Juanita Anderson & Danielle Eliska : Filmmaking in Detroit's Landscape

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Speaker 1
Only a couple months down, I think I recognize.

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Rob Lee
Welcome to the truth in this art. Your source for conversations at the intersection of arts, culture and community. I am your host, Rob Lee. And today, I am thrilled to have the pleasure of being in conversation with two guests. I just want to you know, I was like, give me you guys, all of these one person great conversations, but it should probably be two guests.

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Rob Lee
And today it's going to be two guests. My first is an award winning screenwriter, film director, photographer, entrepreneur and educator from Detroit. Please welcome Danielle Liska. And joining Danielle is a Detroit born producer, filmmaker, still photographer and media educator dedicated to amplifying marginalized voices and stories. Please welcome Juanita Anderson. Welcome to the podcast.

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Juanita Anderson
Thank you.

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Juanita Anderson
Yeah.

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Rob Lee
I'm glad we're able to do it. And it's it's a good way to to to wrap up the the week has Friday here as we're recording this and yeah I like I like closing out a podcast on a Friday to have a conversation where people have not met before and is like going to learn some things. It's a good wrap up.

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Rob Lee
So, you know, as we start off this conversation, I want to give both of you the space. And we can we can start with you, Danielle, but both of you, the space to introduce yourselves. And I do my sort of, you know, cut and paste online, amalgamated sort of introduction. But I find that often something that's left out.

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Rob Lee
You know, as I was talking about a little bit before we got started, you'll find like your brother Boxer as well. And I also paint. So you left that out. So if you will, could you describe your, you know, introduce yourself and then we'll move into some of the the following questions?

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Danielle Eliska
Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Danielle Eliska, and I'm from Detroit. I love my city so very much. I am a screenwriter, a film director, a photographer, educator and entrepreneur. Born and raised. Seven Mile Evergreen, West Side all the way. So and I'm so happy to be back home, actually. So yeah. It's good. Yeah.

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Rob Lee
And wanted it.

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Juanita Anderson
So I’m Juanita Anderson. I was born and raised in Detroit. I am a film and television producer, a documentary filmmaker, a photographer, a media educator and programmer. And I guess that sort of kind of sums it up is that I love Detroit. I was born in the north end of Detroit, are raised on the west side, actually the near west side, near Highland Park.

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Juanita Anderson
And now I am back in Detroit after multiple returns. This is my third return and I'm here to stay. And I live on the east side now.

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Danielle Eliska
Awesome. I think I think I need to also left out Legend because she's been doing this thing for quite some time. So we can add that to her power as of May two.

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Rob Lee
See, I told you inevitably I was going to leave something now that I'm like, Oh, I wasn't aware of that. And it's, it's, it's and thank you both because it's, I think it's very important to especially when you're doing one of these these types of interviews, it has the local component. Like, you know, when someone talks to me, one, they don't they don't hear an accent, so they're not sure where I'm from, like man from East Baltimore.

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Rob Lee
They're like, Oh, okay, cool, cool, cool. You say your team's weird. And so when it when someone describes that as part of their introduction, to me, it's like, that's important. That's embedded. So going back a little bit to the to the roots, if you will, you know, filmmaking, that's that's a big piece here. So what was that that initial sort of inkling that maybe you pursue filmmaking, maybe you would pursue something creative?

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Rob Lee
Like what was that first like motivation at first inkling for you. If I could start with you wanted it.

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Juanita Anderson
Or I didn't know for a long time that I was going to be pursuing filmmaking, but I think I always knew that I was going to do something creative. It was sort of embedded in me as a child. Growing up in Detroit, my mom used to take me to concerts and plays even as a little kid. She was a single mother and she had places that she needed and wanted to go.

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Juanita Anderson
And so I was her date often, but I also took dance lessons and piano lessons, and then by the time I was like ten or 11, I started following the bigger kids. We are used to get dropped off at Sunday school and my church was not far from the DIA, so we went to Sunday school but skipped church and hung out at the DIA.

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Juanita Anderson
I spent hours every Sunday in front of the Diego Rivera mural, which was my favorite place to just meditate. And then we met right before the end of church, just in time for our parents to pick us up.

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Juanita Anderson
And so.

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Juanita Anderson
I always knew that art was in my blood. I just didn't know that what turn it would take. I studied television thinking about film at the time, even though the major was radio, television, film. But I actually learned to be a photographer first before I really developed an interest in filmmaking. My first job in public television, and I'm not going to tell you how long ago it was, but I am going to sort of tell you, because it was at a time when if we were doing anything on location, we actually had to shoot on film, on celluloid.

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Juanita Anderson
So I really loved the tactile nature of having to edit that. So I mean, there was something really special about being tactile that really encouraged me and I found that I really gravitated to telling stories about real people who were doing real things in the real world. So that's my start.

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Juanita Anderson
Thank you. The short version.

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Juanita Anderson
Now.

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Danielle Eliska
I'm you know, for me, it's kind of like multifold, right? So I think it was like a forced marriage when I think about filmmaking and writing, it's something that I always loved when I was very young. Hour, Right, right. And my mom, she saw that in me that I love to read and write. So she would take us to the movies.

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Danielle Eliska
A lot of times my sister was a dancer, so she would take us to the movies and we'll go and see one movie. But then we will like go and sneak into other movies. So it would kind of be like a full day of seeing like 3 to 4 movies. And I never got enough of it. I always loved it so much.

