Red for Revolution

The Team

Jana Naomi Smith
Creator, Writer, and Director

Jana Naomi Smith (she/her) is a Gary, Indiana-bred, writer, filmmaker, and cultural worker. She is the creator, writer, and director behind the audio drama, Red for Revolution. Previously, Jana wrote the podcast Built to Last for American Express, hosted by Elaine Welteroth and featuring Issa Rae and Kimberly Drew. Her prose has appeared in Essence Magazine. Additionally, she created the meditation series Relax, Relate, Release during the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring archival audio from Angela Davis, Debbie Allen, and Maya Angelou, among others. These projects each examine the intersection of Black womanhood, erased historiographies, and intergenerational healing. Throughout her career, she’s worked for the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, HBO, CBS, ABC, and POV Film. Jana is an alum of Ryan Murphy’s “Half Initiative.” She is also a recipient of the Ida B. Wells Disrupting the Master Narrative Award and has been a finalist for the Lena Waithe & Eva Longoria MACRO Episodic Story Lab, and other screenwriting programs. Jana holds a BA in Film Studies from Sarah Lawrence College. Through all of her work, she strives to reflect the truth of our time while encouraging audiences to re-imagine our collective power for radical love and compassion. She is currently developing two features inspired by her latest existential crises.

Renée Wilson
Executive Producer and Lead Actress

Award-winning director, singer, writer, actor, and producer Renée Wilson is a proud native of New Orleans whose creative practice continuously evolves. She made her film debut as Raelette Pat Lyle in the Academy Awarding-winning film Ray showcasing her talent and versatility. However, it was her deeply personal documentary, Crepe Covered Sidewalks, about her hometown and family’s experience in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, that truly solidified her as a filmmaker with a unique voice. It was selected as the centerpiece film of the New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival. Her film Ode To Joy an intimate paean to lineage, women, and Mother Earth, won the 2022 Maui Film Festival Audience Award for Stunning Short Film. Recent recognitions include being named a 2023 Jewish Film Institute Filmmaker in Residence and receiving the BAVC 2023 Triple Threat Award for accomplishments across forms, platforms, and genres. Renée’s newest documentary The 13th Percent chronicles her personal journey to uncover her unknown Ashkenazi Jewish family in the Deep South of Louisiana. It is a testament to her unwavering passion for unearthing untold stories and sheds light on forgotten histories. Additionally, Renée’s production company Meta Mana Media is executive producing Red for Revolution a groundbreaking narrative audio drama that centers on intergenerational stories of Black women, liberation, and queer love. Renée splits time between Austin, TX, Mexico, and Kauai and loves traveling the world with her husband Aaron and son Adrian.

Liz McBee
Producer

Liz McBee, a rare native Austinite, cut her filmic chops in NYC producing independent features and shorts (Liability Crisis, The Squre Root of Three), documentaries (Love Is Blind), and a handful of commercials. The San Francisco Bay Area beckoned and after relocating, her co-directorial debut Javelina, A Desert Stew, a short documentary about the adorably ugly desert animal, had an award-winning premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival. In 2021 her feature documentary, Burning The Village, about postpartum depression and new parenthood enjoyed a healthy film festival run beginning with honors at the Global Health Film Festival in London. The film remains a grassroots guide for Pediatricians and new parents across the nation. In 2018 she momentarily stepped away from producing to be Art Department Coordinator for A24’s Sundance darling, The Last Black Man In San Francisco. 2022 brought her back to producing with Magnolia Network’s, Hi, I’m Nancy Rubin about a beloved Berkeley High School teacher’s lasting impact, now streaming on HBO, Discovery Plus and Magnolia Channel. That same year she produced the mesmerizing feature documentary Finding Lucinda' about aspiring singer/songwriter Avery Hellman’s journey to find creative inspiration in legendary folk/pop icon Lucinda Williams’ path to stardom. She is currently in post-production on the upcoming audio drama Red For Revolution starring Danny Glover, Loretta Devine, Aunjanue Ellis, S.Epatha Merkerson, Jennifer Beals, Rutina Wesley, Renée Wilson among others. Liz splits her time between the San Francisco Bay Area, the glorious Mendocino Coast and her hometown Austin, Texas.

