I produced this movie in Georgia a while back and here it comes! Can’t wait for you all to see it.
EXCLUSIVE: Briarcliff Entertainment CEO Tom Ortenberg has completed an acquisition of U.S. distribution rights to the slave rebellion action-thriller Emperor. Briarcliffe has dated the film for a March 27 theatrical release. The film is directed by Mark Amin and written by Amin and Pat Charles, and stars Dayo Okeniyi, Kat Graham, Bruce Dern, James Cromwell and Mykelti Williamson. The film is based on a true story, and Okeniyi plays Shields Green, an escaped slave who will do anything to free his family. Racing north, Green joins forces with the legendary John Brown in the battle at Harpers Ferry, a key battle of the abolitionist movement which helped spark the Civil War. The film is produced by Sobini Films’ Amin and Cami Winikoff, and Reginald Hudlin. Pic was shot on location in Savannah, Georgia. Ortenberg called Emperor “a terrific, moving film with great heart that could not be more timely.” Said Amin: “Here was a young slave who ran away from his plantation, made it to freedom, and had Fredrick Douglas offer to send him to Canada to live in safety. Instead he chose to join John Brown and fight for the principles he believed in. This is what inspired me to make this film.” Hudlin said, “This isn’t a slavery movie. It’s a freedom movie. This is a film about a man smart enough and strong enough to fight the system and change the world.” Briarcliff was launched by the former Open Road chief Ortenberg and its releases so far have included Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9, El Chicano and Don’t Let Go, which starred David Oyelowo and Storm Reid.Comment+ Permalink
The Clippers and Marvel collaborate to create Black Panther-inspired Kawhi Leonard bobblehead
Today the L.A. Clippers announced that limited-edition bobbleheads will be available exclusively to a select number of fans attending Clippers home games on February 5th against the Miami Heat and March 1st against the Philadelphia 76ers.
For the team’s February 5th game, the Clippers have collaborated with Marvel to create a limited-edition bobblehead featuring Kawhi Leonard portrayed as Black Panther that will be available to the first 10,000 fans attending the game. The bobblehead, which is presented by City National Bank, the official bank of the L.A. Clippers, sits on a pedestal that features the Clippers logo, City National Bank logo and the Black Panther mask, and Kawhi in the Clippers’ black statement jersey with accents of the Black Panther’s suit weaved throughout the jersey’s design. Each fan who receives a bobblehead will receive a unique redemption code for a free digital Marvel comic. In addition, City National Bank will host a pre-game conversation for Clippers Courtside MVPs with Reginald Hudlin, a contributing writer to the Black Panther comic book series.
On March 1, the first 10,000 fans to enter the arena will receive an exclusive Paul George bobblehead, courtesy of Cedars-Sinai the official health partner of the L.A. Clippers. Paul’s bobblehead sits on a pedestal that features the Clippers logo and Cedars-Sinai logo, and the “Young Trece” billboard that has been displayed across L.A. Paul is wearing the Clippers’ blue icon jersey and the black and white colorway of his recently released “PG4” Nike signature shoe. The “PG4” is the fourth edition of his signature shoe and is available at retail, globally, on January 24.
To purchase tickets for either of these games or any upcoming Clippers’ home games, fans can visit www.clippers.com.
I had to fight to keep this scene in the film. I thought it was important and historically innovative not only to have Langston Hughes (with a male date) AND Zora Neale Hurston make appearances in my Thurgood Marshall movie, but to show them having some kind of beef reflecting some creative/romantic tension. Nice to be validated by the New York Times book review!
The Harlem Renaissance Through Zora Neale Hurston’s Eyes
Zora Neale Hurston was a peerless raconteur and an intrepid investigator of American culture.Credit…Courtesy of Barbara Hurston Lewis and Faye Hurston
HITTING A STRAIGHT LICK WITH A CROOKED STICK Stories From the Harlem Renaissance By Zora Neale Hurston
Early in Reginald Hudlin’s 2017 biopic about Thurgood Marshall, Zora Neale Hurston makes a memorable cameo appearance. The soon-to-be legendary attorney and his wife are sharing a booth at a nightclub with Langston Hughes and a friend when Hurston saunters in. Portrayed by the R&B star Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, she looks as if she’s stepped out of a Carl Van Vechten portrait, oozing confidence and sly intelligence. The brief scene in “Marshall,” with its cutting repartee, suggests what Hurston admirers have long known: She would have been some kind of star even if she’d never parked her genius in front of a typewriter. But how fortunate we are that she did. Today she is revered as a peerless raconteur, intrepid investigator of culture and ritual, and author of a great American novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”
“Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick,” edited and with an introduction by Genevieve West, with a foreword by Tayari Jones, helps illuminate Hurston’s path to iconic status. Its 21 stories are presented in the order in which she composed them. As a result, readers can note the progression from earnest “apprentice” works and experiments with form to the polished brilliance of her best-known stories. The latter include “The Gilded Six-Bits,” with its plot turning on heartbreak and betrayal; “Spunk,” a spooky adultery fable drenched in swagger; and “Sweat,” a nail-biting tale of domestic terror.
