Scene 2 Seen Podcast: Deborah Riley Draper Discusses Her Docuseries ‘James Brown: Say It Loud’ And His Musical Legacy

Valerie Complex
·2 min read
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Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast! I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with award-winning filmmaker and advertising agency veteran Deborah Riley Draper.

Draper is getting set to premiere her newest project, James Brown: Say It Loud, on Monday on A&E Network. She directed and co-wrote the four-part docuseries, which examines Brown’s legacy through exclusive interviews, never-before-seen footage and his beloved music catalog. It is executive produced by Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Oscar winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.

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Draper previously directed the two-part series The Legacy of Black Wall Street for OWN/Discovery+, which received an NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television). In 2017, she received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her documentary Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, which she also directed, produced and wrote, telling the untold story of the 18 African Americans who defied Hitler and Jim Crow in 1936. The film was one of only three recognized globally by HRH Prince Albert of Monaco for the 2017 Sportel World Peace and Sport Award.

Her debut film, Versailles ‘73: American Runway Revolution, opened New York Fashion Week and Toronto Fashion Week in 2012, then debuted on Logo TV. It marked the first intimate look at the infamous Palace of Versailles fundraiser, which gave birth to American Prêt-à-Porter, led by Black models. The film won the HBO Best Documentary at the Mill Valley African American Film Festival. Draper also directed the award-winning documentary Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in 2021 and the short documentary OnBoard: The Story of Black Women on Boards, which premiered at last year’s Tribeca Festival.

Draper recently wrote and directed the 2024 Love, Your Mind campaign for the Ad Council. Additionally, she won the 2023 Gold Anthem Award and Gold Addy Award for the Ad Council’s Rural Stories in 2021 and multiple Addys and Anthem Awards for the Ad Council’s Covid Education PSA Tuskegee Legacy Stories.

She also served as the archival producer on Hulu’s Look at Me Now: XXXTencion in 2022, and wrote and directed the award-winning short film Illegal Rose in 2019 starring Jasmine Guy. Draper will serve as executive producer of the web series The Table, set to release later this month She also is director and executive producer on the upcoming docuseries Flipped in association with Coffee Bluff Pictures and wiip Studios.

In this episode, we talk about the process of documentary filmmaking, James Brown’s powerful music, and the impact of his civil rights legacy.

**If you like what you hear, be sure to review, like, and subscribe to the Scene to Seen Podcast on Apple, Spotify, and iHeart.**

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