article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
According to billboard.com, the late Marvin Gaye and Chic principles Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (who died in 1996) are among the artists chosen to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 9 in New York City. Joining them will be Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, and 1960s hitmaker Chip Taylor.
The new inductees wrote such iconic songs as “What’s Going On,” “Mercy Mercy Me,” “Le Freak,” “Good Times,” “Wild Thing,” “American Girl,” “Everyday I Write The Book,” and many, many more.
“The 2016 roster of Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees is a beautiful mosaic of the best of late 20th Century popular music. With creators of Rock & Roll, Soul/R&B, Country and Funk/Dance represented, we are looking forward to an unforgettable and extremely exciting event and evening at the Marriott Marquis on June 9th,” said co-chairs Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff, who are serving their first year in that role.
The hall’s 47th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner will take place at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Gaye and Edwards will be inducted posthumously.
Posts published in “Entertainment”
article by Tambay A. Obenson via Shadow And Act
New ABC president Channing Dungey, who replaces exiting Paul Lee (making her the first African American to not only head ABC, but a major TV network) is already making her presence felt a mere 2 weeks into the job, announcing today the early renewals of a handful of ABC series.
Of note, “Scandal” will return for a 6th season (recall the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, said that she knows exactly how and when it will end, adding that it would be a 6 or 7 season series, at most. So can we assume that “Scandal” is near its end, now that it’s been renewed for a 6th season?); Also “How to Get Away With Murder” has been renewed for a 3rd season; and “Black-ish” will get a 3rd season.
Also renewed are: “Agents of SHIELD,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “Modern Family,” “Quantico,” “The Goldbergs,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Shark Tank,” and “The Bachelor.”
No announcement on the fate of John Ridley‘s critically-acclaimed anthology series “American Crime,” unfortunately. Although it’s still early, so I wouldn’t count it out yet.
Ridley is working on another series for the network. In December, ABC gave an early pilot order to a new crime drama from Ridley titled “Presence,” with the 2016/2017 season eyed for a premiere – assuming it goes to series eventually.
To read more, go to: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/abc-renews-scandal-how-to-get-away-with-murder-black-ish-and-more-for-2016-2017-season-20160303
article by Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele via theroot.com
Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Sarah Vaughan is being honored with a Forever stamp by the U.S. Postal Service, the Amsterdam News reports.
The unveiling will take place March 29 in Newark, New Jersey—where Vaughan was born. The image on the stamp is an oil painting of Vaughan’s face during a performance. It’s based on a photograph taken by Hugh Bell in 1955, according to the Amsterdam News.
article by Laura Prudom via Variety.com
“Alias” actress Merrin Dungey has joined the cast of ABC drama pilot “Conviction.” The pilot centers around a young attorney (Hayley Atwell), the brilliant but ne’er-do-well daughter of a former U.S. president, who is blackmailed into taking a job as the head of Los Angeles’ newly created Conviction Integrity Unit.
She, along with her team of lawyers, investigators and forensic experts, work together to examine cases where there’s credible suspicion that the wrong person may have been convicted of a crime.
Dungey will play Maxine, the lead investigator for the Conviction Integrity Unit. Maxine is a former NYPD detective from a cop family who is described as being tough and no-nonsense. She’ll find her previously unfailing loyalty to the badge tested as she delves into her former colleagues’ cases.
Dungey will next be seen in HBO’s limited series “Big Little Lies,” starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, and has recently appeared on ABC drama “Once Upon a Time” and Fox comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” She’s the sister of newly promoted ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey, who replaced outgoing ABC topper Paul Lee earlier this month.
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/conviction-merrin-dungey-abc-pilot-1201718659/
She, along with her team of lawyers, investigators and forensic experts, work together to examine cases where there’s credible suspicion that the wrong person may have been convicted of a crime.
Dungey will play Maxine, the lead investigator for the Conviction Integrity Unit. Maxine is a former NYPD detective from a cop family who is described as being tough and no-nonsense. She’ll find her previously unfailing loyalty to the badge tested as she delves into her former colleagues’ cases.
Dungey will next be seen in HBO’s limited series “Big Little Lies,” starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, and has recently appeared on ABC drama “Once Upon a Time” and Fox comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” She’s the sister of newly promoted ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey, who replaced outgoing ABC topper Paul Lee earlier this month.
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/conviction-merrin-dungey-abc-pilot-1201718659/
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
According to Variety.com, last night at the 2016 Spirit Awards, which celebrate and honor independent films, “Beasts of No Nation” actors Idris Elba and Abraham Attah both won in their respective supporting and leading actor categories.
For the Ghanian Attah, playing the child soldier trained by Elba was his first acting role. Elba, though not nominated for an Academy Award this year, won the Screen Actors Guild award for his part in “Beasts of No Nation” as well.
Additionally, “Tangerine”‘s Mya Taylor took home the supporting actress award for her performance as a transgender sex worker. “I came from almost nothing,” a beaming Taylor said from the stage following a standing ovation. “My life did a total 360.” “Tangerine” was shot entirely on an iPhone by director Sean Baker.