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Danielle Eliska
Another component to it is that my grandfather was actually a photographer and filmmaker. So a lot of times when I do these interviews, I talk about how my mom used to take us to the drive and she would, you know, get us in our days and we'll be in the back of the trunk because we had like this hatchback and it will pack snacks and we'll go and see movies.

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Danielle Eliska
I always tell that part, but, you know, it wasn't until I started really kind of thinking and digging through some of the archives of what my grandfather was doing. He had films and he had beautiful photography that he took, you know, but he worked at, of course, you know. FORD So that was like his day job as a way to provide for his family.

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Danielle Eliska
But I think his passion was, you know, filmmaking in and photography. And I feel like it was just that download this, that and thing that was just with me from a very young age. So, you know, I don't think I can really separate or find pinpoint the exact time. I just know I was writing little stories for my mom and she would hang them on the refrigerator.

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Danielle Eliska
And then from there I was acting out these stories that my sister with my Barbie dolls, and then it became this big thing. And I was always talking about what this Barbie is going to fall off the cliff and die, you know? So it was always something very dramatic, some plot twists coming up, some kind of way. So I think it was just always there for me.

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Danielle Eliska
Yeah.

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Rob Lee
Yeah. I think I think it's the creator's create. And I always start thinking through, you know, when we're younger, we just kind of are doing it, you know, when we were kids, especially that sort of early creativity, you know, and this just just released before I move into this next question. But yet I remember now I remember back in the day, I was like, I'm going to do a comic book.

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Rob Lee
I remember going through the whole process and inking the writing and all of the stuff, right? And I was one of those students that was like, I was a pretty good student, but I was like, I'd rather do the next fun thing, the creative thing. And now is like an adult, a fully formed adult. Like, you know, I have hair on my face and and I'm like, man, the prospect of doing a comic right now feels a little bit more like work.

00;09;25;07 - 00;09;45;15
Rob Lee
How am I going to monetize it? How am I going to put it out there? All of that, that different stuff. And I just think it's is sort of that shift. And I think the important part about it and I was observing both of you and describing creativity is a lot of teeth being shown, a lot of smiles because it's that freedom is that feeling of of fun and enjoying what you do.

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Rob Lee
So and I enjoy what I do. You'll see my teeth a lot here. So and moving to this this next question and it pains back a little bit to the introductions Detroit speak a bit about your creative influences in your work and in how Detroit, whether being from there sort of, you know, like Baltimore is very DIY as baked in what I do.

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Rob Lee
I'm going to figure this out. I'm going to figure out how to wire this. I'm going to learn it on my own and I'm broke. So I'm going to figure it out, though. So that's sort of what's baked. And we're we're a sort of figure it out town and that's baked into what I do. So you know obviously creative influences in your work but also speak on sort of the the local the city and how that impacts your work.

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Danielle Eliska
Do you want to take any do you want me to take it?

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Juanita Anderson
I'll try. And you know, I think it wasn't until I moved to Boston did I will eyes and I lived in Boston for 15 years that I realized what it meant to be from Detroit, a girl from Detroit and what it really meant and how much pride I had in my city. First of all, it's a black city no matter what anybody else tells you.

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Juanita Anderson
But I think it's also a city that understands that there's a whole world out there and that we are not only by our relationships with each other as black people, but also by a broad view of the world. I'll let you pick it up from there then. You know, I might come back.

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Rob Lee
I like that. I like that handoff right there.

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Juanita Anderson
But yeah.

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Danielle Eliska
You know, Detroit, it, I think is really unique to meet anyone from Detroit because they're going to wrap it like, I don't know, not one Detroit person. That's not like I'm from Detroit and they love the city, you know? And I know we get this crazy rap about being this city that's desolate, etc., but every city has been through that.

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Danielle Eliska
New York has been through that. You know what's been through that? Detroit, Chicago, every place has been through that. But we have always been here and been very present. I think one of the most powerful things that I know I've experienced in going away to New York and living and in New York is realizing how much of a community the artists have here.

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Danielle Eliska
There's a togetherness here that I haven't found anywhere else. There's a support system that I think Detroit artists innately have. They share resources, they share information, they share how they do processes. When in others places that I've been, everybody's kind of like cliquish, standoffish, just because it might be this threat that you may take their practice and learn it and be better than them.

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Danielle Eliska
But here in Detroit, I would have to say, like you already know, it's Motown. It's so many talents here. We aren't just like a one off prodigy, but like there are prodigies that are burnt out in Detroit and we are no separation. We're not the exception to the rule like all of us are. That and I'm not just trying to like gas us or put batteries in our backs like we literally have the engine and we have the thing, we have the talents to back it up.

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Danielle Eliska
I think anyone who says that there are artists from Detroit, you can take it to the bank that whatever work they're putting out is going to be good work, is going to be their best work in their creative work and their approach is going to be unique and different. And I think also, you know, talking about Baltimore, how is it d i y you know, black people, we don't have a lot of resources, but we can make it happen.

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Danielle Eliska
I mean, if you really think about to be right now, I mean, everybody may not be a fan, but yeah, we got the hood movies on Latch On to be. So I'm just saying like, we're going to always find a way and they may not have the training that I have or that my Juanita has, but they're making their movie.

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Danielle Eliska
So it's always a way of finding resources and finding a voice. But also, if there is not a way, we're going to either find one or we're going to make one. And I think that's a model that you can assign to Detroit people and Detroit artists if we're going to find a way or we're going to make a way.

