Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Storyteller in depth, a podcast where we go behind the.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: Scenes to learn more about the school.
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Of communications, media arts and designs, people, places and things. I'm your host, Pat Quigley. Today we have a very special guest on the podcast, Kalala Brooks. Here's a quick preview of what you.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Can expect from this episode.
[00:00:19] Speaker C: It's not the end of the world. We're just beginning. And that we have those opportunities to create change, and that change has to start on an inner self. And in order for them to understand that, they needed to see that. And that's where the show came through. Other children in care that aren't tied down by their circumstances and somehow find joy and laughter and get affection.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: As you just heard, Kalila shared a bit about the why behind her show, Auntie B's house, a short form live action preschool sitcom that gives representation to foster care through Auntie B's character, who's a foster mom, through important storylines that kids can understand. In this episode of the podcast, we'll also hear some of the other aspects of the show, as well as more about Kaleil herself and the journey she has been on, including being a 2019 graduate of our childrens media program. This show is an incredible culmination of a significant amount of work that Kahela has put in over the years with her aunt tv character, which started with a traveling performance with puppetry to a YouTube video series to now with the idea is developed into today, a 20 episode show that airs on CBC Kids and CBC. Gem were jumping straight into the question with Kalala. So let's get right to it.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: So Auntie B is a great character, right? Where did you get the inspiration from for the character?
[00:01:35] Speaker C: Well, the character is a reflection of my childhood prior to being in care. I grew up in a really big family, and so within that family, we used to go roller skating all the time, and my eldest brother would have to take myself and my younger siblings and we'd go roller skating. And I reflected on my family at the time. They were wearing afros and there was that disco retro time. Cause I'm a seventies baby. So, you know, all of that was involved. And so through that process, I thought about the happy times of my life, and I was like, oh, well, what made me happy? You know? And so in that I formed this character that was, you know, able to reflect to children. She had these groovy glasses at the time, you know, and these retro groovy glasses. And so I formed this character and I, and I didn't form her. Just out of nowhere, Oprah Winfrey had launched the own network, or she was just the process of launching the own network. And she had stayed at looking for ideas. And a friend of mine said, hey, Kaleila, Oprah's looking for some ideas. You should send something in. And I was working at famous People Players theater at the time, where it's a Dinner theater, and they specialize in black Light theater. It's non for profit on Evans Avenue in Etopico. And I've been working there for about four years, four and a half years as early female performer. So I was like, you know what? I can do the puppet thing. Let's put something together. And we put something together. And, I mean, we were in a bachelor apartment, I believe, at the time, and I was, and I was at a friend's house in her apartment, and I just got in front of that camera and messed with a puppet, a buddy of mine, and we just put a quick little skit together and recorded it on our old, big old camera and sent something into her. And the own network got back to us and said they loved the idea, but they weren't doing children's content. And so I was like, oh, okay, no problem. So I put it away.
And a little bit ago, time had passed, and I thought, you know, ooh, what am I going to do with my life? You know, I'm always seeking the new thing to kind of evolve for self, right? So what am I going to do? And I'm talking to, what am I going to do? And then the idea of Oprah Winfrey came back, and I was like, wait a minute. Oh, my goodness. That fills my gaps. I'm in the field of social work because I was a child and youth worker with a background doing ten years of that. And I'm in the performing arts of puppetry, where I catered to children through the performing arts. And every time a school would come into famous people players theater, we would wear these black hoods. And under this black hood, every time kids would come in, I'd be crying with joy watching the laughter of those babies while we're in the audience messing around with them with these big, huge, life size puppets. And it really resonated. It sparked something. So I knew there was something about children's entertainment play. My overall life experience being working in the social sector industry, and as you know, if you don't know, famous people players actually employs individuals with exceptionalities, so those with autism, down syndrome. And so, literally, it was an opportunity to tie all my skill and skills together and my life skills and my life experiences working with individuals with exceptionalities, and put the character Auntie B together, put that audition together for Miss Oprah Winfrey, and boom, you know, and I put it aside like I said, came back and woke it up and go, that's what I'm supposed to do. That's it. And so I got up that day inspired. I was so grateful all day telling everybody that was willing to listen, I know what I'm going to do with my life.
