Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions — the company the actor/writer/producer founded with Rishi Rajani — now has an exclusive, multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Television Group. At Wbtvg, Waithe and Rajani will develop television projects for, according to the announcement, “all platforms, including WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable and the five broadcast networks.”
Hillman Grad’s previous deal was with Amazon Studios, but moved to Wbtvg after a “highly competitive situation.” The terms were not disclosed.
Waithe’s first project in the new pact will be to develop “Hoop Dreams” as a scripted drama, with Aaron Rahsaan Thomas (“S.W.A.T.”) set to executive produce and write.
Yes, director Steve James’ 1994 movie “Hoop Dreams” — the documentary that changed documentaries — is getting a scripted adaptation more than 27 years after it won the Sundance Film Festival’s audience award for best documentary. Waithe and Rajani will executive produce, as will Colin Callender,...
Hillman Grad’s previous deal was with Amazon Studios, but moved to Wbtvg after a “highly competitive situation.” The terms were not disclosed.
Waithe’s first project in the new pact will be to develop “Hoop Dreams” as a scripted drama, with Aaron Rahsaan Thomas (“S.W.A.T.”) set to executive produce and write.
Yes, director Steve James’ 1994 movie “Hoop Dreams” — the documentary that changed documentaries — is getting a scripted adaptation more than 27 years after it won the Sundance Film Festival’s audience award for best documentary. Waithe and Rajani will executive produce, as will Colin Callender,...
- 11/15/2021
- by Kate Aurthur
- Variety Film + TV
Lena Waithe has signed a big exclusive overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group. The studio landed the producer, actor and Emmy-winning writer and her Hillman Grad Productions in a very competitive situation.
Under the multi-year pact, Waithe and partner Rishi Rajani will produce new television programming through Hillman Grad for all platforms, including WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable, and the five broadcast networks.
In her first project under the deal, Waithe is developing a scripted drama inspired by the landmark documentary film Hoop Dreams, which was directed by Steve James, and produced by James, Peter Gilbert, and Frederick Marx.
Written by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, the coming-of-age drama would be following two African American teenage boys in 1990s Chicago experiencing the privileges and pitfalls of being high school basketball phenoms at the height of the Jordan era, and the start of high school players turning pro.
Under the multi-year pact, Waithe and partner Rishi Rajani will produce new television programming through Hillman Grad for all platforms, including WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable, and the five broadcast networks.
In her first project under the deal, Waithe is developing a scripted drama inspired by the landmark documentary film Hoop Dreams, which was directed by Steve James, and produced by James, Peter Gilbert, and Frederick Marx.
Written by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, the coming-of-age drama would be following two African American teenage boys in 1990s Chicago experiencing the privileges and pitfalls of being high school basketball phenoms at the height of the Jordan era, and the start of high school players turning pro.
- 11/15/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
The Criterion Channel’s July 2021 Lineup Includes Wong Kar Wai, Neo-Noir, Art-House Animation & More
The July lineup at The Criterion Channel has been revealed, most notably featuring the new Wong Kar Wai restorations from the recent box set release, including As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and his shorts Hua yang de nian hua and The Hand.
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The Oscars were built to highlight the cinematic year’s most audacious and outstanding achievements. Past snubs have left many of the industry’s finest filmmakers, actors and technical artists waiting for their first Dolby Theatre invitation. This year, multiple contenders are angling for an inaugural mention, even though it should be one of many. So who are they?
It’s always gratifying to see a veteran actor — in this case, Delroy Lindo — finally receiving the acclaim he’s deserved for his nearly 40-year career. Lindo’s role in Vietnam War drama “Da 5 Bloods,” which reunited him with director Spike Lee after 1995’s “Clockers,” could bring him his first nomination for best actor. But where were the voters in 1995 or in 1992 for “Malcolm X”?
Robin Wright hopes to drop into a very competitive Oscar race with her directorial debut “Land,” which is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Despite her work in “Forrest Gump,...
It’s always gratifying to see a veteran actor — in this case, Delroy Lindo — finally receiving the acclaim he’s deserved for his nearly 40-year career. Lindo’s role in Vietnam War drama “Da 5 Bloods,” which reunited him with director Spike Lee after 1995’s “Clockers,” could bring him his first nomination for best actor. But where were the voters in 1995 or in 1992 for “Malcolm X”?
Robin Wright hopes to drop into a very competitive Oscar race with her directorial debut “Land,” which is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Despite her work in “Forrest Gump,...
