Barack And Michelle Obama’s Production Company ‘Higher Ground’ Moves Forward With 6 Projects
Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions has unveiled a new slate of projects at Netflix, with subjects ranging from one of the first men to reach the summit of Mt. Everest to a YA thriller centered on a Native American girl.
The company also formally announced it’s developing Exit West, a feature starring Riz Ahmed and based on Mohsin Hamid’s acclaimed novel. News of the movie, directed by Yann Demange (White Boy Rick), first broke in March 2020.
“We created Higher Ground to tell great stories. This group of projects builds upon that goal and the incredible path forged by films like Crip Camp, Becoming, and the Oscar-winning American Factory,” the Obamas said in a statement. From science fiction to the beauty of our natural world to the relationships that define us, Higher Ground continues to strive for fresh perspectives, compelling characters, and a healthy dose of inspiration. We couldn’t be more proud to team up with the brilliant artists behind each of these stories. Each of them has something important to say.”
The newly announced slate joins animated kids’ show Ada Twist, Scientist from executive producer Chris Nee and docuseries The G Word With Adam Conover, loosely based on Michael Lewis’ book The Fifth Risk.
“It has been thrilling to watch President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and the Higher Ground team dive into original programming and produce incredible stories,” said Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos. “American Factory, Crip Camp and Becoming have captivated audiences all around the world, and their new slate highlights the variety and depth of programming on the horizon as well as new and exciting storytellers.”
The projects below are in various stages of development and will be released over the next several years. Along with Exit West, they are:
– Firekeeper’s Daughter, a YA series based on the forthcoming debut novel by Angeline Boulley. It centers on an 18-year-old Native girl who reluctantly goes undercover in a police investigation on her Ojibwe reservation. Mickey Fisher (National Geographic’s Mars, NBC’s Reverie) will serve as showrunner and co-write with Wenonah Wilms, who like Boulley is from the Ojibwe tribe. Fisher and Wilms executive produce.
– Great National Parks, a natural history series highlighting some of the most awe-inducing national parks and wild spaces around the world. Higher Ground is producing with Wild Space Productions and Blue Planet II veteran James Honeyborne.
– Satellite, a sci-fi feature from Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T Street. Ola Shokunbi is writing, and Kiri Hart and Stephen Feder will produce for T Street.
– Tenzing, a feature based on the life of Tenzing Norgay, who along with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. Documentary filmmaker Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa), who has spent years on Everest, will make her narrative feature directing debut. Luke Davies (Lion, Hulu’s Catch-22) wrote the script, which is based on the book Tenzing: Hero of Everest by Ed Douglas.
– The Young Wife, from writer-director Tayarisha Poe (Selah and the Spades), follows 29-year-old Celestina on the day of her first wedding — or not exactly a wedding, but a party where she feels out of sync.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle’ Suspends Production Amid Sexual Abuse Allegations
Over the past week, rapper-actor Tip “T.I.” Harris and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, stars of VH1’s hit reality series T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle, have faced a range of sexual abuse accusations, including trafficking, drugging and coercing women. The duo have denied “in the strongest way possible the egregiously appalling allegations,” threatening possible legal action against the accuser.
With the matter still ongoing, filming on T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle has been put on hold. The show had been shooting its fourth season in Atlanta since December.
“We are aware of the allegations, and while they are not connected to our show, we have reached out to T.I. and Tameka Harris, as well as local and state officials,” an MTV Entertainment spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline. “Given the serious nature of the allegations, we have decided to suspend production in order to gather more information.”
According to sources, the decision to pause production was made mutually by MTV Entertainment, T.I. and Tameka Harris. I hear also on hold are the previously announced plans for a spring Season 4 premiere.
T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle comes from 51 Minds Entertainment. Its fourth season chronicles T.I. and Tiny living thought the pandemic with their family, becoming grandparents, celebrating their 10-year anniversary and embarking on philanthropic endeavors, T.I. hitting 40, releasing his latest album and becoming a professor at Clark Atlanta University, teaching a course on the “Business of Trap Music,” as well as Tiny executive producing a new talk show.
Source: Deadline
Lana Condor To Star In New Netflix Comedy Series Titled ‘Boo, Bitch’
Lana Condor is staying in business with Netflix.