The ground has opened up wide. So I knew at that moment what I was going to do with my life and I just started forming it. And a friend of mine knew the Afrocentric school here in Toronto, the Afrocentric school. And she knew the principal at the time and called, hey, we've got this great friend of mine who does this stuff. You want to book her for a show? So she booked me in for the show. Miss Tando Hymen at the time, like I said, she was at the Afrocentric school, but she still worked for TDSB at Toronto district school board. And I went in, I delivered a one woman show. I had no puppets because just me by myself at the time. I went in with my afro and a little backdrop no bigger than the picture you're seeing behind me. And I went in there all enthusiastic, you know, with this character, Auntie be as extreme as she could possibly be. And they loved it. She referred me to somebody. They referred me to somebody, then they referred me. And so I started building and building and building the IP out and forming it. And thank goodness, centennial, like I said, landed on my lap one day. I was sitting home watching, scrolling through Facebook, as sometimes we do, right? And I see centennial children's media and I registered for that bad boy. And I was like, my world's gonna change. And centennial actually changed my life. I have to be honest. Centennial children's media program specifically changed my life. And I went in that bad boy with a mission, knowing I was gonna take this character, Auntie B, and work her magic, really see how I can stretch what she can do and what she can offer. And through the teachers and the instructors at Centennial college, right? From my program coordinator at the time, program director, to the, you know, everybody, the students that I worked with, my cohort really were able to help me groom and find this project or this character in this IP. And I went to blazing, you know, and here we are. So that's kind of the journey in a long run.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: But okay, it's, it's such a cool story. I love hearing people's journeys, and that's the lead up to where you are is just so much of where you're going. Right. So finding out people's history is so interesting to me and, and hearing how Auntie B has kind of grown over the years, are there elements that have kind of stayed the same for the character in terms of, like, the vision and the message you've wanted to get across?
[00:07:25] Speaker C: Well, you know, yeah, a little bit. So some things have changed. Some things didn't. I will say that when I was at Centennial doing the children's media program, we had some execs come through, some broadcasters and producers like CBC did come through to visit to see some of our pitches. Headspinners production also came through to see some of our pictures, and in that, they had given me some tips about the character and her look, and so I was able to think about that a little bit. My character, originally, she had these glasses, but they had lenses in them, and I learned that children need to see your eyes, and so that I'm to take those out. And so I said, okay, you know, I'll take the lenses out. And then as time kind of went on and years were passing, I realized through all of that, too, that maybe, you know, my attire should switch a little bit or, you know, become more modern looking to a certain extent still with a retro feel. And so I decided to kind of do some switches. So the character's physical appearance and her attire, I should say, has shifted slightly from a big, groovy afro to, you know, curls and ringlets, more so from a colorful tights to, like, more jumpers and your, you know, different type of shoes. So in that sense of the character's image, it shifted, which was really lovely. I think, regardless, the character would have been a good sale anyways. But it was nice to kind of stand out a little differently from some of our other competitors that are in the children's space to different ourselves from those individuals.
And in regards to the messaging of Auntie B, the overall messaging is still somewhat the exact same. It was always about unconditional love. It was always about, you know, inspiring and healing the hearts of children. So we weren't taking that away. We were actually creating healthy storylines that would be relatable. And that's kind of what changed, too, the writing of the show. So from, you know, performing this character on YouTube and or in a theatrical space, we've had to alter the writing for television. We're now going from a 45 minutes production and, or on YouTube, you know, quick little, maybe three minute clips, I think, on YouTube to seven minutes. So there was a lot of rearranging around that. And I went from being a individual with, you know, a few team members, let's say four other creators that were working on my team to having a massive team of, I think we had, you know, a good 20 something people involved, 20 to 30 people, for sure, involved in the project. So now my team has now grown. So those are some of the things that were new to me. And, you know, that changed how I operated with the character, for sure.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: And I'm just, I'm curious about the complexities of working in children's media. Like, like, I know it from, from my aspect, working in, like, the community television space and knowing kind of how that world works and a little bit of know how broadcast tv works. But, like, what is it like working for on a children's show? Like, what is that like?
[00:10:18] Speaker C: So, you know, it's fun.
