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Meet Tamieka Briscoe of TB Media in Northridge

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Tamieka Briscoe.

Tamieka, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. As far back as I can remember, I wrote and told creative stories and was really good at it. I won essay contests in school and always achieved high marks in English classes. It was around the age of 10 when I realized that I wanted nothing more than to be a famous writer when I grew up. I have two children, both of whom also are artists. The oldest, Marvo, who is now 16, was 10 when he approached me with the idea of moving to Los Angeles because he wanted to pursue his acting and music career. I was intrigued with the idea because I remembered what it felt like as a child, knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I promised him that we would make that move, but first, I needed to get a master’s degree so that I could have a better chance of landing a great job when we moved 3,000 miles away.

So, that was what I did. Applied to and was accepted into an intense one-year graduate program for Journalism at the University of Maryland. Upon completing my degree, the summer of 2014, I packed all of my earthly belongings–the ones that could fit in the allotted two bags, carry-on and personal item that Southwest Airlines allowed for free–and moved myself and my two children to Los Angeles.

Upon arrival, the California dream wasn’t what I envisioned. Master’s degree and all, the employers weren’t knocking down my door. With my support system and everyone I know clear across the country, I spent my first few years here in LA, working temporary and gig jobs to maintain the cost of living, which left very little time and energy to create. I eventually figured out a way to incorporate networking and helping others with their projects as a way to get my foot in the door, but it wasn’t until I became very diligent with finding the time to work on my own projects that things started to turn around for me. It even took us going back to Maryland for a year from 2017 to 2018 for me to regroup and come back to Los Angeles with renewed focus.

Fast-forward to 2020, like any other business-minded creative, I started the year with a game plan ensuring that this would be my break-out year. My goals were on track to put up a play in July centered around my 40th birthday festivities. But in February, as planning was underway, workshops of my script were held, a casting plan in place–within weeks the pandemic hit America, and it quickly became clear that the chances of a sold-out play in July 2020 was very unlikely. As the pandemic spiraled and projections of doom hitting California were announced, I knew I needed a break. Being the woman of faith that I am, I began to pray and fast. This included taking a break from watching the news (which is unheard of as a journalist) and a break from social media.

During the silence of my fast, God gave me an idea for a new project, a quarantine project. So I began work on it immediately. I wrote, produced, casted and directed, QT, a romantic comedy web series where actors have filmed remotely while in quarantine, following social distancing guidelines. The actors in the series are filming from various locations across Los Angeles and even San Francisco, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. It has been a truly remarkable experience. We have received so much love and support on this project which is available on YouTube, new episodes are released every Friday. Following in her older brother’s footsteps, London, my youngest child, is now ten and she stars in QT as child prodigy, Trinity Monroe.

Even though things didn’t go as planned, this pivot has proven what I’ve always known, which is that “All things are possible.” As my phone rings and my email alerts with new opportunities due to the success of this series, I am overwhelmed with joy and hope for the future. I feel so blessed to live in and create in this city that so many dream to live in to pursue their dreams. It has been an amazing journey, not always easy, but definitely worthwhile.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. It’s a tough town for a single person, but when you add two kids to the mix and all the challenges of pursuing a career that is so difficult to break into. It has been far from easy, but since my children are artists too, with the same dream, they are patient and my biggest supporters which is important when you’re holding on to a dream that seemed so distant at times.

Please tell us about TB Media.
I am a writer and director. I create film projects. I am committed to elevating stories about and for people of color since I remember what it was like to be such a television and film buff since being a young child, yet not always getting to see people that looked like me in roles that I felt proud of. They existed, but not nearly enough.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over and do it differently, I would still have taken the leap to move to LA, but I would do so with a lot more than $500 in cash and $200 in gift cards from my farewell party when I left the East Coast. Planning and saving would have been more of a priority. But ultimately, I have no regrets, the struggles made us stronger and wiser.

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Image Credit:
Cast of QT Series in Zoom Scene, Episode 4

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