- 1/21/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Nominations for this year’s Academy Awards are still more than two months away, and without in-person events and screenings, distributors and awards strategists are doing their best to keep their rosters in the conversation. This marks the second year that AMPAS utilizes its Academy Screening Room (Asr), a digital platform for voting members to screen the films for awards consideration. This also marks the final year that studios and strategists will send DVDs to voters. As the entertainment industry remains crippled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all organizations, including AMPAS, continue to navigate the difficult time, working remotely and trying to operate transparently, in a time where “I don’t know” is the norm for any plans in the world.
On Dec. 22, the Academy uploaded a robust 93 documentaries for its branch members, bringing the total number of eligible features to 215, a record-breaking number that already surpasses the 2017 record of 170. Last year,...
On Dec. 22, the Academy uploaded a robust 93 documentaries for its branch members, bringing the total number of eligible features to 215, a record-breaking number that already surpasses the 2017 record of 170. Last year,...
- 1/8/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
To mark the release of Hoop Dreams on 2nd November, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on Blu-ray.
For five years filmmakers Steve James, Frederick Marx, and Peter Gilbert followed William Gates and Arthur Agee, two inner-city Chicago teenagers, documenting their journey of fulfilling their dreams of making it to the NBA. Every day the boys travel 90 minutes each way from their city homes to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school famed for its basketball programme. The resulting film, Hoop Dreams, chronicled Gates and Agee’s daily struggles with school, family, and community pressures as they attempt to reach their goal of professional basketball fame and glory. Breaking the barriers of a sports film, Hoop Dreams addressed issues of race, class, and privilege, and provided a rare insight into the industry of professional sport.
Please note: This competition is open to UK...
For five years filmmakers Steve James, Frederick Marx, and Peter Gilbert followed William Gates and Arthur Agee, two inner-city Chicago teenagers, documenting their journey of fulfilling their dreams of making it to the NBA. Every day the boys travel 90 minutes each way from their city homes to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school famed for its basketball programme. The resulting film, Hoop Dreams, chronicled Gates and Agee’s daily struggles with school, family, and community pressures as they attempt to reach their goal of professional basketball fame and glory. Breaking the barriers of a sports film, Hoop Dreams addressed issues of race, class, and privilege, and provided a rare insight into the industry of professional sport.
Please note: This competition is open to UK...
- 10/26/2020
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The absence of live sports during the novel coronavirus pandemic doesn’t mean a dearth of interesting sports narratives. There’s a whole ecosystem of documentaries telling tales from in and around the world of athletics that many sports fans have yet to discover.
The Last Dance, ESPN’s 10-part saga chronicling the final season of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls championship dynasty, already has its hooks into hungry hoop heads. Den of Geek also recently offered choice selections from the meaty back catalog of docs available on ESPN+.
The 30 for 30 collection from ESPN is great and all, but the Worldwide Leader hasn’t cornered the market on brilliant non-fiction sports storytelling. Consider these 10 must-watch sports documentaries, all of which can be found either for free or included in streaming subscriptions, if you’re looking for more fascinating sports stories until the live action resumes.
Hoop Dreams
Streaming on HBO Now...
The Last Dance, ESPN’s 10-part saga chronicling the final season of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls championship dynasty, already has its hooks into hungry hoop heads. Den of Geek also recently offered choice selections from the meaty back catalog of docs available on ESPN+.
The 30 for 30 collection from ESPN is great and all, but the Worldwide Leader hasn’t cornered the market on brilliant non-fiction sports storytelling. Consider these 10 must-watch sports documentaries, all of which can be found either for free or included in streaming subscriptions, if you’re looking for more fascinating sports stories until the live action resumes.
Hoop Dreams
Streaming on HBO Now...
- 4/30/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Movies which centre their stories on competitive sports will always find an eager audience at the cinema. They are often filled with drama, heart-stopping action, and perfectly capture the ever swinging emotional pendulum of hope and fear.
And whether the sports are played in a high school gym or a stadium filled with thousands and millions more watching on at home, the conflict and fortitude necessary to win against the odds will always resonate with us. This is exactly what excites sports fans too, with the online sports betting community at an all-time high with NBA odds being constantly updated.
Here we celebrate the some inspirational Basketball movies.
Hoop Dreams
Few documentaries have captured the rawness of hope better than Steve James and Frederick Marx’s Hoop Dreams. Originally planned as a half hour PBS special on two African-American Chicago high schoolers as they chase their dreams of playing professional basketball,...
And whether the sports are played in a high school gym or a stadium filled with thousands and millions more watching on at home, the conflict and fortitude necessary to win against the odds will always resonate with us. This is exactly what excites sports fans too, with the online sports betting community at an all-time high with NBA odds being constantly updated.
Here we celebrate the some inspirational Basketball movies.
