Life Is Not A Tuna & White Bean Salad with Filmmaker, Screenwriter Sophia Romma – S1 E10

Sophia is a playwright, screenwriter, and a film & theater director.  She is a producing artistic director of Garden of the Avant-Garde Productions and she’s also a member of the New York City Bar Association, working in human rights.

She was the screenwriter and producer for the international arthouse film Poor Liza, which won a Garnet Grand Prix award. The film starred Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Ben Gazzara and Emmy & Academy award winner Lee Grant.

Sophia has written and directed three films for New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Dramatic Writing Program.

Outside of film, Sophia has written fourteen different stage plays which have been produced either off-Broadway or “off, off Broadway”.

Sophia’s latest project, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime is Used and Borrowed Time. It is a 2020 time travel film about an aging actress who is magically returned to the year 1965 in segregated Alabama.

Sophia penned screenplays and directed three films for New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Dramatic Writing Program.  She also wrote and directed a series of cutting-edge short films for the New York Film Academy

Pornography!” and “Commercial America in the 90’s.” She wrote the screenplay for the documentary “Call Girls for Hire: The Sex Slave Trade Epidemic in Eastern Europe,” for which she was honored with Moscow’s Social Awareness Documentary Film Award at the Moscow Women Make Documentaries Film Festival.

Romma also wrote and directed a series of cutting-edge short films for the New York Film Academy: “Underneath Her Make-Up” (unveiling the stigmatized and hounded LGBTQ community in India) and “The Frozen Zone” (shedding light on the supernatural healing powers of ancient shamanism and its infinite wisdom).

Dr. Romma is the author of fourteen stage-plays, produced Off-Off Broadway/Off-Broadway, three of which were produced at La MaMa E.T.C. Her play, “The Past Is Still Ahead” which she wrote and directed, ran at the Cherry Lane Theatre, at the Midtown International Film Festival and toured Montauk, London, Moscow, Montreal and Seoul.

The Negro Ensemble Company presented “The Mire” at the Cherry Lane Theatre; it was heralded by the New York Times for “grinding down stubborn cultural borders with love’s symphony.” Romma’s “Cabaret Émigré” was lauded by The Villager for “delving deep into the dislocated émigré’s soul in erotic quantum verse.”

Romma graduated from Tisch School of the Arts, earning her B.F.A. from the Dramatic Writing Program and her M.F.A. from the Dramatic Writing and Cinema Studies). She holds a Ph.D. in Philology from Maxim Gorky Literature Institute and a Masters of Law from Fordham University School of Law.

Twitter: shemtov83Instagram: gardenoftheavantgardeLinkedin: Sophia Romma, Ph.D., Esq.Youtube: Garden of The Avant-GardenIMDB Profile: Imdb Profile gardenoftheavantgarde.com

gardenoftheavantgarde@gmail.com

Missed an episode? Check out my episode with writer, director Lauren Flick. She says, “Don’t Be Afraid To Ask”  for what you want.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask with Writer, Producer and Director, Lauren Flick – S1 E16

Lauren Flick is a writer, producer and director who has worked for such notable networks as NBC, CBS, A&E and AMC. She has written articles on feminism, environmental causes and social justice and is frequently featured on CNBC’s digital platform. 

She has a drive and passion for politics and human rights and actively creates content for many political organizations and campaigns. She is the NYC Events Chair for Women In Media, an organization that promotes gender balance in the film and entertainment industries for filmmakers who work above and below the line and the people who love to collaborate with them. 

She is a Board Member of Friends of the Metro Theater, a group of neighborhood residents that have come together to tackle the task of revitalizing the Metro Theatre on the upper west side.

Website:  Lauren Flick.com
Linkedin: 
Lauren Flick
Twitter:  
Lauren Flick
Instagram:  
Lauren Flick
 

Women In Media
Website:  
Women In Media
Linkedin:  
Women In Media
Instagram:  
@womennnediainc
Twitter:  
@WomenNMedia

 Listen to this episode on Apple, Spotify, Google, Pandora, AmazonGoodpods and any other podcast player or follow my link here:  pod.link/1555616158 

If you are wondering how you can get YOUR film project made and out there for all to see, listen to my interview with Film Producer and business owner, Jane Applegate, How To Get Your Film Made.

Turn Your Obstacles Into Opportunities with Business Coach & Podcast Host, Ina Coveney – S1 E15

Ina Coveney is a six-figure entrepreneur, business coach and host of The Global Phenomenon Podcast. 

She helps up-and-coming online coaches monetize their tiny audience through organic lead generation strategies before they invest time and money in audience growth. Her mission is to help others do the same. 

Ina reached six-figures in her business before ever cracking 1,000 followers on any of her platforms, and her mission to help coaches do the same.

Her motto is to stop living paycheck to paycheck and design a rich and abundant life with one purpose, to help others become the next global phenomenon….

