I’ve been producing the NAACP Image Awards for 12 years, and every year it’s a really satisfying experience. Having the whole Black entertainment community come together in a big family reunion, celebrating each other’s successes, and looking good while we do it!
There’s a lot going into the show, like this year figuring out the right way to promote voting in a crucial election year. I knew I wanted VP Kamala Harris involved, and I wanted to do it in a way that was fun for the audience. The producers huddled with our amazing writing team and brainstormed some great ideas. We pitched them to Latifah, who made them better, and off we went.
It’s so gratifying to see the quality of Black films and television shows elevate over the years with the rise of more Black producers, writers and directors, and the actors making the most of the increase in quality of material with incredible performances. It’s very satisfying to help make a document of evolution of Black Excellence in the entertainment business over the years.
Because we honor film, television, music, sports and political figures (elected and otherwise) we feature a wider range of Black achievement than anywhere else on an annual basis.
Here’s a quick interview on the Red Carpet before the show started.
I’m grateful to the NAACP for trusting me to produce the show every year, grateful to my production partners Phil Gurin and Byron Phillips. And I’m grateful to all the talented people we get the honor of celebrating every year.
Black historical stories are not and should not be uniformly depressing stories that you “must see” instead of want to see. Here’s a list of five of my projects that will entertain the hell out of you while you learn stories you need to know.
1. MARSHALL
I always placed Thurgood Marshall on the same pedestal that I placed Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Three different men who dedicated their lives to helping Black people, and in doing so, transformed America and made the world a better place.
I never thought I would get the opportunity to make a film about his life, but it happened! Producer Paula Wagner brought me the script, and a Chinese company financed the film after every studio in Hollywood turned it down. I assembled a dream cast with Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown and Kate Hudson and we made a movie about Thurgood’s early years as a bold, fly and cocky lawyer who fought for justice against incredible odds.
2. THE BLACK GODFATHER
Sometimes heroes are famous. Sometimes their stories are lost in history, sometimes, like in the case of Clarence Avant, heroes don’t seek the spotlight. Sometimes being famous gets in the way of getting things done.
That’s one of the many lessons to be learned watching THE BLACK GODFATHER, where you see a man overcome one giant obstacle after the next to become a force in the entertainment business, a master negotiator, a huge supporter of political change, and a loving husband and father. This movie is a blueprint for success.
THE BLACK GODFATHER is available on Netflix.
3. SIDNEY
Sidney Poitier is one of the most important actors in history. Not only was he a master thespian, his contributions on and off screen to the civil rights movement had worldwide impact. I was honored to tell his story, coming from an island with no resources except the wisdom and willpower given to him by his parents, and his ability to evolve with the times and opportunity.
Two time Oscar winner, author, director, producer, Ambassador to Japan, father of six daughters, friends with Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman, mentor to Denzel Washington and many more….Sidney Poitier is everything.
SIDNEY is available on Apple Plus.
4. PHAT TUESDAY
Our history isn’t just about great men, but great institutions and movements. My docu-series PHAT TUESDAY is about the evolution of Black comedy was fostered by Black comedy clubs like The Comedy Act Theater and Phat Tuesdays, which led to a nationwide transformation of how Black comedy was brought into the mainstream, leading to more movies and TV shows.
PHAT TUESDAY has the funniest people ever in it, including Steve Harvey, Dave Chappelle, Cedric the Entertainer, Joe and Guy Torry, Bill Bellamy, Lil Rel, Tiffany Haddish, Bob Saget, Snoop Dogg, Anthony Anderson, Regina King, Nick Cannon, JB Smoove, Kym Whitley, Flame Monoe and more.
PHAT TUESDAY is available on Amazon Prime.
5. DJANGO UNCHAINED
Unlike the other films on this list, I didn’t direct this one, but I’m very proud being a producer on this masterpiece by Quentin Tarantino. DJANGO UNCHAINED is a fictional story, but very much grounded in true stories about that horrible era in American history.
A lot of people complain about not wanting to watch “slave movie” and dismissing them as torture porn. I understand that complaint, but DJANGO UNCHAINED is the opposite of that. It’s a movie that will make you laugh, cringe in horror and cheer wildly. We need more stories like this on the big screen!
