About Sista Brunch Podcast
Sista Brunch is a Webby-nominated podcast sharing the stories of Black women & Black gender expansive people thriving in entertainment & media careers.
SISTA BRUNCH is an interview-style podcast about black women+ striving and thriving in media/entertainment careers. On the podcast, co-created by producer/writer/actress Fanshen Cox and director Anya Adams, we aim to shed light on what it takes for Black women to rise through the ranks as executives, writers/directors/producers, and crew members. And yes—we get really real about money, privilege, fake allies, and battling racism/sexism/homophobia while trying to keep a job AND get your art made/get paid/stay sane.
Entering our 7th season, we’re introducing in-person celebrations and a digital ecosystem for our Sista Brunch community to grow, connect, and continue with the mission of the Sista Brunch by building pathways and opportunities for the voices in the industry we need to hear from most.
About the Team
Fanshen Cox
The word fan-shen means ‘to enter a new world’ and was the symbol used by a small village in China during the land reform movement of the 1940s. Fanshen Cox (president of TruJuLo) was gifted this name by her mother, Trudy (Danish, Blackfeet and Cherokee), and her father Winston (Pan-African, Jamaican, Black), who wanted to raise their children to be ‘competent, self-respecting and socially-conscious citizens.’ Since Trudy and Winston’s marriage was still illegal in 16 U.S. states, they knew that having children in this country was an act of revolution – of ‘entering a new world.’ For seven years, Fanshen traveled throughout the nation performing her one-woman show, “One Drop of Love,” which explores the complex realities and perceptions of history, family, race, class, justice, and love. Reared in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by a Pan Africanist Jamaican-born father and a white Northwestern mother, Fanshen uses her family’s heritage to spark conversation and challenge notions around race, class, and gender. She expanded her worldview as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cape Verde, West Africa, and has taught English as a Second Language to students from all over the globe. Cox has been honored with the Peace Corps’ Franklin H. Williams Award, Peace Corps Fellows, Hollywood Foreign Press Association scholarships, and distinguished alumni awards from CSULA and Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a BA in Spanish and Education from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), an MA in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an MFA in TV, Film, and Theater.
Anya Adams
Anya Adams is an award-winning Canadian-American director best known for Black-ish, Ginny & Georgia, and The Good Place. The Alice Initiative named Adams as one of the top emerging female filmmakers on The Alice List 2020. Winner of the NAACP Image Award 2020 for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for GLOW, Adams has since made her pilot debut directing Netflix Originals’ popular coming-of-age drama series Ginny & Georgia.
Adams began her career in the nonprofit sector, travelling the world working with global citizen incubator Up With People for several years before transitioning to filmmaking. Following her acceptance into the DGA Trainee Program, the Canadian native from Vancouver, British Columbia, relocated to Los Angeles, where she trained on the set of such shows as Boomtown and The Practice. As a DGA member, Adams worked on some of the most successful television shows, including Black-ish, The Mindy Project, CSI Miami, Community, Scrubs, and The West Wing.
In 2016, Adams directed her first short film, Lemonade Mafia, starring Marsai Martin, Yvette Nicole Brown and Ava Acres. Her career catapulted after directing an episode of Black-ish in 2017 and continues to soar.
Shawn Pipkin-West
Shawn Pipkin-West has been a DGA Member since 2004, but has been in the Entertainment industry for more than 20 years. Some of her feature credits include Mufasa: The Lion King, Dream Girls, Longest Yard, Family Stone and Beyond the Lights. Pipkin-West’s TV Credits include ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, The Catch, For the People, FOX’s Shot’s Fired, NBC’s Community, Friday Night Lights, Raising Dion for NETFLIX, Sorry For Your Loss for FACEBOOK Watch and Big Shot for DISNEY +. A DGPTP Graduate, Pipkin-West is on the Board of Trustees for the Directors Guild-Producer Training Program, The DGA National Board (Associate), Co-chair of the DGA’s Women’s Steering Committee, 1st AD Committee and has been on the AD/UPM Council West as a member and/or alternate from 2013-PRESENT. She is also a two-time DGA Award Winner for Movies for Television – Temple Grandin – 2011 and Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials – A West Wing Special Benefit When We All Vote – 2021.
Producers
- Christabel Nsiah Buadi (co-creator/producer S1-3)
- Tasha Rogers (producer S6-7)
- Brittany Turner (co-creator / associate producer S1-3)
- Sonata Lee Narcisse (producer S3-4)
- Samantha K. Henderson (producer S7)
Key Crew
- Farida Abdul Wahab (associate producer S5)
- Beau Williams (associate producer / editor S6)
- Shawn Pipkin-West (co-host S6)
- Kamesha Rodriguez (associate producer S6)
Director Quote
Several years ago, black women mentors of the Directors Guild of America trainee program began inviting their mentees to casual bi-monthly gatherings to talk about their experiences on set and offer guidance to their trainees and each other. This gathering came to be affectionately known as the Sista Brunch.
Eventually, the Sista Brunch came to include women+ beyond the directing program. Our show’s co-creator and seasons 1-3 co-host Anya Adams became the regular brunch host, and after being introduced to Fanshen by mutual friends, invited her to join.
Fanshen’s first Sista Brunch got her riled up. In working on the Inclusion Rider, she and her co-authors constantly faced pushback on including crew positions on the Rider. They were told ‘there aren’t enough underrepresented people to hire in these positions—why are you forcing us to do this?’ Yet here she was—breaking bread with Black women+ at various levels in their careers—and all talented and smart and committed to the work. She called Anya shortly after and asked, “How can we share this with the world!?” and the Sista Brunch podcast was born.
Supporter Quote
Supporting the Sista Brunch ecosystem feels like a perfect example of what it looks like to be in community. Helping Fanshen develop ways to bring the Sista Brunch experience into more homes and hearts is proving to be the encouragement and renewal of purpose that a lot of folks in our industry are desperate for.
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