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Pete Chatmon, Kate Marks and Kevin Lau Selected for HBOAccess Directing Fellowship

By goodblacknews on July 8, 2016

Pete Chatmon
HBOAccess Directing Fellow Pete Chatmon (photo via shadowandact.com)

article via Tambay Obenson via shadowandact.com
HBO has selected the three emerging directors to participate in the 2016 HBOAccess Directing Fellowship. Now in its second year, the program provides one-on-one mentorship with an HBO creative executive, education about the craft and business of directing, and a $100k budget to shoot a short presentation for HBO with a professional crew. The winners will participate in the workshop in July, shoot their presentation in August, and finish up post-production by the end of September.
The three directors selected are:
— Readers of this blog will be familiar with Pete Chatmon, whose debut feature, “Premium,” starred Dorian Missick, Zoe Saldana, and Hill Harper and premiered on Showtime after a limited theatrical run. Chatmon also wrote, produced, and directed “761st,” a documentary on the first black tank battalion in WWII, narrated by Andre Braugher. Chatmon received the Tribeca Film Institute “All Access” Program’s Creative Promise Narrative Award for the heist screenplay “$FREE.99”, written in collaboration with Candice Sanchez McFarlane.
Through Double7 Images, his Digital Studio, he has directed content for ad agencies, Porsche, Proctor & Gamble, Lenovo, Universal Pictures, and other brands. Chatmon’s career began in 2001 with the Sundance selection of his NYU thesis film, “3D”, starring Kerry Washington. His current project, the short film “Black Card”, began traveling the international film festival circuit in Spring/Summer 2015 and premiered on HBO in February 2016.
— Kate Marks was a Project Involve fellow at Film Independent where she received the Barbara Boyle Award. She began making films after working as a playwright, theatre director, and performer in New York City. Her award winning short films (Pearl Was Here, Homebody, 7 Day Gig, and Miracle Maker) continue to screen all over the world. Highlights include Slamdance, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Mill Valley, and broadcasting on PBS. She is a graduate of CalArts (MFA) and Brown University (BA). Additionally Kate teaches filmmaking in public schools, prisons, senior centers, and parks. Her work with a wide range of students can be felt in her stories, which focus on the need to be witnessed.
— Kevin Lau is a writer/director who is a recent fellow of the Sony Pictures Television Diverse Directors Program and CAPE New Writers Fellowship. A graduate of Columbia University’s MFA program, his thesis film, “Made in Chinatown”, swept the NBCUniversal Short Film Festival–winning Best Short, Best Writing, and Best Actor–and has gone on to screen in exhibitions at the New Americans Museum, Glass Curtain Gallery, and in classrooms at UCLA and Emerson College. Kevin is a proud native of Los Angeles and credits the culturally diverse city for shaping the stories he tells.

Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Jackson Developing Unscripted Celebrity Series With FremantleMedia

By goodblacknews on July 6, 2016
Samuel L Jackson Creating Celebrity Show
LaTanya Jackson and Samuel L Jackson (MATT BARON/BEI/SHUTTERSTOCK)

article by Cynthia Littleton via Variety.com
Samuel L. Jackson, his wife LaTanya Jackson, and Rushion McDonald are teaming with FremantleMedia North America to develop a new celebrity series, Variety has learned exclusively. The project will be the “Legend of Tarzan” star’s first in the unscripted space.
The currently untitled series will take A-list celebrities back to the house they grew up in, visiting old haunts and meeting familiar faces, to explore how their childhood shaped who they are now.
Samuel L. Jackson said of the series, “LaTanya and I often talk about the nostalgia we have for the community in which we were raised, and the opportunity we have to pay it forward. Together with Rushion, we decided to empower some of our nearest and dearest celebrity friends to share this journey in their own voice, in their own hometown and to provide children and families with resources and facilities to further build their foundation. This is about connecting with the community where we became the people we are today and sharing that journey with audiences across America.”
“We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Jackson and Rushion McDonald,” added Toby Gorman, FremantleMedia North America’s Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming. “The world of celebrity is intriguing and fascinating, and in this series we get to pull back the curtain on who these people really are and the challenges they faced along the way. It’s authentic storytelling at its best and we can’t wait to get started.”
The series was created by Samuel L. & LaTanya Jackson, and McDonald. FremantleMedia North America will produce. Executive producers include Samuel L. & LaTanya Jackson, Zoe Jackson, McDonald, and FMNA’s Gorman and Jennifer Mullin.

