Fanshen Cox (14:50):
So Kelly, if you're comfortable, because we agree it's important for folks to know the difference between those terms and titles, but also salary wise, what is a ballpark salary you might get for each of those different deals?
Kelly Edwards (15:06):
For me, my salary for... If I sell something as pre-negotiated, and so there's a number that, so I don't have to go in and make another deal for that, that happened at the beginning deal making, at that point.
Kelly Edwards (15:20):
So I would say for, overall deals are in the millions. Typically there can be very high numbers. So all the ones that I've heard of have been upwards of a million dollars. Because you are taking a person off the market and those people usually-
Fanshen Cox (15:35):
For like a year?
Kelly Edwards (15:37):
For, yeah, it could be a year.
Fanshen Cox (15:38):
Couple years, a year. Wow.
Kelly Edwards (15:39):
Yeah. Yeah.
Fanshen Cox (15:41):
Okay. I need to get one of those.
Kelly Edwards (15:43):
It's also, those people who they're going after for those overall deals are pretty high.
Fanshen Cox (15:48):
Well established.
Kelly Edwards (15:48):
Yeah, exactly. Those are people whose names mean something out there and that's the premium that you're paying for that. And I'm saying a million is the baseline, usually because those are people who either are talent, or they are executive producers who've had a track record.
Kelly Edwards (16:05):
For a housekeeping deal, like I said before, we were only getting paid when we sold something. And this is back maybe 15 years ago. So when we were selling something, we would get a check for about $10,000 and we would split it, either 50-50, or whoever brought it in, depending on how the man power worked out, it was either... If I brought it in, I got two thirds or whatever and he got a third, or if he brought it in... So it was a different kind of structure that we made a deal between ourselves.
Kelly Edwards (16:36):
But $10,000 is not that much when you're only selling six or seven things a year and then you're splitting it. It's really hard.
Kelly Edwards (16:44):
And then for a first look deal, I think those also vary as well. And I've heard that people have had very large, hefty sums for a first look deal, down to pretty nominal. Mine is fairly nominal. Mine is only 150,000 a year. So, and by the way, I have no problem with telling anybody what I make. I've never, anytime anybody's ever asked me, I've always been very, very, upfront.
Fanshen Cox (17:10):
That's so good, because that's another thing we should share so that when we go to negotiate something like this, we know where to start. Yeah.
Anya Adams (17:16):
Yeah.
Kelly Edwards (17:16):
Oh yeah, yeah. And let me back up and say what I walked away from at HBO was high 300s.
Fanshen Cox (17:23):
Wow.
Kelly Edwards (17:26):
Somewhere in the high two, well, I'll say high 200s to maybe mid-300s, with the bonus and all of that. Right? And stock options. So I walked away from all that. And remember, then I was asked to take a bigger job for a lot more than that.
Kelly Edwards (17:41):
But it really wasn't enough to feed my soul. And I know that if push came to shove, I could always walk back into a job like that. It's not the end of the road, by any stretch of the imagination, if I don't want it to be the end of the road.
Anya Adams (17:54):
It's really important what you're saying about not making choices just for money. I mean, I think it's easy to get in this industry and start doing that, but you really have to follow your heart. I think, obviously you need to make money to live, but if you start making choices only for money, it can get pretty soul crushing.
Kelly Edwards (18:11):
Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah. I do feel as though I made the absolute right decision. And what's crazy about it is, who knows if the book's going to make any money. I don't know. I didn't do it to make any money off of that. I haven't seen a dime out of that, really.
Kelly Edwards (18:25):
But this overall deal, this first look deal, combined with the money that I made on the show, which is a staff writer, it's about $4,500 a week. But it comes to about 130K, something like that, for 20 weeks. I don't know, something like that. Whatever it was, it's enough that, combined it pretty much takes me back to where I... Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I have two jobs-
Fanshen Cox (18:50):
And you keep your deal with HBO throughout it. Right?
Kelly Edwards (18:53):
That's correct.
Fanshen Cox (18:53):
You keep, as you said. Which again, just knowing these numbers, because Black women, we don't know where that number starts, you know what I'm saying? So, we don't even know to calculate what our lives would be like to live that way. Or again, what to ask our representative to negotiate for. So-
Kelly Edwards (19:13):
Exactly.
Fanshen Cox (19:14):
I'm so grateful for that.
Anya Adams (19:15):
It's also interesting to hear you say that you have multiple streams of income as well, which is something I think people don't think about. Like, it's not you're just in... "I am the director or I'm the writer," but you have all these projects happening, which are generating different types of income that build up to something, which is also something you can do in this industry.
Kelly Edwards (19:35):
And I haven't even explored the idea of how to monetize after that. Especially on the book. People have said, "Hey, do you do consulting?" And I'm like, "No, not really, but I could."
Fanshen Cox (19:46):
Yeah, you could.
Kelly Edwards (19:47):
That's a completely different revenue stream. And then I'm also writing a novel. So I feel like there's potential to do other things, that are still in the same lane, that I can completely monetize. I could create the product.
