Sista Brunch – Details, episodes & analysis

Four years running, the most-watched films on streaming have been led by Women of Color. So why is Hollywood still treating diverse stories as a risk?

On this bonus episode of Sista Brunch, we sit down with Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón and Jade Abston, two of the researchers behind UCLA's Hollywood Diversity Report, to break down what the 2026 data actually shows about who gets to lead, direct, write, and who's actually watching.

Dr. Ramón runs UCLA's Entertainment and Media Research Initiative and has spent more than two decades studying equity in Hollywood. Jade Abston is a PhD candidate at UCLA and a co-author on the report, whose own dissertation research looks at Black women's innovation in music videos and visual albums.

We talk through the history of the report and why it had to be built independently of the studios, the numbers behind this year's findings for Black women in lead roles, directing, and writing, and the audience data that keeps proving the same point: Women of Color aren't just watching, they're driving the ratings.

This conversation also unpacks something the headline numbers don't always show: how streaming algorithms shape what gets seen in the first place, and why visibility and sustainability are two different problems.

Read the full UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report at socialsciences.ucla.edu

Hosted by Fanshen Cox (she/they) Guests: Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón, Jade Abston

Sista Brunch is brought to you by TruJuLo Productions. Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/trujulomedia Follow on Instagram: @SistaBrunchPodcast

Support the show:

patreon.com/sistabrunch

GiveButter.com/SistaBrunch sistabrunch.com

Show Notes

How does an "army brat" with no Hollywood connections become an Emmy-winning documentarian whose work sits at the center of one of the most urgent conversations in America? In this bonus brunch, filmmaker Luchina Fisher pulls up a chair to talk about the long, unexpected road from journalism to the director's chair—and the craft, ethics, and relationships that carry a story from the page to the screen to the front lines.

Luchina is an Emmy-winning filmmaker, educator, and 2026 North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame inductee. She's the director behind the new feature documentary The Dads—a follow-up to her Emmy-winning 2023 Netflix short of the same name, executive produced by Dwyane Wade—which follows fathers of trans and gender-expansive kids deciding whether to stay and fight or leave the country.

If you make things, fund things, or care about stories that move people toward action, this one's for you. Luchina shares the three questions every filmmaker should ask before any project, why "everything starts with the word" no matter how the technology changes, how an 11-minute short sparked a movement and a foundation, and an honest look at the money—including why the starving-artist myth has to go and what it actually took to pay her team.

Pull up a chair. Don't cry. Eat your chicken biscuit. (You'll understand by the end.)

In This Episode

[00:00] – Big news: Sista Brunch joins the 2026 AIR New Voices AMPLIFY cohort (supported by Apple Podcasts), plus shout-outs to cohort shows worth your follow

[02:30] – Welcome to the brunch table: meet Luchina Fisher

[04:00] – Her Journey: growing up an army brat, the '70s–'80s golden age of screen, and a big brother directing the neighborhood kids in backyard Star Trek

[06:00] – Childhood in Germany, learning the language, and watching reel after reel on the military base

[08:00] – UNC Chapel Hill, journalism, the Miami Herald, a lifelong friendship with Tananarive Due, and the leap to study film at the University of Bristol

[12:00] – The three questions every filmmaker must ask: Why this? Why now? Why me? On bias, ethics, and "can I sleep at night?"

[14:00] – Her brother's charge to "do something," her mother's story, and seeing firsthand the power and urgency of story

[16:00] – Becoming a mother, parenting a trans child, and how Gloria Allen became Mama Gloria

[18:00] – Why The Dads: the fathers who show up, and the narrative we don't hear enough

[19:30] – Let's Talk Tech: from journalist to documentarian, shooting on everything from 16mm to digital, and why the story—not the gear—is the thing

[24:30] – The short as poetry: getting it under 12 minutes, designing for middle America, and the Netflix call the day after the SXSW premiere

[28:00] – Filmmaking is relationships: how the retreat itself grew out of Luchina's idea to film these dads

[31:30] – Financials: paying your team a livable wage, the post–George Floyd commission wave, her 2024 Daytime Emmy, the lean stretch after, and teaching at Yale and Fairfield