A full list of winners (in bold) and nominees follows below:
Best Feature
Anomalisa
Beasts of No Nation
Carol
Spotlight — WINNER
Tangerine
article by John Koblin via nytimes.com
In an unusually public flare-up, one of MSNBC’s television personalities clashed with the network on Friday in a dispute about airtime and editorial freedom and said she was refusing to host the show that bears her name this weekend.
The host, Melissa Harris-Perry, wrote in an email to co-workers this week that her show had effectively been taken away from her and that she felt “worthless” in the eyes of NBC News executives, who are restructuring MSNBC.
“Here is the reality: Our show was taken — without comment or discussion or notice — in the midst of an election season,” she wrote in the email, which became public on Friday. “After four years of building an audience, developing a brand and developing trust with our viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced.”
In a phone interview, Ms. Harris-Perry confirmed she would not appear on the show this weekend. She said she had received no word about whether her show, which runs from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and Sundays, had been canceled, but said she was frustrated that her time slot had faced pre-emptions for coverage of the presidential election. She said she had not appeared on the network at all “for weeks” and that she was mostly sidelined during recent election coverage in South Carolina and New Hampshire. (She was asked to return this weekend.)
In her email, Ms. Harris-Perry wrote that she was not sure if the NBC News chairman, Andrew Lack, or Phil Griffin, the MSNBC president, were involved in the way her show was handled recently, but she directed blame toward both.
“I will not be used as a tool for their purposes,” she wrote. “I am not a token, mammy or little brown bobble head. I am not owned by Lack, Griffin or MSNBC. I love our show. I want it back.”
article by Sandy Cohen, AP via blackamericaweb.com
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Oscar host Chris Rock, producer Reginald Hudlin and film academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs took an afternoon off from Academy Awards preparations to celebrate black women in Hollywood.
Rock, Hudlin and Boone Isaacs were among the guests at Essence magazine’s ninth annual awards luncheon Thursday at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Rock and Boone Isaacs didn’t speak publicly; Hudlin took the stage to present an award to legendary entertainer Debbie Allen.
The annual Essence event celebrates the achievements of black women in entertainment. Actress Tracee Ellis Ross, entertainment attorney Nina Shaw and filmmaker Thais Francis were also recognized.
Francis thanked the magazine “for creating a platform of visibility.”
“A lot of us in this audience know the importance of visibility, especially during a time, in a society, in a world, in an industry that’s telling us that we’re invisible,” she said.
Shonda Rhimes, who introduced Allen as the new producing director of “Grey’s Anatomy,” called the writer-director-choreographer-performer “a force of nature.”
“Debbie blows through an environment and changes the landscape forever,” Rhimes said.
As Allen accepted the Legend Award, she said she felt like she was in church, preaching to her sisters.
“The only plate I’m going to pass is the plate of purpose,” she said, urging the women in the audience to make real connections with each other — not just to meet up for drinks, but to work on ways of changing the world.
Shaw gave similar advice as she accepted the Power Award. The attorney for such entertainers as Laurence Fishburne, Lupita Nyong’o and Ava DuVernay was introduced by Nick Cannon and Channing Dungey, who became the first African-American to head a broadcast network when she was named president of ABC Entertainment last week.
“If you are a woman who wants to be empowered, then empower other women,” Shaw said.
“Black-ish” star Ross, accompanied by her father and older sister, Rhonda, accepted the Fierce and Fearless award. Ross said she had been sick for the past week and worried she wouldn’t be able to attend the luncheon.
“I got dressed in the car,” she said. “I’m unclear if what I’m wearing is see-through. If it is, I’m sorry.” She said the recognition from Essence “is truly one of the proudest moments I’ve experienced.”
Oprah Winfrey opened the program, which will air Saturday on OWN.
To read more, go to: http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/02/26/oprah-winfrey-shonda-rhimes-join-essence-to-celebrate-black-women-in-hollywood-honor-debbie-allen/
article by Laura Prudom via Variety.com
“Creed” director Ryan Coogler, “Short Term 12” helmer Destin Daniel Cretton and production company Macro (founded by Charles King) are teaming to develop a new TV series, “Minors,” Variety has learned.
Created by Coogler, Cretton and writer Chinaka Hodge, “Minors” will tackle institutionalization in a unique and fresh way by exploring juvenile facilities and the kids that grow up in the system. The drama will be specifically structured to show how the facilities shape the kids over a one-year time period. The project is based on Cretton’s experience working in residential foster care, Coogler’s East Bay area upbringing and time working in a juvenile detention facility, and Hodge’s experience teaching underserved youth in Bay Area continuation schools and her 15 years of working with local youth.
The series will be exec produced by Coogler, Cretton, Hodge, King, Macro’s president of production Kim Roth, and Macro’s SVP of production Poppy Hanks. “Short Term 12” producer Asher Goldstein will serve as co-executive producer. Coogler and Cretton will direct the series, with Hodge penning the scripts. It remains to be seen where the project will land, but given the auspices, the show is likely to attract interest from both traditional and streaming networks.