Tammy Hall
Music Director

Tammy L. Hall is a Grammy award-winning pianist/composer/educator/collaborator/musical director whose career spans some 40+ years. She currently works with SFJAZZ Organization as a Lead Teaching Artist. Hall has worked with a wide array of vocalists and instrumentalists, including the late Etta Jones and Ernestine Anderson; Renée Wilson, Ms. Loretta Devine, Kim Nalley, Ph.D., Antoinette Montague, Susanne Mintzer, Marcus Shelby, Tiffany Austin, Terri Lyne Carrington, Regina Carter, Kristen Strom, Tia Fuller, Houston Person, Laurie Anderson, Gerald Clayton, Mads Tolling, Linda Tillery, Leberta Lorál, Holly Near, Barbara Dane, Hector Lugo, Kalil Wilson, Mimi Fox, and Destiny Muhammad. In 2021, Tammy had the distinct honor of being the inaugural Artist-In-Residence for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival. Other collaborative highlights include working with the late Maestro Michael Morgan and members of the SF Symphony on the project, Currents: Bay Area Blue Notes (2019). Tammy also received the inaugural Pleasant Leidesdorff Community Stalwart award in recognition of her work in community, from the San Francisco Chapter of the Human Rights Commission. In 2017 she received the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle award for Best Musical Direction, for her work with Pamela Rose’s Blues Is A Woman.

Collin Gerald Thomas
Sound Designer

Collin Gerald Thomas is a mixer, sound designer, musician and producer currently based in Los Angeles. Originally hailing from Chicago, his passion for audio and storytelling began in high school while performing in local bands and recording others for live performances to be showcased on his high school's radio station. After studying Recording Arts and Technologies at Indiana University's esteemed Jacobs School of Music, Collin's focus remained on music and the broadcasting industry until relocating to California in 2019. Once settled in L.A., he found a renewed love of audio through film and podcasts. Now a multi-faceted sound engineer, Collin is constantly embracing new challenges in L.A.'s ever-active post-production scene as well as maintaining his roots as a musical performer and composer. With professional credits ranging from musical overdub performances to award-winning sound design and mixing on feature and short films, his focus on helping artists effectively tell their stories remains at the forefront.

Lead Cast:
Jordan Hull as Jazmine
S. Epatha Merkerson as Ella Ali (Present-Day)
Loretta Devine as Lorraine Giovanni (Present-Day)
Rutina Wesley as Ella Ali (1970s)
Renée Wilson as Lorraine Giovanni (1970s)
Adrienne Maree Brown as Series Sonic Guide

Supporting Cast:
Don Daniels as Sean
Jennifer Beals as Suzanne Sands
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Delores Ali
Danny Glover as Howard Ali
Alimi Ballard as LeRoy
Caro Guzmán as Adrienne and Kathy

Ensemble Cast:
Vanessa E. Williams as Barbara Graves
Miles Agee as Announcer, Black Dreams Producer, Vincent, and Preacher
Mark Thompson as Black Dreams Host and William Davis
Will Kachi as Rally Volunteer
Ashley J. Hobbs as Ruby and Airline Announcer
JoNell Kennedy as Radio Reporter
Krystel Roche as Roseline
David Alan Graf as Dean McKenna and Pilot
Xavier Miles Temple as Robber and Nightclub Runner
Christine Angelique as Paris Music Festival Announcer
Mathew Quitney as Reporter and Stage Manager
Mal'akiy Rhoden as Joe and Miles

Band:
Tammy Hall on Piano
Kofy Brown on Electric Bass
Ruthie Price on Drums
Ruth Davies on Acoustic Bass
Vickie Randle on Percussion
Kristen Strom on Saxophone and Flute

Credits

Red for Revolution was created, written, and directed by Jana Naomi Smith, with sound design by Collin Gerald Thomas, music direction by Tammy L. Hall, executive produced by Renée Wilson, Jana Smith, & Meta Mana Media, and produced by Liz McBee.

For Radiotopia Presents, Yooree Losordo is the managing producer. Audrey Mardavich is the Executive Producer. It’s a production of PRX’s Radiotopia and part of Radiotopia Presents, a podcast feed that debuts limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices.

Learn more about Red for Revolution at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm.