Don't Change the Channel

This week’s guest Anna García is a comedian & actor who also teaches improv to youth and men in correctional facilities. We hear Anna’s story of how she began performing and her journey this far in LA, especially with commercial acting. SocialsGuest: Anna Garcia Instagram TwitterHost: Mariel Instagram Twitter Host: Sherif Instagram Twitter Editor: Rios Instagram Don’t Change The Channel Instagram

This week Mariel & Sherif honor it being Mental Health Awareness Month. Inspired by the initiatives of Mad Happy and their mission,  this episode's aim is to start a conversation about growth, awareness, and the balance of personal & professional lives.  In this hosts-only episode we hear more intimately from Mariel & Sherif, as they share current and past themes of growth in their lives. Sherif opens with a conversation about friendships and intimacy of relationships as a whole. Mariel shares mental & physical health practices she's implemented to support overall wellbeing. Please remember we are not medical professionals, we hope to offer guidance and inspire prioritizing caring for yourself.Mentioned & recommended Resources: SuperhumanHeadspaceBetterHelpTo Be MagneticWe're so glad you're here. National Suicide Prevention Hotline:1-800-273-8255Find us on IG @dontchangethechannel.podcastYour Hosts: Mariel Weinand & Sherif T. Bakare

This week’s guest, Sakura Hegarty, talks with us about balancing your creative ambitions alongside working a job that allows financial stability. We talk about the stigma behind the term “influencer”, as well as how much consistency and work it takes to be a “content creator”. Check out her newest song "Indie Girl Icon" and its music video! Sakura's Instagram and Tik Tok 

This week we’re back with Liesl Takeuchi. The episode starts with both Sherif & Mariel, but listen to find out how it ends up being just the gals. Liesl chats with us about all things music supervision for film & tv, as well as reminiscing with Mariel about their adventures in Europe. And be sure to check out the playlists Liesl mentions during this episode:  small little pebbles in my shoeLOATs (Desert Island)

We’re back for season 3! In this hosts-only refresher episode, Sherif & Mariel gives us some updates on their personal & professional lives since we last heard from them. They also share what we can except from this new season! 

This week Sherif & Mariel are joined by special guest, writer/director, photographer, and model, Amalie Gassmann. We hear about Amalie’s current gig working in NYC on an HBO show, the creation and inspiration of her last short film Mess Is Mine, how her photography and creative direction work only helps enrich the visual storytelling in her filmmaking. We hear from Amalie about her relationship with her fellow creative and photographer boyfriend, and how the two of them continue to inspire one another  in their work. With Amalie’s fine-tuned eye, taste, and international openness, we hope to see her debut feature film in the near future.

We’re back with Sherif & Mariel, and their very special guest this week, Natalie Jasmine Harris. Natalie is a queer-identified, Black writer/director and producer from Maryland. Her creative work often exists within the coming-of-age genre, which she views as an essential tool to re-imagine liberation for young girls, the Black community, and LGBTQ+ individuals. We hear about Natalie’s experience in the festival circuit thus far, for her NYU thesis short film, Pure, which she’s simultaneously developing into a feature film. Natalie is a 2020 recipient of the Directors Guild of America’s Student Film Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement and The Black Film Space 2020 Black Filmmaker Fund, as well as recently winning the Emerging Director Award at Outfest Fusion 2021. We also hear about a short documentary Natalie created in collaboration with TIME magazine and the Biden/Harris campaign. 

Sherif and Mariel share their Picks of The Week, raving about The Other Two (HBO Max) and season 2 of PEN15 (Hulu). They talk through Arclight Cinemas & Pacific Theatres closing, Demi Lovato's new eating disorder comedy pilot, the debate if Apple TV+ really is the 'highest quality' streamer, and TikTok drama sparking a conversation around relationships & breakups in the public eye and on social media.Dive deeper:Arclight Cinemas And Pacific Theatres Won’t Be Reopening; Parent Company Decurion Hands Keys Back To LandlordsDemi Lovato's Eating Disorder Comedy Pilot Gets NBC OrderApple TV+ is the ‘highest quality’ streamer, a new study says

This week, our special guest, musical artist Lexi Jayde joins the pod to talk with Mariel & Sherif about her newest single "Newbury Park", what inspired its creation, how she writes her heart-wrenchingly relatable lyrics (perfect for screaming in the car), and how to know your worth in relationships. They also cover the highs & lows of navigating social media (especially with a following of 1.4M), some of Lexi's daily rituals, who she draws inspiration from, what we can expect to hear from her next, and MORE! 

