The 3W Podcast
From the people that bring you 3W Magazine, welcome to the 3W Podcast! We aim to serve our community by promoting awareness of Northwest Arkansas’ thriving philanthropic movement; To provide a guide of dates to help coordinate events so every nonprofit gets the coverage they need and deserve; To give financially to local charities each year.
The 3W Podcast
The 3W Podcast: Twilla Brooks - Part 1
What happens when you step away from corporate success to find your own path? In this captivating conversation, former Walmart executive Twilla Brooks shares her journey from the structured world of retail to entrepreneurship and her current role with the Bentonville Film Festival. Listen now to discover how Brooks navigated major career transitions, and join us for part two where we'll dive deeper into all things Bentonville Film Festival!
Hey everybody, welcome to The 3W Podcast. I'm your Kasie Yokley, . Thank you for joining me again. I have an amazing badass here with me today, Twilla Brooks, and I can't even go into her titles because she has too many titles, but we're going to, slowly but surely, so Twilla how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm great. I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:I thank you, you're kind of my host. You're not my host. You're my first guest for the 2025 season.
Speaker 2:Wow, I know Thank you, and I think our worlds just collided, that it worked out.
Speaker 1:I love that Our worlds collided a few years ago. That's true it did. I kind of like was like running into you at like LPGA events yeah, women Empowerment Right Summit and the big tent you all do and I'm like, who are you? I didn't know who you were. I felt bad, like you looked really familiar. But I'm like, who are you? You're like kind of a mover and a shaker. And then I talked to cammy joe. I was like who is this person that's buzzing around, that seems to know everybody? And she's like how do you not know twilight? And I'm like I don't know twilight. Who's twilight? And so then I forced you to get to know me. Yeah, and I think I was still at walmart, right, you were like phasing out, I was phasing out, yeah, yeah, I snagged you for the magazine, like on your fresh yeah, on my fresh exit, uh-huh, I, oh my god, you were the first interview, um, for my exit and at the time I didn't really know what I was doing.
Speaker 2:You did it, I loved it. I knew I had a game planned and I think at the time I was still working with the mars really well, um, but I had kind of teased that were I was going to do something different, right?
Speaker 1:no, I loved it, yeah yeah, I met at bl Street, your favorite place, my favorite place, which is like on down the list, on down the list. We did your photo shoot at Blake Street. We sure did. You're all things Blake Street. I'm all things Blake Street. You're all things Bentonville.
Speaker 2:I'm all things Bentonville. You know I'm always in LA. But there's just something Go Dodgers, yes, they're doing well. There's just something about Blake Street where you know the staff there, they're so opening. You could have that privacy where you don't have to worry about a bunch of people trying to find you. The food's great and it's just something about coming in the front door and someone saying hey, Twilla, I know, right, I haven't seen you in a while, yes, they keep tapas on you, they do.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I feel like they do. They're like oh, what are?
Speaker 1:you going to do with that, but that's good, oh no, that's good.
Speaker 2:Accountability, that is.
Speaker 1:I like it yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, came here fresh out of school, no I wish Retail Retail.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, you're so nice. Yeah, I moved here from.
Speaker 1:Well, no, I'm sorry, there was like a, there was like a connect the dots. It was like college and then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so college Marshall Fields, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, technically kind of I can't remember it's been, I didn't do my research, I'm just like we're here to talk about bff yes, so graduated from uc, santa barbara.
Speaker 2:At the time I thought that I would go into law school but I ran into a really good friend of mine who was an associate buyer for a division of may Company at the time called Robinson's May and he was like you know, I thought he was in law school and he was like no, I just fell in love with this company and you should come and meet the recruiter and it was kind of the rest is history. You know, I always wondered, you know, would I go back to law school? But you know I give a lot of credit to Robinson's May, really kind of teaching me they really cared about their people and they set you up with people who were going to look after you and for people that don't know what were their brands.