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Danielle Eliska
And I think that's one of the most powerful tools that we have within our community is that togetherness, that cohesiveness, that the the willingness to share resources without being afraid because we're not intimidated by one another. We want to support one another. And in that, I love my city. We're second to none when it comes to that kind of community.

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Danielle Eliska
That's just the way I feel.

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Juanita Anderson
So I want to pick up on that because I think particularly and it pertains to our black people, artists are not in whatever what of life about making way. But I want to talk about black women artists for a minute because I think one of the things in that both Danielle and I treasure, honor and want to carry forward, if I could speak for you, for me, is this long legacy of black women artists in Detroit and around the country who have created space to do our own work.

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Juanita Anderson
We have had to create the space to do our own work. And as we do so, we mentor others and create space for other people to do their work as well. And that's what we're about.

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Danielle Eliska
Mm hmm. I stand in agreement, and I think, you know, going with the black women theme is like black women we are. So I think we are the.

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Juanita Anderson
Best effort.

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Danielle Eliska
On the planet. We hold it down, we hold everyone down. And again, I think within that can be this power, but also it can be this negative connotation where people lean on us too much, where they expect us to hold everything down. I'm not saying in that context and where we should be taken on everybody else's problems like we have been for so long.

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Danielle Eliska
But I think when it comes to resilience and tenacity and really pushing through some of the adverse situations that we may go through, we have a testimony that we tell just by nature, I think we have a spirituality about us that is innate, where we are like Mother Earth daughters and we carry so much within ourselves to give, but also to heal.

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Danielle Eliska
And I think a lot of times within the work that black women do, we're not only thinking about ourselves, we're thinking about our communities, we're thinking about our families, we're thinking about our people. We're thinking about our sons, our daughters, our husbands, our wives are everything. And we are always reaching deep down within ourselves and we're bringing out healing.

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Danielle Eliska
So even within whatever stories we're telling, whether it's through photography or filmmaking or documentary, we are reaching deep within ourselves and giving healing salves balms to so many people with our words, with our thoughts, with our work. And I think that people should treasure, you know, definitely all artists, but specifically black women artists, you know, lift us up even more on a panel because of the work that we do, because without us, there would not be so many different things.

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Danielle Eliska
So I always just want to make sure people know where I stand when I highlight women in my work. And it's the reason why my company is focused on telling stories that center, you know, female protagonists in black culture, the black diaspora, because those are the stories that I want to tell. And like Miss Juanita said, stories about just everyday people.

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Danielle Eliska
Ordinary people are the most magnificent stories. We have stories of great people. And I guess I love that. But sometimes it's the people on the like, you know, who's not getting that shine, who actually are making everything the world go go around so, you know, it's just important to make sure we are telling just these authentic stories in every single way.

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Rob Lee
I mean, it hits home like and, you know, I want to move into this this next question. And I have a few that are about an announcement, but I want to move it to this this next question, because, you know, it aligns right where, you know, I do this podcast and you folks reach out like I'm over 700 episodes in and, you know, people ask like, how do you curated, how do you do this?

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Rob Lee
And I start mentioning numbers like one year I did 300 episodes, 333 episodes to be exact numbers burned into my mind. And in one month I did, with the exception of one person, it was like March of like maybe 2022. I was like, I'm just going to do women this entire month. So I put out 35 episodes that month in a 31 day month, and I was like, Why?

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Rob Lee
And it's like, because these stories need to get out there. These folks may not have had a chance to share their story the way that they would like to share it. Or maybe someone didn't feel like their work was super interesting or important. And, you know, they had these these different challenges. So in that vein, speaking about sort of two things, it's sort of like what is it about the process of working in sort of the visual realm, whether it be photography, whether it be filmmaking and even even in the writing piece of it, but the full scope, what is the most fulfilling part of that?

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Rob Lee
And on the flip side, what are some of those those hurdles? Because, you know, as I was touching on it's all talk in unrepresented voices and people that look like you.

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Juanita Anderson
And I said, oh.

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Rob Lee
We don't see a story there. Don't know if that's interesting. So what is your experience then, if you want to start off Danielle?

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Danielle Eliska
So I know you asked two particular questions. So within the film photography, screenwriting world, I can't separate them. They all kind of go together. I'm a little bit different from with Miss Juanita, where photography came for me last. It was always writing, right? Writing was the passion. I knew I wanted to write in some capacity. And then when I saw Spike Lee and I saw Casey Lemmons and I saw Gina Prince-Bythewood and, you know, Julie Dash when I saw their work and I saw what they were doing, then I realized that being a filmmaker was very much possible for me to tell stories about my people, specifically thinking about Casey Lemmons I mean, if you

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Danielle Eliska
look at my blog, you would see that I have Eve's Bayou up here because that hit me so hard as a child because that was literally my childhood experience, because I'm Creole like, so it was like the aunt would have a dream and you had to stay in the gate the whole summer because they were worried if you got hit by you know.

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Danielle Eliska
So that whole story was a lived experience for me and thinking about staying boys in a hood as a young person and being so completely moved and constrained by the story, just to know that these people were a cousin or uncle or a brother. And realizing that finally they came out of this trope B narrative and they had some, some layers there where they had humanity about them, you know.

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Danielle Eliska
So I think there was so much positivity and being able to see these individuals. So again, to bring it full circle, they all go together. I can't separate them. Photography came literally after grad school, and it was because I needed to always be looking through the camera to see what a beautiful frame was. So it was kind of practice at first, and then people were like, Hey, you should put your work in this show.

