A Conversation Between Cinema Femme Magazine Founder Rebecca Martin and Film Critic Carla Renata GROWING UP CARLA RENATA: My father was in the military, so we traveled quite a bit. My love of film was fostered by my mom. On Sundays, my brother and I would grab some cereal, hop in bed with Mommy, and watch old movies all day long. It would be anything from Charlie Chan to Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney to Rita Hayworth. Mommy would be share trivia about the films and stars. She was kind of like Turner Classic Movies, but she was just my mom. So that’s where it started.
BROADCAST JOURNALIST TO TRAVELING SINGER/ACTRESS TO FILM CRITIC RENATA: I graduated from Howard University with a degree in Broadcast Production, which now would be called Broadcast Journalism. My intention was to produce the evening news on
ABC. I interviewed for a desk assistant position and realized it wasn’t a good fit financially. So, I opted to put that career on pause and sang around the world with USO tours and cruise ships. REBECCA MARTIN: So, you are a singer? RENATA: I do sing and I’ve been in numerous Broadway shows. What happened was I came to LA to pursue acting. Things were going well for a minute and then it all came to a screeching halt. I thought maybe it was time to put that college degree to work. I had a publicist who booked me as a guest on an online radio show. The host and owner of the station kept inviting me back and eventually offered me to be his cohost. Around that same time, I was encouraged to start a blog where The Curvy Film Critic was born. Since that time, I’ve been invited to become a member of the African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society (LAOFCS), and Online Association of Female Film Critics (OAFFC). Through networking opps with those organizations, I was able to meet other critics who shared the same passion I had about film. 10
CINEMA FEMME MAGAZINE
MOTIVATED RENATA: When I first got on the trajectory of being a film critic, my only reference was Siskel & Ebert and Leonard Maltin on Entertainment Tonight. But, I noticed, there were no women critics. So, after some research, I discovered less than 5 percent of women were film critics and 2 percent of that were people of color. I felt like, this is ridiculous. MARTIN: It is ridiculous; it’s very frustrating. RENATA: I thought I can do this! I had Turner Classic Movies for a mom and a degree in film. So, as luck would have it, a friend of mine knew the president of “Black Hollywood Live,” a YouTube station/channel that is owned/operated by Maria Menounos and her husband Keven Undergaro. So, I pitched a film review show. We did some test shows and finally launched the show (“Black Tomatoes”) February of this year.
SPEAKING MY TRUTH RENATA: My film critic site has gone through various incarnations, for a variety of reasons. I’ve finally settled on “The Curvy Film Critic” because I’m curvy, I’m a film critic, and it’s easy to remember. Since the market is so saturated, you have to find a way to stick out. I decided the best way for me to stick out was to speak my truth. I learned from Roger Ebert how to not say I don’t like something without throwing acid rain on someone else’s parade. If I don’t care much for a project, I may say something like, “It wasn’t my cup of tea, but these people will like it or give a synopsis of the film.” I’ve actually screened some films that were so bad that I couldn’t find the heart to review. I simply couldn’t find the words or anything redeeming about it. For example, a studio representative reached out to me to review a film. When I watched it, I found myself in a very precarious position of not knowing what to say. So, I decided on the truth. When asked for a quote, I confessed my feelings for this film. To avoid saying all of that in a review, I’m just not going to review it. I was petrified when I clicked send. The rep emailed me back and was appreciative that I told the truth. I was scared. I’m an independent, I don’t have someone bankrolling what I say or do. One bad sentence or one bad review to the wrong publicity firm or studio representative, and I take the chance of being cut off. MARTIN: Yeah, that’s admirable; you could have gone another way. RENATA: Yeah, that’s just not who I am. However, on the flip side, the past ninety days have been a whirlwind. The LA Times published an article regarding fourteen underrepresented film critics of color. I was one of them. In addition, I was featured in Variety during the Toronto International Film Festival. MARTIN: That is fantastic, congrats! RENATA: …And featured in The Cherry Picks, which I believe is how you found me. Also hosted a night of “The Black Experience on Film” for Turner Classic Movies through my film critics organization, AAFCA. MARTIN: I saw that; what a great experience for you. RENATA: We made history doing that. Turner Classic Movies had never done anything like that before. Because my love of film was fostered by my mother, to be able to have her watch me hosting Turner Classic Movies was everything. MARTIN: Wow, that’s amazing.
