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When I sat down with Christina Richardson, creator, writer, director, and executive producer of Besties, I wasn’t entirely prepared for what I was about to hear. Her journey is nothing short of inspiring.
The basics were clear going in — creator of Besties, FOX deal, rising name in the independent film space. What I didn’t know was the full architecture of what this woman had built, and how she’d built it.
By the time we finished talking, I had filled the margins of my notes with stars. Not bullet points. Stars.
This is that conversation.
Before the FOX deal. Before Tubi. Before the franchise. Before any of it — there was Christina Richardson’s Besties, a camera, a cast, and a conviction that nobody else had.
Who Is Christina Richardson, Creator of Besties?
Before the first formal question, we fell into the way good conversations always start — organically. I told her about my recent travel to South Carolina for the Charleston Fashion and Design launch. She lit up: she went to school at Benedict College. South Carolina connected us before the interview even started.
But once we settled in, I wanted to start at the beginning. Who is this woman to someone who has never seen the show?
Elliot Carlyle: So, let’s set the stage. For someone who’s never seen Besties — who is Christina Richardson?
Christina Richardson: I am a storyteller. That’s it. That’s the foundation. I’m the creator of Besties, and I started it back in 2018. I decided to make the show because every opportunity I came across, it was like — oh, you have to have directed something to be a director. But you couldn’t be a director unless you’d already directed. It was a catch-22.
“I didn’t even have any sound equipment. No lights. Nothing. Just me, the camera, and the cast. And that was Season One.”
She says it the way you say a fact — not with drama, not for effect. Just: that’s what happened.
The Build — Starting With Nothing
This is where the conversation started to reveal something deeper than a success story. This is the architecture underneath it.
She paused just long enough to let that land.
I hope people reading this really hear that. Because I know where most people stop — right at the place she just described. The place of not having money, not having equipment, not having the traditional means. She did it anyway.
I told her: in order to get there, you have to start exactly where you are. And I meant it for everyone who might be reading this at their own beginning.
Elliot Carlyle: So walk us through what the independent build actually looked like — Season One to what’s happening now.
Christina Richardson: Season One went up on IGTV when IGTV launched. Because I knew from working with Meek Mill, with Spike Jordan — short-form narrative was going to be huge. Not a web series, but a short-form show made in the cadence of social media. Besties was never meant to be a web series. It always belonged on the timeline. I called it Besties: The Ultra Mini Series. They call it microdramas now. Same idea. Made for your phone. Made to live inside the feed.
“I had this vision of people falling in love with the characters so much that it had the potential to become a movie. Content-to-feature-film pipeline — that was always the plan.”
The Comeback, the Investor, the Three Days
Christina Richardson: Then Quibi came out six months after me and failed quickly. And everyone started saying short-form doesn’t work. I was like — Quibi didn’t do it right. That’s not what I was doing. Fast forward — nobody wanted to invest in a vertical content app, even though I could see it coming from what was happening in China. So in 2023, I made a decision: I’m just going to bring Besties back. I’ll show people what this can be.
A small investor from the music industry came through. The original cast reunited — picking up exactly where Season One left off in 2019. And then she shot Season Two in three days.
Christina Richardson: Twenty-two short-form episodes. Three days. We edited and I released Season Two on December 5th, 2025. And it just went viral. The rest is history.
When the Film Informed the Music
Before Besties, Christina was already deep in the industry — just not where most people knew to look for her. She’d worked on Meek Mill’s Wins and Losses short film, Future’s Feds Did a Sweep, and All the Smoke. These projects hit differently because they felt like real stories, not just visuals set to a track.
As someone whose entire foundation is in music, this was the part of the conversation I was most excited about.
Elliot Carlyle: How did music storytelling shape how you approach your scripted work?
Christina Richardson: When you watch Feds Did a Sweep, when you watch Wins and Losses, when you watch All the Smoke — you feel the characters first. The music layers on top and brings it home. That’s why those shorts have millions and millions of views to this day. You’re left with something. That was never about music for me. I never wanted to work in music. I wanted the story.
I always grab people with emotion. No explosion. No bomb. Just: feel something. Immediately.
The Cast Is the Instrument
There’s a metaphor Christina uses when she talks about her ensemble that I hadn’t heard anyone say quite that way before. Her actors are her instruments. And after spending 15 years directing music — knowing exactly which voice to stand where, what song each person can lead and what they can’t — I understood exactly what she meant.
Christina Richardson: Years. That’s the first answer. And it starts before you even have a cast. When I was finding the lead for Season One — it took me six months to find Alina. Six months. Because I knew that without the sound, without the lights, without the money — my actors needed to carry my vision. So I told them: Do you understand this character and why she’s in the situation she’s in? Okay. Be that.
“Y’all got to help me tell this story too. I can’t do it alone. I have to lean on you.”
Elliot Carlyle: So what does a character in Besties need to have? What are the ingredients?
Christina Richardson: Great acting — truly, that’s non-negotiable. But more specifically: it’s about the eyes. I can look at an audition for three seconds and know if someone will work. The eyes tell it all. And then versatility. The flexibility to adjust on the spot. Most importantly — they have to be a storyteller themselves. I’m an actor’s director. I give you the story, and then it’s yours. You carry it.
Creative Control Is the Only Non-Negotiable
Then came the FOX deal. Three seasons in. Major distribution. Global reach. And the obvious question: what did you give up to get there?
