Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Nicole Beckett Of Four Screens Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry
An Interview With Eden Gold
One needs to keep learning and understanding that this is a craft. Understand that, although there are numerous film schools and places where you can study, this is an industry where you must really get in there to learn and be practical. You have to be willing to talk to people who are willing to teach. I worked pro bono on an Andy Dick project early in my career just to get in the game and it introduced me to great contacts, which led to paid work.
As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Nicole Beckett.
Nicole Beckett is co-founder and head of content development and licensing at Los Angeles-based Four Screens, a media development, production and talent management company. Beckett and her producing partner Messiah Jacobs based Four Screens’ ethos on holistic management with legacy clients like platinum recording-artist Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ODB), co-founder of the Wu Tang Clan, and boxing heavyweight champion Smokin’ Joe Frazier.
A creative powerhouse, Beckett manages the overall creative vision delivering forward-thinking, culturally relevant content and guides licensing and brand development. Beckett finds success in stories centered around underrepresented voices. Her company champions a diverse creative team not just in front of the camera but in every role necessary for a successful production.
Beckett most recently produced the much-anticipated documentary Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys, which debuted on the A&E Network.
Working closely with the estate of ODB, Russell Jones aka Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ODB), Beckett pushed to go beyond the salacious headlines to explore the real human being behind the façade of ODB who altered the world of hip-hop forever with his offbeat lyrics and sound.
Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys portrays ODB as never seen before through the eyes of family, friends and other ground-breaking artists who knew him best, including members of the Wu-Tang Clan and Mariah Carey. It features vintage, never-released video and photos from a personal archive shot by the Estate. With exclusive-access interviews, Beckett and her team created a culture-defining film that humanizes ODB as a man, a father, a husband and a friend.
As well as film, Beckett is charged with creating independent intellectual properties for Four Screens and its clients. She recently co-created a graphic novel with Jacobs and son Jaxson Beckett Williams, which features original hip hop/sci fi stories. ODB: Oddities, Discord & B-Sides — Lyrical Ruckus in the City (Oni Press/Lion Forge) will be available through Simon & Schuster November 2024. An animated series and a video game are also in development.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up on a small ranch near Boulder, Colorado. I spent a lot of time outside with animals and playing make-believe, reading, pouring over fashion magazines and dreaming of the big city. In high school, I was the editor of the school newspaper and was also the costume designer for all the high school plays. I received a degree in journalism & mass communications/advertising from the University of Colorado, Boulder. My first job out of college was in fashion public relations. I jumped at the chance to move to New York City two days after I graduated. Let’s just say I was very excited to go from a country mouse to a city mouse.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I came to Hollywood in a bit of a roundabout way. As a journalism major, I fully expected to be in the world of media but after having a job in public relations, I ended up meeting my current business and producing partner Messiah Jacobs. We started an apparel company in the early 2000s and my designs were in more than 200 boutiques worldwide.
Stylists from Hollywood started reaching out to use my designs in film. That’s when I moved to Los Angeles to begin styling and costume designing. After becoming a member of the Costume Designers Guild and working for about 10 years solely as a costume designer in commercial, film and print, I branched out into film producing.
I re-teamed with Messiah to co-found Four Screens and seized an incredible opportunity to work with the estate of ODB. We started managing that IP and developing it as a global brand in media and licensing.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
All the projects I’m excited about are original Intellectual Properties, but two projects stand out for me.
The graphic novel, ODB: A Lyrical Ruckus in the City, was an absolute blast to create. Messiah, my son Jaxson (who is 13) and I created this comic world with a huge team of talented writers and artists. We collaborated with Oni Press/Lion Forge to create this raw, unfiltered world of superheroes and villains. There are five interlocking stories that explore New York’s Five Boroughs through this distorted lens of kung-fu, science fiction and romance. It’s insane! The great thing about this book is its potential for gaming and animation.
The tween fashion animation and game, The Fantabulous Girl’s Guide to Wardrobe Styling: How to Break Into the Fashion & Entertainment Industry, is based on the how-to book I originally wrote about costume design and wardrobe styling. We are now taking the Fantabulous Girl brand and developing an animated series and game.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I’m not sure it’s the most interesting in my entire career, but there was a moment on the documentary ODB: A Tale of Two Dirtys where we had an interview with Mariah Carey. My team thought I would be the best person to interview her. As I was sitting next to the DP with my questions in hand, I was looking at Mariah on the couch in full lights, sparkling, and I realized my career had really come full circle as a journalist. I was sitting in a room interviewing a cultural icon. It was fantastic. She is incredibly intelligent, engaging and kind.
