Straddling Highs and Lows with Bertrand Cooper

Cheyenne Shannon is a gentle soul who grew up on film history and classic rock; one day she snuck onto a Beyonce shoot after high school, got the production company’s name, and worked her way up in their music video department. Now she bridges pop stars with leading directors for music videos; she is a creative rep, and in our discussion it’s revealed that her role (like many *behind the scenes* in a creative industry) is somewhat like a therapist, too. Creative reps are listening ears, trouble shooters, advisors, and coaches. Cheyenne has worked with Kristen Stewart, Dua Lipa, Pharrell Williams, Madonna, Spike Jonze, Megan Thee Stallion, Sabrina Carpenter, The Weeknd, Jennifer Lopez, Conan Gray, Kacey Musgraves and many more. And in a surprising twist toward the end of our conversation, we stumble onto the topic of high sensitivity, which is not so surprising given the enormous empathy required for such a role. Managing people and expectations — not to mention creative dreams — is a delicate affair, and this conversation reveals what that process is like. Cheyenne also gets to take photos on set, which has resulted in a vibrant portfolio of intimate snapshots, and she is soon expanding to landscape photography. One gets the feeling that her life is a full sensory immersion into not only the colorful backdrops on temporary sets, but the dream world of music and the aesthetic joy it brings.Yours deeply,Jenarajenara.substack.comAuthor, Divergent Mind Get full access to Permission to Change at jenara.substack.com/subscribe

Chris Martin is a dear friend and the author of several poetry books, as well as the recent May Tomorrow Be Awake: On Autism, Poetry and our Neurodiverse Future. He is the Editor-at-Large for the Multiverse series of neurodivergent authors at Milkweed Editions and the cofounder of Unrestricted Interest. Chris’ work is a gift; he is one of the most grounded people I know, and he basically speaks in poetry (seriously, just listen for a few minutes). In this conversation we talk about how he straddles chronic illness and being a publishing executive and entrepreneur, parenting and family life, writing new books, and his hopes and aspirations for neurodivergent authors moving forward.Yours deeply,Jenarajenara.substack.comAuthor, Divergent Mind Get full access to Permission to Change at jenara.substack.com/subscribe

John Zaozirny is a must-know, not only in the general world of film/TV writers, but also on X, where his tweet threads garner him reposts from heavyweights like The Black List founder Franklin Leonard and delight and educate thousands of aspiring screenwriters. John started out as an intern for Village Roadshow, then went onto work for Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, Appian Way, then onto the hit show Castle, and ultimately started his own management company for film and TV writers, Bellevue Productions. This episode is filled with industry insider info and nuts and bolts on publishing versus film and TV, how much agents and managers get paid, how big brands like Barbie, Pokemon, and Super Mario are entering the film market, and much more. Yours deeply,Jenarajenara.substack.comAuthor, Divergent Mind Get full access to Permission to Change at jenara.substack.com/subscribe

Melody Moezzi is the enchanting author behind breathtaking books like The Rumi Prescription and Haldol and Hyacinths and has recently gone from “very online” to completely off of social media. She’s also stepping down from teaching creative writing and transitioning to a slower pace of life to accommodate more writing time. Having written openly about her bipolar, Melody shares honestly about the rarely-talked about emotional elements of supporting students in the classroom and the disconnect there in needing to retreat when switching into writing mode, which requires quiet and focus and sometimes boredom and mundane perseverance. We also talk extensively about viewpoint diversity in higher education. Melody and I have shared several conversations over the years as our books came out at the same time in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, and I know you will enjoy her unique perspective on neurodivergence, work and career, media, university environments, and living a reflective life. Thanks so much for listening and sharing.Yours deeply,Jenarajenara.substack.comAuthor, Divergent Mind Get full access to Permission to Change at jenara.substack.com/subscribe

Screenwriter and producer Noah Evslin is co-host of Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss; hailing from Hawaii and from a family of authors and poets, Noah sheds deep light on the intricacies of being a working screenwriter while also managing family, on-set duties, and much more. He has worked on shows ranging from Grey’s Anatomy to Scandal and Hawaii 5-0, is currently a writer/producer on NCIS: Hawaii and just sold a new project to Netflix. This episode is a deep dive into how Noah went from aspiring writer to selling screenplays, working with agents and managers, his daily flow for prioritizing projects, his hopes and aspirations for Hawaii’s film scene, and more.Thanks for listening and sharing! I’ve posted video clips to Instagram as well to give you sneak peeks.Yours deeply,Jenarajenara.substack.comAuthor, Divergent Mind Get full access to Permission to Change at jenara.substack.com/subscribe

Bertrand Cooper is one of my favorite thinkers and writers for The Atlantic, Current Affairs and elsewhere; here on Launching Deeply he reveals the reality of being a working writer who comes from poverty and his concern that a true “poor Black experience” can’t actually penetrate Hollywood because so few figureheads actually hail from poor Black backgrounds like his. Cooper’s writing on the subject has gone viral in recent years, and he is one of the sharpest observers to pay attention to.We discuss class and the reality of publishing, navigating creative industries, the journey from magazines and online writing to authoring books, being vulnerable in public, and more.Yours deeply,Jenarajenara.substack.comAuthor, Divergent Mind Get full access to Permission to Change at jenara.substack.com/subscribe

It’s here, this is it, and I’m thrilled to share: the Launching Deeply podcast is live, my conversational project born of love and solitude, everything that goes into the process of launching deeply.As some of you know, my roots are heavily in the arts, which later led me to journalism and documentary film and as things tend to go, we come full circle and our rooted joys re-emerge.I hope you’ll listen, share, forward, and take in the incredible cadence and rhythm of the Oscar-nominated Emile Mosseri, my first guest on the show. If you’ve watched Minari or The Last Black Man in San Francisco, you’ve already been enveloped in his emotional storytelling. His music is on literal repeat in my house most days of the year. He is a collaborator with the top directors and producers in Hollywood now, after laboring over a decade, with many struggles, as most indie artists face.Launching Deeply is an honest look at what it means to produce from one’s core, the practical external struggles that get in the way, and the many soulful beings who keep at it anyway. I hope you’ll follow along as we hear from honest artists, scientists, reporters and cultural commentators about weathering creative storms and how to survive and thrive in a world of commodification.Yours deeply,Jenarajenara.substack.comAuthor, Divergent Mind Get full access to Permission to Change at jenara.substack.com/subscribe