Hoop Dreams
Few documentaries have captured the rawness of hope better than Steve James and Frederick Marx’s Hoop Dreams. Originally planned as a half hour PBS special on two African-American Chicago high schoolers as they chase their dreams of playing professional basketball,...
- 12/15/2019
- by Michael Walsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Last Friday, 1,000 people gathered in Chicago to pay tribute to 50 years of Kartemquin, a non-profit documentary company that was started by three Univerisity of Chicago students amidst the political activism and direct cinema movement of the 1960s. When Stan Karter, Jerry Temaner and Gordon Quinn founded the documentary unit in 1966 the mission was to challenge social power-structures by telling intimate stories of ordinary people. Over the years that mission has largely stayed intact, but the method and approach as the company evolved and grew.
Gallery: Kartemquin’s 50 Year History in Pictures
In the 1970s, Kartemquin veered away from auteurism and entered their “collective” period. During this time they took a large step in the direction of left-wing activism and agitprop filmmaking, often becoming partners with those struggling for labor, women’s and civil rights by tackling issues of women’s healthcare, gentrification, race and poverty.
In the 1980s, Kartemquin left...
Gallery: Kartemquin’s 50 Year History in Pictures
In the 1970s, Kartemquin veered away from auteurism and entered their “collective” period. During this time they took a large step in the direction of left-wing activism and agitprop filmmaking, often becoming partners with those struggling for labor, women’s and civil rights by tackling issues of women’s healthcare, gentrification, race and poverty.
In the 1980s, Kartemquin left...
- 6/29/2016
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
That I’m able to write these words as a working documentary filmmaker already speaks to the broad and overwhelming impact of what Steve James, Frederick Marx, and Peter Gilbert pulled off in 1994 with Hoop Dreams. Their film uncovered the dynamic storytelling and commercial possibilities of narrative nonfiction and remains vastly influential in how we conceive of, create and distribute documentary films. Still, twenty years after the movie surprisingly broke through at Sundance and changed the game, how does it hold up? >> - Robert Greene...
- 7/3/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
That I’m able to write these words as a working documentary filmmaker already speaks to the broad and overwhelming impact of what Steve James, Frederick Marx, and Peter Gilbert pulled off in 1994 with Hoop Dreams. Their film uncovered the dynamic storytelling and commercial possibilities of narrative nonfiction and remains vastly influential in how we conceive of, create and distribute documentary films. Still, twenty years after the movie surprisingly broke through at Sundance and changed the game, how does it hold up? >> - Robert Greene...
- 7/3/2015
- Keyframe
“This is one of the best films about American life that I have ever seen”, Roger Ebert famously stated during the first of many reviews of director Steve James, cinematographer Peter Gilbert and editor Frederick Marx’s still remarkable basketball documentary, Hoop Dreams, on Siskel & Ebert over the course of the film’s 1994-95 run. Having set out to make a film on street basketball players in Chicago during the mid-80s, the fledgling filmmakers never could have conceived of the vast narrative of American life’s unpredictable twists and turns that Ebert so staunchly spoke of. Today, now over two decades old, restored by the Academy which originally snubbed it so shamefully back in 1995, it looks better than it ever has and still rings of supreme cultural relevancy within the interweavings of sport, family, education and poverty.
At its core, Hoop Dreams is essentially a parable for the American dream itself.
At its core, Hoop Dreams is essentially a parable for the American dream itself.
- 4/21/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance Institute today announced that the newly-restored, acclaimed documentary Hoop Dreams will screen in the "From the Collection" program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, 20 years after the film made its world premiere at the 1994 Festival. The recently completed restoration represents the collaborative effort of Sundance Institute, UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Academy Film Archive and Kartemquin Films. Filmmakers Steve James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx and subject Arthur Agee are expected to participate in an extended Q&A immediately following the January 20 screening. The 2014 Festival will be January 16-26 in Park City,...
- 12/11/2013
- by Natasha Greeves
- ShadowAndAct
Festival top brass will mark the 20th anniversary of Steve James’ celebrated basketball documentary with a screening in From The Collection.
Hoop Dreams premiered in Park City in 1994 where it won the audience award for best documentary.
The film has been restored under the auspices of the Sundance Institute, UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Academy Film Archive and Kartemquin Films.
Film-makers James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx and subject Arthur Agee are expected to participate in an extended Q&A following the January 20 screening.
“Hoop Dreams completely changed the way we experience documentary films and the stories they tell,” said Sundance senior programmer John Nein. “And that profound impact is still being felt 20 years later.”...
Hoop Dreams premiered in Park City in 1994 where it won the audience award for best documentary.
The film has been restored under the auspices of the Sundance Institute, UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Academy Film Archive and Kartemquin Films.