West is primarily interested in the eight “recovered” stories that unfold in Northern places like Harlem. She notes that their settings, far from Hurston’s well-known Eatonville, Fla., locale, “reflect the tumult of the Great Migration,” expanding our understanding of Hurston’s fictional territory. She also points out that stories like “The Book of Harlem” differed from Hurston’s fellow writers’ treatments of the epic journey from South to North by persistently flashing elements of wit. Just as Ralph Ellison sought to wring the marvelous from the terrible, Hurston boldly found humor in the midst of tragedy and disruption. All the while, she recognized that what a black audience found comic could be a double-edged blade, easily confusing uninformed audiences. (At the end of the intense “Six-Bits,” Hurston shows a white character blithely assessing what he believes to be the typical black personality: “Wisht I could be like those darkies. Laughin’ all the time. Nothin’ worries ’em.”)
Explaining the meaning of Hurston’s homespun title, West cites Hurston’s various definitions of the expression. Of those, my favorite is “making a way out of no-way.” Equally a part of Northern, Midwestern and Southern African-American culture, the saying recognizes our ancestors’ ability to survive and thrive in the most challenging circumstances. In many of the stories in this collection, Hurston’s men and women confront those challenges while also trying and failing at love, then trying again.
Hurston is equally insistent on displaying the bruised, bloody underside of romantic misadventure. “Everybody in the country cut the fool over husbands and wives — violence was the rule,” she writes in “The Country in the Woman.” Men aren’t the only ones who provoke mayhem, but they flaunt their willingness to live by their fists. And meat-axes. And pistols. (West calls this behavior “tyrannical masculinity”; she does not exaggerate.) Hurston’s willingness to show warts and wounds ran counter to black bourgeois sensitivities about revealing dirty laundry in public. Against the backdrop of Harlem Renaissance bigwigs calling for positive depictions of high-achieving Negroes, Hurston unpacked the lives of everyday black people doing everyday things.
Add her matchless powers of observation, exemplary fidelity to idiomatic speech and irresistible engagement with folklore, and the outcome is a collection of value to more than Hurston completists. Any addition to her awe-inspiring oeuvre should be met with open arms.
This is actually from a few years back. This is outside the hotel suite before I interviewed Barack Obama for THE BLACK GODFATHER.
I don’t do resolutions, but I do like to look back and remember highlights of the year that passed. I encourage others to do the same.
1. THE POPULARITY OF BLACK GODFATHER
Me interviewing the legendary Cicely Tyson for THE BLACK GODFATHER. Me interviewing music industry legends for the BLACK GODFATHER documentary.
So many great screenings, from Harvard University in Cambridge to the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival in Martha’s Vineyard to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta to multiple events in Los Angeles, I haven’t gotten so much love for the film. The African American Film Critics Association named us the Best Documentary of The Year; and the National Board of Review named us Best Documentary of The Year. Not to mention all the compliments from people from every walk of life. This movie has changed lives, no doubt about it. Two nominations from the NAACP Image Awards is really wonderful. I did not all expect the best director nomination, which is otherwise full of directors of scripted films. Really nice!
2. THE CRITICAL AND COMMERCIAL SUCCESS OF BLACK MOVIE SOUNDTRACK AT THE BOWL
Biggest crowds yet. Folks flew in from all over. The innovator MeShell NdegoCello rocks the house at the Hollywood Bowl. Dionne Ferris wows the crowd singing Hopeless from the Love Jones soundtrack.
The third edition of the salute to Black Movie Soundtracks was the first one without the support of the Academy of Motion Pictures, but we ended up selling more tickets and getting even more critical acclaim. The show has become a staple of Los Angeles summers, and we are getting requests to bring the show to other cities. We had an all star line up with Snoop Dogg, Chaka Khan, Charlie Wilson, MeShell Ndgeocello, Raphael Saadiq, El DeBarge, Bebe Winans and Dionne Farris. We are already in the planning stages for the next show at the Hollywood Bowl for 2021.
