Today, Jan. 1, isn’t just New Year’s Day — it’s also Public Domain Day, where thousands of cinematic treasures, literary classics, Great American Songbook selections, and works of art see their copyrights expire and enter the public domain.
The headliner this year is the fair use of Mickey Mouse — at least, the Steamboat Willie version of the beloved character — as that copyright expiration has been anticipated for years. However, there’s much more than just Mickey entering the public domain in 2024.
Jennifer Jenkins, Director of Duke’s Center for...
The headliner this year is the fair use of Mickey Mouse — at least, the Steamboat Willie version of the beloved character — as that copyright expiration has been anticipated for years. However, there’s much more than just Mickey entering the public domain in 2024.
Jennifer Jenkins, Director of Duke’s Center for...
- 1/1/2024
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Noname’s second studio album, Sundial, synthesizes everything that the firebrand rapper, née Fatimah Warner, excels at. Tracks like “Balloons” and “Afro Futurism” feature some of the fiercest political critiques and nimbly performed rapping of Warner’s career. Her delivery is poised yet casual, her charmingly nasal voice full of weariness and vulnerability.
For all its musings about American society, geopolitics, and where Warner fits into all of it, Sundial retains a certain goofy playfulness. “Boomboom,” for one, is fun and melodic, with digressions about both eating pussy and sucking dick, some W.E.B. Du Bois puns, and a honey-sweet chorus sung by Barbadian songstress Ayoni. And Warner delightfully presents even the thorniest of verses in a hooky patter on tracks like opener “Black Mirror”: “We smokin’ positivity like dust, trust/Angels never fucked with us/Shadowbox the sun down ‘til sundown.”
Even songs without official guest verses, like “Beauty Supply,...
For all its musings about American society, geopolitics, and where Warner fits into all of it, Sundial retains a certain goofy playfulness. “Boomboom,” for one, is fun and melodic, with digressions about both eating pussy and sucking dick, some W.E.B. Du Bois puns, and a honey-sweet chorus sung by Barbadian songstress Ayoni. And Warner delightfully presents even the thorniest of verses in a hooky patter on tracks like opener “Black Mirror”: “We smokin’ positivity like dust, trust/Angels never fucked with us/Shadowbox the sun down ‘til sundown.”
Even songs without official guest verses, like “Beauty Supply,...
- 12/14/2023
- by Charles Lyons-Burt
- Slant Magazine
“As goes the South, goes the rest of the country,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, paraphrasing W.E.B. DuBois, said in The South Got Something to Say, the upcoming hip-hop documentary from the film division of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Directed by Ryon and Tyson Horne, the first project from Ajc Films examines the music genre’s role and power in Atlanta, the cultural capital of the South. Launching off the night in 1995 that Outkast won the best new artist at the Source Awards, the documentary includes conversations with Killer Mike, the legendary Goodie Mob, Silk Tymes Leather’s Jordan Victoria, rapper and Love & Hip Hop Atlanta star Rasheeda, Jermaine Dupri, journalist Sonia Murray, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, former Mayor Andrew Young, Warnock and others.
“This is more than just a music documentary,” Ajc president and publisher Andrew Morse said of the film and the greater initiative the paper is undertaking. The former CNN+ chief said that that doc,...
Directed by Ryon and Tyson Horne, the first project from Ajc Films examines the music genre’s role and power in Atlanta, the cultural capital of the South. Launching off the night in 1995 that Outkast won the best new artist at the Source Awards, the documentary includes conversations with Killer Mike, the legendary Goodie Mob, Silk Tymes Leather’s Jordan Victoria, rapper and Love & Hip Hop Atlanta star Rasheeda, Jermaine Dupri, journalist Sonia Murray, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, former Mayor Andrew Young, Warnock and others.
“This is more than just a music documentary,” Ajc president and publisher Andrew Morse said of the film and the greater initiative the paper is undertaking. The former CNN+ chief said that that doc,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Iconic actor, musician, and lifelong activist Harry Belafonte has died at the age of 96. The cause, per his longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine, was congestive heart failure.
Belafonte’s singing shaped a musical consciousness for generations of Americans, from traditional folk music and spirituals to Caribbean calypso and protest songs. His acting in films such as “Carmen Jones” and “Odds Against Tomorrow” won praise and helped pave the way for Black performers who would follow. And his activism took him to the front lines of the civil rights movement, where he marched with Martin Luther King Jr., lobbied for the release of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela, and joined other stars to raise money for famine relief on the African continent. Realizing from an early age the power of celebrity to advance social change, Belafonte was among the rare few to have been equally entrenched in the worlds of entertainment and politics with genuine results to spare.