The To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before favorite has signed on to star and exec produce an eight-episode limited comedy series for the streamer.
Titled Boo, Bitch, the series takes place over the course of one night and revolves around a high school senior, who has lived her life safely under the radar, who seizes the opportunity to change her narrative and start living an epic life only to find out the next morning that she’s a ghost.
The series is based on an original idea from newcomers Tim Schauer and Kuba Soltysiak. On My Block showrunner Lauren Iungerich and Erin Ehrlich (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) created a new take on Schauer and Soltysiak’s original script. Ehrlich and Iungerich will serve as showrunners and are credited alongside Schauer and Soltysiak as co-creators on the series. Jonathon Komack Martin (Deadpool), Blake Goza (The Escort) and Jamie Dooner (On My Block) will also exec produce.
A premiere timeframe has not yet been determined.
Boo, Bitch marks Condor’s latest collaboration with Netflix after she rocketed to fame as the first Asian-American leading lady in a YA romantic comedy as Lara Jean Covey in the streamer’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and its sequel, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. The third and final film in the series, To All the Boys: Always & Forever, will debut Feb. 12 on Netflix. Condor’s credits also include HBO Max’s upcoming Berlanti film Moonshot. Previous work includes Deadly Class, Alita: Battle Angel and X-Men: Apocalypse. Condor is repped by ICM and Goodman Genow.
The news comes the same week that Netflix renewed Iungerich’s breakout comedy On My Block for a fourth and final season. The Awkward creator remains in-house at the streaming giant with an overall deal. Iungerich is with ICM.
Erhlich is with UTA; Schauer, Sotysiak, Martin and Goza are also with ICM.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Merrin Dungey And Mira Sorvino Land In Starz’s Horror Comedy Pilot ‘Shining Vale’
Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and Merrin Dungey are set as leads opposite Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear in Shining Vale, Starz’s horror-comedy pilot from Divorce creator Sharon Horgan and Trial & Error co-creator Jeff Astrof. The half-hour show hails from Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate in association with Astrof’s Other Shoe Productions, Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment.
Written by Astrof from a story he wrote with Horgan, Shining Vale stems from an idea by Kaplan. It follows a dysfunctional family that moves from the city to a small town into a house in which terrible atrocities have taken place. But no one seems to notice except for Pat (Cox), who’s convinced she’s either depressed or possessed – turns out, the symptoms are exactly the same.
Sorvino will play Rosemary, who is either Pat’s alter ego, a split personality, her id, her muse, or a demon trying to possess her. Sometimes playful, sometimes evil, often tragic, Rosemary has been roaming the halls of Pat’s new house for 70 years, searching for a vulnerable soul to live vicariously through. She sees in Pat a kindred spirit: Like Pat, she was unfulfilled in her role as a dutiful housewife — and as a result, she may or may not have slaughtered her entire family, straightened up the house, then took her own life in the bathtub that Pat now uses to relax. In any case, Rosemary promises to help Pat get her groove back and finish her novel, if Pat will simply agree to let Rosemary “come inside her,” a bargain that may haunt Pat forever.
Dungey plays Kam, Pat’s oldest friend and book editor, a no-bulls**t straight talker who knows and loves Pat more than Pat does herself. Kam has been with Pat through the highs of Pat selling her first novel to the lows of everything that has happened since. She is the one person Pat can rely on for tough love, but Kam is running out of patience: If Pat does not give Kam a book she can sell, then Kam will have no choice but to leave her — this time for good.
Gus Birney and Dylan Gage also star.
Horgan and Mountford executive produce via Merman alongside Astrof through his Other Shoe Productions and Kapital’s Kaplan and Dana Honor. Dearbhla Walsh is set to direct and executive produce the pilot. Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate produce in association with Other Shoe Productions, Merman and Kapital Entertainment.
Sorvino was most recently seen in Ryan Murphy’s Emmy-nominated Netflix series Hollywood as the Lana Turner-inspired star Jeanne Crandall. Other recent credits include the 20th Century feature Stuber opposite Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani, and director Mary Harron’s thriller The Expecting.