Kelly Edwards (20:02):
So I could do a whole, I have chapters that I didn't put in the book. I could put that online for two bucks a pop and see if people want to read that. So I feel like there are things that sometimes we forget, and we don't look past the fact that we have a particular expertise and we've done X. We could do X, Y, and Z, and still also create that same circle around your brand.
Kelly Edwards (20:30):
So I do think that there's probably more for me to do. I'm actually starting to write a second book, which is about being in the writer's room. So who knows if that'll come into anything, I don't know. But there are ways to super-size what I've got going on now that I haven't even started to explore.
Anya Adams (20:47):
Now, being a creator and having been an exec, how do those two play off each other in a... How is that helping you as a writer and a creator, your exec position?
Kelly Edwards (20:58):
I think quite a few things. And I will tell you, actually, I had this really interesting conversation with a director, Mary Lou Belli, who runs the Warner Bros. Directing Program. She's amazing. So I had taken the directing program. I audited, I'm going to say audited. Because I was creating my own director's program. And I asked Rebecca Windsor, I said, "Hey, can I [inaudible 00:21:21] in and take your class?" And she said, "Yeah, but you have to really take it."
Kelly Edwards (21:25):
So they forced me to do the directing program, which was a phenomenal experience. And I learned so much about it. And I called up Mary Lou recently, because she had actually directed an episode of Our Kind of People. And I said, "I just want to thank you because what you taught me in that room, I've used to be a better writer."
Fanshen Cox (21:48):
Yes.
Kelly Edwards (21:49):
I said, "I look at material differently. I look at, how do you simplify? How do you talk to actors? How do you make sure that the intention is clear?" I said, "All of those things I have, just even knowing the shots and how to compose a shot and how to make something simple in the writing so that it translates for the director." And I said, "I just want to thank you because I feel like I've become a better writer just by taking the directing class."
Kelly Edwards (22:17):
And I think I also pull in things from the executive world about clarity and about being really intentional about notes. And I also can also take a look at, people often ask me things like, "Well, what do you think is going to happen? And what kind of notes you think we're going to get? And what do you think's going to...?" And I go, "I can certainly give them my thoughts about that."
Kelly Edwards (22:40):
Sometimes it's not even helpful to give those kinds of thoughts because you don't want to be the smarty pants in the room. That's not anything anybody wants. But there are things where I could see from the table read that certain actors really popped with other actors. And I said, "I think we're going to probably be writing towards that." And then we started to write towards that.
Kelly Edwards (23:02):
So there are things like that where I can maybe look at a long game a little bit differently than maybe other writers. But I happen to have the most extraordinary experience in this writer's room. They are the loveliest, most supportive people and I wish everyone could have this kind of experience. I've heard of horror stories where people are bullied mercilessly and they are not supported and nurtured.
Kelly Edwards (23:29):
And I had a moment where I was working on a scene, because they allow us to, if we're baby writers we get to write a scene here or two. And I ended up getting a chance to write an entire act for an episode. And I sent it in and I got a call a half hour later from the executive producer who was overseeing that particular script. And he said, "Hey, just wanted to let you know, you did a great job." And I thought, first of all, as an executive, you long to hear someone say, pat you on the head and go, "Hey, you did a good job." And nobody ever does that.
Fanshen Cox (24:07):
You never get that.
Kelly Edwards (24:08):
Whoa, they do that in your paycheck once a year, but they don't go out of their way to say, "Hey, great job." And I desperately need that. As a human being, I long for someone to just tell me, "Hey, you did good job or you wrote something really good." And I'm like a little infant in that way. And he called me and he just told me-
Fanshen Cox (24:29):
No, Kelly, everybody's that way.
Kelly Edwards (24:29):
Yes.
Fanshen Cox (24:30):
Let's be clear, everybody needs that. It's just-
Kelly Edwards (24:32):
We don't always like to admit it.
Fanshen Cox (24:34):
[inaudible 00:24:34] this tough exterior and be like, "I don't need that." Yes you do.
Kelly Edwards (24:39):
Well, it was magical for me. He said, "Yeah." He goes, "I know what it's like to be a young writer and then not hear back and then not get feedback." He said, "I just wanted to make sure that you knew that you did a good job." And I just, I will now follow him anywhere. So, yeah, I'm just overjoyed.
Kelly Edwards (24:56):
But I do feel like that I've also learned a lot as an executive about management and about leadership. And I've taken all of that to this. And I had the luxury of sitting on set for six months. And I was a writer on set, really. And two other writers were able to come down to set, but we were in the middle of COVID and people didn't want to have too much upset and things like that on the set.
Kelly Edwards (25:19):
So I got a chance to really sit there and utilize all of those skills that I learned as an executive. And took them, because I had been on set before, sitting in that seat, but I'd never really sat there from first call down to wrap for the day. It's a long day.
Fanshen Cox (25:41):
That's a long day.
