I AM Radio: Just Go For It with Ciera Thompson

Welcome back to I AM Radio; and while you might love QT with your girls K+K, this week we’re joined by dear friend and fellow collaborator, Ciera Thompson.

And, the mantra of this week’s episode? Just go for it.

We got a front row seat to Ciera’s own bold moves a year ago when she seized the moment at Sundance to do what creatives, and entrepreneurs alike, do best - make something out of nothing.

What do we mean?

Ciera wrote a script for a short film back in 2022. She was handed rejections, doubt - from others and self - and generally considered it a passion project she created for herself, but perhaps not a commercial success.

At Sundance, the question, “What are you working on?” kept coming up, and Ciera took the chance to boldly call herself what she was - a writer and filmmaker - working on a short about LGBTQIA+ youth.

It was as if she had a magic wand, manifesting potential out of thin air. She scored an agent and a funder by the time we left just a few days later.

By the end of the year, she ran an oversubscribed crowd-funding campaign, won Film Impact Georgia’s highest honor, and brought the film to life in the most beautiful and authentic way.

Hit play to listen along as she shares every last high and low of ‘just going for it,’ in this week’s episode of I AM Radio.

Follow along with Take Note here:

• Instagram: @TakeNoteFilm
• IT ALL Media Films

This is an IT ALL Media Production. If you like what you hear, follow along at ITALLMedia.co and @itallmedia on Instagram and TikTok.

We are a women-centered media company rewriting the narrative on modern womanhood through story and collaboration.

We're glad you're here.