00;21;39;02 - 00;22;04;10
Danielle Eliska
And then from there I have, I've had I've been in at least ten exhibitions and I've had a solo exhibition. And so now photography has become this beautiful part of the process. So it's always about telling stories. There's a look into Gordon Parks and you know, he did everything. He did it all. He did it well. So it's looking to him and gathering inspiration from him as an ancestor and using that download in my work as well.

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Danielle Eliska
As far as like the hurdles, I would have to say it's going to always be first and foremost finances to be really, really honest. The talent is there, whether it's taught or if it's innate, it's definitely there. I remember judging a panel of women directors and within that you had so many different cultures, right? And whenever I saw black women's work and I had to give like a yes or no answer, then they had a comment section.

00;22;35;24 - 00;22;55;14
Danielle Eliska
I would see the black woman's work and it was incredibly interesting, but it may not have been 4K resolution and in 619, you know, six nine or anything. And I realized the value in their work and I was so happy that they asked me to be one of the judges. So in the comments, I'm like, yes, these things may be compromised, but this is why.

00;22;55;22 - 00;23;14;22
Danielle Eliska
And then but the stories were incredible. And then you had like a white woman again. No, Charlotte. But they were doing work and the stories weren't that fantastic. But the image looked beautiful and it was polished and it was this and that. And I'm like, No, right here. But not too not throwing it under the bus. But the story just wasn't fantastic.

00;23;14;29 - 00;23;39;11
Danielle Eliska
But they had the resources that we don't have access to easily. I've heard people talk about the fact that they were broken. They got a little seed money from my auntie and a seed money would be like $250,000. And I'm like, Honey, please, we don't have the access to I can't go ask my auntie for $250,000. You know, it's hard enough for me to raise that kind of money within my community because we're all struggling, trying to, you know, make ends meet.

00;23;39;20 - 00;23;55;22
Danielle Eliska
So I think one of the biggest things is having the resources and then maybe finding crew that that's black and brown, you know, that's what has been my experience. Yeah. Miss Juanita, what do you think?

00;23;56;15 - 00;24;34;13
Juanita Anderson
So did us in terms of obstacles on the finances. But I would also say and bravo to the to be hood because I mean, it really goes back to to to making space. I think it's a bit larger in terms of the industry itself and the obstacles that are put in front of us by gatekeepers. If we allow them to gate, keep us and in some cases we have to put that into it.

00;24;34;13 - 00;25;28;24
Juanita Anderson
That's in terms of funding, in terms of resources, in terms of being able to get your films out into the world. And again, we have to create those spaces in order for all of that to happen. I found that years ago co-founded an organization which today is Black Public Media. It was called the National Black Programing Consortium back in 1978 when we started working on it, because there was not the funding going to black filmmakers or television producers, there was not the means for distribution for so much work that was out there and getting created with no money, but just labor, pure guts and grit for ABC to be seen and there was no place

00;25;28;24 - 00;25;29;28
Juanita Anderson
to honor it.

00;25;29;28 - 00;25;30;07
Juanita Anderson
Right.

00;25;31;24 - 00;26;28;27
Juanita Anderson
So again, you know, those are the kinds it's an industry wide issue that I think we're working to shift by any means necessary. You know what? Gratifying, gratifying about the process. Oh, my gosh. I think for me, it's the process of discovery and experience and really looking at real life and those stories that come out of it. I think the hardest part I know you didn't ask this question is letting it go once it's finished, because you always want to reshape and say, Oh, I wish I could have done this differently, or I like to try this and somehow you just got to let it go.

00;26;29;09 - 00;26;59;10
Rob Lee
Yeah, I hear that. It is, definitely. And thank you. It's definitely something I relate to in doing this. And I talk to painters a lot and that whole joke about painters, they're never really done. They just kind of stop because I guess it's done. I don't know. And even when I'm doing this, like I used to go through meticulously, look for every and all of this stuff, and I start looking at it and like, this isn't something the conversation anymore.

00;26;59;10 - 00;27;22;20
Rob Lee
It just sounds like just words being thrown back and forth and sort of like that extra polished and overly sanitized. It starts feeling almost it's it's remote from what the actual intent is when we have real conversations, which, you know, there's a framing mechanism here, obviously, but the intent is to be a conversation. So when it stops feeling like that, it's just like something's lost.

00;27;22;20 - 00;27;49;27
Rob Lee
Something's lost here with this goal of, well, if I just clean this up and trim it down and have it be a perfect 45 minutes, it's something is lost. It doesn't fit. So I want to move in to sort of this last chunk, if you don't mind. And I got to say congratulations on you two both being inaugural seed in bloom Detroit grantees is that's that's the that's what I'm reading here.

00;27;49;27 - 00;27;50;08
Juanita Anderson
So.

00;27;51;04 - 00;28;07;11
Rob Lee
What does it mean to receive sort of that grant and sort of what are the ideas that of how are you going to incorporate sort of, you know, this this this funding, this grant or have you into, you know, your work. If we can start with you, Daniel, please.

00;28;07;28 - 00;28;26;08
Danielle Eliska
Yeah, of course. It's a breath of fresh air, you know, for any artist to be able to receive any funding in order to do work, that's kind of like, oh, my gosh, half the battle has been. Now I can focus on the work that I want to do because I have the funding to do it. So I think it's it's a beautiful gift.

