Reggie At Work 2

My kids keep asking me to make a movie they can see… so here’s one!

‘Blazing Samurai’: Cast, Release Date, New Details Announced

Cartoon Brew, by Scott Thill | 11/09/2015

An homage to Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks’ 1974 western spoof, Blazing Samurai is a global animated affair — with a newly announced all-star cast.

Arriving stateside August 4, 2017, from AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment’s Open Road Films, Blazing Samurai stars Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Aasif Mandvi, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Sandra Tsing Loh, Mel B., Heavenly Joy Jerkins, and Mel Brooks himself as a madcap array of cats and dogs comedically battling for samurai supremacy not in the Wild West but the faraway Japanese East.

Co-directed by Alvin and the Chipmunks and Garfield animation supervisor Chris Bailey and veteran Disney animator Mark Koetsier, Blazing Samurai also features art direction from New Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show and Steven Universe’s Kevin Dart. Toronto, Canada-based CG animation and visual effects shop Arc Productions (Gnomeo & Juliet) is the lead animation house.

As Cartoon Brew reported earlier this year, Blazing Samurai is the first feature film produced through former Sony Pictures Vice Chairman Yair Landau’s Mass Animation, which originally launched as a Facebook application to crowdsource and produce global animation, including Live Music, which Mass Animation bills as the “first ever theatrically released crowdsourced animated film.” Landau is producing Blazing Samurai with The Lion King director Rob Minkoff and Mass Animation’s Susan Purcell.

But the film’s international partnerships extend further. Blazing Samurai is co-produced with Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, one of China’s largest film and television studios, as well as Minkoff’s multi-platform production company Flying Tigers Entertainment and London-based GFM Films. Mel Brooks is executive producing alongside The Boondocks’ Reginald Hudlin and Pietro Ventani, from a screenplay by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper.

Hewing lightly to not just Blazing Saddles but also Kung Fu Panda’s lovable loser storylines (and race jokes), Blazing Samurai stars Cera as an upstart dog named Hank who enlists the mentorship of Jackson’s past-it cat warrior Jimbo to transform himself into a samurai to save the crappy town of Kakamucho (get it?) from villainous felines like Gervais’ power-mad Ika Chu.

Much like in Blazing Saddles, Brooks stars as a bumbling but benevolent leader, this time named Shogun. “There is no business like Shogun business,” Brooks said in a press release. “What is wonderful about the film is that it is going to have great appeal not only for kids but their parents too. It’s funny and smart.”

Rounding out Blazing Samurai’s substantial cast, Takei voices the enforcer, Ohga; Hounsou voices the sweet giant, Sumo; Mandvi and Iglesias star as Kakamucho towncats, Ichiro and Chuck; acclaimed author Tsing Loh voices the crotchety “grand dame,” Little Mama; and Chinese cinema’s superstar and stuntwoman Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) voices Yuki, protective mother of the five-year-old Jerkins’ warrior kitten, Emiko.

Handling international sales, GFM Films hosted a presentation of Blazing Samurai’s early animation and visual development last week at Santa Monica, California’s American Film Market. Open Road Films acquired U.S. distribution rights earlier this year, while Landau’s ex-studio Sony Pictures recently picked up several global territories worldwide. Huayi Brothers is distributing Blazing Samurai in China.

Why the Oscars Producers Chose Chris Rock to Host

Reginald Hudlin, David Hill

The Hollywood Reporter, by Gregg Kilday, 10/21/2015

Producers Reginald Hudlin and David Hill predict: “He’s going to hone every word, every phrase, every sentence.”

Although Reginald Hudlin and David Hill, who are producing the 88th Oscars, originally talked of hiring two hosts to front the broadcast, the producers said they opted for a solo host once they secured Chris Rock — with Hill joking, “We decided on Chris and Rock.”

Downplaying reports that other co-hosts like Amy Schumer were under consideration, Hill said, “It became apparent that Chris by himself was the way to go. If you tried to pair him with someone, it wouldn’t have the same comedic impact of him working by himself. So that’s where we ended up.” Rewatching Rock’s performance at the 77th Oscars convinced them that he deserved a return engagement, Hill explained: “He had so many on-the-money observations about the business, delivered in such an enlightened and entertaining way.”