Transcript

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Welcome to I Am Radio. I'm your cohost, Kacie Lett Gordon. And I'm your other- one might say better- half, Katie Louise Mullins. We are the creators of the beloved FIA Podcast and the women behind IT ALL Media. Join us every Thursday for your weekly dose of I AM Radio. We'll be joined by fellow creatives, experts, organizers, powerful women in media, and our favorite of all, real women as we chronicle, our journey as two first time entrepreneurs turned filmmakers. With that, cue the dancing hot dogs and concession ads. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. We're back, week three on I Am Radio. We are joined by a dear friend, a collaborator, writer, director, and producer for the I Am docuseries. Ciera Thompson. Hello. Thank you for the kind intro, Kacie. Excited to be here. So excited. This is our first opportunity to sit down with our collaborators. As we've shared on the show over the past couple weeks, this is meant to really be a behind the scenes look at the making of this series. And one thing that we know is that we are the curators. So to speak, but we are not the sole creators and Ciera, we met you, gosh, it was probably what two and a half years ago now. So crazy. Yeah. It's just crazy to think we were ever strangers. Yeah. About two years ago. Yeah. We met at a little coffee shop. We did. And to give credit where it's due and set the stage for today's conversation. Ciera came to us with the original idea of turning the podcast into a television show. This is a woman that lives and works and breathes in that space of filmmaking of TV. And you saw something. Beyond audio, and that planted a seed for us early days that, we've talked about it here on the show and on countless posts, but we nurtured that and figured our way to where we are today, and we've had a chance to do some really cool projects together already. And I think that's been one of the things that You've helped us come home or create a security and being creatives and finding creative community and how we give and take across, our respective projects and creative processes. Katie and I were talking earlier and we said that the theme of today's. is just go for it because you embody that energy. Oh, thank you. I like, yeah, just go for it. Try and I'm trying, I've actually been recently trying to get myself to think of slightly longer, take a thought and then go for it. But definitely, that's something I for sure live by, but yeah, no, it's been great. I'm getting to work with you guys. Like you said, Kacie, we we met during that initial pitch. And then for me listening to the podcast that was recommended to me someone else had already listened to it and was like, there's something more here. But he didn't really quite know even how to like, put to words, what more there was like. The conversations, there was something there. And so when I went and dove in and listened to hours of Kacie talking to these everyday women and I was like, I want to meet these women. And then the cool thing was you could like, it was people I've now met and that are in you guys community that are like accessible people. I just thought that was really unique to having those conversations in a way that felt. Ground, ground level, like touchable versus a lot of conversations at the time I was seeing were just very aspirational, I guess you could say thinking about the Oprah's, the Bernays, you guys know, but yeah. Ciera, will you talk a little bit about just like your personal ethos and what brought you into the film industry to begin with and maybe talk a little bit about that tattoo on your arm. Yeah, My personal ethos. Yeah. So it is the tattoo on my arm, which is a quote by one of my favorite singers. His name's Dermot Kennedy. And the quote is forcing hollow hearts to feel again. And then it's wrapped around my arm with a line that represents my through line. And everything that I do, I want to make viewers feel something, feel again a lot of the stuff I do, I want to be consumable by people who don't look like me, act like me, so that's where the quote goes. So it's like. I want to bring people in to my world, to my story, to my communities, and then force them to feel that empathy, that kind of thing. When, how did I get into this industry? I learned I liked to write when I was in high school. I had an incredible creative writing teacher and he was reading something of mine and was like, It feels like I'm watching a movie and I was like, oh my gosh, I can write and then it can connect to TV and movie because at the time I was like that kid who was stuck in my room watching hours and hours of Grey's Anatomy, Lost like The Hundred, all these shows, like I was just consuming way too much TV. My parents wanted me out of my room, but that was like where I lived and loved living with made up stories and characters. And as I got older, I started to see more how the impact of these characters and stories could transcend into our real lives. Whether that be like someone I know who saw this Oreo ad. That was about LGBTQ, rights and stuff. And someone saw that and it really touched them. And they were like, this, made me feel this, or made me feel more open to X, Y, and Z. And so I, I had a lot of experiences like that. And then my own were like, I would watch a character and be like, okay. I get to come home, watch this character, and I feel like I, they're my friend. I feel they're, I'm learning just as much from these fake shows and people. I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do in my life. And that television was fun and exciting. And it was also a vehicle for change and for opening people's eyes and all of that. Cause yeah, I was always grasping for characters in a sense that. I would see maybe like a white girl that I was like, okay, there's certain qualities here and there that I can maybe relate to, but it wasn't the whole thing. And so I was always looking for, okay where's all of me. And then, you realize you get to here and it's like, all right, you gotta go make it yourself. Or there's one piece of representation. So as I've gotten older, it's like seeing, okay, where are the gaps? This was something that impacted me as I was growing up. So now, looking to the people who are younger than me now, and just wanting to fill their screens with something that, so that they don't have to grasp at straws, trying to feel like they can relate to the characters. And it's just like there, and they can see themselves on screen. So that's that's the long and short. I went to school for it, and