Getting Deals Done with Patrick A. Howell
Getting Deals Done with Patrick A. Howell
021: EXCELLENCE - Ruth Carter, 2X Academy Award Winner
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It is said that excellence is a habit rather than a destination. Also, that you are what you do consistently. If that is true, then Ruth Carter who just won her second academy award for Best Costume Design for the film "Wakanda, Forever", is the epitome of excellence. She won the first award in 2018 with Wakanda's predecessor, "Black Panther". She was also nominated for Spike Lee's Malcolm X in 1993 and Steven Speilberg's "Amistad" in 1998. To hear Ruth tell it, however? She is as humble, passionate and focused as an intern looking for her big break. Sure, she's comfortable. But she's leaning in and her focus is poignant. And perhaps, that's where her true magic lays - her consistency and effervescence. Ruth Carter is the first black woman in American history to win the Oscar on her sartorial splendor, the basis of technically astute work, timeless art and the storytelling legacy of her ancestors. Yes, she looks at costume design as storytelling and takes her griot cues from sheroes including Nikki Giovanni, Lorraine Hansberry and Sonia Sanchez.
"My favorite part about costume designing is the artistry of the job...
I begin with understanding the intentions of the story."
Ruth Carter
Guest: Ruth Carter
Host: Patrick A. Howell
Creator and Producer: Patrick A. Howell
Executive Producer: Tori Reid
Writer: Patrick A. Howell
Post Production: WeEdit Podcasts
Post Production Assistant: Alana Coleman
Intern School Affiliation: Norfolk State University
Premier Advertising Sponsor: Vivreau Water Systems
Advertising Sponsor: Hilton Sacramento Arden West
Ad Voiceover Artist: Ginger Levert
Special Thank You - Sterfon Demings
More Information on Ruth Carter:
The Art of Ruth E. Carter: Costuming Black History and the Afrofuture, from Do the Right Thing to Black Panther
Getting Deals Done is a show about doing business, changing power, changing systems and making the world a better place one deal at a time. Host, veteran banker and entrepreneur Patrick A. Howell, speaks with leading and successful innovators, mavericks and captains of industry about making big things happen in the world.
I kind of think that we sometimes forget that the big macro view of your life and your career is not necessarily the successes that you need to grow. And those successes are sometimes small and very rewarding.
SPEAKER_03Hi, I'm Tori Reid, the CEO of Victory and Noble, as well as the executive producer for Getting Deals Done. Getting deals done is about one of three dynamic intentions. Number one, the success mindset, which is about the visionary doer as well as the dream catcher. Number two, systems, what it takes to get deals done in the world. And number three, power, how big things are done in the world. Getting deals done is about impacting humanity one deal at a time. Our shows are produced for the busy executive in under 20 minutes with voiceovers that aim to clarify, inspire, and raise your collective business IQ. We hope the show will leave you supercharged with capital energy, focused with purpose, and ready to do your very best by being your best. Welcome to Getting Deals Done with Patrick Howell, my partner and a tenured financier, as well as someone who knows a thing or two about getting the deal done. We have all been through incredible changes since 2020. In fact, more people are committed to living their best lives than ever before. At Getting Deals Done with Patrick Howell, we are staying healthy and hydrated throughout this episode, courtesy of our premier partners at Vivre Water, a sustainable solutions company who has been leading the charge for nearly 40 years for a kinder, smarter, and lighter planet. With the most reliable, highest performing, and eye-catchingly stylish water dispensing equipment available, they specialize in advanced water filtration, chilling and carbonation at the touch of a button or pull of a handle. Vivro Water is precisely the kind of life choice for leading captains of industry. We are all getting deals done and trying to lead our very best lives. Sustainable water, making the world responsible and healthier, one conversation, one deal, one pour at a time. Go to VivreWater.com. V-I-V-R-E-A-U water.com for more information.
SPEAKER_00Dress for Success. Ruth Carter, Queen of Wakanda. When the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Black Panther debuted in 2018, a bit of American cinematic history was created. It was the top grossing superhero film of all time, and ultimately the 13th top-grossing movie in world history with$1.35 billion in worldwide revenues. We are honored to have Ruth Carter, four-time Academy Award nominee and the 2019 and 2023 Academy Award winner for achievement in costume design for Marvel's Black Panther and Black Panther Wakanda Forever, making history as the first African-American woman to win in the category twice. Wakanda Forever. Let's speak about your crowning achievement thus far. And I think that you have a lot to offer. And I think that we're just beginning, as you said, to really see our stories. I think less than 10%, less than 5% of our stories are told. So that creates a trillion dollar opportunity worldwide to do what it is you began with Black Panther, which I think is the beginning of how we can really envision ourselves. I read that you had not even traveled to Africa yet in order to create the visions that you did, and yet they're so enduring and so lasting inside of our minds. How have you tapped into your inner visionary in order to create a vision that is basically created an afrofuturistic existence right now? I think we're in the midst of the beginning of our afro-futuristic experience right now because of the vision that you created in great part.
