‘Camomile Lawn’ Novelist’s Estate Snapped Up By Ilp
International Literary Properties has acquired the estate of British The Camomile Lawn novelist Mary Wesley. Channel 4’s adaptation of The Camomile Lawn is Channel 4’s second most successful drama series of all time, according to Ilp, and the deal will see Ilp manage the rights to Wesley’s work. Having famously published her first novel aged 70, she also wrote the likes of Jumping the Queue, Harnessing Peacocks and The Vacillations of Poppy Carew, all of which have previously been adapted for film and TV. “Mary was an incredible woman, an extraordinary author and a very close member of my family,” said Wesley’s daughter in law, the author Xinran Xue. Deadline revealed last year that Ilp, which holds rights to the literary estates of Langston Hughes and Evelyn Waugh, had headed on a West Coast charm offensive and snapped up the estate of Somerset Maugham.
International Literary Properties has acquired the estate of British The Camomile Lawn novelist Mary Wesley. Channel 4’s adaptation of The Camomile Lawn is Channel 4’s second most successful drama series of all time, according to Ilp, and the deal will see Ilp manage the rights to Wesley’s work. Having famously published her first novel aged 70, she also wrote the likes of Jumping the Queue, Harnessing Peacocks and The Vacillations of Poppy Carew, all of which have previously been adapted for film and TV. “Mary was an incredible woman, an extraordinary author and a very close member of my family,” said Wesley’s daughter in law, the author Xinran Xue. Deadline revealed last year that Ilp, which holds rights to the literary estates of Langston Hughes and Evelyn Waugh, had headed on a West Coast charm offensive and snapped up the estate of Somerset Maugham.
- 3/7/2024
- by Max Goldbart, Jesse Whittock and Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo,” Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Negro.” “They lynch me now in Texas.” The year was 1922, and racial segregation was the norm in the United States. Anti-Black racism in the South was such a millstone that the U.S. Senate failed to pass an NAACP-sponsored anti-lynching bill in January of that year, a list of simple protections that was prevented from coming to a vote due to filibusters.
Hughes’s poem is one piece of ephemera that comprises the massive tapestry that is Soundtrack to a Coup d’État. Director Johan Grimonprez’s documentary is primarily focused on the Democratic Republic of Congo and its struggle for independence from Belgian colonialism, during which time our government was using Black jazz musicians to, in its diplomatic tango with the Soviet Union, paint a portrait of American liberalism as benevolent.
The documentary focuses on...
Hughes’s poem is one piece of ephemera that comprises the massive tapestry that is Soundtrack to a Coup d’État. Director Johan Grimonprez’s documentary is primarily focused on the Democratic Republic of Congo and its struggle for independence from Belgian colonialism, during which time our government was using Black jazz musicians to, in its diplomatic tango with the Soviet Union, paint a portrait of American liberalism as benevolent.
The documentary focuses on...
- 1/23/2024
- by Greg Nussen
- Slant Magazine
[This story contains spoilers from American Fiction.]
It’s not often that a filmmaker gets to premiere their project to an audience they’ve set their hyperspecific comedic sights on. But it’s an experience first-time director Cord Jefferson can now claim after his new film, American Fiction, made its east coast debut at the Hamptons International Film Festival this past weekend.
At one point in the film, Jeffrey Wright’s Monk — an author and professor who has become increasingly frustrated with the suffocating, microaggressive treatment of his work and his Blackness amid the rise of a fellow writer’s success — admits that white people in the Hamptons are going to eat up his new book, “My Pafology.”
The kicker is that the book is an entirely made-up, satirical take on Black life. It’s written by Monk under a pseudonym, which is attached to the identity of a (fictional) formerly incarcerated man who intentionally embodies racially...
It’s not often that a filmmaker gets to premiere their project to an audience they’ve set their hyperspecific comedic sights on. But it’s an experience first-time director Cord Jefferson can now claim after his new film, American Fiction, made its east coast debut at the Hamptons International Film Festival this past weekend.
At one point in the film, Jeffrey Wright’s Monk — an author and professor who has become increasingly frustrated with the suffocating, microaggressive treatment of his work and his Blackness amid the rise of a fellow writer’s success — admits that white people in the Hamptons are going to eat up his new book, “My Pafology.”
The kicker is that the book is an entirely made-up, satirical take on Black life. It’s written by Monk under a pseudonym, which is attached to the identity of a (fictional) formerly incarcerated man who intentionally embodies racially...
- 10/13/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In 1926, Langston Hughes wrote an essay about his disappointment in a young writer who expressed, “I want to be a poet — not a Negro poet.” Hughes used that lamentation to argue that this writer — of Black middle-class upbringing — wanted to be white. More interesting than Hughes’ pathologizing in “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” was his distillation of the time-worn tension among the Black artist, his work and his audience in a country founded on white supremacist ideals.
Black artists with mainstream aspirations in the United States indeed always come up against this nightmare scenario, rife with ignorance, projection, guilt and a dissatisfying seesaw of overhype and chronic underestimation. In 1955, James Baldwin penned an essay criticizing American protest fiction, a genre that he saw as over-sentimentalizing stories about Black people for the market. He accused his former mentor Richard Wright of peddling stereotypes in his novel Native Son instead of creating lived-in,...
Black artists with mainstream aspirations in the United States indeed always come up against this nightmare scenario, rife with ignorance, projection, guilt and a dissatisfying seesaw of overhype and chronic underestimation. In 1955, James Baldwin penned an essay criticizing American protest fiction, a genre that he saw as over-sentimentalizing stories about Black people for the market. He accused his former mentor Richard Wright of peddling stereotypes in his novel Native Son instead of creating lived-in,...
- 9/9/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The college and pro football seasons aren’t quite ready to get going in earnest, but the next generation of starts is about to start play! The 2023 High School Football kickoff returns to ESPN and ESPN2 starting Friday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. Et, showcasing some of the top talent from across the country. Some of these players have already made college commitments, and fans can watch their careers from the ground up with a 5-Day Free Trial of Directv Stream.
How to Watch 2023 High School Football Kickoff When: Starts Friday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. Et TV: ESPN, ESPN2 Stream: Watch with a 5-Day Free Trial of Directv Stream. 5-Day Free Trial $74.99 / month directv.com/stream
Save $30 Over Your First Three Months of Directv Stream.
About 2023 High School Football Kickoff
The 2023 High School Football kickoff on ESPN will feature seven games, with teams from all across the country. The games will...
How to Watch 2023 High School Football Kickoff When: Starts Friday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. Et TV: ESPN, ESPN2 Stream: Watch with a 5-Day Free Trial of Directv Stream. 5-Day Free Trial $74.99 / month directv.com/stream
Save $30 Over Your First Three Months of Directv Stream.
About 2023 High School Football Kickoff
The 2023 High School Football kickoff on ESPN will feature seven games, with teams from all across the country. The games will...
- 8/18/2023
- by David Satin
- The Streamable
Exclusive: Film and TV adaptations of works by the likes of Evelyn Waugh and Langston Hughes could be incoming following a deal struck between Artists, Writers & Artisans (Awa) and International Literary Properties (Ilp).
Fremantle and Sister-backed Awa will collaborate with Ilp on the slate of projects, with a view to developing some into film and TV adaptations and others into graphic novel reimaginings. The first project from the deal has been set and will be unveiled shortly.