Website:  Ina Coveney

Instagram: @yourengagementcoach

Membership Program: Get Clients First

This episode is sponsored by pair.com. For a free month trial, go to www.pair.com/free, promo code is QUICKSTARsix

Do you want to find value and inspiration, check out my interview with Ura Yoana Sanchez.

[fusebox_transcript]

How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall? with Award-Winning Composer, Charu Suri – S1 E14

How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall?

with Award-Winning Composer, Charu Suri

This week’s guest is award-winning composer and journalist, Charu Suri.

Charu has been playing the piano since the age of five, and performing since the age of nine. She is the first Indian-born jazz composer to premiere work at Carnegie Hall.

Her latest album, Book of Ragas. vol 2, debuted on August 6th.

Charu received six nominations in the International Singer Songwriters Association aka ISSA, Awards in 2021, and won a Silver for Band Single of the Year for her original song, “Bluesy.”  In April she became “Jazz Artist of the Month” and won a gold record from ISSA.

She is a voting member of the  GRAMMYs (Recording Academy).

During the Pandemic, Charu uploaded several jazz performances on her social media channels for joy and inspiration, which we all needed so desperately. So check out her social media channels to listen!!

So let’s find out more about Charu and all her accomplishments, and about her upcoming performance at the famed CARNEGIE HALL coming up in November.

So join me in welcoming Charu Suri!!

Charu’s Website: www.CharuSuri.com
Instagram:  Charumusic
Facebook:  
Charu Suri Trio
***UPCOMING CARNEGIE HALL PERFORMANCE

After you make it to Carnegie Hall, let Financial Advisor, Rhonda Schwartz teach you the PPP’s of financial planning in this episode of That’s How We Role.

Create Your Own Blueprint with Author, Poet & Educator, Patrice Juah – S1 E13

Create Your Own Blueprint

with Author, Award-Winning Poet &
Founder of the Martha Juah Educational Foundation,
Patrice Juah

This week’s guest is Patrice Juah, an accomplished author, award-winning poet, education entrepreneur and former Miss Liberia.  She is the founder of the Martha Juah Educational Foundation, based in Liberia, West Africa. The Foundation launched the Sexy-Like-A-Book initiative, designed to inspire young women and girls to improve their perspective on reading, literacy, and education. She is a firm believer in the transformative power of education. Among MANY things, Patrice is a Mandela Washington Fellow for President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative.

Patrice’s desire is to motivate and empower young women by supporting local non-profit organizations to educate women on HIV/AIDs, teenage pregnancy, and education.

So let’s find out more about this incredible woman and her amazing accomplishments and platforms, as we welcome Patrice Juah.

Patrice Juah is a Communications and International Affairs Professional. As founder of the Martha Juah Educational Foundation, she champions girls’ education, leadership, and digital and information literacy through the foundation’s Sexy Like A Book initiative. The initiative takes a social and academic approach to address some of the barriers to girls’  education in Liberia.

Patrice works to improve girls’ perspectives on literacy and education by fostering creative expression and cultural awareness. Through public speaking workshops, mentorship meet-ups, and social excursions, girls not only enhance their capacity to tackle academic rigor but are equipped with the confidence and voice to write and speak about taboo topics in their communities. This approach of embedding Social Emotional Learning into girls’ education empowers girls with the social-emotional skills to think critically and make informed decisions as socially conscious young leaders.

Explore Sexy Like A Book’s Enchanting Voices Anthology (Book One), written by the first cohort of young writers. Proceeds from the book support the provision of scholarships and educational resources to girls in rural Liberia. A second anthology, written by cohort two, will be released later in 2021.

An accomplished author, award-winning poet, former Miss Liberia, and a firm believer in the transformative power of education, Patrice is a Steering Committee Member of Karanga – The Global Alliance for Social-Emotional Learning and Life Skills. She also supports the Liberia Literary Society as a board member and editor. Patrice is a Deutsche Welle Global Media Fellow, a Kistefos Scholar, and a Mandela Washington Fellow for President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative. She holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the IE School of Global and Public Affairs at IE University, in Madrid, Spain.  A perpetual knowledge seeker, she has a fascination for languages and enjoys fostering global collaborations.

More on Patrice’s work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/p-atricejuah

Donate to Sexy Like A Book here.

Amazon book:  Why I Smile 

Enchanting Voices echoes stories of a Liberia that could be but struggles in the now. It echoes stories of hope and dreams; of courage and resilience; of possibilities and a future waiting to bloom.

The collection is a poetic celebration of youth, innocence, joy, and emergence from a place of despair to one of progress and fulfilled dreams, if Liberians stay on the path of development, change their mindsets, and value Liberia for the true treasure that she is

100% of the proceeds from this book will go towards scaling up efforts and providing scholarships and educational resources to Liberian girls, particularly those in rural communities.

Wanna hear from other authors? Check out author, Jill Dalton’s episode, ‘Be Your Authentic Self’.