'The Honorable Shyne', Music Supervisor, Sarah Bromberg

0:08Jawad MirHello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Kingdom of Dreams podcast. Today, my guest is Sarah Bromberg. She's a mu… music supervisor, of an upcoming documentary. Well, it's actually, coming out tomorrow called The Honorable Shyne on Hulu. It's, deals with the story of hip hop artist Shyne and the murder trial that took place and now his journey, how he has sort of come to where he is involving story of J.Lo and Diddy from 19, late 1990s and how his, he went on trial because of certain misconceptions. At least that's what the documentary portrays. But I had a great conversation with Sarah. Being a music supervisor, we talked about what kind, what's her role in terms and rights to the music, the kind of stuff that she has to go through in work and life and all that and her journey to be where she is now in her upcoming and future projects. Without further ado, here is my conversation with Sarah, who is the music supervisor on The Honorable Shyne, which comes out tomorrow, November 18th on Hulu.

1:12Jawad MirPleasure to have you. Thank you for, you know, coming on to talk about the, I think it's a series or documentary from Hulu.

1:21Sarah BrombergIt's a documentary or film. Yeah.

1:22Jawad MirYeah. The Honorable Shyne. And, I would, before we get started on that, I would love to know who's Sarah and what does she do?

1:35Sarah BrombergWell, I'm Sarah Bromberg.

1:38Jawad MirI, yeah.

1:38Sarah BrombergI'm, I'm a music supervisor.

1:39Jawad MirJust your story.

1:40Sarah BrombergYou what?

1:41Jawad MirYeah.

1:41Sarah BrombergI'm a music supervisor. I've been doing this job for a little over 10 years. I started in commercials and… ... Then made my way to television and film. And I love my work. It's a really hard job. It's extremely taxing, very mentally taxing, emotionally taxing, but I love it. I love doing the work. I love being part of the process. And yeah, I live in New Orleans, which is rare for a music supervisor. I am from here originally, and I live here with my husband and my son, and I absolutely love this town and would like to live here forever. And I just enjoy being a part separate from industry and, like, in New Orleans it's just a different speed. It's a different lifestyle.

2:43Sarah BrombergWe really put a lot of stock in having fun and eating well and celebrating, and those are all things that I deeply love, I think probably 'cause I grew up here and that's what I grew up doing. So yeah, that's me.

2:58Jawad MirThat's awesome. Well, sounds like you've got your entire life planned out.

3:02Sarah BrombergI mean, ideally. You never know what life's gonna throw at you, so.

3:07Jawad MirYeah, that's true. Ev… every…

3:08Sarah BrombergIt could go left, but this is what I'd like for it to be.

3:11Jawad MirWell, every day it goes left when you want it to go right and vice versa, right? That's just how it is.

3:15Sarah BrombergExactly.

3:16Jawad MirAnd in our industry it's also like that too. And, you know, New Orleans to me when it first came to my radar was when Katrina happened, right?

3:27Sarah BrombergYeah.

3:27Jawad MirThis was 2004 or '5.

3:30Sarah Bromberg5.

3:30Jawad MirI don't remember.

3:30Sarah BrombergYeah, 2005.

3:31Jawad MirWere you there at the time?

3:32Sarah BrombergI was actually living in New York at the time. I went to school in New York and then I stayed, I was there for 18 years. I moved back in 2013. So I wasn't here. My family was still here, my friends were still here, and New Orleans itself, especially when you're from here, is like a family member. So, it was a, it was a really hard time. Even if you didn't live here at the time, the heartbreak surrounding it, like, permeated everyone who has had their soul touched by this town, which is a lot of people. So yeah, I wasn't here, but I went through it and was traumatized by it though I, though I wasn't here. And the recovery, seeing the recovery has been really incredible. It's been a really long road, a very slow road. The city was deeply changed in many ways, that I don't know could have been predicted because of that storm.

4:33Jawad MirRight

4:33Sarah Bromberg... Some for the worse, some ways for the better. And I'm proud of where we are today, but we're still rebuilding.

4:43Jawad MirRight. Yeah.

4:44Sarah BrombergTo this day.

4:44Jawad MirNo, it was, it was definitely, you know, a devastating... I remember, you know, it took the government what, like three, four weeks to respond. I still remember that very vividly.

4:54Sarah BrombergYeah.

4:54Jawad MirBut, you know…

4:55Sarah BrombergKanye West…

4:56Jawad MirYeah. And

4:57Sarah Bromberg... Got on that, telethon and said…

5:00Jawad MirThat's right

5:01Sarah Bromberg... George Bush hates Black people, and he wasn't wrong.

5:05Jawad MirThat's right. And I was... You know, so I'll, I'll tell you a little bit and we're gonna talk about The Honorable Shyne. So I've, I love music, right? Like, I love any type of music. Mainly movie scores, right?

