She Could Be Next: Producer, Founder Drives For Race, Gender Equity
Jyoti Sarda, founder of Nimble Media and producer of “And She Could Be Next,” is a 50 Women Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment cohort member.
You can’t separate the need for racial equity from the need for gender equity. Both movements need to work in tandem to change the world.
“You can’t separate the need for #racialequity from the need for #genderequity. Both movements need to work in tandem to change the world. ”
“Examining any institution through the lens of race and gender is essential; do not bifurcate,” says Jyoti Sarda, producer of the two-part documentary, And She Could Be Next, a series that “follows a defiant movement led by women of color as they fight for a truly reflective democracy and transform politics from the ground up.”
““Examining any institution through the lens of #race and #gender is essential; do not bifurcate,” says @Nimbletweet11, producer of the two-part documentary “And She Could Be Next.” #SheCouldBeNextPBS”
Sarda adds, “The ethos resonates in 2020 and even moreso with the election.”
A co-production of POV and ITVS, the series, that aired recently on PBS as part of the Female Trailblazers program, is streaming for free on AndSheCouldBeNext.com until August 29. A co-presentation of Black Public Media and the Center for Asian American Media, the two-part documentary was created by a team of women filmmakers of color, including Ava Duvernay as executive producer, plus Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia as directors/producers. The documentary follows candidates and organizers across the country during the 2018 election cycle including history-makers Rashida Tlaib and Stacey Abrams.
“#AndSheCouldBeNext follows candidates and organizers across the country during the 2018 election cycle, including history-makers @RashidaTlaib and @Staceyabrams. #WomenFilmmakers #WOCInFilm”
Sarda, founder of Nimble Media, a consulting firm focused on start-up opportunities within the convergence of digital entertainment content and technology, and a member of Take The Lead’s 50 Women Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment in 2018, says she began thinking about the idea for the project in 2016.
“A co-presentation of @BLKPublicMediaand the @CAAM, #SheCouldBeNextPBS was created by a team of #womenfilmmakers of color, including @Ava as executive producer, plus @Anothergracelee and @Marj as directors/producers. ”
Read more in Take The Lead on 50 Women Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment
“I thought wouldn’t it be interesting to examine the systems that keep one set of people in political power,” says Sarda. “Maybe I could help shed a light on the blockages to get to a critical mass of women so they wouldn’t have to struggle so hard.”
And then the presidential election of 2016 did not turn out as expected.
“It became clear that any important examination of the movement needed to center on race and gender. We took that lens as an unapologetic focus and expanded it be a series,” Sarda says. Filming began in 2018, editing concluded in 2019 and the series debuted last month and is streaming through August.
But film and television production was not always the goal or the career path of Sarda, the daughter of first generation immigrants from India, growing up in Florida and California. “This is my third career,” she says.
Initially, she says she intended to be an accountant. “Ask any good Indian daughter, we go into professions such as doctor, lawyer or accountant.”
Sarda was studying to earn a CPA at University of Southern California in the late 80s, until a professor encouraged her to switch to marketing. “Much to my parents’ dismay,” she says.
Graduating in 1987, Jyoti went to work in global advertising and advanced to be an advertising executive at agencies including Ogilvy & Mather and J. Walter Thompson, working with clients such as Kraft, Dole, and Mattel.
“As I reflect with today’s lens and look backwards, I realized I often had to mold my behaviors to suit the rooms I was in,” says Sarda. “In advertising the group outings were golfing and that is when you had access to the leaders. I never learned to golf but I did learn to talk about sports.”
““As I reflect with today’s lens and look backwards, I realized I often had to mold my behaviors to suit the rooms I was in,” says @Nimbletweet11. #WomenInBusiness #WomenFilmmakers #SheCouldBeNextPBS”
She then decided to go back to school while working, earning an EMBA from UCLA-Anderson from 2005 to 2008, before moving into the entertainment industry.
Read more in Take The Lead on the 50 Women in Media & Entertainment cohort
Sarda worked at Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, spearheading the international new releases of high profile franchises including Avatar and X-Men, plus specialty titles from Fox Searchlight. She also managed the domestic TV DVD group during the heyday of shows such as “24,” “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy.”
Read more about Sarda in Take The Lead
Sarda moved to Paramount, where she was VP of Marketing at Paramount Home Media leading all facets of global marketing operations for Paramount partner brands including Dreamworks, Marvel, Lucasfilm, CBS, Showtime, MTV and Nickelodeon while overseeing international marketing of Paramount’s film catalog and acquisitions.
“I remember a moment at Paramount when I was mistaken by another executive who called me by another female executive’s name who was Black,” Sarda says. “I was a significant midlevel executive and he says he just made a mistake. But it carries with me.”
Sarda’s work on “And She Could Be Next” was at the same time as her 2018 participation in 50 Women Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment. And the programt had a huge effect on her, she says.
“@Nimbletweet11 ‘s work on @Shecouldbenext was at the same time as her 2018 participation in #50WomenCanChangeTheWorld in Media & Entertainment. And it had a huge effect on her.”
Read more in Take The Lead on 50 Women participants
“The gift of being in 50 Women Can Change The World is that it is a gift that keeps on giving. We were already in progress on the docuseries, but being in that cohort and having a sense of sisterhood and camaraderie on a professional level was enormously helpful,” she says.
““#50WomenCanChangeTheWorld is a gift that keeps on giving...being in that cohort and having a sense of #sisterhood and camaraderie on a professional level was enormously helpful,” @Nimbletweet11 says.”
“We are all in close contact and in a Facebook group and cheer each other on,” Sarda says. “One of the things I learned is that you need to have a home with people around you who share your values.” She adds, “I learned that from Gloria Feldt,” the founder and president of Take The Lead.
“@Nimbletweet11 says, “One of the things I learned is that you need to have a home with people around you who share your values. I learned that from @GloriaFeldt,” the founder and president of @Takeleadwomen.”
“People talk about the long arc of history, but they don’t talk about how long that it is. You need to be in a cohort because as you get tired, someone else can take the lead,” Sarda says.
Read more in Take The Lead on 50 Women leaders
The lessons shared in the 50 Women Can Change The World program, Sarda says, “mirrored how political organizers talk about this work. While we were covering the political process and the power building, that idea translates into lifting up women of color in all sectors.”
She adds that Feldt and Take The Lead taught her, “to seek out women who have your values, so when one gets tired, and needs a break, someone else takes it on.”
“@Nimbletweet11 says that @GloriaFeldt and @Takeleadwomen taught her, “to seek out women who have your values, so when one gets tired, and needs a break, someone else takes it on.” #SupportWomen”
Follow free streaming on AndSheCouldBeNext.com until August 29. Check out the companion PowerPack, which includes a discussion guide, signature drink recipes, coloring pages, @Spotify playlists and more.
