Meet Adrienne Carter | Writer, Producer, Showrunner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adrienne Carter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adrienne, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success is an unrelenting belief in myself, my talent, and my intelligence. When there are things I don’t know, I am confident that I can learn quickly. I never let other people’s opinions of me define how I feel about myself.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a writer, producer, TV showrunner, and actor. I am expanding my career and have several new film projects that I’m excited about. I started in this business as an actor after I graduated from the Yale School of Drama. After being trained in very liberal, forward thinking educational environments, I was shocked and frustrated by the lack of roles for young Black women in the “real world.” Hollywood felt 60 years behind. So I started writing. While doing theatre in New York, I co-wrote a novel with three friends called “FAB” that was published by Doubleday. I moved to Los Angeles and wrote two spec scripts for the Gilmore Girls and Scrubs with my high school best friend, who was working as a publicist at Lifetime. That got us a meeting with Meg Deloatch, who hired us to be staff writers on her new show, Eve. While I was pushing so hard to get acting opportunities, the writing door opened, and I happily walked through. My writing career began before the “me too” movement, so I certainly encountered plenty of sexism and sexual harassment. I love to tell comedic, joyful stories with Black women at the center, while many gatekeepers in this business want to stay focused on stories of Black pain, struggle, and trauma. But I am clear about my mission to share stories of Black women’s joy. We are resilient, funny, sexy, and strong, and my work reflects that reality. I am also a single mother to a teenager, and motherhood has required me to find balance. Raising a child alone in this world is harder than navigating showbusiness. In this new season of my life, I am finding the joy in all of it, while also taking time to nurture myself.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Her first morning, we’d wake up early, drive to Santa Monica, and go for a morning walk on the beach. For breakfast, we’d go to Baked Bar LA in Culver City to have a chai latte and a vegan chocolate crossaint. This pastisserie has the most delicious sweets and treats. We’d buy a loaf of their sourdough to take home. Next is Century City for clothes shopping and Eataly to buy the ingredients we’ll need to make a delicious lunch, dinner, or charcuterie platter. Then Total Wine to stock up on the wines and champagnes we’ll need for the week. We’d invite friends over for a backyard meal. A lovely drive to Malibu and lunch at the Malibu Seafood Fresh Fish and Market. Take the train downtown for a visit to the Broad and eating at Grand Central Market or Otium. I’m southern, so food is always a big part of my life! If UCLA women’s gymnastics has a meet, we would go to it to cheer on those strong, powerful young women and be inspired by their sisterhood and support of each other. A hike up the Culver stairs is required to burn off all those meals. We’d go to the Getty and watch the sun set. We’d end the trip with a day at Manhattan Beach, soaking up the sun.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I don’t think that good teachers ever get enough praise. My high school theatre teachers at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts–Robert Singleton, Ray Baron, and Suzie Jennings, recognized and celebrated my talent. They also instilled in me the relentless work ethic that a life in the theatre requires. So many lessons from them continue to inform my life. “You’re only on time if you’re ten minutes early,” is one of them! They introduced me to Shakespeare, who I still love. They made me believe that a career as an artist was possible. My high school English teacher, Joe Orlando, told me that I should apply to Yale, which was never on my radar. The decision to apply and attend Yale set my life on a path I could never have dreamed of. I am grateful to them and my public arts high school for creating a space that celebrated the arts and connected me with lifelong friends who are also working artists.

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Image Credits
Marguerite deBourgoing