5:18Sarah BrombergYeah.

5:18Jawad MirLike just, yeah, Hans Zimmer, John Williams, you know, Jerry Goldsmith, Alan Silvestri. I never grew up with m… songs as per that much. I mean, I knew Mariah Carey, I knew Whitney Houston, J.Lo, Michael Jackson, Elvis. But in terms of like the other world like rap and reggae and all that, I was never familiar with it.

5:41Sarah BrombergReally?

5:42Jawad MirYeah. I never, it j… it's something I never got into until I st… I would say I probably not still am into it, but I have heard a lot of songs over the last, you know, four or five years. So my familiarity with that story was absolutely zero until I s…

6:00Sarah BrombergHuh

6:00Jawad Mir... Until I saw the trailer.

6:01Sarah BrombergYeah.

6:01Jawad MirAnd I haven't seen the film yet. And I was baffled about this story of how this one guy went through so much and to be where he is today.

6:13Sarah BrombergYeah.

6:13Jawad MirYou know…

6:14Sarah BrombergIt's an incredible story.

6:15Jawad MirIt is. How did you come on board on this story?

6:18Sarah BrombergSo the film was produced, production services were done by a company called Color Creative. Color Creative is a sister company to the company that I work at, which is called Radio. And so when they produce on a film and they need a music supervisor, they generally will reach out to us as we have a music supervision team that is virtually in-house for them, as we are sister companies. And I worked on a lot of projects with our sister companies, so they're familiar with my work, and they know how I get things done. And so they were happy to bring me on board. I actually have a team, we have a team of four, including myself, and so each one of us touched this film in some way or another, 'cause we always work at a team. But I took the lead on it. And so yeah, I was brought on very early, actually years ago literally, because this project has been years in the making. So yeah, that's how I came to the project.

7:28Jawad MirAnd as a music supervisor, I have a sense what a music supervisor does, but for the audience, what are your day-to-day, you know, ta… operations tasks? Like, what's different about what music supervisor does versus a composer, a conductor, or you know?

7:45Sarah BrombergYeah.

7:46Jawad MirArranger.

7:46Sarah BrombergSo the music supervisor is involved in any music that you hear that was licensed music, so pre-existing music that exists in the world and then was put against picture in the film, creating original music for the film, and if there's any music performed on camera, we're involved in that. So basically all the music in a film or TV show that is not original score, that is something that the music supervisor, is across, is helping develop, is creatively working on, and is also handling the budget for. So I always say that music supervision is... You know, a lot of people think music supervision is just creative. You know, it's just pulling a song and putting it in and say, "There, it's in. I'm all done." It's very much not just that. It's 50% creative and 50% business. So clearing the song, licensing the song, managing the budget, making sure that you can afford things, making sure that things can be used legally.

8:55Sarah BrombergThat's all very much part of the job as well. So when we're brought into a project, depending on when we're brought in, it can be as early as in development or in script phase, or it can be all the way into post when everything's already shot and everything's already done, and we're just putting music in after the picture has already been created.

9:19Jawad MirRight. Well, thank you for explaining that. In relation to Honor Real Shyne, the actual story when it started, you know, do you remember watching news or sort of talking about it with your friends and…

9:32Sarah BrombergOh, yeah

9:33Jawad Mir... At that time?

9:34Sarah BrombergAt that time? Oh, yeah. This was a huge story. You know, Shyne was a breaking artist. He was a developing artist, and I definitely was into hip hop at the time. Everybody was. You know, it was sort of just a huge cultural moment at that time.

9:52Jawad MirYeah.

9:52Sarah BrombergAnd those artists were all over MTV. I was an MTV baby, so you know, I grew up on MTV. I grew up on music videos. So yes, and I was, of course, aware of what went down at the nightclub. That shooting, that was a huge story at the time. It was in the press every single day. So yes, I was very aware of it. JLo was also, at that time, a big star, and she was involved in it as well. And so yeah, that news was everywhere. That was, that was permeating culture at the time. If we had social media at that time, it would have lit up social media. It was everywhere. So very much remember that story, very much remember Shyne. And you know, his biggest single, Bad Boys, was definitely something that was in my rotation…

10:43Jawad MirYeah

10:43Sarah Bromberg... As well then. So yeah, very familiar with the story, and I didn't know what came of him. So you know, when this project came to me, I was just as shocked as I'm sure many who see this film, will be as well to see his journey. It's really, like I said, it's really incredible. And I too was enthralled to find out all the places, all the stops that he made along the road to get to where he is today.

11:09Jawad MirYeah. At the time when it happened, I mean, everybody has speculations, right? And from a l… from a law standpoint, nobody's guilty until proven, no matter what anybody thinks.

