Intro & Meet Cami Thomas

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For a lot of people, it feels like May 16th, 2025, every single day.

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If you wanna hear about stay new way, tune into the bucket list show weekly. Hew up Marissa and Luke State. It drops every Wednesday, got a dope new guest every single week. Buckle up for the ride. Who's it gonna be? Who's on the show today? They rap stay in the way. What's a two and the two on a late night? Maybe what's a two on a date night. Yeah. Bucket list that's a cover, then what's going on? What's going on? They'll give you 18 different things to do on 19. If you need one more to choose. Yeah. A place we call home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

St. Louis, welcome back to another episode of the STL bucket list show, highlighting the people, places, and events that make St. Louis special. I have Cammy Cruz Thomas, founder of My Friends and I.

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My friends and I made it for you.

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I

Growing Up in St. Louis & Returning Home

SPEAKER_01 1:01

just watched the video, you know, red bri red brick, blue tarp, um, like 10 times. I sent you that DM and I've followed your work for so long. Like I know you've I we've been doing this since 2019. You've probably been even before then. So I wanted to first, you know, shout you out on how beautiful that piece was. I've only seen the short. I have not seen the full one yet. So I'm getting ready. Hopefully, I can make it by Saturday to see the full one. Um, but before we get into that, I want to learn more about you because you know, you've been in the creative scene for a long time. You've done so much amazing work with local organizations, local businesses. Um, you've collaborated on uh we had a musician in here that you did music videos for. Like you've you've done a lot of different things, um, all tying back to St. Louis. So um I wanted to learn about you. So are you from St. Louis? Tell me about where you're from, tell me about your childhood and kind of lead into what led you into the creative world.

SPEAKER_04 1:46

Yeah, totally. Thank you for that intro. Um, and I've been following you all for a long time as well. So uh I'm happy we are finally sitting across from each other. Um, yeah, born and raised in St. Louis, I got STL tatted on me. So I'm very true blood from the Lou. I like to say I have like dual citizenship because I grew up on the North Side and in North County, but I went to high school in Ledue. So it was this weird kind of um balance of the two worlds of St. Louis, it kind of felt like. So I'm from here. I've bounced around quite a bit, went to college in New Orleans, uh, I've lived in Chicago, lived in LA a little bit, spent a lot of time in Miami uh in the last few years or in the last decade. So I've been around a little bit, but St. Louis is home, and every time I leave, it it pulls me back like a magnet.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

I know, and you've lived in some beautiful places, like obviously Miami, LA, New Orleans, and then now back here in the Midwest. And what draw what keeps drawing you back to St. Louis?

SPEAKER_04 2:38

Oh my gosh. I don't know what it is that's drawing me back. I don't know if there is a siren in the Mississippi that pulls back creatives and tells us that we have more work to do. Um, but something that I like about St. Louis is that there's so much to be done here, and you can feel your impact um almost instantly here because there's so many areas that need so much attention that being here feels like, okay, my work, my efforts, my time, you really get to see in real time the difference that you're making, and seeing that and feeling like you're crafting something new, a better future, is something that I I want in my life. So this is a place to do it.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

And harder to replicate that in bigger cities. And uh we notice that too with St. Louis, like, you know, any like now with social media and how tapped in our community is and how tapped in, like how small this community really is. I mean, when you think about St. Louis City, there's roughly 300,000 people that live in St. Louis City, 2.8 million across the metro. But it's like it still feels like we know everybody and we meet everybody, we go to the same events, like we see people out all the time, and it's not that same energy that you get in in LA or Miami. It's a little bit different and more competitive and stuff. But um, I want to talk about what led you to create My Friends and I.

From Tesla & Red Bull to Filmmaking

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Were you always in filmmaking? Tell me about some of your other jobs before then, like what led you into actually becoming a filmmaker.

SPEAKER_04 3:53

Yeah, so you know, as a child, I always wanted to be a director when people would ask me what I wanted to be. Sometimes it was, I was like, oh, an astronaut, a surgeon, and then I landed on no, I want to direct films. Um, so as a kid, my sister and I, we would boss around our dad and make him our DP, and we were the directors and tell him, like, move the camera like this. And that was our whole childhood was making movies. But um, you know, after going into college, I thought, hey, I need to make money. Uh so I went to business school, graduated, I started working for Tesla when it was very much still in the startup phase. Um, so it was very uh run and gun, very little sleep. Um, but I learned a lot working in a startup environment. And then I worked for Red Bull and uh did Red Bull music. So that was in Chicago, so Red Bull Music Festival Chicago, Red Bull Music Festival New York, Red Bull Music Academy in Berlin, and I was just curating shows and amongst the culture, et cetera. But as that was happening, that's happening in my corporate life, in my personal life. You know, I graduated in 2015, but I was here in St. Louis in North County uh in 2014.