Ilp holds the rights to numerous literary estates including that of Waugh, Hughes, Ann Rule and James M. Cain, and it has struck deals for projects such as Playground and Red Arrow Studios International’s Inspector Maigret adaptation. The company has a first-look deal in place with BBC Studios.
Awa, meanwhile, launched in 2018 and publishes graphic novels along with producing TV and film, such as the upcoming Chariot from Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski,...
Fremantle and Sister-backed Awa will collaborate with Ilp on the slate of projects, with a view to developing some into film and TV adaptations and others into graphic novel reimaginings. The first project from the deal has been set and will be unveiled shortly.
Ilp holds the rights to numerous literary estates including that of Waugh, Hughes, Ann Rule and James M. Cain, and it has struck deals for projects such as Playground and Red Arrow Studios International’s Inspector Maigret adaptation. The company has a first-look deal in place with BBC Studios.
Awa, meanwhile, launched in 2018 and publishes graphic novels along with producing TV and film, such as the upcoming Chariot from Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski,...
- 7/25/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
In what should have been a typical day at school for the celebrity group, model Amber Rose, 39, and TV personality Joseline Hernandez, 36, got into a heated debate about racial identity in an episode of College Hill: Celebrity Edition that ended in a physical fight.
College Hill is a reality show that follows college students that attend historically black colleges. The celebrity edition features a group of celebrities who live together as they go to college together. The celebrity group this season attends classes at Alabama State University and includes Parker Posey, Iman Shumpert, Tiffany NY Pollard, O’ryan Browner, Ray J and Kwaylon Rogers.
During their African American literature class with Dr. Jacqueline Trimble, Browner read a Langston Hughes poem called “Harlem Sweeties.” The professor then asked the class what they think the poet was talking about.
Hernandez, who is also known as the “Puerto Rican Princess,” offered her opinion first...
College Hill is a reality show that follows college students that attend historically black colleges. The celebrity edition features a group of celebrities who live together as they go to college together. The celebrity group this season attends classes at Alabama State University and includes Parker Posey, Iman Shumpert, Tiffany NY Pollard, O’ryan Browner, Ray J and Kwaylon Rogers.
During their African American literature class with Dr. Jacqueline Trimble, Browner read a Langston Hughes poem called “Harlem Sweeties.” The professor then asked the class what they think the poet was talking about.
Hernandez, who is also known as the “Puerto Rican Princess,” offered her opinion first...
- 6/12/2023
- by Rose Anne Cox-Peralta
- Uinterview
(Welcome to Movies Are Gay, a Pride Month series where we explore the intentional [or accidental] ways Lgbtqia+ themes, characters, and creatives have shaped cinema.)
Isaac Julien might not be a household name to even the most vocally self-professed cinephiles, but he certainly should be. As an installation artist and one of the founders of the Sankofa Film and Video Collective, Julien is a pillar of Black cinema history. His breakthrough feature is the docu-drama "Looking for Langston," which focused on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. But it was in 1991 that Julien debuted the masterful, Semaine de la Critique prize for Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival-winning "Young Soul Rebels" which helped bring him to a wider audience.
Set during the 1977's Silver Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth, "Young Soul Rebels" is a beautiful, poetic, at times devastating coming-of-age romantic dramedy, and also a thriller about a horrific homophobic hate crime.
Isaac Julien might not be a household name to even the most vocally self-professed cinephiles, but he certainly should be. As an installation artist and one of the founders of the Sankofa Film and Video Collective, Julien is a pillar of Black cinema history. His breakthrough feature is the docu-drama "Looking for Langston," which focused on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. But it was in 1991 that Julien debuted the masterful, Semaine de la Critique prize for Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival-winning "Young Soul Rebels" which helped bring him to a wider audience.
Set during the 1977's Silver Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth, "Young Soul Rebels" is a beautiful, poetic, at times devastating coming-of-age romantic dramedy, and also a thriller about a horrific homophobic hate crime.
- 6/2/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Daily Salinas, the Miami-area mother whose poorly reasoned complaint about “The Hill We Climb,” Amanda Gorman’s poem for Joe Biden’s inauguration, got it restricted in an area elementary school, is now defending herself against claims of antisemitism. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (Jta) reports that Salinas posted a meme to her Facebook citing “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a piece of virulently antisemitic Russian propaganda from over a century ago that falsely claims “Jewish Zionists” could take over the world by promoting socialism, communism, and despotism.
“I...
“I...
- 5/25/2023
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
When basketball fans gather to discuss the Greatest of All Time, the debates tend to be comparative. Russell vs. Wilt. Magic vs. Bird. The search for The Next Jordan or The Next Kobe or The Next LeBron.
The Current LeBron is still active in his own portion of the Goat conversation, presumably by virtue of his status as producer on Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse. But the newest TV series from James’ SpringHill company is more likely to evoke comparisons than any direct declarations of greatness. My notes on Disney+’s eight-episode The Crossover are scattered with references to other shows that the family basketball drama brought to mind.
It doesn’t quite achieve the lyrical poeticism of OWN’s David Makes Man or the earnest adolescent sincerity of Freevee’s High School or the proficiently executed basketball rush of Apple TV+’s Swagger or the enticing time-jumping mystery of The WB’s Jack & Bobby.
The Current LeBron is still active in his own portion of the Goat conversation, presumably by virtue of his status as producer on Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse. But the newest TV series from James’ SpringHill company is more likely to evoke comparisons than any direct declarations of greatness. My notes on Disney+’s eight-episode The Crossover are scattered with references to other shows that the family basketball drama brought to mind.
It doesn’t quite achieve the lyrical poeticism of OWN’s David Makes Man or the earnest adolescent sincerity of Freevee’s High School or the proficiently executed basketball rush of Apple TV+’s Swagger or the enticing time-jumping mystery of The WB’s Jack & Bobby.
- 4/4/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Riverdale is heading back to the squeaky-clean 1950s for its final season… but maybe things back then weren’t as squeaky-clean as they seemed.
Wednesday’s Season 7 premiere kicks off with “Rock Around the Clock” playing on the jukebox and Archie and the gang getting Happy Days-style intros, so we’re definitely back in the year 1955. Jughead likes that a hamburger and fries only cost 30 cents, but he doesn’t like that he’s the only one here who remembers they got zapped back in time by that meteor at the end of last season. He and his friends are juniors in high school again,...
Wednesday’s Season 7 premiere kicks off with “Rock Around the Clock” playing on the jukebox and Archie and the gang getting Happy Days-style intros, so we’re definitely back in the year 1955. Jughead likes that a hamburger and fries only cost 30 cents, but he doesn’t like that he’s the only one here who remembers they got zapped back in time by that meteor at the end of last season. He and his friends are juniors in high school again,...
- 3/30/2023
- by Dave Nemetz
- TVLine.com
Black History Month, pioneered by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1926, has been a fixture in my life for as long as I can remember. When you grow up in a Black church, and in other Black cultural institutions, there is often a Black History Month-themed program that the children participate in, and we all sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Negro National Anthem.