00;28;27;07 - 00;28;54;02
Danielle Eliska
We are also grateful and it's such an incredible cohort, not just me and this Juanita, but we're among them, a fabulous artist. So I am excited to see all of the things that we decide to put out into the world. What I'm focusing on specifically is building Neighborhood Bodega, which is my production company. It was once called Kinder Noir Films, but people thought that I was only making like noir films, so I was like, okay, so they're not getting the contra black.

00;28;54;08 - 00;29;15;06
Danielle Eliska
So I had to change the name a little bit, and I made it very specific to the two places that I love, which is Detroit and then Brooklyn, because I'm a Detroit baby and I was raised here, but Brooklyn definitely made me and I'm so thankful for that experience. So it's caught neighborhood bodega and it's that because I want it to really feel communal, I want it to be about my people specifically.

00;29;15;06 - 00;29;33;08
Danielle Eliska
And again, like, you know, I said that I'm telling stories about women and black culture and the black diaspora. That is who I'm centering in my stories. And these are the stories that I'm telling, you know, from a very organic place. So I love narrative films so very much and we do narrative, but we also have clients for documentary.

00;29;33;08 - 00;29;54;21
Danielle Eliska
I've also directed commercials and all kinds of things, so it's definitely like a full, well-rounded production house that has the ability to take something from the development all the way through to production, post-production, to the festivals. I'm not a distribution house, but I will try to find some way to get the work out into the world. So that's a beautiful thing.

00;29;55;16 - 00;30;16;22
Danielle Eliska
You know, of course, one of the touchstone inspirations for me is going to always be Ava DuVernay house is built her company in such a beautiful way. So using her as, you know, a guide and a template and how to do that, you know, in this space here in Detroit is definitely what I'm looking forward to and using as a light, a beacon of light.

00;30;17;13 - 00;30;50;11
Juanita Anderson
Unlike Diane Daniel. And I've never considered myself an entrepreneur. And I suddenly realize that it's time that I think of myself in that regard. I've always been very project centered because especially with documentary, it takes so long to find all the money that is needed to do the work that it's needed. So I've always centered the project and not necessarily my company and my business.

00;30;51;08 - 00;31;33;17
Juanita Anderson
So this, I think opportunity really causes me to shift my thinking and really think about how do I grow a business that works to sustain my practice and at the same time, I'm to Danielle's earlier point about being able to find black and brown people to work as crews. I think I've always felt it as my responsibility, especially in coming back to Detroit, to really work, to build our own communities.

00;31;33;26 - 00;32;17;03
Juanita Anderson
Infrastructure, which I think, you know, is we've got problems. I mean, both in terms of how I mean, this Detroit has not been a commercial industry, a commercial filmmaking and practices have really been the lay of the land. So things like production houses or post-production houses, amount of ties to address the commercial entities, unlike in New York, say, for example, or even a Toronto that understands that independent filmmaking comes with different cost centers than so, you know, I mean, they have post-production houses, have commercial rates, they have independent rates.

00;32;17;03 - 00;32;54;02
Juanita Anderson
They have, oh, you can work late at night for a really deep discount if you need to. But how do we not only think about the infrastructure that we need to support ourselves as filmmakers, but how do we bring up the cinematographers, the gaffers, the grips, the sound people that are in the making here in Detroit excuse me, daily people need those opportunities.

00;32;54;02 - 00;33;28;10
Juanita Anderson
And I think that I'm currently working on a project with a cinematographer who is finally after multiple years as an IOC member, is now a bona fide director of photography. It's a black women in and there are very few black women directors of photography who are yet to certify. But along the way, she's from Detroit originally. Oh, wow.

00;33;28;29 - 00;33;50;17
Juanita Anderson
She lives in L.A. but I'll be bringing her in for this project and along the way, bringing in Detroiters to work alongside her to gain that kind of experience. It's that's something that I feel, you know, having plenty to do, more work will enable me to help build that infrastructure in a number of ways.

00;33;51;24 - 00;34;16;08
Rob Lee
It's great. And definitely I echoed that sentiment around like I described to speak probably about six months ago. I got some funding last year to fund this because this is kind of the the independent media wave and all of that different stuff. And it's like half respected, half not, you know, or whatever it is. But, you know, people aren't just throwing money towards it.

00;34;16;08 - 00;34;38;17
Rob Lee
So, you know, I was able to get some funding and the key thing was being able to see the I guess the the opening a bit more of this. These are all these other things that I can do, whether it being entrepreneurial in a building capacity is the way I was describing it. And it led to this opportunity to to teach it led to me doing a podcast on a boat.

00;34;38;17 - 00;34;59;13
Rob Lee
For some reason I can't swim. Right. And I was going to I was on a podcast on a boat and I'm like, Oh, so this is where it ends. I can see it now, you know, by having an experience that extends the boundaries of what I do creatively. And it's not it wasn't like a huge piece of money, but it was enough in the big scheme of things.

00;34;59;13 - 00;35;20;09
Rob Lee
But it was enough for me to with that grind and with that hustle, to be able to extend it and look out for folks in the community that are doing stuff is like, Oh, well, hey, you have some talent in this area. I need someone that could maybe shoot this video podcast for me. So here's a couple Jes or, you know, I want to be able to do this event.

00;35;20;09 - 00;35;44;03
Rob Lee
Oh, you don't have the funding to do this event. Just know my name when I respond to your event, do a parade for New Orleans or what have you and trying to be a person that's in the community to help with sort of that creative ecosystem and filling in some of those gaps. And it sounds like that's, you know, something that that's there, whether it be doing more work that's in in and around Detroit or working with folks that are from from the city.

