It might seem like she has the Midas touch, but Issa Rae knows it’s not always that easy to make magic happen and become a success, so she’s making sure to help others who are following in her path.
“I get irritated when others are in a position where they can help others and they don’t pay it forward,” Issa told Sister 2 Sister. “I think that’s the most important part.”
The The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl creator is putting actions behind those words with Color Creative, an initiative that gives “great writers of color a platform and an audience.”
First, the brainchild of Jahmela Biggs, is one of the projects Issa is supporting. It’s a Webseries about falling in love.
“I really, really liked it. It has ‘90s sensibilities in the way that I enjoyed Love Jones so much and it reminded me a lot of it,” the Exhale co-host said. The third episode of the Web series premieres Wednesday on Issa’s YouTube channel.
In addition to creating and supporting Webseries and co-hosting Exhale on Aspire, Issa said she’s also working on a book, a collection of essays. As if that’s not enough, she’s still in the process of producing a series for HBO.
It may seem like Issa mapped an uncharted road to success intentionally, by launching the Awkward Black Girl series years ago, but she said her rise to the top was sort of unexpected.
“I wish it was part of my master plan. I wish I was that smart,” she said. “I’m just taking it in stride. I was very surprised at how fast it did take off. You just don’t expect that magnitude. I never expected to have all these opportunities continue and that’s what I’m most appreciative for,” she said, thanking her fans.
“I have a ridiculously supportive viewership and fan base. They’re so dedicated to our success and I love that,” she said.
article by Tracy Scott via s2smagazine.com
Posts published in “TV”
The Queen Latifah-produced scripted series Single Ladies has found new life on Centric, BET’s sibling cable channel. Centric has ordered a fourth season of the romantic comedy series, created and executive produced by Stacy A. Littlejohn, which previously aired on VH1, as part of a larger content development pact with Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment. Centric will also carry repeats of Latifah’s daytime syndicated talk show.
“We are thrilled to be working once again with Flavor Unit Entertainment and Queen Latifah. She does it all and we are happy to have her join us as a creative force as we continue to grow Centric into a premiere destination for African American women,” said BET Networks chairman-CEO Debra Lee.
The Single Ladies pickup was the centerpiece of Centric’s portion of BET Networks’ upfront presentation announcement in Los Angeles Tuesday. Flavor Unit, run by Latifah and partner Shakim Compere, is already in business with BET as the producer of the scripted comedy “Let’s Stay Together.”
article by Cynthia Littleton via Variety.com
30 Rock veteran Tracy Morgan is returning to primetime in a new comedy for FXX. According to Deadline.com, the network has given a straight-to-series order to the project from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton and Sunny writer Luvh Rakhe.
This is a brand new concept unrelated to Death Pact, the comedy pilot FX recently produced, from writers Rob Long and Tad Safran, which starred Morgan as a formerly lazy, pot-dealing assistant high school coach who returns to his hometown as a decorated war hero.
McElhenney, Day and Howerton approached Morgan about working with tem in January, with the discussions leading to the new series, reports Deadline. While there had been no formal pass on Death Pact, some cast members already have booked new gigs.
article via eurweb.com
According to Variety.com, Toni Braxton will star as singer Darlene Love in OWN’s biopic of the famed pop vocalist. My Name is Love: The Darlene Love Story is slated for a December premiere, and the telefilm revolves around Love’s long career in the music industry, starting out as the key voice behind Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound hits from the 1960s. OWN’s first scripted movie was brought to the network by Morgan Neville, the documentarian who was behind last year’s Academy Award-winning feature, Twenty Feet from Stardom, about Love and other well-known backup singers.
OWN has also announced it’s set Octavia Spencer to star in a miniseries revolving around a journalist investigating the notorious mass murder and cover-up in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921. Tulsa comes from drama veteran (and Oklahoma native) Nancy Miller (TNT’s Saving Grace).
Additionally, OWN has ordered 20 more episodes of Tyler Perry’s hit primetime soap The Haves and the Have Nots, bringing it to 56 episodes to air through 2015. A new Perry drama series, Single Mom’s Club, is set for a fall debut with a 20-episode order.
Justin Timberlake is lined up as the first guest on the new season of Oprah Winfrey’s interview series Oprah’s Master Class, to premiere May 11. Another programming tentpole planned for next year is the seven-part documentary series Belief, examining the origins of faith “through the eyes of believers.”
Michael Strahan is in negotiations to join ABC’s Good Morning America. Strahan will remain cohost with Kelly Ripa of Live with Kelly and Michael, the Disney-distributed syndicated morning show. He’s expected to join the GMA ensemble in the studio a couple of times a week.