Speaker 2:So, so, robinson's May, but that at the time, you know that was really where it was a difference between. You had really high end brands at the time, like Liz Claiborne or Ralph Lauren, but then you also had, you know, moderate clothing where you know it was very affordable. So they had this great way of being able to and I feel like I still do it till today. I call it the high low project, where they were so accessible to so many different people. Low project where they were so accessible to so many different people. And I think that they really helped me with my foundation of retail.
Speaker 2:But I think in life of really kind of how to operate as an executive, how to work really, really hard, there's people who worked really hard and, ironically, one of my closest friends that we've known each other since I was 23.
Speaker 2:And we were buyers together. You know, I just celebrated her birthday this weekend in New York and we kind of looked at each other and we're like we've been doing this thing for almost 27 years. How amazing is that? And so, yeah, so a lot of great friendships, a really good foundation of the person that I knew I wanted to be in, and then from there, you know, robinson's May got bought out by Macy's Right, okay, that's where I was getting at that. Yeah, got bought out by Macy's. And they moved me to San Francisco where I really kind of created this foundation, where I kind of became really, where I really learned that I loved adaptability, that I loved learning new things and I kind of became like their brand builder. I started in moderate petites and then I got the great opportunity to move into better sportswear where, you know, I got to work with the likes of Tommy Hilfiger and Liz Claiborne Isaac Mizrahi for Liz Claiborne.
Speaker 1:But you still have all these connections to this day and the thing that's so crazy through all these brands.
Speaker 2:You know I got a call from someone that I worked with from Iconics. That stems back from over 20 plus years ago, that when I was at Robinson's May, and this was a call like a month ago. So you just never know who the connectors are and the people that you'll keep in touch with. I love it, but you know we're really tight knit group from Robinson's May and then for those of us who went to Macy's, we stay really closely. And then when Macy's decided that they were going to close all their regional offices, I moved from San Francisco and, ironically, a mentor of mine who was a GMM SVP in L in LA gave me a call and said hey, I know you're going to go to Macy's, but I think you need to look at this company called Walmart.
Speaker 1:And I was like well, what's? I'm not moving to the middle of the country? Well, no, it's like California.
Speaker 2:I'm still California and I was already thinking about moving to New York and they had an, a fashion office office in New York and a long time ago a long time ago and you know the Walmart team they came in. They were very focused. They recruited me, you know, um, after time, you know SVP over product development and sourcing and brand Mary Fox uh, who's actually now um, she was then at L'Oreal. She was like you need to come and do this. And if you think about connections because I feel like my whole life is like a connected thread there was a woman named Mary from Iconics who knew me when I worked for Oscar de la Renta and Isaac Mizrahi for Liz Claiborne, and she gave my name to Walmart, who then reached out to an SVP and that's how I basically ended up at Walmart and, ironically, that same person is a person that reached out to me a month ago. I love that. I love that. Is that crazy? Yes, yeah, so, yeah.
Speaker 2:So then, fast forward, Walmart had their fashion office in New York for three years and they closed that office and they were like we want to introduce, we want to move you to Bentonville, and I was like no Right, and I was like I'll move back to California and at the time JC Penney's was interested in me and it was Andy Barron who, since his retirement, he said to me he said, Twilla, you have such a great career with a company and we want to invest in you and move you to Bentonville, but you want to go to another company in Texas that you've never been to. He was like we're not that far from Texas and I was like, well, what do you mean? He was like I'm from Texas and I live in Bentonville. And so he was like you need to go down there and just check it out. And you know, fortunately for me, I took up. You know, I did that and then, with so many great mentors, just guided my career over the next two, next 10 years.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, all good things must come to an end kind of had this realization that I had been just moving and taking roles based off of people who I consider to be mentors, who have kind of guided me, and said that this is your next step. But I never had the time to sit still and say, well, what is your next step? Or what do I want to do? What do I want to do, Because a lot of times when sometimes you think you're happy because you have a lot of success and happiness doesn't always equate with success and so COVID forced us all to sit still right because we didn't know what was going on and I had a lot of time to think and somewhere in that time I just said you know, I don't think this is what I'm supposed to be doing in 10 years, you know, and I set myself up nicely with other investments and you know I talked to walmart, other mentors, the advisors and advice directions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was so great and walmart was so amazing to me, you know. They were like we understand uh, you know, uh, we'll let you go on your way and kind of do your thing. And they wanted to know if I was going to move back to LA and I was like I don't know. You know what I mean. I'm going to kind of find my way and I feel like over I would say more so over the last 14 months, I'm really kind of finding my way and I would say I met you a solid three years ago.
