What's your name? Jona Nanet t e
Where are you from? Good ol e Mont gomery, Al abama
What's the name of your film company? Jona Hal l & Company
How long have you been a producer? For 7 years.
What type of films do you produce? Most l y dramas and comedies, but I
want t o do a f ew act ions f il ms in t he near f ut ure. I?m kind of dabbl ing
wit h it now as ?My Big Fat Li(F)e? f ans can at t est t o.
Do you write as well? I am t he creat or and writ er of al l my project s.
Tell us about some of the projects you have completed. Jona Hal l &
Company was compl et el y a product ion company t hat f ocused on st age
pl ays and l ive ent ert ainment unt il 2013. My most not abl e st age pl ay was
t he crowd pl easer ?The Ot her Side of t he Downl ow?! It debut ed in 2008
and ran f or a l it t l e over a year. Then I did a revival of it in 2012, which
QUICKLY sol d out . In 2013, I t urned my at t ent ion t oward f il ms. My f irst
f ul l l engt h f il m, ?Making Love?, wil l be avail abl e on DVD st art ing
February 1, 2016.
What projects are you working on now? Act ual l y, t he l ove of my l if e right
now is ?My Big Fat Li(F)e?, a web series dedicat ed t o t he l ives and l oves
of pl us-sized women. You can check it out on You Tube by subscribing t o
my YouTube Channel : Jona Nanet t e. This project is VERY import ant t o me
because in main st ream media, when you see a f ul l f igured queen, she is
al ways t he ?best f riend?, t he unat t ract ive homebody, t he ?comic rel ief ?,
OR WORSE yet , she is ALWAYS singl e. But in my l if e I?m surrounded by big
BEAUTIFUL women who ARE NEVER SINGLE, unl ess by choice. They are
conf ident , vivacious, and WANTED, and I just needed t o showcase t hat .
The f an f eedback t hat I have received as a resul t has been AMAZING as
wel l ! To know t hat I?m making a dif f erence in how a woman sees hersel f
when she l ooks int o t he mirror makes me f eel so proud! I?m al so VERY
pl eased t o announce (and t his is an excl usive l ol ;) t hat t here wil l act ual l y
be a ?My Big Fat Li(f )e? movie!!! We wil l st art product ion t his summer.
The f il m shoul d be ready by next Christ mas, Lord?s wil l ing !
When are they scheduled to be released? (Oops, see above) l ol
When does your show air? My show ?My Big Fat Li(f )e? airs on Sunday
night s at 9 p.m. CST. The season is al most over, but t hat ?s why I l ove
YouTube and Net f l ix, because you can wat ch it ANYTIME!
Have you worked with anyone on your projects that you would like to give
credit to at this time? Whew? it ?s SO many peopl e I woul d l ike t o t hank.
First , I woul d l ike t o t hank my ent ire cast and crew; next I woul d l ike t o
t hank t he f ans. But I specif ical l y want t o shout out my assist ant direct or,
Tomiko Joint er. She has had my back f or years now and I t hank her f or
al ways doing what needs t o be done. I al so want t o t hank al l of my guest
direct ors f or t his season: Jasmin Tucker, Ce Anderson, Maquit a Gresham,
Al ia Johnson-King, and Ms. Trinit y A. Baines! And I al so want t o shout -out
my ?corners?--t hey know who t hey are. And l ast but not l east , I want t o
t hank my brot her, Jonat han Hal l , f or being an AWESOME producer
t hroughout t he years !
Who has mentored you during your career? The f irst name t hat comes t o
my mind woul d have t o be my sist er, Candace Bond, who is a
PHENOMENAL direct ress. I act ual l y st umbl ed upon t his career by
accident . We were in a very popul ar and successf ul gospel choir t hat al so
had a drama t roupe t hat she was over. One day she needed me t o come t o
rehearsal wit h her where she st uck me in a ?f il l er? rol e. I was shy al l
t hroughout high school and col l ege, but t his was dif f erent ! Pret ending t o
be someone el se was kind of l iberat ing! I was hooked! Then l at er on
down t he l ine, she coul dn?t make a dat e f or an engagement , and I got
st uck being t he ?direct or? f or t hat show. I absol ut el y f el