Every industry iterates and seeks improvement. What changes would you like to see in the industry going forward?
I would hope the industry is truly committed to diversity. And, by diversity, I mean diversity in front of the camera and behind the camera — Having experienced and junior executives fill those ranks and get new voices involved in corporate structure. We need a diversity of ideas to survive in this new world to make our corporate structure better. This is going to make us better storytellers and open us up to telling fantastical stories in a different way.
I would also like to see more flex time. This would help women in the workplace who are still doing a lot of unaccounted for work at home, including childcare. These are all ethos we value at Four Screens — Flexible work times and locations. We have the ability in our business to work from home, work from any location in the world, because our business operates globally.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
The person who I credit with much of my success is my business partner Messiah, who has also been my best friend for the past 24 years. He has never wavered in his support of me through times of doubt or times of prosperity. We’ve gone through the trenches together, from the days of looking for gigs on Craigslist to having projects air on A&E or going to the BET Awards. He has an ability to see talent and grow that talent — Me being one of those people. Messiah has an uncanny way with business strategy, catching waves and knowing where to take the business next.
We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?
Audiences and consumers want diversity in content, a recent report stated that Hollywood is leaving $10 billion dollars on the table by not fully investing and creating content for Black consumers. Similar stats exist for female-based content. And disability is frequently excluded from the conversation altogether, even though 25% of the population has a disability.
There has been some change in the entertainment business, but also just in general. It’s much-needed change. We need diversity of thought. We need different stories being told and being told authentically.
I think inclusion means bringing new, fresh ideas. It allows us to think about more ideas and vet them more efficiently, as opposed to just having just one point of view. With a diverse team, we can now look at these ideas holistically and say, How do we build on that? How do we innovate on these ideas? That’s really what America is about. It’s that full process of innovating on ideas, growing and letting the best idea rise to the top. Diversity and inclusion are going to allow that to happen more effectively.
When we are exposed to different people, cultures and viewpoints, we get more involved in each other’s lives, we become more understanding. That creates empathy, and that makes us all better storytellers. I think all of that is needed because the workplace — and America — is a melting pot. We’re all in this melting pot together.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I have a lot of responsibility being the co-founder of Four Screens. We’ve been doing this for 20 years. A lot of production companies come and go and a lot of people we started with are not here. The fact that we’ve been able to maintain and tell stories — And that we focus on telling stories of people of color, women’s point of views, etc. To do that in a respectful way, I’m very proud of that.
Also, when the industry was not so focused on diversity and inclusion, we were doing it. We’ve been here through that and understand the ups and downs of the industry. It’s been challenging and I hope I have made a difference.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
I would say I’ve worked really hard and had people around me who worked really hard for the same goals. No success comes from chance or luck. You’re going to fail and that’s OK. The only way you don’t fail is by not trying. I think the biggest thing to do is actually celebrate when you have achieved something.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?
The road to success has not been easy. Hard work is always a must. But more importantly, people are essential. Creating and fostering relationships in this business is everything because content creation is a collaborative process. Stay out there in the mix, be seen. It keeps you top of mind in people’s mental rolodexes and leads to collaborations.
One needs to keep learning and understanding that this is a craft. Understand that, although there are numerous film schools and places where you can study, this is an industry where you must really get in there to learn and be practical. You have to be willing to talk to people who are willing to teach. I worked pro bono on an Andy Dick project early in my career just to get in the game and it introduced me to great contacts, which led to paid work.
Also, one has to have tenacity and be humble. I’m two decades in and I didn’t start at the executive producer level. Just know that you have to build and work your way up. Early on, working in a non-union costume department, I was the one who took home the dirty laundry at night and stayed up late to wash and iron it, which made my days 20-hour days. It was tough, but it made me appreciated on set and people remembered that for bigger gigs. They knew I’d get the job done and not complain.
Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.
As Four Screens gets more successful, my schedule gets more hectic and I’ve had to make sure that I take time off to recharge. Weekends have become more and more important. During my recharge time, I’m working on creating a sustainable garden. I’m a big fan of live theater. I’m a patron of the L.A. Opera, which is fantastic and really goes along with our ethos of diversity and artistic expression. And, of course, I like to travel. Some of my favorite places are Edinburgh, Scotland, and Belgium.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I once heard a metaphor about a tree. There are three types of people in life: The leaves that are there for a season and leave quite early; the branches who are there a little longer but will break off if too much weight is placed on them; and the roots, which are there to support, in winter and lean times as well as prosperity. It’s important to surround yourself with the root people.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
My son Jaxson. He has the best ideas and inspires me to keep creating.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
IG: @fourscreensmanagement
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.
Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold.
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