You know, often films that are deemed positive, nobody wants to see them.

For far too long, independent voices have been relegated to places where these ideas are not seen on a mass level.

I don't want to say that in a place that's negative about what the fear is. I just want to be a realist.

Ignore the glass ceiling and do your work. If you're focusing on the glass ceiling, focusing on what you don't have, focusing on the limitations, then you will be limited. My way was to work, make my short... make my documentary... make my small films... use my own money... raise money myself... and stay shooting and focused on each project.

I think it's a wonderful time to be a black woman who makes films. It's a good time to be an artist period. Traditional models of making and consuming art are breaking down and being rebuilt. I find that to be incredibly exciting as a filmmaker and film marketer.

It was easy for me to show the films to the studio and the network and say, "This is who I'm hiring."

What we tried to do in 13th was get to the bottom of that. What were they motivated by? But certainly the attention that the Attorney General's office paid to it allowed for there to be some dialogue across the aisle that I think were the first steps then in change.