Brenda VanLengen, Executive Producer of If Not For Them Docuseries and Veteran Women’s Basketball Broadcaster
Veteran women’s basketball broadcaster, Brenda VanLengen, is leading the “IF NOT FOR THEM” documentary project with advisement from a diverse team of women’s basketball enthusiasts. VanLengen has announced over 1,200 women’s basketball games on ESPN, Fox Sports and other networks throughout her 28-year broadcasting career and has gained the respect and trust of generations of coaches and athletes. She coached basketball at the high school and college levels after twice earning Academic All-American honors playing basketball at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, all of which would not have been possible IF NOT FOR THEM.
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INTRO: Welcome to In A World With Real Media. I’m your host, Brad Burrow. In this podcast, we’ll dive into the lives of the most successful people in business. We’ll learn how they overcame adversity, took advantage of opportunities and learned from their experiences. Learn from our experts. It inspired, then go live your story. It’s In a World with Real Media.
Brad Burrow: Welcome to the In A World with Real Media [00:00:30] podcast.I’m Brad Burrow. Today we have a very special guest, Brenda VanLengen. And just so everybody knows, um, Brendan and I have known each other for a long, long time. We were talking about this the other day. It’s it’s years back, back in the Coach’s Edge days. That’s right. That’s like a name from the past. Yeah. Um, and we have recently, uh, in the last couple years, been working on a very, very groundbreaking project on the history of women’s basketball and [00:01:00] the podcast. Today, we just want to talk about, you know, some of the awesome things about the podcast or, or about the, the, uh, um, the documentary docu-series we’re calling it, how it came about. Um, you know, some of the fun things that have happened. Cecil’s been a big part of the, the production side of this and kind of came on board, uh, you know, a little, you know, a third of the way into it and really us taking it and run with it. And we’ve done a lot, a lot of water under the bridge since we started. [00:01:30] But, uh, I just wanted to talk about that. So thanks for for being on. I really appreciate
Brenda VanLengen: It. Yeah. This will be fun. We’ll, we’ll, we can recount the last couple of years and all that we’ve accomplished and everything that’s ahead, so it’ll be fun.
Brad Burrow: So, Brenda, I can remember, um, we were, you know, I’m baseball dad, so, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative> seems like all we ever did outside of work was go to baseball games the last four or five years. But we ran into each other at a, at a baseball game mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, um, kind of rekindled and everything. And it was soon after that that [00:02:00] you called me and said, Hey, I have this idea. Do you remember that?
Brenda VanLengen: Absolutely, I do. Because I had been thinking about getting in touch with you because a few years before that, you had invited me here to tour around real media and it kind of plant, I forgot about that. Yeah. You kind had planted the seed, like, yeah, we’ve got all this cool stuff here, so if you ever have a project, keep me in mind. And, and so as I was thinking about this project, about recording and capturing all this history with women’s basketball, I’m like, I need to get a hold of Brad. And then we ran into each other [00:02:30] at that baseball field and I’m like, okay, I need to follow up. And that’s when we started talking. That’s right. We started talking about
Brad Burrow: It. Yeah. So, so I remember you came in and you were, you were actually, you had started the process of, of doing Zoom interviews, which was really smart by the way. I mean, you were kind of getting pre-story and stuff, but you were thinking that maybe you would build a documentary just from the Zooms.
Brenda VanLengen: Right. Right. Because, uh, I mean, I didn’t know anything about Zooms before Covid. And when the pandemic hit and [00:03:00] everybody started doing Zoom calls, I realized you could, uh, actually record. And so as I was talking, uh, to the way this project gets started, I talked to Marsha Sharp, who’s the legendary coach at Texas Tech. Yeah. And it was right after Pat Summit, who was the all-time leading wIn A in women’s basketball, and then eight national championships. And everybody knows who Pat Summit is. And, and had to step away from the game because of Alzheimer’s and then passed [00:03:30] away way too young. Yeah. After she had passed away, Marsha and I said, you know, there are a lot of coaches that are in their retirement years and we’re losing their stories. We need to do something to capture them. And, you know, she was kind of talking about maybe writing a book, and that wasn’t necessarily my thing. And then when I realized you could record interviews through Zoom, I started having phone calls with people and started capturing some Zoom interviews. And then that’s when I came to you and said, okay, I have this idea. [00:04:00] There’s this history of women’s basketball that really hasn’t ever been recorded and needs to be captured and, you know, can we do something with this? And, you know, I loved your positive attitude about it. And then you also saying, zoom interviews are nice, but let’s do this in a little better quality than that. Yeah.
Brad Burrow: Yeah. I’m, I’m trying to remember, uh, the look on your face when I said that to you, it’s like, did you have any idea what you’re getting into at that point?
Brenda VanLengen: Uh, probably not. Yeah. You know, because at, [00:04:30] at the time, I think I thought we could probably tell this story in, in one documentary. And as I started collecting the stories and realizing how much has not ever been recorded on women’s basketball history, I realized it needed to be a documentary series. Right. And then to find out that, yeah, we couldn’t do it just as easily as record some Zoom interviews, cuz that wouldn’t be the quality that we wanted, then that’s when we realized how big this project would be.
Brad Burrow: [00:05:00] So I remember when we were talking about this, uh, we have to have something that we can go out and start fundraising with. Right. And so we were brainstorming about it and said, well, what if we made a, made a Texas trip and, uh, we embarked <laugh>. Mm-hmm. <laugh>, I remember jumping in the car and, uh, in the rental car and heading down there, we had a, we had a vehicle that barely, we fit everything in. I mean, it was like, we, Evan and I had to, had [00:05:30] to pack this thing just perfectly, if you remember that. Yeah, I do. I do. And we were all three in there driving down to, to West Texas and, uh, with, you know, barely enough room. I think Evan, good thing he was in the back cuz he’s, he’s about this skinny <laugh>.
Brenda VanLengen: That’s true.
