Based on the acclaimed Broadway play, the Netflix Television Event AMERICAN SON tells the story of Kendra Ellis-Connor (Emmy-nominee Kerry Washington), the mother of a missing teenage boy, as she struggles to put the pieces together in a South Florida police station. Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee also reprise their roles in the adaptation which presents four distinct viewpoints, while also navigating the unique dynamic of an interracial couple trying to raise a mixed-race son.
AMERICAN SON by Christopher Demos-Brown is directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon. Washington and Pilar Savone executive produce under Washington’s banner Simpson Street. Jeffrey Richards and Rebecca Gold also serve as executive producers.
kenamonique entertainment is proud to announce the release of THE WORKOUT ROOM, a comedy film starring Tammy Townsend & comedians Joe Torry, Jay “Big Lil JJ” Lewis, Torrei Hart, Reggie “Bruh Man” Ballard, Ali Siddiq & Scruncho to name a few.
THE WORKOUT ROOM is a dramatic comedy film about an up and coming comedian TEEJAY played by Joe Torry who is given the chance of a lifetime at the cost of missing his daughter’s wedding. Tammy Townsend plays the role XENA, an educated, tell it like it is comedy promoter turned club owner. She is a one-woman wrecking crew keeping everyone in line with her boisterous presence and edgy tongue. Jay “Big Lil JJ” Lewis exudes funny in the role of JUICE creating flare with his rambunctious antics as he exercises his self-proclaimed ownership of the comedy club. THE WORKOUT ROOM is a clean, funny, plot driven film featuring currently touring stand-up comedians.
Tammy Townsend smashes the character of XENA with pure acting genius. Tammy is best known for starring alongside Zendaya for Disney Channel’s live-action spy comedy “K.C. Undercover” and her many tv/movie appearances including “Love Is”, “Living Single”, “The Practice”, “Friends” & “Barbershop”. Stand-Up comedy legend Joe Torry strays away from his sex symbol, tough guy persona to become TEEJAY a man that will do anything for his only daughter. Joe Torry the comedian, actor & producer has a Hollywood portfolio spanning 30 years including his breakout role as Chicago in the blockbuster movie “Poetic Justice” and hosting 3 seasons of “BET’s Def Comedy Jam”. Jay “Big Lil JJ” Lewis almost steals the screen with his energy and imposing personality. Jay “Big Lil JJ” Lewis is most recently known for his role in TV series “Wild ‘N Out” and “Tales” but you may also remember him from TV Series “Just Jordan”, “The Rickey Smiley Show” or the movie “Barbershop”. Torrei Hart known for “Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta”, her vibrant personality, versatile talents, and veracious independence captures the role of KIKI a bartender with a short fuse.
Producer Joe Torry states “Our cast jelled instantly, we had a great time on set!” Comedian Boogie B raved about how the movie relates so closely to the life of a comedian exclaiming “I can’t wait until it becomes a TV series!”
kenamonique entertainment, which has produced and promoted a series of nationwide comedy events working with the likes of Cedric the Entertainer, Rickey Smiley, and D.L. Hughley, created THE WORKOUT ROOM about a world they know well. Executive Produced by husband and wife team Sir-Mike Tiggs (co-director) and Kena Monique (writer), the film embodies real life comedy club situations with a PG-13 twist for fun family viewing.
THE WORKOUT ROOM movie is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Fandangonow.com and available for DVD purchase at Amazon.com. More platforms to come soon.
She Ball, a film written, directed and produced by Nick Cannon, has released its first trailer, along with announcing a February 2020 theatrical release date. The film marks a partnership between Cannon’s Ncredible Entertainment and Cash Money Films.
The film stars Cannon as well as Faizon Love, Evan Ross, Cedric The Entertainer, Melody Rae Kandil, DC Young Fly and music stars Chris Brown and Bryan “Birdman” Williams. Brown and Williams are also producers of the film. This is the first release for Cash Money Films.
The film is described as an “important community-focused project dealing with race, gentrification, criminal justice and women empowerment.” The story stars Kandil as a young female basketball player who succeeds “against all odds” on and off the court.
