Issue Eight- May 2021:

By Mercedes Barreto

What was the moment where it all started, the exact turning point which initiated the show and its beginnings?

“24 years ago, I auditioned to be an MTV host and did not get picked. I had the hardest time with the script, which included jumbled wordplay… But I got through it. When I finished, “Tyrese” (singer/actor) was kind enough to tell me, “Don’t give up, you have something, ‘sis’.” Another individual on the set told me to go to a cable tv station in my area and start my own cable tv show. This builds viewers and gives you leverage. It was radio hip-hop personality, “Sway”. It is because of those two that I am ‘On The Town With Tanya’!

We would shoot the show near the Albee Square Mall Entrance and then we started shooting on 42nd Street and Broadway in the middle of the street! The concept was that all talent should be heard, seen, and shared to inspire others. The record labels use to give me music videos to play because it was cable and there was no profit involved, as it was only a half an hour show.”

What kinds of obstacles did you face, as is expected with any project, which took a real effort, but you still overcame them?

“Finding talented hungry videographers that would barter their time was a challenge. When I first started cable tv, all the good student camera persons and editors trying to make it were taken. I finally found a great videographer with real syndicated type quality. He charged a price, but his work was so good that everyone would see the show, and tell me “How are you on a major station now?” 

He had to eventually move.

Afterward, I found another guy who used to work for MTV who had his own editing suite and equipment. I was big on trading skill for skill, I’d help you get your reel, and you help me get my reel. I interviewed Jim Brown and got clip interviews with Patrick Ewing and Carl Malone. That gig ended suddenly and I never received my footage to make my demo reel.

I knew something was wrong, as I had not been called for a gig. He was getting cocky and rude at times, and I suspected he had drug issues. He became cocky, and I had not heard from him. And, later on, he was featured on the news for taking money for services, not doing the work involved, or paying back people he received money from allegedly. Years later, when I ran into him, asking him for my footage, he alleges that some guys burned all his footage, and roughed him up, bad.”