Speaker 2:Solid three years ago, but I met you a solid three years ago. Solid three years ago, but I think we might have first time, we might have.
Speaker 1:That was Interform, I think maybe. Oh yeah, you're probably right. But I think we like really got connected three years ago Because I was like I'm going to make you my friend, yes, and then we were like we should be friends.
Speaker 2:Yes, and so, and the rest is history. And then at create and innovate, which, lynette is my middle name, I knew I was creative and I want to be innovative. Uh, I tried to use my initials but I found out tlb is pretty well known and a lot of people use that. So, uh, they were like no, you can't do that. And so I kind of just been finding my way where mostly.
Speaker 2:I started in brand, uh, because that's what I knew, but I think, fortunately for me, I got to work with the mars, and then I got to work with the Mars, and then I got to work through the Bentonville Film Festival.
Speaker 2:They're really teaching me about, you know, pr, public relations, about marketing, and then really understanding that this world of digital marketing, because over the last five years, you know, the world shifted from brick and mortar to online and so really understanding that space. And I'm excited because AI has kind of also introduced a different way to think. It's wicked's wicked and you have to be, you kind of have to give it its flowers a little bit. You do, but you also have to stay on top of it, right and so. So, as you are creating that content. You do have to be careful, because I do believe that the world that we live in you have to be authentic and you have to be organic and you have to show up and you just have to make sure that ai is not creating a space where you're not who you are oh right, it's going to create like an alter ego.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you don't court it yeah, and I'm fascinated by it.
Speaker 2:yeah, so you take the world of retail and you merge it with entertainment and there's so much that from a retail that I could utilize in entertainment, right, you know. And then Walmart, if anything, taught me to be organized, to be prepared for anything, and I think, as the world start to merge, I'm learning a lot, but a lot of the assets that I learned from Walmart is helping me be successful in the company that I have today.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, we were talking offline of being an entrepreneur. Nobody goes into entrepreneurship to be a millionaire overnight Exactly Blood, sweat and tears and to know your worth, right, and you essentially work for below minimum wage Pretty much, yeah, at first. Yeah, you take on projects. It's unfortunate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you take on projects. You know we have a couple of, you know, because part of it I also. I want it to kind of help entrepreneurs and small business owners Right, and a lot of times they are not necessarily working on a huge budget, no, they have the shoestring budget, but you have to convince them of the greatness and a lot of times there's a lot of like push and pull. Yes, you know, and and you learn a lot and you just have to be ready when it blows up. Right now, obviously, I worked for a brand that you know in the beginning, you know, with dave and jenny. They were very small and mighty.
Speaker 1:you know to scale, to scale it hard to scale it to heart, so like for you to have that expertise. Yeah, um, when dave and jenny were first launching yeah, you know scale right, worked in it for 10 plus years, yeah, and so for you to hold their hand through it, I feel like, was probably who they needed yeah, and you know, I think it was a really good balance too, because, you know, if you meet um dave and jenny, they're really they're.
Speaker 2:They're very interesting because they're different but they're similar. Right, we're um, we where. What I learned a lot from from jenny is your brand and who you are is extremely important and you have to hold tight to it, which is hard.
Speaker 1:Which is hard? A bunch of people pulling you in different directions.
Speaker 2:You have a bunch of people pulling you and I think for me I was able to kind of pull her a little bit where, um, she could see the level of growth. But it's tough because you, you, you have to be able to trust people and some people you can't right. And then dave's side is all about. He has this amazing innate ability to think outside the box and to recognize the good in people and to see something you know. But for him he might be going too fast, right where I'm on the ride with him, uh, but we'll both look at each other and be like, all right, maybe that's a little bit too fast, and so I learned so much from the both of them about you know, and what they're doing with their brand is amazing, uh, and I love now where I'm really more of a spectator, um, but I get to kind of uh, come around, uh, when, when something comes up that I think is important to them, and because we have such a good relationship, they're like, oh well, what is this?