Belafonte’s singing shaped a musical consciousness for generations of Americans, from traditional folk music and spirituals to Caribbean calypso and protest songs. His acting in films such as “Carmen Jones” and “Odds Against Tomorrow” won praise and helped pave the way for Black performers who would follow. And his activism took him to the front lines of the civil rights movement, where he marched with Martin Luther King Jr., lobbied for the release of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela, and joined other stars to raise money for famine relief on the African continent. Realizing from an early age the power of celebrity to advance social change, Belafonte was among the rare few to have been equally entrenched in the worlds of entertainment and politics with genuine results to spare.
- 4/25/2023
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Respectability has been a pillar of Black American culture since Emancipation. Since Black people arrived on the shores of America, we have been subjected to hardships and cruelties based solely on our skin color. For centuries we’ve combated horrible stereotypes in our everyday lives and American popular culture. For Black women, in particular, being anything other than docile and likable meant that you could be seen as masculine, mean, overly sexual, asexual, and conniving. These terms were weaponized against Black people by outsiders and insiders like W.E.B Dubois, who touted his talented tenth, the most educated of the race, as the epitome of “good” Blackness and the embattled Bill Cosby with his “perfect” portrayal of the Black family in “The Cosby Show.”
Though respectability has been lauded as a tool for full citizenship in the Black community, it’s a falsehood. More than that, the performance of likability is exhausting.
Though respectability has been lauded as a tool for full citizenship in the Black community, it’s a falsehood. More than that, the performance of likability is exhausting.
- 2/3/2023
- by Aramide A Tinubu
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Fisk University made history earlier this year by becoming the first Hbcu gymnastics team to compete at an NCAA event.
The Nashville school and its team will now be the subject of a docuseries from filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper and wiip.
Flipped (w/t) will follow college gymnastics’ only all Bipoc team as they navigate the pressures of their first season while challenging the stereotypes and norms in women’s athletics. With no university gym of their own, Coach Corrinne Tarver and her gymnastics team at Fisk University, consisting primarily of first-year college students, aim to take on the best in NCAA gymnastics without mitigating or changing who they are as women of color.
The series features access to the coaches, student athletes, parents, and administrators at Fisk University and the trials and triumphs of Hbcu sports.
The team, which included several Division-i athletes who de-committed from high-profile programs,...
The Nashville school and its team will now be the subject of a docuseries from filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper and wiip.
Flipped (w/t) will follow college gymnastics’ only all Bipoc team as they navigate the pressures of their first season while challenging the stereotypes and norms in women’s athletics. With no university gym of their own, Coach Corrinne Tarver and her gymnastics team at Fisk University, consisting primarily of first-year college students, aim to take on the best in NCAA gymnastics without mitigating or changing who they are as women of color.
The series features access to the coaches, student athletes, parents, and administrators at Fisk University and the trials and triumphs of Hbcu sports.
The team, which included several Division-i athletes who de-committed from high-profile programs,...
- 1/30/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
“We don’t have no movies about Marcus Garvey and the Black Star Line,” Chance the Rapper tells me about the influential Pan-Africanist leader and his short-lived steamship company designed to facilitate travel and commerce across the Black diaspora. “I think it’d be really powerful for Black people to see and envision themselves on boats, like on top of them, not underneath, as chattel, but to be the voyagers and the directors of our future.”
Though Garvey’s Black Star Line crumbled under the weight of sabotage by the...
Though Garvey’s Black Star Line crumbled under the weight of sabotage by the...
- 11/22/2022
- by Mankaprr Conteh
- Rollingstone.com
There’s a rhythm to The Inspection, written and directed by Elegance Bratton, that holds the viewer’s attention from minute one. A bristling opening quickly catapulted into an intense central narrative. Fitting snugly into the engaging subgenre of boot camp pictures, Bratton’s film tells the story of Ellis French, a Black, gay young man on a quest for purpose. Jeremy Pope plays French with aplomb, a star-making turn to be sure. Gabrielle Union and Bokeem Woodbine also put in great work in supporting roles.
