{"id":49526,"date":"2014-11-12T11:58:56","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T19:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/?p=49526"},"modified":"2014-11-12T14:51:55","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T22:51:55","slug":"black-ish-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/black-ish-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"black-ish Interviews \u2013 Meet with the Creator & Junior Cast #ABCTVEvent"},"content":{"rendered":"
If you didn’t already know, a\u00a0new series aired on ABC this season called black-ish<\/em>. I had the opportunity to interview the show’s creator, one of the writers, and some of the cast (and their parents) while on the Disney trip in L.A. Check out these insightful (and pretty funny) black-ish<\/em> interviews!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here are some thoughts from the\u00a0creator, Kenya Barris, during our group’s roundtable interview.<\/p>\n What is “black-ish”?<\/p>\n I think from our character\u2019s point of view, the world is a lot more homogenized for his kids than it ever was. I have five kids too. I looked at my kids and the way I grew up and my definition of what being black was is not what my kids were living. And they were a bit black-ish, a little lesser of a version than what it was for me growing up. But at the same time, all of their friends, who interestingly enough, primarily are not black, were a little bit more of what I thought black was growing up. It was like an additive version of that. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a black or white kid left in America. They\u2019re all just sort of a blaze of everything else \u2013 Asian, Latino. I think we are kind of blended into this sort of homogenized layer of what America is. As a father, he\u2019s dealing with that. And his father dealt with something different. It\u2019s kind of talking about where we are today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What real life references are there in the series?<\/p>\n It\u2019s my life, it\u2019s Laurence\u2019s life, it\u2019s Anthony\u2019s life. I even talked to some of the kids, it\u2019s their mom and their dad. It\u2019s an amalgamation of all of our lives. My kids often because it\u2019s essentially based on my family. My son thinks he\u2019s Jack and at the end of the spanking episode when he didn\u2019t get it he was like, \u201dHah, that was a close one.\u201d I think it\u2019s fun for them. I know it\u2019s fun for me. It\u2019s an amazing blessing in America to sit up see something that kind of came from our life like my wife\u2019s name is actually Rainbow and things like that. I think it\u2019s fun for them. I also think it\u2019s a little bit… I have a 12-year-old daughter and she\u2019s like, \u201cWhy am I not in this thing. If I am, am I a boy to you?\u201d It\u2019s interesting but at the same time causes a bit of conversation I think.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Is this a “black” show?<\/p>\n I, first of all, don\u2019t see it as a black show. I see it as a show. I don\u2019t think people look at Modern Family and look at it as a white show. I think it\u2019s a show that happens around predominantly black cast members. I think that\u2019s something that I want to make sure people take from this is that that\u2019s the world we\u2019re living in. We\u2019re just families. Some families have black people, some families have asian. With that being said, it was not hard for me. I didn\u2019t want to do a show that was just about a family that just happened to be black but about a family that was absolutely black. And coming from my wife being mixed and my mom being half Dominican, my own personal life, it\u2019s a lot of different things. For me that\u2019s part of what makes this a dope country. That\u2019s more the version of how I see.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n One of the show’s writers, Lindsey Shockley, gave us a quick introduction before screening the episode that’s actually airing tonight, “The Gift of Hunger.” It was interesting that there are about 11 writers and it’s split about 50\/50 in ethnicity\u00a0(black vs non-black) and gender.<\/p>\n Can you tell us about the show?<\/p>\n I\u2019m in the middle of writing episode 14, that\u2019s as far as we\u2019ve gotten. And we got picked up for another 11, which is awesome. So we\u2019re going to go all the way through, almost through summer to match with Modern Family because Modern Family goes all the way to almost when school gets out. We\u2019ll be paired with them throughout 2015.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What about the episode about spanking?<\/p>\n So many of us in the writers room were spanked as kids but so few parents in the room spank now. There\u2019s that disconnect of \u201cwe grew up one way\u201d and now. He whips that belt out. It\u2019s what you grow up with versus what you do once you\u2019re a parent. I\u2019m so glad that connected. The threat of next time. It\u2019s interesting how just him saying, \u201cI\u2019m disappointed in you\u201d was enough of a punishment for Jack and you could see it in his eyes that, \u201cAw, I disappointed my dad!\u201d that that was just as harsh as a spanking.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What about the content?<\/p>\n One of the things that he (Kenya) feels very strongly about that every week, we go around the writers room and everyone tells real personal stories about growing up, we have a lot of parents on staff and they\u2019ll talk about parenting dilemmas, even husband and wife dilemmas, he wants everything to come from a really true problem and not just some made up fictional story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How do you feel now that a few episodes have aired?