Speaker 1:I mean, but your relationship goes back before the show, oh yeah, which I think. Yeah, it's authentic. Yeah, yeah, right you were just like oh, y'all are like famous Bentonville people. Now I'm going to come work for you Like they did your home. This was back when they were just just their own construction.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was just, they were just, he was just Mars developing.
Speaker 2:And you know, for Walmart, you know, I was really starting to kind of, you know, get promoted and really, you know, get involved in this community, and I was like I could see myself here. In order to do that, you know, I need to purchase a home, and and how lucky was I that, you know, when I went to go buy a home and the home that I wanted to buy just happened to be one of the homes that he was building, and then, you know, that spawned out a relationship. You know, it's just, it's so fake because the way, honestly, I knew jenny, but I really know her well, I really knew him and we were friends, and then we did quite a few projects together and then we would kind of ask each other for opinion on different things you know what I mean, um, and then it just kind of created a bigger thing. And then, when I retired and I didn't know what I wanted to do, it just it just was like a perfect opportunity for us all. It's like we all needed each other at that point.
Speaker 1:Right, it was a good spot to breathe on. It's a good spot to figure out where you were going to go while still being busy and be busy and be around people that you trust.
Speaker 2:Right, you know which is not the easiest thing to do as an entrepreneur and in the world that you know we live in, because there is a big difference between corporate and you know small businesses entrepreneur. You know Walmart, you know it's ethical it's. You know where that line is. You don't cross that line. You see, in the world that we are on this side it's, it can be real gray, and so part of me did love having boundaries. You know what I mean. I mean because what? But then when you become an entrepreneur, you have to recreate your boundaries. You do, uh, and they just look different. And they just look different. They're still great. I mean, obviously you still have your core values, you still have your ethics. The dynamic is just a little bit different.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that's okay, and that's the only constant in life is change. It's change which you know, which is what I love. Right, I love that.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh my gosh. Okay, before we jump into BFF. So we already we essentially have already talked about your aha moment. Yeah, and what we met, talk about. Let's talk about Bentonville, okay, that'll be a good segue. Yeah, for BFF. Yep, what's your favorite food? What's your favorite food In Midville? Yes, we can't go to LA.
Speaker 2:We have a Dodger Dog, yeah. So my favorite restaurant and I'm obsessed with and I'm there all the time is Junto.
Speaker 1:Oh, you know what? I cannot get a reservation there. Oh my gosh, it's like ridiculous.
Speaker 2:I'm so lucky, like you know, because I don't eat red meat and I don't eat pork, right, don't? I don't really eat duck Like I pretty much live off of fish. Occasionally I'll do chicken because you have to. But but my favorite restaurant in LA which is obviously no boo, but like it's not an attainable thing that you can do all the time no, super expensive, very hard to get a reservation. But you know, when you go to Juto, my two things that I love is they make a yellow tail carpaccio and they make a crispy rice. Okay, so, literally sometimes I just order it and I drive up to the valet and then I go pick up those two items and then I go home. Okay, I've never thought about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm like I want to go in and experience the whole vibe, the other secret, is unable to, uh, just go sit at the bar okay, not the bar inside the restaurant, or outside the bar inside the hotel? Nope, not, okay, the bar inside the hotel. They also serve it. So if you can't get a reservation, you can just roll in there and you can still get the best moment. And you know they've been adding a few. They also added this, which I thought was interesting. It's almost like a Korean fried chicken kind of a thing. So I thought that was pretty good, but, hands down, my favorite, jun Chow. Have you had?
Speaker 1:their brunch. I heard it's amazing.
Speaker 2:You know what? Someone else told me to go to their brunch and I have not. That would require me to weekends more well, that's true, and you are.
Speaker 1:You tend to get a jet set, I tend to jet set and you know it's been raining for 40 days and 40 nights and, oh my gosh, I can't even talk about so, I can't even deal with it by far my favorite, but I know that there's a couple of new restaurants, uh, that are.