then, I graduated into the pandemic and was like I have no idea where my life is going to go. The entertainment industry was shut down and I just got super lucky with some alumni who let me become a production assistant early days on reality TV. So coming full circle, getting to work on the stock again, but different from reality. It's going to be way more authentic, but like I got to go and be a PA and learn the ropes of production and how these shows that I've been watching for years actually get made. And I just ended up falling in love with that as well. And you guys are starting to learn the community, like the film industry and the creatives that you just meet everyone. Has their own specialty that they're like, super passionate about. And then you all come together and make something. And, so I think I was initially drawn to the aspect of it just being TV entertainment, and then the representation, and then the people of it all has really kept me here where I'm like, this is what I want to do. Okay, y'all, you can see why we found each other. You were one of the first people that really started to talk to us about the power of television to change public perception of the idea that on screen when, I think I'll caveat this. I think a lot of people think of TV. As fluff as something that is not, it's a cherry on top. It's something we do in our pastimes, but so many of us, all three of us here on the call included, it is an integral part of how we spend our time. It's an integral part of how we get our news, how we. experience, other parts of the world, other cultures, and I think it's something like when new concepts, everything from sleeping in the same bed to interracial relationships, LGBTQ plus characters have been shown on television within five years, there is a trackable and measurable. impact on culture, on society, on what we consider normal. And that to me was such a light bulb moment of, we loved living in this audio space because it created the safe space for a lot of the women we were talking to, but it felt wow, to your point, this could be something bigger. This could be a vehicle for change. Just looking at the sheer numbers. Yeah, no, absolutely. I So something I thought of was like, for there are the people who watch TV, but even if you're not watching TV, someone next to you is, or it's subliminally, playing in the background and content is content. What's being put out there is being put out there and is going to have some kind of effect, whether you're actively engaging with it or not. And so I think, we're entering a really interesting. era where there's so much content, but the quality, it's almost like a race for getting enough quality out there now, because now there's this bulk amount of content. But again, like the subliminal stuff and like what. What are you letting just come into your ears or scrolling and half a clip. It's still it still goes into. I think, yeah, I think the impact of television of media in general can't be understated at all. Yeah, and I think a chance to go deeper. That's what we've talked about so much in the weeks. leading up to this. And this is an exploration of like, why so many shows out there might start the conversation. Yeah. This is like a chance to deep dive into some of the larger aspects at play. Absolutely. And then just having something that's not daunting to consume and learn from, like even if Even like people easily can be educated through documentaries and like we've seen it you're through like crime docs or what was like another one? But like wild festivals that go wrong kind of talks like every time, but there's so much more approachable than your textbook, your news article, your academic article that's giving, similar information. And then again, To put a face to the name. So you're talking, we're talking about women's issues and we're talking about Roe v. Wade and how it's affecting people. We're getting to actually see who's being affected versus right now we're hearing about it. We know like we're not in a good place for a lot of minorities and the issues we care about. But it's still, at least for me, I can put faces to names, but I know there's probably like a lot of people who don't know someone in their community who's. Dealing with the repercussions of certain bills that our government is passing and the like yeah, speaking of that, and the theme of today of just go for it cut to a year ago, we were the three of us were at Sundance together, and that was a, I think, probably across the board, a pretty pivotal moment for all three of us. It was our first time there. We were together. I just, I feel like it's one of those times we'll all look back on cut to 20 years from now. And it's we were so bright eyed and like green and excited and just like soaking it in the only way you can as like a first time person in that environment. And we were staying in like the tiniest little condo that, we could afford and all of this stuff. But we were there and we were there for, maybe four or five days. And it started with you saying, I've been working on this project and it ended with you saying, I'm going to do this project. And you did like literally not even, nine months later, it was in post production and ready to be shown to the world. So that I want to talk about that. And because a lot of it was catalyzed by the state of the world, everything we're seeing around book bands around, don't say gay bands around, especially here in the South. And so I want to hear of What was the shift for you of no, the time is now. I can't wait. Yeah. Yeah. There was definitely a shift. So like I, I wrote the script and I, when did I, so we went to Sundance in 2022. Three. Three. No, three. Just last year. Just last year. Okay. I'm trying to remember. 