As the film opens in theaters, The Film Stage had the pleasure of speaking with Bratton about his narrative debut, its autobiographical origins, the challenges in getting it made, and the truly singular score that drives both the pace and the character motivation.
The Film Stage: I watched the film last night and was reading some press ahead of this interview. I saw you...
As the film opens in theaters, The Film Stage had the pleasure of speaking with Bratton about his narrative debut, its autobiographical origins, the challenges in getting it made, and the truly singular score that drives both the pace and the character motivation.
The Film Stage: I watched the film last night and was reading some press ahead of this interview. I saw you...
- 11/18/2022
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Click here to read the full article.
Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ second major temporary exhibition, opening Aug. 21, is a nuanced exploration of the ways in which Black filmmakers and performers have impacted, defined and expanded American movies. The exhibition (which was five years in the making) takes a comprehensive look at film history and Black visual culture more broadly, highlighting notable items like original costumes worn by Lena Horne in Stormy Weather (1943) and Sammy Davis Jr. in Porgy and Bess (1959), tap dance shoes from the Nicholas Brothers and one of Louis Armstrong’s trumpets.
The beginning of the show, 1898, marks the creation of “the first known moving image footage of African American performers onscreen, [seen] in a dignified way,” says Doris Berger, co-curator and vp curatorial affairs at the Academy Museum. The show concludes with material from 1971, the dawn of the Blaxploitation subgenre, acknowledging the...
Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ second major temporary exhibition, opening Aug. 21, is a nuanced exploration of the ways in which Black filmmakers and performers have impacted, defined and expanded American movies. The exhibition (which was five years in the making) takes a comprehensive look at film history and Black visual culture more broadly, highlighting notable items like original costumes worn by Lena Horne in Stormy Weather (1943) and Sammy Davis Jr. in Porgy and Bess (1959), tap dance shoes from the Nicholas Brothers and one of Louis Armstrong’s trumpets.
The beginning of the show, 1898, marks the creation of “the first known moving image footage of African American performers onscreen, [seen] in a dignified way,” says Doris Berger, co-curator and vp curatorial affairs at the Academy Museum. The show concludes with material from 1971, the dawn of the Blaxploitation subgenre, acknowledging the...
- 8/21/2022
- by Evan Nicole Brown
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Along her journey of becoming a hit Broadway star, one of the valuable lessons that Cynthia Erivo said she learned was accepting “no” as an answer.
“Sometimes no’s are the best way to protect you from the thing that you’re not supposed to be doing because it creates the space for the yes that you’re supposed to have in the first place,” Erivo said on Sunday afternoon during a storyteller conversation at the Tribeca Festival. “When the no comes, even though it stings in the beginning, sometimes you’ll know deep down it’s okay.”
For Erivo, that yes was accepting the role of the green-skinned Elphaba in Jon M. Chu’s upcoming two-part film adaptation of “Wicked.” Erivo will star alongside Ariana Grande, who will be playing Glinda the Good Witch. While the project isn’t set to start production until later this summer, Erivo revealed...
“Sometimes no’s are the best way to protect you from the thing that you’re not supposed to be doing because it creates the space for the yes that you’re supposed to have in the first place,” Erivo said on Sunday afternoon during a storyteller conversation at the Tribeca Festival. “When the no comes, even though it stings in the beginning, sometimes you’ll know deep down it’s okay.”
For Erivo, that yes was accepting the role of the green-skinned Elphaba in Jon M. Chu’s upcoming two-part film adaptation of “Wicked.” Erivo will star alongside Ariana Grande, who will be playing Glinda the Good Witch. While the project isn’t set to start production until later this summer, Erivo revealed...
- 6/13/2022
- by Antonio Ferme
- Variety Film + TV
As we enter Black History Month, I reflect on the varied meanings it has held for me throughout the many stages of my life. When I was young, it felt like an obligatory time of homework and essays about Black historical figures. As I matured, it began to hold a great sense of pride for what my ancestors not only endured but survived. Today, for me, it represents celebration. A beautiful time to rejoice and show deep gratitude for all the accomplishments, discoveries and steadfast determination of the African diaspora.
One cannot begin to celebrate the meaning and importance of Black History Month without acknowledging the significance of its founder, Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Woodson, known to many as the father of Black his- tory, fervently believed that Black people should be proud of their heritage and that all Americans should recognize the largely dis- regarded achievements and contributions of Black people.
