The Black Godfather Official Trailer / Netflix (YouTube)
“He wasn’t there, but he was right there.”
These days, when you hear the term “influencer,” one may think of perfectly placed and filtered sponsored ads on Instagram racking up hundreds of thousands of likes within minutes. Well, when you think of the original meaning of the term, one man who embodied it was Clarence Avant also known as “The Black Godfather.”
In a new documentary aptly titled The Black Godfather, Netflix will provide us with a peek into just how significant Avant’s presence was in culture.
Per the doc’s press release via Netflix:
For decades, the world’s most high profile entertainers, athletes and politicians have turned to a single man for advice during the most pivotal moments in their lives and careers, including Grammy Award® winners, Hall of Famers, a Heavyweight Champion of the World and two U.S. Presidents. That man is Clarence Avant.
The Black Godfather charts the exceptional and unlikely rise of Avant, a music executive whose trailblazing behind-the-scenes accomplishments impacted the legacies of icons such as as Bill Withers, Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, and Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Driven by a sense of equality, loyalty, and justice, Avant left the Jim Crow south behind to emerge as a powerhouse negotiator at a time when deep-seated racism penetrated every corner of America. Avant defied notions of what a black executive could do, redefining the industry for entertainers and executives of color and leaving a legacy of altruism for others to emulate.
Directed by Academy Award® nominee Reginald Hudlin and featuring interviews with Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Bill Withers, Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, Lionel Richie, Suzanne de Passe, David Geffen, Jerry Moss, Cicely Tyson, and Jamie Foxx, among others, The Black Godfather pulls the curtain back on the maestro himself, projecting a spotlight on the man who’s spent his entire career ensuring that it shined on others.
Mr. Avant’s daughter, Nicole Avant, serves as producer, along with Byron Phillips, Nelson George and Caitrin Rogers.
“KRS-ONE wisely once said ‘real bad boys move in silence,’ and no one better symbolizes that idea than Clarence Avant,” Hudlin told The Root. “For 50 years, he’s been shaping black culture from behind the scenes, affecting music, movies, politics, and sports.”
“Clarence has the amazing ability to evolve,” Hudlin continued. “He started in Climax, North Carolina, with a ninthgrade education, and ended up living in Beverly Hills and staying overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House. He accepted no ceiling to his growth, adapted to new people and new situations that would overwhelm anyone else, but never lost hold on the values that made him who he was. That’s an amazing feat, which is inspiring to me and why so many successful people want to be around him.”
“Sometimes I ask myself, ‘How the fuck did I get involved in this?’” Avant asks himself in the trailer.
Black Hollywood, music, and history is sure glad you did, Mr. Avant.
The Black Godfather premieres on Netflix and in select theaters on June 7.
The first trailer for “The Black Godfather,” Reginald Hudlin’s documentary about black entertainment trailblazer Clarence Avant, has been released. The film features interviews with Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, David Geffen, Clive Davis, Diane Warren, Lionel Richie and Irving Azoff, among other industry titans. Former president Barack Obama also makes an appearance.
Hudlin spent three years making what he terms “a secret movie” about Avant, the music executive who rose from a manager of jazz artists in the 1950s to discovering Bill Withers, producing black-oriented theater productions and films, launching one of the first fully black-owned radio stations and offering his advice as a mentor to countless artists and executives.
In “The Black Godfather,” premiering June 7 on Netflix and in select theaters, Hudlin chronicles Avant’s life, from fighting his way through Jim Crow America to eventually having an impact on luminaries as diverse as Quincy Jones (pictured above, at left, with Avant and Whitney Houston), Muhammad Ali and Bill Clinton. (Worth noting: Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos is Avant’s son-in-law; in 2009, Sarandos married Nicole Avant, who served as Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas.)