00;35;45;02 - 00;36;19;21
Rob Lee
So yeah, yeah. I feel real passionate right there. So and I want to get this I have sort of lake because both he kind of touched on both of these questions. I feel a little like I am, you know, kind of overachieve and I don't like that. I don't like when people overachieve. That's what I make rapid fire questions at the end a little hard, but so sort of this this last one, I'll ask what the the perception been because I've seen you mentioned earlier, Daniel, some of the to be stuff and I've seen jazz people making movies.

00;36;19;21 - 00;36;36;19
Rob Lee
I see like as one like is ridiculous. I think I saw like a show they call it a maybe it was a Dirty D or something. I was like, This is wild. But I was like, There's four seasons. I was like, Good on you are making it. And that's the thing I dig and I'm then I'm in. GROSS I'm like, all right, what's going to happen here?

00;36;37;00 - 00;37;06;18
Rob Lee
So what is that that scene like? Because it's, you know, as far as, like, the filmmaking and is it just is it the grind? Is it and and I know it was touched on, but I want to dove back in a little bit deeper. How is that that scene in how will sort of, you know, seed and blooming in some of the programs I suppose help with sustainability and equity if the folks getting opportunities, folks being able to grow those sort of skill sets that maybe other cities have like in spades.

00;37;08;01 - 00;37;30;13
Danielle Eliska
Yeah, well, for me, I'm not on the to be scene, so I don't even have community with those people. I mean, not yet. You know, I don't, I don't have community with the to be creators. And again, I just got back to Detroit in 2020. So I got met in the middle of the pandemic. So I wasn't able to have like that kind of community.

00;37;30;22 - 00;37;52;05
Danielle Eliska
We're just coming outside to play, right? So I would aspire to connect with these people, but I feel like our works are vastly different. The way we approach things. So my approach to my work is not how their approach is to their work. And that's no shade. Of course, like I said, they they have an incredible space. They've carved out carved out an important space for themselves.

00;37;52;05 - 00;38;22;15
Danielle Eliska
Like, you know, again, it's just like how and I went to go see Regeneration in Black Cinema again for like I think the fourth time today in Detroit at the Detroit Institute of Arts. And they had a they with they made a way right. So thinking about blaxploitation, thinking about, you know, black and white films, silent films, etc., there was always like these places where people found a voice radical filmmaking, you know, revolutionary filmmaking, all of these different things.

00;38;22;15 - 00;38;47;09
Danielle Eliska
So I think that, again, I can't speak to that specifically, but I believe that they are going to continue on with the films that they're making. And they, you know, they they found away and they made a way. They did both. So I know that they will continue on just as myself and Juanita and the rest of us will continue on as well.

00;38;47;09 - 00;38;57;07
Rob Lee
And in the in the research earlier, I did look at that. It was a video I think for well maybe MP knows PBS about regeneration. I was like, Oh, hey.

00;38;57;08 - 00;38;57;26
Juanita Anderson
Are you all.

00;38;58;05 - 00;39;03;22
Rob Lee
On that? Me? So, you know, I'm not there, but I got my tentacles everywhere trying to trying to pick up on that.

00;39;04;26 - 00;39;05;07
Danielle Eliska
Yes.

00;39;05;20 - 00;39;21;12
Rob Lee
So that's sort of the the wrap up on the the real questions. And again, congratulations. And I'm looking forward to seeing like sort of what's next. And I'll probably be in in Detroit to maybe see it a little up close. So we'll see. We'll see. We'll see.

00;39;21;21 - 00;39;28;16
Danielle Eliska
Absolutely welcome. We always welcome people to come to the day. Usually people come here and be like, oh, we need to move here. And we like, well, come on in.

00;39;28;16 - 00;39;32;21
Rob Lee
So not for nothing. I did think that when I was there and I was like.

00;39;32;22 - 00;39;33;14
Juanita Anderson
Hey, no.

00;39;34;05 - 00;39;36;15
Rob Lee
I mean, I was alone. I went nothing but Carhartt, right?

00;39;37;17 - 00;39;38;13
Juanita Anderson
I look.

00;39;38;13 - 00;39;41;26
Danielle Eliska
You'll fit right in.

00;39;41;26 - 00;40;13;14
Rob Lee
And so I want to ask the I got four rapid fire questions and as I tell everyone, don't overthink these. These are just fun questions. I like that response. It's like it's like a shark smell and blood. It's like, yeah, oh, yeah. Tell me more. All right, so here's the first one and we'll start with you. What I want you to who who's a person in your artistic circle like someone you might bounce out, an idea of, someone you like.

00;40;13;14 - 00;40;18;20
Rob Lee
What do you think of this particular piece of a project or working on? Who comes to mind for you?

00;40;19;08 - 00;40;24;17
Juanita Anderson
Oh, I.

00;40;24;24 - 00;41;06;13
Juanita Anderson
Know. You said don't overthink it, as I'm not going to answer your question directly, but I'm going to talk to you about somebody who's been on my mind this well, actually this last year, Gael, Christian, who's not an artist, but a journalist who died a year ago, I think in April. But she actually was a pioneering journalist who worked on the West Coast for many years and then went to PBS as the first black news director at PBS, director of News and Public Affairs.

00;41;07;04 - 00;41;34;10
Juanita Anderson
But she was very much a mentor to me and was a person that I bounced ideas up. Also, speaking of regeneration, guys, and she's been on my mind lately, too, is the late Pearl Bowser, who was a scholar film curator. She actually did much of the work in catalog, getting what would become the filmography, the extensive filmography of Ask Me Show.