<\/p>\n We feel really blessed. Overall it seems like the feedback we\u2019re getting is really positive and people are really excited about the show. We feel like it\u2019s giving us the confidence to just tell these true parenting stories that we really want to tell and then find these fun, fantastical ways to tell them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In black-ish<\/em>, the star have four children \u2013 two teens and a set of younger twins. We so enjoyed interviewing the youngest of the cast featured on the show. They were bright, well-spoken, friendly, and just a great group of kids. That’s why we were especially tickled when they recognized us at the Big Hero 6 premiere<\/a> the following day.<\/p>\n The actors we interviewed were:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is it like being on set with amazing actors?<\/p>\n Yara: It\u2019s absolutely hilarious on set, of course, and being able to work with such amazing comedic veterans is amazing and I feel that I\u2019m learning so much from being on set. It doesn\u2019t even feel like work and that\u2019s the weird part. I get up in the morning and say, “What I have work today?” Then come\u00a0to set, having a dandy, fun time. It just feels like another enjoyable experience.<\/p>\n Marcus: Working on set with all the veteran actors, as Yara said, is and just an amazing experience. It\u2019s awesome everyday to come to work and learn something new from them. Let\u2019s be honest, they are all comedic geniuses. It\u2019s pretty awesome.<\/p>\n Marsai: They feel like our mentors at acting now because every day. It doesn\u2019t feel like work because we feel like a real family. We bond as a family. Together we are unstoppable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How close are you to your characters?<\/p>\n Yara: I\u2019m not close character-wise to Zoey because I\u2019m the kind of person that spends all my time reading and such. I took two history classes in Oxford and I have to be reminded, \u201cYara, people might want to know that black-ish<\/em> in on tonight. You might want to post something.\u201d That\u2019s the kind of person I am and I usually forget my phone. I like fashion but I\u2019m not into fashion. Otherwise, I\u2019m pretty different.<\/p>\n Miles: Same as him (Marcus). I\u2019m pretty close to my character as I am in real life. Like the basketball, the sports I\u2019m also into those things. And the acting. I\u2019m into what happens in my character\u2019s life too.<\/p>\n Marsai: My character, Diane. To me, I\u2019m pretty social media-kind. I\u2019m pretty quirky. I don\u2019t have siblings. You all have siblings. So this is my first experience with that. So it\u2019s kind of new to me. I like the computer. I\u2019m kind of sporty. I play gymnastics and I did cheerleading for a year and a half. That\u2019s just me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What has been the reaction from friends and family?<\/p>\n Marcus: I\u2019d have to say the same thing. My family is extremely supportive of the show. My grandmother is in sales and every time she would make a sale she would start off like, \u201cOh, here I have this nice necklace. But guess what?! My grandson is in a new tv show, black-ish<\/em>!” It was pretty cool watching her make sales like that.<\/p>\n Marsai: My family is amazing! In the pilot, my grandparents called me and are like, \u201cOkay, we have it on the DVR, we have it on Hulu, and all the tv shows on in our house are on black-ish<\/em>.\u201d And Grandpa\u2019s like, \u201cEverybody in our family better watch black-ish<\/em>. If they\u2019re not, I\u2019ll sock\u2019em.\u201d Okay, I know Grandfather. They\u2019re all proud of me. It\u2019s just amazing how we became so big.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n They also have a crazy bond that’s clear to see. Though there were four chairs, the\u00a0little ones decided to share one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What turned out to be quite a surprise was our Q & A with the kids’ parents. We found out that the four sets of parents work together to keep the kids emotionally grounded and watch out or them. All the kids are enrolled in school so it’s a constant back and forth between home, school, and the set. The kids still have to do all their chores at home and each gets to come home to family with both the mother and father to nurture it.<\/p>\n The feeling on set is special as everyone is like one big family. Yara and Marcus are alike in so many ways regarding their high intelligence, ability to concentrate, and being fairly easy to raise. Both Miles and Marsai have spunky personalities but they get along so well that they even play outside of work. As for the parents, they love that there’s an “open door” policy with the staff. They full access to the writers, department head, etc. so they and their children can feel comfortable with the content, costumes, and situations. While some episode require some extra conversations at home, it seems everyone involved takes pride in the show they’ve helped create.<\/p>\n If you haven’t seen black-ish<\/em> yet, you should. Families of all sizes, makeups, and ethnicities will be able to relate to the stories being told. It airs Wednesdays at 8:30pm on ABC. Sit tight as photos from our set visit are coming up!<\/p>\n I was invited on an all-expense paid media trip as a guest of Disney and ABC in honor of the Big Hero 6\u00a0movie and mentioned sitcom series. All opinions are my own.<\/em><\/p>\n See more: Marvel’s Avengers Event<\/a> | Monsters University Event<\/a> | Frozen Event<\/a>\u00a0| Big Hero 6 Event<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you didn’t already know, a\u00a0new series aired on ABC this season called black-ish. I had the opportunity to interview the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":49530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[98],"yoast_head":"\nblack-ish<\/em> Interviews: Kenya Barris, Series Creator<\/h3>\n
black-ish<\/em> Interviews: Lindsey Shockley,\u00a0Writer<\/h3>\n
black-ish<\/em> Interviews:\u00a0Junior Cast<\/h3>\n
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black-ish<\/em> \u2013\u00a0WEDNESDAYS 9:30|8:30c<\/h3>\n
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