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Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast! I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with award-winning and critically acclaimed filmmaker and advertising agency veteran, Deborah Riley Draper. Variety Magazine has previously named her as one of their “Top 10 Documakers to Watch.”
Deborah will premiere her newest project James Brown: Say It Loud, on February 19, 2024, on A&E Network, which she directed and co-wrote. The 4-part docu-series examines Brown’s legacy through exclusive interviews, never-before-seen footage, and his beloved music catalog and is executive produced by Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Academy Award-winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Draper previously directed the 2-part series The Legacy of Black Wall Street for OWN/Discovery+, which received an NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television). In 2017, she received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her documentary feature Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, which she also directed, produced and wrote, telling the untold story of the 18 African-Americans who defied Hitler and Jim Crow in 1936. The film was one of only three films recognized globally by HRH Prince Albert of Monaco for the 2017 Sportel World Peace and Sport Award.
Her debut film Versailles ‘73: American Runway Revolution opened New York Fashion Week and Toronto Fashion Week in 2012, then debuted on LOGO TV. Versailles ‘73 is the first intimate look at the infamous Palace of Versailles fundraiser, which gave birth to American Prêt-à-Porter, led by Black models. The film won the HBO Best Documentary at the Mill Valley African American Film Festival (MVAAFF). Draper also directed the award-winning documentary Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in 2021 and the short documentary OnBoard: The Story of Black Women on Boards, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival.
Draper recently wrote and directed the 2024 Love, Your Mind campaign for The Ad Council. Additionally, she won the 2023 Gold Anthem Award and Gold Addy Award for the Ad Council’s Rural Stories in 2021 and multiple Addys and Anthem Awards for the Ad Council’s COVID-19 Education PSA Tuskegee Legacy Stories.
Draper served as the archival producer on Hulu’s Look at Me Now: XXXTencion in 2022, and also wrote and directed the award-winning short film Illegal Rose in 2019, starring Emmy award-winning actress Jasmine Guy. She will serve as executive producer of the web series The Table, set to release in February 2024. She serves as director and executive producer on the upcoming docu-series Flipped in association with Coffee Bluff Pictures and wiip Studios.
In this episode, Deborah and I talk about the process of documentary filmmaking, James Brown’s powerful music, and the impact of his civil rights legacy.
**If you like what you hear, be sure to review, like, and subscribe to the Scene to Seen Podcast on Apple, Spotify, and iHeart.**
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