COP TALK
PIERSON TO PERSON
BILL DUKE is a retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department. He spent 32 years "on the job" protecting and serving the citizens of LA -- a job that both fed his soul and satisfied the adrenaline junkie in him. Climb into the back seat of Bill's car as he drives Brent around Hollywood, DTLA and Chinatown and talks about his life on the beat.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
PIERSON TO PERSON
JOHN T. LANG, Ph.D. is the chair of the Department of Sociology at Occidental College. Professor Lang devotes much of his academic research to the exploration of social relations surrounding the production and consumption of food. (EXTENDED EPISODE: 1hr 14min) EPISODE NOTES: Thanksgiving week is here and food takes center stage in America. So, too, on an extended episode of PIERSON TO PERSON as I talk with JOHN T. LANG, Ph.D. Professor Lang chairs the Department of Sociology at Occidental College and devotes much of his academic research to the exploration of social relations...
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ORION THE ARTIST
PIERSON TO PERSON
ANDY GINER kept his passion for rapping under wraps for several years before finding the courage to step forward as his hip-hop alter ego, ORION THE ARTIST. Andy is serious about finding a place for himself in the competitive rap world -- not for fame and fortune, but for a higher purpose. (44:13) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: ANDY GINER is one of the best production sound engineers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. I’d always seen Andy as a mild-mannered guy. Quiet and unassuming, but friendly. Then we became Facebook friends and I discovered, to my surprise, that...
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MENSCHES and MENTORS and BABY BEARS, OH MY!
PIERSON TO PERSON
DAN ARDEN is a veteran non-fiction television producer with a reputation of being a very nice guy to work for – some say too nice. But for Dan, creating a positive and enriching experience for his production team is equally rewarding, sometimes even more so, than producing the show itself. (43:37) EPISODE NOTES: I’ve known and worked with a lot of nice and conscientious TV producers over the years, but DAN ARDEN is hands down the nicest and most conscientious. It’s just who Dan is, and reflective of the way he leads his life. For nearly 40 years, Dan has belonged to Soka...
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GOTTA HAVE FAITH
PIERSON TO PERSON
FAITH PRINCE won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her role as Miss Adelaide in the 1992 Broadway revival of “Guys and Dolls.” And while Faith was honored to be recognized for her performance, she says the baggage that came with the win messed her up for five years. (48:04) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: And the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical goes to … FAITH PRINCE. The year was 1992. The show was “Guys and Dolls.” The role was Miss Adelaide. And while Faith was honored to be recognized for her performance, she did not expect the baggage...
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MINDBODY AND SOUL
PIERSON TO PERSON
BLAKE BELTRAM is co-founder of MINDBODY, the largest provider of cloud-based business management software to the boutique, beauty, health and wellness industry. The publicly traded company serves clients in over 130 countries worldwide. (52:42) EPISODE NOTES: It’s been 20 years since BLAKE BELTRAM sat in my living room tinkering with a software program that he had recently created to help yoga and pilates studios manage their daily business. I should have paid more attention. Turns out, Blake’s nascent software was the seed that grew into a mighty oak called MINDBODY. The...
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WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
PIERSON TO PERSON
JEFF COPELAND is an author, screenwriter and non-fiction television producer whose close friendship with Andy Warhol superstar HOLLY WOODLAWN (immortalized in Lou Reed's biggest hit song "Walk On the Wild Side") dramatically impacted his professional and personal life in ways he never expected. (46:40) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: Andy Warhol made her famous. Lou Reed immortalized her in song. And JEFF COPELAND wrote the book that chronicles the extraordinary journey of a 15-year-old runaway who, as Reed croons, “shaved her legs and then he was a she.” As Jeff tells me in his...
