Anthony Mackie has set his feature directorial debut with Spark. The drama will star Saniyya Sidney as Claudette Colvin, an unsung pioneer of the Civil Rights era. Sidney is coming off a breakout performance as Venus Williams in King Richard. Mackie is producing with Kellon Akeem, Jason Michael Berman and Marc Ambrose.
Colvin was 15-years-old when she bravely stood up to racism, getting arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a crowded segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This was nine months before Rosa Parks became a symbol of the Civil Rights era symbol for courageously doing essentially the same thing. Initially embraced by Civil Rights leaders for her courage, Colvin was brushed out of history when those same civic leaders decided a poor, dark-skinned teenage girl would not be the ideal face for their public campaign.
The film will be a co-production between Make it with Gravy Productions, Mansa Productions, Mandalay Pictures in Association with Ambergreen Entertainment. Niceole R. Levy, who worked with Mackie on The Banker, is writing it. The filmmakers have the life rights of Colvin and are working with her family. They’ve also secured rights to Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose.
Said Colvin: “67 years ago, when history glued me to the seat of that bus in Montgomery, I could never have imagined that standing up for my rights could spark a movement that would change the course of history. It is really an honor to have my story retold, by Mr. Mackie, for future generations to learn about our past so they can move forward knowing that progress is possible, and things do get better. I hope my story will inspire youth to continue to fight for civil rights and human dignity.”
Mackie said that he came across the story of Claudette Colvin during a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. Much the way that the story of entrepreneur Bernard Garrett sparked him to star in the George Nolfi-directed The Banker, he felt Colvin’s story needed to be told after all these years.
“Not only was I moved, I was inspired,” he said. “It’s great to be a superhero in movies but she’s a real live one living amongst us and I’m honored to tell her story.”
Actress Sidney has drawn strong reviews for her performance opposite Will Smith in King Richard, and she will next be seen playing Sasha Obama in Showtime’s The First Lady, which stars Viola Davis.
Mackie, who recently starred in the Rupert Wyatt-directed Desert Warrior and is set to play Captain America in the fourth movie in the Marvel franchise, is represented by UTA and Inspire Entertainment; Colvin is repped by Roseboro Holdings, Levy by WME and The Shuman Company. Saniyya Sidney is represented by CAA, Transcend Talent Management and Ziffren Brittenham.
Source: Deadline
SHOWTIME released the official trailer and key art for the upcoming four-part docuseries WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY, from Emmy-winning director W. Kamau Bell (United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell). Offering an in-depth look at the revolutionary career and personal descent of Bill Cosby, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY will screen at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, ahead of its SHOWTIME premiere on Sunday, January 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. All episodes will be available across all SHOWTIME streaming and VOD platforms on January 30.
Cosby, the renowned comedian, actor, philanthropist and African American icon, who for decades was revered as “America’s Dad,” has gained infamy as a criminal defendant in a sexual-assault prosecution. The series explores the complex story of Cosby’s life and work, weighing his actions against his indisputable global influence through interviews with comedians, cultural commentators, journalists and women who share their most personal, harrowing encounters with Cosby. Through archival footage, Cosby reveals who he may have been all along – the antithesis of the principled, public figure who became a hero, not only to African American people but to all people.
The four-parter sheds new light on Cosby’s cultural contributions and impact at the height of his disgrace – accused of rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery and other misconduct by more than 60 women as far back as nearly 60 years. Bell, who grew up idolizing Cosby, unpacks how Cosby’s desire for power, which propelled his professional success, could be the same driving force that motivated his alleged crimes against women. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY peels back complex layers, portraying the genius performer, philanthropist and role model, contrasted by the accused sexual predator that now defines him. It offers viewers the chance to reconsider Cosby’s mark in a society where rape culture, toxic masculinity, capitalism and white supremacy are shaping how we re-evaluate sex, power and agency.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY is a Boardwalk Pictures Production in association with WKB Industries for SHOWTIME, directed by W. Kamau Bell. The series is executive produced by Bell, Andrew Fried, Katie A. King, Dane Lillegard, Jordan Wynn and Sarina Roma. King also serves as showrunner and Geraldine Porras serves as a co-executive producer.