Ferguson, Storytelling & Creating Smoke City

SPEAKER_04 4:59

So when the Ferguson Uprising happened, you know, that was something that I was there, I was at the protests, getting tear gas, following the lead of people that I respect greatly, Ohan, um, Ashe, and and Kayla Reed and others who were on the ground who, you know, if they would post, I would be there. And during that time, it felt like the entire nation is following the story, but they've got it wrong. And it was so frustrating. Even locally, it felt like, oh, they're not even getting street names right, or they're getting these details lost, or the entire day, 90% of the day will be spent this way. And then it felt like what was on the news that night was was like something bad that had happened, or some random person who wasn't even from there caused some damage, and people there tried to stop it and were like, who even are you? Like you drove in from Memphis. Like there was there were all these things that were happening that felt like, wow, the the real story, what's actually happening is is totally being lost and warped. And that really, really frustrated me. So while I was in my corporate life, I took it upon myself to say, okay, we need to be documenting what's actually happening. We need to be be sharing on the ground stories. And from there, I made a documentary series called Smoke City, um, which was a web series that I I think I dropped that in 2016 and then dropped a new season of it in 2018. And that got a little bit more national attention than I was expecting. And from there is when people started asking me, Oh, can you speak on this panel or can you come in, speak about storytelling um for really tough, important, pertinent issues? And then from there, different organizations in St. Louis had seen the series and then asked me to make videos for them. So at this point, I've worked with most of the uh local organizations, of course, a ton of them that I really respect. Art City Defenders and uh Action St. Louis and The Brick and The T and Forward Through Ferguson, all of these groups where I got to grow in the video realm telling stories about issues that I really, really

Launching My Friends and I

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cared about. And there became a point when I was at Red Bull, I had to kind of decide, okay, do I stay here and kind of keep going? Because I love my job at Red Bull and I love all of my coworkers were still pretty close, but it was like, okay, my capacity, I I can't do both, right? So I thought, do I go for it and just go completely into the video world on my own and um you know, see how that goes, or do I stay here and kind of take the safer option? So I went full-fledged video and I I didn't really think about creating a business. I just thought, oh, I will make videos. But then as the scope and the budgets and the subject matters got bigger and more important, I thought, okay, well, I need to call a friend to do lights for me because I can't do all I can I can't care all this. Of course. Um, okay, maybe I need a sound person, maybe I need this. And after a while, it was a full-fledged production team and we were taking on bigger projects. Um and I'd started the company as for the culture TV, so FTC TV. That's why that's on my email. But um when people would ask me about some of the projects, I'd say, Oh yeah, my friends and I, we just went to the store and we bought this, and then we, you know, set up a cool set design, or my friends and I did this, my friends and I did this. And we would, I would just always say, My friends and I, and eventually I thought, okay, that actually really embodies how we make things. Because I don't I don't want to make things alone. I don't I I can, but I like making things with my friends or with people who are strangers and then they become friends of course after we end up making stuff together.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

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Full Circle: From Ferguson to Red Brick, Blue Tarp

SPEAKER_01 9:02

been really making films for over 10 years now because you talk about 2014 and you said you graduated college right at that time too. Okay. So like right out of college, you were like in the corporate world, but then you were you were getting torn to like stay in St. Louis to tell these stories. And a lot of amazing organizations started at that time too in 2014 that are still here today. And a lot of those same organizations are making big impacts with what happened on May 16th, too. So I want to kind of talk about that 10-year journey. And like, do you feel like this recent film, Red Brick, Blue Tarp, is a continuation of that first mission that you had? Because it's kind of a full circle moment because you went in to start making videos, and of course it's a business. So you're taking on jobs, you're doing all this, but now, like 10 years, over 10 years later, you're making films similar to kind of how you told stories in 2014. Is that is that like a fair representation? Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 9:48

Yeah, you you hit it right on the head, honestly. I um stumbled across or looked up, I I actively sought out, actually. I guess I didn't stumble across. Um, when I dropped Smoke City in, I think it was in 2017, Teen Vogue did a feature about the series and about us and our team. And I just read through it and and reading me 10 years ago sharing almost identical sentiments is how I feel right now, which is if we don't tell this, the story will get lost. If we don't put a camera in front of these folks, these stories will be lost to history. The details are always lost to history. Even when you're reading a story in a history book, um they don't tell you the details, they don't tell you what songs were playing, they don't tell you which streets um had music playing and which, you know, which individuals took it upon themselves to help the folks. The details are lost, and it's kind of summed up in five paragraphs or something like that. Right. Um, so it does feel like a full circle because the same things that made me even want to pick up the camera. I think the camera and the lens gave me my voice back at a time where it felt like our voice and our perspective was being stolen from us. So it feels the same now. Um, but now I feel more equipped, you know, 10 years in it, I feel like, oh, no one, no one can tell me how to tell a story. I'm gonna tell this in a way that feels right and doesn't just feel like an expose, but feels like the heart and the soul of the story because that's as much of the history as anything else is. So it definitely is a full circle moment for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

It's so cool and it's like awesome to be able to make an impact like in your local city. And like these films are like the one, I mean, I my wife sent it to me first because it went crazy on TikTok, because she's on TikTok and Yeah, it randomly went viral on TikTok, the trailer. But it's crazy when you put out good work because I talk to my team about this all the time. Like, for some reason, high quality professional video sometimes gets lost on Instagram because it look comes across like it could be an advertisement or something like that, absolutely where this lo-fi iPhone film is doing way better. But like to get a piece like yours, because it's not like, oh, I gotta have a catchy hook in the first five seconds. Like you have an intro and like they have to watch it for a minute to even get what they need to get out of it. That's what you know when you're creating something special. So I want to talk more about like that process. So, like the film and and correct me if I'm wrong, but it's like built on poems, processing

Making Red Brick, Blue Tarp

SPEAKER_01 12:05

aftermath, and then you gathered what was it, 19 interviews?