“She Ball is about community and the inclusive nature of controlling your own background. It’s a story that doesn’t have any boundaries. It’s a sports movie, it’s a love story, and it’s a comedy,” said Cannon in a statement. “I grew up on movies like Above The Rim, Love & Basketball, and even Save the Last Dance. It has a little bit of a combination of these three movies but with its own message. It’s an action-packed movie that’s full of laughs, but at the end of the day, it’s really just a great story about human connections.”
Cannon also mentioned his partnership with Williams and Brown, saying he and Williams “have been talking about doing movies together for so long and it finally all came together on this project.” He also described Brown as “like family to me,” “a visionary,” and “is one of the most gifted and talented spirits to ever grace this planet.”
“With a partnership between myself, Birdman, and Chris Brown. We took this all into our own hands. That’s empowering for our industry, and I’m grateful to have worked with such a dedicated team and especially talented cast,” he continued.
Source: Shadow & Act
Bad Trip is moving dates. Initially set for release soon on October 25, it will now hit theaters on April 24, 2020.
The Orion Pictures film stars Eric André, Tiffany Haddish, Lil Rel Howery and Michaela Conlin.
The official description: From one of the producers of JACKASS and BAD GRANDPA, this hidden camera comedy follows two best friends as they go on a cross-country road trip full of hilarious, inventive pranks, pulling its real-life audience into the mayhem.
The film is directed by Kitao Sakurai and produced byEric André, Jeff Tremaine, David Bernad, and Ruben Fleischer.
Amber Stevens West and Bresha Webb have been cast as two of the four leads of a new Starz pilot coming from Dear White People showrunner and Living Single creator, Yvette Lee Bowser.
The Carmichael Show and Marlon stars will be part of a new half-hour comedy pilot called Run the World. Bowser, via her production company SisterLee Productions, is bringing the show to Starz as executive producer along with Leigh Davenport, writer of Boomerang, who shares executive producer credit and is the creator and writer of the show. Lionsgate TV, where Bowser has an overall deal, is also behind the project. Millicent Shelton will direct the pilot.
The pilot will revolve around a group of four dedicated best friends who tackle life and their dreams in Harlem. Webb will play Renee, described as “a walking firecracker of cynicism and in-your-face realness.” Renee is a character who will “go to war for her girls and beliefs, and she’s not exactly concerned about collateral damage.” West’s character Whitney is a perfectionist “type-A investment banker who never misses a SoulCycle class.” She is set to get married, however, she’s also seeing someone else.
We should expect the other two leads to be cast soon.
Source: Shadow & Act
According to a new report, a spinoff series of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is in the works.
In an extensive feature profile in The Hollywood Reporter, it is one of the many film and television projects in development from Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment.
The report states: “In addition to producing Smith-fronted film projects, Westbrook is developing a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air spinoff series (he still earns hefty royalties from the 1990s NBC sitcom, now licensed to air in 193 territories).”
This comes at a time where prior intellectual property is in high demand. Almost every day a classic series or film is being revisited, whether as a reboot, sequel or spinoff.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which ran from 1990-1996 and starred Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, was the launching pad for his acting career after already being a successful rapper.
Wayne Brady is going to have to get his lines straight.
The comedian, known for his work on the improvisational comedy show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” has joined the cast of the CW series “Black Lightning” for season 3. Brady is set in a recurring role and will first appear on the show in early 2020.
He will play Tyson “Gravedigger” Spikes, a World War II-era member of the U.S. military who became a “super soldier” after a secret experiment gifted him with enhanced strength, agility, tactical genius, and hand-to-hand combat expertise. After the war, Spikes defected to the country of Markovia rather than return to a segregated America
Based on the DC character, “Black Lightning” is centers around Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), a high school principal who is forced to don his superhero suit once again after years of retirement when a local gang arises and recruits one of his star students. The show also stars Christine Adams, China Ann McClain, Nafessa Williams, James Remar, Marvin Jones III, and Damon Gupton.