One cannot begin to celebrate the meaning and importance of Black History Month without acknowledging the significance of its founder, Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Woodson, known to many as the father of Black his- tory, fervently believed that Black people should be proud of their heritage and that all Americans should recognize the largely dis- regarded achievements and contributions of Black people.
- 2/3/2022
- by Regina Hall
- Variety Film + TV
Growing up, February came chock full of goodness: Martin Luther King Jr., Shirley Chisholm, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Mary McCleod Bethune, Rosa Parks, plus everyone who lived during the Harlem Renaissance. There was so much to cram into 28 (or 29) days, that often, these whole entire lives were reduced to just a couple of paragraphs printed beneath their most iconic, heroic-looking portrait.
Complex humans and their complicated stories reduced to neat and noble little boxes.
Its tidiness notwithstanding, February sure seemed like a disruption— the topic of Black History was dropped as abruptly as we had picked it up, and by March 1, we were back to our “Regularly Scheduled Programming.” Racism was over because we finished the “racism” chapters of those books and put them back on the shelves. Blackness went back to the outer periphery of mainstream culture, and everything was “fine” again.
Even as a child,...
Complex humans and their complicated stories reduced to neat and noble little boxes.
Its tidiness notwithstanding, February sure seemed like a disruption— the topic of Black History was dropped as abruptly as we had picked it up, and by March 1, we were back to our “Regularly Scheduled Programming.” Racism was over because we finished the “racism” chapters of those books and put them back on the shelves. Blackness went back to the outer periphery of mainstream culture, and everything was “fine” again.
Even as a child,...
- 2/26/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
The Black church has been, and continues to be, one of the most influential institutions created by Africans in the Americas. PBS’ two-part documentary series, “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song,” preaches about the role of the church in the post-civil rights era, from the African continent to North America.
The role of the Black church continues to be the subject of lively debate even among those who consider themselves “unaffiliated.” Some argue that it has lost its oracular voice and its ability to mobilize for reform. Others say that the church is very much alive, pointing to the 2008 presidential election, when then-leading Democratic contender Barack Obama from Chicago’s Trinity Church had to publicly denounce what was perceived to be inflammatory language from parishioner Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose now infamous “God damn America!” speech genuinely shocked voters. (Although African Americans were especially less bothered.
The role of the Black church continues to be the subject of lively debate even among those who consider themselves “unaffiliated.” Some argue that it has lost its oracular voice and its ability to mobilize for reform. Others say that the church is very much alive, pointing to the 2008 presidential election, when then-leading Democratic contender Barack Obama from Chicago’s Trinity Church had to publicly denounce what was perceived to be inflammatory language from parishioner Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose now infamous “God damn America!” speech genuinely shocked voters. (Although African Americans were especially less bothered.
- 2/18/2021
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
“These four men, the reasons they’re icons is that they represent very specific ideas about Blackness, about manhood, about self-reliance,” explains “One Night in Miami” writer Kemp Powers about the icons at the center of this story. “The ideas they represent, the ideas can have the debate and use that to have this discussion, that has been had long before that night, this discussion that goes back to W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington,” he declares. “It’s a discussion we’re still having today. And it’s what’s the best way forward for Black people in this country?”
We talked with Powers as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Oscar contenders. Watch our interview above.
See Exclusive Video Interview: Eli Goree (‘One Night in Miami’)
Powers adapted “One Night in Miami” from his 2013 one-act stage play of the same name.
We talked with Powers as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Oscar contenders. Watch our interview above.
See Exclusive Video Interview: Eli Goree (‘One Night in Miami’)
Powers adapted “One Night in Miami” from his 2013 one-act stage play of the same name.
- 1/27/2021
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
Finding the look for Netflix’s new four-part series “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” was something costume designer Karyn Wagner describes as “being in heaven, and a smorgasbord of design.”
Set in 1908, the story follows the title character, born Sarah Breedlove and played by Octavia Spencer, who learns about caring for her hair and, against the odds, becomes the first female self-made millionaire as she invents a line of salon products for African American women.
Wagner created walls of fabric swatches: silks, cotton, wools and linens. There was also a “wall of inspiration,” she says. “I’d love going to the woods to find nuts and pine cones that I could turn into a hat,” she explains.
Reading the script, Wagner highlighted geographical, emotional and dialogue clues that could inform the costumes. She spoke to director Kasi Lemmons (“Harriet”) about who Madam C.J. was...