SPEAKER_04 12:08

So it actually ended up being 21 interviews. 21 interviews. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Walk me through kind of like what all went into it, and like if you have like an estimate of like the time and hours and energy that went into this film.

SPEAKER_04 12:16

Oh boy. Oh, I I will skip to that last part of that. I don't have an estimate. If I if I did, I would um go take a vacation right now. Just a lot, a lot of time, a lot of my heart, a lot of my capacity. But um, you know, when we when the tornado first hit, we uh teamed up with the Luminary, so on Cherokee Street to create a mutual aid hub for the South Side. So pretty much I would wake up, I would go to Ohan's page, see what her list of things were, because every single day at the people's response is like, okay, this is what people need. They need tarps, they need diapers in this size or whatever, right? So I'd read that and then I would post, hey, this is what that hub needs, and this is what our hub needs. And then people would come through and donate, and we'd go out on the truck and go street by street and um donate meals and our time and and capacity, et cetera. Um, and I say that to say we did not have the cameras on the truck with us. It was a big deal for me that when people see us rolling through, they have just lost every every single thing, everything. They do not need to see us pulling up with cameras or be concerned that they're going to be used as fodder for content. Exactly. So I was pretty um adamant about not having cameras, right? We had a disposable camera, and that's why most of the photos from that time are in film. But um, I had the team at it was the brick at that point, but 314 Oasis now reach out to me to tell me, hey, we've noticed that, uh, or pretty much they noticed that stickers were going up on the houses. We didn't know who was putting them there, but they were either green, yellow, or red. If they were red, it was essentially saying your house is condemned, you're not allowed to go in. Um, and again, they kind of just popped up. People at the time, there was a lot of confusion. Is this an order from the city? Is this a third-party contractor? If they haven't been around the house, how do they know that it's condemned? Some of these are condemned and they shouldn't be. So there's people sleeping on their porches because they get there after going to the store and see, oh, we can't go inside. So now they're sleeping on the porch or in the park and we're bringing tents and stuff like that. So um at that point, we thought, okay, we do in fact need to start recording some of this. Um, and yes, we are doing direct aid, and that was the most important, but there were a few occasions where we brought out the camera. So myself, Adrian Gomez. Um, Adrian Gomez was our DP for the drone footage, all the aerial footage is him. So I think it was just maybe two days that he brought the drone out, maybe three or four days that I had the camera out with me. And that is how we have some of the archival, like in the moment footage. And I'm really grateful um for that phone call from the 314 Oasis team, because otherwise I wouldn't have even thought about bringing a camera. And then we didn't decide to actually make this film and um press for it to be published or be ready by the anniversary until like two months before. So it was a really intense two months where every single weekend we were filming interviews.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Oh, like this year in March.

SPEAKER_04 15:08

Oh, yeah. Yeah, in March we decided, okay, let's make something for the anniversary because people we were all feeling really tender and we're like, we we need something where we can um gather and heal,

Poetry, Healing & Documentary Storytelling

SPEAKER_04 15:19

right? So yeah, it was two very intense months of interviews. Jessica Warnley's our producer, and she was scheduling playing Tetris of okay, who can come to our studio at one time? So a ton of interviews, and then from the poetry perspective, I I love every style of documentary, but the only way I even know how to tell something is exactly how things and history feels in my head and in my heart and in my body, and putting that onto the screen. So it is the poetry isn't forced. In fact, it's really just kind of me talking at certain points. But I think in order to not just show what has happened and what's happening, but how it's felt and how it feels, that is where the poetry elements, those visuals, the kind of interstitials that you'll kind of see throughout those moments, the the five people on the church pew who represent the five people who initially passed during the storm or who were killed by the storm. Um, you know, the kids playing things like that. We we shoot that, we film that slower, we film that with the intention of what the music will be, uh, just to make sure that there's that soft place to land. And while we're bringing people into the depths of their emotions, that we're also guiding them out of it and not just leaving them in this place of being traumatized, but hopefully kind of cracking someone open to pour light

Naming the Film: Red Brick, Blue Tarp

SPEAKER_04 16:39

into them. And that to me is accomplished through the visual poetry elements.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Yeah. And then everything from the title, like red brick, blue tarp, is like such a vivid image that like ex tells exactly what you need to hear, but also so simple. Like, how did how do you come up with stuff like that? Because even like Smoke City, like all these titles are like so dope.