HEALTH: Queen Latifah Helps Mother Rita Owens Fight Heart Failure; Does Campaign with American Heart Association

By goodblacknews on July 5, 2016


Award-winning actress, singer, songwriter, television producer and talk show host Queen Latifah looks mean in green in NBC’s adaptation of The Wiz Live! (she’s “The Wiz”), but offscreen Latifah goes red for her mother and the millions of people diagnosed with heart failure (HF). Queen Latifah and her mother Rita Owens, who suffers from heart failure, have joined the American Heart Association’s Rise Above Heart Failure campaign to let everyone know that with education, support and by being proactive with managing the condition, people can live with HF.
“My mom is stronger than anyone I’ve ever known. Growing up, when life got hard her strength helped pull us through,” the actress said in a recent PSA for the American Heart Association. In 2013, Owens was diagnosed with scleroderma, an incurable autoimmune disease that caused scar tissue to build up in her lungs, requiring her to be on oxygen 24/7.
Owens later was diagnosed with heart failure after passing out while teaching art at a New Jersey high school. The diagnosis changed Latifah and her mother’s relationship for the better Latifah told PEOPLE in an interview. “We’ve learned a new us. We’ve gotten a lot closer and we’ve learned each other on a whole different, deeper level.”
“I found myself becoming a recluse,” Owens said in the same interview about life after her HF diagnosis. “You have to understand your body is not processing the same way it was before. I started counting the things I can’t do instead of the things I can do. And I said, ‘Nope, this is not acceptable.’ ”
With the help of Latifah’s uplifting spirit, affirmations and attending church, “I started coming back,” Owens says. “I thank the Lord every day that I have that I can live with this, and that He put people in my life that told me so.”
Source: Queen Latifah Helps Mother Fight Heart Failure | BlackDoctor

Idris Elba, Vivica A. Fox, Ice Cube Among 683 Invited to Join Movie Academy — the Largest, Most Diverse Class Ever

By goodblacknews on July 1, 2016
One of the most exclusive clubs in the world just got a whole lot bigger.
In the latest and most dramatic step by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to diversify the overwhelmingly white and male institution, 683 industry professionals were invited Wednesday to join the nearly 90-year-old organization.
The group of invitees, which included Idris Elba, Brie Larson, John Boyega, America Ferrera, Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman, was touted as the academy’s largest and most diverse new class ever, more than double the 322 members invited last year.
The academy’s expansion is part of a diversity push that took on heightened urgency this year in the #OscarsSoWhite uproar, which reached a fever pitch in the run-up to this year’s awards telecast.
In January, facing blistering criticism over the lack of nominations for any actors of color for the second year in a row, academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced sweeping changes aimed at doubling the number of women and minorities — then about 1,500 and 535, respectively — in the academy’s ranks by 2020. “The academy is going to lead and not wait for the industry to catch up,” Boone Isaacs said in a statement announcing the new initiative.
In an interview following Wednesday’s announcement, Boone Isaacs said that the large and diverse class is the result a concerted campaign to show that the academy is opening its arms to groups that have been underrepresented.
“What we found is that, as much we tried to get the information out there, it wasn’t penetrating in a way that we wanted it to,” Boone Isaacs said. “So we’ve asked all our members to be the ambassadors and pay attention to men and women who have particular skill levels in their area of expertise and get them encouraged and tell us their names so that we can make sure and reach out and connect.”
According to the academy’s figures, the new class is 46% female, bringing the representation of women in the organization from 25% to 27%. Forty-one percent of the invitees are people of color, bringing minorities’ share of total academy membership from 8% to 11%.
Other  names on the list include actors Emma Watson, Tina Fey, Oscar Isaac, Tom Hiddleston and Ice Cube and directors Ryan Coogler, Julie Dash, Adam McKay and Patty Jenkins.
To read more, go to: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-et-mn-new-academy-members-20160629-snap-story.html

Samuel L. Jackson to Receive Britannia Awards Honor this Fall

By goodblacknews on June 28, 2016
'The Legend of Tarzan' film premiere, Los Angeles, USA - 27 Jun 2016
Samuel L. Jackson (Rex/Shutterstock)

article by Erik Pedersen via deadline.com

BAFTA Los Angeles said today that Samuel L. Jackson will receive its Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment at the British Academy Britannia Awards in the fall.

