Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts tagged as “Eric Garcetti”

Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY to Open Independent Movie Theater, Offer Grants For Film Festivals

By goodblacknews on April 16, 2019
Ava Duvernay (photo via commons.wikipedia.org)

According to Tambay Obenson‘s article on indiewire.com, filmmaker Ava DuVernay‘s distribution company ARRAY is building a state-of-the-art, 50-set movie theater, which will be able to screen independent movies as well as be available for rental. To quote the article:

“Located west of downtown Los Angeles — a part of the city that doesn’t house many media moguls — it’s also the area’s only independent theater. And it comes at a time when exhibitors are apoplectic over the impact of Netflix and other major streaming companies.

ARRAY VP Tilane Jones said that’s one reason they chose to open it. “It’s really a labor of love, which is all driven by a desire to be in service of people,” Jones said. “Our filmmakers and our audience.”

The ARRAY library is an eclectic selection of independent films, many of which were directed by women and/or people of color, united by singular visions and themes of social justice — a template that mainstream distributors often dismiss out of hand. For DuVernay, who worked as a movie marketer and publicist for more than 14 years, this represented an opportunity.”

ARRAY is also working to create opportunities for filmmakers of color. Last year, ARRAY teamed up with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and producer Dan Lin to launch the Evolve Entertainment Fund, which provides promotion, grants, and gap financing for communities historically excluded from the entertainment industry.

ARRAY Alliance, which is the company’s non-profit division, plans to create grants for African American, Latino and Asian American film festivals, societies and clubs, as well as support the screenings, curriculum, and teacher training that will help young audiences learn the value of art, independent film, and social justice.

To read more, go to: https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/ava-duvernay-array-affrm-burial-of-kojo-1202053860/

Los Angeles City Council Approves Changing Name of Rodeo Road to Obama Boulevard

By goodblacknews on September 1, 2018
President Barack Obama (photo via twitter)

by  via latimes.com

The Los Angeles City Council voted to rename Rodeo Road as Obama Boulevard in honor of former President Obama, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced in a tweet Tuesday night.

“We’re thrilled that Angelenos and visitors will forever be reminded of the legacy of President @BarackObama when traveling across L.A.,” he said in the tweet.

City Council President Herb Wesson proposed the name change in June 2017.

Not to be confused with the upscale Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Rodeo Road is a 3.5-mile street that runs from near the Culver City border east to Mid-City.

In his proposal, Wesson noted that Obama held a campaign rally at Rancho Cienega Park on Rodeo Road when running for president and that the area already has streets named after presidents, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. It’s a residential strip in a predominantly African American community.

The road is also home to Dorsey High School, Baldwin Hills Elementary School and Rancho Cienega Sports Center and Park — where Obama held a campaign rally when he was running for president. East of La Brea Avenue, the new Obama Boulevard will intersect with Martin Luther King Boulevard (which was renamed from Santa Barbara Avenue in 1983).

The move is not the first to honor the former president in the greater Los Angeles area. In September, a resolution by state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) to rename a portion of the 134 Freeway passed. Several California schools have also been named after Obama, and in the Monterey Bay town of Seaside, city leaders designated one street Obama Way.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oabma-boulevard-20180828-story.html

Ava DuVernay, Netflix, Issa Rae, Dan Lin and Others Partner With City Of L.A. on Inclusion Initiative, the Evolve Entertainment Fund

By goodblacknews on February 22, 2018


by Dominic Patten via deadline.com
“As we radically reimagine Hollywood, it is critically important that young people are included in our vision,” Ava DuVernay said today at the unveiling of the Evolve Entertainment Fund in Los Angeles.
“Real change happens when we take tangible action, and that means giving young women and people of color opportunities in the industry early on so they have the chance to shape its future,” the A Wrinkle on Time director and ARRAY founder added of the new partnership between the City of L.A, studios, networks and nonprofits that seeks to provide placement in the industry for those traditionally left on the outside.
“What is one thing that people can do to instigate inclusion on film set? Hire a woman,” Oscar nominee DuVernay also made a point of noting. “Films directed by women have 76% percent more inclusion across people of color and women.”
Teaming-up with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Issa Rae Productions, Dan Lin’s Rideback, ARRAY, WME, Netflix, HBO, Film Independent, CAA, UTA, Anonymous Content, Lionsgate, Charles D King’s MACRO, Oprah Winfrey Network, the Sundance Institute, Shondaland, Ryan Murphy, Innovative Artists and Warner Bros, among others, the EEF intends to raise over $5 million to fund programs up to and beyond 2020.
With emphasis on creating TV, film and digital career opportunities for people of color, women and low-income residents of the City of Angles and securing mini-grants and placement for eligible filmmakers, the newly announced EEF has already established 150 paid summer internships for students participating in the HIRE LA’s Youth program working with 9-1-1 EP Murphy’s production company, DreamWorks Animation and Kobe Bryant’s Granity Studios. The hope is that the trajectory of those internships will expand to 250 by the end of the year, and up to 500 placements by 2020.

Lionel Richie Inducted into L.A. Hall of Fame During African American Heritage Month Celebration

By goodblacknews on February 6, 2016
Singer/Songwriter Lionel Richie is honored with the Living Legend Award at Los Angeles City Hall on February 3, 2016, Photo: Getty/Earl Gibson III
Singer/Songwriter Lionel Richie is honored with the Living Legend Award at Los Angeles City Hall on February 3, 2016 (Photo: Getty/Earl Gibson III)

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

Four-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lionel Richie was honored on Feb. 3 with the City of Los Angeles’s Hall of Fame Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Education” at its kick off of African American Heritage month in the city.  Richie was also honored during the celebration with the “Living Legend Award.”

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who provided opening remarks for the ceremony that took place in council chambers, said the celebration not only recognizes the countless contributions of the awardees and all African Americans in the city, but the “collective history” of all Angelenos.

“We are honoring a musician, a philanthropist, a leader in education, a brilliant legal mind, and an outstanding official. And every single one of them is an Angeleno,” said Garcetti. “These people represent the best of who we are. They are angels here in the city, visionaries who follow their own paths, but are devoted to a common goal.”

(LtoR) Recording artist Lionel Richie, California Court of Appeal Justice Audrey Collins, DOE Chair Jerome Horton, and CSUDH President Willie J. Hagan. (photo via csudhnews.com)
(LtoR) Recording artist Lionel Richie, California Court of Appeal Justice Audrey Collins, DOE Chair Jerome Horton, and CSUDH President Willie J. Hagan. (photo via csudhnews.com)

Other inductees into the Hall of Fame were California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) President Willie J. Hagan, California Board of Equalization Chairman and CSUDH alumnus Jerome Horton (’79, B.S., business administration), and California Court of Appeal Justice Audrey Collins.

Garcetti, who introduced Richie, not only praised him as a distinguished musician, but as a philanthropist who is low-key about his giving, which is often done “when no one’s around, and no one’s looking.”

Richie, who has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, joined the Commodores in 1968, which became one of Motown’s most successful groups. He launched his solo career in 1981 and wrote some of the most “beloved” songs in the world, such as “All Night Long,” “Hello,” and “Endless Love,” a ballad he wrote and sang with Diana Ross.

“Who knew the power of how far one Afro can go,” Richie joked. “There was one great point of view that was prominent [throughout my college career], and that was that failure is not an option. … I was raised by a fabulous village, and one thing that I have carried throughout my life is that we have to give back. Around the world I tell kids, gang members—you name it—that parenting is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. And if you don’t have a full set of parents, find someone who you can fall in love with and mirror.”