SPEAKER_04 16:58

Is that like from just like your music career, like almost like naming things, or like who did you name that with a team, or like so every other film I've made, I have come up with a name, and it'll just be the first thing that pops up in my head. Um, Smoke City was like this the tear gas smoke, yep. Um, and and just seeing the smoke rising from buildings and such while being on a plane, and it just felt like, yeah, Smoke City felt necessary. Keenelin is the neighborhood that I grew up in, so I just named that after Keeneland. That's what this tattoo is. Ferdinand's guide to grief. I can go into that, but Ferdinand, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and essentially saying how the death or assassination or the murder of one man can change everything. So I just wanted to pull that history in there. But red brick, blue tarp, I did not pick that name. Um, we decided, okay, we've got this film done. It still doesn't have a name. So it was myself, Dr. Punch, Stephanie Reynolds, both from 314 Oasis, and Jessica Wernley in a text thread. And I'm like, guys, we need a name. We need a name for this. And we were all throwing things out. There was a lot of brick, there was a lot of different, you know, what how do you summarize this year, like and these feelings? You can't. You just have to have been there. The name of this is the experience of it. How do you connect it? But um, Steph actually said when she had flown in, she'd been out of town, I guess, and then had flown in and looked down out the window. That's all she saw was just red bricks and blue tarps. And I was like, hey, I love that. Let's take the S from it and just make it red brick, blue tarp. And that's how the name came out, came about. But I think it works. It felt as soon as she typed it, I'm like, oh, that's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

It looks so good in like even the intro of the film that I saw in like every element of the video, the guy shaving and like all these different like things that you had in that in that video,

What's Next for the Documentary

SPEAKER_01 18:42

and we'll link it in the show notes so that people can see that. And so, what's the next steps for the documentary? Obviously, you're doing the showings. Um, are you releasing it to the public? Are you submitting it, or what what does that kind of look like on your end?

SPEAKER_04 18:53

Yeah, so we are having community screenings through the summer, so mainly through July. Um, because we we really want every single person in the city from wherever or in the county, we want everyone to see this. Of course. Um, and to and to be part of this, be part of the history and the making and and and create with us the future that we've always deserved, right? A version of St. Louis that we've always deserved. So I really want people to be able to see it and gather in person. After that, um, I won't say too much, but it will we are working towards it being readily available for people to be able to watch it on their TV. And where that lands, we're still working out the details, but um we're excited to be able to have this shown far and wide. Um so right now it's for the community, it's for us, but um really starting August, it's really about okay, this is for the world to see as well.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Yeah, and what streamer, what wherever it lands, wherever it goes to, you know, from there. And obviously I know that that's a process.

SPEAKER_04 19:50

And it is, yeah, it's fun. We'll talk more about it. I'll I'll tell you more, but there are some fun updates there for sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

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One Year After the Tornado: The Reality of Recovery

SPEAKER_01 20:19

And I guess since you've been foot on the ground for this whole time, and you know, and I remember when this happened and we partnered with the City Foundry and did some stuff with some organizations, and those first couple months were so hard, but then eventually that support started to dwindle every day and every week. That support from corporate, from other things has started to dwindle, and even from the city. So, like, what from your perspective, like, what is it really like because you were there every almost every day for how long? I mean, you dropped everything that you guys were doing. Yeah, you know, and a lot of other people did that as well.

SPEAKER_04 20:49

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's funny, it support did dwindle. It's I I I I do have to say the city, the support from the city didn't dwindle. It it never started and it just never, it couldn't even dwindle. Um, but yes, there is this massive initial emergency response in instances like this. And we connected with the uh Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and their disaster dollar database team. They're based in DC and in Houston, and they have a ton of data about how disaster recovery has gone in other cities and different examples. I love being able to pull from other cities and see how they do things right. And that pattern, that pattern is so in most cases with disaster relief, right? It'll be the initial response, the emergency, but then after a while it kind of tapers off, people sort of get back into the routine. The people who can get back into the routine get back into the routine. Um what I have seen is that for everyone, this that's not an option for everyone. When you wake up, even if your house is fixed up or is livable, if you were living amongst rubble, you wake up every day, have your coffee and look out the window, and all you see is destroyed houses. Some of the houses. Is destroyed or owned by the city. So you don't have a clear timeline of okay, when is this going to be fixed up? And your kids can't go play and ride their bikes outside because there's debris and you don't want them breathing in that air. And that's not even an option. And people having asthma problems who never had lung issues and who are stressed and anxious. And um, you know, for a lot of people, it feels like May 16th, 2025, every

