How Jasmine Deanne Andrews of Sullied Bride Productions Is Helping To Make the Entertainment Industry More Diverse and Representative
An Interview With Guernslye Honoré
Some skills can only be acquired by experience. Each film I have made has been a learning experience. Looking back on old projects there are things I wish I could have done better, but I wouldn’t even have an old project to look back on if I didn’t work for the experience. People may criticize your earlier work, but the imperfections in your earlier work are all learned experiences. Learning from those past imperfections is what makes you qualified in the present.
As a part of my series about leaders helping to make the entertainment industry more diverse and representative, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jasmine Deanne Andrews founder of Sullied Bride Productions.
Jasmine Deanne Andrews is an award-winning screenwriter, director, film score composer, and the published author of Sullied Bride. Her film, Then Sings My Soul, won accolades in 2024 for Best Ensemble Cast at the Virginia Black Film Festival, Best Cinematography and Best First Time Actress at the World Music and Independent Film Festival (WMIFF). Her IMDb credits include the 2021 feature film Natalie’s Abortion and the 2019 feature film The Curse of EVE, where she won the category of Best Director at the World Music and Independent Film Festival (WMIFF). Jasmine is passionate about women’s issues and is devoted to writing and filmmaking as an art. She is deeply involved in the community and created her production company, Sullied Bride Productions, to give women the opportunity to, “Tell our stories ourselves.”
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an actress, but I quickly discovered that roles for women of color were very limited. To remedy this problem, I started writing the types of characters I wanted to see represented on screen. The writing process taught me the key to diversity was not just replacing female characters in male roles or exchanging White characters with an ethnic pallet swap, but authentically telling the individual story of diverse characters. As I developed these diverse characters my goal shifted from acting to focus on writing and directing. Now, as a leader in the entertainment industry, I have been able to create diverse roles for Black people and women in film.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
The most interesting thing that has happened since I began my career is my friend and fellow director, June Daguiso getting his film, Saving Ana, into the Oscars. June Daguiso played the judge in my film, Then Sings My Soul. While he was taking time out to help with my project, he completed his film. It’s just interesting to me how much people with the same goals can accomplish when we work together instead of operating as competitors.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One time when filming, I was operating the camera on a platform. I was so happy with the shot and focused on zooming in that I didn’t realize it when the platform ended, and I just walked off the edge. It’s funny looking at the footage as I fell. I wasn’t hurt nor was any of the equipment damaged. I know I can become hyper-focused on a task when I’m working. The lesson I learned was to make sure I remained aware of my surroundings.
Ok, thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our discussion. Can you describe how you are helping to make popular culture more representative of the US population?
Storytelling is a powerful tool to create cultural values. However, certain tropes commonly appear in narrative storytelling when there is a lack of diversity. For instance, negative female tropes that represent women as nagging, manipulative, or hypersexualized instill these stereotypes about women as cultural values. Often these negative tropes are created to punish women through character assassination for acting in a manner that goes against societal expectations. I am helping to make popular culture more representative by creating characters and narratives that break stereotypes and combat negative female tropes. One topic I emphasize is opposing the concept of the submissive woman. Regardless, of whether the media is religious or secular, there has been a pattern of tropes that depict submissive women as good and women who are not submissive as bad. Upon the discovery that the word ‘submit’ was added to the Bible in Ephesians 5:22 when the Scriptures were translated into English, I have explored the damaging effects of the concept of submission and made it my mission to contend against female submission to males in both religious and secular media.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by the work you are doing?
Arlyne Spalla an actress, survivor, and mother of four has always been a huge supporter of my work and it has impacted her as well. In my most recent film, Then Sings My Soul, Arlyne Spalla plays Catherine Hanberry, the attorney defending the case for Tanya Blanchard. Arlyne Spalla was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role at the World Music and Independent Film Festival (WMIFF). When I asked her what the film meant to her she said, “Jasmine always writes stories that are Christian, controversial and impactful. I’m blessed to have been a part of a production that is so well-written that it resonates with viewers. It was a wonderful experience becoming my character and bringing the story to life. Audiences should watch this movie for the following reasons: a talented and diverse cast, well-written, a vital message about one of our societal problems, and Christian themed.”
As an insider, this might be obvious to you, but I think it’s instructive to articulate this for the public who might not have the same inside knowledge. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why it’s really important to have diversity represented in Entertainment and its potential effects on our culture?
