Podcasts are a fascinating tool because they can serve as a platform where complete strangers can engage in thoughtful and highly personal conversations. As a podcaster, I strive to produce work that grounds every discussion in subject matter related to art and creative practice. I believe that using the arts to explore our sociopolitcal climate allows for difficult subject matter to be approached in a way that illustrates points of common connection rather than division. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to present these conversations, featuring brilliant artists and scholars, with the support of my design team. It is my hope that this podcast will serve as a model for the ways that creative ideation and future solutions can emerge when we make space in our lives to critically listen to our peers.
Kacie Willis-Executive Producer, White-Angle
Guest Bios
Andrew Viñales-Host
Andrew Viñales was born and raised in the Bronx, New York by proud Puerto Rican and Dominican families. He is a twin and practitioner in the Lukumí Afro-Cuban Orisha tradition, as well as an oral historian and cultural worker passionate about highlighting the experiences of queer Afro-Latinx politics, culture, and spirituality. Currently, he is approaching his third year as a PhD student in cultural anthropology at CUNY Graduate Center. He hopes to explore anthropological possibilities in cultural work, storytelling, and public scholarship.
Stephen Robert Morse-Director,
“In The Cold Dark Night”
Stephen Robert Morse is an American documentary filmmaker. He specializes in true crime and political genres. He is known for producing the Emmy Award-nominated Amanda Knox and EuroTrump, focusing on Geert Wilders. Morse studied at the University of Pennsylvania and worked for Mother Jones after graduation. He graduated with an MBA from the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School. Morse has said that working effectively with small budgets and limited time are important in making modern documentaries that deliver impact, as 24-hour news coverage and the rise of social media means that documentaries must cover ground quickly. This was why he initially released EuroTrump, originally called Wilders, only three months after the Dutch elections. He believes in a no frills approach to making documentaries while maintaining the highest quality in productions. Commenting on EuroTrump, he said, "We only shoot the scenes we need, and never use more crew than we absolutely have to."
iMDb profile | Twitter @morsels | Instagram @stephenrobertmorse
Raymond Carr-Founder, Ninjapuppet Productions
Raymond Carr has been a filmmaker, theatrical director, designer and Puppeteer for more than 15 years. His award-winning films have been accepted into Oscar-qualifying film festivals all over the world such as San Diego Comic Con, Dragon Con, London Sci-Fi Festival, Slamdance Film Festival and many more. His highly stylized films specialize in the sci-fi/fantasy genres. He has designed, and puppeteered for The Jim Henson Company, Nick Jr's , Walking with Dinosaurs The Arena Spectacular Tour, various projects for Cartoon Network & Adult Swim, IFC, BBC and Bento Box Entertainment. He was also a board member of Film Impact Georgia.
iMDb profile | Twitter @ninjapuppet | Instagram @theninjapuppet
Roee Messinger-Director, “American Trial: The Eric Garner Story”
Roee Messinger was born in Israel and raised in Mexico and moved to New York to study film in 2013 under the sponsorship of the Fulbright fellowship. Since graduating with honors in 2015 Messinger has primarily worked on his first feature film ‘American Trial: The Eric Garner Story’ which was completed in 2019. The film was accepted to IFP’s Film Week Project Forum in 2018. Other than working as a filmmaker, Roee teaches film, and has held Film teaching residencies at Lincoln Center, Educational Video Center, Young Audiences of New York and Hook Arts Media.
iMDb profile | Instagram @roeemessi
Nakia Stephens-Founder, Damn Write Originals
Nakia Stephens is an award-winning screenwriter/filmmaker born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a graduate of the first public HBCU in Georgia, Savannah State University, where she studied Mass Communications with a concentration in Radio/Television Broadcasting. During her undergrad tenure, Nakia also Studied writing in Shanghai, Beijing, and Ghana. After receiving her degree, Nakia went on to work and study screenwriting in Los Angeles, California. Her travel and studies helped influence her love for storytelling so much that in 2014 Nakia decided to be the master of her own fate by creating the Damn Write Originals screenwriting Label. Nakia is an avid champion for Women and People of Color and as Founder and Chief of Content for Damn Write Originals, she is devoted to telling authentic and purposeful stories. Since the launch of her Label, Nakia has had over 20 of her screenplays produced to screen including her most notable projects: Suga Water, Cream x Coffee, and Novella. Nakia has been featured and recognized for her work by festivals and platforms such as BLAVITY, ABFF, Rolling Out Magazine, and Black Girls Rock! She also garnered partnerships with major media outlets such as Revolt TV, Black&Sexy TV, BETher and most recently inked a development deal with Earvin "Magic" Johnson's cable network, aspireTV. Nakia believes in the magic of storytelling and always creates art with a purpose greater than self.
iMDb profile | Twitter @dworiginals| Instagram @screenwriteher
Erik Ljung-Director, “The Blood is at the Doorstep”
Erik Ljung is a freelance Producer and Director of Photography currently based in the midwest. His debut feature length documentary The Blood is at the Doorstep had its world premiere at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival where it earned a critics pick from The Hollywood Reporter. Most recently he was a series cinematographer on ABC’s “Genetic Detective” and is currently a series Director of Photography for Al Jazeera’s “Fault Lines” where his work was recently nominated for two Emmy’s. His other work includes Director of Photography duties on Netflix’s Making a Murderer pt. 2, shooting and producing content for the New York Times, VICE News, Travel Channel, PBS Frontline and CNN. In 2016 he won a midwest Emmy for his work on public television's Wisconsin Foodie. As a Director of Photography, he has worked with some of the world's largest brands and ad agencies to produce commercial content, including a Cannes Titanium Lion winning campaign for Boost Mobile. He is a former Nohl Fellow, and a three-time Brico Forward Fund recipient for his documentary work. The Blood is at the Doorstep is available on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Sundance Now, Tubi TV, Vudu, Roku, iTunes, & the Microsoft Store.
iMDb profile | Twitter @erikljungfilm | Instagram @erik_ljung
djones-Co-Founder, “urban nu-sense”
Derrick Jones (artistically known as djones) is a doctoral student in the School of Film, Media & Theatre at Georgia State University. He also holds and MFA in film from Ohio University with a focus on independent documentary. His research is focused on blackness as aesthetics with special interests in black process, black archives and black feminist thought . At GSU, he is part of the liquid blackness project, a research group studying blackness as aesthetics.
His experiences in the arts are quite diverse having worked in theater, film and hip-hop music since childhood as well as publishing four books of poetry. He received the 2008 I. Hollis Parry/Ann Parry Billman Fine Arts Award through the Ohio University College of Fine Arts and recipient of the 2008 Graduate Documentary Film Scholarship from The Princess Grace Foundation-USA. His films have featured in several film festivals and special screenings internationally as well as television and gallery spaces.
djones has worked professionally in higher education in faculty and staff positions at Bowling Green State University, the University of Akron, and Naropa University. He currently resides in the Atlanta, GA area.
iMDb profile | Instagram @djoneshiphop