Why Every St. Louisan Has a Role to Play

SPEAKER_04 22:26

single day. And when you see that and when you know that, you cannot turn away. When you witness that and hug someone who asks you, Are you gonna be back tomorrow? Can you bring this? Can you please do this? You do it. You have to, right? And I think that at a certain point, we as a city, everyone, everyone, every single person, man, woman, child, et cetera, whoever has to decide what role am I gonna play in the future of this city and what role am I gonna play in this recovery? Because disaster recovery, as we've seen with Sandy in Houston, with Hurricane Katrina. I don't know if people in St. Louis understand that this is this is bad. Like this is that bad. The death toll is not that initial five. Like we lose people every week to the stress, anxiety, and health issues that have come up from this storm. So I think every single person has to decide like, okay, I'm just uh insert what your trade is or what your title is. How can I help? I promise you there's somewhere you can help. If if me and my friends, we're just artists, we have nothing to do with any of this. Um if we have found our place in this, everybody still can. And I think that lastly, as you know, not to ramble, but I feel as if St. Louis has always been this divided city, obviously. Every piece of work I've ever made has talked about that fact. The Del Mar divide, yes, but there's this information divide, there's this high school divide, there are all these weird areas where where that's never been okay. I think people have just gotten so used to it and so numb to it. But when you zoom out, or in my case, bringing people from DC, bringing people from other places, and they're driving around, and I'm embarrassed having to explain to them, they're like, how did this even happen? How are we just getting dinner, you know, in this side of town? And it feels like no one there understands there's an active humanitarian crisis right over here. What's going on? It literally felt to them. Watching their surprise helps me remember how not normal this is. And we don't actually have to have it be this way. We can, we can change it. I want my kids to be like, what? St. Louis was racist, St. Louis was divided, St. Louis was that's weird. That's not what I've experienced. I want to create a version of St. Louis that to even imply that those things are true feels so out there, you know. In order to do that, we all have to take a very active role in what recovery means and understand that it is not just the initial storm, it's all of the things that come after.

Organizations Leading Recovery Efforts

SPEAKER_04 25:06

And it's also what the storm revealed to be under the surface, and it's what's always been under the surface, which is racial inequity, divestment. People want to talk about insurance. I'm like, look, a lot of these houses were insured, some could not be insured, literally, because of laws that have been in place since 1916. Some of these properties literally couldn't even be insured. Some of these things that have led to this storm being this bad, we got to address all those things. Cause if we just try to bury it under the rug, like what always happens in this city, is the tension is gonna rise and subside and rise and subside, explode and subside, and we can get out of that loop. Um, but yeah, everybody's gotta wake up and say, okay, what am I gonna do today that makes a different version of St. Louis?

SPEAKER_01 25:54

And so many, that was so beautifully said, and and so many organizations have either came from this, um, which I've followed a lot and I've tried to support as many as I can. There's so many great people doing great work. What are some of those people and who are some of those people? Because you mentioned that the city wasn't along with those groups and those individuals. So what it's a two-part question. What are some of the groups that you think are you know actually making a huge impact? And I know there's so many to count, but and then also the second version of that is like without those groups, where do you think we would be at at this point? That's a that's a hard question, I know.

SPEAKER_04 26:25

It is, but it's a it's a good question. Um, I I don't want to forget anyone. So I'm I am going to forget groups. Yeah. So um, but 314 Oasis for sure, Action St. Louis, for the culture St. Louis, Invest STL, for the Ville, Dream Builders for Equity, um, many more, many more, many more. These are the ones that I was most uh that I was closest to throughout this recovery process. Uh PSL for sure. They they posted up in Fountain Park for forever, for months, um, helping people immediately, no questions asked. Um where without the community response, so community organizations and then just individuals who wanted to help, without that, we would have lost a lot more people. There are people who would have starved, there are people who would have not been here because of hypothermia, et cetera. I'm telling you, when you when you this was just a random Friday afternoon, and some people were out at work and came home to everything gone. And when you think about in an emergency, what would you do? So many of us, every solution that you have in your head might be in that house that you can't get into now, right? The paperwork, the insurance, the do you know these things off the top of your head? Is it in your phone somewhere? Because if you don't have that phone or anything in that house, what are you gonna do right now, randomly on a Friday? And a lot of people had nowhere to go, nowhere to turn to. And it is these community organizations that got people housed and in hotels dropping off food. We in the ville specifically, I remember we were dropping off baby formula to really young kids who the cars are crushed, you can barely get inside, there's parts of the house that are collapsed, you can't walk anywhere. The stores where maybe you would get formula or diapers are leveled. They're not there anymore. And if we had not, and if community organizations had not gone directly to these people, I think people would have died. I think a lot more people would have died than who already has. Um, and it is why I will say neatly that the frustrations that you see rising from a lot of folks who have been on the ground, I I don't know what it is lately. It feels like this attempt to paint tornado activists or people who who care as as dangerous or deranged or belligerent. But it's like again, when you see this every day, when you hear stories of people who have died because they didn't have what they needed, after a year of that, it's it's it does get to this point of like, hey guys, to the city, you gotta do better. You have to do better. Having an outside perspective now from the DC team that came in to tell us what we already thought, which is no, your recovery is not only going as bad as you guys think, it's actually a lot worse than you think. And here's why. Knowing that, now we can't unknow it. And there's this chance to level set and say, take accountability and from here on out, where do we go? Because a year in is still pretty early. Right. It's it can both be way too late because they are late and they're too late in some instances, and right on time for them to do the things starting now that will make it so that more people survive. Because that's

Meeting Basic Needs & Preventing Burnout

SPEAKER_04 29:49

what it is. It's it's about survival, you know. And I'm I'm a big fan of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and always bringing that up, even when it's not necessary to bring up like I'm doing now. So at the bottom, housing, food, it's it's at the very least, pick something from their city, and we can maybe the community can handle the psychological needs and the the connection. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:13