As I got older, I realized that these moments — little kids shuffling to the front of a stage to take their turn at a microphone to recite a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks or Langston Hughes, and the older adults watching with tears in their eyes and pride in their hearts — helped to form a foundation of knowledge about who I am, and who I dreamed I could be in the world.
Black History Month became a life calling for me as I went on to major...
As I got older, I realized that these moments — little kids shuffling to the front of a stage to take their turn at a microphone to recite a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks or Langston Hughes, and the older adults watching with tears in their eyes and pride in their hearts — helped to form a foundation of knowledge about who I am, and who I dreamed I could be in the world.
Black History Month became a life calling for me as I went on to major...
- 2/21/2022
- by Ryan Michelle Bathé
- Variety Film + TV
A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, classic novels by Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie and hundreds of thousands of pre-1923 sound recordings are among the works that entered that public domain on New Year’s Day 2022.
Dorothy Parker’s first poetry collection Enough Rope, William Faulkner’s first novel Soldiers’ Pay, and books by Langston Hughes, Willa Cather, T.E. Lawrence and more also joined Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in the public domain, the Associated Press reported.
“When works go into the public domain,...
Dorothy Parker’s first poetry collection Enough Rope, William Faulkner’s first novel Soldiers’ Pay, and books by Langston Hughes, Willa Cather, T.E. Lawrence and more also joined Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in the public domain, the Associated Press reported.
“When works go into the public domain,...
- 1/1/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
In October, I married the love of my life at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia. Among towering Asian statues and a replica of an Egyptian sphinx, more than 100 people made the wedding feel like a mini Met Gala. Our cake was designed by a transgender baker who had the Pride flag (including black and brown stripes) draped around it. We had a mixed-gender set of “groomspeople.” The Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision legalizing gay marriage was one of the readings during our ceremony. Our officiant was a Black...
- 11/27/2021
- by Ernest Owens
- Rollingstone.com
There is no one clear path to becoming a costume designer — that was made very clear during Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts: Film Costume Design panel with Ruth E. Carter (“Coming 2 America”), Janty Yates (“House of Gucci”), Kirsty Cameron (“The Power of the Dog”) and Clint Ramos (“Respect”). Watch our group roundtable above. Enjoy individual interviews with each designer by clicking that person’s name.
Cameron used to make clothes as a teenager and got her big break after art school when she was hired by Niki Caro for her first film, 1998’s “Memory & Desire.” I kind of put it all together when Niki asked me to work with her on some films,” Cameron says. “It just sort of pennies dropped and that was a long time ago now. I did her first feature, called ‘Memory & Desire,’ back in the ’90s. That’s really when sort of understanding.
Cameron used to make clothes as a teenager and got her big break after art school when she was hired by Niki Caro for her first film, 1998’s “Memory & Desire.” I kind of put it all together when Niki asked me to work with her on some films,” Cameron says. “It just sort of pennies dropped and that was a long time ago now. I did her first feature, called ‘Memory & Desire,’ back in the ’90s. That’s really when sort of understanding.
- 11/15/2021
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Samuel E. Wright, best known for voicing Sebastian in “The Little Mermaid,” has died at 74. Although portraying the singing lobster in the beloved 1989 Disney film was Wright’s biggest claim to fame, he also appeared in numerous television shows and theatrical productions.
Wright’s hometown of Montgomery, New York shared the sad news in a Facebook post Tuesday, highlighting the actor’s impact on the community through both his performing arts conservatory and his own jubilant personality.
“Sam and his family have impacted countless Hudson Valley youth always inspiring them to reach higher and dig deeper to become the best version of themselves,” the post said, “On top of his passion for the arts and his love for his family, Sam was most known for walking into a room and simply providing Pure Joy to those he interacted with. He loved to entertain, he loved to make people smile and...
Wright’s hometown of Montgomery, New York shared the sad news in a Facebook post Tuesday, highlighting the actor’s impact on the community through both his performing arts conservatory and his own jubilant personality.
“Sam and his family have impacted countless Hudson Valley youth always inspiring them to reach higher and dig deeper to become the best version of themselves,” the post said, “On top of his passion for the arts and his love for his family, Sam was most known for walking into a room and simply providing Pure Joy to those he interacted with. He loved to entertain, he loved to make people smile and...
- 5/25/2021
- by Alex Noble
- The Wrap
Samuel E. Wright, whose vocal portrayal of Sebastian the crab in Disney’s The Little Mermaid included the Oscar-winning “Under the Sea,” died yesterday. He was 74.
His death was announced on the Facebook page of the town of Montgomery, New York, where Wright lived. A cause of death was not specified.
“Sam was an inspiration to us all and along with his family established the Hudson Valley Conservatory,” the tribute states. “Sam and his family have impacted countless Hudson Valley youth always inspiring them to reach higher and dig deeper to become the best version of themselves. On top of his passion for the arts and his love for his family, Sam was most known for walking into a room and simply providing Pure Joy to those he interacted with. He loved to entertain, he loved to make people smile and laugh and he loved to love.”
Though known to...
His death was announced on the Facebook page of the town of Montgomery, New York, where Wright lived. A cause of death was not specified.
“Sam was an inspiration to us all and along with his family established the Hudson Valley Conservatory,” the tribute states. “Sam and his family have impacted countless Hudson Valley youth always inspiring them to reach higher and dig deeper to become the best version of themselves. On top of his passion for the arts and his love for his family, Sam was most known for walking into a room and simply providing Pure Joy to those he interacted with. He loved to entertain, he loved to make people smile and laugh and he loved to love.”
Though known to...
- 5/25/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” based on August Wilson’s 1982 play, is set in Chicago the summer of 1927 during a particularly contentious recording session between Ma Rainey and her band. It is a crucial time in her career. Ma has been usurped by blues singers Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters and “Queen of the Moaners” Clara Smith. Jazz has also become more popular than the blues. In fact, the 20s was known as the “Jazz Age.” Levee realizes that and wants to add jazz to Ma’s repertoire.
Produced by Denzel Washington, the Netflix release was directed by George C. Wolfe, who won Tony Awards for his helming of 1992’s “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” and 1996’s “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk.” Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who picked up a Tony in 1996 for his performance in Wilson’s “Seven Guitars,” penned the adaptation. Viola Davis portrays the famed blues singer and...
Produced by Denzel Washington, the Netflix release was directed by George C. Wolfe, who won Tony Awards for his helming of 1992’s “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” and 1996’s “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk.” Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who picked up a Tony in 1996 for his performance in Wilson’s “Seven Guitars,” penned the adaptation. Viola Davis portrays the famed blues singer and...
- 3/5/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
In the mid-1920s, budding writer Nella Larsen set her eyes on joining the ranks of the rising “New Negro” writers spilling out of the Harlem Renaissance like Rudolph Fisher, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and their leader and mentor Alain Locke. The Chicago native even relocated from New Jersey to Harlem to better place herself — and her husband, trailblazing physicist Elmer Imes — in the heart of the cultural action. While Larsen has not yet enjoyed the full recognition of her contemporaries, she produced two remarkable novels that continue to enthrall readers. The best known of the pair is “Passing,” a complex examination of race and sexuality set against the backdrop of the same ’20s-era Harlem that Larsen was so keen to be part of.
The book, like its predecessor “Quicksand,” is run through with details culled from Larsen’s own life, including her experiences as a mixed-race woman in...