Following the success of “Creed,” which scored Sylvester Stallone an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, Coogler will next direct Marvel’s “Black Panther.” Hodge previously served as an associate producer of HBO’s “Brave New Voices,” and appeared in the premium cabler’s “Poetry.” She is a founding member of Blackout for Human Rights.
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/minors-series-ryan-coogler-destin-cretton-charles-king-1201714996/
“Creed” director Ryan Coogler, “Short Term 12” helmer Destin Daniel Cretton and production company Macro (founded by Charles King) are teaming to develop a new TV series, “Minors,” Variety has learned.
Created by Coogler, Cretton and writer Chinaka Hodge, “Minors” will tackle institutionalization in a unique and fresh way by exploring juvenile facilities and the kids that grow up in the system. The drama will be specifically structured to show how the facilities shape the kids over a one-year time period. The project is based on Cretton’s experience working in residential foster care, Coogler’s East Bay area upbringing and time working in a juvenile detention facility, and Hodge’s experience teaching underserved youth in Bay Area continuation schools and her 15 years of working with local youth.
The series will be exec produced by Coogler, Cretton, Hodge, King, Macro’s president of production Kim Roth, and Macro’s SVP of production Poppy Hanks. “Short Term 12” producer Asher Goldstein will serve as co-executive producer. Coogler and Cretton will direct the series, with Hodge penning the scripts. It remains to be seen where the project will land, but given the auspices, the show is likely to attract interest from both traditional and streaming networks.
Following the success of “Creed,” which scored Sylvester Stallone an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, Coogler will next direct Marvel’s “Black Panther.” Hodge previously served as an associate producer of HBO’s “Brave New Voices,” and appeared in the premium cabler’s “Poetry.” She is a founding member of Blackout for Human Rights.
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/minors-series-ryan-coogler-destin-cretton-charles-king-1201714996/
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
According to Variety.com, Michael B. Jordan (“Fruitvale Station”, “Creed”) is slated to star in MGM Studio’s second remake of the heist thriller “The Thomas Crown Affair.”
The reboot is in early development stages and has no producer, writer or director attached. Jordan teamed with MGM on “Creed,” which performed with a very profitable $172 million worldwide, proving Jordan’s worth as a leading man.
The original “Thomas Crown Affair,” directed by Norman Jewison, was released in 1968. Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway starred in the film in which McQueen’s character masterminded a Boston bank robbery of $2.66 million without meeting any of the four thieves. Director John McTiernan’s 1999 remake starred Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. The film was a solid hit, grossing $124 million worldwide.
Jordan, obviously younger than the two former leading men, will likely bring a fresh, contemporary energy to the role, and hopefully this elevated genre vehicle will increase his staying power at the box office.
More on this project as it develops.
According to Variety.com, Michael B. Jordan (“Fruitvale Station”, “Creed”) is slated to star in MGM Studio’s second remake of the heist thriller “The Thomas Crown Affair.”
The reboot is in early development stages and has no producer, writer or director attached. Jordan teamed with MGM on “Creed,” which performed with a very profitable $172 million worldwide, proving Jordan’s worth as a leading man.
The original “Thomas Crown Affair,” directed by Norman Jewison, was released in 1968. Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway starred in the film in which McQueen’s character masterminded a Boston bank robbery of $2.66 million without meeting any of the four thieves. Director John McTiernan’s 1999 remake starred Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. The film was a solid hit, grossing $124 million worldwide.
Jordan, obviously younger than the two former leading men, will likely bring a fresh, contemporary energy to the role, and hopefully this elevated genre vehicle will increase his staying power at the box office.
More on this project as it develops.
Universal’s N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton has been named Best Picture by the African American Film Critics Association, one of three categories it topped along with Best Ensemble and Best Supporting Actor for Jason Mitchell. Best Director went to Creed helmer Ryan Coogler, while its star, Michael B. Jordan, won for Breakout Performance and Tessa Thompson was named Best Supporting Actress. Best Actor went to Will Smith for Concussion and Best Actress to Teyonah Parris for Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq.
The AAFCA honors excellence in cinema by creating awareness for films with universal appeal to black communities, while emphasizing films about the black experience and those produced written, directed and starring performers of African descent. It will hold its awards ceremony February 10 in Hollywood.
Here’s the full list of winners:
Best Picture
Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)
Best Director
Ryan Coogler,Creed (Warner Bros.)
Best Ensemble
Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)
Best Actor
Will Smith, Concussion (Sony)
Best Actress
Teyonah Parris, Chi-Raq (Roadside Attractions/Amazon Studios)
Here’s the full list of winners:
Best Picture
Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)
Best Director
Ryan Coogler,Creed (Warner Bros.)
Best Ensemble
Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)
Best Actor
Will Smith, Concussion (Sony)
Best Actress
Teyonah Parris, Chi-Raq (Roadside Attractions/Amazon Studios)