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 30:13

But housing, food, and and the bare minimum that we know to be the bare minimum because we have case studies of other cities where it's like, oh, that is the bare minimum. I would love for the city to come up with an active plan and the funds that they have and can get um to cover the bare minimum so that the folks who are helping don't burn ourselves out too in this process.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Yeah, that's it's it's like so hard because like you mentioned, like, you know, the the negativity around it, even though it shouldn't what you guys are doing is, you know, one donating your time, which is the most important asset that we have, and then also donating money, which is also a very important asset that many of us don't have much of right now, too. Yeah, to these families. And a lot of the families that I've seen video of are elderly that have lived in that community for a hundred years, it's been in their family, and then young parents that all those, and I've been looking at organizations like We Power and all these people that are working with childcare. And it's like I have two little kids under two, and I take child care for granted because of many reasons. I have family that can watch home, my wife stays home, like all these different things that when you don't have a place to bring your children and you can't put food in your children's mouth for even six hours, they're a completely different child, you know. So it's like that's what pulls on me when I see those stories of all these child care centers that have served that community that are just completely gone and they're

The Future of My Friends and I

SPEAKER_01 31:28

not coming back. I mean, from what I've seen, you know, and yeah, no time soon. Um so you telling these stories, so you know, your your company has pivoted um to this storytelling, and you've always told these stories, but you've done some other corporate work. But what is the evolution of my friends and I? Is is that this type of work? Like, what is what does the next few years look like for you and your storytelling? Because it gets exhausting sometimes to tell these stories and and to put these together where you're like, or you don't get that. There's a couple of things, like the monetary gain or the you know, the work to like there's so many different things that sometimes don't come out of this type of work that it could get draining. You know?

SPEAKER_04 32:02

Yeah, absolutely. That's a really good question. As far as what my friends and I look like going forward, I think that we will be who we need to be in the moment. And I have always trusted my team, my my camera team and my team of artists. Uh, I've trusted them, but now I trust them in a way with my life and with my family's life, with my community's life. And I'm seeing the way that we were able to with our creative energy, because creative energy is not just about, oh, paint on a canvas or let's make a film, but creative energy is what is necessary to be innovative and to think of solutions in a crisis as well. And seeing that energy be able to be used as a tool, not just for art, but for actually being tangibly helpful has changed something in my brain where I'm thinking, when you know that you can do that, again, when you've seen something, when you know something, you can't ignore it. So knowing that we have the ability to do things like that, it almost feels like a responsibility to do things like that. Right. Um so I have to make art because that is my outlet, that is my way of processing and transmuting emotions. So we'll always make things. And whenever I say I'm gonna take a break, someone else calls me and I'm like, oh man, we should do that. We really should do that. So, you know, all we'll continue to make documentary pieces, et cetera. But honestly, right now, my it's all lies on the north side for me right

Protecting North St. Louis Through Storytelling

SPEAKER_04 33:28

now. All eyes on North City, because North City includes the north side and the west side. Um, and for the next few years, I mean, this recovery is gonna take years. So I'm not taking my eye off of that. I'm not moving on from that because so many people cannot. Um I live on the north side. I want to see where I'm from flourish. I inherited a house from my mom that her mom bought her. You know, I'm like, I don't want to just see this go and act like it's happening just to us. Like in real time, I want to make sure that I am here and make it so that we do not have to make a plaque or a film in retro in retrospect about a neighborhood that used to be there. I want to make sure that we're doing things. We, as in my friends and I are doing things that ensure that people stay in their homes, that we still have our neighborhoods, and that yeah, that people are okay. People are made whole in every way. Um, that's so yeah, whatever that looks like for my friends and I, that's what's gonna have to be.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

And I've had so many good episodes, like Michael Woods was here and he was talking about like the work that he was doing and like his the similar story, but like he's building these homes with these kids and it's like showing like you can go to your neighbor because it's like you know, I can go to these childhood homes of my grandma and be like, oh, that's where my mom grew up. But like some people don't have that in certain neighborhoods in St. Louis where like that was destroyed for a highway that was built over it, or you know, what was done by the where the soccer stadium is and some of those art pieces about the neighborhood that used to be there too, and everything. And like you just forget, and there was a Chinatown downtown that is just gone now. That there's history that Michelle Lee told me about, you know, and all these stories that people can talk about, but eventually you can't talk about it because it gets too far, you know, out to where people, if they don't document it. Um so that yeah, the work that you're doing is so rooted in

Why Creatives Stay in St. Louis

SPEAKER_01 35:11

St. Louis. But why are what are you seeing with you know artists that move on from St. Louis? Because you at one point like were doing other things, but like what keeps people here? Is it the opportunities? Is it the story? Like, what can we do to keep more creative energy in St. Louis? Where I'm seeing a lot that are staying, you know. I'm seeing a lot more videos on social media from Javen, who's doing a bunch of cool stuff. Obviously, my friend Brock Seals, who's doing a bunch, like there's a lot of creative energy that's still staying here, but there's also a lot that's leaving too.

