American beauty Alli Joseph has a direct connection to the Academy Awards. She was a red-carpet reporter at the world’s glitziest and most-watched awards event, stopping A-listers and famous folk for interviews. Little surprise really that Joseph was a guest at James and Manuela Goren’s pre-Oscar viewing party at their Tryall Club home. Joseph, a former model who also worked as an NBC News and CBS News journo, and is now in the business of producing personal documentaries, accepts our invite to gab about covering the Oscars red carpet, her long-time connection to The Rock, and what Jamaican subject piques her interest for documentary ideas.

(Photo: Aceion Cunningham)

What are you sipping?

A glass of Rosé.

Jeans or an LBD?

Jeans always. I’ve never been a little black dress girl. I suppose I could pull it off but I always feel better when I’m comfortable, and when I’m wearing dresses, especially when it’s fitted, I’m always tugging at it and feel like it’s fitting in the wrong place.

Flats or stilettos?

Stilettos. I’m already tall and I’m of the mind that a statuesque lady always cuts a nice swath and flats also make my feet hurt.

What perfume are you spraying?

I am always very clean. I have Philosophy Pure Grace right now which smells like laundry and I get terrible headaches from very strong perfume, so I must go with something more sensitive and lovely.

Coming from a documentary and television-producing background, is it your hope to someday be an Academy Award nominee?

I wouldn’t say that’s one of my goals. It’s a lofty goal for those who have it. I used to be interested in that and now I’d just be fine just being part of creating films that are meaningful and help change people’s lives. I believe in doing well by doing good, and a trophy is neither here nor there.

What documentaries have you worked on?

I have worked on a documentary about my Shinnecock Indian nation, which is in South Hampton in New York. I have worked on a number of television productions, and tended towards news stories. I worked at NBC and CBS for the news departments on features about real people. I worked for The Early Show. I created a number of digital shows for some of the NBC outlets in New York. I’ve done all kinds of entertainment productions for VH1, worked for Extra! I was a red carpet reporter, so there were many celeb encounters.

What was your favourite red carpet memory covering the Oscars as a journalist?

I was reporting and producing some celeb interview segments on the red carpet during Oscar night some years ago for VH1 and up walked funnyman Robin Williams. As was the style of the time, I was wearing a midriff velvet wrap blouse by my friend, designer Vivienne Tam. Robin answered a few of the usual red carpet Oscar questions, then took note of my bare midriff and asked if he could play a song on my stomach and before I could say anything, he bent down and blew a noisy raspberry on me, then cracked up and walked away. I was so taken aback but my crew had a good laugh.

Is this your first visit to Jamaica?

It’s not. My father used to work for J Wray and Nephew in the ’80s. I would come over here with my dad and he would bring journalists to write favourable stories about Jamaica, the culture, the hotels and restaurants. He went to London when the Jamaica Bobsled Team was in the Olympics for the first time.

Does a documentary project on a Jamaican-related subject interests you any at all?

Absolutely. I always like stories about people empowering themselves and helping others. I would love to do something about female entrepreneurs in Jamaica and in cultures that are matrimonial, and I don’t know if Jamaica is, but if it’s anything like my Native American culture or the African-American culture, both of which I grew up in, I have seen women be the storytellers and the ‘holder-uppers’ who keep families together, and women often have great business ideas that are not heard.

What projects are you working on now?

Since I had my children, the greater portion of my time is spent in my own production company doing personal history. I took all of my production skills and created a production company called Seventh Generation Stories and what I do is take oral histories from the eldest members of private clients’ families and I create high-end documentaries that are personal, as well as very elegant coffee table books about the family history, so I work with genealogists and transform them into living pictures for future generations.

What’s your idea of the perfect man?

The perfect man is a gentleman. He opens doors, he stands up at the table for a lady, which my husband does. He is modern and evolved and believes a woman is an equal partner. He is educated and witty, and shares my sense of humour and also likes to spoil me a bit and must be a Class-A dad with the children.

Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Both my kids will be older and self-sufficient and in school. I will be fully back at work creating interesting content and hopefully films of value that move people and ultimately I can tie the concept that I make to a movement for change and helping people get up and take some sort of action, then I consider it a good day.