Film-makers James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx and subject Arthur Agee are expected to participate in an extended Q&A following the January 20 screening.
“Hoop Dreams completely changed the way we experience documentary films and the stories they tell,” said Sundance senior programmer John Nein. “And that profound impact is still being felt 20 years later.”...
- 12/11/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Fighting, dying, hoping, hating … great sports films are about far more than sport itself. Here Guardian and Observer critics pick their 10 best
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• Top 10 animated movies
• Top 10 silent movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. This Sporting Life
Lindsay Anderson brought to bear on his adaptation of David Storey's first novel, all the poetic-realist instincts he had been honing for the previous decade as a documentarian in the Humphrey Jennings mould. (Anderson had won the 1953 best doc Oscar for Thursday's Children.) Filmed partly in Halifax and Leeds, but mainly in and around Wakefield Trinity Rugby League Club, one of its incidental attractions is its record of a northern, working-class sports culture that would change out of all recognition over the next couple of decades.
The story of Frank Machin, a miner who becomes a star on the rugby field,...
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• Top 10 animated movies
• Top 10 silent movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. This Sporting Life
Lindsay Anderson brought to bear on his adaptation of David Storey's first novel, all the poetic-realist instincts he had been honing for the previous decade as a documentarian in the Humphrey Jennings mould. (Anderson had won the 1953 best doc Oscar for Thursday's Children.) Filmed partly in Halifax and Leeds, but mainly in and around Wakefield Trinity Rugby League Club, one of its incidental attractions is its record of a northern, working-class sports culture that would change out of all recognition over the next couple of decades.
The story of Frank Machin, a miner who becomes a star on the rugby field,...
- 11/25/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
"For a decade starting in the late 60s, the Kashmere Stage Band — a funk-infused outfit rooted in a poor, predominantly black neighborhood in northeast Houston — built a reputation as the most formidable high school band in the country." Scott Tobias for NPR: "Under the leadership of Conrad O Johnson Sr, a prodigious musician in his own right (he once played with Count Basie), the band zigged where others zagged, embracing the sounds (and moves) of James Brown and Otis Redding while its peers were mimicking the ossified standards of 40s big bands. In competition — and on recordings — the contrast was clear: The Kashmere Stage Band was lively, exuberant, spontaneous and contemporary, and the also-rans were square nostalgists."
"Three decades after graduation, members reunite to honor their beloved 93-year-old bandleader, teacher and role model," writes Eric Hynes in Time Out New York. "Amid its celebrations of black power, ambitious Afros and fly female trombonists,...
"Three decades after graduation, members reunite to honor their beloved 93-year-old bandleader, teacher and role model," writes Eric Hynes in Time Out New York. "Amid its celebrations of black power, ambitious Afros and fly female trombonists,...
- 9/25/2011
- MUBI
Today, fifteen years after I first saw it, I believe "Hoop Dreams" is the great American documentary. No other documentary has ever touched me more deeply. It was relevant then, and today, as inner city neighborhoods sink deeper into the despair of children murdering children, it is more relevant. It tells the stories of two 14-year-olds, Arthur Agee and William Gates, how they dreamed of stardom in the NBA, and how basketball changed their lives. Basketball, and this film.
Photo copyright by Roka Walsh. Used with permission
"Hoop Dreams" observed its 15th anniversary Wednesday night at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Agee and Gates were both there. Gates, now a minister, observed that in one period of time he buried 20 victims of gang violence, 16 of them under 16. Agee said when he looks at his friends in the film today, "ten of them are no longer with us." Yet there they sat,...
Photo copyright by Roka Walsh. Used with permission
"Hoop Dreams" observed its 15th anniversary Wednesday night at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Agee and Gates were both there. Gates, now a minister, observed that in one period of time he buried 20 victims of gang violence, 16 of them under 16. Agee said when he looks at his friends in the film today, "ten of them are no longer with us." Yet there they sat,...
- 11/8/2009
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
After walking 17 four-to-twelve-year-old kids over a 17,500 foot pass from one of the most remote places on earth to a Buddhist monastery, Frederick Marx is coming home to Chicago to lead us on a journey toward the place in our hearts that'll help these children finish their education. Marx - now fifteen years removed from his star turn as the writer/producer who brought us the story of two black Chicago high school students who thought they had a shot at being pro basketball players in the critically acclaimed documentary Hoop Dreams - is again giving us the opportunity to study how people sacrifice in order to gain. In The Journey from Zanskar, Marx chronicles the passage of a small band of children who were delivered by two Dalai Lama-dispatched monks from their remote village to a monastery where they'll get the...
- 6/18/2009
- by Esther J. Cepeda
- Huffington Post
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