The book, like its predecessor “Quicksand,” is run through with details culled from Larsen’s own life, including her experiences as a mixed-race woman in...
- 1/31/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
After an unprecedented number of Black performers received Emmy nominations this year, a record number of Black performers also picked up actual Emmy trophies.
Out of the 18 acting awards handed out at the 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, nine of them went to Black actors, which gives the performer parity with white actors, as no other people of color won this year.
This is a notable increase from last year, when 11.11% of acting winners were Black (16.67% Bipoc winners overall). All in all, the Television Academy has come a long way in the last few years: in 2013 there were zero Bipoc winners in the acting categories.
History was also made with Zendaya’s lead drama actress win for HBO’s “Euphoria.” It was also only the second time in the awards’ seven-plus decade history that a Black woman won that category. The first was Viola Davis in 2015 for “How To Get Away With Murder.
Out of the 18 acting awards handed out at the 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, nine of them went to Black actors, which gives the performer parity with white actors, as no other people of color won this year.
This is a notable increase from last year, when 11.11% of acting winners were Black (16.67% Bipoc winners overall). All in all, the Television Academy has come a long way in the last few years: in 2013 there were zero Bipoc winners in the acting categories.
History was also made with Zendaya’s lead drama actress win for HBO’s “Euphoria.” It was also only the second time in the awards’ seven-plus decade history that a Black woman won that category. The first was Viola Davis in 2015 for “How To Get Away With Murder.
- 9/21/2020
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
“Black-ish” star and nine-time Emmy nominee Anthony Anderson took the stage at the 72nd Emmy Awards to present the award for outstanding limited series, and took the opportunity to make a statement about Black Lives Matter and representation in Hollywood.
“Before we announce the nominees, I have a few things I’d like to say,” Anderson said to host Jimmy Kimmel.
As Kimmel began to tell him that this was not what they decided in rehearsal, Anderson cut him off:
“We have a record number of Black Emmy nominees this year, which is great. This is the part where the white people start to applaud.”
Kimmel appeased him awkwardly by clapping and nodding, as Anderson continued: “This Emmys would have been the NBA All-Star Weekend and Wakanda all wrapped into one. This was supposed to be the Blackest Emmys ever. Y’all wouldn’t have been able to handle how Black it was gonna be.
“Before we announce the nominees, I have a few things I’d like to say,” Anderson said to host Jimmy Kimmel.
As Kimmel began to tell him that this was not what they decided in rehearsal, Anderson cut him off:
“We have a record number of Black Emmy nominees this year, which is great. This is the part where the white people start to applaud.”
Kimmel appeased him awkwardly by clapping and nodding, as Anderson continued: “This Emmys would have been the NBA All-Star Weekend and Wakanda all wrapped into one. This was supposed to be the Blackest Emmys ever. Y’all wouldn’t have been able to handle how Black it was gonna be.
- 9/21/2020
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
On the heels of last week’s rebroadcast of John Ridley’s powerful 2017 documentary Let It Fall, about the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, ABC is again reaching into its vaults from 2017 for a re-broadcast of the two-hour special Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories that Changed America. The network special, which originally aired on January 11, 2017, commemorated the opening of the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. Quincy Jones and Don Mischer teamed to produce the momentous event, and in light of everything that has happened in this country in the weeks since George Floyd’s horrendous death, the pair felt the time could not be better to bring this program back.
Mischer tells Deadline that when he and Jones sent a letter to Bob Iger suggesting an encore of the special, he responded enthusiastically to the idea within 10 minutes.
Mischer tells Deadline that when he and Jones sent a letter to Bob Iger suggesting an encore of the special, he responded enthusiastically to the idea within 10 minutes.
- 6/24/2020
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Chicago – Back in 2017, I had the honor to talk to one of my favorite Chicago filmmakers, absorbing his highly tuned perspective. Lonnie Edwards broke out in 2014 with the award-winning short film “Parietal Guidance,” and from there has commented on black and societal issues with his films “A Ferguson Story,” “Exodus: Sounds of the Great Migration” and his latest “Periphery.”
After growing up in Chicago, Edwards was an installation artist before turning to filmmaking. After “Parietal Guidance” won numerous film festival awards, he turned his unique eye and filmmaking sensibilities toward the Michael Brown incident and Ferguson, Missouri, in “A Ferguson Story,” a film that began as a full length quasi-documentary that garnered interest from outside studios. Dissatisfied with that experience, Edwards recut the film to a shorter length, and moved onto to other projects, including the aforementioned “Exodus” and “Periphery.” He is also involved now with Future Galerie, a “unified...
After growing up in Chicago, Edwards was an installation artist before turning to filmmaking. After “Parietal Guidance” won numerous film festival awards, he turned his unique eye and filmmaking sensibilities toward the Michael Brown incident and Ferguson, Missouri, in “A Ferguson Story,” a film that began as a full length quasi-documentary that garnered interest from outside studios. Dissatisfied with that experience, Edwards recut the film to a shorter length, and moved onto to other projects, including the aforementioned “Exodus” and “Periphery.” He is also involved now with Future Galerie, a “unified...
- 6/15/2020
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Thirteen’s American Masters series and Philip Gittelman Productions, in association with Black Public Media, will develop a new documentary on opera singer Marian Anderson for PBS, sources exclusively tell IndieWire.
Affectionately known to audiences as “The Lady from Philadelphia” and “The People’s Princess,” the contralto, who died in 1993, is credited with breaking down barriers for African Americans in the arts, and galvanizing a fledgling civil rights movement with a 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in a brave protest against racial intolerance.
In 1936, Anderson became the first black artist to perform at the White House, and, in 1955, the first African-American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera.
Balancing her public triumph with her personal struggles and resilience, the documentary will trace Anderson’s impact as a talent whose career was steered by the limits imposed by racism and segregation. Despite racial prejudice, she became an internationally renowned star...
Affectionately known to audiences as “The Lady from Philadelphia” and “The People’s Princess,” the contralto, who died in 1993, is credited with breaking down barriers for African Americans in the arts, and galvanizing a fledgling civil rights movement with a 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in a brave protest against racial intolerance.
In 1936, Anderson became the first black artist to perform at the White House, and, in 1955, the first African-American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera.
Balancing her public triumph with her personal struggles and resilience, the documentary will trace Anderson’s impact as a talent whose career was steered by the limits imposed by racism and segregation. Despite racial prejudice, she became an internationally renowned star...
- 5/13/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Telling a heartbreaking tale of love that permeates the boundaries of the living and the dead, Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" is one of 24 classic poems brought to life with new artwork by Julian Peters in the upcoming collection Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry. Ahead of its March 31st release (just in time for National Poetry Month in April) from Plough Publishing Press, we've been provided with exclusive preview pages that combine Peters' new artwork with Poe's timeless words of love, loss, and undying loyalty.
Below, you can see a love so strong that it makes the angels jealous in our exclusive preview pages from Poems to See By. We also have the official press release with additional details, and to learn more, visit Amazon and the official websites for Plough Publishing Press and Julian Peters.
Press Release: Timed to National Poetry Month in April,...
Below, you can see a love so strong that it makes the angels jealous in our exclusive preview pages from Poems to See By. We also have the official press release with additional details, and to learn more, visit Amazon and the official websites for Plough Publishing Press and Julian Peters.
