We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Oji Singletary. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Oji below.
Oji, appreciate you joining us today. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?
If I’m being honest and expressing a job scenario where I personally benefited the most, it’s actually not from a boss I admired and learned from, but from a boss who I felt was ego driven and NOT a good leader. Through surviving bad work experiences, I’ve learned what not to do when I got my opportunity. I learned that there was a lane in the industry for someone with my skillset, and that people responded positively to confidence, honesty, and kindness. I’ve encountered several horrible work conditions with poor leadership throughout my career in the entertainment business and have used it as MOTIVATION to be different. I can confidently say today that I try my best to lead with love, to be a good person, and surround myself around loyal real people and that’s what has worked for me. That’s been the secret to my success.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a television and film showrunner and director. As a showrunner it’s about putting the dream team together to accomplish the goal. It could be a film, television show, commercial, documentary, or music video. Whatever it is, it takes a team to make the dream become a reality. From lighting, to audio, to wardrobe, to glam, to producers, to actors, and writers- everyone has to come together to accomplish the goal. It’s all about the right team and my role is to put that team together and provide leadership with clear direction.
But directing is what I am passionate about. I’m a true story teller who loves to make people emotionally feel something while watching my work. It could be laughter, sadness, or inspiration and hope! It’s super important to me to make people feel through performance, fun dialogue, and powerful, cinematic visuals.
I got to where I am today through hard work, integrity, and loving what I do.
One of the shows I’m most proud of is They Call Me Dad, on the Oprah Winfrey Network. A documentary series about Black Fatherhood, changing the perception of black dads. It’s a powerful piece that was received well.
My production company New Legacy Media is a one stop shop for any production related needs. We do development, production, and post production for television and film. If you have an idea that you’d like to present we look forward to hearing from you.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
My father, Tony Singletary, who was a TV sitcom director use to tell me there’s more loyalty in the drug business than in Hollywood because of the opportunistic culture of the business. And from my personal experience it’s sad but true. There’s a lot of people who are about themselves and will do anything to achieve success. People should know that about Hollywood. It’s not for the everybody and you have to be resilient and strong. My reputation is built on honesty, love, and integrity. I keep it real with people and that’s how I’ve earned respect and found success. And through the years I’ve been able to build my tribe of likeminded individuals who actually stand for something in this non-traditional business. I’m about loyalty, respect and love!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I pitched thousands of projects and I’ve been told NO thousands of times. It’s a real struggle and very emotional to be told NO so many times. Most people would have given up, but I won’t, because I know it only takes ‘ONE’ yes. I’ve had some wins and I’ve had some losses but I keep showing up every day one foot after the other and always try my best. If you are not resilient and confident the entertainment industry isn’t for you, but if you believe in yourself and love what you do ultimately you will win and I’ll see you in the trenches.
Thanks for the opportunity to share my story! I hope this inspires someone.
Best!
Oji Singletary
Contact Info:
- Website: www.newlegacymedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ojis1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oji.singletary
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oji-singletary-6aa616a/
Image Credits
I Oji Singletary, own all the rights for the photos provided.