The 64th annual Grammy Awards ceremony has a new date — and a new location.
The Recording Academy said Tuesday that the show has been rescheduled and will now broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sun, April 3, from 8-11:30 p.m. (live in the East Coast; tape-delayed in the West) on CBS.
The show was postponed earlier this month amid the omicron surge from its original date of Jan. 31.
Trevor Noah is still set to host.
Today, the full list of nominees for the “53rd NAACP Image Awards” were announced in a special virtual event on NAACP’s Instagram channel hosted by actress and musician Kyla Pratt, “Black-ish” actor Marcus Scribner and singer-songwriter Tinashe (@naacpimageawards). The winners will be revealed during the two-hour LIVE TV special, which will be hosted by seven-time NAACP Image Awards Winner Anthony Anderson, airing Saturday, February 26th, 2022 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on BET. BET and the NAACP place the health and safety of attendees, staff, vendors, and partners first. Due to the ever-changing developments with COVID-19 and variants, the powerful night in Black excellence will continue to move forward without an in-person audience in a not-to-be-missed event. Netflix leads nominations across motion picture and television + streaming categories. Insecure received the most nominations in the television + streaming categories. H.E.R. received the most nominations in the music recording categories. RCA Records received the most nominations across record labels. Amistad leads nominations across literary categories. “We are thrilled to recognize this year’s nominees, who have all brought dynamic, entertaining, and thought-provoking content to our attention through their incredible work in film, television, music and more,” said Chairman, Image Awards Committee, Karen Boykin-Towns. “The BET team is immensely proud to continue our partnership with the NAACP and the annual Image Awards, underpinning our longstanding legacy of celebrating Black Excellence,” said Scott Mills, BET President, and CEO. “It is an extraordinary privilege to provide our unparalleled platforms to recognize the vast contributions of Black creators, in a way that only BET, and NAACP can.”
Recognized as the nation’s preeminent multicultural awards show from an African-American perspective, the “53rd NAACP Image Awards” celebrates the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color across more than 80 competitive categories spanning film, television + streaming, music, literature, and podcasts. The “53rd NAACP Image Awards” will also include four new podcast categories: Outstanding News and Information Podcast; Outstanding Lifestyle / Self-Help Podcast; Outstanding Society and Culture Podcast; and Outstanding Arts and Entertainment Podcast. The “53rd NAACP Image Awards” are presented by Wells Fargo and sponsored by AT&T, Google, T-Mobile, Bank of America, General Mills, FedEx, and Airbnb.
One of the most iconic annual celebrations of Black excellence, the NAACP Image Awards draws the biggest and brightest stars in Hollywood. Previous years’ attendees and winners include Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Lizzo, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Foxx, Chloe x Halle, Regé-Jean Page, Michaela Coel, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Blair Underwood, Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin, Viola Davis, Gabrielle Union, Kerry Washington, Anthony Anderson, Sterling K. Brown, Loni Love, Sheryl Underwood, Mandy Moore, Halle Berry, Common, Dwayne Johnson, Audra Day, John Legend, Lena Waithe, Tracee Ellis Ross, David Oyelowo, Laverne Cox, Octavia Spencer, Issa Rae, Trevor Noah, Regina King, Yara Shahidi, Danai Gurira, Jacob Latimore, Jill Scott, H.E.R., Jay Pharoah, Jemele Hill, Josh Gad, Loretta Devine, Tracy Morgan, Sylvester Stallone, Meta Golding, Michael Smith, Tyler James Williams, Ava DuVernay, the late Chadwick Boseman, Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Lin-Mnuel Miranda, Stephen Curry, Stacey Abrams, Mary J. Blige, Andra Day, Arsenio Hall, Leslie Jones, Susan Kelechi Watson, Madalen Mills and many more.
Voting is now open to the public to determine the winners of the “53rdNAACP Image Awards” by visiting www.naacpimageawards.net – Voting closes on February 5, 2022. Winners will be revealed during the “53rdNAACP Image Awards” telecast on February 26, 2022, on BET. NAACP will also recognize winners in non-televised Image Awards categories February 21-23, which will stream on www.naacpimageawards.net, and during the NAACP Image Awards Dinner, which will be held February 25, 2022, in Los Angeles. For all information and the latest news, please follow NAACP Image Awards on Instagram @NAACPImageAwards. Internationally, the show will air on BET Africa at 20:00 CAT on February 27, followed by BET France on March 2 at 8:45 pm CEST. The show will also be available to watch on My5 and Sky On-Demand in the UK beginning March 1.