Press Release: Timed to National Poetry Month in April,...
- 3/13/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Given the industry’s dedication to sequels, Hollywood would do well to capitalize on this one: The 2020s seem on track to become a buoyant sequel to the 1920s, in all its frenzies and foibles – think the Roarin’ Twenties, Part II. But with the same ominous third act?
Consider the century-spanning parallels: The stock market was boiling in the 1920s, and so, as now, were the culture wars. The new media was eviscerating the old (remember radio?). Newly enfranchised women (even flappers) were pushing aside their inert bosses. Voters were applauding fiercely anti-immigrant legislation. In fact, the politicians’ rhetoric was veering relentlessly to the right with William Randolph Hearst playing the role of Rupert Murdoch, propping up President Warren Harding (he was Donald Trump without makeup).
Hollywood was enjoying this spectacle because the typical American was going to the movies once a week to capture the magic of Charlie Chaplin,...
Consider the century-spanning parallels: The stock market was boiling in the 1920s, and so, as now, were the culture wars. The new media was eviscerating the old (remember radio?). Newly enfranchised women (even flappers) were pushing aside their inert bosses. Voters were applauding fiercely anti-immigrant legislation. In fact, the politicians’ rhetoric was veering relentlessly to the right with William Randolph Hearst playing the role of Rupert Murdoch, propping up President Warren Harding (he was Donald Trump without makeup).
Hollywood was enjoying this spectacle because the typical American was going to the movies once a week to capture the magic of Charlie Chaplin,...
- 1/2/2020
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
The diverse team behind the anthology Tales from the Otherside has launched an Indiegogo campaign. Continue reading for more details on how they're raising funds for the pilot episode. Also in today's Horror Highlights: release details for the Gaslight podcast starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Amandla Stenberg as well as She Walks the Woods, and a Q&a with composer Bryce Jacobs for Daybreak on Netflix.
Gaslight Podcast Release Details: "Premise: Everyone thought Danny (Chloë Grace Moretz) had gone missing. Towards the end of senior year, she vanished one night leaving everyone confused and devastated including her closest friend in the world, Becca (Kelsey Asbille). Weeks later she leaves a message on her parents answering machine telling them she is ok... she’s left voluntarily and not to come looking for her. She also posts under a new and active Instagram profile and she appears to be happy and living with a new older boyfriend.
Gaslight Podcast Release Details: "Premise: Everyone thought Danny (Chloë Grace Moretz) had gone missing. Towards the end of senior year, she vanished one night leaving everyone confused and devastated including her closest friend in the world, Becca (Kelsey Asbille). Weeks later she leaves a message on her parents answering machine telling them she is ok... she’s left voluntarily and not to come looking for her. She also posts under a new and active Instagram profile and she appears to be happy and living with a new older boyfriend.
- 11/14/2019
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
The Big Three: “No dinner can go worse than the one where Mom botched the meal and unleashed an angry tirade in the kitchen.”
This week’s This Is Us: “Hold my burned-raw Cornish game hen.”
More from TVLinePhoebe Waller-Bridge Reveals Why She Removed an Abortion Joke From Her Saturday Night Live MonologueThis Is Us Boss Confirms [Spoiler]'s Potentially Imminent ArrivalThis Is Us 'Fight' Scene Deconstructed: Here's What You Didn't See
Tuesday’s episode shows how two gatherings in two different time periods start out teetering on polite, but eventually tumble into full-on hostility. It’s highly entertaining to watch,...
This week’s This Is Us: “Hold my burned-raw Cornish game hen.”
More from TVLinePhoebe Waller-Bridge Reveals Why She Removed an Abortion Joke From Her Saturday Night Live MonologueThis Is Us Boss Confirms [Spoiler]'s Potentially Imminent ArrivalThis Is Us 'Fight' Scene Deconstructed: Here's What You Didn't See
Tuesday’s episode shows how two gatherings in two different time periods start out teetering on polite, but eventually tumble into full-on hostility. It’s highly entertaining to watch,...
- 11/6/2019
- TVLine.com
Ten years after starring as Princess Tiana in Disney’s Oscar-nominated animated feature “The Princess and the Frog,” Anika Noni Rose reflected on her trailblazing role and the film’s lasting legacy.
“Being the first black Disney princess, that was such a first and it really has changed the way young brown children are looked at in school and fantasy when they are playing,” Rose told Variety at the Academy’s anniversary screening Thursday night at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. “It’s no longer ‘You can’t be the princess.’ It’s expected and normal.”
“And I see children of all different ethnicities wearing their Tiana gear so what it says is that she speaks to people on so many different levels,” Rose continued. “Babies aren’t looking at her for her skin color. When they see her and they look like them, they aren’t old...
“Being the first black Disney princess, that was such a first and it really has changed the way young brown children are looked at in school and fantasy when they are playing,” Rose told Variety at the Academy’s anniversary screening Thursday night at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. “It’s no longer ‘You can’t be the princess.’ It’s expected and normal.”
“And I see children of all different ethnicities wearing their Tiana gear so what it says is that she speaks to people on so many different levels,” Rose continued. “Babies aren’t looking at her for her skin color. When they see her and they look like them, they aren’t old...
- 9/6/2019
- by Ashley Hume
- Variety Film + TV
“Boomerang” has its writers’ offices in Universal City, but Ben Cory Jones considers his downtown Los Angeles home office his primary space. While he filled it with practical necessities such as a whiteboard and 1960s-style desk to force him to work, he also decked it out with a number of design touches, such as a gallery wall filled with mirrors and photos of icons including James Baldwin, Janelle Monae and Langston Hughes, to spark creativity.
Remembering Artists’ Roots
1920s Harlem is a source of inspiration for Jones, who keeps a manual typewriter behind his desk to evoke an earlier era. “We’re having somewhat of a black renaissance,” he says. “I feel like we’re in a heyday of content of people of color, and I’m really proud to be a part of that, but I like to think that what we’re doing is not dissimilar to what...
Remembering Artists’ Roots
1920s Harlem is a source of inspiration for Jones, who keeps a manual typewriter behind his desk to evoke an earlier era. “We’re having somewhat of a black renaissance,” he says. “I feel like we’re in a heyday of content of people of color, and I’m really proud to be a part of that, but I like to think that what we’re doing is not dissimilar to what...
- 6/10/2019
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
Need to catch up? Check out the previous This Is Us recap here.
The bright spot in this week’s otherwise pretty sad This Is Us? Even though the episode chronicles The Big Three’s high school graduations, it makes us sit through exactly zero minutes of the hackneyed speeches that usually accompany the rite of passage. There’s no quoting of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” or Langston Hughes’ “Dreams.” There’s no montage of tassels being moved from one side of the mortarboard to the other. There are no diplomas held high in triumph. And as...
The bright spot in this week’s otherwise pretty sad This Is Us? Even though the episode chronicles The Big Three’s high school graduations, it makes us sit through exactly zero minutes of the hackneyed speeches that usually accompany the rite of passage. There’s no quoting of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” or Langston Hughes’ “Dreams.” There’s no montage of tassels being moved from one side of the mortarboard to the other. There are no diplomas held high in triumph. And as...