Christina Richardson: The only non-negotiable was creative control. Full stop. I know what it looks like when a big brand comes in and tries to tell you what the audience will feel. You love my creative, you love my deck, and then you try to bring something else in and it completely transforms the idea. It doesn’t convert. Because I know my audience. I know this story.
“A director’s work is like a fingerprint. I wrote it and I’m directing it. This is my orchestra. You don’t bring musicians in from another band and think it sounds the same.”
Christina Richardson: And they understood. The language had to be clear: I have final approval on the creative. Not out of pride. I’m a collaborator, I’m a team player. But the heartbeat of Besties? That has to land on me.
I told her: that is a very safe and necessary non-negotiable.
The Announcement Nobody Knew Was Coming
Season Three of Besties launches October 15th, 2026. All three seasons now distributed worldwide by FOX Entertainment Global. And then, mid-conversation, she dropped something she hadn’t told anyone yet.
Elliot Carlyle: What does that kind of reach mean for the story you’re trying to tell?
The press release and the interview happening simultaneously. I love that.
Christina Richardson: Besties is going to be one of the first truly dual-format series. On October 15th, you can watch the vertical episodes on Instagram — the way it was built, for your phone, in the feed. And then, if you want more, you go to Tubi and watch the long-form horizontal widescreen version with added scenes. Two formats, same launch day, same story.
“When you watch it on your phone, it’s just you. I want people to feel like they have an intimate relationship with the show. Like they’re besties. Like they’re a part of it.”
Besties Is About to Be Outside
The reach of the FOX deal isn’t just about Season Three. It’s the foundation for what she described next — and it’s bigger than one show.
Elliot Carlyle: What does this kind of global reach mean for the long-term story of Besties?
Christina Richardson: Besties is a franchise series. We’re doing Besties LA — whole new cast, new story, same heartbeat. We’re doing Besties Kenya in Africa. We have a relationship with the Film Commission there because Besties is actually a huge term in Kenya. And then Besties Atlanta, Besties Miami. Different regions. Different stories. Same feeling — that sense of being seen, of your timeline coming to life.
I’ve always said: if what you build is only about you, it can never exist beyond you or outside of you. Christina is building something that travels.
Christina Richardson: I love that. And I already have plans to bring other writers and directors in — for LA, for Atlanta, for Kenya. I can’t do this alone. I don’t want to do it alone. And I want to provide opportunities for people that I never had.
Just Keep Me Involved
Elliot Carlyle: How do you protect the original voice of a show when the infrastructure around it gets big?
She said it with the kind of quiet certainty that doesn’t need to be loud.
Christina Richardson: Besties is literally my voice as a creator. I made it during a time when I had no opportunities to be a director. I made my own thing in order for people to see me as a director. So it is my voice — literally, artistically, creatively.
To Every Woman Building Independently
Elliot Carlyle: You’re a creator, writer, director, executive producer, nonprofit founder, and a mom. What do you want other women who are building independently to take from what you’ve done here?
Christina Richardson: You can do it all. That’s the first thing. When I was coming up, everybody told me: pick a lane. And my spirit never agreed with that because I could see how everything was converging. I had my daughter one month before I graduated from college. I almost passed out crossing the stage because I was breastfeeding and not eating enough.
“Welcome failure. Stare it in the face and say — give me another one. Because that means you’re moving.”
I said it out loud at this point: that resonates with anyone. Not just women. Anyone who’s standing at the edge of something they don’t know how to get through yet.
Five Years From Now
Elliot Carlyle: What does the version of this look like five years from now?
Christina Richardson: Number one — I will be directing TV shows. Longer format. I want to be a director on shows like A Different World. That’s always been the goal since I was a kid. I’ve been rejected from every fellowship I’ve applied for — go figure — but it’s fine. It’s part of the process. My time is coming.
What the Pastor Said
Some things don’t come out until the end of a conversation. The things someone has been holding for years, waiting for the right room.
This was one of those.
Christina Richardson: I was like — what? I don’t even like kids. I was a young mom. I didn’t know anything. Besties wasn’t even a thought yet. And then, five years later, after I’d started my nonprofit, after I’d started directing — I was reminded that that happened. And I was like… oh my God. This is what she was talking about. Because I’m doing something with Besties that’s never been done before. And I’m going to be unleashing the next set of American actors and talent. These people in Besties are all going to be famous. I know that without a shadow of a doubt.
“God is good. And sometimes somebody sees you before you see yourself. All you have to do is trust the word they planted.”
The Origin of the Light
Elliot Carlyle: Who inspires you? Where does the fuel come from?
Christina Richardson: My mom. She passed in March 2018 — but she was my biggest cheerleader. She always knew who I was going to be, even before I did. She always said: Christina, it’s you. It’s always been you. And her energy is still something that keeps me going. Also my daughter Olivia — I love that she’s seeing her mom reach success, seeing her build from nothing, and still being present for her. And my sisters. My family. My community.
She told me that Season One — the original Besties, made with nothing but a camera and a cast — was shot in November 2018. Eight months after her mom passed. She had to put her energy somewhere. She had to do exactly what her mom always knew she would do. And so she picked up the camera.
The light she carries into every room? Now I know exactly where it comes from.
Season Three of Besties premieres October 15th, 2026 — on Instagram (vertical, in-feed) and on Tubi (long-form horizontal with extended scenes). All three seasons are distributed worldwide by FOX Entertainment Global.
Follow Christina Richardson: @crichmedia · Watch the series on Instagram at @bestiestheseries
The post Christina Richardson’s Flex: She Built It First appeared first on The Hype Magazine.