11:19Sarah BrombergRight. Of course.

11:20Jawad MirRight? But at the time when you, when this happened, you and your friends or family, what did people think? Because I think Diddy was involved in some capacity too. Like, was he, was Shyne innocent at the time of the conversation was? Was he set up, or was he just mis… you know, m… what's the word I'm looking for? Just arrested wrongfully. Like, it was just not…

11:42Sarah BrombergYeah.

11:43Jawad MirYeah.

11:43Sarah BrombergYeah. I mean, I think there were definitely question marks around it. It seemed murky. It seemed suspicious, but there was a trial, and there were verdicts. And so I think at the end of the day, most people took that at face value, and I think I was probably one of them. But it still always felt a little murky. There always felt like there was a, like a sort of black hole around what really went down in that nightclub. And listen, I… Soon after that, moved to New York and was also in nightclubs, and I know how crazy it is in there. There's people everywhere. Bodies are pressed against each other. It didn't surprise me to think it wasn't clear w… who did what in there because i… if you've ever been in a nightclub like that, you know that y… it's, it is hard to tell what's going on. It's dark in there. There's people everywhere.

12:45Sarah BrombergI always, I think in the back of my mind, kind of felt like I don't know what happened, but, it's likely that n… most people don't know what happened because it probably was dark in there because it was crazy. I'm sure it was extremely chaotic. I'm sure people started running immediately. So yeah, there was always a little question mark around it for me.

13:03Jawad MirYeah. It's kinda like I remember it was probably much more grand scale because CNN was broadcasting it every single day, the O.J. Simpson trial, right? I remember my dad used to watch it, and I just remember the whole thing, the gloves and everything.

13:19Sarah BrombergYeah.

13:19Jawad MirAnd then there was a, there was a series on FX, like a miniseries. I don't... I think, what was his name? David Schwimmer was in it. Could be a good engineer, which was great. But these stories, I mean, you know, when you ta… and now with what's going on with Epstein. Well, what, that was, like, four or five years ago, and now what's going on…

13:36Jawad Mir... With Diddy and JLo and… ... Well, allegedly JLo. They haven't talked about it yet. Is how, you know, it's been about 25, 26 years, and how things kinda still keep happening, and you figure that you live in a country like United States, Canada, UK, where the laws are very strict, but somehow people are still... Do you think people are still able to get away because they have power

14:04Sarah BrombergYes

14:05Jawad Mir... From the things that they may have been convicted of?

14:10Sarah BrombergYeah. I mean, I think we've seen it time and time again, but, a good lawyer is a good lawyer for a reason, you know?

14:19Jawad MirYeah, that's true.

14:19Sarah BrombergThey know how to get in there and make jurors have a reasonable doubt, and that's really all they have to do. And that's why they get paid the big bucks, and who can pay them the big bucks but the rich and powerful? And so I think the system definitely, ends up, for better or for worse, being rigged in that way just because if you can afford a really good lawyer, then you can likely afford to find a way to put some reasonable doubt in even one juror's mind, and that's really all they have to do when you think about it.

15:00Jawad MirYeah. Yeah.

15:00Sarah BrombergAnd if you're poor, if you don't have money, then you can't afford that, and you may be very innocent, but if you don't have a good lawyer who knows how to put that reasonable doubt in the mind of a juror, then you're going to be convicted. And so the system, it's not fair, and I think it does favor those who have power and those who have money. I don't think every time they're able to get…

15:28Jawad MirYeah

15:28Sarah Bromberg... Off, but I definitely think we've seen it before, and we'll see it again, that does happen.

15:36Jawad MirYeah. You reminded me when you were talking about, you know, even creating doubt in one juror's mind, you reminded me of this film. It's one of my favorite films that came out in the '50s. 12 Angry Men.

15:48Sarah BrombergYep.

15:49Jawad MirI don't... Have you ever seen it?

15:51Sarah BrombergI think I've seen it, yeah, a really long time ago.

15:53Jawad MirYeah.

15:54Sarah BrombergWhen I was a kid, I feel like I saw it when I was in theater school. It was one of those movies they had us watch.

16:02Jawad MirYeah, because it takes place in one room, and it's literally…

16:05Sarah BrombergIn one room, yeah

16:05Jawad Mir... It's literally about one juror…

16:07Sarah BrombergYeah

16:07Jawad Mir... Who is saying not guilty, and the whole film is him trying to convince everybody else, and…

16:14Sarah BrombergYeah

16:14Jawad Mir... It kind of reminded me of the…

16:15Sarah Bromberg'Cause it's like a play, which I think is why we watched it.

16:16Jawad MirYeah.

