Inspired Minds

Doris Casap

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Episode notes

After 25+ years in Film Acquisition at HBO, where she served as SVP of Film Programming and responsible for the HBO Latino programming model, Doris Casap made a leap of faith and launched MOTHER FILMS as Founder/CEO, an independent production, sales and advisory company based in NYC. In her first year, Casap executive produced and sold (to Amazon and Peacock) “A Most Beautiful Thing," a documentary depicting the journey of the country’s first all-Black rowing team, a group of high schoolers from Chicago’s West Side. Her short film, "F^¢K '€M R!GHT B@¢K" starring rapper Ddm Ddm, was accepted into Sundance and won Best Comedy Film at the Aspen Shortsfest. She was also a consulting producer and sales distributor on “Surge,” a documentary sold to Showtime about the surge of female candidates in the 2018 Midterms and the triumphant victory of now-Representative Lauren Underwood, the youngest Black woman ever in Congress, with Executive Producers Alyssa Milano and Katie Couric. Diving into the horror genre, she executive produced “Red Pill,” written and directed by Tony Award winning actress, Tonya Pinkins, a political horror movie which premiered during the 2021 Pan African Film Festival in Feb/Mar 2021 and was released on multiple platforms, including iTunes, Prime Video and Direct TV, after receiving glowing coverage in a growing number of publications and platforms, running the gamut from Forbes to Black Girl Nerds. Tonya’s political horror film tells the story of a posse of progressives who ride into red country armed with idealism on the eve of the 2020 Election, when they should have brought heavy artillery. In addition to films, she oversaw the acquisition and commissioning of HBO Latino branded music programming. Awards for these programs include a Latin Grammy for Sony Music for music special “En Letra de Otro” with Pedro Capo, which led to a series of specials including “En Letra de Otro” with Farruko. Concerts included Carlos Santana, Gilberto Santa Rosa , Gente de Zona, Juanes, and many others. Along with being on the board of Almanack Screenwriters, Casap was most recently on the boards of the New York Urban League and El Museo del Barrio. Currently, she is an advisor to Second Act Women, Team TLC New York, and the upcoming Reading Rainbow Live. She has been an activist for the promotion of social justice and liberal causes, including the election of women, immigration and voting rights.  Looking at film as a throughline, she believes "comedy that moves culture through its humanity, and it’s culture that’s necessary to have been moved to make policy possible."