Speaker 2:I want to try celeste, which is the new oh yes, the zillion restaurant yeah, so, uh, I want to try that. And then blake street just opened up a new restaurant as well, so there's a few. Have you tried Calista?
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, oh, so that would be my second Okay, I just got to experience that a couple of weeks, like a month ago, we did a photo shoot there in the fall and it was so cool, and then it's so tiny I can never get a reservation.
Speaker 2:It's so tiny.
Speaker 1:I loved it.
Speaker 2:I love it. Uh, I love the drinks there. Um, there is I don't know what it's called, but it's almost like like they're. Their drinks are always like over the top, totally, um. And then I love their skewers, but they also are really good because they they play with a lot of, like, vegetarian options oh, we got some amazing cauliflower cauliflower oh my gosh, that was yes yes, it was amazing. So they do really good and their skewers are great, so that would be my second one okay, I'll let you my second one.
Speaker 1:Okay, cocktail, what's the go-to? What is like? So I'm meeting Twilla and she's late, which she isn't, yeah, but um, she's stuck in traffic. What do I order her?
Speaker 2:well, hopefully you. Uh, there's a soft block from new zealand, okay, but I'm really getting into sans air, right, so you know. So that's I love that, but, okay, this is going to sound interesting. So I didn't drink from, so I did um. So basically, after new year's I basically didn't drink all of January, all of February, most into March. Okay, right. So Did you go into mocktails? Yes, okay. So my cocktail that I really love is almost like a Hugo Spritz, okay, but without, obviously, the alcohol. They serve it at Blake Street and they use like a gear like which is almost like an alcohol alternative, okay, and it's so good it's almost like a lime, like club soda. So it's club soda, lime, pretend alcohol, I think, pretend alcohol, and there's gotta be something else in it. Okay, that makes it a little sweet.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, okay well, I might have to try one of those. Yeah, what's your favorite time of day?
Speaker 2:uh, okay, my favorite time of day is I love breakfast. Right, met you for breakfast. Yes, I love waking up and it's a really nice day at like. So, like right now, my tradition is, you know, I love tennis other than baseball. If I'm not doing baseball, it's tennis. Well, the French Open is on. Okay, right. So in the mornings, you know, typically the really good matches are on 730, 8 o'clock Because that's prime time, because it's prime time in France, right.
Speaker 2:So, like yesterday morning, at like 730, I sat out on my deck and I watched Coco while I had a chai. Okay, well, that sounds peaceful and you know what it does. It just gives me time to kind of in my mind, like set everything that I want, what are my intentions, what is the stuff that I need to get done? Yes, but it's my favorite time of day and typically in Arkansas around this time, if it's not raining, it's probably in the morning, like around 70. You know, like I just sit back with my pool, turn the pool on and on, if I'm lucky, and then I just sit there, uh, for, and I don't do anything, but I watch the match and I drink my chai.
Speaker 2:I don't check emails, I don't do, I think, passive. Yeah, we're actually for an entrepreneur, that's well, yeah. Well, you know, part of what I wanted to do when I left Walmart was my time was not my time, and even as an entrepreneur, your time cannot be your time. But I was trying to create boundaries where, like my mornings or my mornings, or like 536 o'clock my mornings or my mornings, or at like 5, 36 o'clock, I might say to my team all right, I'm going to go work out, eat dinner. I'll probably be back on at eight o'clock.
Speaker 2:Okay, but like what are those intentions? To kind of keep me still who I am, level my stress, uh, and just be excited about the opportunity I like it, I like it, I like it.
Speaker 1:Warning hey, that's a good one. Do you have a hidden talent?
Speaker 2:Do I have a hidden talent? Besides, I think everyone really knows my hidden talent, you know, with playing softball, but that's not really a hidden talent. I think one of my hidden talents is I love to make flower arrangements. Stop it, I did.
Speaker 1:You did the flower arrangements for a small BFF event last year. Yeah, I did it ended up to the kickoff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did. It. Was it at your house, it was at my house, yeah. So I did all the flowers. A lot of things I've done flowers, yep, and then I do I love hydrangeas, and so, and my hat, because I was like, where are you getting these amazing flowers?