Kelly Edwards (25:42):
But a crew is a family in so many ways. And I felt like one of the family. So I'm very fortunate.
Fanshen Cox (25:52):
Hey, it's Fanshen, and you're listening to Sista Brunch. We'll be right back. And if you haven't already, follow us on Twitter, why not? @SistaBrunch. Instagram @sistabrunchpodcast. And Facebook at facebook.com/sistabrunchpodcast. You can leave us a comment, slide in our DMs, and share your own views and news with us. We want to celebrate all your hard work with you.
Anya Adams (26:17):
Kelly, you should tell us about the book. Like give us a trailer version, so we know.
Kelly Edwards (26:23):
Well, I would say that the reason I wrote this book was really to make sure that everyone knows that the doors are open in Hollywood. And that without new content, without new blood, without new ideas, without new bodies, we die on the vine.
Kelly Edwards (26:38):
So we need to make sure that people, everybody knows that if you have this dream and you really are committed to this dream, that there is a place for you.
Kelly Edwards (26:46):
And you know, I do say that sometimes those dreams don't always look like what you envision. Sometimes they take a little detour. Certainly mine did, took a very big detour. And then I ended up back in the place that I thought I should be in the first place. But the idea is, this book was created to be encouraging, to hopefully inspire people to want to live out their dream, if being in Hollywood is part of it.
Kelly Edwards (27:13):
I don't feel as though I sugarcoat things too much, but it is a tough business. And yet, but there's some tricks of the trade. And I want to make sure that people feel as though they have the keys to the kingdom a little bit. If they do want to get in, there's so many things that we take for granted as Hollywood insiders that we forget to say to someone who is coming in for the first time. "Here's a great way to create your portfolio. And here's a great way to talk about yourself. And here's a great way to pitch an idea. And here's some ideas."
Kelly Edwards (27:45):
And also that no one knows nothing, right? We don't know.
Fanshen Cox (27:49):
So true.
Kelly Edwards (27:51):
And don't feel as though you need to know everything, but here are some things that'll help your life, a little bit easier and your path a little bit easier.
Kelly Edwards (27:59):
So that's the whole goal of the book. And I hope that people find some value in it. Even if it's just a nice, quick read on the weekend where you have a little bit more information than you had before. That's what this book's all about.
Anya Adams (28:13):
And where can we get it? Amazon?
Kelly Edwards (28:16):
Yeah. You can get it at Amazon. I believe it's in Barnes & Noble. It's in a lot of independent book sellers. And I'm going to be-
Fanshen Cox (28:22):
Number one on arts and entertainment on Amazon. She's killing it. She's killing it.
Anya Adams (28:26):
All right.
Kelly Edwards (28:28):
The audio version of this should be out somewhere in February or March.
Fanshen Cox (28:32):
Nice.
Anya Adams (28:32):
Did you do it?
Kelly Edwards (28:33):
I'm going to do it.
Anya Adams (28:34):
Yes. Well, that's so cool.
Fanshen Cox (28:36):
So good.
Anya Adams (28:38):
You can listen to it on your walks, guys. Get this book.
Fanshen Cox (28:41):
Yeah, for real. Get it. And for me, I'm kind of like, I don't know if I can be on set or even development with other people who haven't read it and be like, I just... I have this impetus now to be like, "Would you please read this book, and then we can come back and talk again?"
Anya Adams (28:57):
"Then come back and talk to me."
Fanshen Cox (29:00):
It's like that. It is like that. Thank you, Kelly Edwards.
Anya Adams (29:04):
Thank you, Kelly, for coming back.
Fanshen Cox (29:04):
Thanks for coming back.
Kelly Edwards (29:04):
Thank you for having me.
Anya Adams (29:17):
Thank you so much for listening to Sista Brunch with me, Anya Adams, and Fanshen Cox. That was our conversation with Kelly Edwards, visit sistabrunch.com to find out more about her and how to support her upcoming projects.
Fanshen Cox (29:28):
Hey, follow us. Why not? You know? Like, let's all exchange some tweets and stuff, and some Instagram profiles and pictures. Follow us on Instagram @sistabrunchpodcast. We're also on Twitter @SistaBrunch. And on Facebook at facebook.com/sistabrunchpodcast.
Fanshen Cox (29:47):
If you've got questions, ask a question in our Ask Sista Brunch segment. Visit sistabrunch.com to fill out our questions form. And we might just ask the question on the air.
Fanshen Cox (29:59):
Also sign up for our monthly newsletter. You can get job tips, viewing recommendations, and lots more. And also don't forget to subscribe, rate and review our show on iTunes. Your support is so important to us.
Anya Adams (30:14):
Our senior producer is Sonata Lee Narcisse. Our show producer is Brittany Turner. Our executive producer is Christabel Nsiah-Buadi. And we'd like to acknowledge that the land we record our podcast on is the original land of the Tongva people, for those of us in Los Angeles. Can't wait to see you next time. Take care, everyone.