16:17Sarah Bromberg'Cause it takes place one room, so yeah, it's, it's coming back to me, yeah.

16:22Jawad MirYou should watch it again. Great film, but…

16:24Sarah BrombergI should. You're right

16:25Jawad Mir... Go…

16:25Sarah BrombergI love old movies too

16:27Jawad Mir... Going back to, Shine's film, in terms of your role, you know, as a music supervisor, if you can think of one particular example where things were extremely challenging, whether it was just, you know, the toll of the workload or trying to find rights to certain music, and there was this involved and that politics involved.

16:51Sarah BrombergThe whole film was very challenging, honestly.

16:53Jawad MirOkay.

16:54Sarah BrombergAnd…

16:55Jawad MirDo…

16:55Sarah BrombergAnd it starts at, you know, and I have worked on many projects with hip-hop from the '90s, '80s, '90s, and early 2000s, and during that time, you know, hip-hop was new. It was still developing. They were still figuring out how to do the rights, and especially when it came to samples, which hip-hop is, you know, s… it was started with samples. It's based in samples. That's the root of hip-hop is samples. And so there have always been samples in hip-hop. But initially, they were never papered correctly. They were never cleared.

17:37Jawad MirYeah

17:37Sarah Bromberg... There were a lot of lawsuits that happened. And so as soon as I see, okay, this film takes place in this time period or is using this time period of music, alarm bells start going off in my head 'cause I know that it is notorious, that some of those songs either are really hard to clear or cannot be cleared. And so from the very beginning, this was something I brought to the producer's attention, and I very early on was telling them, "You need to get me the list of songs that you're considering as soon as possible so that we can start researching them because it's going to take… At least six months to get to the bottom of everything, and that was actually, ended up being an underestimate. It did took longer than six months to get to the bottom of a lot of these songs. And, when you're working in this time period, you also end up reaching out to people who have been betrayed, they've been wronged by the industry, they've been stolen from, and they are very rightfully so angry and distrustful of anyone that they feel is coming from the industry.

18:58Sarah BrombergAnd I've dealt with this many times over, and that was no exception on this project. There were certain songs that we wanted to use, where in researching the rights, we ended up finding a producer or someone who wrote on the song who then subsequently was taken off or, wasn't paid or never got what they were supposed to get from their contract. And when we reach out, they're not nice, you know?

19:31Jawad MirYeah.

19:31Sarah BrombergAnd I understand why. I know where they're coming from. I respect their experience, but you know, I didn't do that to them, and…

19:41Jawad MirYeah

19:41Sarah Bromberg... You know, it's hard. It's hard to receive responses like that of people who are really angry and will shut you down without hearing you out. And so yeah, there were several songs that I had to sort of break the director and producers hearts about and just say, "Guys, we just, we're not gonna be able to use this song. It's just, it's not happening." and so, every step of it was hard for, at a baseline for those reasons. Every step…

20:14Jawad MirYeah

20:14Sarah Bromberg... Of working through these copyrights was really hard, and we had to go to battle with some publishers who felt that they had the rights to music that our research showed they did not. And, we're going up against major publishers. You know, they, like we were saying earlier, they have lawyers. So, you know…

20:36Jawad MirYeah

20:37Sarah Bromberg... And I'm saying, "Go dig out files from 25 years ago and let me know what your copyright says," you know? So, that's a long process and it's a fight. And so some of those battles we were victorious in, and some of them we lost.

20:51Jawad MirYeah. So, you know, the artist that you reach out to, it's kinda like in docs, you know, trying to get permission for archival footage, and you have to…

21:02Sarah BrombergYes

21:03Jawad Mir... Have a lawyer. I mean, we… I've gone through that process as well, and it's… ... Very tedious, right?

21:08Sarah BrombergYeah.

21:08Jawad MirThere's, for the artist that you were reaching out to directly, like, was there... And you don't have to answer this. I… I'm not trying to get into the nitty-gritty of the dollar value and anything, but was there, like, any kind of monetary, you know, thing offered to them that you'll get this, or was it just like can we just use it and that's it?

21:32Sarah BrombergWe,.. Well, no. Everybody gets paid. I mean, we licensed the music. Like, we did not…

21:37Jawad MirYeah

21:37Sarah Bromberg... Get the music for free. But there were some instances with songs that the director and producers really loved where we discussed, you know, I tried to explain to them why this, you know, person was so angry. I was like, "It looks like they, this is a remix of the song. He wrote the original. He got booted off…"

21:58Jawad MirOh, I see

21:59Sarah Bromberg... Writers for the remix even though he should be a writer." And so we did discuss is there a way for us to do some sort of direct payment or make up for, where they feel…

22:11Jawad MirMoney lost at the time, yeah

22:12Sarah Bromberg... Wronged. And so we did, we started to discuss that, but as I got further into some of the records, I realized that, you know, he wasn't the only one, and it was more complicated than that, and it just wasn't going to make sense. But I've, I have had that happen before in other films, where we've done some sort of workaround or direct payment or we've made it up to that writer in one way or another where they felt compensated and supported and they felt comfortable, and we were able to move forward with those uses. It just didn't happen on this production.