The Black romantic studio pictures of the 1990s were far different from their 1970s Blaxploitation predecessors. Rather than depicting an urban milieu populated by hustlers and pushers, the films that arrived during the newer decade captured an emerging, well-educated Black middle and upper class occupying high rises and boardrooms.
In the director Reginald Hudlin’s screwball romance “Boomerang,” Eddie Murphy is Marcus Graham, a hot shot advertising executive and ladies man struggling to cope with having women like the hard-nosed Jacqueline (Robin Givens) as his boss. Though Marcus tries to seduce Jacqueline, hoping he can sleep his way to the top, he soon develops feelings for Jacqueline’s unassuming friend Angela (Halle Berry). Marcus and Angela’s whirlwind relationship teaches Marcus to love someone other than himself, making for a heart-melting finale that’s stronger than any business deal.
02/12/24 by Sydnee Johnson | Goodies, Hudlin Family Stories | Comments Off on Norman Ross to Share Historical Significance of the Hudlin Family at SIUE’s Learning Resource Center
The list of accomplishments and contributions of the Hudin Family from East St. Louis is remarkable. From purchasing their freedom from slavery, to serving as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, to being a tennis coach to the late great Arthur Ashe, to working as Hollywood film producers, the Hudlin family’s legacy is rich and substantial.
Norman Ross, retired executive director of the Greater East St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, will reveal interesting, impressive history about the Hudlin side of his family during a presentation at noon Wednesday, Feb. 14 at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Learning Resource Center (LRC).
“We are very proud of some of the accomplishments by our family members within the St. Louis Metropolitan Region,” said Ross, who grew up in East St. Louis. “We feel deeply inspired that they were able to enhance the positive well-being of the total community.”
Ross’s mother is a Hudlin. “I am the oldest son of Dr. Lucille Hudlin-Ross-McClelland, the oldest child and only girl in her immediate Hudlin family of six,” said Ross. “My grandfather Edward W. Hudlin married Myrtle Johnson-Hudlin, and they had six children: Lucille, Warrington, Ervin, Russell, Richard and Edward Hudlin.”
However, Ross begins the history of the Hudlin family with his great-great-great grandmother Sarah Hudlin. Sarah Hudlin had a son, Peter Hudlin, who purchased his freedom in the 1850s, noted Ross, who is the curator for an ancient African history educational mobile exhibit titled: “The Origin and Dynastic Chronology of Ancient Kemet (Egypt).”
Peter Hudlin married Nancy Jane Rutledge, a Cherokee Native American, and they moved to St. Louis in 1855, where Peter Hudlin worked as a freight deliveryman.
“This job position placed him in the perfect situation to work as a conductor on the Underground Railroad to help free slaves on their journey to northern America or Canada,” said Ross. “As a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Peter worked with Owen Lovejoy, the great abolitionist minister and brother of the martyred, Elijah P. Lovejoy.”
Peter had two brothers who escaped slavery. Samuel Hudlin fled to Canada and Joseph Hudlin traveled to Chicago, according to Hudlin. Joseph and Peter both worked as conductors on the Underground Railroad run by Owen Lovejoy.
In other family news, Richard A. Hudlin, Ross’s great-grandfather and son of Peter Hudlin, was a graduate of Shurtleff College in Alton and worked as a school principal. He was also a Shakespearean actor, filmmaker and reporter for The St. Louis Globe-Democrat in Missouri and the Westliche Post, a German-language daily newspaper published in St. Louis. Richard Hudlin was also appointed as the postmaster in Clayton, Mo., (1843-1901) by U.S. President William McKinley, Jr.
Ross learned several things about his grandfather, Edward Hudlin, who was the son of Richard A. Hudlin. Edward was a famous horse jockey on the Frank James Farm and Ranch in Missouri. (Frank James was the brother of Jessie James.) While Edward was a soldier in France during World War I, he learned the French-style of stone masonry. When he returned to the U.S., he began his career as a stone mason, according to Ross.
“All stone-built homes, businesses, porches and fences with French-style green mortar trim around each stone in the East St. Louis area were built by my grandfather and his sons,” noted Ross.