- 3/6/2019
- TVLine.com
Chicago – Before everything else happened, Jussie Smollett was an actor from the TV series “Empire” and portrayed Langston Hughes in the film “Marshall” … featuring Chadwick Boseman of “Black Panther” as young Thurgood Marshall. Smollett walked the Red Carpet for the film in 2017, at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival.
In this extraordinary Flashback interview, Jussie talks about “truth,” being a temporary child actor and connecting to Langston Hughes. Smollett was born in Santa Rosa, California, and began his career as a child actor, appearing in “The Mighty Ducks” (1992) and Rob Reiner’s notorious “North” (1994), and was in a TV series with his five siblings called “On Our Own” (1994-95).
Jussie Smollett in 2017, on the Red Carpet at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
He stopped acting to focus on music, but he was able to combine acting and his new...
In this extraordinary Flashback interview, Jussie talks about “truth,” being a temporary child actor and connecting to Langston Hughes. Smollett was born in Santa Rosa, California, and began his career as a child actor, appearing in “The Mighty Ducks” (1992) and Rob Reiner’s notorious “North” (1994), and was in a TV series with his five siblings called “On Our Own” (1994-95).
Jussie Smollett in 2017, on the Red Carpet at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
He stopped acting to focus on music, but he was able to combine acting and his new...
- 2/22/2019
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Ethel Ayler, whose career spanned prominent Broadway, film and TV roles for five decades, died at age 88 on Nov. 18 in Loma Linda, Calif., according to her family. The cause of death was not given.
Born on May 1, 1930 in Whistler, Alabama, Ayler attended Nashville’s Fisk University as a voice major. But the lure of show business overcame the academic life, and she moved to Chicago to pursue a singing career. Her breakthrough came as a member of a touring company of Porgy and Bess.
Langston Hughes’s musical Simply Heavenly marked Ayler’s Off-Broadway bow in 1957, and she soon moved on to a role as Lena Horne’s understudy in the Broadway play Jamaica. She also worked on other Broadway productions, including The Cool World, Kwamina, Black Picture Show and The First Breeze of Summer.
Ayler was a long-standing member of the Negro Ensemble Company, and appeared with them many times.
Born on May 1, 1930 in Whistler, Alabama, Ayler attended Nashville’s Fisk University as a voice major. But the lure of show business overcame the academic life, and she moved to Chicago to pursue a singing career. Her breakthrough came as a member of a touring company of Porgy and Bess.
Langston Hughes’s musical Simply Heavenly marked Ayler’s Off-Broadway bow in 1957, and she soon moved on to a role as Lena Horne’s understudy in the Broadway play Jamaica. She also worked on other Broadway productions, including The Cool World, Kwamina, Black Picture Show and The First Breeze of Summer.
Ayler was a long-standing member of the Negro Ensemble Company, and appeared with them many times.
- 12/21/2018
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Innovators from across film, television, and digital media gathered at Variety‘s Inclusion Summit Thursday to discuss the state of diversity and representation within the entertainment industry.
Among the event’s keynote conversations and moderated panels were discussions with Entertainment Studios CEO Byron Allen, Oscar-winning “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins, and actress Eva Longoria Baston, who shared her experience as a female filmmaker and the struggles that come with it. Other topics included the entertainment industry’s disability community, the benefits of unscripted series, and the future of inclusive storytelling.
Here are some of Variety‘s biggest takeaways from the day’s discussions.
1) It’s possible to pump breastmilk while filming.
As a mother navigating the film industry, cinematographer Rachel Morrison said she’s trying to support other new mothers in her field, including one female Dp who discovered a way to pump breastmilk while filming with a handheld camera. Other...
Among the event’s keynote conversations and moderated panels were discussions with Entertainment Studios CEO Byron Allen, Oscar-winning “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins, and actress Eva Longoria Baston, who shared her experience as a female filmmaker and the struggles that come with it. Other topics included the entertainment industry’s disability community, the benefits of unscripted series, and the future of inclusive storytelling.
Here are some of Variety‘s biggest takeaways from the day’s discussions.
1) It’s possible to pump breastmilk while filming.
As a mother navigating the film industry, cinematographer Rachel Morrison said she’s trying to support other new mothers in her field, including one female Dp who discovered a way to pump breastmilk while filming with a handheld camera. Other...
- 11/17/2018
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
This Tuesday’s Black Lightning was centered on change: a change of heart for Jennifer… a change in the Pierce household… a change in policies at Garfield… and a change in pod research methods. (Tobias can be counted on to remain the same, though, despite being incarcerated.)
Fatal Vision
In a session with Perenna, Jennifer has a vision: She comes down the stairs to take pictures with Issa, so her family can take pictures of them before a dance. Khalil shows up, shocked to see she’s moved on. He kills Issa and all of the Pierces except Jennifer, who...
Fatal Vision
In a session with Perenna, Jennifer has a vision: She comes down the stairs to take pictures with Issa, so her family can take pictures of them before a dance. Khalil shows up, shocked to see she’s moved on. He kills Issa and all of the Pierces except Jennifer, who...
- 10/31/2018
- TVLine.com
We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about shows including Silicon Valley, The Good Doctor, Empire and Supernatural!
1 | Was Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. suggesting that Jemma is already pregnant with Deke’s mother, by having her hurl upon learning he’s her grandson?
2 | On Homeland, we get that Carrie is in one of her “bad mom” spirals, but wasn’t it straining credibility that she would bring daughter Frannie into the home of a dangerous Russian spy?
3 | Was Silicon...
1 | Was Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. suggesting that Jemma is already pregnant with Deke’s mother, by having her hurl upon learning he’s her grandson?
2 | On Homeland, we get that Carrie is in one of her “bad mom” spirals, but wasn’t it straining credibility that she would bring daughter Frannie into the home of a dangerous Russian spy?
3 | Was Silicon...
- 3/30/2018
- TVLine.com
Oh, c'mon.
It appeared that Lucy and Wyatt had gotten by their pasts and were looking forward to the future on Timeless Season 2 Episode 3.
But no.
Things just couldn't go easy for the Lifeboat team.
Well, at least their mission went fairly smoothly, anyway. Granted, it was the lesser part of the episode, but still ...
I'm loving the team's new, scrappy operating style.
For example, let's look at wardrobe.
Before, Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus could just dip into Mason Industries' comprehensive costume stores.
Related: Timeless Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Darlington 500
Now that they are the rebels rather than the Empire, they have to improvise more. This means robbing clotheslines, shoplifting or breaking into a movie studio's costume department. That's certainly one effective way to acquire period-appropriate clothing.
Need transportation? Have Wyatt hot-wire a car. Or Rufus, for that matter.
The trio has always had to think on their feet, but...
It appeared that Lucy and Wyatt had gotten by their pasts and were looking forward to the future on Timeless Season 2 Episode 3.
But no.
Things just couldn't go easy for the Lifeboat team.
Well, at least their mission went fairly smoothly, anyway. Granted, it was the lesser part of the episode, but still ...
I'm loving the team's new, scrappy operating style.
For example, let's look at wardrobe.
Before, Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus could just dip into Mason Industries' comprehensive costume stores.