23. So I think in 2022 that past summer, I. Yes, that is. Okay. I'm just getting my timeline right. Yeah. So in that past summer, I wrote Take Note. And I wrote it not thinking there was ever a world where I could direct it. At that time, I was solely like, I love writing. Producing is my full time job. That's what I need to do to eventually become a showrunner. Like that was my lane, like strictly, like I've worked with directors. I've always seen it and Oh that's a great, you're doing great. But never thought that was a role that I could occupy. And so I wrote, take note, I pitched it to some people and some people were like, okay, yeah we're interested. Yes this needs to be made, but it was, it was very passive. It was like, I was pitching, thinking something could come of it, but not really knowing for sure. And then also not knowing that I had the power to make it myself. Like I was taking it to people. Saying I think this should be made and maybe you can make it and then realizing no one's going to be excited as you are about your thing and then, so there was that whole thing but looking around at the world, when I sat down to write Take Note, it was to just write something for my friends, for me, for everyone, in my community to feel happy and to feel safe Bye. Bye. I just I know countless people who have really strained relationships with their family and who have to, who don't get to be excited for the holidays when it comes around because of who they choose to love and. My personal experience was enough to write it and to feel like I, I needed something at that time where I was like dealing with my own family stuff. And I was like, I just want to feel happy. I want to know it's okay to be gay. Cause even as an adult, you have to like continually remind yourself because we're in a world that yeah, there are bills that are being passed. There are entire groups of people dedicated to saying. you shouldn't be this way. And so it's, it was me just doing that work of saying, it is okay. And writing myself this script that I wanted to see in that I felt like I needed because I'd felt that impact before when I'd seen something and felt like. Oh, I really needed to see that. And now I feel like I can take on whatever I needed to take on. And so taking that was something where I was like, I really need to see this, but all I can do is write it down. And so I wrote it, went through pitches and then disappointment and not knowing what to do. And then we went to Sundance and I don't know if it was like, I don't know, there was just some kind of like magic in the air of the year. We went specifically for sure. Amen. Ciera was like pitching this film to women in a line to get coffee. Like this, she was just like, and she got support. Like one of these women actually hosted a fundraising event at her home in California. This is the kind of connection that Ciera was making when we were out there. It was truly magical. It was nice to have something that people would be like, what are you working on? What do you do? Cause you, I would introduce myself and be like, I'm a writer. What do you have? And then would pitch take note. And so I think. Going to Sundance and getting received in that way was really important. Had I not gone, pitched it to people and then received like that immediate positive feedback, I don't know that I would have left and then gone and did it because you yeah, you unfortunately do. I needed that external yes this makes sense. Yes. So we'll see on that. I think There's also something about putting yourself in an environment that facilitates that. Yeah. So I think that sometimes it's just showing up. Katie and I've been talking about that a lot in this. It's it is an uphill battle to create anything from nothing, right? That is art, that is entrepreneurship, that is creativity, birthing, whatever it is, it's like you are truly pulling, nothing exists if you will it to be. And, but it's putting yourself in those environments where somebody is not just, Interesting, but they're interested. They're asking what are you working on? And you had an answer for that. All the groundwork you did or the rejections or disappointment. And that I think is so powerful. And I think it goes back to the first time we met with you. Like you saw us who we aspirationally wanted to be. And therefore we saw you back. And we played that later. We talked to six, eight months later, you were like, You took me serious. And we're like, you took us serious. We're like what do you mean? We thought you were the real deal kind of thing. And and so I think it's like those environments and you, it only takes that one person. Like talking about the characters we see on TV, but in real life too, it's like that one instance. It's exponential. And Ciera, your story of I didn't know fully this over the summer, you writing this almost for yourself writing is such an exercise personally for me it helps me express my feelings, it helps me locate just where I am in the world often. And that you did that, that there was some rejection even after that and pitching it as something you wanted to get out in the world, and yet you pitched it anyway at Sundance. Yeah. Yeah. Because it was something still like near and dear to your heart and you knew it was important and to receive that rejection and be like, Nope, gonna pitch it anyway. That's truly that speaks a lot to who you are as a person and how Kacie and I feel about you and walking beside you on this journey for us as well. Yeah, it was and I think anything you write when you are being vulnerable and is like coming from that really personal place. It's like It's inevitable. It'll connect with other people. And so I think I had that luck with take note where it was like, I, again, I was in that place I wrote for me, but then I knew by doing that, it will connect with others. And then to Kacie, to your point, being in the right places. I think it's also about the community. Like I left Sundance with a community that I didn't have before. So everyone I met in whatever regard, they were able to help me later on, like that getting into the community, making the initial connections. Great. But then, afterwards, like maintaining those relationships. And then that kind of also helps me feel comfortable to be, to go to you guys and say, I'd like you guys to help me executive produce this. I think I'm going to do it. I was having you guys, it was having yet, like you said, Robin, who I met in line at a coffee shop. And I met my talent manager there, which is like crazy too. So like it was, I felt more armed after I left Sundance that helped me feel more confident. And that was just. And again, face to the name, like getting to see like the faces of people who are supporting you, getting to like actually see okay there, there are people who want to help. And I think that's another thing I love about this industry is like, it's not. Yes, you can will something, but you do need an entire group of people behind you to do it. And that's really, I think, what that change was for me, was I started to look back and be like, Oh, I do have people here that can help. And you really just have to open your eyes to it. I know Steven Spark will say all the time like you do have network more than you think and I think I was at a point where I didn't really open my eyes to who was in my community. And Sundance helped me really do that. All right. So if