The fact that Hudlin and Rock have worked together — Hudlin directed Rock in 1992’s Boomerang and also helmed the pilot for the 2005 TV series Everybody Hates Chris that Rock co-created — was a factor in convincing the performer to return to the Oscar stage, where he hosted the show for the first time in 2005, they said. “It was lucky because of Reggie’s relationship with Chris — there’s a level of trust between the two of them,” Hill commented.

“We’re friends,” Hudlin added. “I know his mother, he knows my mother. We’re always looking for opportunities to work together, most recently at the 2014 Governors Awards, where he was part of the tribute to Harry Belafonte and did a spectacular job.” In fact, the two producers ironed out final details about the gig with Rock over a dinner at Hudlin’s house Monday night.

Rock, who Hudlin described as a “big-picture thinker,” is expected to take a very hands-on role in helping shape the show, working as a producer as well as host. “The key thing,” said Hill, “is that he’s coming to the show, not simply as a performer, but as a producer as well. He’ll know every aspect of the show as we’re planning it, step by step.”

Added Hudlin, “He’s one of the best hosts we could get, one of the guys who is absolutely hilariously funny and who has a brilliant and intelligent sense of humor. He’s done pretty much every job in the business — as a performer, as a comedian, as a director and producer and writer in film and television and documentaries. Chris attracts incredible talent, the number of people who want to write for him, who want to perform with him. There’s already been an incredible response of A-level talent in every category who want to work with Chris.”

Testified Hill, “He’s the ultimate professional. He prepares before he does a gig like this like he’s writing a Ph.D thesis. He’s going to hone every word, every phrase, every sentence.”

The 88th Oscars will be held Feb. 28, broadcast live by ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Chris Rock to Return After 11 Years to Host the Oscars

New York Times, By Michael Cieply, October 21, 2015

Chris Rock during the Hollywood Film Awards in 2014. Credit Danny Moloshok/Reuters

LOS ANGELES — One problem solved for next year’s Oscar broadcast: Chris Rock, a proven audience draw, will return to host the Academy Awards ceremony, set for Feb. 28.

When last led by Mr. Rock, a raucous comic who has also directed films like “Top Five” (2014), the Oscars drew about 42.2 million viewers in the United States, far outstripping almost all recent broadcasts. That performance was in 2005, when “Million Dollar Baby” was named best picture.

In February, the Oscars, with Neil Patrick Harris as host and “Birdman” the best picture winner, slipped to about 37.3 million viewers, down from a recent peak of 43.7 million viewers in 2014, when Ellen DeGeneres was the host and “12 Years a Slave” took top honors.

In announcing Mr. Rock’s return, Reginald Hudlin, who is producing the ceremony with David Hill, said: “Comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, documentarian — he’s done it all.”

Mr. Rock’s return follows a year in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, was widely criticized for overlooking black acting nominees. Mr. Rock’s presence may bolster the show among African-American viewers, who historically have watched the broadcast in large numbers, significantly raising overall ratings, when the black presence is strong among nominees and performers on the stage.

Whether black actors will fare better in this year’s awards race is far from clear, as handicappers have again pointed toward largely white favorites in most categories. One prominent Oscar watcher, the journalist Anne Thompson, this week listed only one black actor — Idris Elba, for his performance in “Beasts of No Nation” — among the apparent front-runners for the 20 acting nominations in four categories.

In 2005, when Jamie Foxx was named best actor for “Ray” and Morgan Freeman won for best supporting actor in “Million Dollar Baby,” Mr. Rock nonetheless tweaked the Academy for its whiteness. During the broadcast, he introduced two burly black men as the supposed representatives of the accounting firm that tabulates the Oscar votes, and showed a taped segment in which he interviewed mostly black moviegoers, asking if they had seen the best picture nominees. None had, but the interviewees claimed to have seen “White Chicks,” starring two of the Wayans brothers.

That sort of humor — biting but self-aware — might help the Academy recover from last year’s dip, when Mr. Harris, normally an adept awards host, was caught up in song, dance and a perhaps misguided stunt that found him onstage in his briefs, mimicking a “Birdman” scene.

Mr. Hudlin and Mr. Hill in early September agreed to produce what will be the 88th Oscar ceremony, after a search that included several possible producers or producing teams to replace Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who had overseen the previous three shows.