Diversity in the entertainment business is so important because people will not do anything different if they do not see anything different. The same narratives will continue if there isn’t any diversity, and diversity in entertainment requires equal status contact. Media is a form of socialization where the stories and characters in the media affect how audiences develop attitudes and perceptions about life. The lack of diversity limits this socialization process to negative stereotypes and tropes. If the media reinforces the typical roles for women and minorities such as a nagging housewife or thug, then people will continue to accept these stereotypes as the norm. Equal status contact occurs when someone from a different social group interacts with someone from another social group on the level of equal social status. The media can facilitate equal status contact with diverse groups by creating roles that break negative stereotypes.
Can you recommend three things the community/society/the industry can do to help address the root of the diversity issues in the entertainment business?
Three things the community, society, and the industry can do to address the root of diversity issues in the entertainment business are to support more female directors, become aware of performative activism, and listen when people are talking. There has been a trend of forced institutionalized diversity in the entertainment business with a wave of lead female characters, Black actors replacing traditionally White roles, and female leadership over these projects. This type of forced institutionalized diversity simply gives opportunities to minorities just for being minorities but fails to vet these projects for quality. As a result of this performative activism the projects are doomed to fail and does more harm than good to an industry that is in desperate need of diversity. There needs to be more female directors and producers in the entertainment business, but the increase in diversity must also be paired with qualifications. This is where it becomes important to listen. I know many capable female directors, but their voices are not being heard because institutions are not seeking qualified female and minority representation. They are just looking to fill a diversity quota for performative activism. To address the root cause of diversity issues in the entertainment industry, support of women and minorities has to be based on authentic storytelling with qualified diverse people in the roles.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is the ability to gain the cooperation of people to reach a specific goal. The key component of true leadership is cooperation. When people cooperate with one another they are usually acting on their own initiative to pursue a goal. People who are driven by their own motivations will always perform better than someone who feels coerced or dominated. A true leader knows how to inspire people in a way that they come into agreement to achieve a common purpose. This type of leadership requires the humility to listen to others who may have more insight on an issue, and the fortitude to see to it that all the needs of the people in the group are met. Leadership is not about lording over people or giving orders, but seeing to it that everyone successfully reaches the end goal.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?
1 . People will vilify you for saying ‘no’.
As I said earlier, leadership is about motivating people towards a goal, not dominating over anyone else. Although I have a libertarian form of leadership, it does not mean I operate without boundaries. Certain people are very easy to get along with until they hear the word “no.” Then after they hear “no” they become vicious. Once I had someone on a film project disagree with a casting choice. As the director and producer, I had the final say on the matter and I stood by my decision with a polite but firm “no.” In response, this individual reneged on their production agreement, contacted cast members and sponsors to convince them to withdraw from the film, and followed me to an event trying to make a scene. Throughout the production, this person attacked my character as being controlling and deceitful simply because I exercised my right to say “no.” For a long time, I ignored the attacks, but this person continued to work against the production. Although I could overlook the personal attacks, this person’s attacks against the production continued to escalate. Eventually, I had to take action against them to protect the integrity of the film. I had been hesitant to respond because it seemed as though taking action against this person would only confirm what they were saying about me. I realized that I was tolerating too much abuse trying to maintain civility with someone who was determined to vilify me. I learned that no matter what I did people would unfairly vilify me for saying ‘no’ and I did not have to tolerate being attacked by them for the sake of how they viewed me.
2 . Inexperienced people will try to tell you how to do your job.
There is a real difference between being able to listen to people when they offer new insights versus someone with no experience demanding attention. People who have never shot a movie before will somehow believe they are qualified to criticize your methods. For example, during the preproduction of one of my films, someone was emphatic about bringing their “glam squad,” onto the film set. Their reasoning was that without proper makeup the actors would look washed out on camera. This was true in the past before digital cinematography or for stage productions. However, this person who had no experience in modern filmmaking tried to stand me down about bringing this makeup team on my film set. In addition to the logistical issues of working with this “glam squad,” they had not been tried and tested for reliability. There is a lot at stake during the production of a film and one unreliable person can create thousands of dollars in losses and delay the entire production. Yet, this inexperienced person, who was not bearing any financial risk, felt as though they could tell me how to do my job. I learned that it is not unreasonable to shut down advice from people who are not qualified to give it.
3 . If someone is going to do something they don’t need to be convinced.
