Ep308 - Tracy Oliver, Screenwriter ‘Girls Trip’ & ‘First Wives Club’

Creative Principles

While in college, Tracy Oliver was interested in the performing arts, but she eventually realized she was often the “sassy, funny sidekick and not the lead.” This realization - and her mother - actually inspired her to start writing rather than wait for someone to cast her. Oliver was tired of being the “cigarette-smoking friend” or in the “slavery movie,” so she started to write about herself. “That, weirdly, was revolutionary to write about the normalcy of black life.” As a writer, she’s now known for Survivor’s Remorse, Barbershop: The Next Cut, Girls Trip, Little, First Wives Club, and the upcoming series Harlem. In this interview, Oliver talks about black normalcy in film and television, what led her to becoming a writer-producer, how to craft IP for black stories, and the most important trait to stay employed as a writer. If it’s your first time listening, make sure to subscribe and visit my new website for information on the YouTube channel, the blog, this podcast, and my new book ‘Ink by the Barrel’ which takes advice from these 200+ interviews at the link below… Follow us on Instagram: @creativeprinciples If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!