I eat pizza in the bathtub.

"To be perfectly original one should think much and read little, and this is impossible, for one must..."

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:28:05 -0700

“To be perfectly original one should think much and read little, and this is impossible, for one must have read before one has learnt to think.”

- Lord Byron, on the paradox of being original and combining previous influences. A crisis of any creator, artistic or scientific.

Maria Popova assembles a masterful collection of advice to reconcile this paradox: The Art of Scientific Investigation (1957), Part I: The Role of Openness and Serendipity in Creativity and Discovery

(via jtotheizzoe)

Good news, folks: the film I directed/wrote/produced is an...

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:33:38 -0700

Good news, folks: the film I directed/wrote/produced is an OFFICIAL SELECTION of the San Francisco Black Film Festival!

We pleased as punch over here and can’t wait to see it on the big screen. WOO HOO!

Hi! The social justice community on tumblr is eating you up! We loved your role on Scandal. We break it down and analyze your role and then realized you were perfect. (: I cross my fingers that you'll be back next season!

Sat, 12 May 2012 06:43:36 -0700

Well, isn’t this just the perfect way to start the day! So glad you enjoyed it! I’ll cross my fingers with ya. Thanks!

ronniedobbs: jerrika: Read More Just watched the episode — you did great! How do we see to it...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:15:00 -0700

ronniedobbs:

jerrika:

Read More

Just watched the episode — you did great! How do we see to it that it becomes a recurring role?

Ha! You’re the umpteenth person to say this - I think y’all are just being nice. Nevertheless, I won’t fight it if someone starts a viral campaign to make it so!

(Thanks for watching!)

Sis! Just caught the 3rd episode of "Scandal", and started surfing the tags on here. Came across your page! Beautiful job! Your scene with Columbus was awesome! Very nice moments! Congrats on booking that show! It's a brilliant one! Best with all your endeavors! :-)

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:46:16 -0700

Thanks a million - for both the note and support! So glad you enjoyed it!

I’d cap this off with a gif but I can never find situationally appropriate ones.

Upcoming guest star on ABC's Scandal this Thursday. Tune the hell in or else.

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:41:09 -0700

BONUS: photos from set.

On awkward girls black, white, and the.

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:18:00 -0700

Tuesday night, I attended a screening of GIRLS, HBO’s new collabo with Lena Dunham of Tiny Furniture renown. The first three episodes are so excellent it’s alarming – witty with just enough shag to make its sometime-glossy veneer relatable and not too darling.

I walked away with my guts trailing behind me. And not in a good way.

See, two years ago I began writing a webseries about a quirky black girl’s problems relating to larger society. She was intelligent; she was capable; she was a new paradigm. By the time we got around to shooting the trailer for the series, Awkward Black Girl premiered and I said well, goddamn. Sure, there were more than enough differences between the two projects to make both viable, but I felt eclipsed and lost steam.

A year later I revived the project and re-envisioned it as a short film. The Girl retained her quirks yet visually became an unconventionally attractive white girl – with all hallmarks and struggles remaining. Supporting characters and plot points remained as well…including a strange parental dynamic, an abortion storyline, an ultimately ill-advised relationship and the overall tone and style of the piece. Now that we’ve finished it and are undertaking the festival route, I find myself again with a well goddamn and this time it’s Lena’s fault.

I don’t know what to make of the fact that two years ago this idea was so strongly on the wind that the three of us took hold and created these parallel works. I also don’t know what to make of the fact that, since mine is the last to debut, it may likely go the way of the dodo.

I suppose it’s a bit of a princess problem: Woe is me! I had seemingly brilliant idea and these other women stepped in to prove that said idea was indeed brilliant, marketable and necessary and, lo!, it now has made room for new voices and stories that were previously (and sorely) lacking. But whither myyyy film? But what of meeeeee?

The last couple of days have been about really trying to find the lesson and I think I’ve landed on one: who gives a fuck? That person up there in the italics? She’s obnoxious. She’s uncreative and so bound to her successes and failures that she’s going to cripple future creative potential. Unfortunate. Also: pathetic.

Hence the lesson, methinks: don’t be That Girl.

On carrots and collaboration.

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:13:06 -0700

At the beginning of the year, I had an idea - no, scratch that.

At the beginning of the year, I had a fucking thrilling idea.

I would select a small group of friends to take part in an experiment appropriately titled SCIENCE FAIR. The invitation was clear:

[Remember] the science fair! Where you dallied with adulthood. Where you were tasked with putting your curiosity on display. It was the time when the world finally got a peek inside your brilliant tiny brain via that three-walled cardboard presentation board. Your intellect, your imagination, your inquisitiveness laid out in glorious spectacle.

And it was totally up to you. You were given the freedom to delve into whatever topic sparked your interest and to make it as easy or as complicated as you desired. Yes, some of you half-assed it but others…you reveled in the autonomy.

And that shit was dope.

I’d like to bring that back, in a way.

Ever look around at the Apatows and Feys and wonder how the hell they found their teams? Well, they singled out people they liked working with and worked. (Crazy how people miss that last part.) So, I selected members according to their talents, experience and dedication - and, yes, willingness to be challenged…to go for the carrot.