22:49Jawad MirYeah. And, you know, just to kinda deviate from Honorable Shine in general, you know, we all have times in life when it's like this, right? That you go a high point and you're happy, and then, phew, rock bottom…

23:02Sarah BrombergYeah.

23:02Jawad Mir... And then back. It's, it's, it's, it's just the way it is. And in your life, whether it's professionally or personally, whatever you are comfortable with sharing, what was that one moment where you felt this is it, like, I'm done, like, life is just, like, you know, the most difficult thing in the world or this profession I'm, I'm, I'm giving up? Like, has there been ever a moment that you can sort of recall and talk about?

23:29Sarah BrombergI have those moments all the time.

23:30Jawad MirAll the time. I know, I know. I go through them all the time, but I had to put a question in a way where it seemed, you know, not that life…

23:37Sarah BrombergYeah

23:37Jawad Mir... Is terrible, but just the way it is.

23:39Sarah BrombergYeah. No. I definitely,.. Well, this is, this is, this generally, this year has been, a really crazy year just work-wise. And, I definitely have had moments, I had several on this film where I just thought, like, I just, I'm not gonna be able to get through this. You know, like, I'm gonna have to quit. I'm just gonna have to quit, not just this film, I'm just gonna have to quit music supervision because... But I also, I do tend to be, I have a flair for the dramatic, so maybe not rightfully so. I do always push through, but I do often feel at the end of my rope with this job just because it is very, like I said, it's mentally and emotionally taxing.

24:27Jawad MirYeah

24:28Sarah BrombergAnd sometimes I don't believe in myself enough, and I forget that I always do find a way to make it work. And so I reach these points, and I never wanna let anybody down, and especially on a project like this where it's so important to my sister company, to my colleagues that work there that I have such respect for. I always wanna deliver absolutely the best product. And so I f… sometimes I feel like if I can't, then I might as well just quit rather than figuring out a workaround and knowing that I will eventually get there. I think, like, I actually, I should just step back because it's not gonna be perfect, and I hate to deliver anything less than perfect. But the good news is I have a really amazing team around me, both at, our sister company. Talitha Watkins, who was the main producer on the film, she was an amazing support, and then also, the head of my division, Stephanie Diaz Matos, she is such an amazing support with me.

25:32Sarah BrombergAnd so when thi… when I got to that point, when I, when I really sort of was like, "Oh my God, I don't know how we're gonna get through this," they got on the phone with me, and we just put everything on the table. Where we're at, here are the complications, here's what we w… here's the point we have to get to, and we all worked together to get there, and they were an amazing support, and we did get through it. And then of course, you know, Stephanie was like, "See? I told you. You have to stop doing that."

26:03Jawad MirYeah.

26:04Sarah BrombergLike, I know. One happy member.

26:06Jawad MirNo, it… it's hard. It's, it's ha… it's hard. It's hard.

26:08Sarah BrombergYeah.

26:08Jawad MirIt's a really hard business to be in, you know, and because everybody's trying to climb the ladder, right?

26:16Sarah BrombergYeah.

26:16Jawad MirAnd you're trying to climb it too. I've, I appreciate you answering this, but let me ask you something else, if you don't mind. You know, going back... Okay, so you always wanted to be music supervisor, I'm assuming, or somewhere in that same realm?

26:31Sarah BrombergAs soon as I found out what a music supervisor was, then I did, but I'd never knew what it was before that.

26:37Jawad MirWhen was this? What year?

26:39Sarah Bromberg2007.

26:44Jawad MirOkay. So 18 years ago, or 17 years ago.

26:49Sarah BrombergYeah.

26:49Jawad MirSo that journey that you've had, right? Like, so there's, we're always on that journey of trying to climb the ladder. It never ends because when it ends, then the purpose of life is pretty much done. But there's also that, the beginning phase, you know, the first chapter where you're trying to take a leap to the second chapter, and it's just not working. That door is not opening. And you don't have anything. Like right now where you are, at least you have a past, right?

27:16Sarah BrombergYeah.

27:16Jawad MirLike, you have all this work that you've done, so you can use that to move forward. But in that time when you were in your early first couple of years trying to knock that door and you were like, "I've done like three years of my life work and nothing is happening," was that ever a moment where you just completely felt like, "That's it. I'm done. I'm, I've given, giving up"?