In addition to his “Whose Line” appearances, Brady is also the host of CBS’s “Let’s Make A Deal” and has played prominent stage roles in the form of Lola in “Kinky Boots,” and Aaron Burr in the Chicago production of “Hamilton.”
Season 3 of “Black Lightning” premiered Monday to a 0.3 rating and just under 900,000 total viewers. The show is produced by Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Source: Variety
The main cast of Girlfriends, (Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White and Jill Marie Jones) recently sat down with radio host Charlamagne Tha God to speak about the Girlfriends reunion that happened on last night’s black-ish episode “Feminisn’t.” They also discussed more of the behind-the-scenes issues regarding the show within the Hollywood landscape circa 2008.
Ross talked about how Girlfriends set a precedent for shows with a diverse cast and crew. The show was led by Mara Brock Akil and that the writers’ room “was majority Black women,” she shared.
“…Our director of photography was a Black man…and it changed the way I go forward in my career because it was such an assumption [that diversity is the norm] and that’s not the way it is everywhere,” she continued.
Ross also later said how the media at the time didn’t support Girlfriends. While today’s TV critics have written about the rise of the natural hair movement on screen and regarding storylines about Blackness on television, and more diverse topics.
“There were so many things that didn’t exist then–and we were talking about and doing–but we as a show were in a landscape that did not support us in that way. It was not celebrated. On my entire eight years on Girlfriends, I was never on a late-night talk show. And we never went to the Golden Globes, Emmys, nothing.”
They also discussed Jones’ departure from the show when her contract was up. “One thing you cannot do is tell someone or project how you would do something onto someone else. She made a choice that was right for her. That was her choice and we have to respect that, and we did,” said Brooks.
Jones denied speculation of beef with the other cast members. “I booked Girlfriends at 25. So now, not only am I a woman, I’m a Black woman. So I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got to get stuff going.’ Because I don’t know what’s next. So fear played a part. Studios and networks, they can fire you at any time but we have a contract. There was something I loved about having the conversation with myself, ‘Do I want to sign a new contract? Where do I want to go in my personal career?’ I have that choice and at the time, it felt right for me,” she said.
The cast felt like the show did not have closure, and even revealed that Jones was supposed to come back to give that. “The last episode we actually shot was during the writer’s strike, I directed it. None of our crew and regular people were there. So it was so no closure. We had no party, nothing,” said Ross, to which Brooks and White added that they didn’t really know about what was happening and just got phone calls.
“I had like five, six lunch meetings with Mara. I was to come back for four episodes at the end,” said Jones.
The discussion was prompted by black-ish, who invited Charlamagne to talk with the Girlfriends cast. While a lot of people loved the conversation, there were some who felt it was disturbing that Charlamagne was invited to discuss feminism instead of a Black woman. Other Twitter users also brought up Charlamagne’s past controversies regarding sexual assault.
Source: Shadow & Act
The final episode of Martin aired in 1997, but the rift between Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell, who played Lawrence’s love interest, Gina, lasted well beyond. However, the 2016 death of Martin co-star Thomas “Tommy” Mikal Ford, who played Martin’s friend Tommy, helped to bring all of the cast back together.
If you remember correctly, the original rift Campbell and Lawrence happened because Campbell accused Lawrence of sexual harassment during Martin‘s final season. According to a 1997 People magazine article, Campbell left the show before issuing a lawsuit against Lawrence. She later returned to the show after securing an agreement that in the scenes she would film, he wouldn’t be present on the set.
But Ford’s death and the reality of mortality helped to mend Lawrence and Campbell’s relationship. Both Campbell and Lawrence spoke about Ford’s death and the subsequent healing of their relationship to TV One, as Bossip reported.
“When we recently lost Tommy, that was a blow to all of us,” Campbell said.
“He just was the glue, always positive, keeping us together, always funny, never negative,” said Lawrence.
“When he left us, I had just spoken to him. He brought us back together, sadly at his funeral,” Campbell continued. “That’s where you go, let’s heal. Let’s keep in touch. Let’s not let all this time go by.”
You can watch the full video below.
Source: Shadow & Act