Dungey recently portrayed Detective Quinlan in HBO’s Big Little Lies. Her other credits include a turn as CEO Claire Thorpe on Fox’s The Resident and a starring role in legal dram The Fix. She’ll next be seen on the sixth and final season of Lucifer on Netflix.
ViacomCBS Engages Nick Cannon To Bring Back ‘Wild N’ Out’
ViacomCBS has reestablished its working relationship with Nick Cannon. The move, company insiders tell Variety, comes as a result of the steps that the performer and producer has taken to engage and partner with Jewish leaders and make amends for anti-Semitic statements he made last summer that led to ViacomCBS to cut its ties to Cannon.
Production on new episodes of Cannon’s long running MTV comedy series “Wild ‘N Out” is expected to resume at some point beyond the near future. Old episodes of “Wild ‘N Out” are returning to MTV’s linear schedule this week.
“Nick has not only apologized and taken responsibility for his comments, but he has also worked to educate himself and others through engagement with Jewish leaders and on his platforms,” an MTV Entertainment Group spokesperson told Variety. “Those efforts are of the utmost importance and that’s why we have invited him to rejoin our team. On a separate note, we just learned that he tested positive for COVID and have reached out to wish him a speedy recovery.”
Cannon has earned praise in recent months from Jewish leaders for partnering with Jewish community organizations against anti-Semitism. In August, Cannon and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt co-authored an op-ed in the Jewish newspaper the Forward on the anniversary of 2017 the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and the need for Black and Jewish leaders to work together. A month earlier, Cannon toured the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance and pledged a donation to the organization.
“He appears to be someone who’s genuine in his desire to make sure people understand his apology,” Wiesenthal Center associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the Associated Press at the time. Cooper added that the spirit of Cannon’s dialogue with him appeared to be “How do we roll up our sleeves? What can we do together?” Other Jewish leaders, including Greenblatt, Rabbi Noam E. Marans of the American Jewish Committee and Rabbi Motti Seligson of Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters have publicly engaged with Cannon and expressed support for his efforts.
When asked for comment, Cannon’s rep said that he is unavailable as he is currently quarantining after testing positive for COVID.
Viacom and MTV have long been partners with the ADL on a number of initiatives — among them a corporate culture code for MTV Entertainment Group instituted last year under McCarthy and which the Museum of Tolerance, GLAAD and Color of Change also consulted on. As part of that initiative, Cannon, Cooper and Greenblatt recently participated in a town hall with company employees. Last week, the MTV Entertainment Group marked Holocaust Remembrance Day with a PSA featuring a variation on Martin Niemöller’s widely circulated post-World War II confessional “First They Came …”
Cannon asserted that Black people are “the true Hebrews” during a June 30 episode of his podcast “Cannon’s Class” in which he gave credence to false anti-Semitic conspiracy theories regarding “Zionists” and the Rothschild family. “It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people, when we are the same people who they want to be.” Cannon said during an in interview with rapper Richard Griffin, known for his decades-long record of hate speech against Jews. “That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.” The remarks were met with widespread outrage, and ViacomCBS moved quickly to sever ties with Cannon, who created the long-running MTV comedy show “Wild ‘N Out” and held deep ties with company’s Nickelodeon kids-and-family unit.
After his firing by ViacomCBS, Cannon was combative. He publicly insisted that ViacomCBS apologize to him and hand over ownership of “Wild ‘N Out” to him. “If I have furthered the hate speech, I wholeheartedly apologize,” Cannon wrote in a rambling Facebook post. “But now I am the one making demands.”
Cannon’s other business partners proved less eager to distance themselves from him. On July 15, the day after ViacomCBS severed ties with him, Cannon issued a second apology for his remarks that was coupled with the announcement by Fox Entertainment that he would stay on as host of its reality competition “The Masked Singer,” broadcast television’s highest rated entertainment program. Last week, Fox and Debmar Mercury struck a deal to move forward with a stalled plan to launch a daytime talk show hosted by Cannon. (As Variety reported Wednesday, Cannon has since tested positive for COVID and will thus be absent from at least the first few episodes of the new season of “The Masked Singer,” which is set to premiere in March.)