Brad Burrow: And, and, uh, we got it all in there. But when we would tear down and then set and then reload, it was like, sometimes I remember it took us a couple times, cuz we, you had to put everything back just perfectly. Yeah. I mean, literally to the,
Brenda VanLengen: It was like old Jenga
Brad Burrow: Hustle <laugh>. [00:06:00] But, but I remember, I remember, you know, being at, uh, Wheland Wheland Baptist and just the, you could immediately tell that there’s a sense of, I don’t know, it just had a really cool feel. And you knew you were capturing stories that were really, really important. Do you remember that feeling? Absolutely. I’m going in there and seeing the history at Wayland, and, you know, that was the kickoff of the whole thing.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. It was such an important program in the history of women’s basketball that some people know about, but most [00:06:30] people don’t. And the fact that in the, in the 1950s, this team of this women’s basketball team was flying all over the country in these little four seater airplanes, uh, to compete. And then they won 131 games in a row, and they won all these national championships and they’ve preserved the history really well there at Wayland. And so we stepped into that, and then we started interviewing people and the stories we started capturing, and then we went [00:07:00] out and saw the actual airplanes that they flew around the country in. Yeah. So that was, that was a cool part of it. And that really kicked this thing off.
Brad Burrow: I remember going out to the airport. Do you remember that? Oh, yeah. And we were actually in one of the, I got in the airplanes that the flying queens were, were flying in.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. I got in one, I decided not to take his offer to fly around. And one <laugh>,
Brad Burrow: Did Claude offer that? Did he That would’ve been fun. Yeah,
Brenda VanLengen: Claude was the, the, the original sponsor. But his son Mike took us out there and [00:07:30] he, he kinda, Mike, he kinda, yeah, he kind of did. But I, I was a little hesitant.
Brad Burrow: He thought, well, maybe I’ll pass on that opportunity <laugh>. Yeah. So that was fine. And then, then we ended up going to, uh, Texas Tech right after that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and Marsha, uh, we had interviewed her at Wayland. Yep. She, so she played at Wayland as well. Right?
Brenda VanLengen: Well, she went there to play, she grew up in West Texas and was influenced by the incredible program they had. And she went there and she was told by Harley Redden, the head coach that she probably [00:08:00] wasn’t tall enough to play, but she famously has a book now called Tall Enough to Coach <laugh>. And so she started coaching the, the B team, which they were the A team. The team was called the Flying Queens. The B team was called the Queen B’s. Yeah. Yeah. And so Marsha Sharpe got her co her start of her coaching career, um, coaching the Queen. So that’s where she started coaching. Of course, she goes on to coach at Texas Tech and [00:08:30] wins a national championship coaches. Cheryl Swoop is one of our most philanthropic, probably coaches in the game across the country. Yeah. She’s influenced so many people. And, and like I said, she’s the first person I talked to about this project, and she’s been a supporter of it all, all the way through.
Brad Burrow: Yeah. She’s great. I I love hanging out with her. We also had some, some other fun, uh, stops on the Texas trip and I don’t wanna spend a whole lot of time on it, but, you know, being in Waco with Sanja mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Pogue, I mean that, uh, as you [00:09:00] know, is one of my favorite. That’s right. Favorites of, of all time. That was really fun hanging out with her and just the, just the personality and, you know, just, just hearing her speak and everything. That was really fun. So that was, that was fun in Waco. And then we go to Austin and, uh, we get to have lunch with, uh, Jody Conrad. I know. And, uh, you know, interview her, uh, in, in the, uh, hall of Fame area, <laugh>. And it was just really a cool thing. But I’ll never forget, I just gotta tell this little story you’ve heard a hundred [00:09:30] times from me probably. But the, the whole soccer story at lunch has always, I just never will forget that when Jodi said she went to her first soccer game, <laugh> and said, uh, said, uh, yeah, I don’t understand soccer, you know, <laugh> and said, huh,
Brenda VanLengen: <laugh>, something almost happened <laugh>.
Brad Burrow: She, she was raised in basketball, so That’s right. But just seeing, being part of the history and seeing all of that was just so awesome.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. And it, and it allowed us to capture, [00:10:00] I think, 10 interviews we did on that trip. And it, it, the history spanned several decades. So we were able to put together then a promo video to explain to people what we were doing in this project. And we were able to, you know, capture different eras, different parts of the story. And, and it, it got us, it got us started because you can talk to people all you want to about what this is going to be about and the video that you helped produce. We were able [00:10:30] to launch a website, if not for them.com, and have our promo videos a you know, a short one and a six minute one. And it really got us going to raise awareness and start raising money to make this thing happen.
Brad Burrow: Yeah. Yeah. That, that trip is, I’ll never forget that trip. That was, that was a fun, fun trip and, um, got us started. Brenna, can you talk about, and Cecil, I’m gonna get to you, uh, shortly here. <laugh>, you’re good because you’re kind of, as we’re moving it, we’re going
Brenda VanLengen: Chronologically, so
Brad Burrow: <laugh> Yeah. But, uh, talk [00:11:00] about the importance of documenting history. I mean, we talk about that at in Dallas, you know, um, you talk about Title ix, um, women really fighting through, you know, to be, to, to be seen mm-hmm. <affirmative> and for the sport to grow and all that, that talk about how important it is for people to understand, you know, the women that really fought those battles. Yeah.
Brenda VanLengen: It’s an exciting year in women’s sports, women’s basketball this year at the national championship game that was televised [00:11:30] on, on abc, 10 million viewers watched. Yeah. It’s a record setting number of viewers that are embracing and enjoying women’s basketball and women’s sports in general. And if not for them, if not for those that broke barriers and changed social norms many years ago, we wouldn’t have what we do today. Yeah. And that’s the importance of this project, is being able to let people know, we didn’t just get here magically. [00:12:00] It didn’t just happen. It took a lot of work, it took a lot of sacrifice, it took a lot of really courageous people, and we captured those stories in a way that we, we learned their personalities, we learned the stories and what they had to battle, but also just the joy that they had in competing in sports.
Brenda VanLengen: And this last year was an important time because we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title ix mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but many people don’t know. It was the 40th anniversary of [00:12:30] the NCAA sponsoring women’s sports. So what happened in that 10 year gap? And so our docu-series will tell the stories of what happened. Uh, in that time. There were women before Title IX ever passed that got opportunities. And those that had opportunities became the leaders when we needed them the most. When the NCAA was not interested in women’s sports, they had to form their own organization. And when Title [00:13:00] IX was passed, and not even originally had anything to do with sports, it was about educational opportunities. And when it was realized, well, yeah, sports are part of the educational process, those women stepped in and really battled for it to be implemented. There was no college women’s sports when Title IX passed. Not, not really any to speak of, maybe a few pockets here and there, but it took those women and the men that supported them. And that’s a big important part [00:13:30] of this story too. It took those people working together to establish the foundation for what we now enjoy today.