Edward Hudlin’s brother, Richard ‘Dick’ Hudlin, was a teacher at Sumner High School in St. Louis. He was also the tennis tutor of Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson. Ashe won three Grand Slam single titles (U.S. Open in 1968, Australia Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975). He was the only Black man ever to win those titles. Gibson won three Grand Slam single titles (French Open in 1956, Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958, and the U.S. Open in 1957 and 1958). She was one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line in international tennis.
The women in the Hudlin family also did great things, according to Ross. “For instance, my mother, Dr. Lucille Hudlin-Ross-McClelland, as dean of the SIUE Nursing School, was critical in getting the nursing program accredited at the University,” he said.
“My grandmother, Myrtle Johnson-Hudlin, was a St. Louis elementary school teacher who was attending Stowe College in St. Louis when she married my grandfather, Edward W. Hudlin,” Ross continued. “My great grandmother, Lucille Johnson-McCorkle (on my grandmother’s side of the family) was born a slave 10 years before the Civil War ended. In her last years, she lived with my grandparents in Centreville and taught Sunday School for me and other neighborhood children.”
Other notables that Ross will share during his presentation include:
Warrington Hudlin, founder and owner of Hudlin Insurance Company in East St. Louis
Ervin Hudlin, lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and a green beret during the Vietnam War
Russell Hudlin, owner of two drug stores in the East St. Louis area
Edward Hudlin Jr., professor of philosophy at Harvard and SIUE
Richard Hudlin Jr., Illinois circuit judge for St. Clair County
Reginald Hudlin and Warrington Hudlin Jr. (The Hudlin Brothers), major Hollywood film directors, producers and media managers; some of the films they produced include the 1990s films, “House Party,” “Bebe’s Kids” and “Ride,” and later “Boomerang,” “The Great White Hype” and “Marshall.”
Ross received his bachelor’s in biology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He worked in East St. Louis as the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce from 1986-2011. He currently lives in St. Louis.
“I enjoy history and love sharing it,” said Ross. “It is vital that we preserve and tell the important history and contributions of African Americans in East St. Louis and around the world!”
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mr. Norman Ross for programming at the LRC in the past, and each time we meet, I am appreciative of being in his presence,” said LRC Program Coordinator Danayka Saavedra Berrocal. “He has a wealth of knowledge of the area and its history, and shares it freely. The LRC is honored to welcome Mr. Ross back on the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Campus.”
The SIUE East St. Louis Learning Resource Center (LRC) is a full-service library available to the East St. Louis and surrounding communities, as well as the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School, SIUE East St. Louis Center staff and programs and other programs and employees on the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Campus. It offers internet access with 10 public computers, a computer lab with 20 computers and a SMART Board available to on-campus classes and community groups. Career services, free library cards, free printing, copying, scanning, faxing, and Notary Public services are designed to provide inclusive access and assistance in one convenient location. LRC is sponsored by a grant from the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB).
Photo: Norman Ross, retired executive director of the Greater East St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, will present a history on Hudlin family of East St. Louis on Feb. 14 at the SIUE East St. Louis Learning Resource Center.
01/30/24 by Sydnee Johnson | Goodies | Comments Off on REGGIE HUDLIN’S TOP TEN MOMENTS OF 2023
At the beginning of every year, I make a list of the best moments of the previous year, either personal or professional. Here’s my list for 2023:
1) HELENA GOES TO HARVARD
She going to my alma mater, and she’s loving it!
2) ALEXANDER LOVES PICTURES!
Taking photos, moving pictures…he loves photography and high end cinema. Now he’s going to business meetings with me!
Here’s Alexander taking pictures in London’s Chinatown.
Alexander getting the shot in Lucrene, Switzerland.
Alexander and I reconnecting with Leonard Di Caprio many years after meeting him on the set of DJANGO UNCHAINED.
3) CANDY CANE LANE!
Loved making it, and love that it was #1 around the world opening weekend!
Here I am on some of my favorite locations:
Transforming the Universal back lot to Candy Cane Lane!
Turning a freeway underpass into a magical location.
Me and Eddie Murphy.
Me with Marcus Miller and a full orchestra, recording the score on the Sony Soundstages.