27:37Sarah BrombergYeah, I actually did,.. When I moved back to New Orleans from New York, I actually did give... I mean, I sort of said, "Okay, I don't have a job in New Orleans. I don't have a plan. I just wanna move back home." And, I said, "I will figure it out when I get there." And I knew that music supervision was not some... There's, there's no industry for that in New Orleans, so I had no expectation of continuing on with it. I thought, "I'll do something else in music. I will do something else completely. Maybe I'll leave this industry altogether." and so, at that point I stepped away. I didn't think of it as quitting music supervision, I just, I thought of it more as like, "I'm taking this leap to move to New Orleans, and because that's just where I wanna be, and I'm gonna figure it out from there."

28:38Sarah BrombergAnd I just was very lucky that the job ended up following me here, and I ended up be able to continue on the path, without really a plan to. It just happened. It felt like it, I don't know, was pulling me back in somehow. So yeah, I actually did quit it. And I quit it to leave New York. I just was done with New York. I was exhausted living in New York.

29:09Jawad MirYeah.

29:09Sarah BrombergAnd I just wanted to come back here where my soul was, and somehow, ended up still on this path and actually pushing it forward somehow

29:23Jawad MirYeah

29:23Sarah Bromberg... And developing.

29:25Jawad MirI truly believe that, and the fact that you made that change without a plan, and somehow it all worked, I truly believe that the reason things sometimes work, if not most of the time, is that when you put yourself in a completely uncomfortable spot that you are not accustomed to, you're bound to make decisions that you have never made before, and that will take you forward to the place where you want to be, because if you're in that same bubble where you've tried 10 things over and over again, you're more likely gonna get same results over and over again, right?

30:02Sarah BrombergYeah, I agree.

30:03Jawad MirSo I think that's a huge thing that y… you need to be... I'm, I'm not saying don't have a plan. Sometimes that's a good thing.

30:09Sarah BrombergYeah.

30:09Jawad MirBut somet… sometimes to be blind is probably very important in order to find who you are. I truly believe that.

30:18Sarah BrombergYeah. Yeah, I agree. I agree, and I think I was, a little bit lucky, and, it was like a little luck and a little talent, and those things came together and delivered.

30:29Jawad MirBut you, do you believe in luck? I don't believe in luck.

30:32Sarah BrombergI do believe in luck

30:32Jawad MirI think it's, I thi… I... No, but how do you fi… how do you get luck? Because you work hard. If you don't work hard, how do you g… how are you gonna be at the right place at the right time? That's luck.

30:41Sarah BrombergThat's true.

30:41Jawad MirI can see that, right?

30:42Sarah BrombergThat's true.

30:43Jawad Mir'Cause if you're not working hard, if you're sitting, in a chair, even if you get lucky, you're gonna lose that opportunity because you're not working hard.

30:51Sarah BrombergNo, you're right, and that goes back to me not believing myself 'cause I, you know, I go like, "Well, I was just lucky," you know? Like, I also was doing the j… you know?

31:00Jawad MirYeah, I think it's…

31:00Sarah BrombergI was doing it well, which I can acknowledge about myself, but you know…

31:03Jawad MirYeah

31:03Sarah Bromberg... I was doing it well, and so I was in…

31:07Jawad MirIt's a humbling thing to say, right? Like, "I'm…

31:09Sarah BrombergYeah

31:09Jawad Mir... I'm lucky." I get it.

31:10Sarah BrombergIt's very hard to say.

31:10Jawad MirYeah.

31:11Sarah BrombergYeah.

31:11Jawad MirYeah. But, no, that's great. You know, going back to, I'm not trying to tie these two incidents, but with what's in the news the last few months, you know…

31:22Sarah BrombergYeah

31:22Jawad Mir... What's going on with Diddy and kinda going back to this film, when that news broke out, I think this was three months ago or four months ago, when the... I don't, it was recently. Like, when you guys were in that phase of almost finishing this film, what was that reaction, right, you know, from two standpoints, from obviously the news itself, and then how does that sorta tie into our film that is almost pretty much done, it's in post?

31:51Sarah BrombergYeah, I mean, you know, we, like I said, we were working on this film for years, so…

31:59Jawad MirYeah

31:59Sarah Bromberg... Way before any of this news, unfolded. And like I also said, I was researching these songs, but I was not clearing anything yet because they were still in production and there were still cuts. We're changing wildly between cuts, so I don't wanna clear music until I have a good idea of what the real uses are going to be because the way the use plays can affect the fee. And so it's better to clear everything you need than to go back and re-clear things over and over again. So I was waiting, researching and waiting, researching and waiting. And then last year when the lawsuit broke, I was, you know, shook, as I'm sure everybody else was, and of course one of my first thoughts was, "How's this gonna affect this film?"

