Tracy Oliver on navigating Hollywood by embracing the unexpected | The Limits
August 23, 2022
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42:19Now PlayingTracy Oliver on navigating Hollywood by embracing the unexpected | The Limits
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as posted by the channelHollywood powerhouse Tracy Oliver sums up her career simply. "When people go right, I always tend to go left." She wrote the hit 2017 film Girls Trip, becoming the first Black woman to pen a movie that grossed over $100 million at the box office. On today's episode of The Limits, Tracy tells Jay how she has navigated her biggest Hollywood successes, from an eight-figure deal with Apple, to creating and executive producing the Amazon series, Harlem.
Tracy credits a lot of her wins to her contrarian streak, which she's had from a young age. She tells Jay how she randomly started wearing a Stanford sweatshirt while growing up in South Carolina–then ended up attending. That's where Tracy met Issa Rae, and the two began collaborating. In the relatively early days of Youtube, they created the popular web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.
The Internet was wowed by their presence, but multiple studio executives laughed them out of the room with blatant sexism and racism. Tracy stayed on track, steadily building her portfolio as a writer focused on the friendships of Black women, and the joy of the Black experience. Today, her career is a blueprint for so many aspiring creatives of color, and Tracy has shown time and time again that Black stories are anything but niche.
For sponsor-free episodes, weekly bonus content, and more, subscribe to The Limits Plus. This week, Tracy talks about mentorship in Hollywood.
Follow Jay on Instagram and Twitter. Email us at thelimits@npr.org.
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Today, the art of celebrity doesn't look like it used to. Now, it's all about betting on yourself and expanding your personal brand—sometimes even beyond your comfort zone. Few understand the art of rebounding your life better than Williams, now an author, entrepreneur and ESPN host. Each week, he'll go deep with heavy-hitters from the worlds of sports, entertainment, and pop culture to understand the principles of faith, vision, and grit they live by in order to see past doubt and build their empires. From rappers-to-moguls, to talk show hosts-turned-CEOs, you'll learn the ways that successful people define, push, and conquer their limits. Email us at thelimits@npr.org.
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