Me, Eddie and producer Brian Grazer.
After the film was finished, we had a special screening at ILM, the great special effects house made the magic come to life. Just touring the facilities was a dream come true!
We do good work for our own satisfaction, but it’s great to be recognized for doing it. It was a good year for me, winning The NAACP Image Award, the AAFCA Award and the Critics’ Choice Award for Sidney, and The Icon Award in Los Angeles and the St Louis Lifetime Achievement Award for a career of important work.
Q & A with the audience at the St.Louis International Film Festival.
4) LOVING WASHINGTON DC!
The celebration of hip hop’s 50th anniversary at the Vice President’s residence was epic! So many friends from the worlds of entertainment, politics and more all in one place!
Like this shot of me with journalist Roland Martin and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
So happy to finally meet Senator Raphael Warnock!
Actress Kat Graham and I are developing a very cool project, but didn’t expect to see her there!
5) THE MOTHERSHIP AND MORE AT THE BLACKSONIAN!
I loved seeing this quote from my Harvard professor Eileen Southern.
I grew up all these albums! Great to see every era of our history immortalized.
So much great art in the museum!
6) Lots of great weddings this year!
Brilliant writer Alice Randall has been a sister to me since college. I was happy to attend the wedding of her daughter Caroline in New York City!
Look out for Alice’s new book on the Black roots of country music!
My dear friend and collaborator Nelson George also got married so I made a second trip to New York to be there. Lots of old friends in attendance.
Our family also attended the wedding of Second Gentlemen’s son…the Vice President officiated.
7) GOODBYE TO A HERO.
It was a tremendous honor to speak at his memorial service this year.
8) So happy that my brother Christopher finally moved to Los Angeles!
9) GIVING BACK TO STUDENTS AT USC.
I brought my kids so they can find who I am through the eyes of others!
10) Finally getting away and spending time with friends and family!
Love this restaurant in Mexico who made a custom menu for me featuring all my work!
Bonus for the 2024: No better way to start the year than with George Clinton!
12/11/23 by Sydnee Johnson | Candy Cane Lane | Comments Off on Candy Cane Lane Director Reginald Hudlin on Reuniting with Eddie Murphy to Create a New Christmas Classic
Edward Douglas | Above the Line
Are you ready for Christmas? Filmmaker Reginald Hudlin certainly is, going by his latest Prime Video comedy, Candy Cane Lane, which reunites him with Eddie Murphy for the first time since the two of them made Boomerang in 1992.
As you may have guessed, Candy Cane Lane is indeed a Christmas movie in which Murphy plays Chris Carver, a family man competing with the neighborhood to have the most decorated house on the street. Along comes an elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell), who agrees to help Chris create the most extravagantly-decorated house for the holidays. With her offer comes a steep price, where Chris and his family are forced to seek out a veritable 12 Days of Christmas to get her to reverse the damage she has done.
Hudlin is no stranger to comedy, from his early films House Party, Boomerang and others, but Candy Cane Lane allowed him to assemble a comedy rogues’ gallery around Murphy, including Tracee Ellis Ross as his wife Carol, and the likes of Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Chris Redd, and many more.
Above the Line spoke with Hudlin over Zoom last week, also getting into some of his other work, going back to House Party, and his recent involvement with reviving the Milestone Media comic book characters.
Above the Line: Has it really been 30 years since you last worked with Eddie Murphy, and this is the first thing you two have done together since Boomerang?
Reginald Hudlin: Yes, 30 years. It’s crazy.
ATL: How did this come about? Did you find the script, did he find the script?
Hudlin: It was one of those things where I had a meeting with Amazon and talked about working together. I said I love Christmas movies. They said, “We have a Christmas movie, and Eddie Murphy is attached.” I was like, “Let’s start Monday.” I read the script, the script was fantastic, had a meeting with Eddie. We talked about my approach, and he loved it.
ATL: What was it about Christmas movies that made you want to do one finally? This is your first one, I assume?
Hudlin: Yes, it is. I love Christmas movies, because they have this incredible emotional pull on you as a viewer. I grew up loving Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch that Stole Christmas, and you say, “Hey, I wanna get in there. I want to make my mark on the mythology.” So, this is me going for it.