33:01Sarah BrombergYou know? Like, I don't, I think, you know, with everything going on with him, I don't know how he's going to want Bad Boy music to be portrayed. I don't know where his team's head is gonna be at. And then that was, lawsuit was settled with Cassie and we sort of moved on and I thought, "Okay, let's, that's, we're moving on. We're moving on. I don't think it's gonna really affect the film." but then obviously things kept unfolding and more, it was a snowball. You know? It kept building rather than going away, and so I personally, I was sort of split. You know? I was excited because I thought, like, "Oh, well, it's gonna give more attention to this film. I think people are gonna, you know…

33:49Jawad MirYeah

33:49Sarah Bromberg... Talk about it more." And of course, again, I want success for everyone involved because this is…

33:54Jawad MirOf course

33:54Sarah Bromberg... Our sister company and we want success for everybody that we work with. And then on the other side, I was thinking, "God, I hope I'm gonna be able to clear this music. You know? What if Bad Boy says we're not clearing any music for Bad Boy? You know? What if they're not okay with us using this stuff? What if they're not okay with this story being told?" And so that worry grew with every piece of news that unfolded, with every new shocking thing that happened, with the video coming out, with the raids of his houses. And so, you know, it was building and we were finishing, and so I…

34:36Sarah Bromberg... Was sort of like, we need to put the foot on the gas and get these clearances done, because, we don't know what's coming next. You know? Obviously this is not…

34:47Jawad MirYeah

34:47Sarah Bromberg... The story is not done unfolding. And so I had this split reaction of, you know, heart for the film and the story that's being told and the importance of it, even more it needed to be told, that, you know, Sean's side of the story needed to come out, and nerves about being able to deliver everything that the filmmakers wanted musically…

35:15Jawad MirSure

35:15Sarah Bromberg... For this film. And some of the stuff, was sung on camera. You know, they have Barrington Levy in his, interview, he sings part of the song on camera, so I was like, "Well, that has to get cleared." You know? That…

35:31Jawad MirRight. Of course

35:31Sarah Bromberg... We have to be able to clear that. So yeah. It was, it was a dual-sided, reaction r… from me and my team. Luckily we did put our foot on the gas and we got everything cleared, before the arrest. So we had all of our, quotes and everything buttoned up before it really imploded, and it became clear that, you know, he's gonna be facing a trial and so much more is, you know, this is re… a real implosion of an empire. 'cause b… after the raids it was like, well, we don't know. They didn't find anything. We don't know if, we don't know what happened there, you know? We have no idea what the government's doing. And that was when we were really pushing forward on finalizing the cut and finalizing the…

36:24Jawad MirYeah

36:25Sarah Bromberg... Film.

36:26Jawad MirYeah, I mean, you know, normally they don't release stuff, because there's still investigation going on.

36:31Sarah BrombergYeah.

36:31Jawad MirAnd who knows, even on Monday, you know, something might unravel, or in six months something might unravel because…

36:37Sarah BrombergOh, yeah. I don't…

36:38Jawad Mir... There's a lot of, there's a lot of stuff going on

36:39Sarah Bromberg... It's done... Yeah, I don't think it's done… Unraveling. I think that more…

36:43Jawad MirYeah

36:44Sarah Bromberg... Things like more and more will come out, and we're heading into a trial, so…

36:49Jawad MirYeah

36:49Sarah Bromberg... We'll see who there.

36:49Jawad MirAnd who knows who, whose names are gonna come up, and whether those names are accurate or m… you know, or are being allegedly or accused of…

37:00Sarah BrombergExactly

37:00Jawad Mir... Or, you know, whatever. It's, it's just crazy. We live in a world where, I mean, I... This is going off topic, but I have absolutely zero faith in media and journalism today. It's just, it's just…

37:13Sarah BrombergYeah, it's definitely a very sc… a very scary time when it comes to that.

37:17Jawad MirEverybody is the first breaking news. Just for that you'll misreport, and it's just, it's just weird times. And you know…

37:25Sarah BrombergVery

37:25Jawad Mir... When journalism f… journalism falls apart, societies completely collapse. I think that's where we're heading unless think something is done about it. But it is what it is.

37:37Sarah BrombergIt is what it is. We can only control…... We can control. That's my…

37:40Jawad MirWhat we can control, exactly

37:41Sarah Bromberg... Motto right now.

37:42Jawad MirExactly. No reason to stress yourself over things you can't control, but, you know, the things that you can control is your future projects.

37:51Sarah BrombergYes.