I have to be honest now I have a back. I've done document. I've done commercials. I've done short films. You know what I mean? Whether it's behind the camera as crew and part of that team or in the office or if it's, you know, in front of the camera, I've been around a couple of different avenues in the industry, and I'll say that working with children's space, I love it. I love it because, first of all, you're doing your regular hours. So for those that are working in the space, you get to go nine to five type of thing because children cannot work past a certain time. So there are laws around working with children, but it is super fun. You get to play. And if you love your work anyways, it's always a place to play. Like, if you really love your work, it's a place of it. But with children being on set, you know, you've got to conduct yourself a certain way, too, because you're with children. So there's that. You still want to be that role model for the children, but you also get to see them, be them. So these children are smart. I didn't quite realize how intellectual children that are actors, how intelligent they are, and they are because they have to read a lot because they're learning these scripts and they have to position themselves at such young age in different circumstances and they're able to do it, which is lovely. And between moments when we were like, you know, cut or, you know, they were changing lenses, let's say, you know, or maybe someone needs some shujing. You would see the kids in the background, the girls friends would be do clapping games, you know, you know, the little clapping games, you know, and the boys are in there doing, you know, you know, they're showing off their little Hiyah muscles, you know? You know, you look over 1 minute, they're in these serious scenes, you know what I'm saying? And the next minute they're hi yah. Or doing little clapping games or singing, oh, my goodness. They're singing every little pop song on the radio, you know. Do you know this one, Auntie B? And they're singing a little Taylor Swift. They love themselves of Taylor Swift. And so you get to be enjoy at all times for me, and I'm sure for my team, you get to be enjoy of all times. You're working. Yes, but it's fun working with children because you get to see your own youth, your own self in them. And, you know, even if a scene is hard for them, we've had some difficult scenes, you know, even if a scene's for her, you then really, truly connect to that energy with those children at the time. It feels so real. So not only do I get to be me, Kalala Brooks, in those intimate moments, I also get the chance to really show the Auntie B character because it's so real, you know, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Wouldn't change it.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: That's incredible. That's truly, truly incredible. I've always wanted to work in children's, the children's side of media, and I just never kind of got myself into it. So I love hearing from you about just how much fun it is, and maybe. Maybe that's where my path will take me someday. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see in 2020. You were featured in the story Art Center's newsletter, the storyteller, and you discussed your YouTube series called Auntie B and friends that you were creating as an alternative to your traveling show. Because of the pandemic you mentioned, it would be a great objective to one day have it be a web series on CBC Gem. Now, of course, flash forward to having actually have the show on CBC Gem and on CBC Kids. Can you share what that first day of filming looked like, how you felt, and how that process progressed?
[00:13:38] Speaker C: Wow. You know, can you imagine I shared, you know, wanted to be on day. Can you imagine I did that in 2020? So I have to tell you that it was nerve wracking, you know, I mean, we're building this show and, you know, through. Prior to getting camera action and camera ready, we're creating. We're constantly creating. You know, we're lining up the team. But that first day getting on set, it was surreal.
I had a dressing room that had Auntie B and, you know, my name. I had my own parking spot when I got to set. And we worked out of the, you know, a wonderful studio as well. And they were very lovely. And so I'm walking in, and everyone's so lovely in front, and I'm like. I'm walking my leg. I'm mentally saying, your legs are moving? Yes. You're 1ft in front. It's real. You know, you're not sleeping. And so I get in, and I've got all the crew and everybody that I've known, and they're saying, hey. And. And now, you know, cameras are getting ready to roll, and I'm in awe of this experience. I cannot believe that this little girl who sat in the back of a social worker's car is about to do exactly what she said. Now, she didn't know it was going to look like this, but here it is. She is meeting herself. And to be able to hit camera and see my crew, and I said to my crew, listen, this is my first time doing this. Be patient with it, you know, because it was my first rodeo on this level. And this, like, I've never created a show before, you know? And so everybody was very patient. They were loving and kind. We went in there, and even if I messed up because I was nervous, I was nervous, right? You know, and I do this thing. This is me. I do this, but I was nervous, right? And so I'm nervous a little bit. And I'm trying to be strong because I do also realize there's a lot of pressure on me. Let's be real. Money is time. So not only am I the creator, being the actor, but money is time in my. My business hat, you know what I'm saying? And so I realized that, okay, you gotta, you know, shake it, shake it. But let's get to work. We gotta get to work. But my team was patient. I got to work. I did my lines, and it was very surreal, and I loved it. You know, just to be like, we did it, we made it. And if I only did one episode, for me, it was like, I did one episode. But couldn't you believe it, Pat? We did 20 episodes.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: That's incredible. That's amazing.
That's truly amazing. And, like, so through the making of the show and exactly. Let's talk a little bit about what the show is right for the uninitiated. For the listeners who are just listening to this for the first time, let's share what Auntie B's house is about and talk about the storylines.