In August, the door for Cannon and ViacomCBS to reconcile appeared to open when MTV Entertainment Group president Chris McCarthy, speaking at a company town hall, praised work Cannon had done engaging Jewish community leaders after his outburst and described himself as “hopeful” that ViacomCBS would again do business with Cannon.
Source: Variety
Lil Yachty And Mattel Team For new Action Comedy Based On Uno Card Game
The rapper will prodcue, with an eye at a starring role.
Rapper Lil Yachty and Mattel are teaming on a feature adaption of the popular children’s card game Uno.
The movie is described as an action heist comedy, set in the underground hip hop world of Atlanta. Yachty is attached to produce, with an eye to star in the movie.
Marcy Kelly penned the movie, which will be produced by Mattel Films, with Quality Control’s Kevin “Coach K” Lee, Pierre “P” Thomas and Brian Sher. Mattel’s Robbie Brenner will executive produce, with Kevin McKeon overseeing for the company.
Said Brenner. “UNO is a game that transcends generations and cultures and we look forwards to partnering with Lil Yachty, as well as with Coach K and Brian Sher, to transform the classic UNO game into a comedic action-adventure.”
Added Yachty: “I played UNO as a kid and still do today, so to spin that into a movie based on the Atlanta hip hop scene I came out of is really special. It hits close to home for me.”
Mattel Television is teaming with Propagate founders Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens for a reality game show for television, also based on the Uno brand. Mattel’s Hollywood projects include the Barbie movie at Warner Bros. and a Daniel Kaluuya-produced Barney feature, as well as projects based on Hot Wheels, Viewfinder, and other toys.
Yachty, repped by ICM Partners, had a starring role in MTV’s television movie How High 2.
OWN To Premiere ‘OWN Spotlight: Cicely Tyson’ Featuring Never Before Seen Footage Between Oprah & Tyson
Los Angeles, CA – In memory of Cicely Tyson, OWN will present “OWN Spotlight: Cicely Tyson” this Saturday, February 6(10-11 p.m. ET/PT) featuring a never-before-seen intimate conversation with the legendary actress and Oprah Winfrey. The special will also stream on OWN’s Facebook page and discovery+.
OWN honors the legacy of the late Miss Tyson with this special conversation captured in 2012 at the taping of “Oprah and The Legendary Cast of Roots 35 Years Later.” The Emmy and Tony-award-winning actress explains the surprising story of how she found her calling, shares behind-the-scenes history of her most iconic roles and reveals the biggest life lessons she’s learned.
Following Tyson’s passing, Winfrey shared the following in her honor:
“Of all the times and experiences we shared together, this was one of my favorites: The weekend of the Legends Ball in 2005. The idea for the ball originated because I wanted to celebrate HER, and other remarkable Black women who carved a path and built a bridge for me and generations to follow. What a joy to honor her and feel her receive it! I loved her hat so much, she sent it to me afterwards. Cicely decided early on that her work as an actor would be more than a job. She used her career to illuminate the humanity in Black people. The roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised. Her life so fully lived is a testimony to Greatness.”
BET And CBS NEWS To Present ‘No Joke: Chris Rock And Gayle King’
BET, in partnership with CBS News, announces a new exclusive special with comedian Chris Rock, “No Joke: Chris Rock and Gayle King,” premiering Thursday, February 4 at 10pmET/PT on BET and BET Her. The program will feature extended excerpts of Rock’s recent sit-down interview with CBS This Morning’s Gayle King from his home, and clips from his recently released special “Total Blackout: The Tamborine Extended Cut” (Netflix), in which the award-winning comedian, actor, director, producer and writer opens up about being bullied as a kid, racism in America, Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, divorce, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Rock goes deep when discussing his critically-acclaimed performance in the FX series “Fargo” where he plays the gangster, Loy Cannon — a challenging and dramatic role he says he didn’t “have the gravitas” to deliver earlier in his career.
Chris Rock makes you laugh, and more importantly, gets you thinking. It’s that combination that makes him one of the most acclaimed comedians of all-time. His humor and honesty is on full display in the BET Special, “No Joke: Chris Rock and Gayle King. It’s a side of Rock that viewers haven’t seen before, and one they won’t soon forget.