Speaker 1:I go to sam's club oh, they have the best flowers they have the best flowers like a flower market. It's like a cool.
Speaker 2:It literally is a flower market, and then and if you're nice to the ladies and you'll be like, well, I'm noticing you're out of like white roses or they got that stuff hidden, and they'll hook. And if you're nice yes, you're out of like white roses or yellow roses, they've got that stuff hidden and they'll hook you up. And if you're nice yes, you're going to be nice They'll hook you up. And so that would probably be my head talent and I love it so. And then now it's getting to a point where my friends are like hey, can you make flower arrangers?
Speaker 1:for me.
Speaker 2:Nice, I did a baby shower for my good friend. Thought I had to do eight, but I just really only had to do three. But she gave me like these, like she bought these things from uh sorry, walmart, from Amazon, where it had like baby around it and there was eight of them, so I thought she needed eight. Sure, of course she's like I only needed three. So yeah, so that clear, that would be a good hidden talent, that would be a good hidden okay, um, do you have a karaoke song?
Speaker 2:um, so okay if it depends on, um, how I feel, but you know I'm obsessed with adele, um, so I love singing, set fire to the range. I know it's crazy, like I I'll scream it at the top of my lungs, but most people who know me, they know, know that I love music. So, like my car and music is like my jam and like right now I'm obsessed with, like Nicki Minaj's, like with collab with Rihanna called the Fly. So I'm just singing it at the top of my lung in the car and I've gotten text messages from people who would say that they've been, and although I did just get my windows tinted a little bit more because too many people could see me and so if I want to act a fool in my car, I think it's very hard to see uh, the car is such a sacred space.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, for a jam session, yeah. And I oftentimes have two littles next to me and their eyes cannot get in the back of their head fast enough and I'm like I don't care because just hold on, and it's such a stress reliever. Oh my god, it's such a stress reliever it feels so good.
Speaker 2:I do it all the time now it's like the best thing, it is the best it doesn't matter if it's pouring down rain, which, again, that's all it's done for 40 days.
Speaker 1:You need a moment, but, um, it feels amazing. It feels amazing. I love it. Oh Okay, last question on you. What I know, what you, basically I think we know, what you wanted to do at 13 was be a lawyer. Okay, aside from your phone and wallet, what do you have to have?
Speaker 2:Aside from my phone and my wallet, my AirPods. Really, that's your go-to? Yeah, because I'm on a plane all the time you are. Yes, right, no, no, listen, I get out if I get on the plane. I soon as I, before I even get on the plane, I already have them in, right? Oh yeah, I am so not cool enough to be that person.
Speaker 2:And then I have like my Dodger hat on and my hair and like I'm low right, they're like she must be famous. And I was like don't talk to me. Like I have like my music I have, and it's funny because the flight we just came back from New York there's like a bunch of people on talked like before we got on, but then I was like listen, I'm focused. Like I've been there home for like four days. I have like two movies that I want to watch, like I need to listen to my music, like bye, now bye. So I would say that that is that.
Speaker 2:And then I gotta have lotion, okay, um, so I love to like um at sephora or at ulta to buy the little lotions and keep them in to a point where, like now I had like I think I had Gina, because Gina asked me for a lotion and I think she stole it like. So she's like this is really good. I like the you know it was like thing give it back. She's like that kid chewed that. So yeah, so that would probably be what I need to have.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we're going to jump off, we're going to have a part two, okay, and we're going to really dive into BFF. Yeah, give me a teaser so everybody will join us for part two.
Speaker 2:So listen, I think that part two you know the BFF. Our theme this year is find yourself in film, and I think it's so appropriate for where we've that's me, I guess they found themselves in film as well. It's so appropriate for the world that we're in right now, you know, where there's so much adversity, that what I love about it is there's so many different things that you should find yourself in, right, that you might love right, whether it's from the filmmakers, um, if you are for all walks of life, right, um. But we're doing a couple of things that I think are extremely important, where we added a homegrown section that, okay.