[00:16:24] Speaker C: So the show itself, auntie B's house is all about a foster mother who takes in a diverse group of children from different cultural backgrounds, and her objective is to share her life experiences with them, to inspire and heal their hearts as they, too, are children in care, so they don't feel alone through the process. And the show itself has a true essence because the character is from Nova Scotia. So it's based in canadian foster care system as well. It's authentic to the truth. We also had social workers as well that had a voice in our scripts on our show.
Dops and directors that were either in foster care were adoptees or their parents were foster parents.
And I'd have to say that it.
Yeah, the elements of the show and the execs of the show made it really, truly authentic. Even our executive producers, her daughter was adopted.
And so I think the show itself was just full of realness. You couldn't turn a stone without seeing evidence that what we were doing was creating something really unique and special. And the filming process and all the different elements. We decided to kind of use back plates of a home environment in our living room. So we had a living room, a back backyard. We also had bedrooms. And those elements were really, I wanted to.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: Unique.
[00:17:57] Speaker C: I wanted to make sure that we kind of had, like, a. A theme of crayons, for instance. So if you look at our templates, because we filmed on green screen, if you look at our templates, you'll see that, you know, the bedroom windows are kind of looking like chalk. That's all. With intent. There's a message behind that. For instance, we recognize that children come and go, so chalk come and go if you wipe it. Right. So everything that we kind of did was around the thought process of how foster children live in a revolving environment until somebody hopefully adopts them or they find a stable home that they can live in until they age possibly, or just not age out at all, and they just have a family for life.
And so I think the creating the show was really great. We had. So it was half, like, almost animation or, you know, like, somewhat. It's not animation, but to a certain extent, you know, you get to see that animated, illustrated look and with those live action appearance and. Yeah, yeah.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: And you were saying there's only 20 episodes, so is there plans for more or is that kind of under wraps for right now?
[00:19:01] Speaker C: No. Well, I didn't mean it's only 20 episodes. I was saying we got 20 episodes. You know, some shows only get like five or eight episodes. We got a whole 20. But in regards to us getting more shows, we are still in the works of that. So we're crossing our fingers that there's still some new action coming on. But I do know that we're trying to kind of tweak a little more magic. As you all know, bam. Theater is still present and Auntie B character is still present. And so, you know, when we put Auntie B and we put her back into her theater, theater world, you just never know. You could get a new show that's, you know, a nice live theatrical production of the Auntie V character in the show. You know, so there's all kinds of magic happening around. I know my Ep, Michelle Millenson, was talking about a children's book as well. So, you know, she's been approached. And so people have asked, hey, can we write, you know, a book? So there's some things on the table about what we're doing and we're not eliminating. We're still trying to sell our ip and get more eyeballs on the work that we're doing for Auntie B's house and see how can tap into that on a different level. And so, yeah, we're crossing our fingers that there's still some magic coming through.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely trying to spread it out, right. Trying to do more things and have more eyes on it. That's incredible. That's so cool. And something that I think is probably going to help maybe churn some things in the next little bit for Auntie B's house and for yourself is, you know, just the other day, something amazing was announced for the show with the Canadian Screen Awards being nominated for a number of categories. Best preschool program or series, best direction, children's or youth. Best writing for preschool, best lead performer, children or youth. Best perform, supporting performer, children or youth. So, I mean, wow, that's incredible. Seriously, I remember reading when the list came out, I went, wow, so many, so many awards that you're being nominated for. So take us back to when you first found out this news and what you were thinking.
[00:21:00] Speaker C: Oh, my heavens. It was crazy. I got a phone call first thing in the morning and I looked up my phone and I was like, why is Michelle calling me at 08:00 in the morning? You know, because I know Michelle. She's gonna wait a little bit, right? So I'm like, why is she calling me at 08:00 in the morning? She must have something to say. And I answer the call and she goes, I feel like I'm at the oscars. I go, what girl?