[36:30] – Building the feature: Stephen Chukumba's "let's keep filming," house-party fundraising, Dwyane Wade, and Elevate Studios

[42:00] – Support Sista Brunch + a peek at this summer's Sista Sessions

[42:50] – Where and how to see The Dads: festival run, Pride Month screenings, and community screenings you can bring to your own town

[44:30] – Sista Brunch: Luchina sits down with her 19-year-old self in Chapel Hill—a chicken biscuit, and the words she needed to hear

[46:30] – Closing love and gratitude

Resource Stack

Luchina Fisher & her work

• Director's site: luchinafisher.com
• Production company: Little Light Productions
• The Dads (feature): thedadsfilm.com
• The Dads Foundation: thedadsfoundation.org
• The Dads (2023 Emmy-winning short) — on Netflix
• Mama Gloria — Luchina's documentary on Black trans elder activist Gloria Allen
• Team Dream — short documentary

People & partners mentioned

• Dwyane Wade (executive producer) and Elevate Studios
• Stephen Chukumba, producer and Dads Foundation co-founder
• Tananarive Due, novelist, screenwriter, and director
• Human Rights Campaign / Parents for Transgender Equality Council

AIR New Voices AMPLIFY cohort shows mentioned (links in the episode description)

• Consider This For Comfort — Eteng Ettah
• Reality Blurred — Andy Dehnart (President, Television Critics Association)
• Femme and Furious — Julia Rose Portela
• Super Sorry — Amber Janke
• Out of the Ashes — Vince Comegys-Davis
• With thanks to AIR (Association of Independents in Radio), Captain TK Dutes, and Lynn Casper

Support Sista Brunch

• Donate: givebutter.com/SistaBrunch
• Patreon (including this summer's Sista Sessions): patreon.com/SistaBrunch

Guest: Marie Douglas

Titles: Composer; arranger; educator; musical director; conductor; freelance creative

Episode Theme: What it takes to build a career as a Black woman composer and why preparation, musical range, and real relationships matter in film, TV, and beyond.

Why this matters right now: Composers shape how stories feel, but they are still one of the least visible roles in entertainment. In this episode, Marie Douglas breaks down how she found her way into composition, what filmmakers should understand before hiring a composer, and why Black women need to be seen, supported, and heard in every part of the industry, including the score.

Marie Douglas is an award-winning composer and educator whose work blends classical, hip-hop, trap, spoken word, and electronic influences. Raised in Atlanta after being born in Buffalo, she came up through church, marching band, and a deeply creative household before stepping into leadership at FAMU and later earning a doctorate in composition. In this episode, Marie talks about learning trumpet, becoming a drum major, navigating music as a Black woman without many visible role models, and building a freelance career through preparation and in-person relationship building. She also shares real talk on contracts, pricing, DAWs, and the difference between digital and live music-making in screen work.

• Growing up in Atlanta and early musical roots (00:02:20)

• Band, trumpet, and finding leadership (00:05:29)

• FAMU, leadership, and musical discipline (00:08:47)

• Contracts, composer rates, and protecting your work (00:19:28)

• DAWs, composing, and Marie’s creative process (00:26:38)

• How a composer career can start from band and church (00:03:04)

• How filmmakers should approach and budget for composers (00:22:20)

• DAWs and the basics of modern music production (00:27:48)

• Freelancing and advocating for your value (00:25:27)

• “You were right, keep going.” (00:33:28)

Marie Douglas is a composer, arranger, educator, and musical director whose work spans live performance, freelance composition, and screen-based storytelling. Raised in Atlanta and rooted in a musical culture shaped by church, marching bands, and Black Southern traditions, she developed a sound that moves across genres while staying grounded in craft. She has contributed to a Grammy-nominated album, worked with Live Nation’s Big Femme Energy live experience, and continues to create music for artists, projects, and collaborators looking for bold, fusion-driven sound.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Watch the full episode on YouTube @TruJuLoMedia.

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Keywords: Marie Douglas, Sista Brunch Podcast, Black women composers, composer for film, TV composer, freelance composer, women in music, Black women in Hollywood, music for film and television, DAW, digital audio workstation, Logic Pro, FAMU Marching 100, music educator, Grammy-nominated album