Set in 1908, the story follows the title character, born Sarah Breedlove and played by Octavia Spencer, who learns about caring for her hair and, against the odds, becomes the first female self-made millionaire as she invents a line of salon products for African American women.
Wagner created walls of fabric swatches: silks, cotton, wools and linens. There was also a “wall of inspiration,” she says. “I’d love going to the woods to find nuts and pine cones that I could turn into a hat,” she explains.
Reading the script, Wagner highlighted geographical, emotional and dialogue clues that could inform the costumes. She spoke to director Kasi Lemmons (“Harriet”) about who Madam C.J. was...
- 3/20/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
It’s going to be a busy awards season for Beyonce. She could be up for Grammys or Oscars in the next six months, but she’s already made a splash with the fresh crop of Emmy nominations. Her documentary/concert movie “Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé” has been nominated for six Emmys, and a win in most of those categories would go to her personally.
The Netflix film is up for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded), directing, writing, music direction, production design and costumes. Beyoncé would share in the award for any of those categories except the last two, being credited as co-director, writer and co-musical director as well as a producer.
Beyoncé had previously been nominated for four Emmys but has not yet won one. Her prior noms were for variety special and variety special directing, both for her visual album “Lemonade” in 2016, plus best short form entertainment for...
The Netflix film is up for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded), directing, writing, music direction, production design and costumes. Beyoncé would share in the award for any of those categories except the last two, being credited as co-director, writer and co-musical director as well as a producer.
Beyoncé had previously been nominated for four Emmys but has not yet won one. Her prior noms were for variety special and variety special directing, both for her visual album “Lemonade” in 2016, plus best short form entertainment for...
- 7/16/2019
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has released Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé, which presents an intimate look at her historic 2018 Coachella performance that paid homage to America’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Interspersed with candid footage and interviews detailing the preparation and powerful intent behind her vision, Homecoming gives a peek into the process and emotional physical sacrifices it took to conceptualize and execute a performance of that magnitude that became a cultural movement. This stand-alone Netflix original is now available globally on Netflix.
As the first black woman to headline Coachella, Homecoming recognizes the African American visionaries who inspired Beyoncé, including Hbcu alums Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, activist Marian Wright Edelman, and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois, in addition to cultural luminaries such as Nina Simone, Maya Angelou, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Audre Lorde. Beyoncé’s personal knowledge of the relevance and celebration of HBCUs started with her father, Mathew Knowles, an alumnus of Fisk University.
As the first black woman to headline Coachella, Homecoming recognizes the African American visionaries who inspired Beyoncé, including Hbcu alums Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, activist Marian Wright Edelman, and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois, in addition to cultural luminaries such as Nina Simone, Maya Angelou, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Audre Lorde. Beyoncé’s personal knowledge of the relevance and celebration of HBCUs started with her father, Mathew Knowles, an alumnus of Fisk University.
- 4/18/2019
- by Kristyn Clarke
- Age of the Nerd
During Beyonce’s performance at last year’s Coachella, she brought a company of over 200 marching band members, dancers, and background singers on a massive stage to put on a full two-hour concert. The popular festival is used to seeing flower crowns and hipster coffee shop headliners of the acoustic or Edm persuasion, but Beyonce did not want to give you that. She wanted to flip Coachella on its head and give you the unexpected. She wanted to serve you a show that only Beyonce can put on — and while she was at it, she decided to make a documentary about it called Homecoming and release a year later to remind you that the festival will never see a performance like this again. Ever.
Officially titled, Homecoming: A Film By Beyonce, the concert documentary dropped at midnight on Tuesday and the Beyhive was wildly buzzing beforehand as they waited with...
Officially titled, Homecoming: A Film By Beyonce, the concert documentary dropped at midnight on Tuesday and the Beyhive was wildly buzzing beforehand as they waited with...
- 4/17/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Nobody throws a 3 a.m. weeknight party like Beyoncé, who thrilled a pretty substantial portion of the streaming Western world with the Netflix premiere of “Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé” very early Wednesday morning. Bosses and teachers might actually have been shot-term beneficiaries of this sleep-depriver of a premiere: If you didn’t show up at school or work feeling buzzed enough to run the world — girl, woman or man — you must’ve dozed off holding the remote.