If someone wants to support your business, they will offer their support very quickly. In the past, I made the mistake of trying to convince people that I was worth the investment. There were a few instances where after multiple two-hour conversations it turned out that I was only wasting my time talking to someone who hadn’t even bothered to look at the films I had completed and had no intention of investing. I realized that people like that were only capitalizing on my time and had ulterior motives. So, I learned that if someone does not offer their support within the first ten minutes of a conversation don’t try to explain any further. The best thing to do is to politely end the conversation and send them on their way.
4 . People will steadily move the goalpost when they don’t want to acknowledge your success.
First people will tell you that you don’t have the credentials to support what you’re doing. Then after you make academic achievements people will move the goalpost and claim that book smarts don’t apply to the situation. The same thing occurs in filmmaking where haters will trivialize your accomplishments. When I first wanted to make a film, people said, “You don’t have enough experience.” Then, after finishing the film these same people complained that you can’t make a living off of filmmaking. Next, when film is in distribution, now the haters complain that they don’t like the film. With haters the goalpost will continually move, and they will never acknowledge your success. I learned that my success is not determined by the acknowledgment of haters, so I long stopped concerning myself with the opinions of people who are doing far less than I am doing.
5 . Past mistakes do not undermine your present qualifications.
Some skills can only be acquired by experience. Each film I have made has been a learning experience. Looking back on old projects there are things I wish I could have done better, but I wouldn’t even have an old project to look back on if I didn’t work for the experience. People may criticize your earlier work, but the imperfections in your earlier work are all learned experiences. Learning from those past imperfections is what makes you qualified in the present.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would like to inspire a movement where media outlets are held accountable for every single lie or misinformation they spread. Tabloids are notorious for publishing false statements, and despite laws against libel, these media outlets are rarely pursued criminally for the lies they print. False testimonies create monumental damage in the victim’s life. I would like to see a movement where every statement in the media is checked for credible sources by every citizen, the way a professor would check the references in a research paper. Should the statements be found to be false, then every citizen would make it their personal responsibility to see to it that the media is held accountable. Accountability would take the form of pursuing criminal charges against the writer responsible for creating the lies, pushing the media outlet to print retractions, and economically withdrawing support of any habitual media offenders. It took a complacent public to allow the media to get away with so many libelist crimes, but a motivated public can hold the media accountable.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There are many life lesson quotes that I live by. My favorite changes as my life situation is always moving forward. Right now, the quote that is most relevant to me comes from Winston Churchill, “History is written by the victors.” The stories that are told in the media are written by people in positions of power. For women and minorities to take their rightful place in history they have to become victors. The Hebrew name for Jesus, Yeshua ישוע means both salvation and victory. So with the help of Messiah, anyone can become a victor.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
I would like to have a private lunch with Elon Musk to discuss his views on the media and free speech. The reason he cited for buying Twitter, now known as X, was to protect free speech. I would like to talk to him about any further actions he could take to protect free speech in the media, such as purchasing or creating another film streaming platform. As someone who has suffered politically motivated censorship of my film, Natalie’s Abortion, from Amazon I was wondering if Elon Musk would be up for the challenge to take on media censorship with a film streaming platform.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Readers can follow me on Facebook @sulliedbride Facebook and Instagram Jasmine Deanne Andrews (@jasminedeanneandrews) • Instagram photos and videos
Everyone can also find updates on my website at www.sulliedbride.com
My film Then Sings My Soul is now Streaming on Amazon Prime and TubiTV
Amazon Prime Watch Then Sings My Soul | Prime Video (amazon.com)
TubiTV Watch Then Sings My Soul (2023) — Free Movies | Tubi (tubitv.com)
Then Sings My Soul is also available on DVD
Then Sings My Soul DVD-R (2024) — Filmhub | OLDIES.com
Then Sings My Soul Manufactured on Demand on DeepDiscount.com
Then Sings My Soul Manufactured on Demand on ImportCDs
Despite politically motivated censorship, my film Natalie’s Abortion can be found on TubiTV
Watch Natalie’s Abortion (2021) — Free Movies | Tubi (tubitv.com)
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!
About the interviewer: Guernslye Honoré, affectionately known as “Gee-Gee”, is an amalgamation of creativity, vision, and endless enthusiasm. She has elegantly twined the worlds of writing, acting, and digital marketing into an inspiring tapestry of achievement. As the creative genius at the heart of Esma Marketing & Publishing, she leads her team to unprecedented heights with her comprehensive understanding of the industry and her innate flair for innovation. Her boundless passion and sense of purpose radiate from every endeavor she undertakes, turning ideas into reality and creating a realm of infinite possibilities. A true dynamo, Gee-Gee’s name has become synonymous with inspirational leadership and the art of creating success.
