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Posts tagged as “Disney”

Cheo Hodari Coker to Write and Executive Produce "Luke Cage" Series for Netflix and Marvel

By goodblacknews on March 31, 2015
Luke Cage Netflix Cheo Hodari Coker
Netflix and Disney’s Marvel Television announced that Cheo Hodari Coker (“Ray Donovan,” “Southland”) will serve as executive producer and showrunner of “Luke Cage,” the street-hero series slated to premiere next year.
The companies previously announced that Mike Colter (“The Good Wife,” “American Horror Story: Coven”) will play Luke Cage in the series. Colter is slated to appear in Marvel’s “A.K.A. Jessica Jones” before headlining the “Luke Cage” series.
Coker is writing the first two episodes of the series, which is slated to premiere in 2016 in all territories Netflix is available.
Coker’s feature film credits include Fox Searchlight’s Notorious B.I.G. biopic “Notorious.” He also write the book “Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G.” Coker started his career in journalism as a staff writer at the L.A. Times and contributed to Vice, Rolling Stone, Essence and others.
Marvel’s “Luke Cage” is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix.
article by Todd Spangler via Variety.com

Disney Pledges $1 Million to United Negro College Fund

By goodblacknews on March 6, 2015
Screen Shot 2015-03-06 at 12.19.10 PMThe Walt Disney Company recently announced a $1 million commitment to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).

The UNCF, one of the leading minority scholarship organizations, will use the money to provide scholarships to outstanding African American students in underserved communities across the country, while expanding educational and career resources for them.  The UNCF traditionally serves low-income youth who are the first in their families to go to college, with more than 50 percent coming from families whose incomes are less than $30,000 per year.
The Walt Disney Company UNCF Corporate Scholars will be selected based on a competitive application process administered by UNCF. To be considered, applicants must be enrolled full-time at a four-year college or university, demonstrate financial need, have a minimum cumulative 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and have an interest in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.
The application process opens March 16 and closes May 15. Preference will be given to students attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to ensure 50% of each group are derived from these schools.
“UNCF works to ensure our future leaders have the opportunity to obtain the college degrees they need, and our nation needs them to have,” UNCF president and CEO Michael L. Lomax said. “The Walt Disney Company UNCF Corporate Scholars Program expands their academic training into practical experiences, to create a diverse pipeline of college educated professionals poised to assume fulfilling careers in the entertainment industry. The investment we are making in better futures for them now will pay dividends in years to come when they become our next generation of leaders.”
article by Joe Otterson via thewrap.com

Doc McStuffins Merchandise Garners $500 Million in Sales, Record for Toy Line Based on African-American Character

By goodblacknews on July 28, 2014
Natalie Elisabeth Battles, 3, of Arkansas, with her Doc McStuffins toys. She sometimes wears a doctor’s coat to preschool. (Credit: Jacob Slaton for The New York Times)

Jade Goss, age 2, looks as if she just stepped out of the wildly popular “Doc McStuffins” cartoon.  “She has the Doc McStuffins sheets. She has the Doc McStuffins doll. She has the Doc McStuffins purse. She has Doc McStuffins clothes,” said Jade’s mother, Melissa Woods, of Lynwood, Calif.

“I think what attracts her is, ‘Hey, I look like her, and she looks like me,’ ” Ms. Woods said of the character, an African-American child who acts as a doctor to her stuffed animals.

With about $500 million in sales last year, Doc McStuffins merchandise seems to be setting a record as the best-selling toy line based on an African-American character, industry experts say.  Its blockbuster success reflects, in part, the country’s changing consumer demographics, experts say, with more children from minority backgrounds providing an expanding, less segregated marketplace for shoppers and toymakers.

DocMcStuffinsBut what also differentiates Doc — and Dora the Explorer, an exceptionally popular Latina character whose toy line has sold $12 billion worth of merchandise over the years, Nickelodeon executives say — is her crossover appeal.  “The kids who are of color see her as an African-American girl, and that’s really big for them,” said Chris Nee, the creator of Doc McStuffins. “And I think a lot of other kids don’t see her color, and that’s wonderful as well.”

