Exclusive: Michigan State University wants nothing to do with Ben Cory Jones’ film about the school’s legendary Black Spartans football team.
“Please be advised that the University will not partner with you or Black Spartans Productions on this project,” Brian Quinn, Msu VP of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, wrote to Black Spartans producer Rochelle Claerbaut on Monday. “Nor does the University consent to this project. Additionally, the University is hereby providing notice that you, Black Spartan Productions, and any other person or entity associated with the project must not infringe upon any of the University’s intellectual property.”
Quinn’s email correspondence, obtained by Deadline, was in reply to a September 14 email from Claerbaut seeking to link up with Msu on the project. The email from the producer and daughter of Duffy Daugherty: A Man Ahead of His Time author David Claerbaut was sent the day after various...
“Please be advised that the University will not partner with you or Black Spartans Productions on this project,” Brian Quinn, Msu VP of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, wrote to Black Spartans producer Rochelle Claerbaut on Monday. “Nor does the University consent to this project. Additionally, the University is hereby providing notice that you, Black Spartan Productions, and any other person or entity associated with the project must not infringe upon any of the University’s intellectual property.”
Quinn’s email correspondence, obtained by Deadline, was in reply to a September 14 email from Claerbaut seeking to link up with Msu on the project. The email from the producer and daughter of Duffy Daugherty: A Man Ahead of His Time author David Claerbaut was sent the day after various...
- 9/28/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
(Updated with producers’ statement) Exclusive: Surviving members and relatives of the famed Black Spartans want a movie about the 1966 college football co-champions consigned to the sidelines.
“This letter is directed to various producers, directors, actors and others who we understand are associated with the motion picture Black Spartans, which purports to tell our clients’ stories,” says a correspondence sent Tuesday night to director-writer Ben Cory Jones, producer James Velissaris and his various aliases, as well as actors J. Alphonse Nicholson, Neal McDonough (who also is a producer) and others (read it here). “However, this film is being produced without our clients’ input or approval and in violation of their rights to publicity and privacy and in defamation of their characters.”
“As we and our clients have not seen the full Black Spartans script (and naturally the finished film) we cannot identify with more particularity any defamatory material,” attorney Devin McRae...
“This letter is directed to various producers, directors, actors and others who we understand are associated with the motion picture Black Spartans, which purports to tell our clients’ stories,” says a correspondence sent Tuesday night to director-writer Ben Cory Jones, producer James Velissaris and his various aliases, as well as actors J. Alphonse Nicholson, Neal McDonough (who also is a producer) and others (read it here). “However, this film is being produced without our clients’ input or approval and in violation of their rights to publicity and privacy and in defamation of their characters.”
“As we and our clients have not seen the full Black Spartans script (and naturally the finished film) we cannot identify with more particularity any defamatory material,” attorney Devin McRae...
- 9/14/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: J. Alphonse Nicholson (P-Valley) has signed on to star alongside Neal McDonough and Casey Cott in the sports drama Black Spartans from writer-director Ben Cory Jones (Insecure). The pic is set to shoot in Atlanta this fall.
Exploring the explosive era of the mid-1960s where social upheaval paved the way for a new order in college football, Jones’ feature directorial debut tells the story of the first fully integrated college football team. The film is inspired by the Michigan State Spartans coached by Duffy Daugherty, which forever changed the face of the sport.
A Greensboro, North Carolina native, Nicholson will portray Fayetteville, North Carolina’s Jimmy Raye, who became the first Black quarterback from the South to win a national championship, as part of the 1966 Michigan State team.
Jones, McDonough, Cott, David Brown, Rochelle Claerbaut, Ruve McDonough, Justin Oates-Marable and Jimmy V will produce Black Spartans, with Cory Wharton serving as executive producer.
Exploring the explosive era of the mid-1960s where social upheaval paved the way for a new order in college football, Jones’ feature directorial debut tells the story of the first fully integrated college football team. The film is inspired by the Michigan State Spartans coached by Duffy Daugherty, which forever changed the face of the sport.
A Greensboro, North Carolina native, Nicholson will portray Fayetteville, North Carolina’s Jimmy Raye, who became the first Black quarterback from the South to win a national championship, as part of the 1966 Michigan State team.
Jones, McDonough, Cott, David Brown, Rochelle Claerbaut, Ruve McDonough, Justin Oates-Marable and Jimmy V will produce Black Spartans, with Cory Wharton serving as executive producer.
- 8/23/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Neal McDonough (The Flash) and Casey Cott (Riverdale) will headline the sports drama Black Spartans, written and to be directed by Ben Cory Jones (Insecure), which is heading into production in Atlanta this fall.
Exploring the explosive era of the mid-1960s where social upheaval paved the way for a new order in college football, Jones’ first feature tells the story of the first fully integrated college football team. The film is inspired by the Michigan State Spartans team, coached by Duffy Daugherty, which forever changed the face of the sport.
Jones, McDonough, Cott, David Brown, Rochelle Claerbaut, Ruve McDonough, Justin Oates-Marable and Jimmy V are producing, with Cory Wharton serving as exec producer.
McDonough is an award-winning actor whose film credits include Sonic the Hedgehog, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Red 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, Flags of Our Fathers and more. On the TV side,...
Exploring the explosive era of the mid-1960s where social upheaval paved the way for a new order in college football, Jones’ first feature tells the story of the first fully integrated college football team. The film is inspired by the Michigan State Spartans team, coached by Duffy Daugherty, which forever changed the face of the sport.
Jones, McDonough, Cott, David Brown, Rochelle Claerbaut, Ruve McDonough, Justin Oates-Marable and Jimmy V are producing, with Cory Wharton serving as exec producer.
McDonough is an award-winning actor whose film credits include Sonic the Hedgehog, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Red 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, Flags of Our Fathers and more. On the TV side,...
- 8/15/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
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