Filmmaker and media strategist Shante Burton, known as Ms. Goldi and Miss Goldie Locks, joined Dr. Nay on Sassy Talk for a wide-ranging conversation about storytelling as therapy, the realities of independent production and the importance of creators understanding the business behind their art.

Burton is the founder of Shante Burton Films and works across film, television, live events and music. During the interview, she traced her path from imaginative childhood writing to formal study in digital cinematography and the demanding work of directing a feature.

Her central message was consistent: creativity can open the door, but education, persistence and ownership determine what happens next.

Storytelling as a source of freedom

Burton described storytelling as both an outlet and a healing practice. By turning feelings and difficult real-life subjects into visual narratives, she said, filmmakers can help audiences recognize their own experiences.

She pointed to stories about sexual abuse as an example. Speaking openly about that trauma, she explained, has allowed her to help survivors process pain and move forward.

“When it’s someone else’s story, it frees people,” Burton told Dr. Nay, describing storytelling as a source of freedom.

Dr. Nay connected that idea to the way audiences internalize images, color and emotion. Their exchange framed the filmmaker as more than an entertainer: a storyteller can guide viewers through feelings they may not yet have words for.

The failed first production that led to film school

Burton’s career education began with a hard lesson.

After a friend asked her to write a screenplay, she assembled actors, locations and a production around a project called Unexpected Behavior. The production failed, she said, because she did not yet understand the technical process. What she believed was a screenplay was closer to an outline.

Rather than stop, she enrolled at Full Sail University and learned how writing, lighting, sound, performance, art direction and cinematography work together.

That experience shaped the advice she now gives aspiring filmmakers: learn every department well enough to communicate with the people responsible for it. A director cannot lead a set effectively without respecting the work behind every frame.

Inside the making of Switch Hit

Burton also discussed Switch Hit, a rags-to-riches comedy she co-wrote with Geronda Johnson.

The story follows a successful music artist whose position changes, forcing her to confront how she treated people while she was on top. Its lesson is familiar but timely: the people encountered on the way up may be the same people encountered on the way down.

Burton named Yami Lloyd, Brandon Gerard, Khalia Burton and Vincent Donato among the cast. A shoot planned for 12 days ultimately stretched across two and a half years, an example of the endurance independent filmmaking often requires.

She told Dr. Nay that directing remains the role closest to her heart because it allows her to turn words on a page into a living scene.

Her style also leaves room for performers. After rehearsing the script and helping actors understand their characters, Burton encourages them to stop clinging to the page and deliver something truthful in the moment.

The business of creative ownership

The conversation moved from filmmaking into the economics of entertainment.

Burton encouraged creators to retain ownership when possible, while acknowledging that intellectual property becomes a product once financing, distribution and other partners enter the picture. Taking an investor’s money usually means surrendering some control or revenue.

She argued that talented people are often paid last, after teams, vendors and production costs have already taken their share. Her practical advice was to invest in your own work when possible, understand every agreement and never confuse public glamour with financial control.

That philosophy also informs her work with Herb Middleton and Moontown Records and Publishing. Burton praised Middleton for caring about artists as people and described Moontown as an alternative for experienced creators exhausted by conventional industry politics.

Dirt to Diamonds and women who win

Burton and Dr. Nay also discussed the Dirt to Diamonds initiative, a platform for women to share how they overcame pain, pressure and obstacles.

“Diamonds are made under pressure,” Burton said, using the transformation from an unremarkable raw stone into something valued and brilliant as a metaphor for survival.

Dr. Nay highlighted the importance of women uplifting one another, exchanging knowledge across industries and acknowledging the many roles women manage at work and at home.

Burton’s advice to anyone still sitting on an idea was direct: pray, learn, volunteer in the field, spend time around people operating at the level you hope to reach and keep working when resources are scarce.

Her own path—from a failed first production to directing, producing and helping other artists build platforms—gives that advice weight.

Watch the full Ms. Goldi interview with Dr. Nay on YouTube.