Ava DuVernay | The Critic Who Said Yes
There's a photograph of a girl outside the Shrine Auditorium giving a thumbs up next to Roger Ebert, who is giving one back. She was around eight, brought there from Compton by her aunt Denise, who had figured out that the public could watch Oscar presenters rehearse the day before the show. Twenty-some years later, Ava DuVernay was working as a film publicist, and Ebert was one of the few critics who still booked himself — you wanted him to see a movie, you emailed him directly. She'd been doing it for years, all business.
So when she finished her first film, made for $50,000 and rejected by Sundance, she pitched it to him exactly the way she pitched everything else, without mentioning it was hers. He said yes. She spent her own money renting the screening room he liked. Then a one-line reply: your movie. I'll be in touch. Nothing else, until the tweet.
The film, I Will Follow, is about the day she moved out of the beach house she'd shared with her aunt, who died of breast cancer. Ebert, by then without his voice and near the end of his own illness, wrote that every emotion in it was one he'd experienced himself. In this conversation with David Begnaud, DuVernay talks about what that review unlocked — the other critics who suddenly said yes, the Sundance acceptance on her eighth try, the road to a Best Picture nomination for Selma — and about the thing underneath all of it, which wasn't a favor. It was being taken seriously. She has since built an entire organization around handing that forward, and she is very clear about what she expects from people who come asking.
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Thank you to Canva for believing in the power of storytelling and helping us bring this podcast to life: https://canva.com
Chapters ☀️
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Ava DuVernay
Executive Producers: Ellen Rocamora, Olivier Delfosse
Associate Producer: Griffin Hamilton
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Director of Social: Mariah Maull
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
More description
There's a photograph of a girl outside the Shrine Auditorium giving a thumbs up next to Roger Ebert, who is giving one back. She was around eight, brought there from Compton by her aunt Denise, who had figured out that the public could watch Oscar presenters rehearse the day before the show. Twenty-some years later, Ava DuVernay was working as a film publicist, and Ebert was one of the few critics who still booked himself — you wanted him to see a movie, you emailed him directly. She'd been doing it for years, all business.
So when she finished her first film, made for $50,000 and rejected by Sundance, she pitched it to him exactly the way she pitched everything else, without mentioning it was hers. He said yes. She spent her own money renting the screening room he liked. Then a one-line reply: your movie. I'll be in touch. Nothing else, until the tweet.
The film, I Will Follow, is about the day she moved out of the beach house she'd shared with her aunt, who died of breast cancer. Ebert, by then without his voice and near the end of his own illness, wrote that every emotion in it was one he'd experienced himself. In this conversation with David Begnaud, DuVernay talks about what that review unlocked — the other critics who suddenly said yes, the Sundance acceptance on her eighth try, the road to a Best Picture nomination for Selma — and about the thing underneath all of it, which wasn't a favor. It was being taken seriously. She has since built an entire organization around handing that forward, and she is very clear about what she expects from people who come asking.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: www.thedogoodcrew.com
Thank you to Canva for believing in the power of storytelling and helping us bring this podcast to life: https://canva.com
Chapters ☀️
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Ava DuVernay
Executive Producers: Ellen Rocamora, Olivier Delfosse
Associate Producer: Griffin Hamilton
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Director of Social: Mariah Maull
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
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