I was thrilled to invite Tunde Wey and Theo Schear to discuss their new 6-part series Hard to Swallow, now available on TVOD. The show is being described as “essayistic” and a Netflix buyer told them, “this should be in a museum, not Netflix.” We discuss the process, persona, and the place of “smart media” in the marketplace. More of my notes on the show.

Tunde Wey is a Nigerian immigrant artist, chef and writer working at the intersection of food and social politics. His work engages systems of exploitative power, particularly race, immigration, gentrification and global capitalism, from the vantage point of the marginalized other. He uses food and dining spaces to confront and close the disparities these inequalities create. He is a TIME Magazine 2019 Next Generation Leader and NYTimes 16 Black Chefs Changing Food in America 2019.

Theo Schear is a documentary filmmaker from Oakland, California. He was a 2021 SFFILM FilmHouse Resident and a member of Detroit Public Television's National Documentary Unit, where he served as Media Producer for the Detroit Journalism Cooperative, and his work for the Golden State Warriors has earned a Clio Award. His writing has appeared in SFMOMA's Open Space, Documentary Magazine, Nieman Lab, and Film Threat.