Speaker 1:You all launched that media day and I was sitting there and I had tears in my eyes when allison de la jose was speaking yeah, about, um, oh, it's way back to rich. What did she say? But she, oh yeah, she went to one of the panels about being in charge of your own destiny 11 years ago and that is what energized her to be here to to speak on your microphone that day about ridge to river.
Speaker 2:yeah, and you know the thing is, there's that. There's, beyond that, the ashes. Yes, you know which. You know this is a film that is super powerful, um, because it talks a lot about the challenges that these writers go to and what happens when there's something doesn't go their way and how they kind of get back up on. The other thing, too, is Sovereign, right, so Sovereign with Nick Offerman and Dennis Quaid and Nancy Travis, and you never know, they may be here, but that was filmed.
Speaker 1:I mean right, that's gonna be like the big fancy, that'll be because of the names, right, but I love the. But you know the local home ground and I know that's a homegrown one too, but the other but we also have that we're announcing.
Speaker 2:You know, we have a tribute to Jim Te teeth and there's four films uh that we're going to announce and three of them uh have to do closely with, uh, the state of arkansas. So one is called culber. All students can learn about the first african-american uh superintendent in fayetteville.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, traveling yeah, yeah, yes, recently, yes, I just now in process.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what you're saying, yes, right, well, yeah, I remember yeah, um, traveling mercies, which is a short uh, but it was filmed at Bentonville high school and in downtown Bentonville. You'll see yayos uh on the screen. And then, uh, paris three, uh, where it talks about three young girls who were 12 and 13 who were thrown in a jail in Paris, kentucky. Well, the senior director her grandmother, is one of the Paris 3 and the senior director works for Walmart. Oh my gosh, so there'll be so many dots to home, so there'll be so many to that will highlight homegrown. So we're super excited about that. But also, you know we're super excited about that. But also, you know we're the bentville film festival, right where we're. Obviously, we have huge ties to new york and to los angeles, and but there's also a lot of great movies and different things that are being filmed in the state of arkansas, so this really gives us an opportunity to highlight it.
Speaker 1:I I love that. I think that's a. That's right. You're turning 11. Yes, exactly, and BFF came on the scene 11 years ago and it was like, oh my gosh, all these famous people are going to be here all the time. Exactly, but look what it's morphed into Right. It's taken 11 years to bring this homegrown to the light.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's that's what it means. Well, that's the thing that's so great about the film festival is, you know, you get an opportunity to see over 100 films, Right. But there's also panels where you will be able to talk about. You know the effects of having a disability Right To the panels are so inspired. The panels are so inspiring. They're one of my favorite. But then there's that other great thing about us where we highlight the community.
Speaker 2:We're starting on Thursday afternoon in the outdoor theater, you know, the Gina Davis Outdoor Theater. Everything is free, Everything is free, everything is free, right. So where this one is really dedicated to families, you know what I mean when you can bring your kids out. So think about it. If you're a family of four, on a thursday afternoon I mean because it is the summer you can bring them out to watch wild robot yep, get free food yes, free drink platform, free drinks and just enjoy the night. Yes, you know what I mean. And then on saturday, saturday is going to be insane. It is going to be insane, it is going to be wild. We have over 35 activations highlighting some of the biggest toys, some of the biggest characters. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:We're going to touch on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're giving everything away. Yeah yeah, I'm giving too much away, so I'll stop. I'm going to shut you down. Shut me down.
Speaker 1:Shut me down, okay, okay. So miss Twilla touched on popcorn, so I can't let you all go without thanking our podcast sponsor, hershey salty snacks, because they have skinny pop and pirate booty and dots homestyle pretzels. And have you had the cinnamon sugar ones? I have not. I might have to try these. I will get you some. Okay, freaking amazing, I want them. They're just to die for. So you all come back for part two and we're going to dive into all things BFF and maybe we'll tell you where Gina is.
Speaker 2:I don't know you just have to wait.
Speaker 1:You never know, right. Yeah, so till next time. Twilla, thank you, I'll see you again in a minute, see you, but appreciate y'all for joining us, so keep.