SPEAKER_04 35:36

Yeah, you know, I when artists leave, I I say, I say leave, leave and come back. St. Louis will be here when you're ready to come back. And I think some of the skills and perspectives that I gained leaving St. Louis have helped me be better for St. Louis and better able to serve St. Louis in the way that I do. Um, what keeps me here? A lot of things. Um, but I think St. Louis makes you become who you're supposed to be. I've always felt that way. I think your best self is here in St. Louis waiting for you. And it's hard, though, and it's um draining and it's just like ego death, and it's just a lot going on. But I think what keeps me here and what keeps a lot of St. Louis artists and whoever else here is that I don't know, it's like a boot camp for the soul. It's it's you become prepared. You come into the city with doubts and not really sure, and then you wait a couple years and all of a sudden you know, like there's no reason I should know how to tarp a roof. Like that's not even, but I do now, you know, it's one of these things where you learn these skills and you gain them. And then before you know it, you you really, at least for me, like I I really like who I've become because of being here. And there are things that I've gained from other cities, but I think I will become the best artist here, the best citizen, the best sister, daughter, mom eventually, all these things. I think here, like this feels like our charging pad.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Yeah, you feel rooted and and you feel, you know, in in a community and it's like part of something, and you've built this incredible brand where you know everybody in this town has seen your work now and like is inspired by what you're doing. And like I said, I watched that piece 10 times. We sent it around the office, like we were all watching, like it

Upcoming Community Screenings

SPEAKER_01 37:19

was really that good. And I still haven't seen the full thing. So I'm gonna make it make you're gonna be there Saturday. So this episode's gonna come out after. But what are some screenings that you guys have coming up?

SPEAKER_04 37:26

Yeah, totally. So Saturday, June 6th, we're having a screening at the North Side Movement Center. That's gonna be a big one. After that, we're having a smaller one on June 11th at um the Gracious House. So Graciously Notice, very, you know, smaller event space. Yeah, he's great. A few people have reached out to me saying that they really want to see it, but just not in a big crowd, um, just because it's a little bit tender of a subject. So we're having that one to have it a bit smaller. Um, we are doing one at On God. We have not selected the exact date, and then we have another one, possibly that I probably can't say, but that will be in midtown as well. Um, and then I think there will be a smaller one at the Del Mar Divine. So, in total, when it's all said and done, we'll do at least 10 community screenings here in St. Louis.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

The STL Bucketlist show is fueled by Upshot Coffee. My friends at Upshot Coffee have some of the best beans in town. I got some of their new packaging here. Look at this bag. How big this is. Um, they have four St. Louis locations, their flagship in Coddleville, the break shop over by Lindenwood in St. Charles, their Clayton location called Hi-Fi, um, and then Flyby over in Tower Grove, their newest location. Um, and they also sell their coffee online everywhere. If you guys haven't added Upshot Coffee to your STL bucket list, it's time to try it. Some of the my favorite people in the industry and some of the best coffee in the game.

STL Bucket List Favorites: Restaurants & Hidden Gems

SPEAKER_01 38:40

So we got to talk about STL bucket list, your favorite things in St. Louis. I know we've had some you know emotional conversations, but we want to like shed light on some businesses that you love to support here. So if you, you know, to celebrate maybe your first screening, is there a certain St. Louis restaurant that stands out to you that you like to celebrate out?

SPEAKER_04 38:56

I love the fat and calf so much with all of my heart. Like I are so good. Yeah, if they were open every day, I'd go every day. I know. Um the chicken piangong is actually what it said, and the um banana ube pudding. Oh my gosh. Maybe what day is it?

SPEAKER_01 39:11

What's today's Tuesday?

SPEAKER_04 39:13

Okay, as soon as they're open this week, I'm going straight there. Um, yeah, I really, really love Indo as well. Um Scouts newer, but I I'm super into it. Yeah, yeah. So those are my those are my go-tos.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

Is there a certain hidden gem that like people don't really talk about? Like you you mentioned like some three three kind of well-known spots, but like is there like a hidden gem maybe on the north side or in north city that man, there are there are a ton.

SPEAKER_04 39:39

I like Cajun seduction, if you've ever had them.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Is that a food truck? It is, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:45

And they're I think technically they're nestled on the they might be on the they're in North City, but on the west side. Yep. But at every event on the north side that I go to, I see that truck and I run.

SPEAKER_01 39:56

I go running to it. Maybe a food truck Friday on June 12th. Nice that they signed up. But yeah, they I got this like shrimp dish, like shrimp and grits from them one time, and I was like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 40:04

That sounds amazing. I think I'm just hungry. Um, foo foo and sauce as well. Yeah, she's so good.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

Yeah, she's got a truck, but she's also got a location now. I saw I drove by.

SPEAKER_04 40:12

Yeah, yeah, she's got a location too. And then it so it used to be on the north side, right by our house in Hyde Park, but now it's on Cherokee Street. But um, Jerk Unlimited, so good. Jamaican food. Yep. You can't sit down, you gotta go in, and it might take 15 minutes, it might take 30 minutes. You know, you just gotta have your day. Um, but you go in, grab that food, and it'll be so well worth it. I know. I love those folks.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

Yeah, you're a big foodie, it sounds like you know it's some good spots.

