16 Artists

Reylon

A conversation series with young creators finding their way in the world. Hosted by Reylon Yount in partnership with the Office for the Arts at Harvard. Music by Reylon. Mixing by Shez Manzoor. Cover art by Cindy Niu. Editorial support by Jenny M Ng.

Episodes

  1. 09/16/2022 ·  Bonus

    A Creative Process with Resistance and Resilience (part 2) with Karoline Xu and Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence

    Part 2 of Episode 7. Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence and Karoline Xu open up about surviving in racial capitalism and the human need to express one’s truth. These filmmakers of color discuss trauma and solidarity in light of recent and unending atrocities. Karoline is an actor, writer, and filmmaker. She studied English at Harvard and acting at Atlantic Acting School and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Off-Broadway: The Hard Problem at Lincoln Center Theater, and the world premiere of [Veil Widow Conspiracy] at Next Door @ NYTW, for which The New York Times singled her out as “terrific.” TV/FILM: Lincoln (NBC), Evil (CBS), PIPPI, Kiss (Means of Production), Softee’s “Oh No.” Her screenwriting has been a finalist of Outfest, Orchard Project, The Future of Film is Female, and WAVE Grant. Her short film PIPPI won the Audience Award at the Dallas International Film Festival. karolinexu.com Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence is a writer-director hailing from Washington, DC and Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Raised in a family of activists, critical race theorists, and freedom fighters, she has always been drawn to storytelling as a means to building a new world. After working in theater in New York, Kimiko transitioned to television and film, writing for TV shows TWENTIES and BOOMERANG. Her past work includes the plays Holding: A Queer Black Love Story; Black Magic; and I, Too, Am Harvard (also a viral photo campaign). Most recently, Kimiko produced the short film little trumpet, set to premiere in Spring 2022. This podcast is presented in partnership with the Office for the Arts at Harvard and the Harvard Alumni Association. Learn more at 16artists.com Thank you to Jenny M Ng for helping to edit this episode.

    33 min
  2. 09/16/2022

    A Creative Process with Resistance and Resilience (part 1) with Karoline Xu and Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence

    Part 1 of Episode 7. Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence and Karoline Xu open up about surviving in racial capitalism and the human need to express one’s truth. These filmmakers of color discuss trauma and solidarity in light of recent and unending atrocities. Karoline is an actor, writer, and filmmaker. She studied English at Harvard and acting at Atlantic Acting School and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Off-Broadway: The Hard Problem at Lincoln Center Theater, and the world premiere of [Veil Widow Conspiracy] at Next Door @ NYTW, for which The New York Times singled her out as “terrific.” TV/FILM: Lincoln (NBC), Evil (CBS), PIPPI, Kiss (Means of Production), Softee’s “Oh No.” Her screenwriting has been a finalist of Outfest, Orchard Project, The Future of Film is Female, and WAVE Grant. Her short film PIPPI won the Audience Award at the Dallas International Film Festival. karolinexu.com Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence is a writer-director hailing from Washington, DC and Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Raised in a family of activists, critical race theorists, and freedom fighters, she has always been drawn to storytelling as a means to building a new world. After working in theater in New York, Kimiko transitioned to television and film, writing for TV shows TWENTIES and BOOMERANG. Her past work includes the plays Holding: A Queer Black Love Story; Black Magic; and I, Too, Am Harvard (also a viral photo campaign). Most recently, Kimiko produced the short film little trumpet, set to premiere in Spring 2022. This podcast is presented in partnership with the Office for the Arts at Harvard and the Harvard Alumni Association. Learn more at 16artists.com Thank you to Jenny M Ng for helping to edit this episode.

    29 min
  3. 11/03/2021

    Centering Black Stories & Creating in Community with Joshuah Brian Campbell and Eli Wilson Pelton

    Parsing intertextual memes; learning on the job with Cynthia Erivo and Issa Rae; collectively centering Black stories in entertainment --  these are some of the experiences GRAMMY- and Oscar-nominated composer/singer Joshuah Brian Campbell and HBO television writer Eli Wilson Pelton cover in their conversation. JOSHUAH BRIAN CAMPBELL is a singer, composer, songwriter, ministry worker and actor from Cheraw, South Carolina. He is the co-writer, along with Cynthia Erivo, of the Grammy and Oscar-nominated and World Soundtrack Award-winning “Stand Up” (performed by Cynthia Erivo and produced by William Wells and Gabe Fox-Peck '20). Joshuah grew up groomed by Southern Black gospel traditions, and this grounding serves as his vantage point to all the music he performs and composes. He's finishing a master of divinity at Union Theological Seminary (NYC) in May 2021, where he does work in Hebrew and Greek translation, Christian/faith education, biblical interpretation, and Black religious studies. Eli Wilson Pelton is a television writer living in Los Angeles, CA. He has written for High Fidelity on Hulu, Insecure on HBO, and Generation on HBOMax, among others. He studied History and Literature but somehow got out of writing a thesis because he’s lazy. He also hates bios and doesn’t know how to end this so just will. This podcast is presented in partnership with the Office for the Arts at Harvard and the Harvard Alumni Association. Learn more at 16artists.com. #16artists

    35 min
  4. 06/26/2021 ·  Bonus

    Toxins, Tonics and Trixie Mattel (part 2) with Ekoo Beck & Susan Bin

    Recovering from Lil Nas X's MONTERO music video; storytelling to bring invisible lives into focus; illustrating Indian boarding schools to process intergenerational trauma: these are some of the topics covered in part 2 of our conversation with artist-activists Susan Bin and Ekoo Beck. Susan Bin, the inaugural Women in Animation Scholar, and her work have  been featured in books, film, TV, and video games. She has exhibited her  art domestically and internationally and serves as a local community  liaison for DFW-area artists with organizations like the Crow Museum of  Asian Art, Kinokuniya, and the Dallas Public Library, among others. She  mainly works in cinema with an interest in horror and queer themes, and  continues to work on projects dedicated to opening up new tributaries of  storytelling and talent. Iko'tsimiskimaki “Ekoo” Beck is a Community Organizer at Montana  Women Vote, an organization that works to uplift the voices of  low-income Montanan's through advocacy, civic engagement, and policy  change. Ekoo grew up in Missoula, the settler occupied homelands of the  Bitterroot Salish, and graduated with an A.B. in Social Studies. Ekoo's  current artistic endeavors include a drawing project on Indian Boarding  Schools in Montana, a mural installation with other Indigenous artists  of Missoula, and lots of beading. They are an enrolled descendent of the  Blackfeet Nation, are a member of the Little Shell Chippewa (Red River  Métis) and are German American.

    17 min

About

A conversation series with young creators finding their way in the world. Hosted by Reylon Yount in partnership with the Office for the Arts at Harvard. Music by Reylon. Mixing by Shez Manzoor. Cover art by Cindy Niu. Editorial support by Jenny M Ng.