Female Disruptors: Otessa Ghadar of 20/20 New Media On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
My Analyzing Diversity and Inclusion in Media project aims to identify the gatekeepers in media, to address the disparities for true representation. My project asks: How can streaming media measure, analyze, and reflect the “unmeasured loss” of a lack — specifically the lack of diversity and inclusion. This is a project to study, understand, and process the barriers to entry, the opportunities, and the erasure of other identities in a toxic culture. Ideally, this will also address a means to re-position and foster the largely excluded contributions of the marginalized makers within media. This is important to know, because excluding people is reprehensible and problematic: it also speaks to failures in supply/demand, representation, and financial opportunities. This study can find the ways and means that exclusions occur, to change how business is done and find more equitable and inclusive models.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Otessa Ghadar.
Otessa Marie Ghadar is a true forerunner of digital media. Not only does she have the longest running web series “Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden,” but she also founded DC Web Fest, a first-of-its-kind digital media festival (now in its 10th year). Otessa is a champion for equality, inclusivity, and diversity in the digital realm, dedicated to empowering creatives and amplifying marginalized voices.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Sure! A good place to start would be in university. I originally chose theoretical physics and math as my initial major, and these are fascinating and excellent subjects in which to be knowledgeable; however, my heart was with storytelling. When we talk about stories and storytelling, we are describing our humanity and what we pass on to represent ourselves.
So, I choose to switch to film and media arts because of my love for storytelling. I noticed how much time my younger siblings were spending in streaming content and noticed that a new trend was quickly emerging and my interest in the web series format sparked. I pitched the idea to my professors for my thesis project, and they essentially told me I was bonkers (during this time the web series format was in its earliest infancy and was not at all popular among filmmakers). Rather than getting discouraged, I let their criticism catapult my passion into producing the thesis, which evolved into one of the longest running web series (Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden), with viewership in over 150 countries, a 3 x Webby Honoree, 6 Tellys, and was the springboard to follow my dreams and goals. This led to the realization that there was a need for a digital media textbook (which I wrote and published) and a digital media festival (DC Web Fest) that could serve as a platform for web series to showcase their work. I had the desire to help foster this medium for others, not just myself.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
1). Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden is my web series that details the lives of a group of teenagers as they navigate high school in the 1990s. It disrupted the false claim of the web series format being “illegitimate” or inferior to traditional filmmaking. I was one of the first to do it, and as I suspected from the beginning, streaming trends exploded, then there came Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc. Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden also smashed barriers by proving that quality storytelling and filmmaking is certainly achievable on a lower budget.
2). DC Web Fest is a Digital Media Festival in its 10th year. For us, by us, DC Web Fest is woman and minority owned and led. Our mission is to provide a safe space to share the lens by which we all view the world. All are welcome. Founded in 2013, DC Web Fest serves to entertain, educate and promote the innovative forms and diverse voices in the new media landscape. From web series to apps to games to VR, we celebrate new media in its ever-changing form. Due to the pandemic, we have evolved even deeper into the digital sphere, having just finished our second virtual festival! We are deeply excited for what the future holds for all creators!
Hysterical Womxn Podcast — a direct and personal encounter with peoples’ experience with toxic cultures, done in narrative arcs to address particular areas and experiences. (i.e workplace interactions, micro aggressions, self-care, types of abuse, etc.)
The Wild West of Film — The first industry textbook for digital media.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My funniest mistake is ignoring my gut instinct, second-guessing myself, and talking myself out of what I know to be true. Also, don’t let teenagers have too much Red Bull. Healthier forms of energy exist and deserve to be promoted!
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
One of the greatest mentors, of course, has been my mother. It was one of my greatest joys and inspirations to work with her on my web series. Her kindness, creativity, dedication, compassion and work ethic truly inspired me, and continue to inspire me, and I am forever grateful.
I unfortunately also had a negative experience with an industry exec who set himself up as my “mentor”, however he was a predator who sought to groom, assault, and abuse others. This is too common and I say something in the hopes that transparent conversation can facilitate the change we so desperately need.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Disruption is good when it champions and exhibits accountability. #MeToo and BLM are excellent examples of just this. Disruption is positive when you stay true to your purpose and continue helping others break through barriers. If you’re just making noise for attention and distracting with no true purpose, you may want to shift your focus. Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden was a catalyst to many professional acting careers, and it explored the marginalized and underrepresented stories that were often shunned and overlooked by mainstream traditions. Creating this show required a lot of courage, as I received death threats by white nationalists and gay-bashers who were angered by the content and representation. I also received letters of courage and hope from teens around the world, who felt less alone, and felt they had found a community, a safe space to come out, a place in which their lived experiences and their identities were validated. It also gave others the courage to tell their stories with confidence. In the end, I choose to focus more on the latter, than the former. However creating and disrupting can be a scary thing.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
The importance of being bold, but not needing to be perfect. Failure can be an excellent teacher. Striving for perfection can clip your wings, but trying, failing, learning from your mistakes, and trying again is really important, and makes room for significant growth.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
I recently started podcasting, which I absolutely love! I am also about to publish another narrative work, a collection of short stories titled, “Stories of My Life and Other Catastrophes”. I also consider myself a life-long learner and am passionate about education — being both a student and professor (I am currently applying for a PhD program in digital media). Also, I am very excited about my data science project — Analyzing Diversity and Inclusion in Media, which analyzes the lack of diversity and inclusion in various filmmaking/media roles. These inequalities must be addressed, and I am really excited about tackling these things.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Where do I start? There is still the issue of income disparities between women and men across many industries. Discrimination, exclusion, isolation, and more. Women are still being overlooked and passed up for their male counterparts. We’ve come a long way; I won’t be a pessimist. However, we do have a long way to go. This is why we need as many voices as possible! The systemic issue of trauma and assault is prevalent across all industries. This must stop. Breaking the cycle of this generational and systemic trauma is so important and I wish the women disruptors of the future a safer journey.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
One of my favorite books is “The Left Hand of Darkness”, an absolutely outstanding 1970s Sci-Fi book by Ursula K LeGuin, which addresses xenophobia and the constructs around gender and identity. Also, when I was struggling with insomnia, after the passing of my mother, I found that the “Sleep with Me” podcast was a much-needed balm and salve. Sleep is an essential part of well-being and self-care and Scooter (the podcast’s creator) is a remarkable creator — his work and his on air presence are marked by sensitivity, compassion and care. I recommend both of these works to others who are looking for recommendations.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
My Analyzing Diversity and Inclusion in Media project aims to identify the gatekeepers in media, to address the disparities for true representation. My project asks: How can streaming media measure, analyze, and reflect the “unmeasured loss” of a lack — specifically the lack of diversity and inclusion. This is a project to study, understand, and process the barriers to entry, the opportunities, and the erasure of other identities in a toxic culture. Ideally, this will also address a means to re-position and foster the largely excluded contributions of the marginalized makers within media. This is important to know, because excluding people is reprehensible and problematic: it also speaks to failures in supply/demand, representation, and financial opportunities. This study can find the ways and means that exclusions occur, to change how business is done and find more equitable and inclusive models.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“I’ve learned more my failures than I have learned from my successes.” If you hold yourself accountable to your failures and learn from them, you grow greatly. Fear of failure can be a hindrance.
How can our readers follow you online?
Feel free to keep up with my personal IG @Otessa_ and my professional accounts @2020newmedia and @dcwebfest on IG, Facebook and Twitter, as well as my websites twentytwentyproductions.com, dcwebfest.org, ojinbg.com, and otessa.me.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Disruptors: Otessa Ghadar of 20/20 New Media On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.