Debra Martin Chase brought us girlhood cult classics like "The Princess Diaries" and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."
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00:00It was just a time in the business where nobody was interested in making TV or movies about women,
00:06about women of color, about people of color. It just was not happening.
00:11I would go in the pitch stuff, people's eyes would glaze over.
00:14And honestly, I do believe part of my success is that I have been on a mission.
00:19You know, like I said, I wanted to have an impact on culture and imagery.
00:24And so then all of a sudden I found myself just throwing stuff up against the wall.
00:28Like, oh, this is a story about a dude. It just didn't, you know, it didn't have meaning for me.
00:35And if it doesn't have meaning for me, I can't sell it. I can't shape it.
00:39And so I took a year, you know, I'm still working, but to explore other options.
00:43Should I practice law, film finance, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever.
00:47And when I finally decided that, no, this is, well, actually Vernon Jordan was the one who,
00:54who's a longtime friend. I've known him since I was 18 years old.
00:58And I went in and I told him this whole story.
01:00Who was a known expert in the entertainment industry.
01:04Expert in life.
01:05In life, in life.
01:06In life, okay.
01:07And knew me well. And he sat there and he listened to me and poured my heart out.
01:12And he looked at me and he said, you are too old to do anything else.
01:20What a warm hug.
01:22He said, you, you have a great reputation.
01:25You have great relationships. You have great experience.
01:27You need to figure out how to make it work.
01:30And it was that kind of boom, boom, you know, that I was like, yes, you're right.