logo
episode-header-image
May 2022
35 m

Ava DuVernay is Triumphant

TED
About this episode

Before Ava DuVernay became the first Black woman director to win Sundance and get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, she was a publicist with a little hobby, a big dream, and a lot of patience. Adam talks to Ava about how she turned her side gig of filmmaking into a brilliant career, how her leadership style has evolved over the years, and what studying MLK while making the movie Selma can teach us about what it really takes to inspire.

For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/T4G29

This was an episode of Taken for Granted, but now the podcast is called ReThinking with Adam Grant, and it’s back with weekly episodes. You can listen to them right here in the WorkLife feed, or by following ReThinking with Adam Grant wherever you are right now.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/worklife/worklife-with-adam-grant-transcripts


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Nov 18
ReThinking: Talking people out of hate with Daryl Davis and former neo-Nazi Jeff Schoep
<p>The Ku Klux Klan is one of the tightest-knit White supremacist groups in America—once someone joins, they’re usually in for life. But since the 1980s, over 200 members have renounced their affiliation, and all give credit to the same man: a Black jazz musician named Daryl Davi ... Show More
41m 39s
Nov 11
ReThinking: Living each day like it’s your first with Suleika Jaouad
Suleika Jaouad is the author of the memoir Between Two Kingdoms and the new Book of Alchemy—she’s also a lifelong journaler. In this episode, Adam and Suleika reflect on how Suleika’s journaling practice has helped her through cancer, discuss the art and science of journaling, an ... Show More
42m 1s
Nov 4
ReThinking: Malala Yousafzai on redefining resilience and prioritizing joy
Malala Yousafzai is an activist for girls’ education and women’s empowerment, and the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate in history. In her new book, Finding My Way, is her effort to take control of her story after becoming a public figure at a young age. In this episode, Malala and A ... Show More
44m 13s
Recommended Episodes
May 2022
Ava DuVernay is Triumphant
<p>Before Ava DuVernay became the first Black woman director to win Sundance and get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, she was a publicist with a little hobby, a big dream, and a lot of patience. Adam talks to Ava about how she turned her side gig of filmmaking into a bri ... Show More
35 m
Sep 2023
ARRAY: Filmmaker Ava DuVernay (2021)
<p>By her early thirties, Ava DuVernay was already a successful entrepreneur, having founded her own film publicity agency in Los Angeles. But after years of watching other people make films, she started to get an itch to tell her own stories onscreen. Ava's first films were root ... Show More
1h 33m
Mar 2018
#118: Ava Duvernay: It's Never Too Late To Change Career
Ava Duvernay is an Oscar-nominated film director. Ava made her feature film debut with the documentary This in the Life (2008), a history on the hip hop movement in Los Angeles in the 1990's. This was followed by series of television music documentaries and her first narrative fe ... Show More
21m 9s
Jan 2024
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s New Hollywood Framework
Over the past 15 years, filmmaker Ava DuVernay (Selma, Queen Sugar) has become something of an institution in Hollywood. As a writer, director, and producer she’s worked to make our industry more just and diverse—creating opportunities for voices that have historically been under ... Show More
1h 8m
Aug 2023
AVA DUVERNAY - Writer / Director
<p>SEASON 2 - EPISODE 52 - AVA DUVERNAY - WRITER / DIRECTOR</p> <p>On this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we sit down with writer and director Ava DuVernay (WHEN THEY SEE US, 13TH, SELMA) for a lively conversation about her career and her craft. Ava credits her early love f ... Show More
1h 6m
Feb 2019
Ruth E. Carter - 'Black Panther'
The trailblazing costume designer — the first black person ever nominated for the best costume design Oscar, she now has three such noms to her name (no black woman has more across all categories) — reflects on breaking into her profession when no other black women were getting w ... Show More
1h 33m
Mar 2023
Ava Duvernay (Replay): "Dare To Be Yourself"
Hello - this is a replay episode with the incredible Ava Duvernay. In 2016 she was named one of Oprah Winfrey's SuperSoul 100 visionaries, and in 2017 she became the first Black woman nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, for her film 13th. This episode was ... Show More
19m 19s
May 2019
How Did Period Awareness Earn You An Oscar? with Rayka Zehtabchi
Rayka Zehtabchi is an award-winning Iranian-American film director. Her film Period: End of Sentence won the 2019 Oscar for Documentary Short. Rayka joins Jonathan to talk about the filmmaking process, how the production of Period: End of Sentence came about, connecting with the ... Show More
50m 53s
Jan 2024
Ava DuVernay - 'Origin'
The trailblazing filmmaker reflects on her circuitous path to the film industry, in which she originally worked as a publicist; the evolution of her social conscience; how her feelings about Hollywood have changed since 'Selma' and #OscarsSoWhite; and why she is so passionate abo ... Show More
1h 35m