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" When I watch television, I want to be surprised. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Television
Want
Surprised
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" People are realizing that there is a financial consequence to not opening doors. It doesn't mean that they are any more inclusive in their hearts - it means they're more inclusive in their wallets. "
Courtney A. Kemp
People
Doors
Opening
" I remember watching episodes of 'The Sopranos' and being filled with dread knowing what was coming or anticipating what was coming. I don't think that that's always a bad thing. I think sometimes the audience needs a little catharsis held away from them. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Think
Remember
Sometimes
" I am not going to say that only people of color can write people of color, because that means only white people can write white people, and that's not OK. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Going
Color
White
" There are so many different things that create an alchemy of success. Just like there are so many different things that create an alchemy of a failure. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Create
Success
Things
" When you pretend to be an authority on everything, it forces your subordinates to defer to your opinion - which may not be the most informed in the room. If you have humility concerning the gaps in your experience or ability, it allows others to shine. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Experience
Opinion
Humility
" Great partnerships thrive because the people need each other. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Thrive
Great
Partnerships
" As a writer of fiction, you don't ever want to limit the characters you create to the life you've lived. That's insanity to me. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Life
Limit
Me
" When you write a show, every character is you to some extent. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Write
Some
You
" Writers are, for the most part, crazy people. We're like Hephaestus of the forge. We're gnarled. We're curled over. We walk with a limp. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Crazy
People
Over
" There's a difference between talent and skill. You might have writing talent, but skill is learned. You have to practice. I remain teachable. I was sure that I didn't know everything. People who work with me will tell you I don't think I know everything. I watch people sink around me thinking that they knew everything. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Work
Writing
People
" The show runner's the boss until the network shows up. And then they're the boss, because it's their money. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Boss
Show
Network
" Comedians are on the road so much that when they're just getting to act and sit in one place, they're really grateful and just ready. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Sit
Grateful
Road
" In college, I didn't know whether to hang out with the black kids or the white kids, and then I found the theatre kids, and I was like, 'Oh, it doesn't matter.' We were all weird and listening to Morrissey and wearing Doc Martens so that was my tribe. "
Courtney A. Kemp
College
Listening
Theatre
" Every writer should be able to write anything if you do the research and you're sensitive enough to ask the questions. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Write
Questions
Enough
" It... does... not... have... to... be... pointed out all the time. Like, 'Isn't it great that you're black, and you're a woman?' Isn't it great that the show's good? I would just love for it not to be a thing - for it just to be, like, super norm. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Black
Good
Great
" I want to tell more stories about lying, dual lives, self-deception - those are my favorites. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Those
Want
Lying
" I always like to write myself into a corner. I think the best stuff comes from only having a few ways out. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Always
Write
Think
" I think as long as I can tell you a story about people that you understand, it doesn't matter if you don't like what they do; you understand why they did it. "
Courtney A. Kemp
I Can
Think
Story
" I'd say it's far more challenging to be female and be a showrunner. People are not surprised to see a black person running this show, but the female aspect is the thing that I get asked about. "
Courtney A. Kemp
People
Running
Person
" Wherever I go, stuff accumulates. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Go
Wherever
Stuff
" I had very much wanted to be the very first black female editor-in-chief of 'Vogue.' Barring that, I wanted to work at 'Entertainment Weekly.' "
Courtney A. Kemp
Entertainment
Work
Black
" I really do love male characters, in some ways, for the fact that they get surprised when they're vulnerable. Women are more surprised by their strength. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Strength
Love
Some
" When I first arrived in Los Angeles from New York in 2004 to try to break into television, I couldn't believe how segregated it was - how many neighborhoods were nearly all-white or all-black or -Asian or -Latino. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Try
New York
New
" I want to be a strong voice, period. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Strong
Voice
Want
" 50 Cent is a brilliant marketer. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Brilliant
50 Cent
Cent
" In 2011, when my father passed away - I had my daughter first; I had her on January 24, and I had a seizure during the delivery. I lived through that, and five weeks later, my father died suddenly of a heart attack, and I lived through that. And then my daughter had surgery, and I lived through that. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Father
Her
Attack
" Being a showrunner is doing a bit of everything. It's not just writing. It's also management: managing actors, managing producers, managing a crew, being kind to people, being a good boss, observing deadlines. "
Courtney A. Kemp
People
Management
Good
" I thought I was going to be a professor; then I ran screaming from there into magazine journalism. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Magazine
Thought
Journalism
" My dad was very, very invested in image. He felt that as a black person, the thing you could control was how did you look, how did you dress, how did you sound, how did you smell, how did you act. All of that stuff that you could control would absolutely have a strong impact on your access. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Impact
Black
Control
" I very much want to write about some elements of my own growing up. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Want
Growing Up
My Own