Mr. Hudlin, a filmmaker and executive with wide experience in movies and television, had earlier produced the Academy’s Governors Awards, a separate ceremony that is not televised. Mr. Hill, a television producer and executive who has worked at Fox and elsewhere, has a substantial history in producing sports and other live television events.

“We were both in violent agreement,” Mr. Hudlin said of an early meeting in which he and Mr. Hill first discussed the possibility of Mr. Rock’s returning as host.

Mr. Hill said Mr. Rock’s earlier performance hit precisely the note they seek from the next show. “It wasn’t about him,” Mr. Hill said. “It was all about the industry, all about his peers, all about the movies.”

Mr. Rock recently directed an HBO comedy special, “Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo.” Last year, he directed and starred in the film “Top Five,” about the life and times of a New York City comic and film star being interviewed by a reporter for The New York Times.

While Mr. Rock generally stayed in bounds during his previous appearance as Oscar host — some Academy members privately groused about his jabs at Hollywood — he is known for flirting with danger in his live performances.

In the days after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center, for instance, Mr. Rock showed up in a Los Angeles area comedy club, trying out a comic routine about the attack. Ultimately, he used a somewhat tempered routine at a Carnegie Hall comedy benefit for 9/11 survivors.

At this year’s Governors Awards dinner, set for Nov. 14 in Los Angeles, the Academy is poised to bestow its honorary awards on a lineup that includes Debbie Reynolds, known for classic and somewhat lighthearted entertainment like “Singin’ in the Rain”; Gena Rowlands, who has starred in sophisticated fare like “A Woman Under the Influence”; and Spike Lee, whose bent for sharp-edged social humor and drama in films like “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X” should help set the stage for Mr. Rock.

My Cameo In A Lalah Hathaway Video

Anthony Hamilton and Lalah Hathaway at the Black Movie Soundtrack tribute at the Hollywood Bowl

I get a call from Lalah Hathaway, who tells me she’s doing a cover of her dad Donnie Hathaway’s classic song “Little Ghetto Boy” and she wants me to appear in the video. I say yes of course. There’s no downside to this. A. I get to be in a music video. B. I get to be in a music video with Lalah Hathaway. C. I get to return the favor for her appearing on several of my projects, like the Black Movie Soundtrack concert at the Hollywood Bowl, and “After All”, a beautiful song on The Ladies Man soundtrack.

Wow, I didn’t know how beloved that song was until I read the comments on YouTube. That’s the second cult classic Marcus Miller has written for one of my soundtracks. The other was from the Boomerang soundtrack as an instrumental cue that folks liked so much they looped it and posted it on line:

Marcus finally turned it into a full song with Raphael Saadiq on vocals.

Back to the video. The other bonus is the video is directed by Ali Leroi, who I’ve known for decades now. I first met him when he was part of Mary Wong, a black high concept comedy team who became part of the Chris Rock comedy brain trust. We worked together on the Everybody Hates Chris pilot, the Are We There Yet? series, and The Shut Your Pie Hole animated digital series, and other stuff I’m probably forgetting and things that never happened, or haven’t happened yet.

Ali is one of those guys who actually does the stuff I think about doing. He actually learned how to play bass. He has become an amazing photographer. I thought about doing all that. But he did it. I’ve also thought about doing a podcast, but here I am appearing on Ali’s actual podcast.

I ask Ali what am I supposed to do in the video. Am I me or a character? He says I am “meta Reggie”, which is all the explanation I’m going to get, and that’s fine.

I meet them in the parking lot of the church where my children were blessed, and hop in a car with several cameras mounted on it. We drive around listening to the song. Just like everyone else doing a cameo. Finally we just start talking. I make unwanted but nicely tolerated suggestions like adding musical allusions to the songs “The Ghetto” and “The World Is A Ghetto” to the rousing vamp hook at the end. I tell Lalah I do this all the time and how I’m still trying to convince Marcus Miller to do a mash up of Wayne Shorter’s “Pinocchio” and Bootsy Collins’ “Pinocchio Theory”. I play both for her…which led to a shot of me looking down playing with my phone, which somehow made it into the video. “Why are you checking your email daddy?” chastised my daughter, upon seeing the video.

Here’s a behind the scene clip of the making of the video:

What’s great about the video is that it shows hope. The men in the video were little ghetto boys and now they are successful men. Music like her father’s kept us inspired. Lalah continues that mission.