Click here for the list of nominees.
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network debuts season five of its hit dating series “Ready to Love” Friday, January 28th at 8 PM EST | 7 PM CST with a new cast and new rules on the one-hour debut. In 2021, Ready to Love was Friday night’s #1 original cable series among African-American women (18+). The show is executive produced by Will Packer, Will Packer Media and Lighthearted Entertainment.
Host, Tommy Miles is back following a dynamic Season 4 to help a new group of single men and women find love in the DMV area. The new cast of men and women are looking for love from Maryland, Virginia and the D.C. area. With the shift to online dating apps, swiping right, and DMs, the journey to find love has turned into a numbers game. This season, Tommy will guide the singles to find more meaningful and lasting relationships by shifting the focus from quantity to quality, and announcing that there will be only 14 singles to start the journey: seven men and seven women. Every week, the power shifts between the fellas and the ladies as they decide who just isn’t ready to love. But just like the mighty Potomac River, Tommy has twists and turns planned, including surprise blind dates to add NEW SINGLES to the mix. By the end, only the strongest couples will remain to decide whether they are genuinely Ready to Love.
Meet this season’s cast of women and men.
Women –
Ace, 37
DaKiya, 39
Joi, 41
Precious, 34
Kina, 39
Sabrina, 36
Tiffani, 37
Men –
Clifton, 44
Demetrius, 42
Fernando, 34
Laverne, 44
Paul, 48
Tory, 39
Wiley, 32
Watch the new trailer for season 5 below:
Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar’s pgLang company has teamed with Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s Park County banner to produce a new feature film for Paramount Pictures.
The live action comedy, written by Vernon Chatman, will “depict the past and present coming to a head when a young Black man who is interning as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.”
Lamar and pgLang partner Dave Free will produce the project alongside Stone and Parker. Paramount Pictures will handle theatrical distribution, home entertainment, and television licensing rights on the project, with Paramount plus acquiring streaming rights. Production on the yet to be titled feature begins in the spring.
“On behalf of Paramount Pictures and the wider ViacomCBS family, we look forward to ushering in the first theatrical collaboration from these creative visionaries, and galvanizing audiences worldwide around a powerful storytelling experience,” Paramount Pictures president & CEO Brian Robbins said announcing the project.
Source: Variety
Produced by Laugh Out Loud, The One-Night-Only Event will be Hosted by DeRay Davis and Feature Special Performances by Bill Bellamy, Michael Blackson, Earthquake, Mo’Nique, and More
Today, Laugh Out Loud, the multi-platform comedy brand founded by Kevin Hart announced the long-anticipated return of “All Star Comedy Jam.” The iconic event, originally dreamed up as a partnership between basketball hall of famer, media personality and entrepreneur, Shaquille O’Neal and LOL CEO Jeff Clanagan, will kick-off Superbowl Weekend, live from Downtown Los Angeles, with a special one-night-only experience on Thursday, February 10 at Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live.
The event, known for breaking stars and celebrating legends, will be hosted by DeRay Davis, and present hilarious performances from some of the biggest names in comedy including Bill Bellamy, Michael Blackson, Earthquake, and Mo’Nique and featuring surprise special guests, musical acts, and from the front row—the man himself—Shaquille O’Neal.
“From delivering numerous sold-out tours to being among the first to give a national stage to current comedy legends such as Mike Epps, DeRay Davis, and Kevin Hart, All Star Comedy Jam has been a fixture on the comedy scene, dedicated to elevating the brightest up-and-coming comedic voices,” said Shaquille O’Neal. “I’m looking forward to working with the Laugh Out Loud team to bring this iconic franchise back to a live audience for what is sure to be an unforgettable night of comedy.”