37:51Jawad MirI mean, you, what you would be working on. Is there something that you're able to discuss that you're working on or you will be working on that's coming out in the next year or two or…

37:59Sarah BrombergYeah

37:59Jawad Mir... Just…

38:00Sarah BrombergI have a ton of projects coming out. I spent 2024 with my head down working on a lot, a lot. So the first thing that I have coming out, I'm really excited... Well, after Shine, of course. Shine comes out on the 18th.

38:19Jawad MirNovember 18th, yeah.

38:20Sarah BrombergNovember 18th. So that's first and foremost. Very excited for the world to finally see that because, like I said, I have been working on that project for years. And the next project, is a film called One of Them Days.

38:37Jawad MirOkay.

38:37Sarah BrombergIt's a scripted comedy, starring Keke Palmer and SZA.

38:43Jawad MirOkay.

38:43Sarah BrombergAnd it is coming out January 24th, 2025, in theaters, and it is absolutely hysterical. It is so good. I am extremely excited for the world to see this film. It is the female Friday. It's very much like it's an LA story. Two girls gotta make it to the end of the day to pay their rent so they don't get kicked out of their house and, you know, hilarious antics en… ensue. It's got a really great supporting cast including Kat Williams who is hysterical in it. And so that film has been taking up a lot of my time because we have a lightning fast schedule. We wrapped production in the beginning of September, and it comes out in January, which if you know anything about studio filmmaking is absolutely…

39:41Jawad MirYeah

39:41Sarah Bromberg... Psychotic schedule.

39:42Jawad MirIt is.

39:43Sarah BrombergSo, it's been all hands on deck to work on that. So that's coming out then, and then I have two TV shows coming out in the spring. The second season of a show called Survival of the Thickest…

40:00Jawad MirOkay

40:00Sarah Bromberg... Which is a 30-minute comedy series, scripted comedy series on Netflix from comedian Michelle Buteau. Very funny show. If you haven't seen the first season, go watch it. I've m… watched it three times even though I worked on it because it's so funny. And the second season is also great, and also very much feels like a story that needs to be told. That stories that need to be told now, like the focus is women, people of color, gay people, their stories. It's, it's stories that I think the world needs to hear right now, and it's all done on the backtrack of hysterical comedy. So that will be out in the spring. And then, a murder mystery series, called Long Bright River, which is based on the best-selling book of the same name. That will be on Peacock starring Amanda Seyfried. And also if you… a really cool story. Lots of twists and turns, a huge twist at the end if you're into those sorts of things, which I am.

41:11Jawad MirOh, yeah. I am.

41:12Sarah BrombergYeah. It's a, it's a really cool story. I remember reading some of the things that unfolding, that unfold in the story and my jaw being on the ground, so it really... It has some really great reveals in it. And then not soon but eventually, I am working on the third season of the Starz show P-Valley…

41:38Sarah Bromberg... Which is a really music intensive and incredible show. And that will be coming out at some point. I don't, I don't know when, but we're working on it now and because it's so intensive, it takes a lot of time to make.

41:52Jawad MirYeah.

41:52Sarah BrombergAnd I know the people that love that show have been waiting patiently for a long time and it's coming. We're working on it.

41:59Jawad MirWell, that's great. Seems like you've got your hands full, which is always good.

42:03Sarah BrombergYes. Yes.

42:03Jawad MirReally good. But yeah. No, that's, that's great. The Honorable Shine comes out on Hulu on November 18th, and then…

42:10Sarah BrombergYep

42:11Jawad Mir... What was it called? One of…

42:14Sarah BrombergOne of Them Days

42:15Jawad Mir... All of them.

42:15Sarah BrombergOne of Them Days…

42:15Jawad MirOne of Them Days

42:16Sarah Bromberg... Will be in theaters…

42:16Jawad MirIn January

42:18Sarah Bromberg... 24th.

42:18Jawad MirAnd then, Long Bright River.

42:21Sarah BrombergYeah

42:21Jawad Mir... Of all the projects that you mentioned, for me what stood out the most is Long Bright River just because…

42:26Sarah BrombergYeah

42:27Jawad Mir... You know, the twist and turns and mystery.

42:29Sarah BrombergYeah.

42:29Jawad MirBut the others sound definitely interesting. Let's, let's, let's stay in touch. We'll…

42:35Sarah BrombergOkay

42:35Jawad Mir... We'll have, we'll stay in touch with your agent. Would love to speak to you about your projects when they come out in January and spring…

42:42Sarah BrombergAwesome

42:43Jawad Mir... Respectively.

42:44Sarah BrombergYeah. Thank you.

42:44Jawad MirThis was a great conversation. I truly appreciate it.

42:46Sarah BrombergThis was a great conversation. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed talking to you.

42:50Jawad MirLikewise. Pleasure's all mine. Thank you so much. We'll be in touch.

42:53Sarah BrombergOkay. Thank you. Take care.

42:54Jawad MirTake care.