Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios announced the lease of 75,000 square feet of production space in Culver City, Calif. on Thursday, which the company plans to use for its 35th and 36th television series, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
These will be the studio’s third and fourth brand new scripted sitcoms in less than two years, and once again, Allen is going forward with the half-hour syndicated shows without pilots for either, THR reported.
They will be funded by his own company, with an initial guaranteed order of 104 episodes of each, or 208 episodes in total. Allen won’t reveal numbers, but THR puts the cost of production for the shows at roughly $350,000 to $400,000 each, which by major network standards is a bargain these days. That is a minimum investment of $72.8 million for the 208 episodes.
Regarding his cost-effective productions, Allen boasts he has never canceled a show. “The way I see it we’re the Walmart of television,” says Allen. “We make it very efficiently but we don’t cut costs on writers or actors.”
Allen, a stand-up comic who has built (and still wholly owns) a company with over $100 million in annual revenues, has already found financial success with his first two scripted shows, “The First Family” and “Mr. Box Office.” They joined the corporate line-up of 30 unscripted shows that Entertainment Studios has created and sold since 1993.
Posts published in “New Media/Internet”
YouTube hopes users will get on the good foot with its new James Brown channel, featuring, concert footage, testimonials — and, of course, opportunities to purchase DVDs and other merchandise, reports Deadline.com.
The channel (youtube.com/jamesbrownofficial and shoutfactory.com/jamesbrown) is a partnership between the James Brown Estate and label Shout Factory, which distributes the Godfather of Soul’s properties.
“These digital destinations will continue to evolve as we program content specific to key events as well as discover and add new video assets, leveraging Shout Factory’s unique content curation capabilities,” says Jeffrey Thompson, Shout Factory’s VP of digital strategy and business development.
The launch coincides with the 45th anniversary of Brown’s Boston concert following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Many historians believe that the concert helped to prevent riots from breaking out as they had in several other cities.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P318KJwNx-E&w=560&h=315]
original article via eurweb.com
GOOD BLACK NEWS proudly celebrates its third anniversary today, with 4,367 Facebook followers, 2,803 Twitter followers and scores more via Pinterest, Google+ and Tumblr. Last September, GBN launched a dedicated website, goodblacknews.org, which allowed us to expand our presence on the internet beyond Facebook (we are also on YouTube and LinkedIn) and provide archives and search functions to you, our loyal readers.
The outpour of appreciation you’ve shown us via comments and e-mails means the world to us, and only inspires GBN to keep getting better. In the coming months, we aim to refresh and revise the look of goodblacknews.org to improve mobile access, provide more original content, and (if you sign up for it) a downloadable e-newsletter featuring GBN’s Top Stories of the Week.
Please keep helping us spread GBN by sharing, liking, re-tweeting and commenting, and consider joining our e-mail list via our “Contact Us” tab on goodblacknews.org. We will only use this list to keep you updated on GBN and send you our e-newsletter — nothing else. And, of course, you may opt out at any time.
GBN remains a labor of love, and our Founder/Editor-In-Chief (Lori Lakin Hutcherson) and staff are all unpaid volunteers. We believe in bringing you positive news, reviews and stories of interest about black people all over the world, and greatly value your participation in continuing to build our shared vision.
Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to providing you with more Good Black News in the coming year, and beyond!
Warmly,
The Good Black News Team
This month’s Billboard magazine’s Stars Tribute issue honors iconic singing legend, Chaka Khan, for her 60th birthday and the 40 anniversary of her career in entertainment. “Chaka has always been an innovator as an artist,” says Tammy McCrary of Chaka Khan Management. “In today’s market, it is just as important to be innovative technologically. This is why we chose to partner with Printergize.”
The new mobile app will go directly to www.chakakhan.com, where Chaka’s Billboard magazine cover image will come to life through the Augmented Reality app. At that moment, users will see Chaka introduce her 100 Days of Chaka campaign, which marks the 100 days from her birthday (March 23) to the anniversary of the release of her first recorded album with Rufus, “Rufus” (July 1, 1973), 40 years ago. This timeline will highlight daily, a series of historic moments in Chaka’s career, mixed with celebratory current events. The 100 Days of Chaka culminates with the release of “The iKhan Project: Alive!” on July 2nd.
article by Brittney M. Walker via Chaka Khan on the Cover of Billboard for 60th Birthday | EURweb.
Quincy Jones wants to improve our children’s music education and so the famed composer-producer has partnered up with app creator Chris Vance to launch Playground Sessions. The application will teach users how to read and play piano music with tutorials from pianist David Sides. Adults and children will receive real-time feedback as they attempt to master any of the 70 popular songs from artists like Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry included in the program. There’s “such a need for this,” Jones said. “The concept is brand new. I have been praying for this for a long time. It has a learning concept similar to Rosetta Stone. I’m blown away by this.”