We just completed our first experiment and I’d love for you to take a gander. This is how it worked: CHALLENGE THEME: meditations on an arrested clown; PARAMETERS: two minutes, zero budget. RESULTS: here.

Of course, my favorite is the one I participated in. Watch it.

At this point, I’m still unsure about where the group will end up and we’re working out some exciting options. All told, though, I’m just glad we’re doing it. These people have committed to the project, taken on the cause and are exploring and fueling themselves creatively. I’m glad I could help that happen.

Thursday night (Friday morning at this point?) in my abode. From...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:08:30 -0700

Thursday night (Friday morning at this point?) in my abode.

From left to right: various journals, clotted cream cookies, un livre, a watch, water, scotchosity, stubborn earrings, and bralessness. Typical.

Short Film of the Day: “This Is My Home”: A short profile of a...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:39:18 -0800

Short Film of the Day: “This Is My Home”: A short profile of a New York City curio collector whose home is regularly mistaken for a vintage shop.

“This is my home. And I invite people in my home. They’ll stop outside while I’m sitting — usually in the summertime — they’ll stop and say, “what is this?” And I tell them, “well, go inside, satisfy your curiosity, and then come out and tell me what it is, ‘cause I don’t know!”

I deeply enjoyed watching this.

Hey Jerrika, it's been a month! What have you been up to?

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:39:00 -0800

Glad you asked, stranger!

In January, I was cast in an indie feature called Teacher of the Year. Last week, I was in New Orleans shooting a commercial with Todd Stashwick and notable director, David Shane. And this week, I can officially say the film I wrote/directed is complete.

…And as of five minutes ago, I completed my director’s statement and, gotta say, I’m proud. I’d like you to be first to read it:

As a proud hermit with a tendency toward the quirk, many films purport to be aimed at me and my ilk. There’s a recognizable formula to those stories: Lovable Loser secretly hates her life. Lovable Loser’s gay friend and/or black friend pushes her to make a change. Lovable Loser subsequently falls in love. Lovable Loser is elevated from loserdom through love of Lover.

It’s enough to make you puke.

If these are the films aimed at my demographic, where’s the capable, interesting woman who’s comfortable with solitude and not obsessed with cheese (or any other quirk-of-the-week)? Where’s the woman who is introspective, intelligent and only just a little stagnant? Where’s the woman who is more concerned with why she’s doing than what she’s doing?

I hadn’t seen that woman. Then I realized I had to write her.

The one thing I keep coming back to since beginning this process is how relatable everyone finds The Girl. She seems to exist beyond demographics, beyond tropes. Her tale of ‘otherness’ is universal – and that’s something those other movies fail to understand. We’ve all felt like the ‘other.’ No one person belongs all the time. Yet, we’re so attached to our particular experience and we use it as a point of isolation rather than unification.

This isn’t just a tale about an outsider. It’s a story about belonging, longing, and the gulf of choices between the two.

-Jerrika, Writer/Director/Producer

See you on the red carpets.

“No matter what, people don’t think of me for glamorous parts....

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:02:23 -0800

“No matter what, people don’t think of me for glamorous parts. I’ll go to an audition or a meeting in a pretty dress, and they still think of me as depressed or embattled. Hopefully, that will change.”
Viola Davis

The official premiere for Scandal has been released, so set your...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:37:00 -0800

The official premiere for Scandal has been released, so set your DVRs for 5 April! Actually, just set your DVRs to catch the third episode of the season where you’ll see yours truly in a badass li’l role I hope ends up being brought back. Somehow.

Until then, enjoy the series promo above.

>> rube goldberg devices are such imperfect perfection. hie thee! go watch!

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:45:35 -0800

>> rube goldberg devices are such imperfect perfection. hie thee! go watch!

>> have you ever seen daytime fireworks?

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:09:19 -0800

>> have you ever seen daytime fireworks?

i just returned from a ten-day writing vacation in good...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:46:12 -0800

i just returned from a ten-day writing vacation in good ol’ new york. here are three of my favorite photos; you can find more here.

this is long overdue, but here i am with the incomparable...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:51:00 -0800

this is long overdue, but here i am with the incomparable jessica walter during a recording session for my film. it trips me out to realize was her boss for a day!

"You’re always playing yourself. It’s all autobiography, whatever you’re doing. It’s using them as a..."

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:48:07 -0700

“You’re always playing yourself. It’s all autobiography, whatever you’re doing. It’s using them as a kind of prism through which to throw something real about yourself, or something relaxed at least. Because the last thing you want is to look like you’re acting.”

- Tilda Swinton

Photo

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:00:05 -0700

Writing in Color: The Writers Guild of America, West Committee...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:13:39 -0700

Writing in Color: The Writers Guild of America, West Committee of Black Writers presents this panel discussion with TV comedy writers Dan Harmon (“Community’), Alan Yang (“Parks & Recreation”), Aisha Muharrar (“Parks & Recreation”), Halsted Sullivan (“The Office”), and network executive Karen Horne (NBC & Universal Media Studios), moderated by WGAW Committee of Black Writers chair David Wyatt.

Aisha: I had two friends who were working on a children’s show and they pitched a character named Aisha based on me. “Oh, she’s kinda a quirky, smart black girl.” And their boss was like, “Well that’s kinda unrealistic.”