You know, she goes, abh. That's what we call our show, Auntie B cells. Abh. Abh has been nominated for sex awards, you know. Kidding. Scared of like what? Oh, my God. Like, yes, you know, and there's my family sleeping. My family's in their room and they're all sleeping. I'm like, yes. But y'all laugh, you know, all loud and excited, clapping. Yeah. You know, and so it was super exciting, super surprising because, you know, it's so. I'm so connected to the ip, sometimes I have to humble myself to understand. Do I think it's good just because I'm the creator? Am I biased or is it really good? And so I have to humble myself to kind of look at it and I get confused about it because you don't want to be in your ego, you know, saying my show is the best, you don't want to be there. At least I don't want to resonate there and be there. So, you know, you don't know, right? I felt it was a good show. Feel like the message alone is valuable, you know? And so when I got this opportunity and Michelle called me up at 08:00 in the morning, and here I am hearing that we've got these wonderful awards. It's like validation that the world thinks that this is a good show and that it's resonating and we're doing exactly what we said we were going to do. We're going to make noise, shake up the world a little bit and remind them that these babies that are in the system really need them and they need healthy support. They've already been through chaos. They actually need some balance now. And so seeing these six awards for our show and our team who's worked due diligently to kind of get this done, you know, and, you know, cut corners in the sense of we could have utilized even more funding to make the show a little more awesome now, it's great. We did it, you know, but, you know, more of anything, more people to assist, you know, with our show, to know that they see these awards for themselves as well is great. You couldn't have told me when I was at Centennial College that I would be on CBC, CBC, Gem, and possibly nominated for six canadian screen awards? I would have wanted to believe you but I would have. Okay, well, we'll see what happens. So it's really great to really just have this cherry on the cake and have our peers compliment us and Canadian Screen award to see the value of such a wonderful show.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: It's been really cool to hear all of your insights on everything that you've been building up to to this point. You know, you've already accomplished so many things and there's only so many things. You're going to continue to grow and develop more as time moves on. And I'm so excited to see that one day, you know, there will be people out there that might be listening to this or might see you and see the show and want to develop their own series or show or, you know, their own ideas. What would you tell them?
What would you tell them as some advice?
[00:24:34] Speaker C: You know, I really want people to understand that if you have a dream or something that's waking you up in the middle of the night or passion, to really love what you do and utilize that and put anything and everything into it to make it happen for yourself. And know that the journey is not going to be linear, meaning it's not just going to escalate you to the top. There are things that you have to do to get there. There's going to be trials and tribulations along the way. There's going to be turbulence.
Don't give up on yourself. Love yourself. Know that your ip is the magic and make it happen. Keep going. Utilize the people around you. Feel the energy of those that you know, that are sincere, that are in your corner. Build your team so, and your team is going to be everyone around you. Use the people that you know to build your team. Put them in the right positions. If you know someone that's an artist, put that artist in the. Don't put them over in the financial department, okay? Put them in the art department. Okay. You know, run your operation with a clear mind. And please be patient with yourself. It's not going to happen overnight. It will happen, but not overnight. Be patient with yourself, you know, and it's okay to. To feel down. I felt down. I wanted to give up on times, you know. I'm not going to say everything was peachy cream. I'm still internally human. I'm human, you know, so I got down at times. I wanted to quit because it was hard, but quitting because it was hard was not an option for me because I wanted it so bad. So be patient with yourself. You be kind. Oh, please be kind. People. People don't want to help you. If you're nasty and if you're, you know, mean or backbiting, recognize the people that are really trying to help you. You know, it took me a lot of time to trust because I've been doing things on my own for quite some time. And so it's okay to surrender and trust people and let them in to help you get you where you need to be. You know, Michelle Melunsen from his finish production was somebody that I had to trust, that she was here for us, not for her. And she was. At every moment in time, she came and she showed me she was here for us. Find those people that are there for you and us. Work with them so you can make your, your dream, your ip, whatever that is. If it's gaming, if it's an animation, if it's, you know, short film, it doesn't matter. Find your people you can trust and know that you can't carry them. You may not be able to carry them to your next project only because it might not be relatable. Like I said, I lined Auntie B's team up with people that were in the social sector industry that had connection to adoption and foster care. That's not going to be my next project, though, right? So know that you can't bring everybody, but you can bring some as well. And it's okay to be, what, I would say, mutable or able to change very quickly.
[00:27:30] Speaker B: Layla, thank you so much for being on the podcast today and sharing so much amazing information. You know, we could talk for hours and hopefully, you know, in the next couple years, if I'm still doing this podcast, I'd love to chat with you again to see where you're at and to see just how much your career is going to evolve.
[00:27:52] Speaker C: For sure, Pat, anytime, anytime.
[00:28:02] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Kalala, for this incredible conversation and insight into your show. Auntie B's house, the storylines and the message of Auntie B that you've carried throughout your career is truly amazing for listeners. Be sure to share Auntie B's house with the younger people in your life and head over to our Instagram atory artcenter and leave a comment on our post about this episode with your thoughts.
[00:28:24] Speaker B: Until next time, I'm your host, Pat.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: Quigley, and this is storyteller in depth.
