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Posts tagged as “entertainment”

Nick Cannon Signs Development Deal With NBC

By goodblacknews on November 29, 2012

“America’s Got Talent” host and “Drumline” star Nick Cannon has just signed a first-look deal with NBC under his NCredible Entertainment banner, according to Deadline.com.  Cannon and producing partner Michael Goldman will develop scripted and unscripted programming for the network in addition to Cannon re-upping to return as host of “AGT” next summer.  

In addition to Cannon’s long-time collaboration with Nickelodeon, his company is also producing “Incredible Crew” for the Cartoon Network, a live-action sketch comedy series created by Cannon. 

Angela Bassett to Star in and Produce NBC’s ‘Vanishing Point’

By goodblacknews on November 20, 2012
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 20: Actress Angela Bassett arrives at Film Independent's 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival Premiere Of AFFRM & Participant Media's 'Middle Of Nowhere' at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live on June 20, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 20: Actress Angela Bassett arrives at Film Independent’s 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival Premiere Of AFFRM & Participant Media’s ‘Middle Of Nowhere’ at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live on June 20, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images)

Academy Award nominated actress Angela Bassett is set to star and co-executive produce a new legal drama on NBC titled Vanishing Point.  According to Deadline, NBC closed a deal for the show that was penned by Source Code writer, Ben Ripley, who will executive produce the drama that is produce by SONY TV alongside SONY TV-based producers Deborah Spera and Maria Grasso.

‘Boyz n the Hood’ Reimagined by Interpretive Dancer Kyle Abraham

By goodblacknews on November 14, 2012

Kyle Abraham.jpg

The thirty-five-year-old choreographer Kyle Abraham has come a long way in just a few years. In 2006, he established his company, Abraham.In.Motion, and since then has produced dances that have earned him awards and critical acclaim. In December, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre will première a work that it commissioned from him. For someone whose career has taken off in such a big way, though, he retains a strong connection to his Pittsburgh roots, and shows great integrity in his dance-making, both of which were evident in his newest work, “Pavement,” which Abraham presented recently at Harlem Stage.

Abraham, who is African-American, went to high school in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, a historically black neighborhood, and in several of his previous works he drew on his experiences there. For “Pavement,” he went back to 1991, to reimagine the film “Boyz n the Hood,” about gangs in South Central Los Angeles, which was released that summer. He used the film as a springboard for examining life in Pittsburgh’s African-American communities in the Hill District and East Liberty Homewood and reflecting on the state of the black American experience in the two decades since its release.

But Abraham’s conception was even more sweeping. He also wanted to look at the history that had preceded the strife represented in “Boyz n the Hood,” and found a pertinent source in “The Souls of Black Folk,” the 1903 book by W. E. B. Du Bois, whose essays became instrumental in African-Americans’ struggle for equality in the twentieth century. Du Bois’s text made no appearance in “Pavement,” but Abraham included a quote from it in the program, which hovered over the dance: “Men call the shadow prejudice, and learnedly explain it as a natural defense of culture against barbarism, learning against ignorance, purity against crime, the ‘higher’ against the ‘lower’ races.” In the light of Du Bois’s words from more than a century ago, the realities as depicted in the film are sobering. From the perspective of 1991, when the ravages of H.I.V., crack addiction, and gang genocide were entrenched, not much seems to have gone right.

WATCH TONIGHT: Terrence Jenkins Replaces Ryan Seacrest on ‘E! News’

By goodblacknews on November 12, 2012

Beginning this evening, “106 & Park’s” Terrence Jenkins will replace Ryan Seacrest as co-host of E! News with Giuliana Rancic. His debut will feature an exclusive interview with Chris Brown.  The move comes as the hour-long show looks to expand beyond celebrity, focusing more broadly on pop culture, politics, fashion and music, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Jenkins, formerly known as Terrence J, will join Rancic on the weekday news desk, working on personality profiles and other reporting for the show.

Forest Whitaker Launches “Sharon Is Caring,” Teams Up With Indiegogo To Crowd Fund Films

By goodblacknews on November 7, 2012
Forest Whitaker AFI - P 2011
Forest Whitaker’s JuntoBox Films has greenlit production for romantic comedy Sharon Is Caring, while also announcing the shingle’s collaboration with crowd-funding platform Indiegogo.

Announcing the link-up at AFM on Nov. 5, the actor-turned-producer said the JuntoBox-Indiegogo partnership “represents another step toward using social collaboration and the elements of our digital world to empower the voices of independent filmmakers everywhere.”