00;41;35;17 - 00;42;22;29
Juanita Anderson
But she was also someone that I could always go to and bounce ideas up and know that I was going to get an honest answer. But that's right. Yeah. So sometimes I still talk to these people, even though they're ancestors now. Yeah. And I have to mention Gael again too, because one of the things that she did was realizing that again back to the industry question that and the issues of the industry itself that women, black, brown and Indigenous women were really important and are important.

00;42;23;07 - 00;42;41;14
Juanita Anderson
And she found a way to bring that brand in. Indigenous women writers, producers, directors, actors together in a series of retreats. And I've made just some tremendous lasting friendships as a result of her efforts in doing that.

00;42;42;09 - 00;42;42;20
Rob Lee
Thank you.

00;42;43;00 - 00;42;43;14
Juanita Anderson
It's great.

00;42;44;22 - 00;43;05;04
Danielle Eliska
For me. That's really, really easy. My husband is an incredible artist. His name is Mario Moore. So I go to him, I bounce ideas off of him all the time. And then I do have like a second person that I talked to who is like my, you know, my role dog in creating. He's the cinematographer that I usually work with.

00;43;05;04 - 00;43;13;27
Danielle Eliska
His name is Jeremy Brockman, and he's from Detroit. So yeah, those are my two go to people. But Mario all the time, middle of the night. Hey, I got this ideas.

00;43;13;27 - 00;43;21;22
Rob Lee
So here I was telling you, Danielle, about my birds and I was like, Yeah. So we were talking with Spike back in the day. Right.

00;43;22;10 - 00;43;27;07
Danielle Eliska
Exactly. Exactly. Let's get this be this feedback, get these downloads.

00;43;27;07 - 00;43;27;20
Juanita Anderson
Yes.

00;43;28;15 - 00;43;47;23
Rob Lee
So when you said Mood Savalas, he's like less of that. Yeah. My partner's always, always my person of like, how bad is this idea? How goofy is this idea? And having having that that trust or what have you? I think that's that's really important. And, you know, having having folks that are around is like, tell me if this is bad, tell me this is one.

00;43;48;06 - 00;43;48;20
Danielle Eliska
Yeah.

00;43;50;16 - 00;44;05;14
Rob Lee
So and I'm not even good at this. This next one is, is sort of like one or the other, I think. When are you an early bird or a night owl? Like in terms of that sleeping?

00;44;05;14 - 00;44;41;14
Juanita Anderson
I'm an early bird. I can answer that question I love. Morning. I hate this time change that we just did because it totally disrupts my morning schedule. I mean, I like to get up at five, have my morning coffee, do my writing to my thinking. It's quiet. I can go for a walk if I want to, and still have the rest of the day.

00;44;42;00 - 00;44;49;11
Juanita Anderson
This savings time. I want my day in the morning is great.

00;44;49;17 - 00;44;50;01
Rob Lee
Yeah.

00;44;50;03 - 00;45;12;04
Danielle Eliska
I'm an early bird too. I love to get up early. It's quiet, you know? I love the sound of just nature waking up, you know? It's the soundtrack for me writing, but you don't hear too much and it's not too much of a distraction. It's just me getting up and doing my work. I mean, I will do work at night, trust, especially if I have deadlines.

00;45;12;04 - 00;45;29;25
Danielle Eliska
We just had a few deadlines. I was like, Honey, you got to stay up and know I was up until like three or 4:00 in the morning rendering, right? You do the work. But for me to relieve, sit down and write and feel like it, my t gone by my incense. You know some of the answers there is and then sit down and write morning time.

00;45;30;00 - 00;45;30;11
Danielle Eliska
Yeah.

00;45;30;26 - 00;45;50;15
Rob Lee
Definitely setting the stage there. Yeah, I'm early as well so we're three for three and I do that sort of I mean getting up at or or 30 for the last like few weeks and you know, somebody incepted me, it was just like, Oh, look, it's the 5 a.m. club. Get up. You know, I got a bunch of stuff.

00;45;50;21 - 00;46;08;08
Rob Lee
You get all of these sort of early wins and then, you know, in terms of like process of even prepping like today as a Fridays, prepping for all of my interviews for next week, getting all of that stuff locked in and keyed in. And I'm better earlier in the day as it gets later, it's like, Oh, man, where's that bed at?

00;46;08;10 - 00;46;08;23
Juanita Anderson
Yeah.

00;46;08;27 - 00;46;31;03
Rob Lee
Oh, great. I got, I got two more get two more. What is your most treasured possession? We all have these things that we like, but we go to the we go to, you must say, if you're a office day job, right? It's like every place I go. I'm always praying. This one thing I had a had a guy I interviewed Steve Smith.

00;46;31;03 - 00;46;46;21
Rob Lee
He's a media professional. And he was saying, like, I take every lanyard that I've ever had with me. The just shows me my journey a bit. That was what I was taken out of this conversation. So is there like a prized possession that either of you you have that it's just like it's always there? I always get energy from it.

00;46;47;17 - 00;47;10;23
Danielle Eliska
To be really honest. Like, I know this is probably the unconventional answer, but is my health like that is my most prized possession? Because if I have my health about me, I'll be able to navigate space. If we're talking about something materialistic, I have this hat that says Detroit, Brooklyn Girl, and I got it made when I was in New York and I wear that on every film set, so it might be my good luck hat.

00;47;10;23 - 00;47;14;13
Danielle Eliska
So yeah, my health in my head.

