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…
+ Read MoreKevin C. Johnson | St. Louis Dispatch St. Louis International Film Festival closes out its annual event with a celebration Nov. 19 at the Hi-Pointe Theatre. A Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to veteran Hollywood figure and East St. Louis native Reginald Hudlin. Cinema St. Louis executive director Bree…
+ Read MoreThree movies directed by Reginald Hudlin are streaming on Netflix this September: HOUSE PARTY The original stands the test of time! MARSHALL Great performances by Sterling K. Brown, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson and the late great Chadwick Boseman! and THE BLACK GODFATHER. The true story of the Master of the…
+ Read MoreReginald Hudlin Sun, Mar 21, 2021 https://www.movie-expo.com/event-info SPEAKER INFO: REGINALD HUDLIN, Writer, Producer, Director, Executive Oscar and Emmy nominated producer and director Reginald Hudlin is one of the most influential filmmakers of his generation. Hudlin’s latest directorial effort is SAFETY, a sports drama that just debuted on Disney Plus and is…
+ Read MoreAnd Tarantino said: ‘Black and brown come together.’ Reggie Hudlin on a comic book’s birth By David Betancourt February 5 at 10:00 PM Django/Zorro. (courtesy of Dynamite Comics) Overseeing historic moments involving heroes of color is nothing new for Reggie Hudlin. From his five-year run writing Black Panther for Marvel…
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Are you up on the DJANGO comic book series? There’s so much cool stuff in the books not seen the film. Order all seven issues at www.reggiesworld.com!
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No Comments + Read MoreI haven’t had a chance to post this Django interview until now, and while I liked the finished product, the whole interview should appear somewhere someday. It was good stuff. I got a few folks to laugh, cry, and rethink the whole black image question. Only a little of that is in this version.
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Did you know that the first issue of the DJANGO comic book has gone into its THIRD printing? Did you know you can order AUTOGRAPHED copies of the first three issues at www.reggiesworld.com? Well, now you do so order yours TODAY!
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No Comments + Read MoreHere’s a wonderful article profiling me in the Wall Street Journal. The Journal did a really important story on me at the beginning of my career before the launch of HOUSE PARTY, so their support means a lot to me.
By A.D. Pruitt
February 16, 2013
Reginald Hudlin has been a player in the entertainment world for over 20 years, but on Feb. 24 Hudlin will have his first shot at winning an Oscar as one of the producers for “Django Unchained.” The Quentin Tarantino-directed film starring Jamie Foxx as a renegade slave turned bounty hunter is nominated for Best Picture, making Hudlin just the fourth African- American producer to receive such a nod.
Hudlin, former president of entertainment for Black Entertainment Television, is a prolific writer, director and producer for TV and film with much of his creative work touching on African-American-themed projects. He is best known for his debut film “House Party” that starred hip-hop duo Kid ‘n Play and directing such hits as “Boomerang” with Eddie Murphy and Halle Berry.
So, it was little surprise that Tarantino picked Hudlin’s brain more than a decade ago about how to make a movie about American slavery. “We were having a long conversation about slave movies and I stated my opinion that most of them don’t work because they’re more focused on victimology,” said Hudlin in a phone interview with The Wall Street Journal. “I wanted to see people who fought back; the equivalent of Spartacus in an Antebellum context.”
Hudlin said he had forgotten about that conversation until Tarantino called him up with a script and said “look you planted the seed and this is the tree.”
Not everyone, however, appreciates what “Django” has grown into. While the film’s has had critical and commercial success, it has also sparked fierce criticism from black intellectuals and artists including film director Spike Lee who told “Vibe” magazine he wouldn’t see the movie because “it’s disrespectful to my ancestors.” As the sole black producer on Django, Hudlin shares his views about the criticism, the state of black Hollywood and if a “Django” sequel is in the works.
How did Tarantino bring on you as a producer?
He called (me) over the house handed me the script. I told him how much I loved it and he asked me if I had any notes. I shared with him my thoughts…and then I wished him good luck. Then he said…we need to do this one together. We had never worked together before, but it was an exciting prospect. I knew this was an important movie. So, three days later we’re meeting with studios. A week after that, we’re scouting locations in Louisiana.
When you read the script did you think this was going to be a land mine for criticism particularly with the violence and the use of the “N-word”?
I thought that the movie was powerful. Of course, it was going to be controversial. There’s so few stories made about black people that each film takes on an inordinate amount of importance …particularly in this period of our history.
Black people have not come to terms with how to deal with this most painful part of our past. You look at the Jewish community….they take the Holocaust, the most painful part of their heritage [and] their attitude is: we will never forget and we will take strength from this, we would never let the world forget. The black community has not come to that same kind of consensus.
How do you think this film changes the conversation?
First of all, there is a conversation. There weren’t people sitting around talking about slavery a year ago. People were talking about “Basketball Wives.” The very fact that people are talking about slavery, depictions of our history, researching different real life characters…is for the good.
Were you surprised by the acclaim “Django” has received?
I always felt very confident [with] the material. It was a great script, Quentin is a great director. We had a dream cast. Every day on the set, magic happened.
“Django” has been characterized as a Spaghetti Western. I thought it was also made in the spirit of the blaxploitation movies of the 1970s.
The phrase blaxploitation film is an unfortunate slur that has stuck on that period of movies. I think what defines those films are strong Black people who stand up for what they believe in and fight back. The fact we’ve never had as many images of strong black men and women since that period is criminal.
Tell me about your comic book series based on the characters from “Django.”
