They’re pioneering a lane for more women of color!
Editors for Robin Thede’s hit HBO show, "A Black Lady Sketch Show," took home the show's first Emmy during this weekend’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards for Outstanding Picture Editing For Variety Programming. They won for their work on Season 2 Episode 3, “Sister, May I Call You Oshun?” which featured guest appearances from Gabrielle Union and Jesse Williams. Daysha Broadway, Jessica Hernandez, and Stephanie Filo spoke with Because Of Them We Can about their nomination.
Broadway is a supervisor editor who has been in the field for nearly 15 years. Filo is originally from Sierra Leone, serving as a picture editor on the show who's been doing this work for almost 13 years. Hernandez is a Cuban-American picture editor who's also been in the business for about 15 years. Recently, the team got the surprise of their lives, making history as the first women of color editing team to be nominated for an Emmy.
All of the women were fans of the show’s concept prior to coming on board. They said working on the show with primarily women of color has been a joy, especially with the stress of the last two years.
“It is just so nice that in the middle of [chaos] to be laughing and watching Black women excelling in what they do—and being amongst this team of women which is like, unheard of in our field to just have an entirely all-women post team. It was just a really, really cool experience,” Filo told BOTWC.
“[The show] lended itself to our creativity...There’s things that women of color have to tell each other, you just kind of know, so, there’s a shorthand there which is nice. Yeah, I loved it for all the same reasons. It was the pandemic and all I wanted to do was laugh and it seemed like a great place to be,” added Hernandez.
Broadway has been with the show since Season 1 with Filo and Hernandez coming on for Season 2, which was shot completely during the pandemic. The women say that while it was challenging, most of their work being done from home, it was also refreshing to work on this type of project, something that was truly a labor of love. A lot of the scenes had to be restructured as a result of COVID restrictions which initially left them a little on edge. Still, the show was successful and to now be nominated for an Emmy as a result of their work is a dream come true.
“I found out in the car and I just had to pull over every five minutes. It took me like an hour to get to work because I would pull over every time I’d get a text to talk about it, but the funny part is the same day, I did get into a car crash. So, I like to say the Emmy caused the car crash so it’s not totally my fault,” recalled Hernandez.
The nomination is a first for Hernandez and Broadway’s third. For Filo this is her second Emmy, the first from a documentary series she produced in 2020. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the red carpet and much of the pomp and circumstance has been cut from this year’s ceremony. However, the ladies still plan to meet together, dressed in their finest to celebrate their big accomplishment.
“I definitely plan on getting as cute as possible, having as much champagne as possible, and rooting for my friends,” Broadway said.
Filo said she doesn’t take the historic nomination lightly and hopes it will continue to open doors for other women of color.
“It’s weird that in 2021 we are the first women of color editing team that’s been nominated. That in itself says something about our industry, but I also hope that it just means that there are many more to come as well,” the picture editor said.
Broadway echoed those sentiments, saying, “We know so many other women editors, so many other Black women editors, women of color editors -- I think that the fact that they haven’t been celebrated in this way before isn’t the best way to go about this. I think that seeing us will maybe, hopefully, help women or girls of color, or grad school students -- Anyone thinking about this field will go ok: Now if there’s a first there can be a second. There could be a third. There could be a fourth, you know?”
Robin Thede, the show runner and star of the show, took to Instagram to congratulate the team.
The second season of A Black Lady Sketch Show is available now on HBO Max and it's been picked up for a third. The laughs are going to keep on coming!
Congratulations, ladies! Because of you, we know!
Photo Credit: Getty Images