Hollywood Shuffle

“Hollywood Shuffle. Robert Townsend made this movie. It’s about being a Black actor in Hollywood. I found it so fascinating, and I still remember that line at the end, “There’s always work at the post office.” It was the first time I saw somebody define the ability to choose or not choose what they did, take authorship over their life and their art. And it remains very meaningful to me.”

“Hollywood Shuffle, movie made by Robert Townsend, man. This movie made me build my boat because I remember, like– Number one, this is a legit *censored* brilliant, funny movie, with fantastic acting in it and stuff. And he talked about using credit cards to pay for the movie, partially the budget. And I remember listening to that interview– And this was long before I ever thought about filmmaking, but that information stayed with me because I was like, 'You could do that?'”

“Hollywood Shuffle I've been thinking about a lot lately. I think I saw this long, long ago. I love satire and I love satire of Hollywood because it's a dark and broken world.”

“Robert Townsend, you do not get enough credit. We love you for your creativity. The Five Heartbeats, The Meteor Man, Hollywood Shuffle. We love it. The satire in here. The commentary here. The tongue-in-cheek delivery of the lines. The mustache and the haircut. We learned a lot from you. One of the people I wish we said his name more. So I’m saying it right now.”