Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Saturne Tchabong. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Saturne, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
They say who controls the media controls the masses, knowing this, I take my job very seriously. As a writer and television producer, so much of what I choose to bring to the media must be somewhat healing. So much of society portrays broken versions of humanity, however, I’d love to give people the tools to heal in my work. As a Black woman from an ethnically diverse background, I find it even more important that I carefully select the kinds of shows I decide to work on. Representation matters when it comes to what ultimately gets broadcasted to billions of people worldwide. With that power, it is important to have a strong moral compass and not be swayed by what we are told is popular.
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’ve been a consumer and practitioner of the arts for most of my life. My father, Dieudonne Nganyang Tchabong, was one of Italy’s first and only Black faces to be on TV in the 80s and 90s. Growing up and seeing this made it very clear where my passions
would be. I began my journey as a stepper in Prince George’s County, Maryland–a form of dance popular in the Black community– from my early years as an elementary school child I would grace the stage regularly with enthusiasm and excitement. This passion for being on stage followed me throughout my years until High School, where I became the captain of the Lady Raiders Step Squad. Throughout my high School years, I participated in the Drama club as a writer and actor, and had television production internships. Outside of that, I spent hours consuming TV shows and films even more than on my homework and assignments. When my last year of High School came around I knew that Los Angeles was the place I needed to be in order to pursue my passions in the media. I attended Santa Barbara City College then later transferred to UCLA. Those collegiate years completely transformed me, as they do most people, however, being thousands of miles away from home at 17, I knew I needed to focus. I put down the remote and began writing. I was involved in activism, interned for senators, interned for film development companies, became a student leader and much more. I completely transformed from being the not-so-serious high school student to a well respected student leader on a TV & film track. I wrote and directed my own projects with little to no money and sometimes even got paid to do so. When the pandemic hit, I was in my last year at UCLA. Although this almost prevented me from the life I worked so hard to build, I only became more focused on my writing. Months after graduating from home, thousands of miles away from my institution, in the middle of a pandemic, I wrote, and wrote, and didn’t stop writing. November came around and my mother wondered what I would do with my life, she hadn’t known the hard worker I had become. I told her something was coming and God told me to be patient, she respected it. Although she had not seen my transition, she saw the fruits of my labor and knew I was different. That same month the executive producer of MasterChef got ahold of my resume through a friend of mine and hired me as his executive assistant. That was the start of my journey in the world of TV. A year later I got my first job offer as an Associate Producer on a project, Recipe for Change, that made me fall in love with producing. Since then my list of credits has grown tremendously and most recently accepted a full time offer to produce at KTLA. My journey has not been an easy one, trusting God, working hard, and consistency have been the recipe to what I define as my success.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of my artistry has to be my impact. Whenever I write, produce, or direct something that allows people to feel or be seen, that is when I know I’ve done my job. I still get messages from people whose lives I’ve impacted through my work thanking me. I love making people feel though whatever medium I create.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
2023 has been hell for most of us in the TV/film world. With the back-to-back strikes and the failing economy, jobs became more sparse than ever. However, during my months of unemployment, I decided to pour my abundance of newly found freedom and time into my craft. I was able to complete scripts, write treatments, create pitch decks, network, and more. Although I was living off of my savings, I decided to not leave the industry that I loved so much, instead, I allowed myself, even in a place of scarcity, to be abundant. Understanding that this is a privilege that many creatives do not have, I am thankful to have survived these trying times. I spent months working on things that were pushed aside due to the intense hours I often spent on set and rededicated my focus. Now that I am on the other side, I teach workshops to students on how to live out their artistic dreams using academic resources.
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