Brad Burrow: Yeah. A little side note too, we actually interviewed both coaches from the national championship game. That’s right. Pretty,
Brenda VanLengen: How about that? Yeah. And we did not interview very many if, if none more than that, like current coaches. But Lisa Blotter at Iowa mm-hmm. <affirmative>, the University of Iowa, and the state of Iowa has such rich history. So we were able to capture her [00:14:00] perspective mm-hmm. <affirmative> and then Kim Mulkey, who has been a part of, uh, the history of this game for a long time. She was on the Louisiana Tech team that won the last a i w championship before there was the breakaway to the ncaa. There was still another a i w championship championship after that, but the one with all of the teams involved. Yeah. And she was on the first NCAA championship team as a player. And then of course, she’s won championships at Baylor and then now [00:14:30] at lsu. Yeah. And, and we were able to interview her and get her perspective on history.
Brad Burrow: But the most burning question I have for Kim, though is actually for Sanjay, is what does she think about the way Kim dresses
Brenda VanLengen: <laugh>? What do you think the
Brad Burrow: Answer would be to that
Brenda VanLengen: <laugh>? Well, uh, as you, so we need to get her on the phone, as you know, through this process. If people saw Kim monkey’s outfits on the sideline, which I, who didn’t Yeah.
Brad Burrow: Right. I mean, I, could you not see
Brenda VanLengen: Him? Right. Yeah. It was all over social media, all [00:15:00] over television, but she was influenced by Sanja ho Yeah. Who wore white full length mink coats and, uh, other, other things that really got people’s attention. Yeah. Back in the day, because she was drawing attention to her women’s basketball team. She wanted to people to take notice of them. And, you know, I think Kim may have been influenced a little bit
Brad Burrow: By that. Yeah. You, you can definitely see that. <laugh>. I just want to, so just a little note, when we see Sanjay again, we gotta [00:15:30] get her on camera. Say, tell us about this little bit <laugh>, what do you, what tips would you have for her <laugh>? That’d be pretty funny, wouldn’t it? Yeah, absolutely. So we talked about the history. Um, I want to kind of transition to, um, bringing Cecil in. You know, I think your first trip Cecil with us was Iowa. Yeah. Was the Iowa trip, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, you know, we’re heading out, you had no idea what you’re probably getting into at the time, but, uh, you know, ended up embracing it and really learning a lot. Talk about your experience, you know, [00:16:00] and some of the, some of the, the thoughts on that first
Cecil Searcy: Trip. Yeah. Well, you know, I was new to the company and I was new to meeting you and really getting to know Brad. So we, you know, we set out in this van for a week and we’re like, all right, what’s gonna happen? You know, we had no idea, you know, what the schedule would be like, you know, what we were gonna encounter. But, you know, it was fantastic. And, and I’m, you know, I didn’t do division one school. I went to art school. I’m a filmmaker, so it was new to me to be on these campuses and just see the scope. Like I really, I, [00:16:30] I didn’t understand, these are like corporations inside these schools. I mean, when we went to lsu, I was just like, this is amazing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, but Iowa was a fantastic introduction cuz everyone was so gracious and just so great. And their stories were so unique. And we’ve talked about, you know, my parents growing up and things like that. The opportunities weren’t there. And to meet these people from that same time period that had opportunity was really, really cool. I
Brenda VanLengen: Really enjoyed that. And that trip to Iowa City was really unique. I mean, you came [00:17:00] in and that was a unique trip because each trip was unique. But besides all day at the Hall of Fame where we did the interviews, then Jan Jensen, who’s the associate head coach for Iowa, her grandmother played and was a scoring champion in 1921. Absolutely. Over a hundred years ago. And we got to go to her house. Yeah. The three of us, I did that. Yeah. And we saw trophies from 1921. We saw, uh, game uniforms, [00:17:30] game ball, game ball, <laugh>. And then, then Jan read from her grandmother’s journal. Yeah. Which, I mean, that, that’s one of the really, and there’s, there’s so many cool parts of this, right. But to hear a voice from over a hundred years ago, that’s part of this documentary series. And that was like the first trip you went on.
Cecil Searcy: Exactly. <laugh>. I was blown away. It was just amazing.
Brenda VanLengen: And then, and then, I’m sorry. Yeah. Because later that night, and this is, this is where I have to give kudos to you guys, because like you said, sometimes you didn’t know the schedule. I tried to map [00:18:00] it out ahead of time. <laugh>, sometimes things got a little crazy. That was our longest day of the year of all of our trips, because we stopped at Iowa Wesleyan because Iowa Wesleyan was one of two colleges in the country that offered scholarships to women to play basketball in the fifties. And for a long time, they were the only ones. And we went, you went Brad, with your drone around. Yeah. So
Brad Burrow: I’m out shooting drone shots and you guys are in shooting trophies.
Brenda VanLengen: Remember that We, we went into the trophies and we had to go and like, dig into [00:18:30] the back of this trophy case because they weren’t even displaying these trophies. And they’d gotten like second place in the nation, third place in the nation. They weren’t even displaying them. And now Iowa Wesleyan’s been shut down. Oh, no way. They, they closed down the university. And so the fact that we captured that Wow. Uh, history. I didn’t even know that. Wow. I don’t even know where those trophies are going to go at this point. But we got some really important history on a lot of our trips. But that one late at night that we decided to stop at and then drive whatever, [00:19:00] three more hours over to Illinois. Yeah. But that was a really important stop because that, that, that, uh, university’s closed down.
Cecil Searcy: Wow. And they’re like missing trophies. I mean, they could be in that case and no one would even know. Yeah. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I mean, we probably photograph things that people haven’t seen in 40 years. Yeah. Or longer. Yeah.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. Yeah.
Cecil Searcy: But that’s what
Brad Burrow: The, the trips are kind of like, you know, we would, we would just be capturing as much content and, you know, drone shots and B roll, do the interviews, [00:19:30] set up the cameras. You know, we, one of the things that Brenda and I talked about when we first started this, is the idea that we would capture all of this in really, really high resolution, high quality. So it’s gonna hold up for a long, long time. You know, and I think we’ve accomplished that.
Cecil Searcy: Yeah. You definitely future-proofed all this footage for historical archives and, you know, just the way we approached it with a two camera set up and, you know, lighting the, the ladies, you know, it was, it was, uh, a very interesting, sometimes we’re challenges. Yeah. [00:20:00] You know, sometimes there was a hurricane would roll through or <laugh>, you know, you never knew what would happen. But it always just turned out,
Brad Burrow: Cecil and I have talked about the rain <laugh> mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I think Louisiana trip, wasn’t it? Yeah. Yeah. That came in late on that trip. Yeah.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. We were at lsu, at the Pete Merri Vista Assembly Center, the Pmac. And we were in the, in the concourse area, and the rain just rolled through. And I could barely even hear Jill Upton, who I was interviewing, but thankfully we had good microphones [00:20:30] set
Cecil Searcy: Up. Yeah. I think we double micd her that time. Yeah. Just in case.