Jones also added that children in the United States are behind other kids when it comes to music education and that Playground Sessions will give them an edge. Jones’ alma mater, Garfield High School in Seattle, will be one of the first to introduce the app to its students.
article by Dorkys Ramos via bet.com
article by Dorkys Ramos via bet.com
(Courtesy of Eunique Jones Photography)
Photographer Eunique Jones’ photo series, ‘Because of them, we can…” , has made a splash on the Internet as a unique and creative take on the importance of Black History Month. Her 28-photo project features more than 40 young children posing as some of the most iconic and influential black figures from the past and the present.
From Harriet Tubman to Spike Lee, the children are seen dressed and styled like the individual they are portraying and also incorporate an inspirational quote from each particular famous person. Jones, who has been a professional photographer for three years, says she was inspired to create the project for Black History Month because of her two children, Chase, 4, and Amari, seven months-old. She realized they had so many opportunities available to them today which would not have been possible without “the African-American individuals who paved the way for [my kids’] future.”
Around the Way is an app for your iPhone or Android device that helps its users locate black owned businesses. The app is important because it uses technology to combat social issues that often deter minority own businesses from thriving.
Around the Way App Version 2.0 has a pretty intuitive interface, which mimics the native iPhone maps App. This makes it very simple to use and pick up right away to help you locate black owned businesses using your phone. When you open the App, you’re greeted with a scroll bar at the top, which groups black businesses by good and services that range from beauty shops, barbers, banks and restaurants. There are also several tabs below, which allow you to view all of the black businesses in a certain area, search for specific stores or add a black business that you may have spotted.
One of the cool features of the app is the ability to favorite locations. This app is all about supporting black businesses so this feature makes it easy for you to become reoccurring customers once you book mark your favorites spots. Business owners and entrepreneurs have the ability to add their own business to the Around The Way App Directory directly from their phone.
article by Sajjad Musa via thegrio.com
Tracy Reese has relaunched her e-commerce website, TracyReese.com, and on it the fashion designer is not only going to offer her latest collections from both Tracy Reese and Plenty by Tracy Reese, but some of her inspirations as well. The section Tracy Loves features some of the hottest items and trends Reese is currently falling for like mixing bold colors and patterns. She also spotlights Butterscotch by Sally Hansen nail polish, which she’s used for her show and says that “romantic blue roses inspired a number of items in this collection.”
Her blog, Reese’s Pieces, shows sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes coverage as she travels around the world, chooses colors for her latest collection, dresses the First Lady, and preps for fashion shows.
Speaking of shows, New York Fashion Week is upon us and Reese recently shared her inspiration behind the Fall 2013 collection she’ll be sending down the runway Feb. 10. The New York-based designer was influenced by city’s “harshness and beauty” and will attempt to liven up the typically all-black ensembles New Yorker’s tend to fall for with pops of scarlet, cerise, teal, aubergine, tan and lychee. Expect feminine silhouettes in floral patterns, long skirts, sweater tunics, and vibrantly-hued outerwear.
article by Dorkys Ramos via bet.com
article by Dorkys Ramos via bet.com
Wide open spaces: Projects like the one in Nanyuki could let people in the more remote areas connect to the internet
Beatrice Nderango is the headmistress of Gakawa Secondary School, which lies about 10km from Nanyuki, a market town in Kenya’s rift valley, not far from the Mount Kenya national park. The school is situated in a village that has no phone line and no electricity. The people that live here are mostly subsistence farmers.
“We don’t really have a cash crop, but the farmers do a bit of farming,” says Mrs Nderango. “They grow potatoes, a little bit of maize, but we don’t do well in maize because of the wild animals. They invade the farms.”
Although Kenya has fibre optic broadband thanks to the Seacom cable, most of rural Kenya is not connected and until now getting online would mean traveling to town.
But all of this is changing, thanks to technology that uses the unused parts of the wireless spectrum that is set aside for television broadcasters – the white spaces.
The project is part of the 4Afrika Initiative, an investment program being announced by technology giant Microsoft, that also includes a new Windows Phone 8 smartphone for the region and investment in help for small businesses on the continent, and in education and internships.
Perhaps you want to share the important history of African Americans with your children, but know you need to brush up on your facts first. So where should you begin?
Define it
The best way to start teaching yourself about Black History Month is to begin with the definition. What exactly is this 28-day tribute in February? Also known as African-American History Month, Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African-Americans in U.S. history. The event used to be known as Negro History Week and was extended to a month-long observance in 1976.
Read up
If your child is school-aged, he’s definitely being taught about the importance of Black History Month in his classroom. But there’s a lot you can do to reinforce the learning at home. To educate your little one — and yourself — about Black History Month, head to the library and check out one of the hundreds of books on the subject. Any of these options (and more) can start an important discussion about racial diversity between you and your child.
- The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane Derolf (age 3 and up)
- Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport (age 5-8)
- Who is Barack Obama? by Roberta Edwards (age 8-12)
- 50 Black Women Who Changed America by Amy Alexander (age 12 and up)
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker (age 14 and up)