Director Reginald Hudlin’s most recent project is the Netflix documentary ‘The Black Godfather,’ which tells the story of Clarence Avant–a behind-the-scenes force in music, movies and politics for more than 50 years.
Hudlin burst on the industry scene with the 1990 Sundance hit ‘House Party,’ which he wrote and directed. Since then he’s stayed busy writing and directing movies and TV–he was a producer on ‘Django Unchained,’ which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Picture in 2012.
Hudlin’s had his share of other jobs too–sometimes concurrently!–as was the case when he found himself writing ‘Black Panther’ comics and running BET.
He tells us about those hectic years, and explains why he thinks the movie ‘Blade’ is pivotal to the success of Marvel movies.
Nicole Avant joins the show to discuss “The Black Godfather,” the documentary she produced about her father, the legendary music industry executive Clarence Avant. Avant talks about what it was like to grow up in a world where guests at her family home included Presidents of the United States and the likes of Muhammad Ali and Quincy Jones. She also reflects on her father’s words to live by, the importance of paying it forward, and she shares how her close friend Pharrell came to write an original song for the documentary. Previously, Avant held the office of United States Ambassador to The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. She was also the Vice President of Interior Music Publishing; and the California Finance Co-chair for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. She is married to Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix.