Brenda VanLengen: <laugh> it. Yeah. There were a few like that when we interviewed Charlotte West at Southern Illinois. Yeah. The, we were right by the training room. Oh my gosh. And the entire football team came into the training room and they were banging around in there. And so yeah, there were a few challenges. So
Brad Burrow: That, that day I remember sitting by the door around the corner from where you guys were shooting. I’m like, <laugh> doing this the whole time. Like this. My hand just started doing that <laugh>. But, you know, they’re like, oh, [00:21:00] sorry, sorry. You know, but that’s, that’s where we wanted to shoot, because remember Charlotte’s picture was on the wall right there. Right. But those kind of challenges, I also think about Billy, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative> that, um, we were able to spend time with her. But do you remember, I remember multiple conversations that you and I had Brenda about, okay, how can we do this to try to keep her safe? Yes. And, uh, that’s the only interview that I’ve ever done where we set up the cameras and then went to a another room while the camera was [00:21:30] rolling. Yeah. Yeah.
Brenda VanLengen: Crazy. Yeah. You’re talking about Billy Moore, and she was our first Olympic coach when women’s basketball was introduced to, into the Olympics in 1976. She grew up in Kansas, in Topeka, Kansas, and actually won a national championship at Cal State Fullerton before that. But she had been battling cancer for the previous, like, 15 years. Yeah. And we had wanted to go out and interview her the, the year before November before
Brad Burrow: Maybe we were gonna [00:22:00] do it at her house
Brenda VanLengen: We were gonna do at her house. Yeah, that’s right. And she called and said, my back is hurting so bad, I couldn’t even sit up for an interview. And so we canceled that trip because I wasn’t gonna go out to California and interview a bunch of people and not interview Billy Moore. Yeah. So we rescheduled and, you know, she just kept having, uh, health challenges. And she said, you know, I can’t even be around people. My immune system is so compromised. And so I presented to her, I said, what if we were able to find a place that we could set it up? We would all leave the room, [00:22:30] I’d even interview you, like through a zoom through a computer, uh, so that we could capture you with our high quality cameras and audio and everything. And she’s like, oh, you don’t have to do that.
Brenda VanLengen: And all. And it says, I said, it’s really important, Billy. And so we were able to talk her into it, and we found a, a hotel near her home. Yeah. A suite. And that’s how we set it up. And I’m so glad she passed away, like less than three months after we interviewed her. Yeah. And when I had walked her down the hallway [00:23:00] and talked to her, she told me my cancer’s back and it’s not good. Yeah. And so I knew when I interviewed her that day when we interviewed her, that that was probably gonna be the last interview Yeah. That she ever did. And the fact that she sat there for like
Brad Burrow: Two hours,
Brenda VanLengen: Wasn’t it? Yeah. Almost two hours, kind of, um, leaning against a couch because of the pain that she was experiencing. And you guys had it all set up so well. But I’m so thankful that we did that.
Brad Burrow: Yeah. [00:23:30] And that’s a, that was a unique situation. I absolutely know that I’ve ever done anything quite like that. I don’t know if you have Cecil, but you know, typically when you’re, when you’re shooting an interview, you don’t, you don’t wanna leave that camera, you know? But we actually did it. Yeah. I was,
Cecil Searcy: I was in the bathroom with the monitors and we had the door closed, but I could talk to everyone. So if there was anything, I’m like, Hey, Brenda, do this, do that. But yeah, I mean, that’s production on the road. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you figure it out and, and an important interview like that, you just can’t pass it
Brad Burrow: Up. Well, and I mean, that’s, [00:24:00] she didn’t, if I, if I remember correctly, Brenda, she didn’t even grant ESPN or any of the other networks interviews. We were the only ones that she allowed to do that. Right.
Brenda VanLengen: That’s right. Because she, she had told me, I’ve had a few other people ask for interviews and I just can’t do it. And, and the fact that I had been talking to her for like a year and a half before that, and I had done a Zoom interview with her. Yeah. So we had a Zoom interview in case we never were able to do this, but we wanted to get that in-person interview. Yeah. And yeah, she told me some specific [00:24:30] documentaries that she was not able to be interviewed for, and so to be a part of ours was historic.
Brad Burrow: So just another reason why, if not for them as special and important. Yeah. I mean, her, her what she said, I mean, you’re not gonna replace that. No, that’s, that’s amazing. That whole trip to LA was fun. You know, being at ucla, that was pretty cool. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, shooting up there and seeing the court in the background and you know, I’m walking [00:25:00] around in between shoots and stuff and saying hi to the basketball players. I’m like, I’m walking around at ucla. That’s pretty awesome.
Brenda VanLengen: <laugh>. Yeah. Pretty awesome. And we interviewed Ann Myers. Yeah. And it was the Ann Myers court that we are overlooking. And, you know, UCLA has all, all this history in so many sports, and of course John Wooden was a great influence on Billy Moore and the women’s basketball program, and was a huge women’s basketball fan himself. But one of the interesting things that we found out through [00:25:30] research and then through that interview process is the one national championship that the women’s team won, the trophy’s been lost. And when we,
Brad Burrow: Maybe it’s at Iowa, Westland <laugh>, that’s
Cecil Searcy: What we were looking for. <laugh>. We were, we were hoping we’d find it the main piece. Right. <laugh>,
Brenda VanLengen: Well, one of the players for that team that won the national championship in 78, if I’m not mistaken, I think it’s 78, went on Anita Ortega to be one of the head, um, [00:26:00] Los Angeles Police Department Chiefs, commanders, can’t remember exactly her title, but when we told her that, she’s like, we’re gonna launch, uh, an investigation <laugh>
Cecil Searcy: Anita.
Brad Burrow: That’s the next documentary. <laugh>. Exactly.
Cecil Searcy: I think if anybody could get it done.
Brenda VanLengen: That’s what I’m saying. Yeah, absolutely.
Cecil Searcy: The search.