Strahan, a former NFL player, is also an analyst on Fox’s NFL Sunday. He was a surprise choice to fill Regis Philbin’s shoes opposite Ripa on Live in the fall of 2012. Since then, he’s been widely praised for his warmth and versatility on-air. The Disney parentage of Live and ABC makes it feasible for him to shuttle between the two morning shows.
Sources said GMA’s discussions with Strahan have been going on for months and are not tied to Josh Elliott’s recent departure for NBC Sports.
article via Variety.com
Grammy Award-winning producer/musician Pharrell Williams will join NBC’s singing competition The Voice next season, the show announced on Twitter. He replaces original coach CeeLo Green who recently announced his departure.
“It’s been a huge year for Pharrell, with recognition for his contribution in the world of music — the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise soundtracks, his Oscar-nominated song ‘Happy’ and his Grammy-winning collaboration with Daft Punk on the breakout dance hit ‘Get Lucky.’ His dominance in record sales in 2014, coupled with his incomparable accomplishments in the world of fashion and design, make him an irresistible addition to ‘The Voice’ family,” said Paul Telegdy, President, Alternative and Late Night Programming, NBC Entertainment.
Said executive producer Mark Burnett: “I am thrilled to have Pharrell come back to ‘The Voice’ family, and this time … as a coach. Continuing in ‘The Voice’ tradition of having the biggest and most current music stars as coaches, Pharrell fits perfectly.” Pharrell, who was previously an adviser to team Usher on season four of “The Voice,” is a multi-platinum and international singer-songwriter, producer and fashion designer.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
Television veteran Tichina Arnold will help round out the cast of Starz’s new original comedy series Survivor’s Remorse, executive produced by LeBron James. The half-hour show centers on two men (one an NBA star, the other one not) who make it out of North Philadelphia’s inner city to a more extravagant life of fame and fortune. Along the way, they fight with the guilt of their struggling peers left behind.
Jessie T. Usher will take the lead of basketball talent Cam Calloway who signs a multi-million dollar contract, while Arnold plays his mother.
Let’s Stay Together supporting actor Ronreaco Lee has been cast as Cam’s cousin and confidant Reggie Vaughn and Erica Ash of The Real Husbands of Hollywood will play Cam’s sister M-Chuck. The group joins Teyonah Parris who will play Lee’s wife Missy.
Survivor’s Remorse is set to air this fall.
article by Camille Travis via uptown magazine.com
Alfre Woodard has been elected to play Madame President in Katherine Heigl‘s new political drama State of Affairs. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the drama described as Scandal meets The West Wing, will see the 12 Years a Slave actress as President Roberta Payton.
Woodard’s character enlists a CIA agent, played by Heigl, to give her counsel on incidents around the world. The plot follows Heigl as she takes on the role of targeting America’s most critical threats while balancing the demands of a complex personal life.
The casting puts Woodard in the company of several other African-American women leads on pilots this season including Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer.
article by Dominique Hobdy via essence.com
Just in time for Easter, the Lifetime Channel will air the small screen adaptation of Terry McMillan‘s bestseller A Day Late and a Dollar Short. The film stars Whoopi Goldberg (who also executive produced) and Ving Rhames as an estranged couple, with Anika Noni Rose, Kimberly Elise, Tichina Arnold, and Mekhi Phifer playing their adult children.
The synopsis:
In A Day Late and a Dollar Short, when irascible matriarch Viola Price (Goldberg) learns that her next asthma attack will likely kill her, she is determined to fix her fractured family before she leaves this world, from her relationship with her husband (Rhames), to the lives of her four children and grandchildren. While on this quest, she must contend with sibling rivalry, teen pregnancy and prescription drug addiction – and that is only one child. Additionally, her jailbird son (Phifer) needs to learn how to be a better father, her granddaughter is in bigger trouble than her daughter is willing to admit and her estranged husband needs saving from his scheming younger girlfriend. It’s the kind of meddling that the Price family hasn’t experienced from Viola in decades, and she won’t have an easy time bending her loved ones to her will.
The film was adapted for television from McMillan’s novel by Shernold Edwards and directed by Stephen Tolkin. It will premiere on April 19 at 8/7C.
Watch a clip from the movie below:
http://youtu.be/jjCKQuR4FxM
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Malik Yoba is set to co-star opposite Terrence Howard in Fox’s hip-hop industry drama pilot Empire, from Lee Daniels, Danny Strong and Brian Grazer. It centers on Lucious Lyon (Howard), a charismatic, savvy music superstar who is about to take his company, Empire Entertainment, public. Yoba, repped by Innovative and the Arlook Group, will play Vernon Turner, Lucious’s longtime friend from the streets and business associate who is now the chairman of the board of Empire Entertainment.
article by Nellie Andreeva via Deadline.com