雅拉?莎希迪是近幾年來才走紅的一位美國黑人女演員,她主演過ABC電視臺的熱門美劇《喜新不厭舊》(Black-ish),最近還出演了Freeform出品的衍生網劇《成長不容易》(Grown-ish)。
作為一名“00后”,年僅20歲的莎希迪不僅僅是電視明星,她還是學生和社會活動家。她與母親凱莉?莎希迪還成立了自己的制片公司7th Sun。在今年的《財富》最具影響力的新一代女性峰會上,莎希迪母女回憶了她們的奮斗經歷,并且談論了7th Sun公司所要完成的使命——讓社會“了解多種文化和身份”,而這也是一個經常被美國娛樂和媒體業忽視的問題。
在談到她的7th Sun公司時,雅拉?莎希迪說:“它使我們真正有了讓大家重視我們的所有情感的機會。”雅拉還表示,在這個過程中,她對“商業的運作和商業的創造力”也產生了濃厚的興趣。雅拉的母親凱莉也說:“我們的精神基礎,是一些非常大膽的目標。”這家制作公司的創辦,與她們母女倆對“講故事”和“開眼看世界”的熱情有很大的關系。
爭取種族和文化認同也是這家公司的重要使命之一。這一點從公司的名字上就能夠看出來。“7th Sun”取“7th son”(第七子)的諧音,這個名字取自美國黑人作家、社會運動家W.E.B.?杜波依斯的著作。(“黑人是‘第七子’,生來就戴著面紗,在美國這個世界上具有與生俱來的眼力。)
在雅拉看來,7th Sun公司的使命,就是要通過講故事的方式,將社會“承認和重視”那些往往被忽視的文化和體驗。該公司的項目“包括了從面向全年齡段的動畫片,到融合題裁的黑色喜劇等方方面面的內容。”(這家制作公司及其作品仍然處在初創階段,不過該公司已經于今年7月與ABC工作室展開了合作。)
雅拉表示:“體裁并不重要,重要的是它的核心情感。”她們的目的是要通過講故事的方式,“把之前沒有人講過的東西搬上屏幕。”
凱莉?莎希迪還提到了一個特別的目標,那就是要“以快樂為中心,以生活為中心,促進面向年輕人特別是面向棕色人種和黑人青年的媒體改革……我們要有空間孕自己的《麥田里的守望者》(Catcher in the Rye),但演繹它的人,卻可能會是那些之前我們從未想過會出現在屏幕上的人。”
莎希迪母女還談到了她們的成功歷程。凱莉回憶到,雅拉是一個生來具有好奇心的孩子,早在7歲的時候,她就對文藝復興史產生了興趣。為此,她們專門去了一趟意大利,參觀文藝復興時代的文物和遺跡。
“作為父母,我們的責任就是要滿足她和她的兩個兄弟的好奇心。”凱莉說:“我們的想法,就是要激發她的興趣,然后帶著興奮,觀察她會把我們帶到什么方向上。”
沿著這個方向,雅拉一路走到了哈佛大學,她現在已經是哈佛大學大三的學生了。受疫情影響,雅拉目前只能在家上網課,不過因禍得福,她也得以更輕松地實現了工作與學生生活之間的平衡。雅拉表示,大學生活是一段非常有益的經歷,對于她日后從事制片人和影視工作也很有裨益。
雅拉表示,她的成功離不開母親在教育上的“靈活性”,以及母親在她的智力和學業成長過程中采取的多方面的教育方法。
“我的意思是,母親對我的教育進行了一定程度的投資,從而為我打開了全新的世界。”(財富中文網)
譯者:樸成奎
雅拉?莎希迪是近幾年來才走紅的一位美國黑人女演員,她主演過ABC電視臺的熱門美劇《喜新不厭舊》(Black-ish),最近還出演了Freeform出品的衍生網劇《成長不容易》(Grown-ish)。
作為一名“00后”,年僅20歲的莎希迪不僅僅是電視明星,她還是學生和社會活動家。她與母親凱莉?莎希迪還成立了自己的制片公司7th Sun。在今年的《財富》最具影響力的新一代女性峰會上,莎希迪母女回憶了她們的奮斗經歷,并且談論了7th Sun公司所要完成的使命——讓社會“了解多種文化和身份”,而這也是一個經常被美國娛樂和媒體業忽視的問題。
在談到她的7th Sun公司時,雅拉?莎希迪說:“它使我們真正有了讓大家重視我們的所有情感的機會。”雅拉還表示,在這個過程中,她對“商業的運作和商業的創造力”也產生了濃厚的興趣。雅拉的母親凱莉也說:“我們的精神基礎,是一些非常大膽的目標。”這家制作公司的創辦,與她們母女倆對“講故事”和“開眼看世界”的熱情有很大的關系。
爭取種族和文化認同也是這家公司的重要使命之一。這一點從公司的名字上就能夠看出來。“7th Sun”取“7th son”(第七子)的諧音,這個名字取自美國黑人作家、社會運動家W.E.B.?杜波依斯的著作。(“黑人是‘第七子’,生來就戴著面紗,在美國這個世界上具有與生俱來的眼力。)
在雅拉看來,7th Sun公司的使命,就是要通過講故事的方式,將社會“承認和重視”那些往往被忽視的文化和體驗。該公司的項目“包括了從面向全年齡段的動畫片,到融合題裁的黑色喜劇等方方面面的內容。”(這家制作公司及其作品仍然處在初創階段,不過該公司已經于今年7月與ABC工作室展開了合作。)
雅拉表示:“體裁并不重要,重要的是它的核心情感。”她們的目的是要通過講故事的方式,“把之前沒有人講過的東西搬上屏幕。”
凱莉?莎希迪還提到了一個特別的目標,那就是要“以快樂為中心,以生活為中心,促進面向年輕人特別是面向棕色人種和黑人青年的媒體改革……我們要有空間孕自己的《麥田里的守望者》(Catcher in the Rye),但演繹它的人,卻可能會是那些之前我們從未想過會出現在屏幕上的人。”
莎希迪母女還談到了她們的成功歷程。凱莉回憶到,雅拉是一個生來具有好奇心的孩子,早在7歲的時候,她就對文藝復興史產生了興趣。為此,她們專門去了一趟意大利,參觀文藝復興時代的文物和遺跡。
“作為父母,我們的責任就是要滿足她和她的兩個兄弟的好奇心。”凱莉說:“我們的想法,就是要激發她的興趣,然后帶著興奮,觀察她會把我們帶到什么方向上。”
沿著這個方向,雅拉一路走到了哈佛大學,她現在已經是哈佛大學大三的學生了。受疫情影響,雅拉目前只能在家上網課,不過因禍得福,她也得以更輕松地實現了工作與學生生活之間的平衡。雅拉表示,大學生活是一段非常有益的經歷,對于她日后從事制片人和影視工作也很有裨益。
雅拉表示,她的成功離不開母親在教育上的“靈活性”,以及母親在她的智力和學業成長過程中采取的多方面的教育方法。
“我的意思是,母親對我的教育進行了一定程度的投資,從而為我打開了全新的世界。”(財富中文網)
譯者:樸成奎
Actress Yara Shahidi has made a name for herself in recent years—first through her starring role on the hit ABC television series Black-ish, and more recently via her very own spin-off show, Grown-ish, on the Freeform network.
But the 20-year-old Shahidi is more than just a TV star; she’s also a student, activist, and—alongside her mother, Keri Shahidi—a producer with her very own production company, 7th Sun. Speaking at this year’s virtual edition of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit, Yara and Keri Shahidi discussed their journey to date, and their mission for 7th Sun to be a vehicle for, as Yara put it, “making familiar the many cultures and identities” that are too often looked over by the entertainment and media industries.