Will Smith To Host 14th Amendment Doc Series For Netflix
Netflix is set to tackle the 14th Amendment with the help of Will Smith.
On Feb. 17, the streaming service will debut a six-part doc series titled Amend: The Fight for America, which counts the Suicide Squad star as a producer and host. The hourlong episodes will explore the amendment, which, in 1868, promised “liberty and equal protection for all persons.”
The series, which also counts former Nightly Show star Larry Wilmore as an executive producer, features a rotation of recognizable faces, including Mahershala Ali, Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Pedro Pascal and Yara Shahidi. That group will deliver speeches and writings by the Amendment’s most passionate advocates and foes (think Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ruth Bader Ginsburg). Also mixed in: insights from a slew of contemporary experts and thought leaders. Amend is being billed as “a powerful, multimedia journey through American history that encourages viewers to question what a ‘United States’ really means.”
“We are living in unprecedented days as a society, as a country, and as a human family. I believe that the cultivation of personal and historical understanding is the imperative spark igniting the flames of desperately needed compassion and healing,” said Smith in a statement announcing the news Monday. “As Americans, we endeavor to form a more perfect union that truly establishes justice and equality for all. I believe a deeper understanding of the 14th Amendment is a critical jumping-off point. Our hope with this series is to illuminate the beauty that is the promise of America and to share a message of connection and shared humanity so that we will be able to better understand and celebrate our different experiences as Americans and promote progress toward the true equality promised to all persons under the 14th amendment. I’m grateful to Netflix and the phenomenal group of people who came together both in front of and behind the camera to help us tell this story.”
That group includes creators Robe Imbriano and Tom Yellin and directors Kenny Leon and Reinaldo Marcus Green, along with fellow exec producers Terence Carter, Jana Babatunde-Bey, Jamal Watson, Jonna Mclaughlin and Angus Wall. Amend is a Westbrook Studios, The Documentary Group, Wilmore Films and MakeMake Entertainment production.
“I hope families can watch Amend together and have the series be a compelling conversation starter,” said Wilmore. “Everything we’ve seen happen in America in the last few years is about what Black people and other marginalized groups have always wanted: to make sure that we are really part of America and have everything that’s been promised to us by the Constitution. I think it’d be really fantastic if Amend helped people to better understand how special the bond can be between each of us and our country.”
While Smith will always be best known as the face of tentpoles, he has started to dip his toes in the political conversation in recent years. In fact, back in 2015, he was so appalled by the spewings of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, he allegedly toyed with getting involved himself. “As I look at the political landscape, I think that there might be a future out there for me,” he told THR at the time. “This is the first year that I’ve been incensed to a level that I can’t sleep, you know? So I’m feeling that at some point, in the near future, I will have to lend my voice to the conversation in a somewhat different way.”
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
The 52nd NAACP Image Awards Nominations Announced; Netflix Leads With 48 Nominations
YESTERDAY, the full-list of nominees for the 52nd NAACP Image Awards were announced today in a special virtual event on NAACP Image Awards’ Instagram channel hosted by Tony-award winning actress and singer Anika Noni-Rose, actress and singer Chloe Bailey, actress Erika Alexander, actor, dancer, and choreographer Nicco Annan, and actor and singer TC Carson. NAACP Image award-winning and Emmy-nominated talk show “The Real”, kicked-off the announcement revealing nominees in 15 categories (watch here) ahead of the virtual event. The winners will be revealed during the two-hour LIVE TV special airing on BET and will be simulcast across ViacomCBS Networks including CBS, BET Her, VH1, MTV, MTV2, and LOGO on Saturday, March 27th, 2021 at 8/7c.
With the rise in usage of streaming services this year, Netflix leads the nominations across the motion picture and television categories with 48 total nominations followed by HBO who received a total of 25 nominations. Beyonce received the most nominations of any artist in the music recording categories with 6 and RCA Records leads with the most nominations across record labels with 12 nominations. For the literary categories HarperCollins Publishers lead with 9 nominations.
