We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lioness TeLaine. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lioness below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Lioness with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I believe I get my work ethic from the women in my family. The women in my family were strong black women who worked and earned everything they had. My family is from Gary, Indiana, right outside of Chicago, and is a place that can be challenging to thrive and live well. It’s a place that forces you to think outside the box, hustle, and come up with your own way.
My grandmother, whom I look up to always worked and had multiple businesses, so as a child, I was able to witness throughout childhood what a good work ethic looked like. She was and still is an example of resilience, financial security, hard work, and consistency. I just always saw my grandmother have her own and if she didn’t she worked for it.
She made choices and decisions that she may not have desired but what was required of her and those decisions always provided. She was a great provider, so her example of work ethic was always shown and never wavered.
I think looking back on this as an adult, I can say it was needed. I needed to have that balance, that contrast or example of what stability looked like, and not always witnessing struggle or challenging times as a child.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a filmmaker based out of Dallas, TX and I’m currently in the process of releasing my directorial debut, “Dynasty The Movie. ” I started as an actress, appearing in 4 films since 2016 all found on Amazon Prime, VUDU, Tubi, and Apple TV.
I attended Milwaukee High School of the Arts as a theater major and film production as a college student. I relocated to Texas from Chicago in 2012 and started a media company. Ironically, although my background and passion was in film, I immediately discovered another passion in radio.
In 2015, after being a videographer in the Dallas area, I launched my online radio show and hosted it for almost 4 years. Doing radio allowed me to establish and build a media brand brick by brick, establishing long-term relationships, resources, contacts, connections, and opportunities. I interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs, famous public figures, music artists, actors, business owners, and political figures, and that allowed me to create a full media brand to expand into other channels of media.
That same year, I met the director of “Quintessential The Movie”, and starred in my first indie film. From then on I played lead and supporting roles in independent films throughout the Dallas-Fortworth area.
In 2021, I wrote a poem titled “Dynasty” which has now been turned into a full feature sci-fi film starring renowned American rapper Lil Flip. I can not begin to explain the process of turning and transmuting a 1-page poem into a 90-minute franchise. Now titled “Dynasty The Movie”, I am recognized as one of the first African Americans to produce a sci-fi out of Dallas.
Dynasty The Movie will be released in theaters and streaming platforms sometime in 2024.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back I think consistency, risk-taking, and adaptability are three skills that were incredibly impactful in my life.
Sometimes, more often than not success does not come overnight. To thrive in something, you must be consistent, stick with it, and understand and appreciate the process. Things of quality and longevity require a process that some people are not willing to take or experience. Success requires patience and time, it requires that we adapt to change, learning curves, and risk-taking.
To obtain success, whatever that means to us, means we can not be afraid to take wise and calculated risks. I invested in a full-feature film without quite knowing how it would turn out or what it would do but through risk-taking, I now have an abundance of industry interest and awareness of the film. This is reminiscent of my work ethic, consistency, and risk-taking.
The advice I would give folks who are early on in their journey to develop these qualities is to know that sometimes your knowledge and skills develop and are polished in the process itself, so enjoy it and embrace it.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I am absolutely looking for industry professionals to partner and collaborate with on more media and film productions. If you work in film production, audio engineering, entertainment, or the performing arts, I am always open to collaborating.
I’m always looking to put great teams together for future projects so crew and talent are always needed!
If interested, please reach out to [email protected].
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/lionesstelaine
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lionesstelaine/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LionessTeLaine
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@dynastythemovie9612
Image Credits
@shawndfilms
