Ep168: Hollywood On the Record: What’s REALLY Happening On Set? | with Shay’La Banks and Nickolaus Brown

<p>In an ideal world, being a creative professional means you love what you do and your passion for your work fuels a meaningful and fulfilling life that also has a positive impact on the world. Whether you write, direct, produce, edit, or work on set - that's the dream we all set out to achieve when we join the industry. In the real world, however, you quickly discover that passion can also lead to exploitation. Toxic work environments, unreasonable deadlines and schedules, and unrelenting work hours extinguish even the deepest, hottest burning passions inside of us. Respect, dignity, and a basic appreciation for the work we do are essential ingredients in keeping that passion alive and sustaining us through long careers. Unfortunately, these concepts have been pushed aside in favor of faster, cheaper, better.</p> <p>Today I’m excited to discuss the realities of working on the production side of the industry with <strong><a href= "https://imdb.com/name/nm11602629/?ref_=search_search_search_result_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shay'La Banks</a></strong> and <strong><a href= "https://imdb.com/name/nm0114350/?ref_=instant_nm_1&q=nickolaus%20brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nickolaus Brown</a></strong>, both of whom work in the costume department and were recently featured with me in the recent <em>Variety </em>article <strong><a href= "https://variety.com/2021/artisans/news/iatse-medical-scares-car-crashes-members-voted-yes-on-strike-authorization-1235083837/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IATSE Crew Members Share First-Hand Accounts of Set Life</a></strong>. Shay'La is a Costume Supervisor who has worked on shows such as <em>The Voice</em>, <em>Insecure</em>, <em>Grown-ish</em> & <em>The Oscars</em>. Nickolaus has been working in costumes for almost 25 years for films such as <em>Free Guy</em>, <em>The Lake House</em>, and <em>Dukes of Hazzard,</em> and TV shows like <em>How to Get Away w/ Murder</em>, <em>Scandal</em>, and <em>Glee</em>.</p> <p>This honest conversation gets to the very core of the many