ATL: It also depends on when you end up filming it, because filming a Christmas movie in April or May or June might be a little strange. How did you work the scheduling to make sure that didn’t happen?
Hudlin: Well, it was a pretty crazy. The bulk of our principal photography started in January, so we got this movie done in nine months, which is pretty fast.
ATL: That was January last year?
Hudlin: January of THIS year.
ATL: Oh, wow. 2023, that’s a FAST turnaround, cause there’s a lot of VFX.
Hudlin: A very fast turnaround. Look, we had a little under 1000 effects shots, so just that alone makes it pretty amazing.
ATL: I assume when you already a have Eddie on board, it’s really easy to get other people to join up. Let’s talk about Tracee first, so did you think of her, did Eddie think of her? How did that come about? Hudlin: It was sort of a collective idea. Amazon was a huge fan. I’m a huge fan. Again, another person that I’d been looking to work with. We talked, and it was just like, “Well, this is definitely the right way to go.” But their chemistry was so spectacular; it’s just incredible.
ATL: Did Eddie get involved with casting the rest of his family as well? Was he there to check them out?
Hudlin: No, we’ve made a movie together, so it’s really wonderful that he trusts me. He’s the kind of guy, who is like, “Show me the… oh, yeah, that’s fine.” He’s a guy who, if we all feel like, “No, we’ve looked. This is the one,” then he’d say, “Okay.”
ATL: What I enjoyed about the movie, as it went along, is that we got to see more of the family, and it’s not like Beverly Hills Cop aka the Eddie Murphy Show. Each of the family members gets their own side quest and screen time. I wasn’t really familiar with the actors playing his kids, but they were all great.
Hudlin: I love that Eddie is generous. He’s not the guy who is like, “No, it’s all me. I don’t care about anybody else.” He’s a very supportive actor. You see that opening scene with him in the kitchen with his whole family. Everyone gets a chance to shine and really do their thing.
ATL: What about some of these other actors? It’s kind of a rogues’ gallery of comics from Jillian Bell to Timothy Simmons, Ken Marino, Danielle Pinnock… how did you figure out who to cast for some of these other roles?
Hudlin: Ken Marino was a guy I’ve worked with on a couple of different shows before. I love him. He’s so dependable, so brilliant, so imaginative, and I knew he’d be the perfect next door neighbor. That was an easy one. Tim Simon’s I had never met. A huge fan of his work, especially on Veep. I just knew he’d be great. Danielle Pinnock, who plays his partner at the news station, I’d never heard of her but once I saw her audition, I was just like, “Oh, my God, she’s brilliant. She’s the way to go.” Jillian. Pepper is a really tough role. It’s almost like asking someone to be Beetlejuice. Jillian came in… incredible imagination, incredible acting chops, just everything you wanted for the role and just nailed it.
ATL: I feel like Jillian is kind of an underused secret weapon. You put her in your movie, and she’s always great, and this is a much bigger role for her, which plays on what she does well.
Hudlin: I mean, she has a following, and I hope this movie takes her to the next level, because she absolutely deserves it.
ATL: I asked before about when you shot the movie, because I have to think that for your production designer or set decorator, this could be a dream or an absolute nightmare. If they’re prepping stuff in November or December, that’s probably fine, but they definitely went a little insane with all the Christmas stuff.
Hudlin: I mean, I had strong feelings topping anything else we’ve seen on screen before, any stuff we’ve seen on YouTube of real candy cane lanes across the country. [Production Designer] Aaron Osborne, quite brilliant, and no matter how crazy my idea was, he would take it and plus it up even further.
ATL: It’s interesting that this is on Prime Video, as was Coming 2 America. I really want to see Eddie return to theaters, because back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, he was king. Do you get the impression we’ll ever see him in theaters again, or is it just easier to get movies like these made via streamers?
Hudlin: It’s not just an Eddie Murphy question; it’s an industry question. In another era, this movie would be a huge theatrical release, but we’re in a different marketplace right now, between COVID and the strikes. I’m a big believer in theatrical, so I really hope, not just Eddie, but all the big movie stars and unknowns that are super talented, that we can really rebuild theatrical with a bunch of great movies.