Nancy Kanter, general manager of Disney Junior Worldwide, which developed “Doc McStuffins” — and who suggested the character be African-American in the first place — said Doc’s wide-ranging fan base could be gleaned from a spreadsheet. “If you look at the numbers on the toy sales, it’s pretty obvious that this isn’t just African-American families buying these toys,” Ms. Kanter said. “It’s the broadest demographics possible.”

Tyra Banks Returns to Daytime TV, Lands New Talk Show with Disney-ABC

By goodblacknews on June 4, 2014

Tyra Banks
Photo Courtesy of E! Online

Tyra Banks is getting a second chance at making her daytime dreams come true. The supermodel has partnered as an executive producer with Disney to launch a new lifestyle show in 2015, the company announced on Friday.
So what will make this series different from “The Tyra Banks Show,” which was on the air for nearly 270 episodes from 2005 to 2011? This time around, Banks will be joined by a “panel of lifestyle experts,” who will use the model’s vast social media following to create a multi-platform experience for their viewers.
“The fire to inspire women and help them to blaze new paths fiercely burns inside of me,” Banks said in a statement.
“I’m excited to be partnering with Disney-ABC to usher in a new era of lifestyle, beauty and entertainment that will inspire women to be the CEO of their lives via honesty, humor and the newest tips and tricks without being intimidating or precious.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on E! Online
article by Leanne Aguilera via thegrio.com

Terry Crews Named New Host Of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"

By goodblacknews on May 7, 2014

rewsActor former NFL player Terry Crews has sealed a deal to become the new host of the syndicated Who Wants To Be A Millionaire for the next 13th season, which launches in the fall. He succeeds Cedric the Entertainer, who hosted the show this season. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is going through a number of changes, including a move to to Stamford, Connecticut where it is expected to benefit from a tax break.

Crews, who co-stars in Fox’s comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, had been exploring doing a syndicated show and met with several studios, with Disney-ABC jumping in with the Millionaire offer. “Terry is engaging, endearing, smart, and quick on his feet — the perfect combination to lead one of the longest-running franchises in game show history,” said Janice Marinelli, president, Disney-ABC Domestic TV.

This marks the latest career expansion for Crews who started as an athlete before moving to entertainment. “In addition to my film projects including Blended, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and now being a first time author, hosting has always been a dream of mine, and I couldn’t have asked for a greater opportunity,” he said. Crews’ recent credits include a recurring stints on The Newsroom and Arrested Development and roles in Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club and Ivan Reitman’s Draft Day.

Next up is the comedy Blended with Adam Sandler and he’ll be reprising his role as “Hale Caesar” in the third installment of the Expendables franchise. Crews also penned his first book, memoir “Manhood,” which comes out May 20.

article by Nellie Andreeva via Deadline.com

Michael Strahan to Join ABC’s "Good Morning America"

By goodblacknews on April 2, 2014

Michael Strahan
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

Disney Laces Up to Make Biopic About Legendary Olympian Jesse Owens

By goodblacknews on December 18, 2013
Jesse Owens Movie Disney

Disney is developing a biographical feature film about American track and field hero Jesse Owens, setting up the project with production companies BermanBraun and Netter Films and attaching Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Olympus Has Fallen) to direct.  The untitled film is based on the book Triumph, written ESPN host Jeremy Schaap. David Seidler, who won a screenwriting Oscar for The King’s Speech, is on board to write the screenplay.
Set against the backdrop of  the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Triumph tells the story of how the son of an Alabama sharecropper shattered Adolf Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy by winning a record four gold medals in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the long jump and the 400-meter relay.  Hitler had insisted Jews and Blacks not be allowed to participate in the games, but relented when threatened with a boycott. He shook hands only with the German victors on the first day of competition and then skipped all further medal presentations.
article by Dave McNary via Variety.com

Favorite Disney Princesses Transformed Into Women Of Color

By goodblacknews on July 30, 2012

Its not too often that a young woman of color sees herself reflected in the images she views.  Yet, given some free time and a sporadic interest, one young woman has reinterpreted the race of some of the world’s most beloved Disney princesses.

“So I made a bunch of white Disney characters into WOC,” Lauren wrote on her Tumblr page. “Just for funzies :D”  In Lauren’s blog, The Little Mermaid‘s Ariel, Beauty and the Beast‘s Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and others are all reimagined as darker-hued woman of color, she writes, ranging from tawny to dark brown.