Brad Burrow: You know, one of the things, uh, Cecil that you and I talked about, um, that kind of touched us, is seeing the accountants of people change mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, when they’re starting to interview [00:26:30] and, you know, they’re happy. Most of most of the people that we interviewed were happy to be on, you know, were thrilled about it, but you would see their memories start coming alive. Yeah. It’s like, oh, I’d forgotten that, or I’d forgotten that. And then seeing that on camera is a pretty cool thing to, to witness. Yeah.
Cecil Searcy: It was a tink like this twinkle. But just like Patsy Neal was one that really stood out to me, excuse me, when we, we were interviewing her in Charlotte mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and, you know, we’re having a great time. She’s awesome. But she was kind of in ill health, [00:27:00] so she was kind of staying away. So, but once the interview started, she just, it was like a glow and she became 18 again. Yeah. And you could just see it. And there were many of them, lot of ladies, um, Betty Weissman in Nashville. Mm-hmm. She was another one that she started telling us stories and she was just like, oh yeah,
Brad Burrow: That’s
Brenda VanLengen: Right. Mm-hmm.
Cecil Searcy: <affirmative> mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it was countless. And it was, it’s so cool cuz you don’t think about that. And honestly, something personally, I’ve been making myself think about those things. [00:27:30] I’ve been like doing exercises to remember 20 through 30, you know, what happened because of these ladies that we’ve talked to. Yeah. That’s to not forget my own memories mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And they, you know, it just energizes them and they’re just alive, you know, at a time when you might be in a nursing home or kind of forgotten. Right. You know. But yeah, it was amazing. And Patsy gave us all books mm-hmm. <affirmative> that she’d signed. So that was really neat. So,
Brad Burrow: Well, even I think about the final four, you know, when being up at the Final [00:28:00] Four, and we had some pretty amazing mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, women come through up there. Another deal where we’re shooting in a in you, you weren’t, I didn’t, pardon, that didn’t up yet. That was me and Evan, I think, on that one. But, uh, you know, we we’re shooting in that room and, and, uh mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, I’m trying to remember the lady that did, uh, um, handled the
Brenda VanLengen: Ball. Uhhuh <affirmative> Molly, uh, machine Gun Molly. Machine Gun
Brad Burrow: Molly. Yeah, that’s right,
Brenda VanLengen: That’s right. <laugh>. Right.
Brad Burrow: Because she was at Dallas. And I think, but just seeing some of those things and [00:28:30] the, the, uh, the, um, I’m trying to remember the lady also that, uh, is in the W N B A in um, management now. Um, but just hearing those stories
Brenda VanLengen: And Yeah. I think you’re talking about Lynn Dunn, who is the Yes, that’s right. GM of the Indiana Fever. Right. Yeah. Some of her stories and meld.
Brad Burrow: She was, she was a pistol. No
Brenda VanLengen: Doubt. <laugh> <laugh>
Brad Burrow: In a good way. That’s
Brenda VanLengen: Right. That’s right. And that’s what, you know, your point about, you know, the, the, the countenance of their, their face [00:29:00] as they tell the story, as they told the stories, they, they became that younger version of themselves and you could see it. Yeah. And, and they, who knows the last time they had opportunities to tell those stories
Brad Burrow: Or even think about those
Brenda VanLengen: Things, or even think about them. Yeah. And they certainly, there wasn’t a big media presence when they were athletes or coaches in those early years. So to be able to talk about those stories, I think they were just so excited to be able to share them and, and share them with [00:29:30] generations to come. That’s what’s so exciting about this docu-series, is being able to preserve and, and share that history.
Brad Burrow: Uh, another thing that, uh, I wanted to bring up was, um, our trip to Oklahoma City. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So Nancy Lieberman, that was, that was pretty neat. You know, uh, one of the only trips were maybe the only one where we just shot one interview. Right. You know, and if you remember how hard we had to work to kind of get that scheduled and, you know, get her schedule lined up and, [00:30:00] and, uh, you know, ended up being a great interview.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. We had, we had hoped to, to have her come to Kansas City, and her schedule didn’t allow. And, and when we had done the do, uh, the Texas, um, set of interviews, we were really focusing on those fifties and sixties years. Yeah. And so, uh, you know, Nancy Lieberman played for Old Dominion in the late seventies and won a couple of national championships. And so we really wanted to capture that. So we were able to meet her when she was doing a, a game for the Oklahoma City Thunder [00:30:30] and, and, and were able to get together with her. And man, she, she has some incredible life stories and, uh, just was able to share some things. And, you know, a lot of these people, um, had that influence at that time. And then many of them have gone on to influence, um, women’s basketball, men’s basketball for years and years after. And, and Nancy Lieberman is certainly one of those people.
Brad Burrow: And I honestly think that she was kind of like some of the other ladies too, that was maybe just a little bit [00:31:00] skeptical when she got there. But by the end, she was, she was bought in, didn’t, you know what I mean? I mean, yeah. I just, I really felt like, well, didn’t, she had another hour <laugh>.
Brenda VanLengen: She, she,
Brad Burrow: We had a,
Brenda VanLengen: Had a certain amount of time scheduled, and we ended up going a lot longer than that. <laugh>, you
Brad Burrow: Know, I think Cecil and I were worried about we were gonna run out of hard drive space. <laugh> <laugh>.
Brenda VanLengen: I’m glad we didn’t. I’m glad we
Brad Burrow: Didn’t.
Brenda VanLengen: But yeah, it was, uh, it was, it was just a matter of, um, uh, recording those [00:31:30] things and, and just being able to capture that history and, and what you said about maybe skeptical at the beginning, I’m sure that some of these women have been interviewed a lot of times. Yeah, I definitely know Nancy has. Um, and, and, you know, what is this about? And so, because I’ve been a, a broadcaster of women’s sports, women’s basketball for 28 years, I have a, a lot of history Yes. Of calling games and, and developing relationships with coaches and players. And I think that [00:32:00] helped as, you know, to get us in the door with a lot of these people. But also as I sat down and spoke with them, they felt at ease to really tell their stories. Yeah. And, and that was a really cool part of it, you know, to be able to, to draw that out of them. And, and they, they knew it was a safe interview. I wasn’t gonna bring up something controversial or grill ’em on something. They knew that they, it was a safe place to tell their story.
Brad Burrow: You know, one of the things that I noticed several times is that I think when you’re interviewing somebody, they [00:32:30] would be, you know, maybe a little guarded, but then they realize how much knowledge that you have and how prepared you were. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I mean, kudos to you. I mean, the stuff that you know about <laugh>, the history of women’s basketball is amazing. And that would show up and they’d be, oh, even things that somebody had lived through that couldn’t remember, and you would help them remember it. Yeah. That, that was amazing. Yeah.
