Hollywood IQ Podcast

Podcasting isn’t the only media format afflicted by name duplication. For example, a search for a book title — Back Home — returns nine titles with that exact name, and numerous more with slight alterations, such as Way Back Home. Song titles have been duplicated, as have movie titles — Missing, Bad Boys, and The Avengers.

In this case, we have a TikTok show migrated to video podcasting called Hollywood IQ, which is for movie, TV, and pop culture trivia lovers.

The indie podcast we’re discussing today has more on its mind than trivia. Hollywood IQ is a community where creators, storytellers, and innovators come together. We explore the strategies and tools you need to thrive in film, TV, digital content, and music — bridging the gap between Hollywood’s legacy industry and today’s fast-moving digital creator economy. Each week, we break down the business of creativity, sharing insights and lessons that help turn passion into profit — together.

Started in October 2025, Hollywood IQ creator/host Ri-Karlo Handy explains the show’s premise: “It’s a place where creatives can talk about their thought process.”

Let’s start with creator/host Ri-Karlo Handy because of his impressive resume. Early in his career, Handy began producing scripted and unscripted television series for BET, MTV, and Fox. He became senior vice president of original programming at Bounce TV in 2014, where he produced series such as Mann & Wife, Family Time, and Saints & Sinners. He left in 2017 to found his own production company, Sunwise Media, with Elverage Allen in 2018.

Handy is the showrunner of Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward, hosted by Craig Robinson, which premiered on NBC in 2022. He is the creator of the documentary series Rebuilding Black Wall Street: Greenwood about the reconstruction of the Greenwood District, Tulsa, after its destruction during the Tulsa race massacre.

Handy then established the Handy Foundation, which provides training and job placement programs to early-career production crew. The foundation partnered with the Motion Picture Editors Guild, the Los Angeles Urban League, and several studios and production companies. African-American Film Critics Association president Gil Robertson IV wrote that initiatives like Handy’s were needed to reform the industry.

Handy has received the NAACP Image Award and a Prism Award. In 2019, Handy won a gold award at the Spotlight Awards and a “Social Impact Award” from A Show for a Change. He received the award for “Best Director Documentary Feature” at the 2020 LA Film Festival.

With that kind of pedigree, it’s admirable to see Handy go the indie podcasting route and to use his non-profit to help minorities find jobs in the entertainment industry through skills training.

In fact, in his first episode of Hollywood IQ, Handy sits down with Amy Woods, Media Arts Teacher at Northview High School in Covina, California. In this episode, Amy breaks down the pre-apprenticeship program through the Handy Foundation and how it benefits students' careers after high school. With a background in unscripted and docudramas, Amy discusses how her students are gaining real-world production experience and stepping directly into industry pathways. She explains how she used PBS Student Reporting to teach her students the basics of non-fiction editing and storytelling. Ri-Karlo and Amy discuss the resources teachers can tap into and why bridging the gap between education and industry keeps both teachers and students relevant.

The phrase “Dying is easy, comedy is hard” is a famous show business maxim often attributed to actors on their deathbeds. In an informative and funny episode, we listen to two comedy professionals, Mitchell Marchand and Jay Rich. Interspersed throughout are insights into both of their journeys and how each person got to where they are today. To top it all off, we get a peek inside their comedic minds with two sets of stand-up from each performer.

To show that Handy isn’t focused on the high-visibility jobs in Hollywood, he does an episode on stagecraft positions (including costuming, lighting, editing, and production roles). These are people who typically jump from gig to gig. With such intermittent jobs, there’s no consistent employer to provide benefits like health insurance, sick pay, or retirement savings. That’s where unions come in: union membership gives below-the-line workers access to health benefits and retirement savings and positions that typically provide increased wages. For crews in Hollywood, membership is key.

In that episode, Ri-Karlo Handy talks with DeJon Ellis Jr., a career key grip and IATSE Union leader who brings more than 25 years of expertise in each role. The pair discusses how to rise in the ranks in Hollywood as a grip, the benefits of union membership, how to become a union member and a union leader, and the importance of diversity in union leadership. Whether you’re looking to work on TV or film sets or aim to produce studio-quality content on YouTube, this episode lays out how to take advantage of newly formed training programs and time-honored union benefits on offer.

Check out the show’s Substack newsletter.

Hollywood IQ is a podcast for a specific industry — entertainment. But, in reality, it’s a show about greater opportunity for all, regardless of race, religion, or background. What I found so admirable about Ri-Karlo Handy is that he is practicing what he’s preaching through his non-profit for workforce training and this podcast.

As Texas State Legislator James Talarico recently said, “Don’t tell me what you believe, show me.” Through Hollywood IQ, Ri-Karlo Handy shows his dedication through every episode and through his nonprofit every day.