ATLANTA — It has been a long, and exciting journey for recent Spelman College graduate Karma Bridges.

Karma Bridges, who is the eldest daughter of Atlanta hip-hop icon, actor, producer, and philanthropist Ludacris, graduated Summa cum laude at Spelman College in May where she majored in documentary filmmaking.

Karma recently spoke to WSB about her love for acting, her college experience, other exciting projects she is working on, and the global impact that Karma’s World has.

Karma began acting in elementary school and started working on plays at a young age.

“I knew that I always loved storytelling because of the impact that it had on me,” she said. “Whenever I would watch a movie or see a character that represented me or reminded me that I’m not the only one going through a certain experience, it had a magical impact on me. It made me more confident, more excited about life and creativity. I loved acting.”

The concept of Karma’s World began when Karma was a young kid. She said she would walk into Ludacris’ studio while he was rapping. She said she always wanted to be behind the mic as well.

Karma’s World is a hit animated show on Netflix that is based on real experiences in Karma’s life growing up. Like her father Ludacris once said, nothing happened overnight. We’re talking about a long time coming.

“Karma’s World is something that took over 10 years to get to the point that it is now,” she said. “For me, it’s just a reminder that if you have a dream, it starts off literally as an idea. You just have to build it from there. It is one of my favorite stories because it is a reminder that if you keep working hard at something, it will become even greater than what you imagined it could be.”

“He would set aside studio time for me to go in and talk about some of the things that are happening in my life. I would go into the studio and talk about friendships, and school. From there, he asked me what impact I wanted to have.”

She struggled at different points in school. The idea of Karma’s World continued to grow and with her father’s undying support, it blossomed. Some of the things that helped Karma was to create songs about certain things and it became like a release therapy for her.

That idea inspired Karma and Ludacris to create a website for Karma’s World.

“From there, we created a website,” Karma said. “I would just go into the studio and sing about some of the things I learned in school and I would talk about it on the website so other kids could go to the website, listen to the songs and learn. We also had educational music, and educational games on the website.”

Karma said talking about what was going on in her life made a difference in other kids’ lives.

“My dad had a bigger dream for Karma’s World,” she said. “When he told me he wanted to make it into an animated series, he made sure that I was an integral part of what I wanted the characters to look like, how I wanted them to be shaped. With animation, you have a lot of creativity.”

The first episode of Karma’s World is about Karma’s name and understanding what her name truly means. She said growing up, some of her classmates would tease her about her name.

“So many people know the saying about Karma so it centered around something negative. I was named Karma because Karma is actually a lesson learned from the universe for you to do better next time. A lot of people can relate to being insecure about their names.”

Karma said what makes the show so special is sharing some of her personal experiences growing up as a young black woman and how relatable some of those experiences are.

“Kids, teenagers, and adults can watch Karma’s World and find something that they relate to and that’s one of the most powerful things about storytelling,” she said. “On the other hand even if there is something that you don’t relate to directly, at least you learned something.”

Karma’s World first aired on Netflix in 2021 and has four seasons. In addition, Karma’s World inspired merchandise, dolls, clothing and more.

“I’m really thankful that my dad has kept up this dream and continued to push through. It wouldn’t be what it is today without him,” she said. “I’ve been able to see the impact that Karma’s World has made through people coming up to me and saying my daughter loves this show, seeing little girls dressing up as Karma for Halloween.”

Before she went to Spelman College, she worked on the Netflix film “End of the Road” which stars Queen Latifa and her father.

“For me, working on End of the Road was life changing. The film had a black woman lead, a black woman producer, and a black woman director,” Karma said. “I was working as a production assistant. You know everybody’s names and roles and it’s the best way how to learn about how film are made. I got to see through watching Tracey Edmonds and the director of the film how integral into the story they were and how much their roles contributed to the story.”

She said it is interesting to see how the different roles are and build an appreciation for what it takes to build a film.

“I started producing short films in college. I was in the AUC and was one of the founders of a business called Elevator Creative. It was an agency that brought creatives together whether you were a photographer, videographer, model, singer, actress. I was one of the key members, there were seven of us who started it. We built, and built, and built. There were tons of members in of our organization.”

Karma took online courses during freshman year of Spelman College due to COVID-19. During her sophomore year, she began to meet other creators and filmmakers.

She says writers would send scripts of their short films. Karma and other film majors would go into their friends apartments and film there or ask owners of restaurants to film there.

“I connected with a lot of different writers who were interested in film and I helped them bring their scripts to life,” she said. “I had access to a lot of equipment that Morehouse and Clark-Atlanta students didn’t have access to. I was the perfect producer because I could choose who I wanted on my crew, and teach them how to use the equipment, cameras. I was a leader in the Visual Arts Department. We would make it work.”

With the help of Spelman College Professor Anjanette Levert, Karma enrolled in a program called Semester Cinema that allowed her to take the second semester of her sophomore year off to work on an Indie film and take classes.

Semester Cinema officials choose around 40 students enrolled in film schools across the country.

Students then live on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts during production and post-production of a film.

“Professor Levert is such an amazing professor,” she said. “You can tell she loves the job and the program so much. She has been there for me from freshman year, through senior year and she is still there for me today.”

Karma is set to intern at 87 North Productions in September.

“Working in the arts, you’re going to hear more no than yes,” Karma said. “You have to have a lot of faith in yourself. My dad is one of my greatest inspirations. He really helped me during a lot of the obstacles that I’ve gone through. Some of the greatest things for me getting through situations like this is praying and knowing what is for me, is for me and any door that I walk through, I’m meant to be there. Talking to my family members, its always helpful to have a loving community. I feel so blessed to say I have an amazing tribe who is always there for me. Believing in myself. If I was chosen to be there, I was meant to be there.”

Karma is working on a series called “12 to 21″ which is a childhood best friend coming of age story. The series is in the beginning stages.

She said the film’s crew is holding a GoFundMe to finance the film and create the pilot. The whole goal is to make the pilot and pitch it to HBO.

“What makes it unique is in the pilot they’re actively pitching their story to a boardroom at HBO which is what is going to happen in real life,” she said.

Karma has a message for anyone chasing their dreams.

“Trust yourself,” she said. “It takes time for your dreams to come true. I think especially as a girl, it is easy to doubt yourself. Be bold and continue going after your dreams. God didn’t place your dream in your heart for nothing. It’s there for a reason. Trusting that you are meant to be at every level and in every space that this world has. The world is ours. You’ve got this.”