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#ELIZABETHTOO
PIERSON TO PERSON
ELIZABETH COOPER SMOKLER has spent 40 years working as a Hollywood makeup artist, primarily on TV sitcoms such as Roseanne, The Ellen Show, Reba, Blossom, The Larry Sanders Show and Who’s the Boss? It’s been a wonderful career – except, that is, for all the sexual harassment she’s had to deal with in the process. (50:53) EPISODE NOTES: Not long before allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein jump-started an ongoing dialogue on sexual harassment in Hollywood, I talked with veteran TV makeup artist ELIZABETH COOPER SMOKLER about her experience working with lecherous...
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DEMON DRUMMER FROM EAST LA
PIERSON TO PERSON
MACEO HERNANDEZ is a professional Taiko drummer whose passion for the ancient Japanese form of percussion began in the 7th grade. Despite having no rhythm or musical experience, young Maceo was determined to play Taiko, leading him on a life-changing journey to Japan and inspiring a documentary film. (51:11) EPISODE NOTES: MACEO HERNANDEZ was in the 7th grade when he experienced an epiphany while listening to a Japanese Taiko group performing at a family friend’s wedding. MACEO: “You could really feel the impact and the vibration of these Taiko drums. And it just blew...
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YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
PIERSON TO PERSON
LLOYD GORDON is one of the top estate liquidators in Los Angeles. Nearly 30 years in the business, Lloyd stages and presides over estate sales in some of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods. He says just because an item is valuable doesn’t mean it will sell. (50:26) EPISODE NOTES: Next year LLOYD GORDON will celebrate his 30th anniversary working as an estate liquidator in Los Angeles. It’s not something the exuberant song and dance man set out to do. But a funny thing happened to Lloyd on the way to a musical theater career – he made a real name for himself...
info_outlineCYNTHIA JAMIN is a former sitcom actress who had recurring roles on Friends and Veronica's Closet as well as other NBC "Must See TV" shows. Cynthia now designs whimsical clothes for girls and the joy they bring to those who wear them helps ease the pain of her own abusive childhood. (43:09) EXPLICIT
EPISODE NOTES:
Remember the "Must See TV" sitcoms of the 1990s? CYNTHIA JAMIN certainly does. She was a working actress who had roles on several NBC shows back in the network's comedy block heyday, including "Friends."
In fact, as Cynthia tells me in TWIRLYGIRL she was invited to audition for one of the principal characters on "Friends" (originally called "Six of One") after series co-creator Marta Kauffman saw her perform at a small LA theater. She read for the part of Rachel. So did Jennifer Aniston. And the rest is TV history.
But Marta K. really liked Cynthia and asked her to play a waitress on the pilot. After the show got picked up, she was given the recurring role of Jasmine -- Phoebe's co-worker at the massage parlor. As Cynthia says, she ended up being a "friend of a Friend." But she was also an eyewitness to the explosion of one of television's Top 10 sitcoms of all time, and saw first-hand the impact the show's meteoric rise had on the 6 mostly unknown leads.
Today, Cynthia designs and manufactures fantastical clothing for young girls and tweens. But her popular TwirlyGirl line is an unexpected success story. It all started after taking a sewing class when she began making her now-signature "twirly dresses" for her 2 young daughters. Pretty soon parents were stopping Cynthia and asking her where she bought the colorful dresses with the dramatic twirl. "You made them? Can you make one for my daughter? I'll pay you!"
One dress led to another and before she knew it, Cynthia had more orders than she could handle from home. So she set up shop in DTLA's garment district and now, nearly 10 years later, is proud to say that every stitch of the groovy-juvie fashion she sells is Made in America.
But Cynthia's experience with TwirlyGirl has been about much more than growing a business in a highly competitive industry. It's also been a deeply personal journey of coming to terms with the darkness of her abusive childhood, stepping into the light and finding her own way to twirl.
BP
Many thanks to the composer of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing:
1. "A New Day" by Scott Holmes
2. "Inspiring Corporate" by Scott Holmes
3. "Duck Pond" by Scott Holmes
4. "Childrens TV" by Scott Holmes
Visit Scott Holmes Music on Facebook