Related: Timeless Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Darlington 500
Now that they are the rebels rather than the Empire, they have to improvise more. This means robbing clotheslines, shoplifting or breaking into a movie studio's costume department. That's certainly one effective way to acquire period-appropriate clothing.
Need transportation? Have Wyatt hot-wire a car. Or Rufus, for that matter.
The trio has always had to think on their feet, but...
- 3/26/2018
- by Dale McGarrigle
- TVfanatic
When the Timeless trio travels to 1940s Hollywood this Sunday (NBC, 10/9c), Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus are forced to improvise— to varying degrees of success — in order to maintain their cover.
In TVLine’s exclusive sneak peek, a movie studio guard confronts the Time Team and asks to see their IDs. Luckily, Rufus is (kind of) good at making stuff up on the fly. “Do you know who I am? I’m Langston Hughes,” he declares. Unfortunately, he goes on to mistakenly claim that the poet/playwright won the Oscar for co-writing the 1939 film Way Down South. When Lucy corrects him,...
In TVLine’s exclusive sneak peek, a movie studio guard confronts the Time Team and asks to see their IDs. Luckily, Rufus is (kind of) good at making stuff up on the fly. “Do you know who I am? I’m Langston Hughes,” he declares. Unfortunately, he goes on to mistakenly claim that the poet/playwright won the Oscar for co-writing the 1939 film Way Down South. When Lucy corrects him,...
- 3/23/2018
- TVLine.com
Feel free to take a seat, because Shaq and Joe Biden are here to read you some poems. In honor of National Poetry Month, PBS member station Wgbh and American Public Television will be premiering a 12-part television event that celebrates poetry through special readings and in-depth conversations. The series, which is called “Poetry in America,” will be hosted by Harvard University professor Elisa New and features individuals like U2 lead vocalist Bono, shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power, U.S. Senator John McCain, hip-hop artist Nas, singer/songwriter Regina Spektor, former President Bill Clinton, and “The New York Times” opinion columnist David Brooks.
Each episode will focus on a different poem and will feature various individuals reflecting on its history, social relevance, artistic value, and personal meanings. Scheduled poems include Carl Sandburg’s “Skyscraper,” Emily Dickinson’s “I Cannot Dance Opon My Toes,” and Langston Hughes’ “Harlem.
Each episode will focus on a different poem and will feature various individuals reflecting on its history, social relevance, artistic value, and personal meanings. Scheduled poems include Carl Sandburg’s “Skyscraper,” Emily Dickinson’s “I Cannot Dance Opon My Toes,” and Langston Hughes’ “Harlem.
- 3/6/2018
- by Kevin Yang
- Indiewire
Lena Waithe’s desire for how “The Chi” is received is heartbreaking. Quite simply, she hopes the show helps audience better see African Americans as human beings.
“As simple as concept as it is, it’s still something that people struggle with,” she told IndieWire’s Turn It On podcast. ” Black people are not 3/5ths human and we’re not all hooligans. Black boys aren’t born with a gun in their right hand and drugs in their left. They’re born with as much promise and hope as anybody else. ‘The Chi’ represents the humanity in us and the full breadth of who we are as a people. I hope people take that away from the show.”
IndieWire TV critic Ben Travers sat down recently with Waithe and fellow executive producer Common to discuss the show and how it came about. They began by discussing what inspired Waithe to create the show.
“As simple as concept as it is, it’s still something that people struggle with,” she told IndieWire’s Turn It On podcast. ” Black people are not 3/5ths human and we’re not all hooligans. Black boys aren’t born with a gun in their right hand and drugs in their left. They’re born with as much promise and hope as anybody else. ‘The Chi’ represents the humanity in us and the full breadth of who we are as a people. I hope people take that away from the show.”
IndieWire TV critic Ben Travers sat down recently with Waithe and fellow executive producer Common to discuss the show and how it came about. They began by discussing what inspired Waithe to create the show.
- 2/2/2018
- by Michael Schneider
- Indiewire
Ossie Davis’ children are inspiring a new wave of activists through their father’s legacy.
The film, television and Broadway actor, director, poet, playwright and civil rights activist who died in 2005 at the age of 87, would have celebrated his 100th birthday on Monday (Dec. 18). In honor of the centennial milestone, Nora Davis Day, Guy Davis and Dr. Hasna Muhammad Davis (the three children of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee) are highlighting their father’s “contributions to the struggle.”
“We know that if Dad and Mom were around now, they would want to be a part of this discourse around civil rights. This renewed activism, the challenging of the status quo, and augmenting the voices that are truly marginalized,” Hasna told Et during a phone interview on Friday. “Since he’s not here, we do have this opportunity to include his and Mom's voices, so that we can help attribute and provide historical context, and encourage the vehicle...
The film, television and Broadway actor, director, poet, playwright and civil rights activist who died in 2005 at the age of 87, would have celebrated his 100th birthday on Monday (Dec. 18). In honor of the centennial milestone, Nora Davis Day, Guy Davis and Dr. Hasna Muhammad Davis (the three children of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee) are highlighting their father’s “contributions to the struggle.”
“We know that if Dad and Mom were around now, they would want to be a part of this discourse around civil rights. This renewed activism, the challenging of the status quo, and augmenting the voices that are truly marginalized,” Hasna told Et during a phone interview on Friday. “Since he’s not here, we do have this opportunity to include his and Mom's voices, so that we can help attribute and provide historical context, and encourage the vehicle...
- 12/18/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
In the opening frames of the “Marshall” trailer, the future U.S. Supreme Court justice gets a setup worthy of a superhero: In the trailer’s opening frames, 32-year old NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) sips whiskey at a bar; a group of threatening racists gather around him. “You gentlemen are making a mistake,” says Marshall, in the tone of a calm badass as he steadies himself for the inevitable physical confrontation.
Boseman said a cocksure portrayal is the only logical interpretation. “His job was to be the lone attorney running around for the NAACP, dealing with cases in towns where there was racial prejudice and there was inequality,” he said. “Who has the arrogance to walk into those places and actually believe that they either will win, or they can set up the case in such a way that it can go to a higher level, and then you can win on that level,...
Boseman said a cocksure portrayal is the only logical interpretation. “His job was to be the lone attorney running around for the NAACP, dealing with cases in towns where there was racial prejudice and there was inequality,” he said. “Who has the arrogance to walk into those places and actually believe that they either will win, or they can set up the case in such a way that it can go to a higher level, and then you can win on that level,...
- 10/16/2017
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Previous | Image 1 of 7 | NextChadwick Boseman portrays Thurgood Marshall in ‘Marshall.’
Chicago – On the night before the nationwide opening of the new film “Marshall,” the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival was alive with the premiere Red Carpet event – both for the start of the Festival and for the film and its stars. Chadwick Boseman, Sterling K. Brown, Jussie Smollett and John Marshall (the son of Thurgood Marshall, the subject of the film) all walked the carpet.
The cast, crew and John Marshall all spoke to HollywoodChicago.com, with the following interviews taking place on October 12th, 2017.
In Part One of the Red Carpet interviews, Chadwick Boseman talks of the challenges of portraying Thurgood Marshall, Sterling K. Brown (“This is Us”) gives perspective on his character of Joseph Spell and Jussie Smollett (“Empire”) talks about his experiences on playing poet Langston Hughes.