SPEAKER_04 40:34

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

Is there a neighborhood that you like to spend like an off day in or like a fun neighborhood that you like to spend a Saturday in?

Life in Hyde Park & Family Roots

SPEAKER_04 40:41

Yeah. Um I don't know if you get off on Saturdays or not, but I I'm never, I'm never off. Um, but I live in Hyde Park, uh, 14th ward, so on the north side. And um, yeah, I like to be there. I like to be with my family.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

Farmers market there, they still they do.

SPEAKER_04 40:54

Yeah, there's a there's a s there's a farmer's market, small one um on Jefferson that is like every other Saturday, I think. And they they have quail eggs and fresh produce, and we'll go there and load up for the week or so.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:09

Um, and then yeah, Hyde Park itself. I like to just go for walks there. Fairground park, there's a small soccer pitch that STL S C put there. Yep. So I'll go there and just like kick the ball around. Um, but yeah, I like if I am if I'm free, especially because I my studio is on the south side. When I'm free, I like to be back home on the north side with my family and just just being and existing and eating and laughing and all that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

So you guys have a lot of family history there. You said the house that you live in that has been passed down three generations now. Yes. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_04 41:37

Yeah, yeah, we have a ton of history there. And then, I mean, you mentioned it earlier. My dad grew up in LaClee Town, which is gone. Now, grandpa grew up in Mill Creek, which is gone. Uh Soccer Stadium is like right where his house used to be.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

Um Damon did that piece there.

SPEAKER_04 41:49

Yeah, the uh Pillars of Mill Creek Valley.

SPEAKER_01 41:51

Beautiful piece. Yeah. Wow, that's um that's a lot. So I guess my last question is there any other like local entrepreneurs or artists that you like really get inspired by? I'm sure there's a long list of people too.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

Totally. I'd say I'd say KV the writer

St. Louis Artists & Changemakers to Watch

SPEAKER_04 42:05

is one of my favorites. She's a good friend of mine, but she is so well-rounded as an artist. She's an incredible musician. Um, and additionally, the work that she does for the community and the ways that she shows up is just really admirable. I'd say same with Ohan Ashe. So for the culture FCL. Um, I really respect her and what she does and what she's always done. I mean, I've been following her as she's been on the front line since 2014. Yeah. Um, so huge, huge fan of hers. You mentioned Mike over at Dream Builders. Me and Mike are pretty close as well.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:36

Um, yeah, Adrian Gomez, he works with our team, but he also has his own grip truck. Um, Cash Smith is a seamtress, and she she's like, everyone's, oh, I need a tailor, but where do you even find a tailor? Like anymore at like at our age, you know, it's not like a thing necessarily.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

People do it in like the basement of their house. Like, I remember we got a wedding dress, and it's like, oh, this girl in the basement of our old neighborhood does it. Like you have no idea.

SPEAKER_04 42:56

Yeah, exactly. But with uh with Cash, she was out with us on the um truck and serving people in the communities. But yeah, she she can make you anything. If you have an idea kind of in your head of like, I want a tuxedo made of ties and this and that, like she can do it. She can sew it, she'll source it. Um, so she's incredible. Um, but those are a few, you know, the people very near and dear to my heart that I'd want to shout out.

SPEAKER_01 43:16

No, that's

Final Thoughts & Supporting the Film

SPEAKER_01 43:17

so special. Well, Cami, I appreciate you for coming on and glad that we were able to help tell the story in in any way that we can support the film and and you know, support your work. I've been, you know, since 2019 of when we kind of started creating content, have watched you do stuff with like whether it was pro. I think the first thing I seen was like Profield Reserve and Chris. And Chris is awesome what he does, and he's super low-key, but he's been on the show. We've had a lot of people that have been on the show, and then you mentioned some people we need to get K V. I saw a piece that she did, and I've never met her in person yet, but she did a poem slash rap. I don't know what she called it, but it was about the mayor and all this stuff. And it was just such a powerful piece. Yeah, she did the shot that oh yeah. Okay, yeah. And then Kendall was just on a couple weeks a month ago, and you shot a couple music videos for him. So yeah, all these like different crossovers of work that you've done that with people, and and uh no, I appreciate you coming on and thank you for what you do for St. Louis.

SPEAKER_04 44:03

Thank you for what you do for St. Louis as well. This has been great.

SPEAKER_01 44:06

All right, see you guys next week.

SPEAKER_04 44:07

Bye.

Bucket List Podcast Network Outro

SPEAKER_01 44:09

St. Louis, thanks for listening. Everything we do here is about telling the story of this city, and that doesn't stop with this show. On the Bucketless Podcast Network, we're diving even deeper into the people, places, and moments that make this city what it is. Meet Me in Music with Neil Salsit captures the sound of the city, past and present, ending each episode with a live performance. For my Foodie Lovers, the sauce with Lauren Healy brings you inside the restaurants that define our culture every Tuesday. Gateway to Growth with Jamal Cornelius highlights the stories behind the people that make St. Louis work. And every Thursday, Bryce breaks down your weekend with This Week in St. Louis. More stories, more voices. Explore the full bucketless podcast network wherever you listen.