It’s really exciting because it’s based on the original script. We’re not just drawing the movie, we’re including all these scenes which may have been shot, but cut or maybe never shot at all. And the artist who’s drawing the books hasn’t seen the film yet. He’s doing his own version of the characters which sometimes look very different from the actors we cast.
Do you foresee a “Django” sequel?
I promised Quentin I would not harass him about a sequel for another six months. I know that Quentin has never done a sequel and it’s sort of torturous because he has fantastic ideas for sequels for almost all of his films. I have to presume there will not be a sequel, but I don’t have to accept it.
What do you think about the state of black Hollywood now?
The fact is things are much better. There are black actors in many more TV shows and movies than ever before. You can’t say there isn’t improvement in terms of more opportunity. I think what people continue to be frustrated about is the range of representation.
What do you think “Django’s” legacy will be?
Not only is “Django” Quentin’s biggest hit, it’s on its way to being the biggest western of all time. To say the biggest western of all time stars Jamie Foxx is an amazing statement.
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Two Film/TV/Comic book guys in the same place. That is all.
Thanks to Wilson Morales for the picture.
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By Gil Robertson IV for Ebony.com
As a newly minted Academy Award nominee (as one of nine producers on Django Unchained), Reginald Hudlin has once again demonstrated his strength as a creative force in Hollywood. Beginning his career as the director of the classic hip-hop comedy House Party, Hudlin has gone on to showcase his considerable talents by directing other hit films like Boomerang and The Great White Hype, and as a writer and producer for several successful TV shows. A former president of entertainment for BET, the Harvard University graduate has been a consistent power player, widely respected throughout the industry for his commitment to his craft.
EBONY.com recently caught up with Hudlin to discuss his success on Django Unchained and his incredible career.
As a newly minted Academy Award nominee (as one of nine producers on Django Unchained), Reginald Hudlin has once again demonstrated his strength as a creative force in Hollywood. Beginning his career as the director of the classic hip-hop comedy House Party, Hudlin has gone on to showcase his considerable talents by directing other hit films like Boomerang and The Great White Hype, and as a writer and producer for several successful TV shows. A former president of entertainment for BET, the Harvard University graduate has been a consistent power player, widely respected throughout the industry for his commitment to his craft.
EBONY.com recently caught up with Hudlin to discuss his success on Django Unchained and his incredible career.
EBONY: How does it feel to make history as only the fourth African-American to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category?
Reginald Hudlin: It’s an incredible honor! Hopefully some time soon, there will be so many Black folks nominated in this category that we’ll stop counting.
EBONY: What are your thoughts regarding the various controversies with Django Unchained?
RH: This movie is not only QT’s biggest film, but it is on track to be the most successful Western in movie history. That’s right: a Black Western starring Jamie Foxx. A huge part of that box office success has been Black viewers. They were almost half the audience on opening day, and Black viewers have consistently remained around 30 percent of the box office thus far. So the people are clearly voting with their dollars. To quote Jay-Z, “Men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t lie.”
Our success is clearly more than just people going to see the film. All types of educators, critics, intellectuals, social activists and parents have contacted me in one form or another for helping to make the film happen. Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother, has seen it four times. Dick Gregory has seen it 12 times. We never expected to please everybody, but once you remove the distortion effect of the media, it’s pretty clear that we are pleasing most people.
EBONY: How did you get involved with the film?
RH: Quentin and I have been friends for over 15 years. It’s a natural and easy friendship because we are pretty obsessive with our love of pop culture, whether it be film, music or comic books. We also don’t see any division between high and low art. Sometimes the most relevant expressions of pop culture are in mediums or genres that are dismissed by the mainstream, but they end up having a bigger long-term cultural impact.
Over a decade ago, Quentin and I were talking about movies about slavery and I brought up my frustration with most of them. I had no interest in seeing yet another movie about noble suffering. I wanted to see foot to ass. There were all kinds of Black people who stood up and fought back, including members of my own family. I wanted to see stories about them. It was one of many conversations we had about movies, so I didn’t think much of it until April of 2011, when he handed me the script and reminded me of that conversation and how that had been the seed for Django Unchained. There are not a lot of people in Hollywood who would acknowledge that, or bring you on as a producer to help ensure the spirit of the project. But Quentin is a rare individual.
EBONY: Do you have any comments regarding Quentin’s Best Director nomination omission among Oscar voters?
RH: I think everyone on the film did superlative work. I think Quentin is a masterful director as well as a brilliant writer. I think Sharen Davis is an incredible costume designer. I think the original music by John Legend and Jamie Foxx is incredible. I think Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson gave performances that will be remembered in film history. I can go on and on because I feel so proud of my colleagues and so protective of them. But you can’t complain about what you don’t have. I’m very proud of Quentin and Christoph winning Golden Globes, and I hope that’s the start of a trend.
EBONY: What would you say is the takeaway for moviegoers seeing Django?
RH: The film has spurred a national conversation about slavery, which is America’s original sin. It’s a conversation that is long overdue if we as a nation are going to make the most of the 21st century.
The film also tells us that a love story between a Black man and a Black women can have tremendous success at the box office, and that people of all races and ages will support it.
Lastly, the film gives us a kickass Black hero in the spirit of Stagolee and other mythic characters. Django stands in for true-life heroes whose stories may never be told, like my great-great-grandfather, who was a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
Gil Robertson IV is a noted A&E and Black lifestyle journalist, author and producer. President and co-founder of the African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), he resides in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Follow the AAFCA on Twitter @theaafca.
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