Brenda VanLengen: And I mean, I’ve always, uh, took pride in having a good knowledge of the history of women’s back basketball. Heck, [00:33:00] my senior year of high school, I wrote my senior paper on the history of women’s basketball. And, you know, at that time, the history wasn’t nearly as as long as it is now, but I, I’ve gone back, I still have that paper, and I have some of the people that we interviewed in this docu-series were in that paper that I wrote my senior year of high school. Yeah. Which, you know, not to date myself, but just to kind of provide context is 1983. So the time period, you know, were the, the decades [00:33:30] before that, so we interviewed some of them, but in my, my history that I wrote at that time, I didn’t know anything about a lot of these women. And that’s the, that’s the important thing about this project, is there was not great media coverage in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. And so a lot of this never got recorded. And so the way that this history is now being captured is by us going and doing these interviews and capturing it in this high quality way that it can [00:34:00] be preserved for the future. Because there’s not a lot out there. There might be a few scrapbook photos or newspaper clippings, maybe a few videos that we found, but mostly it’s these women recounting these stories that is going to be the history that is preserved, and that it’s one of the very important things about this project.
Brad Burrow: Yeah. So I wanna, I wanna transition to Dallas a little bit, you know, and, and talk about that. I mean, there’s, we could talk for hours about things that have happened over these last [00:34:30] two years. Um, but, and I also wanted to talk about Denver, too. That was, that was a very interesting trip too. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, you know, for me personally, it was interesting because that was the first trip after I, I had had Covid and, you know, we don’t need to go into that, but, but I was a little freaked out going to Denver because of the altitude Yeah. <laugh>, you know, and here I am coming out. But it, it was just such a great trip and, you know, we had such a great time and, um, you know, just being a [00:35:00] part of all that’s really, really cool. But talk about Dallas a a little bit.
Brad Burrow: So we go down to Dallas and, you know, I had no idea what to expect, but here at and t gives us this incredible theater. We have, you know, we’re Cecil and I, well, I say I, Cecil was working, you know, pretty much around the clock to get this edit done. We did three minute, three or four minute versions of each of the 10, 10 episodes. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, 4k high [00:35:30] resolution, get it down to them, they test it, you know, and then we’re, we’re coming down to Dallas to see this, and that event couldn’t have any better. I mean, it was so awesome. Yeah. Just seeing everybody in the theater, seeing those images up on a really, really great mm-hmm. <affirmative> screen <laugh>, it looked amazing seeing everybody respond that, you know, talk about your, just your feelings about Dallas.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. It was, it was so cool to be able to share what we’ve been working so hard on the last [00:36:00] couple of years, um, in that setting. Um, after we completed most of our interviews last fall, that would’ve been the end of October of 2022. Um, I knew that in order to really show people what we’re doing, I thought we should put together a preview so they understood what’s the scope of this story, this docu-series that we’re doing, um, the quality of the interviews, all those things. And so, uh, worked [00:36:30] with the ncaa and the NCAA actually agreed to host the event. Um, and the fact that, you know, I said, now we don’t al we aren’t always real, uh, flattering of the NCAA in this <laugh> in this. Did you say that to me? I did. I said, I just want you to know it’s not always painted in the best light.
Brenda VanLengen: And they’re like, we know our history. We understand. And so the fact that they hosted it Yeah. Was amazing. And as part of the Women’s Final Four in Dallas, the 50th anniversary [00:37:00] celebration of Title ix, and then as you mentioned, at and t headquarters are there, and we were in this incredible theater, and I was down there the day before and watched it on the screen and about it brought tears to my eyes because it looks so good. Yeah. On that theater screen. And so we invited people that we had interviewed, we invited people that had, uh, contributed to the project. So far. It’s, we’ve set it up as a, uh, a, a nonprofit, um, production [00:37:30] so that people can make charitable contributions. So we invited those that made contributions and then some other special v i p guests, and we filled up this 170 seat theater, and we had so many guests that there was an overflow area and this really cool digital wall out in the other area where there were probably 75 to a hundred more people watching in that area.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. And so, just to see the images on those cool screens and have those, those women and the men that we interviewed watch themselves and watch [00:38:00] the story unfold. And we, the feedback that we got was, you know, we had, we had an idea that, that this was gonna be a, you know, a good project, but wow, this is incredible and it looks so good. And the stories that you captured, and this is amazing. Yeah. And just the responses that we got, um, just, it was so exciting and so cool. And, you know, we still have to raise the money to produce the entire, the full series [00:38:30] every episode, but we’ve got a lot of momentum and, and some interest, and anybody that’s in helping us preserve and share these stories or are welcome to join and be a part of our team. But it, that event in Dallas was just, um, it was one of a kind, I mean, probably that group that was assembled.
Brenda VanLengen: Just one example real quickly, uh, Marion Washington, who coached at, at KU for so many years, was a part of the first national championship in 1969. And then she got invited [00:39:00] to be on the US National team. She was one of the first two black women to compete for the US on a national team. She was told, and their team was told they would be preparing for the 1972 Olympics to play basketball. A woman named Alberta Cox, it was from Raytown, Missouri. So right here in the Kansas City area was the coach. They trained for seven months, and then they learned that women’s basketball would not be in the 1972 Olympics. And they were all crushed. But five members of that team [00:39:30] were in attendance at that event in Dallas. And it was the first time that many of them had seen each other since back in 1971 and 72.
Brenda VanLengen: Oh, wow. Yeah. I didn’t know. And so they were like, Marion comes and grabs me, and she says, these are my teammates. These are my teammates. I haven’t seen them for so for so long. And I said, I know, I’ve, I’ve interviewed most of them. Yeah. They’re part of this story, and it gives me goosebumps right now. And, and that’s one of the pictures that I posted on social media since [00:40:00] then. It was one of the really special things of that event was bringing back, you know, some of the members of that team. Yeah. Uh, that a lot of them went on to influence women’s basketball in many different ways. And Marion Washington was a big part of our history in women’s basketball.
Brad Burrow: You know, I also wanna talk about Bessie <laugh>. Oh, yeah. <laugh>. So she was, she was, uh, very interesting at, at Dallas, but flew all the way to Kansas City, by the way, to get to do her interview. And I don’t re I know you [00:40:30] remember it, but you know, that we had to, we had to make some arrangements for that to be, for that to happen. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I don’t know if you remember all the details mm-hmm. <affirmative> or want to talk about that, but mm-hmm. <affirmative> flew from the east coast. Right. All, all Washington the way here by herself. Yeah. And her, I think it was her daughter helped her, maybe
Brenda VanLengen: Her, her niece.