“I love the fact that it really allows us to honor all of our sensibilities,” Yara said of 7th Sun, citing her interests in “the business of business, and the creativity of business” among those that are served by the endeavor. “Foundational to our ethos is really audacious goals,” added Keri, pointing to the pair’s passion for “storytelling” and “opening doors” in describing how the production company came about.
Racial and cultural identity is part and parcel of the company’s vision—right down to its very name, which is derived from the writings and philosophy of the Black writer and activist W.E.B. DuBois. (“The Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second sight in this American world,” DuBois wrote.)
For Yara, 7th Sun is about “acknowledging and centering” the cultures and experiences too often overlooked by society through the medium of storytelling. As far as the production company’s projects, that includes “everything from four-quadrant animation, to dark comedies that are kind of genre-bending.” (The production company and its projects are still in their earliest stages, with 7th Sun having launched in July in partnership with ABC Studios.)
“It’s not so much about formats as it is core sensibility,” and the goal of allowing stories to “live on-screen that haven’t been told prior,” Yara added.
Keri Shahidi noted a particular goal of “continuing the evolution of media for young, brown and black boys that centers on joy, that centers on living... The idea that we have space to have our own Catcher in the Rye, but maybe it’s represented by people who we never thought we’d see on screen.”
The two women also discussed the intellectual journey that brought them to this point. Keri recalled her daughter’s natural curiosity, which manifested itself in a particular interest in Renaissance history as a seven-year-old—and eventually resulted in a childhood trip to Italy to view and experience the artifacts and relics of the time period.
“Our obligation as parents was to feed the curiosities of her and both of her brothers,” Keri said. “The idea, as a parent, is really to watch with excitement and intrigue the direction in which she’s leading us.”
That direction eventually led Yara to Harvard University, which she’s currently attending as a junior-year undergraduate. While this year’s pandemic-induced, remote academic experience has actually helped her more easily balance the demands of professional and student life, Yara said college has been a hugely instructive experience as far as informing the intellectual subject matter she wants to explore as a producer and storyteller.
And she was keen to attribute her success to her mother’s “flexibility” toward her education, and the multifaceted approach she took toward her daughter’s intellectual and academic growth.
“It meant that I had a level of investment in my education, because it was reflecting back worlds that mattered to me,” Yara said.