She Didn’t Wait for Hollywood. She Built Her Own Universe.

There’s a moment in every dreamer’s life when they realize the door they’ve been knocking on was never going to open. So they build their own house instead.

For award-winning filmmaker Lioness Taylane, that house is a whole universe. And she’s inviting all of us in.

Sitting down with Jazzy Black, Taylane shared the kind of story that stays with you. Not because it’s flashy, but because it’s real. It’s the story of a woman who stopped asking for permission and started creating on her own terms. If you’ve ever sat on a dream, waiting for the “right” time, her journey might be the nudge you’ve been praying for.

From the Mic to the Movie Screen

Before the awards and the international stages, there was a little girl who knew exactly who she was.

“I honestly knew that as a child,” Taylane said. “I really want to say it chose me.”

Her path wasn’t a straight line, and that’s the beauty of it. She started in theater. Then podcasting for three or four years, bumping heads and rubbing elbows, learning the game. By 2019, she landed her first film role as an actress. She did a few independent films. And then something shifted.

“I need an opportunity to tell my own narrative,” she remembered thinking. “I need an opportunity to showcase myself and to storytell on my own terms.”

So she did. Five or six years later, she stepped fully into filmmaking as a producer, writer, director, and starring actress. Her debut? Nothing small.

“Dynasty”: History Made in Dallas

Let’s be honest. When we picture Black film, sci-fi isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. Taylane knew that. And she flipped the whole script.

Dynasty made history as Dallas’s first independent urban sci-fi feature. Growing up, sci-fi was her favorite genre. Action movies. The big, imaginative worlds. But she noticed something painful in all those films she loved.

“You don’t see a lot of Black women representation in these types of films, but yet all of us are sitting down watching them.”

We were always the supporting character. The background. Never the chosen one at the center of the story. So when COVID gave her a moment to pause, she took her savings, made some things make sense, and Dynasty was born.

Set in a world called the Equinox, the film follows a battle between darkness and light. But like all good sci-fi, there’s a deeper message underneath. “I wanted everybody to walk away with a sense of awareness between unity and separation,” she explained. “Unity and harmony versus separation and being divided.”

In the film, she plays the lead role of the chosen ones, gathering others to save their souls and their nation. The takeaway is simple, but it lands hard: know the difference between choosing yourself and choosing something bigger than yourself.

That’s not just movie talk. That’s a message our community can carry into everyday life. There’s power in numbers. When we move together, we really can change the world.

Bringing Lil Flip Into the Mix

Now here’s where it gets extra Texas.

Taylane brought Houston legend Lil Flip on board, and if you’re wondering how often you see a Southern rapper in a sci-fi feature, well, that’s exactly the point. You don’t. That’s what made it special.

“It was just the most natural, most organic experience that I’ve ever had in my career,” she said. Being in Dallas, in Texas, and pulling together the best homegrown talent for something bigger than any one person — that’s what it was all about.

And how did the partnership come together? Not through a cold pitch. Through connection.

They met at an after-party for a film premiere. She saw him crossing through her section and called out, “What up, Flip?” like she’d known him her whole life. They chopped it up, and the rest is history. She pitched him the idea four or five months later.

That approach says everything about how she moves. “I always nurture the relationship first,” she shared. “I actually want to be your friend… because it might not work out, but at least we’re still friends.”

Relationships over transactions. Take note.

Building a Home for Black Creators

Taylane didn’t stop at making films. She’s building something for all of us.

Enter the Black Creators International Film Festival. Born from her own experience on the festival circuit, it clicked for her after Dynasty won Best Film in Canada. She flew up, took it all in, and thought, “We need something like this. That’s just kind of for us.”

Six months later, the festival was born. Based in Dallas, but international in scope, welcoming filmmakers from all over the world.

Here’s what you need to know:

There’s even a youth division for young creatives roughly ages 10 to 13, whether they’re acting or working behind the scenes.

Submissions open in September.

The inaugural festival lands on Juneteenth — a date that couldn’t be more fitting.

They’re accepting documentaries, full features, short features, animation, and experimental projects.

Parents, hear this one. You might have a little star sitting in your living room right now. Don’t let that talent go to waste.

Her Seven Colors: Power Behind the Camera

Through her nonprofit, Her Seven Colors (her7colors.org), Taylane pours into women, youth, and creatives of color. And she’s clear about why representation behind the camera matters just as much as in front of it.

“In fact, I learned the most by being behind the camera,” she said. “We need more women in power. We need more women’s voices to be heard.”

For too long, our stories have been told by everybody but us. We’ve been smothered, diluted, misrepresented for years. Taylane believes this is our moment to change that.

“We don’t need Hollywood anymore,” she said. “We have the power right here in the community.”

And for every woman who’s ever been told she’s too loud or doing too much? This is your space to be boldly, unapologetically yourself. Stand on that.

Taking It Worldwide

If you thought she was done, think again. My girl took this thing global.

Taylane was personally invited to Abuja, Nigeria, to speak at the Global Women’s Conference 2.0 — a three-day event where she addressed more than 7,500 people. Her topic? Building ecosystems and infrastructures that stand the test of time, all while holding onto your rights. Because when her first movie came out, she didn’t sell hers.

“That experience changed my entire life,” she said.

And the impact didn’t end when she flew home. She’s now putting the final touches on film and creative arts programs in Nigerian universities across Kwara State and Abia State. These schools didn’t have film, entrepreneurship, content creation, broadcasting, or theater programs. She’s helping change that.

Oh, and Dynasty 2? She’s taking that production to Nigeria to film. The door is wide open, and our cousins across the water are stepping through it.

This is what building looks like. Animation, gaming, the nonprofit, the festival — a whole enterprise. When Jazzy asked about her end goal, Taylane kept it honest.

“I’m just really on a journey… Everything for me is just a journey and I’m enjoying it, I’m experiencing it.”

The Advice We All Needed to Hear

Maybe you’ve been sitting on an idea. Maybe you feel like you don’t have the resources, the support, or even a clue about where to begin.

Taylane’s advice is short and it’s powerful.

“Start. Do it. You don’t have to have everything in line. You don’t have to have all the answers. That whole idea of perfectionism, release it. Just get started.”

She gets it. It’s hard to release perfectionism when you’re scrolling social media every day, watching everybody else collect their wins. But that comparison game? That’s exactly what we have to leave behind.

“Stay in your lane,” she said. “Get started, and everything will line up as you progress.”

Amen to that.