Show-running is a very difficult job that includes so many responsibilities; I'm working with the actors, working with directors, writing, making decisions like, 'What fabric is that sofa gonna be?'
— Courtney A. Kemp
Not many people get to create a television show that actually makes it on the air.
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.
My experience as a black woman in the industry is simply that often I was the only one in the room. Often I would be the only woman and the only person of color. Sometimes I would be one of several women but the only person of color. Sometimes I would be one of several people of color, but the only woman.
If you wanna be your own boss, you gotta work your way up - have the skills.
When human beings say they have power, it always makes me laugh a little bit.
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.'
If you look at the back pages of 'New York Times Magazine,' and they talk about these 6.5-million-dollar condos with a great view, like you're going to pay for a great view. Well, the top floor of the projects have a great view, too.
There's always going to be a part of me that wants an Emmy. Truthfully, I'm probably more motivated by people being entertained. I'm more motivated by people being like, 'Oh snap! Did you see that?'
It's ridiculous that we let broadcast and cable shows compete against each other at the Emmys. They are not the same animal.
Every writer should be able to write anything if you do the research and you're sensitive enough to ask the questions.
I had to figure out that finding my place was not about race but about creativity, and connecting with other artists helped me find my voice.
I always wanted to make a show that had everything I wanted to watch, as opposed to just one or two things.
If you are other, you don't think twice about hiring people who are other.
I'm seeing more and more people of color do what I do as showrunners, and that's so great. I would love to get to the point where we don't have to talk about it anymore.
I don't want to be seen in a way where all I can do is what people expect of me.
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.
Obviously I'm not from 50's background - I'm from Westport, Connecticut, which is as far away from his background as you can get, right? Growing up in Westport, for a long time I was the only black person living there for miles.
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.
Any underrepresented audience loves to see themselves on TV, but what's more important is that we're writing about universal themes - good versus evil, can you change yourself? These themes resonate for everyone.
We use the word 'urban' to mean black or Latino, but that's not what the word means. It actually means 'from the city.' I'm not from the city. I'm from the suburbs of Connecticut. I grew up with mostly all white people.
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.
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.
You don't keep your job if you don't make a great show.
New York is the center of the world. I grew up in Connecticut, outside of the city, and my father commuted to the city for work.
There's hip-hop music in 'Power,' but the show is not about the hip-hop industry.
I always ask the actors, 'What have you never done before?'
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.
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.
I am a black woman, and I'm proud of that, but as a showrunner, I want to think about what makes me unique beyond my race.
I want to be a strong voice, period.
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.
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.
I don't write scenes where one person is right and one person is wrong. It's very much by design that everyone has a point of view that you as an audience member can understand.
I'm from an upper-middle class background. But because there was no one of my race where I grew up, I was very isolated. I felt different from everybody else.
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.
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.
When people watch 'Power' and they find out the showrunner is black, it's not surprising. What is surprising is that I am a woman and my background is not particularly urban.
It was not something that ever occurred to me, to be able to be in TV. I was very lucky.
God is in control of everything.
The revolution is that we can be anything. We don't have to be one thing or the other. The idea that it is my responsibility to represent only good black people... I mean, what are you talking about? That's not a character - that's a polemic.
When I watch television, I want to be surprised.
I love Pusha T and The Clipse.
The story always leads you where it's supposed to go.
When I was pitching 'Power,' I had an executive say, 'Well, I already have a black show.' He said that right to my face.
My parents were 30 years older than I was, and my parents had my brother and I ten years apart. My parents grew up in segregation, and they both lived in all-black neighborhoods and grew up with large black families. I didn't have any of that, and I didn't understand feeling so differently and being treated so differently.
If I weren't a showrunner, I'd be a much more accomplished mother; if I were not a mother, I would be a much more accomplished showrunner. I have to be okay with getting a B in both.
I think it's really cool that someone could have ovaries and the presidency. Growing up, I thought I could never be president because I was black and female. Now I know that's wrong. Within my own lifetime - that's different. Within my lifetime, interracial couples are more common. Within my own lifetime, biracial folks are able to claim that.
Being a writer is great because you get to come up with stuff.
I think women judge other women more harshly, always, which is a shame.