“There is nothing like a night of live comedy, and I couldn’t be more excited for the return of All Star Comedy Jam,” said Laugh Out Loud CEO, Jeff Clanagan. “What started as an idea between Shaq and I for a comedy show during All-Star weekend, has grown into a true comedy staple that showcases some of the heaviest hitters in comedy alongside the most promising up-and-comers, and this return feels better than ever. LOL’s mission is to keep the world laughing together, and right now, a good night with a lot of laughs is exactly what we need.”
Tickets are on sale now at axs.com.
Steve Harvey has no plans for another stand-up comedy special and blames “cancel culture.”
“The only way I can do one more special is if it’s at the end of my television career because it will end my television career,” Harvey told media on Tuesday during the TCA panel for his ABC series Judge Steve Harvey airing Tuesday nights at 8 p.m.
“We’re in the cancel culture now. No stand-up [comedian] alive that is sponsor-driven can say anything he wants to. Chris Rock can’t. Kevin Hart can’t. Cedric the Entertainer can’t. D.L. Hughley can’t. I can go down the list. The only person that can say what they want to say on stage is Dave Chappelle because he’s not sponsor-driven, he’s subscription-driven.”
He continued, “One of the reasons I stopped doing stand-up is because my wife told me God was about to do something for me that I didn’t know about yet. I didn’t I didn’t know he was going to give me this TV career, but he did. And it turned out to be the best thing that happened to me. But if I had tried to continue as a stand-up, there’s no way I could maintain a TV career because political correctness has killed comedy.”
Harvey began his career as a stand-up comedian in 1985 which opened up the doors for him in entertainment. He launched The Steve Harvey Show in 1996 which ran until 2002.
One of his biggest comedy tours was 1997’s Kings of Comedy Tour alongside Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and the late Bernie Mac. The act was so popular, Spike Lee turned the act into the feature film, The Original Kings of Comedy released in 2000.
Harvey’s last comedy special was in 2012 and was aired as a pay-per-view event.
“Every joke you tell now, it hurts somebody’s feelings, he said. “But what people don’t understand about comedians is that a joke has to be about something and somebody. We can’t write jokes about puppies all the time. The joke can’t be about bushes all the time. Some of these jokes will have to be about people because that’s the most interesting topic. So if I come back, I’ll have to wait until I’m done and I’m not done. I want to do one more. I’ll probably have to call it, ‘Well, this is it.’”
Source: Deadline
Lil Rel Howery is set to join Zachary Levi in Sony Pictures’ live-action adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon, which Carlos Saldanha is directing.
David Guion & Michael Handelman wrote the screenplay, which is based on Crockett Johnson’s bestselling children’s book. John Davis is producing through Davis Entertainment.
Published in 1955, the book told the story of a 4-year-old who, with the power of his crayon, created worlds around him. The book was a smash and was followed by six more.
Howery most recently starred opposite Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy as well as the comedy it Vacation Friends. His other credits include Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock; Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Judas and The Black Messiah and Bad Trip. He is repped by Fourth Wall Management, UTA, The Aziza Work Group, and Cohen Gardner LLP.
Source: Deadline
Jo Koy’s single-camera comedy Josep is going to pilot at ABC.
The Disney-owned network has handed the series, which comes from 20th Television, the pilot order after revealing the project was in development in May.
The project follows the comedian, who is best known for his appearances on Chelsea Lately and a Netflix standup special In His Elements, as a recently divorced Filipino American nurse attempting to navigate dating, fatherhood and a very Filipino mother who loves to “help.”
Steve Joe, a co-exec producer on Doogie Kamealoha M.D. and Young Sheldon, Fresh Off The Boat’s Randall Park and Michael Golamco are writing and exec producing the half-hour comedy.
The project is also exec produced by others from Fresh Off the Boat including Kourtney Kang, The Detective Agency’s Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar and Park alongside his Imminent Collision partners Golamco and Hieu Ho. Koy also exec produces alongside his manager Joe Meloche.
Coming up for Koy is Amblin Partners and Rideback’s film Easter Sunday, which comes out in April via Universal Pictures, as well as his fourth standup special for Netflix, shooting at the Forum in LA. He is repped by Arsonhouse Entertainment, CAA and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof + Fishman.
Joe is repped by Dennis Kim and A.B. Fischer of Literate and lawyer Ken Richman.
Source: Deadline