There surely hasn’t been this big a national No-Doze night since last Black Friday, only the occasion here was Black Wednesday. Beyoncé hasn’t exactly made it a secret that her 2018 Coachella shows— and now the streaming film that documents them — were designed to bring a specifically African American feel and experience to the world, basing the whole show in her love for the culture of historically black colleges and universities.
There surely hasn’t been this big a national No-Doze night since last Black Friday, only the occasion here was Black Wednesday. Beyoncé hasn’t exactly made it a secret that her 2018 Coachella shows— and now the streaming film that documents them — were designed to bring a specifically African American feel and experience to the world, basing the whole show in her love for the culture of historically black colleges and universities.
- 4/17/2019
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Noted playwright, poet and novelist, Ntozake Shange died on Saturday morning. The news was announced via Shange’s official Twitter account. She was 70.
According to The Star Tribune, Shange had suffered multiple strokes in recent years, but her health was improving. She died peacefully in her sleep in an assisted living facility in Bowie, Md.
Shange was born Paulette L. Williams in Trenton, New Jersey on October 18, 1948. Her family was an advocate of the arts and their home welcomed legendary figures in black history including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, and W.E.B. Du Bois. Shange took an interest in poetry. When she graduated from high school, she went on to study at Barnard College in New York City. It was there where she met fellow poet Thulani Davis, who she would collaborate with on various works. After graduating from Barnard, she traveled west to USC and earned a masters degree.
According to The Star Tribune, Shange had suffered multiple strokes in recent years, but her health was improving. She died peacefully in her sleep in an assisted living facility in Bowie, Md.
Shange was born Paulette L. Williams in Trenton, New Jersey on October 18, 1948. Her family was an advocate of the arts and their home welcomed legendary figures in black history including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, and W.E.B. Du Bois. Shange took an interest in poetry. When she graduated from high school, she went on to study at Barnard College in New York City. It was there where she met fellow poet Thulani Davis, who she would collaborate with on various works. After graduating from Barnard, she traveled west to USC and earned a masters degree.
- 10/28/2018
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix has given the green light to Madam C.J. Walker, an eight-episode limited series starring and executive produced by Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and executive produced by LeBron James. The announcement was made by VP original programming Cindy Holland during Netflix’s TCA executive session.
Janine Sherman Barrois and Elle Johnson are set as showrunners on the Zero Gravity-produced series about the legendary African American entrepreneur and philanthropist, with Kasi Lemmons on board to direct the first episode.
Written by Nicole Asher based on the book On Her Own Ground by A’Lelia Bundles, Madam C.J. Walker tells the untold and highly irreverent story of black hair care pioneer and mogul Madam C.J. Walker and how she overcame hostile turn-of-the-century America, epic rivalries, tumultuous marriages and some trifling family to become America’s first black, self-made female millionaire.
Spencer stars as Sarah Breedlove,...
Janine Sherman Barrois and Elle Johnson are set as showrunners on the Zero Gravity-produced series about the legendary African American entrepreneur and philanthropist, with Kasi Lemmons on board to direct the first episode.
Written by Nicole Asher based on the book On Her Own Ground by A’Lelia Bundles, Madam C.J. Walker tells the untold and highly irreverent story of black hair care pioneer and mogul Madam C.J. Walker and how she overcame hostile turn-of-the-century America, epic rivalries, tumultuous marriages and some trifling family to become America’s first black, self-made female millionaire.
Spencer stars as Sarah Breedlove,...
- 7/29/2018
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
The one year anniversary of President Donald Trump ‘s inauguration has come and gone, filled with enough glaring typos and misspellings to keep the dictionary busy fact-checking for a lifetime. (Or at least a four-year term.)
And it’s only fitting, after a year filled with spelling errors, that on the eve of his first State of the Union address, a new one would surface. Guests to this year’s State of the Union address received invitations received an invitation with one (seemingly) obvious error: It was written as the State of the Uniom.
Republicans may have to recall all...
And it’s only fitting, after a year filled with spelling errors, that on the eve of his first State of the Union address, a new one would surface. Guests to this year’s State of the Union address received invitations received an invitation with one (seemingly) obvious error: It was written as the State of the Uniom.
Republicans may have to recall all...
- 1/29/2018
- by Diana Pearl and Tierney McAfee
- PEOPLE.com
In 1926, famed black scholar and lecturer W.E.B. Du Bois started a debate that's still raging today.
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Read More >...
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Read More >...
- 1/25/2018
- by Malcolm Venable
- TVGuide.com - Features
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