Brad Burrow: Her niece, her niece. Her
Brenda VanLengen: Niece. Yeah. I have to give Belinda the proper cream.
Brad Burrow: Right. <laugh>. But helped her do that. She did it all in one day. Yeah. Yeah. Came, flew in, did her interview, and then flew out that night. If I don’t Yeah. Then
Brenda VanLengen: The next [00:41:00] morning. Next morning. Okay. Yes. Yes. Uhhuh <affirmative>.
Brad Burrow: But then, then we get to Dallas and her whole family’s there, <laugh>. And I don’t know that she kind of really sensed what this was all about until Dallas. Yeah. Yeah. And then I, you know, she was like a celebrity.
Cecil Searcy: She was a total celebrity. I mean, yeah. Well, I told Brenda earlier, we were in the lobby where they were projecting it on the big wall, and we’re just talking, and she’s kind of like, I don’t know. I don’t know. And that image of her came up on that screen and she’s like, would you like to hear about the first time I [00:41:30] got paid as a coach <laugh>? And 20 minutes later, I’m, I’m like, I gotta go
Brad Burrow: <laugh>.
Cecil Searcy: She, it was amazing. She,
Brenda VanLengen: She is an amazing person, and, and she’s one of the people that I didn’t know about when I started this project. And, um, Valerie still, the all-time leading score in rebounder, still in Kentucky, basketball history, men’s or women’s, uh, brought her to my attention. And it still took a long time for me to even find out where she was now, [00:42:00] if she was even still alive. Yeah. And was able to find her and then invited her, as you said, to come to Kansas City so we could interview her. But her story is amazing. It’s one of one of the most amazing stories in this docu-series. And I won’t give it all away because I want people to, you know, you know, contribute, gotta watch it Right. And watch it eventually. Right. But she played tennis on the, uh, the tennis circuit, the Virginia Slims tennis circuit with Billy Jean King.
Brenda VanLengen: [00:42:30] And one of the fun parts about the weekend, you guys were already gone. Yeah. But at the Women’s Final Four when, uh, LSU and Iowa were playing in the championship, I was able to communicate with Billy Jean King’s people, and Billy Jean came over and gave Bessie a hug in the stands during the third quarter of the game, got pictures of the two of them together. And, uh, it was an incredible reunion because I don’t know when’s the la [00:43:00] when the last time was they saw one another. And so besides all that, Bessie contributed in basketball and being a part of our US national team and competing in, in the a i w in those years. Um, she played tennis and she played with Billy Jenkins. Yeah. That was pretty cool to see them reunited.
Brad Burrow: Yeah, I saw pictures of that. That was maybe online or something like that. Yeah. Pretty, pretty cool <laugh> thing. That was a, that was, I mean, just that, that whole weekend was, I don’t know, pretty amazing weekend. Yeah. [00:43:30] And her family, that’s the other thing I was gonna mention. Bessie’s family, I watched them a lot, you know, kind of, and they were just, they were so pleased. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, you could just sell, they were so happy for her to get that recognition,
Cecil Searcy: And they were such accomplished people in their own rights. Right. Yeah. And I mean, amazing people, and I mean, that’s, it was probably be Bessie’s influence that, you know, guided them. It was, yeah. It was very impressive.
Brad Burrow: A couple more things and then we’ll wrap up. I, I talk about the panel. Do you remember the panel that, that night at the theater? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I mean, I [00:44:00] just thought that panel was really cool. And, and for me it was, it was, you know, Jody and Sanja, um, Marsha was on the panel to Bessie. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Brenda VanLengen: And Marion, Washington
Brad Burrow: And, and Marion. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah, that’s right. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, I just thought it was really cool seeing the matriarchs of, you know, women’s college basketball up there saying, this is something that you need to support. Yeah. Really
Brenda VanLengen: Cool. Yeah. To, to hear from them once they really saw it on the screen, to see what [00:44:30] the scope of this project and how well this history has been preserved. Every one of them was so supportive of, let’s, let’s work to get this done. Let’s make sure that it’s supported. And there were others in the audience as well. Donna Lopiano was in the audience, and Teresa Gretz was in the audience, and just so many, so, you know, as you start naming people, then there’s a lot of people that I won’t be able to name, but just to have them all in that. And that’s something we also we wanna do with this project. [00:45:00] So as we, as we produce this, we want to, um, go to communities around the country, and I’m already speaking with some W N B A teams, um, that we wanna show this, this preview of each of the 10 episodes in a community so that the W N B A teams can be involved, um, corporate leaders in those communities, have a chance to interact with, uh, current players and coaches that are having such an influence, but also [00:45:30] get the history of how we got to where we are.
Brenda VanLengen: And so it’s an opportunity for corporations around the country to get involved with this is through those community activities that we’re planning. And we’ll have panels like the, we had in Dallas. So to have those, those panelists sitting after and reflecting on what they had seen Yeah. And, and what important history this is to capture. Um, it, it was really a cool part of the program.
Brad Burrow: Cecil, the last thing I want, I, I do wanna talk, you know, a little bit about the, the camera [00:46:00] technology. I had this on the list is, it seems a little bit out there, but to me it’s really, for us, it’s a really cool thing Yeah. That we’ve been able to accomplish. Um, you know, the reds, you know, the, the lenses, the lighting, the camera movement, all that stuff. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I mean, it was a lot when we’d go into to set up for a shoot. I mean, it’d take us at least most of the time we wanted a couple hours and we didn’t always have a couple hours. <laugh> <laugh>, I think we got it down to an hour in some of those cases.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. You guys [00:46:30] are
Brad Burrow: Good, but, uh, you guys are
Brenda VanLengen: Good. Kim’s there
Cecil Searcy: It was like 40 minutes. Yeah,
Brad Burrow: That’s right. That’s right. Yeah.
Cecil Searcy: They were like, if you’re not ready when Kim gets here, it’s not
Brad Burrow: Happening. Yeah. We’ll be ready. <laugh>,
Brenda VanLengen: They hustled. We hustled that morning that we interviewed Kim Mulkey for
Brad Burrow: Sure. I didn’t happen to be on that, that actual shoot, so I didn’t get to be a part of that fun, but, uh, yeah. But I mean, I mean, it’s a pretty cutting edge setup for Absolutely. For what we did and, and by design, you know, so we could capture these things and very, very high resolution [00:47:00] and brilliant cinema quality.