NAACP additionally announced the nominees for the Special Awards categories which include Entertainer of the Year and Social Justice Impact. Nominees for the Entertainer of the Year award include D-Nice, Regina King, Trevor Noah, Tyler Perry and Viola Davis.Nominees for the Social Justice Impact award include April Ryan, Debbie Allen, Lebron James, Stacey Abrams and Tamika Mallory.
“We are excited to recognize and celebrate this year’s nominees, who at times throughout this unprecedented year have provided moments of levity, brought our communities together, and lifted our spirits through culture when we needed it the most,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson.
“BET shares the NAACP’s commitment to engage and empower our community, and we are proud to serve as partners on the 52nd Annual Image Awards,” said BET President Scott Mills. “The NAACP Image Awards uniquely honors our culture and community, recognizing those who help tell our stories through music, TV, movies, and literature. It is a distinct privilege for us to amplify the incredible work of the NAACP—and the best and brightest creative minds in the entertainment industry—across our ViacomCBS properties.
The NAACP Image Awards honors the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature, and film and also recognizes individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.
One of the most iconic annual celebrations of Black excellence, the NAACP Image Awards draws a crowd of the biggest and brightest stars in Hollywood. Previous years’ attendees include Rihanna, Lizzo, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, 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, Yara Shahidi, Danai Gurira, Jacob Latimore, Jill Scott, H.E.R., Jay Pharoah, Jemele Hill, Josh Gad, Loretta Devine, Sylvester Stallone, Meta Golding, Michael Smith, Tyler James Williams, Ava DuVernay, Chadwick Boseman, and many more.
Voting is now open to the public to determine the winners of the 52ND NAACP IMAGE AWARDS by visiting www.naacpimageawards.net – Voting close on Friday, March 5th. Winners will be revealed during the 52st NAACP Image Awards telecast. Non-televised award categories will be announced virtually March 22-26. For all information and the latest news, please follow NAACP Image Awards on Instagram @NAACPImageAwards
Following is the complete list of categories and nominees for the 52nd NAACP Image Awards:
SPECIAL AWARD CATEGORIES
Entertainer of the Year
D-Nice
Regina King
Trevor Noah
Tyler Perry
Viola Davis
Social Justice Impact
April Ryan
Debbie Allen
Lebron James
Stacey Abrams
Tamika Mallory
TELEVISION + STREAMING CATEGORIES
Outstanding Comedy Series
#blackAF (Netflix)
Black-ish (ABC)
grown-ish (Freeform)
Insecure (HBO)
The Last O.G. (TBS)
Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson – Black-ish (ABC)
Cedric The Entertainer – The Neighborhood (CBS)
Don Cheadle – Black Monday (Showtime)
Idris Elba – In the Long Run (Starz)
Tracy Morgan – The Last O.G. (TBS)
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
Issa Rae – Insecure (HBO)
Folake Olowofoyeku – Bob Hearts Abishola (CBS)
Regina Hall – Black Monday (Showtime)
Tracee Ellis Ross – Black-ish (ABC)
Yara Shahidi – Grown-ish (Freeform)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)
Deon Cole – Black-ish (ABC)
Jay Ellis – Insecure (HBO)
Kenan Thompson – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Laurence Fishburne – Black-ish (ABC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Jenifer Lewis – Black-ish (ABC)
Marsai Martin – Black-ish (ABC)
Natasha Rothwell – Insecure (HBO)
Tichina Arnold – The Neighborhood (CBS)
Yvonne Orji – Insecure (HBO)
Outstanding Drama Series
All Rise (CBS)
Bridgerton (Netflix)
Lovecraft Country (HBO)
Power Book II: Ghost (Starz)
This Is Us (NBC)
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Majors – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
Keith David – Greenleaf (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
Nicco Annan – P-Valley (Starz)
Regé-Jean Page – Bridgerton (Netflix)
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (NBC)
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
Angela Bassett – 9-1-1 (FOX)
Brandee Evans – P-Valley (Starz)
Jurnee Smollett – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
Simone Missick – All Rise (CBS)
Viola Davis – How To Get Away With Murder (ABC)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Clifford “Method Man” Smith – Power Book II: Ghost (Starz)
Delroy Lindo – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
J. Alphonse Nicholson – P-Valley (Starz)
Jeffrey Wright – Westworld (HBO)
Michael Kenneth Williams – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
Loira Limbal – Through the Night (Third Shift Media, Inc.)