This week we're joined by special guest, singer/songwriter, ALITA. We dive into ALITA's newest single, I'm Not Your Mother, and how both the lyrics and music video explore how antiquated gender roles can play out with women often bearing the emotional load putting them in more of a mother role, rather than a lover. We also chat about ALITA's genre blending and through the process of getting honest with herself she was able to hone her voice, and what we can look forward to expect from her in years to come!

Sherif and Mariel share their Picks of The Week, discuss the new documentary Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal, a brief review of Justin Bieber’s new album Justice, Prince Harry landing a job at a Silicon Valley startup, David Dobrik’s recent misconduct allegations, the upcoming 93rd Oscars, and the viral Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp tail scandal.Dive deeper:A Timeline of the David Dobrik Allegations and ControversiesWill the 93rd Oscars Be More Than Just a Footnote? Prince Harry Lands Job at a Silicon Valley StartupThe Curious Case of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Box

We're back! Season 2 of Don't Change the Channel is here. Sherif & Mariel are joined by special guest, Sean Perreira, a designer, photographer, & art director based in Los Angeles. We discuss creating a career path as a multi-hyphenate freelance artist, growing up in South Florida, creating timeless art, and collaborating with a diverse array of artists to create Sean’s first edition zine, Construct, available for purchase at constructzine.com. 

Ellen Tamaki, actress and fellow BU theatre alum, joins us this week to discuss her acting career, reoccurring themes that have surfaced from her work on both the Charmed reboot (CW) and season 2 & 3 of Manifest (NBC). We hear how she and fellow cast members who play detectives & cops join together to ensure they play their characters in a safe, accurate, and holistic manner. Ellen shares how her transition from theatre to film & tv has both helped & hindered her while on set. We hear how being able to go to work and act has provided her with an outlet and sense of normalcy these days. As a half Japanese woman, Ellen speaks to Asian representation in film & tv, and shares a family story we hope to see written by her down the road! (P.S. Ellen’s revised celeb crush: Sad_papi on TikTok) 

This week we speak to marcos g a singer-songwriter from Miami, Florida who walks us through his creative process and journey in the music industry. In addition to his music career, Marcos is a school teacher and passionate about arts education. He lives a bit of a Hannah Montana life as he progresses in both fields. He tells us about his greatest musical inspirations and what we can look forward to from his upcoming project! As well as a fun run-in story with Harry Styles. Cheers! 

This week we chat with the hilarious Geoffrey James (@geoffreyjames), writer / actor / comedian from Cleveland, Ohio who now resides in Los Angeles. We hear from Geoff how his comedy heroes as an adolescent eventually became his bosses and now peers at the comedy podcast network, Headgum. Geoff and his co-host, Reilly Anspaugh, met through Headgum and found a workflow that led them to their weekly podcast @ReviewRevue, which blends conversation and improv comedy. If you’re wondering how Geoff has adapted and navigated the world of podcasting and comedy during a global pandemic - don’t worry we dive into that! And, of course we talk about some of Geoff’s favorite shows, his writing projects, and who his dream collaborators would be. We even talk about the possibility of Geoff one day getting his real estate license and being on season 4 of Selling Sunset. Enjoy!

It’s the end of 2020. And the start of something new....hopefully. Join us as we take a look back and a view forward involving Goals, The Pandemic, NYE Celebrations....and Bitcoin?? Tune in Now! 

Join us on this very special Holiday episode where your hosts Sherif & Mariel provide their favorite entertainment recs, talk about Ariana's new bling, holidays in the pandemic, and more!

Christopher Campbell: theatre artist, choreographer, and director - joins us this week to discuss the required innovation when choreographing for Zoom theatre, how invigorating it was being in the cast of Hamilton and working alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, how lucky he feels to have grown up in volunteer theatre environment that cultivated his passion, his decision to go to a boarding arts high school, and he shares how important it is to be pushing the limits with theatre making and reinventing how and what stories are being told! 

Reilly Anspaugh, actor, writer, and podcaster - @reviewrevue - joins us this week to discuss when she became an entertainer, how her knack for writing has evolved during quarantine, what she admires about the comedic style of one of her favorite filmmakers, Christopher Guest, how she’s becoming a storyteller both in front of and behind the camera, why shooting her first short film “Good Mourning” helped her overcome Imposter Syndrome, and what she’s looking forward to as she & her friends continue to become established within the entertainment industry.

This week’s guest, J. Logan Alexander (@directedbylogan) is a writer, director, producer, and true cinephile. We cover a lot of ground, including: some of his earliest film inspirations, how storytelling is at the root of all filmmaking, the rise of short-form video content (aka TikTok), & much more!