Cecil Searcy: Exactly. I mean, everything was 6k, so, you know, like I said, it’s future-proofed, you know, archival. It’ll be amazing for decades. And I mean, we don’t even have TVs yet that can play the stuff we shot, so Yeah, that’s true. You know, from that standpoint. And like you said, I mean, we had, uh, the a, uh, automated slider, you know, with a side camera, so we got two angles on everyone, and, you know, we lit them very complimentary, so everyone was very pleased when they, you know, looked back at it. And which, you know, I think [00:47:30] from a, from a cinematographer standpoint, that’s like my main goal. And when everyone, when they watch it to go, oh, that’s me, <laugh>
Brenda VanLengen: Not,
Cecil Searcy: Oh, that’s me. <laugh>. Yeah,
Brad Burrow: Yeah, yeah. From a,
Cecil Searcy: There was an awesome opportunity and really to stretch our, you know, we got to stretch a little bit and have fun with
Brad Burrow: It. Yeah. It
Cecil Searcy: Wasn’t just in a studio,
Brad Burrow: And we literally did that on every interview. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I think every interview 105 interviews, is that correct? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> we’ve shot with, with the, the two cameras mm-hmm. <affirmative> set up pretty, [00:48:00] pretty, uh, amazing if you look back on it and what we were able to accomplish. And that’s a lot of tearing down and setting up and tearing down and setting up, driving, tearing down, set up, you know, <laugh> mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm.
Brenda VanLengen: <affirmative>. Yeah. So, I mean, really the, what you guys did as a crew, uh, at each of the sites was remarkable. We put in some long days. Yeah. And, but we were able to capture o over 200 hours of interviews, uh, that that will never be duplicated [00:48:30] ever. Yeah. The, the history that we captured, you know, unfortunately, three of the people that we’ve interviewed have already passed away. Yeah. And, and, and nobody will ever be able to, to capture the content that we did. That’s why this is so important. And then now putting it together in a story that’s entertaining and informative and, and, and draws people in. You know, if anybody that makes a contribution to our, um, our [00:49:00] project will get a link to the, the private, um, sneak preview, uh, that’s how you can see it now, is to be able to, you know, make a contribution.
Brenda VanLengen: Yeah. And you can see it, but you, you get a sense of the emotion in this story. Yeah. It’s, it’s the stories from the people themselves. It’s, you see tears in eyes when they’re talking about certain stories. You, you see the kind of, the frustration in some of the things that they had to battle and overcome [00:49:30] and, and then you hear the laughs. Exactly. And, and the fun. And, and oh my gosh, I can’t believe, you know, what we did or what we were able to overcome. It’s just, it’s an incredible compilation of stories that we are going to be able to put together in this final docu-series. And I’m just, I’m so proud to be a part of it. I’m so proud to be your teammates on this. Yeah. And I appreciate us, too, all of your help. And, um, this, uh, this is pretty special.
Brad Burrow: Well, you know, as filmmakers, this is something that we dream about being part [00:50:00] of projects like this, you know, I mean, we can do corporate video all day and commercials and all that stuff, and, but this is the kind of project that’s, you know, something that you’ll, that’s a feather in your hat. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know? Oh, yeah. I worked on that project. I was a big part of that. That’s, so thank you for letting us be a part of it. In closing, I just want, so somebody’s watching this, they’re interested in getting involved. What, what’s the path? I mean, obviously you can go to the website probably mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but what if it’s, uh, a sponsor or somebody [00:50:30] that really would love to take a deep dive? What would they do?
Brenda VanLengen: So, um, www.ifnotforthem.com [if not for them dot com] provides a lot of information. Uh, we have, you know, promo videos, 92nd, six minute, we have other videos that we shot that tell stories. We have photos, we have stories, but then there’s information. So if you’re, if you’re, let’s give, you know, different layers. If, if you’re just a person that’s interested in this, you love women’s sports, you love sports, um, you, you wanna do something to be a part [00:51:00] of our team and help support this, um, you can make a charitable contribution right there through the website. Um, there are various levels of support, and we’re speaking with foundations that, you know, are interested in, in women’s issues, in racial equality and women’s equity in lgbtq uh, issues. All of those are touched upon in this. And so if you, if you know of somebody that wants to help support, um, preserving [00:51:30] these stories, they can also go through the website and contact me. Um, and then if it’s a corporation, there’s an opportunity. You can sponsor an episode, you can be a presenting sponsor of the entire docu-series. Uh, there are different, uh, levels of, of participation and, you know, uh, if we, if you have the ability to put my ad my email address across the bottom of the screen,
Brad Burrow: <laugh> Yeah.
Brenda VanLengen: Or you, it’s brenda.vanlengen@gmail.com. Yeah. Or you can just go to, if not for them.com, [00:52:00] and there’s a contact button, you can contact me through there as well and, or, or through real media. Yeah. You know, get in, in touch with us through real media. Yeah. And, and there are opportunities, like I said, we’re, we’re having some conversations right now. There are some people, some entities, some um, corporations that are interested. Um, and it’s just a matter of finding the right ones to all come together. And so if you wanna be a part of this, there’s still time. And, you know, we, we’d love to have people that can help us preserve and share this important history.
Brad Burrow: Yeah. [00:52:30] And it’s still, we’re, we’ve got a lot accomplished, but we still have a lot, a lot to, to go, you know, the, the post-production on these episodes is a lot of work, but it’s, it’s, they’re gonna be amazing. I mean, and they’re gonna be, they’re gonna really impact people for a long time. And so it’s very exciting. So we’d love, we’d love to have you involved if you’re looking at the camera right here, <laugh>, we’d love to have you involved. And thank you for joining us today, Brenda. It’s a, um, I knew this would be easy. <laugh>, you know, I’m, I feel like we’re leaving a lot [00:53:00] of stuff out. We may have to do a second version <laugh>. Uh, but this, this is so much fun and we have more fun coming and it’s, you know, it’s gonna be awesome putting all these together and just seeing people impacted by it. It’s, it’s, to me, the most exciting thing. Yeah. So this is the In A World with Real Media podcast. Thanks for joining us. Uh, be sure to subscribe so you get a little ding on your phone every time that we put a new podcast out. And we’ll see you next time
OUTRO: This has been In A World with Real Media. Thanks for joining us. And be sure to subscribe on iTunes and follow Real Media on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. So you never miss an episode.