Jackson has appeared in more than 100 films, scoring a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for 1994’s Pulp Fiction. He has been a regular in Quentin Tarantino films, including Jackie Brown,  Kill Bill Vol. 2 and more recently The Hateful Eight and Django Unchained.
Jackson’s credits also range from Spike Lee’s School Daze and Do the Right Thing to such blockbusters as Jurassic Park, the second Star Wars trilogy and the Avengers franchise. He next appears in The Legend of Tarzan and has roles in several upcoming pics including The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and Kong: Skull Island.

Filmmaker Nate Parker to Receive Sundance Institute’s Vanguard Award For ‘Birth Of A Nation'

By goodblacknews on June 28, 2016

The Birth of a Nation
Filmmaker Nate Parker as Nat Turner in upcoming film “The Birth of a Nation” (photo via deadline.com)

article by Erik Pedersen via deadline.com

The Birth of a Nation was the talk of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and now the nonprofit behind the annual Park City event is celebrating the pic’s director-star. The Sundance Institute said today that Nate Parker will receive its Vanguard Award.
Parker, who also wrote the screenplay, will be honored August 11 at Night Before Next, a summer celebration benefiting the Institute and its artists on the eve of Sundance Next Fest at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

The Birth of a Nation, which Fox Searchlight acquired for a festival-record $17.5M at Sundance, centers on Nat Turner (Parker), a literate, enslaved man and preacher whose financially strapped owner (Armie Hammer) accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves.  As he witnesses countless atrocities — against himself and his fellow slaves — Turner orchestrates an uprising in the hope of leading his people to freedom. The film also stars Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Penelope Ann Miller, Aunjanue Ellis, Mark Boone Junior and Aja Naomi King.
Fox Searchlight opens the films in the awards-season sweet spot of October 7.

Jesse Williams' BET Humanitarian Award Speech Was EVERYTHING – Clutch Magazine

By goodblacknews on June 27, 2016

BET Humanitarian Award recipient Jesse Williams (photo via clutchmagonline.com)

article via clutchmageonline.com
Actor, activist and entrepreneur Jesse Williams was honored at Sunday night’s BET Awards, and his acceptance speech was everything!The  Advancement Project board member not only gave an emotionally charged speech, but also dedicated his award to his fellow organizers.
“This is for the real organizers all over the country. The activists, the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the families, the teachers of students that are realizing that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do,” said Williams, who linked arms with Ferguson activists in the wake of Michael Brown’s death in the fall of 2014 and executive-produced Stay Woke, a documentary which traced the evolution of the Black Lives Matter movement and debuted on BET in May.
To see video of his speech, click here: http://www.bet.com/video/betawards/2016/acceptance-speeches/jesse-williams-receives-humanitarian-award.html
Williams also paid homage to black women, who are often times the unsung heroes of the movement.“Black women who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves.” “We can and will do better for you,” he said.  Williams reminded attendees to remember those who died and why we’re still fighting to make people understand that black lives do matter. And he also spoke a word about the culture vultures.
Source: Jesse Williams’ BET Humanitarian Award Speech Was EVERYTHING – Clutch Magazine

"Belle" Director Amma Asante's New Film "A United Kingdom" to Open BFI London Film Festival

By goodblacknews on June 22, 2016
A UNITED KINGDOM Movie
“A United Kingdom” starring David Oyewolo and Rosamund Pike, directed by Amma Asante (COURTESY OF PATHE)