In Part Two, Reginald Hudlin, director of “Marshall,” talks about...
Chicago – On the night before the nationwide opening of the new film “Marshall,” the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival was alive with the premiere Red Carpet event – both for the start of the Festival and for the film and its stars. Chadwick Boseman, Sterling K. Brown, Jussie Smollett and John Marshall (the son of Thurgood Marshall, the subject of the film) all walked the carpet.
The cast, crew and John Marshall all spoke to HollywoodChicago.com, with the following interviews taking place on October 12th, 2017.
In Part One of the Red Carpet interviews, Chadwick Boseman talks of the challenges of portraying Thurgood Marshall, Sterling K. Brown (“This is Us”) gives perspective on his character of Joseph Spell and Jussie Smollett (“Empire”) talks about his experiences on playing poet Langston Hughes.
In Part Two, Reginald Hudlin, director of “Marshall,” talks about...
- 10/15/2017
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
There are two very different explanations for why “Marshall” — ostensibly a biopic about Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice of the United States — isn’t really about Thurgood Marshall so much as it’s about a shaky Jewish lawyer who Marshall once coached through a case. The first (and more generous) of the explanations is that the world could use an inspiring film about different kinds of discriminated against Americans joining forces to fight the prejudice that betrays the promise of the nation they share. The second (and more sincere) of the explanations is that Hollywood still believes that white audiences need an entry point to stories about people who don’t look like them, a Virgil to take them by the hand and guide them — safely and without implication — down through an inferno of intolerance and then out the other side.
The two rationales behind telling this...
The two rationales behind telling this...
- 10/12/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Chicago – Tonight is the 89th Academy Awards, and Hollywood will honor their own in the annual lavish ceremony. In Chicago, there will be a similar celebration, as the Gene Siskel Film Center is throwing a “Hollywood on State” party, and honoring four local filmmakers at the event. Joining honorees Lori Felker, Jennifer Reeder and Michael Smith is filmmaker Lonnie Edwards, whose voice has made an impact ever since his awarding-winning debut in 2014, the short film “Parietal Guidance.”
After growing up in Chicago, Edwards was an installation artist before turning to filmmaking at the age of 32. After “Parietal Guidance” won numerous film festival awards, he turned his unique eye and filmmaking sensibilities toward the Michael Brown incident and Ferguson, Missouri, in “A Ferguson Story,” a film that began as a full length quasi-documentary that garnered interest from outside studios. Dissatisfied with that experience, Edwards recut the film to a shorter length,...
After growing up in Chicago, Edwards was an installation artist before turning to filmmaking at the age of 32. After “Parietal Guidance” won numerous film festival awards, he turned his unique eye and filmmaking sensibilities toward the Michael Brown incident and Ferguson, Missouri, in “A Ferguson Story,” a film that began as a full length quasi-documentary that garnered interest from outside studios. Dissatisfied with that experience, Edwards recut the film to a shorter length,...
- 2/26/2017
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The arrival of the cell phone camera may be the single greatest advancement in the fight for racial justice, allowing witnesses to hold police accountable and turning the average citizen into a chance documentarian. Grainy footage of police shooting 12-year-old Tamir Rice for playing with a Bb gun, or the shaky handheld live stream of Philando Castile’s last breaths are etched indelibly into the national memory, recalled in fragments with each fresh report of an unarmed black person gunned down by police violence.
For the black residents of Ferguson, Mo, the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. in 2014 was neither the first nor the last in a long line of police shootings, but it was the final straw. In the wake of Brown’s murder, what began as communal mourning swelled into an unstoppable movement that, as one subject of the electrifying new documentary “Whose Streets?” puts it: “Ain...
For the black residents of Ferguson, Mo, the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. in 2014 was neither the first nor the last in a long line of police shootings, but it was the final straw. In the wake of Brown’s murder, what began as communal mourning swelled into an unstoppable movement that, as one subject of the electrifying new documentary “Whose Streets?” puts it: “Ain...
- 1/20/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
This post originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly.
Whether he’s reading to kids at the White House, hitting up local bookstores on Black Friday, or giving recommendations to his daughters, President Barack Obama may as well be known as the Commander in Books.
Potus is an avid reader and recently spoke to the New York Times about the significant, informative and inspirational role literature has played in his presidency, crediting books for allowing him to “slow down and get perspective.” With his presidency coming to an end this Friday, EW looked back at Obama’s lit picks over the years...
Whether he’s reading to kids at the White House, hitting up local bookstores on Black Friday, or giving recommendations to his daughters, President Barack Obama may as well be known as the Commander in Books.
Potus is an avid reader and recently spoke to the New York Times about the significant, informative and inspirational role literature has played in his presidency, crediting books for allowing him to “slow down and get perspective.” With his presidency coming to an end this Friday, EW looked back at Obama’s lit picks over the years...
- 1/19/2017
- by Mark Marino
- PEOPLE.com
The company of Hamilton took top honors for best onstage presentation. In 'America,' the cast mashed up the music and lyrics of Bob Marley and Lin-Manuel Miranda and the poetry of Langston Hughes into a call for peace and equality in our country. Javier Muoz and Syndee Winters led the integration of song and word, with the cast channeling the duo's sentiments into a powerful, striking dance.
- 12/8/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
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The numbers are in and if there was ever any doubt that HBO’s Westworld has enjoyed a commendable opening run, official figures have revealed that a record 2.2 million tuned in for Sunday’s finale, “The Bicameral Mind.”
That’s up seven percent from last week’s penultimate episode, ensuring that much like the show itself, Westworld‘s season 1 ratings went out with a flourish. Not only that, but with an average of 12 million viewers across all available platforms, HBO’s genre mash-up now ranks as the most-watched first season of any original series in the network’s history. That’s quite the feat, and Westworld‘s landmark success has also been recognized in critical circles too, after it bagged a pair of WGA Award nominations – Best Drama Series and Best New Series – earlier this morning.
Looking back on the...
Click to skip More From The Web
The numbers are in and if there was ever any doubt that HBO’s Westworld has enjoyed a commendable opening run, official figures have revealed that a record 2.2 million tuned in for Sunday’s finale, “The Bicameral Mind.”
That’s up seven percent from last week’s penultimate episode, ensuring that much like the show itself, Westworld‘s season 1 ratings went out with a flourish. Not only that, but with an average of 12 million viewers across all available platforms, HBO’s genre mash-up now ranks as the most-watched first season of any original series in the network’s history. That’s quite the feat, and Westworld‘s landmark success has also been recognized in critical circles too, after it bagged a pair of WGA Award nominations – Best Drama Series and Best New Series – earlier this morning.
Looking back on the...
- 12/5/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
When news broke Tuesday that TV personality Miss Cleo - an actress best known as the face of the now-defunct Psychic Readers Network - had passed away from colon cancer, the Internet remembered a charismatic Jamaican woman with a signature catchphrase, "Call me now!" The woman who actually died, 53-year-old Youree Dell Harris, was a Los Angeles-born civilian who stumbled into a psychic career - and expressed regret over taking money from innocent people who called into her network asking for spiritual guidance to the tune of several dollars a minute. "If someone called me on the line and I...
- 7/27/2016
- by Patrick Rogers & Kate Hogan
- PEOPLE.com
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