00;47;14;13 - 00;47;15;22
Rob Lee
But it's good as a.

00;47;18;18 - 00;48;01;00
Juanita Anderson
Okay. So for me it's not a single thing, but I collect art in addition to creating it and I'm very careful in terms of what I choose to collect because it has to speak to me spiritually. And I think being said and often, most often it's artists that at the very least I have met. So to be able to treasure this gift of spirit from these artists is really important to me.

00;48;01;16 - 00;48;12;18
Juanita Anderson
And I think there's not a room that doesn't have art in it in my house, including my bathroom and kitchen.

00;48;12;18 - 00;48;36;20
Rob Lee
It's great know I have the recording, you know, broadcasting, I guess podcasting from the home studio and, you know, I have these conversations and I'm like, you know, I don't know is a little new agey. And I was like, nah, just, just live with it. Just live with it. And I would get things from folks like, just like tokens of like, hey, this is an exchange you're inviting me or your creative outlet.

00;48;36;25 - 00;48;57;02
Rob Lee
So this is the thing that I do. And in 700 plus interviews I've had folks send me things or even like this image behind me. I had a, I was an artist that did this for me and I was like, I appreciate you, bro. And I keep a creative, like, altar in the studio and it's the same same way as far as what I'm going to have in my home.

00;48;57;12 - 00;49;15;05
Rob Lee
You know, I have limited space and this the sort of home and a home studio. So not everything comes in here. And I'm very you know, people send me stuff all the time and I'm like, I appreciate it. And, you know, kind of going from there. But other instances, like, if I'm going to go out and have something that has a certain amount of space, I got to love it.

00;49;15;05 - 00;49;30;03
Rob Lee
I can't just like it. I got to love it because it is this sort of energy. It is that sort of soul that's here. And I, you know, and even in the studio, I have a few of my pieces. When I thought I was a painter for about six months. So this is the last one is the last one.

00;49;31;03 - 00;49;57;21
Rob Lee
So and the key point is for fun, because I do a movie screening series and I'm in a movie, I'm a podcast about movies, what have you. And sometimes it's like, I got to watch this for work, not for fun, you know? So the different vibe. What is the last movie that you watched for fun? You're like, I don't have the popcorn and get lined up or whatever your your choice of of movie going snack is.

00;49;57;21 - 00;49;59;20
Rob Lee
But what's the last movie that you watched for fun?

00;50;00;26 - 00;50;05;29
Juanita Anderson
American fiction? For me.

00;50;05;29 - 00;50;08;09
Danielle Eliska
Damsel on Netflix for me.

00;50;09;23 - 00;50;14;02
Rob Lee
I haven't seen damsel yet for American fiction. We have to trade notes on that one one eating.

00;50;15;21 - 00;50;16;19
Juanita Anderson
Okay know.

00;50;19;05 - 00;50;24;04
Rob Lee
I'm talking three people. They were like, so how do you feel being a creator? You get a little going on.

00;50;24;04 - 00;50;29;03
Juanita Anderson
I was like maybe a skosh.

00;50;29;03 - 00;50;44;12
Rob Lee
So that's it actually for the podcast and in these final moments, I wanted one. I want to do two things. One, I want thank both of you for coming on and being such great guests. This has been a you know, I knew it was going to be it's going to be a great treat for Friday. I'm going to be wrapping up the week.

00;50;44;12 - 00;51;01;05
Rob Lee
I'm really happy about this. And too, I want to invite and encourage both of you to share websites, social media, anything, shameless plugs, if you will, for folks to. And as they listen to to find you and your work and stay up to date. So, if you will, the floor is yours.

00;51;02;00 - 00;51;28;06
Danielle Eliska
Awesome. Well, again, Danielle, Eliska is my name. And you can find me on Instagram and it's Danielle Dot Eliska again. That's Danielle Dot Eliska on Instagram and my website is W WW Danielle Eliska dot com and that's Danielle. DeAnn I really Eliska. Elyse okay that calm you can find me both spaces you can email me and I had you back.

00;51;28;18 - 00;51;47;04
Juanita Anderson
You want me to say something? You can find me on Instagram at when you to Anderson underscore from and my website is in process I'm not going to give you that URL right now but Google me I might find.

00;51;47;04 - 00;51;48;01
Juanita Anderson
Something.

00;51;49;01 - 00;51;52;11
Rob Lee
That that that's that's that's the real world like look Google Google Maps.

00;51;53;09 - 00;51;53;23
Juanita Anderson
Really.

00;51;54;13 - 00;52;01;01
Danielle Eliska
Isn't only legends can say that clearly we're circling back to like the legendary living the living legends here.

00;52;01;01 - 00;52;08;01
Juanita Anderson
So let's see. I heard. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Although I do not have a Wikipedia page.

00;52;08;21 - 00;52;09;26
Juanita Anderson
If that's.

00;52;10;00 - 00;52;11;10
Danielle Eliska
All right. And soon to come.

00;52;11;10 - 00;52;16;25
Rob Lee
I'm sure one of these listeners I got to get on that. Let's let's let's make a Wikipedia page for one day.

00;52;17;03 - 00;52;19;23
Danielle Eliska
Yes.

00;52;19;23 - 00;52;45;03
Rob Lee
And there you have it, folks. I want to again thank Danielle, Eliska and Juanita Anderson for coming on and sharing a bit about seed and bloom and their respect of stories. And I'm Rob Lee saying that there's arts, culture and community in and around your neck of the woods. You've just got to look for it.