you've been listening along, you're like, take notes. Ciera, what is take note? Let's tell the people, let's give them a little taste of what's coming. Yeah. So take note is a short. film that I wrote and directed and it follows a teacher. Her name is Miss Amato. She goes into school every day and is met with another student whose name is Lexi, and Lexi's holding a little piece of paper in her hand. And After Ms. Amato is consistently letting Lexi into the class and Lexi's putting the note on another girl's desk, Ms. Amato eventually is okay, something's going on. There's obviously a crush here. She she confronts Lexi at a midpoint in the film and asks her why kids aren't texting. Like why are we notepassing in 2024? And then once Ms. Amato realizes there's hesitation around whether they can express these feelings or whether it's all right. The next day, Miss Amato comes in and she has a photo on her desk of her and her fiance, because she's also queer. And yeah, it's a film where we see the teacher. step into herself. She comes out as gay to her class. And after that, Lexi, our second main character, she then goes and hands the note to Belle and they start texting again. So it's a short, cute, wholesome film. The intention is to understand that your small impact, your small bravery that you do for you is going to impact someone else just like what Ms. Amata did for Lexi. So I also, again, a love letter to educators. Like I said, my creative writing teacher had a huge impact on me. My aunt's a teacher. She's always It's been such a champion for me and my, my, my gay little cousin as well. So it's clearly like labor of love is such a real meaning when it comes to taking out. And yeah I'm really happy with it. It's nice to be in a place where it's done. Even as I was pitching it, let me tell you guys, it's stunning. This is not like a, Ciera may have been first time sitting in the director's chair for this, but when you see this piece, it looks like something you can turn on any major streaming platform and see the most beautiful, everything from like the lighting, the subtlety of the characters. This is a, it's a short story that says so much with very little. Yeah. And it's. all of this and the characters are developed beautifully and you won film impact georgia's grant like that to me tells you like this is so affirming and sometimes it's that belief in yourself and i know you said you applied and then it was like oh that was probably a throwaway you get home from sundance and you're like oh shit i just actually One, the thing is crazy. Yeah, I think crazy. Yeah. Talk about like people in their power when they're doing hard things like you can tell Ciera just like how passionate you are about this in general. But we had a small taste of it when Ciera directed just some short clips that we wanted to create for it all media in November of last year and or two years ago now, but yeah, I know it's unbelievable, but but anyway, she was just like in charge of the day and just watching her like passionately do what she does. best in the world. It was just so wonderful to be in your sphere. And then to watch you do this really hard thing of getting a film funded. There's nothing easy about it. Kacie and I can tell you from experience, it is an uphill battle. I wish I knew less about it. Yeah. It's but then to bring on this beautiful cast and crew. That was just like, again, the people you had working for you are incredible human beings. And I think, again, that speaks to like your character and how you brought those people in and how collaborative this project was. But then, to bring this to life, you normally wear a producer hat and you had to step into director's shoes. And I remember being on set and you saying this is really hard to switch gears and do this. But nevertheless, like this film came to life and I just. I think Kacie and I watched you walk in your power even through the difficult things for an entire year. And it showed both she and I that one, that is possible, but two, it was just a lovely thing to witness. I'm glad it looked better than it probably felt at the time. A thousand percent, of course. No, yeah, winning Film Impact Georgia was insane. That one meant a lot to me though, because it was Just based off the script and that yeah, that was as a writer first like That's all I cared about so yeah, and then I had an incredible team incredible Some of which like Leah she was on that first set and we were going for it on media And then I got to bring it bring them back And even you guys gave me that opportunity to step in on set and direct that media day that we did for the Fuck It All podcast. So that was super important, too. I, the biggest thing I learned from directing is that it, I had a lot of fun doing it looking back. I was super stressed in the moment, but looking back, I was like it is. It is a matter of writing live or like seeing everything while you're around a bunch of different people and having to be a little more vulnerable versus when I was producing, you can be more like Everything's under control and you don't have to show any emotional aspect. It's like the business of. It's the business of versus being the creative of. I'm just so lucky I got to experience that and then get to see that, Oh, I can do that. Was telling myself stories of you're not a director cause of this and that. And truly any, anyone can direct it's there's becoming all different shapes and sizes. But yeah, it was a crazy year. I'm so glad I had you guys through it. Again, it was like, could not have done it by myself. I can't say that enough. Like even through crowdfunding, that wasn't just me. That was. The producers, you guys. What a whole team. Honestly, it was impressive. You like, you told us on a, Tuesday that you're doing it and cut to two weeks later. You're like, and here's the 17 people around me that I'm gonna make. It was like a lesson, class A lesson of like how to inspire and motivate others. How to act like you know what you're doing even if you don't. How to I'm just taking notes left and right. Okay. Yeah, this is the same woman that was like, I might be working on a project and then now she's exactly that. I learned you have to be, you have to be so excited about the film or whatever you're making that other people are that excited about it. And like that was so hard. I know you guys get it now. Cause when you're raising the money. You want to be excited, but there's so much uncertainty that it's like, I have the conflict of feeling like, you don't want to feel like you're oh, we lost Kate. Oh no, we lost her.