Avant was a true behind-the-scenes mover and shaker: He helped save the Stax and Motown labels at different junctures in his career; counseled MGM and ABC in the 1970s on how to deal with black American culture; and redefined the industry for entertainers of color. Today, Avant is a go-to adviser for hit-makers such as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, L.A. Reid and Babyface. Jamie Foxx also features prominently in “The Black Godfather” — the actor starred in 2012’s Oscar-nominated “Django Unchained,” on which Hudlin served as producer, and was also on hand for Avant’s 2016 star dedication on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Marshall director Reginald Hudlin has signed on to direct Beyond the Velvet Rope, a musical film that will be based on the original music of Andreas Carlsson. The prolific Swedish songwriter has penned hits for the likes of Celine Dion, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and American Idol stars including Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken.
The original script for Velvet Rope was penned by Oscar-winning Rain Man writer Ron Bass and Walter Becker & G.L. Lambert. It centers on an up-and-coming pop star named Sky who falls in love with her prolific songwriter Luke as they make their way through the Los Angeles music scene in the late 1970s. They make a fairy-tale ascent to the top, but Luke begins to drift from his first love (music) and finds the fine line between success and failure, and the realization that life can turn on a single song.
Carlsson, an ASCAP Songwriter of the Year whose songs have sold more than 150 million units, has written 14 new songs for the pic, which he is also producing alongside Marcus Englefield and George Lee for Storyoscopic Films. Executive producers are Niklas Bergman, Hudlin, Robyn Klein, Andrew Lerios, and Jeremy Ross.
“The ability to work closely with a film rooted in music has been on my bucket list and is a genre that started my career,” said Hudlin, a prolific TV director who was Oscar-nominated for producing Django Unchained in 2017. “The opportunity to blend a well-written story with exceptional original songs is a special moment as a director and music lover. The raw reality of ascending and descending and then finding success as an artist of any kind in Hollywood is filled with the kind of emotion that organically allows for great storytelling.”
Added Carlsson: “The music for this film is
inspired by the core of my upbringing. As a Swede, I was enamored with American
pop culture and the music of the late 70s along with the films from the era. I
am looking forward to working with Reggie who has fully grasped the musical
vision of the film. Along with my musical collaborators Kalle Engstrom and
Jörgen Elofsson, we are ready to create an important film that will focus on a
significant part of America’s musical timeline.”
Hudlin, who also produced the Oscars in 2017, is repped by CAA. The pic deal was negotiated by Weintraub Tobin, Qap Legal, and Fox Rothschild.
The third installment of Marcus
Miller and Reggie Hudlin’s hugely popular celebration of black movie music
returns! Hosted by the very funny comedian/musician Craig Robinson, this year’s
installment promises new clips, special guests, and some fan favorites.
Programs, artists, dates, prices and availability subject to change.
Craig, Marcus and me at the Hollywood Bowl press event. With Herbie Hancock photobombing in the background.
Less than 24 hours after it was revealed that Wu-Tang Clan is releasing an EP later this week (May 17), in conjunction with Showtime documentary, Wu-Tang: Of Mics & Men. Heads now get some new music and information from the project released through Mass Appeal (who is also behind the film) and Wu’s 36 Chambers, LLC. Ghostface Killah and RZA have teamed to release “On That Sh*t Again,” the opening song from the upcoming companion release.
The song features a piano and drum beat. G.F.K. begins with a story about a night out, after an argument at home. Things get hairy as Ghost’ gets ready for a show at Madison Square Garden with Dru Hill. The Staten Island MC packs artillery for the event before RZA drops in with a recent rhyme about living the lavish life.
According to Pitchfork, who premiered the song, the soundtrack is executive produced by RZA’s brother, Mitchell “Divine” Diggs and Mustafa Shaikh. Notably, Divine says in Wu-Tang: Of Mics & Men that the film includes his first interview. Sacha Jenkins’ documentary chronicles the late 1990s fallout between Divine and members of the Wu-Tang Clan surrounding management and the former’s production company. In episode 4 of the film, there is footage of Ghostface and Divine arguing over royalties and management commissions from that era.
The seven-song collection also includes some audio footage, from Nas and Hip-Hop journalist-turned-Luke Cage series creator Cheo Hodari Coker. Notably, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Method Man do not appear to be involved.