ATL: You’re no stranger to directing comedy, but you also directed Marshall and some amazing documentaries, like Sydney. Is it harder to direct drama after doing comedy for so long? Do you feel comfortable working in both realms?
Hudlin: I love doing both. In fact, for me, doing different stuff all the time may be bad for business, it may be confusing to some folks, but honestly, as a creative person, it’s like rotating the crops. You stay fresh. You’re doing something new and ambitious, you’re not falling into a rut, and there’s a little bit of fear that comes from switching it up. If you ask me what’s harder, drama or comedy? Folks who do both all kind of agree… comedy is harder.
ATL: Interesting. Even with a partner like Eddie?
Hudlin: Comedy is harder. [laughs] Look, deep in our puritan ethic that has shaped America, we think, “Well, you can’t take it seriously if there are jokes in it.” To paraphrase Steve Martin, “Comedy is serious business.”
ATL: I learned something new, while I was preparing for this. I knew that House Party was a huge hit when it came out and was particularly big here in New York, but I did not know it premiered at Sundance. I know you did a short film first, but was it considered independent for the time? Hudlin: It was at New Line Cinema, so we had a small indie studio finance it. But yeah, we got it into Sundance, and, oh my god, it was a smash! We won a couple of awards there. The audience award, cinematography award. They added all these screenings, because people just kept packing the place out, the tickets were just flying. So we knew we had something.
ATL: I have to ask you about some comic book stuff, because I almost know you more from your comics work, like your run on Black Panther, but I love that you brought back Milestone Media, since I was a big fan of those books in the ’90s. What made you want to bring that back, and is it still something you’re very active in and keeping the books on the shelves?
Hudlin: I mean, I love comic books. I grew up on comic books. I’m not one of those people who get snobby, like, “Ew, it’s just a comic book.” It’s all the same thing, right? It’s a medium, and the quality of the work is what determines whether it’s disposable or not. I love the Milestone characters. They actually asked me to join the first incarnation of it, but I had just started my movie career, so I said, “Let me focus on my day job first.” But with the passing of Dwayne McDuffie, the remaining members of Milestone asked me to step in. I said, “I won’t make that mistake twice. I’m in.” And it’s been a great time since then.
ATL: Are you guys working on bringing the characters to other mediums? I know you had the Static cartoon for a while, but Blood Syndicate would make an amazing Max series.
Hudlin: You’re preaching to the converted, believe me. We’re very much focused on turning the Milestone properties into other mediums.
ATL: At one point, you were also going to do a Shadowman movie, which was Valiant, so is that something you’re still trying to make happen?
Hudlin: It kind of fell apart. The folks who own the property, they switched into something else, and I don’t know what they’re up to now.
ATL: Valiant’s been kind of up and down with different things for years now.
Hudlin: Yeah, it was too bad, because we had some really cool stuff that we were going to do with it, so too bad.
ATL: Oh, well. That’s one for the memoir. I also want to ask you about your documentary work, and whether what you’ve done in that realm has influenced your narrative features.
Hudlin: Oh, absolutely. Storytelling is storytelling; it doesn’t matter. I really enjoy doing Black Godfather,Sydney, our docuseries, Fat Tuesday. Those have all been fantastic experiences, and I look forward to making more.
The holiday offering is the No. 1 film globally on Prime Video in its first three days of release, after premiering on the platform on December 1, according to the company.
Though no viewership data was released, Amazon also boasts the Eddie Murphy-led film as the most-watched Amazon MGM Studios-produced (formerly just Amazon Studios) movie debut ever in the U.S. and among the top 10 worldwide film debuts ever on the service.
The last high profile Amazon MGM Studios film made for streaming on Prime was Red, White and Royal Blue, which was also dubbed a hit by the parent company — though Candy Cane Lane appears to have stolen its thunder.
Some viewership data for Candy Cane Lane will likely be available via Nielsen’s streaming reports, though the numbers for this week won’t be released until January.