article by Leo Barraclough via Variety.com
Director Amma Asante’s third feature “A United Kingdom,” which stars “Selma’s” David Oyelowo and “Gone Girl’s” Rosamund Pike, will open the 60th BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 5.
Asante won the BAFTA for most promising newcomer for her debut “A Way of Life,” and followed that with “Belle,” which won best actress for Gugu Mbatha-Raw at the British Independent Film Awards.
“A United Kingdom” tells the true story of Seretse Khama, King of Bechuanaland (modern-day Botswana), and Ruth Williams, the London office worker he married in 1947 in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the British and South African governments.
The LFF gala screening, which will be the film’s European premiere, will be attended by Asante, Oyelowo and Pike. There will be a live cinecast from the London event and simultaneous screenings in movie theaters across the U.K.
The film’s screenplay is penned by Guy Hibbert (“Eye in the Sky”), based on the book “Color Bar” by Susan Williams. Oyelowo plays Khama, with Pike as his future wife, Williams. Other cast members include Jack Davenport (“Pirates of the Caribbean”), Terry Pheto (“Mandela”), Tom Felton (“Harry Potter”), Arnold Oceng (“Adulthood”), Jack Lowden (“’71”) and Laura Carmichael (“Downton Abbey”).
Clare Stewart, London Film Festival director, said: “Amma Asante’s ‘A United Kingdom’ is testament to a defiant and enduring love story that also reveals a complex, painful chapter in British history. We are proud to be opening the 60th BFI London Film Festival with a film of such contemporary relevance, one that celebrates the triumph of love and intelligence over intolerance and oppression, and that confirms Asante as a distinctive and important British filmmaker.”
Asante commented: “It’s a great privilege that ‘A United Kingdom’ has been selected as the opening night film of the BFI London Film Festival. The festival means a lot to me personally, having showcased my first film, ‘A Way of Life,’ here and been honored with the U.K. Film Talent Award. I’m a proud Londoner, and in ‘A United Kingdom’ we’ve been able to film in some of the most beautiful parts of the city as well as in the wonderful landscapes of Botswana.”
The film is produced by Rick McCallum (“Star Wars”), Oyelowo, Justin Moore-Lewy, Brunson Green (“The Help”) and Charlie Mason. The film is executive produced by Pathé’s Cameron McCracken, BBC Films’ Christine Langan, the BFI’s Ben Roberts, Ingenious Media’s Eleanor Clark Windo and Guy Hibbert.
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/global/amma-asante-a-united-kingdom-bfi-london-film-festival-1201800077/

Hannibal Buress Joins Cast of ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ for Sony and Marvel

By goodblacknews on June 20, 2016
Hannibal Buress Spider-Man: Homecoming
Hannibal Buress (ROB LATOUR/VARIETY/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK)

article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com
Hannibal Buress is joining the cast of Sony and Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
Tom Holland will play Peter Parker in the reboot with Marisa Tomei taking on Aunt May. Michael Keaton is also on board for the role of a villain. Other actors who have joined the cast over the last several weeks include Logan Marshall-Green, Donald Glover, Zendaya and Tony Revolori.
Jon Watts has been hired to direct with Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige producing. Plot details are still being heavily guarded as is Buress’ character. “Vacation” directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein wrote the script.
Production is expected to start this summer with the film hitting theaters on July 7, 2017.
Buress, a stand-up comedian, has recently shifted gears to film, with upcoming roles in some of next year’s more anticipated comedies. First he has “The Masterpiece,” opposite Dave and James Franco, which is a movie about the making of what is widely considered the worst film of all-time, “The Room.”  He will follow that up with Dwayne Johnson’s reboot of “Baywatch,” which bows next summer. He also lent his voice to Illumination’s “The Secret Life of Pets.”
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/spider-man-homecoming-hannibal-buress-1201799535/

EDITORIAL: Disadvantaged Fathers Should Be Supported, Not Stigmatized

By goodblacknews on June 19, 2016

DDG Still.jpg
by Omar Epps, Malik Yoba and Emily Abt

The image of the “deadbeat dad” has been and remains pervasive but there are millions of men in America who live in defiance of this stereotype. Our film “Daddy Don’t Go” was born from these parallel and enduring realities: that one in three American children is fatherless but there are also countless fathers fighting to be active in their children’s lives who deserve to be seen.

In an effort to better understand the obstacles these men face, we followed four disadvantaged dads –Roy, Nelson, Omar and Alex – over the course of two years as they struggled to be present fathers. The issues in the film are close to our hearts. Omar is the product of a fatherless household but now a proud father of three.  Malik credits his own father with being the inspiration for his perseverance during a tough custody battle. Emily’s grandfather was excluded from her father’s life for his inability to pay child support.  So we were all deeply committed to exploring the issue of fatherlessness when we began making the film three years ago, what did we learn along the way?
Persistent unemployment is a major problem for disadvantaged fathers.  All four of the fathers in “Daddy Don’t Go” very much wanted to work but struggled to get and keep steady jobs.  They are certainly not alone in this struggle.  Working, in America, is in decline. The number of men ages 25 to 54 who are not working has more than tripled since the late 1960s.
Making this film had us yearning for the work programs of the New Deal era when millions of men were given the opportunity to work and provide financial security for their families. Our current government has made great efforts to enforce child support payments but where are the large-scale job programs for disadvantaged men that could really make a difference?
Our second big take-away from making “Daddy Don’t Go” is that while there have been vast improvements; our family court system still treats men like second-class parents.  Child support payments are mostly shouldered by men but only 18% of fathers have custody of their children.  This means that a man’s financial role in his child’s life continues to be prioritized above his emotional one.