Melissa Haizlip – Mr. Soul! (Shoes In The Bed Productions)
Nadia Hallgren – Becoming (A Higher Ground Productions and Big Mouth Productions Film for Netflix)
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
Remi Weekes – His House (Netflix)
DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES
Outstanding Documentary (Film)
All In: The Fight For Democracy (Amazon Studios)
Coded Bias (7th Empire Media)
John Lewis: Good Trouble (Magnolia Pictures/Participant)
Mr. Soul! (Shoes in the Bed Productions)
On the Record (HBO Max)
Outstanding Documentary (Television)
And She Could Be Next (PBS)
Black Love (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (EPIX)
The Last Dance (ESPN / Netflix)
Unsung (TV One)
WRITING CATEGORIES
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Issa Rae – Insecure – “Lowkey Feelin’ Myself” (HBO)
Lee Eisenberg, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon – Little America – “The Rock” (Apple TV+)
Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You – “Ego Death” (HBO)
Mindy Kaling, Lang Fisher – Never Have I Ever “Pilot” (Netflix)
Rajiv Joseph – Little America – “The Manager” (Apple TV+)
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Attica Locke – Little Fires Everywhere – “The Spider Web” (Hulu)
Erika L. Johnson, Mark Richard – The Good Lord Bird – “A Wicked Plot” (Showtime)
Jessica Lamour – Little Voice – “Love Hurts” (Apple TV+)
Katori Hall – P-Valley – “Perpetratin'” (Starz)
Tanya Barfield – Mrs. America – “Shirley” (FX)
Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special
Diallo Riddle, Bashir Salahuddin, D. Rodney Carter, Emily Goldwyn, Rob Haze, Zuri Salahuddin, Bennett Webber, Evan Williams, Will Miles – Sherman’s Showcase Black History Month Spectacular (IFC)
Eugene Ashe – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)
Geri Cole – The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special (HBO Max)
Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton (Disney+)
Sylvia L. Jones, Camille Tucker – The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)
Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture
David E. Talbert – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
Pete Docter, Kemp Powers, Mike Jones – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Mary Mazzio – A Most Beautiful Thing (Peacock)
Melissa Haizlip – Mr. Soul! (Maysles Documentary Center)
Nile Cone – The Beat Don’t Stop (TV One)
Royal Kennedy Rodgers – Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story (PBS)
Yoruba Richen, Elia Gasull Balada, Valerie Thomas – The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (Peacock)
DIRECTING CATEGORIES
Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
Anya Adams – Black-ish – “Hair Day” (ABC)
Aurora Guerrero – Little America – “The Jaguar” (Apple TV+)
Eric Dean Seaton – Black-ish – “Our Wedding Dre” (ABC)
Kabir Akhtar – Never Have I Ever – “… started a nuclear war” (Netflix)
Sam Miller, Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You – “Ego Death” (HBO)
Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
Cheryl Dunye – Lovecraft Country – “Strange Case” (HBO)
Hanelle Culpepper – Star Trek: Picard – “Remembrance” (CBS All Access)
Misha Green – Lovecraft Country – “Jig-a-Bobo” (HBO)
Nzingha Stewart – Little Fires Everywhere – “The Uncanny” (Hulu)
Steve McQueen – Small Axe – “Mangrove” (Amazon Studios)
Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special
Beyoncé Knowles Carter, Emmanuel Adeji, Blitz Bazawule, Kwasi Fordjour – Black Is King (Disney+)
Christine Swanson – The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)
Chuck Vinson, Alan Muraoka – The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special (HBO Max)
Eugene Ashe – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)
Kamilah Forbes – Between The World And Me (HBO)
Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture
David E. Talbert – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
George C. Wolfe – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Old Guard (Netflix)
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
Regina King – One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Keith McQuirter – By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem (EPIX)
Muta’Ali – Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn (HBO)
Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff – Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (Ep. 1 & 2) (HBO)
Simcha Jacobovici – Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (EPIX)
Yoruba Richen – The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (Peacock)
LITERARY CATEGORIES
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
Black Bottom Saints – Alice Randall (HarperCollins Publishers)