SPEAKER_02Oh, thank you. I don't think we are here because of me at all. I think that in the late 80s, early 90s, it was called Neo Soul. In the 70s, late 70s, it was the Black Power movement. We've always had a vision of our Afro future, if you would. You know, Afro future is somewhat involving technology, the latest technology in this Afrocentric way. And I think that in part really struck a chord with Black Panther because it was a Marvel film and it was about Black culture, and we went about it by examining the tribes and using the tribes, the ancient tribes, and the beauty that they represented as a catalyst to our technology. And that's what really brought it home. That's what really brought Afro future home. But it's been a it's been a while. I mean, like I said, I keep going back to Spike, but we were always using Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois as our our motto, uplift the race, you know, think ahead, show our images as positive. And I feel like that's Afro future too. You know, I feel like when I worked with Ava Duvernay and she was a former publicist and on the set of Selma directing, and felt like she embodied a person, a woman who had a view of Afro future, and she has a degree in African American studies and she knows culture so well, like the back of her hand. She's fascinating to listen to, fascinating to watch, and I think that all of these parts create a like a zeitgeist that moves us forward and defines again Afro future.
SPEAKER_00Speaking of Ava DeVernay, she's somebody else that I think very similarly to you. Listen, you can you can get an Oscar nomination, you could get an Oscar award, and people have faded into obscurity afterwards. You've grown in your influence, and you're very generous with your time, giving back to students at high school, students in colleges, and making sure that you're advancing the opportunities that you've received. I guess what is there to know about the game of publicity, branding, and marketing in Hollywood that has allowed you to do and project your energy out into the universe the way in which you have? You have a brilliant presentation about yourself, whether it was two weeks ago at the Oscar ceremony in which you were resplendent in your presentation of yourself. What is it that allows you to sit there and grow? What what do you understand about branding, marketing, and publicity that the average person or the average person that's coming into Hollywood may not necessarily understand?
SPEAKER_02Well, I think that some people are brilliant at creating a brand, just taking it an inanimate object and creating a brand out of it. And I've been already in the game 35 years. I studied films, I created my own brand, if you would. You know, when I walk into the room for an interview, I feel like I was bringing my knowledge and my experience with me, and that's what sparked the questions that I was asked. So I think you have to look at yourself like you are a brand. We use that word now more than ever, but I believe that. You say, This is where I'm going, this is who I am, this is what I want to do, and you groom that, and that's what enters the room with you when you're pursuing your life's work and your endeavors. But the Black Panther was so beloved, the costumes were so beloved when they wanted to choose the top five that they wanted to interview. I was in that top five. And you're asked a lot of questions, and so you have to have your stump speech, you have to have your story, you have to really groom your mind to what you want to say to the people and not just fly by the feet of your pants. And I had a great speech writer who worked with me on coaching things that I would say to the press. We had several sessions that were we talked about what my voice would be and what I wanted to say about my fellow filmmakers and the experience on Black Panther.
SPEAKER_00Very good. Thank you for that. And thank you also for your accomplishment and giving it back to all of us that are watching you. We're all watching you. In addition to a storyteller, in addition to Afrofuturism, you've also described yourself as a visionary for your career in costumes and also your successes. Can you talk a little bit about the role of a visionary in a successful career?
SPEAKER_02When I met Spike Lee, I would say I not only met a passionate filmmaker, businessman, someone of my same hue who was interested in building a community of filmmakers of color within 40 acres in a mule. I also met a visionary. And I may not have realized it as a by definition, but I experienced the visionary uh power of storytelling. And I was also supported in my own abilities to be a visionary and and and be a storyteller by uh Spike. And I believe that his appreciation for visual arts, and it's very strong, was you know the catalyst for encouragement and telling a story that hadn't been told and hearing the voices of African Americans in an area that hadn't really been properly exposed. You know, we were still at that time seeing gangbangers, and every time we we went to the movies, we're not represented fully. So, you know, having the vision to really want to tell our stories was how I was brought into this industry.
SPEAKER_00Last question is what do you define as success for yourself?
SPEAKER_02I define success as one accomplishment at a time, one experience at a time. The overall success is maybe being able to make a living at what you love and not feeling like it's ever work. But I think my I define success uh project by project, minute by minute, emotion by emotion. I try to stay in a mindset of success. I want my day to be successful, I want my ideas to be successful, I try to be very positive and invite a collaboration, and all of that is in an effort to succeed. And I kind of think that we sometimes forget that the big macro view of your life and your career is not necessarily the successes that you need to grow. And those successes are sometimes small and very rewarding.
SPEAKER_00Thank you very much for that. Thank you for being a guest on Getting Deals Done. Greatly appreciate having you here.
SPEAKER_02You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00Two-Time Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter is an expert storyteller who harnesses the power of visual communication to share narrative on culture, race, and politics. Creating costumes for generation-defining films, she brings vibrancy, nuance, color, texture to each of her culture-shifting characters. Ryan Kugler and Kevin Feige's Black Panther garnered unprecedented critical attention, nominated for six Academy Awards and winning three Oscars in 2019. And again in 2023 with three nominations for the sequel. Ruth Carter's work opens the world's imagination to a brand new reality. Her work shows how film can not only bank Fox Office, whether Spike Lee's Malcolm X, Steven Spielberg's Amistad, or Ryan Kugler's Black Panther films, but also be golden to the creative verb and integral spirit of people. When what you wear can make you feel away, or when perception is reality, well then, seeing is believing.
SPEAKER_03We hope you have enjoyed this episode of Getting Deals Done. Each show is engineered as meditation on success by the same team that has brought you success meditations on the art of life as well as being your very best self with our flagship program, Here's to Life, with Tori Reed.
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