This final episode of #creatorsincovid brings a special guest, with a story that sums up almost all the lessons from this first season. Ray Fisher experienced the changes of working after the lockdown, the joys of new opportunities, the call to activism for Justice's sake, and the maintaining of self-care/mental wellness needed to survive the fight. We dive into it all in Bonus Episode 11: When Accountability Matters More Than Entertainment.

Thanks to Vero social app for your support particularly Jon, Tom, and Christine. Your support on all fronts helped to bring this podcast to completion. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Thank Bryan Archilla for your skills...and jokes.

This episode drops on February 1, 2022, on all major platforms.

Tonya Pinkins joins the #creatorsincovid podcast to discuss the decision to walk away from it all, for now.

During the pandemic, she was writing a book, directing, starring in, and producing her debut film, and acting in #womenofthemovement. The latter took her to the heart of the South days before the Jan. 6, 2021 Insurrection, where she faced head on the reality of her family's trauma under Jim Crow laws in Mississippi. 

At some point it all becomes too much and at some point, a creator has to decide if its time to walk away...for a moment. 

Join us as we dive into these questions and more in this Bonus epsiode of Creators in COVID.

Epsiode edited by Bryan Archilla. Sponsored by Vero Social App.  

The 9th and final episode of Creators in Covid is focused on a writer who learned one of the toughest lessons in life during the pandemic. I thought that the virtual workspace and having my family home would be the ideal work environment. Instead, it turned out to be one part of a cocktail that forced me to learn a new way to balance work and life.

Find out more in #CreatorsInCOVID Ep.9: Learning to Fail, featuring me, Jonita Davis.

Thank you, Bryan Archilla for blessing this episode with your audio magic. Thank you Vero social app for all your support, encouragement, and sponsorship.

Find more about Jonita here: http://linktr.ee/JonitaDavis

Also, Bryan is available for more work until the second season of Creators in Covid is in the works. #HireHim @bryanarchilla

This is Episode 8 of 9 Creators in COVID Podcast. We are down to the wire but don't speed through this one.

Tessa Smith is well known for her #MamasGeeky YouTube channel. During the lockdown, Tessa saw the perfect moment to pivot her channel and website from product reviews to film reviews and criticism.

Her audience loved the change and she quickly built a small community of like-minded people. People who love her enthusiasm and perspective.

The love hasn't really come from the critic's side of things. Was her pivot too fast, or has Tessa uncovered a bias that entertainment journalism has been hiding for quite some time. Tessa shares her story today on Creators in COVID Episode 8: Doing the Pandemic Pivot.

Episode 7 of #CreatorsInCovid features a journalist, Olivia Monahan, who did the WORK in 2020. She and other journos in the field at the time helped us learn so much about the injustices happening as the world protested #georgefloyd 's murder and #policebrutailty.

But Liv Monahan is a scarred warrior who is now on an existential journey to define her place in journalism and the world.

Join us as we discuss the work, and the toll it has taken. What happens when the craft you loved is no longer bringing the joy you once knew?

Find out in Creators in COVID Episode 7: What is the Art Really Doing, Here?

Sponsored by Vero, the social app for creators that defies the algorithm by supporting organic engagement. It's where this podcast drops each Monday exclusively before the world gets to hear it on Tuesdays.

The Creators in COVID is engineered and edited by Bryan Archilla.

Science fiction has a way of reconciling a chaotic present with an uncertain future. But what happens when the sci-fi writer creates something that happens to tell the future? Liam Quane did this with his book Road to Juneau.

Road to Juneau is a super-powered family as they feud with a cosmic god in order to stop World War 3 from happening. The book is published by Beaten Track Publishing. Liam’s story of gods and superheroes has distinct elements of the sociopolitical atmosphere the world experienced during COVID lockdown in Spring 2020. The part I couldn’t believe is that Road to Juneau was written in 2019 before the world became acquainted with the coronavirus.

Join us as we dive into the complex role of a storyteller in times of turmoil in our world. There we will answer questions like is the creator the person in charge of translating world events into digestible art, or does our art simply reflect back to us the events of the world. Let’s discuss the book, sci-fi, and more on Creators in Covid Episode 5: Knowing the Role of Art.

Sponsored by Vero, the social app for creators that defies the algorithm by supporting organic engagement. It's where this podcast drops each Monday exclusively before the world gets to hear it on Tuesdays.

The Creators in COVID is engineered and edited by Bryan Archilla.

This week, we have an episode that comes with a trigger warning.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR: self-harm, suicide.

Ankit Ohja, film critic, filmmaker, and videographer who found himself struggling to just survive each day during the lockdown. The uncertainty of the global event and the seemingly unending restrictions in his country, as the government struggled to get the virus under control. Ankit felt the mental toll of the lockdown, the same one that millions of fellow creators coped with around the globe.

Our conversation today touches on a subject that so many have experienced, but also a topic that we have not discussed openly in creator spaces. Ankit's story is one that will spark so many conversations or it should about mental health, creators, and the pandemic.

Ankit describes himself as, "mostly a video producer, content creator, film critic, and features editor-at-large. Sometimes, a filmmaker. Constantly frank about depression and often insufferable with dad jokes. Movies are a part of me."

Tune in to Episode 5 of Creators in COVID: Surviving is Enough for Today.

Sponsored by Vero, the social app for creators that defies the algorithm by supporting organic engagement. It's where this podcast drops each Monday exclusively before the world gets to hear it on Tuesdays.

The Creators in COVID is engineered and edited by Bryan Archilla.

Today’s episode comes from the Windy City, one of the many cities rocked by the COVID-19 outbreak and police reform protests. The Black community suffered the most harm in Chicago, from the virus and protest crackdowns. Aisha Allan is one of those Chicagoans. Aisha is a writer/Editor in Chief of the mag Reel Mamas. She is also a filmmaker, a mentor, a mom, and a military wife. Aisha had the stress of daily life to deal with on top of the pandemic woes. Stopping to cope with any emotions at the time meant crashing in a way that this creator refused to consider.

 That busy life became a way for Aisha to channel her rage at the injustices she personally experienced and witnessed happening to those around her. To keep it from slowing her down, Aisha applied her craft to help process everything. Did I mention that she gave birth while shooting a short film before the vaccine was available? Amazons are real folks. 

Join us as we discuss a creator coping with rage and frustration by leaning into her craft. The result is a short film on YouTube about another mother’s son still suffering due to racial injustice. She also has the cutest baby boy who sometimes tries to help mama tell her the truth. You may hear him and more on Creators in Covid Episode 4: Crafting Emotions into Activism.

Aisha Allen is a filmmaker, writer, and Founder of Reel Mamas Chicago. She graduated from Fisk University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dramatics and Speech and completed her MFA in Cinema Directing at Columbia College Chicago. She has written and directed several short films which include her award-winning short film Bump)ED (2014).

 In May of 2018, she started Reel Mamas Chicago, LLC a Digital Media Company/ Online Magazine dedicated to empowering and inspiring women filmmakers. The online magazine features the latest interviews, film reviews, articles, and essays about women working behind the camera. RMC has covered film festivals around the country including the Chicago International Film Festival, SXSW, and Sundance.

Aisha recently graduated from Kartemquin Films and Community Film Workshop’s Diverse Voices in Documentary Fellowship where she worked on developing her first feature documentary “The Cost of Time.” Aisha was recently awarded the Studio IX’s Mother Project grant and the Sundance Press Inclusion Initiative Stipend.

You can find more about Aisha and her work by looking up @reelmamaschicago on social media.