3. SAFETY
Prepping for the big shoot at Clemson Stadium with brilliant DP Shane Hurlbut. Subject of the film Ray McElrathbey, director Reggie Hudlin, star Jay Reeves.Me and my amazing cast. Love every single one of them!
Sometimes things come together perfectly. Such was Safety. My agent sent me the script and I loved it. After a quick series of meeting with the producer and the studio, we were making the film. The shoot was a dream, so much fun, and we did really good work that pleased the cast, crew and studio. Now we’re editing and I can’t wait for the world to see the film.
I also got to spend time in Atlanta and see old friends like college roommate Dr. Clinton Carter, and dear friends Steve and Terri Ewing. But my favorite day off from work was probably spent on a school field trip with my young start TJ Mixon and his dad, who should be a role model for show biz dads. Here we are at the birth home of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. We saw all the Museums and monuments to Dr. King that day, and I strongly encourage you to do the same. Each location is unique and full of knowledge you need to be an enlightened citizen. TJ ate it up. Lobby of the Human Rights and Civil Rights Museum in Atlanta. Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr preached.
4. THE 50TH NAACP IMAGE AWARDS
I am very proud of my work over the years on the Image Awards, and I am particularly proud of bringing the show to the Dolby Theater, home of the Oscars, for its 50 anniversary. It’s important that we celebrate our own triumphs, and document our achievements. So even though I still haven’t won an Image Award, I am glad to make sure other people get theirs in a way they deserve.
5. I DIRECTED A COUPLE OF HOURS OF TV AS WELL
I almost forgot these shows I directed aired this year as well! I got to work with the ridiculously talented Don Cheadle, Regina Hall and the amazing cast, crew and producers of BLACK MONDAY! What a total blast! On set with the hilarious Tracy Morgan. Needless to say, we coordinate!
If that wasn’t enough I also directed several episodes of THE LAST O.G. with Tracy Morgan, Tiffany Haddish, another amazing cast, and my alter ego Saladin Patterson at the helm as showrunner, and finally got to direct funny words written by old friend Angela Nissell! What a great year! Tiffany and I on set in a Brooklyn park. She saw some girls playing in the distance…she went over to say hi! So nice!
6. THE SUCCESSFUL TEST SCREENING OF EMPEROR
I produced a movie last summer and we are finishing it up now. The last days of editing can be very intense, but we ultimately got the movie to a hugely successful test score where the audience applauded multiple times during the ending. I can’t wait for you to see it!
7. TAKING CARE OF FAMILY
Jaqueline Jenoure with her granddaughter Helena on Thanksgiving.
While I was off hunting and gathering, my wife took care of the kids and took the epic step of moving her mom to Los Angeles. Now the kids have two grandmas in full effect and she gets full time Cali sunshine. Everyone wins.
8. OUR TRIP TO HARVARD
Helena in front of a statue of John Harvard in the middle of Harvard Yard. The snowstorm didn’t stop our fun, but it did detour some tourists for a short while. A bust of W.E.B. DuBois, one of America’s foremost intellectuals, and the first black man to graduate with a PhD from Harvard.
When I finally made it home, I was so happy to spend quality time with my family. When I went back on the road to have a screening of my movie BLACK GODATHER at my alma mater, I brought my daughter. I showed her my freshman dorm building, she had lunch with a friend of hers who is a student, and we had dinner with some friends of mine. It was great for her to see a part of the world that meant a lot to me. Me with great documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee, who was my senior thesis advisor for my senior project…a short film called HOUSE PARTY!
9. ALEX DOING NEW THINGS
Once she dropped out of the race, it immediately became apparent she was the best candidate for President. Once you could no longer take her for granted, and folks took a hard look at the remaining options, there was a deeper appreciation of what she brought to the table: practical but innovative solutions to problems, the toughness required to take on Trump, and inclusion of everyone in America. Lucky for us in California, she’ll still be our senator and she will continue to be a national force for good.
10. SEN. KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT
Once she dropped out of the race, it immediately became apparent she was the best candidate for President. Once you could no longer take her for granted, and folks took a hard look at the remaining options, there was a deeper appreciation of what she brought to the table: practical but innovative solutions to problems, the toughness required to take on Trump, and inclusion of everyone in America. Lucky for us in California, she’ll still be our senator and she will continue to be a national force for good. Comment+ Permalink