As a result of the tie-up, entries on the website can now have the access to the production, mentorship and distribution services provided by Juntobox, a “collaborative” film studio chaired by Whitaker.

“Indiegogo’s roots were in film, so we’re excited to partner with JuntoBox to further extend our reach within the independent film community,” said Indiegogo co-founder and CEO Slava Rubin. “The JuntoBox Partner Page on Indiegogo will empower filmmakers to raise money for their films, tap into a global audience and bring more independent film projects to life.”

Founded in January 2008, the San Francisco-based portal aims at facilitating individuals to raise funds for their social or entrepreneurial projects from around the world.

Sharon Is Caring, revolving around two women avenging a man dating them at the same time and to be directed by New Yorker Wesley Mills, is JuntoBox’s fourth approved project this year. Aspiring filmmakers begin pitching the idea online, where members would vote on to pass judgment on whether they merit a launch.

article by Clarence Tsui via hollywoodreporter.com

Mellody Hobson Appointed Chairman Of DreamWorks Animation

By goodblacknews on October 25, 2012

Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments, LLC, a Chicago-based investment firm managing over $3 billion in assets, and one of the largest African American-owned money management and mutual fund companies in the United States, has been named DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. Chairman of the Board.  Roger Enrico, who served as Chairman since 2004, has resigned, effective immediately. 

DreamWorks Animation creates high-quality entertainment, including CG animated feature films, television specials and series and live entertainment properties, meant for audiences around the world.  DreamWorks Animation has been named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by FORTUNE® Magazine for four consecutive years. In 2012, DreamWorks Animation ranks #14 on the list. All of DreamWorks Animation’s feature films are now being produced in 3D.

The Company has theatrically released a total of 24 animated feature films, including the franchise properties of “Shrek,” “Madagascar,” “Kung Fu Panda” and “How to Train Your Dragon.”  The Company’s theatrical releases for the current year are “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” on June 8, 2012 and “Rise of the Guardians” on November 21, 2012.

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

HBO And Oprah Developing Drama On Wealthy Black College President

By goodblacknews on October 24, 2012

HBO and Oprah Winfrey are teaming up to produce an original drama series that will center on “a wealthy academic who has become the first black president of a prestigious liberal arts college. He and his family are thrust into national headlines, forcing them to present an idyllic public façade, all while engaging in agonizing personal battles and struggling with dark obsessions,” says THR.  The series will be penned by playwright Thomas Bradshaw, who will also co-executive produce with Winfrey and Harpo Studios’ Kate Forte.  This is part of a long-term deal Harpo has with HBO to develop miniseries, films, documentaries and scripted series for the network.

article by Tambay A. Obenson via blogs.indiewire.com

Nicole Ari Parker Takes Lead In Jerry Bruckheimer-Produced "Secret Lives Of Husbands & Wives"

By goodblacknews on September 28, 2012

Nicole Ari Parker has been cast as a lead in the NBC drama pilot for the thriller, The Secret Lives Of Husbands And Wives, which centers on “a murder and the secrets and lies within a tightly woven group of three suburban couples and their families exposed in its aftermath,” says Deadline.

Nicole Ari Parker Takes Lead In Jerry Bruckheimer-Produced “Secret Lives Of Husbands & Wives”

By goodblacknews on September 28, 2012

Nicole Ari Parker has been cast as a lead in the NBC drama pilot for the thriller, The Secret Lives Of Husbands And Wives, which centers on “a murder and the secrets and lies within a tightly woven group of three suburban couples and their families exposed in its aftermath,” says Deadline.

Kelly Rowland Stars In New BET Pilot

By goodblacknews on September 25, 2012

Kelly Rowland is back flexing her acting skills with a new role in an original BET pilot “What Would Dylan Do.”
Executive produced by Warren Hutcherson (‘The Bernie Mac Show,” “Men Of A Certain Age”) and Julian Breece (of the web series “Buppies”), the show will feature the singer as an “L.A.-based struggling relationship blogger” named Dylan, who lives with the girls while attempting to get her life together.
Also set to star in the show is Brandon Scott of “Grey’s Anatomy,” as Dylan’s ex-fiancée.
If the show is picked up, it will join BET’s fall line-up with “The Game,” Gabrielle Union’s “Being Middle of Nowhere,” and Larenz Tate’s “Gun Hill.”