“The sensational debut of Eddie Murphy’s first-ever Christmas movie, Candy Cane Lane, is a true demonstration of how joyful, family-oriented stories can touch the hearts of viewers around the world,” said Courtenay Valenti, head of film, streaming, and theatrical at Amazon MGM Studios. “We are so proud of our wonderful director Reginald Hudlin, along with the dynamic Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross, our partners at Imagine Entertainment, and the rest of the all-star cast and team of creatives that brought this original and festive IP to life.”
In Candy Cane Lane, Murphy stars in this holiday comedy adventure about a man on a mission to win his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest. After Chris (Murphy) inadvertently makes a deal with a mischievous elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell) to better his chances of winning, she casts a magic spell that brings the 12 Days of Christmas to life and wreaks havoc on the whole town. At the risk of ruining the holidays for his family, Chris, his wife Carol (Tracee Ellis Ross), and their three children must race against the clock to break Pepper’s spell, battle deviously magical characters and save Christmas for everyone.
The film also stars Tracee Ellis Ross, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede, Chris Redd, Genneya Walton, Madison Thomas, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Lombardo Boyar, D.C. Young Fly, Danielle Pinnock, Timothy Simons, Riki Lindhome, and Stephen Tobolowsky.
Candy Cane Lane is directed by Reginald Hudlin, written by Kelly Younger, and produced by Brian Grazer, Eddie Murphy, Karen Lunder, and Charisse Hewitt-Webster.
12/11/23 by Sydnee Johnson | Candy Cane Lane | Comments Off on David Alan Grier on Why His Surprise Cameo as Black Santa in ‘Candy Cane Lane’ Reminded Him of ‘Black Panther’
The film reunited him with his ‘Boomerang’ collaborators Eddie Murphy and director Reginald Hudlin.
Chris Gardner | The Hollywood Reporter
As the Candy Cane Lane premiere red carpet heated up Nov. 28, two publicist elves worked their way down the press line to remind journalists not to spoil the big reveal from the Reginald Hudlin-directed holiday adventure.
The Prime Video release, penned by Kelly Younger, stars Eddie Murphy as a recently unemployed man on a mission to win his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest. The hush-hush surprise happens late in the film when David Alan Grier crash-lands in an ultra-slick sleigh as (the lifted embargo permits us to announce) Black Santa Claus.
“Reggie called and told me what his idea was and I was overjoyed, man. He let me flow and egged me and Eddie on,” explained Grier of reteaming with Hudlin and Murphy with whom he teamed for the 1992 romantic comedy Boomerang. “That was over 30 years ago and all we talked about were cars, clubs, big houses, like ‘Where y’all going tonight.’ This was different because Eddie is so chill. He has kids, grandkids. He seemed really, really happy.”
As far as the significance of playing an iconic character as a Black man, Grier said the opportunity reminded him of Black Panther. “When you see yourself represented in movies or stories, it’s an affirmation that you exist, that you belong, and that you’re legitimate. That’s what people forget about to see ourselves, not just us, everybody. There’s room for all of us at the table. This is the first Christmas movie I ever did so it’s got to last a long time.”
Who knows, there may also be a sequel. Prime Video announced last week that following its debut, Candy Cane Lane quickly became the No. 1 movie worldwide on Prime Video, the most-watched Amazon MGM Studios-produced movie debut ever in the U.S. and among the top 10 worldwide film debuts ever on the service.
“The sensational debut of Eddie Murphy’s first-ever Christmas movie, Candy Cane Lane, is a true demonstration of how joyful, family-oriented stories can touch the hearts of viewers around the world,” offered Courtenay Valenti, head of film, streaming, and theatrical at Amazon MGM Studios.
Grier is also counting his blessings this holiday season. “I’m going to tell you right now, I’m 67 years old. I did not think that my career would be here at my age. I have more work than I can even say yes to. My career is booming and I feel like I finally figured out what I’m doing, so I’m only getting better and better. We’ll see what happens.”
I appear several times in the fourth episode of SEE IT LOUD, which focuses on Black sci fi and horror shows. I talk about MANTIS, my beloved STATIC SHOCK and I describe the origin of my BLACK PANTHER animated series. Here’s a clip! #m.a.n.t.I.s. #staticshock#blackpanther#seeitloudtv
