Comedy Central announced today a collaboration with All Things Comedy to produce a documentary about Patrice O’Neal. Set to begin filming this fall, the untitled documentary is a deep-dive portrait of O’Neal who passed away at 41 in 2011. The film, directed by Bonfiglio (Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh) will recount O’Neal’s life story and explore the hilarious and controversial material he left behind. Utilizing a vast archive including never-before-seen personal materials and featuring O’Neal’s family and friends, the film will include a who’s who of comedy — the comics who knew, were influenced and were affected by O’Neal — placing his work into the context of the time as well as today.
“Patrice was a tour de force in comedy who left an indelible stamp on the stand-up community and beyond,” said Sarah Babineau and Jonas Larsen, Co-Heads of Original Content, Comedy Central. “Comedy Central had the incredible opportunity to work with him throughout his career from Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, to the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen and to his last stand-up special Elephant in the Room. Patrice was a fearless and fierce comedian and we’re honored to be able to shine a light on his life and career with this documentary.”
“I am very excited and proud to have gotten this project in the hands of Comedy Central, and now with Bill Burr and All Things Comedy aboard, as well as, our director Michael Bonfiglio,” said Decarlo. “This makes for an absolute dream team to help his mother and I bring Patrice’s story to the masses, and solidify his legacy for generations to come.”
“So happy that Mike Bonfiglio and Comedy Central are going to make this happen,” said Burr. “Patrice was the best that I ever saw.“
Patrice O’Neal was born in New York City, and 22 years later, he began his comedy career in Boston, Massachusetts where he grew up since he was one year old.
After conquering the Boston comedy circuit in just under six years, O’Neal took his comedic gifts to New York City. Once there, Hollywood soon called. O’Neal’s first of many television appearances was on The Apollo Comedy Hour where he performed his now-famous Malcolm XXL bit. From there, he moved on to prestigious appearances on Showtime at the Apollo, Friday Night Videos, and a brief stint as a writer for the WWE. O’Neal had a string of TV guest star appearances on MTV’s Apt 2F, Assy McGee, Ed, Z Rock, Yes Dear, Arrested Development, Chappelle’s Show and The Office. O’Neal was a regular on the FOX series The Jury, and he starred in the Comedy Central animated series Shorties Watching Shorties, along with Nick DiPaolo. He supplied the voice of Harold Jenkins on Noggin’s animated show O’Grady High and was featured as Jesus in Denis Leary’s Contest Searchlight.
O’Neal made his Def Comedy Jam debut in 2007, but had three prior half hour comedy specials with Showtime, Comedy Central, and HBO. He made several appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. But, of all the many television appearances to date, his self-proclaimed favorite was Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. In addition, O’Neal’s movie appearances include Head of State, In the Cut, 25th Hour, Furry Vengeance, and deleted scenes from Scary Movie 4 and When in Rome. In 2011, O’Neal released his first one-hour stand-up special Elephant in the Room on Comedy Central and delivered blistering burns as a roastee on the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen.
The Patrice O’Neal documentary is executive produced by Bill Burr, Al Madrigal and Michael Bertolina of All Things Comedy, Von Decarlo and Michael Bonfiglio who also serves as director (May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers, Doc & Darryl, an ESPN 30 for 30 film). Christian McLaughlin, Anne Harris and Gabriella Yacyk are the Executives in Charge of Production for Comedy Central.
The majority of the original cast of Coming to America is on board for the sequel, Coming 2 America. However, there is one person who isn’t coming back–Eriq La Salle, who played Soul Glo heir Darryl Jenks.
According to The Grio, La Salle told a group of journalists at NBC’s annual Chicago press day that he is focusing on executive producing and directing. “No. I’ve already given you an answer. No,” he said.
As he told the journalists in attendance, “No. Straight to the point. I knew where you were going with it. I’m a little busy right now …with this show [Chicago P.D.] .”
Even though La Salle won’t make a return, the film is already padded to the rafters with stars who made the original film a success, including Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, James Earl Jones, Garcelle Beauvais, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Shari Headley and Louie Anderson.
The film is scheduled to come to theaters on August 7, 2020.
Source: The Grio, Shadow & Act
Netflix has had its fair share of comedy specials, including the likes of Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes, Kevin Hart and, soon to debut, Arsenio Hall. However, it appears that the streaming giant is decreasing its slate of specials at the moment.
According to Bloomberg, the streaming giant will be releasing fewer stand-up specials this year than it did in 2017 and 2018. Netflix has streamed about 30 such shows so far this year, compared with more than 50 at this point last year.
“Netflix built the world’s best library of stand-up comedy in just four years,” said Brian Volk-Weiss, CEO of comedy distributor Comedy Dynamics.
As reported by Bloomberg, instead of more comedy specials, Netflix will curate more sketch comedy content and specials from comedians who are up-and-coming.
Source: Shadow & Act, Bloomberg
Publisher Kris Millegan will release This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter through his TrineDay-Star Books on December 3, 2019.
Stand-up comedian Darryl Littleton and Humor Mill Publisher Frank Holder couldn’t take it anymore: Where was a comprehensive review of African American contributions to the world of comedy? Finding none, they decided to write their own and hence This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter is now the first-ever encyclopedia of diversity in the craft of comedy.
Comedy, which Mr. Littleton considers the hardest of all the arts, has long been considered frivolous and devoid of serious craft. This definitive collection of landmark events, facts, figures, bios, photos, quotes and milestones in American ethnic comedy will change all that. Not only is it a detailed source guide to African-American, Latin, Asian, Native-American and Middle Eastern comedy, but innovative in its presentation.
Instead of This Day in Comedy being a stodgy collection of humorous information, it’s an exhilarating journey using 21st Century sensibilities. This book incorporates video links to bring the experience of the entertainers, films, TV shows and rare concert footage to life for the reader; lending a greater appreciation to the subject matter and allowing the text to truly come alive. The legends of the genre are given their proper place in history with insightful biographies and then afforded the space to display the talent readers only imagined. Want to know why this person or event is important? Just look!
This Day in Comedy is not just an encyclopedia, but a celebration of comedy. Every day of the year something happened in the world of comedy and we highlight them. In humorous prose the book takes us through the often-neglected sub-cultures of comedy in America, acknowledging the inclusiveness of the performers, shows and films that made this art form so vital to us and deserves chronicling and preservation.
This encyclopedia offers rare, and in some cases, never-before-seen photos and obscure textual facts making it an indispensable comedy essential. We all grew up on some form of comedy no matter what generation you’re from and each of these pages will restore fond memories or invigorate new ones.
About the Authors:
Darryl Littleton is an accomplished stand-up comedian, author and producer. He’s the Associate Curator for The Comedy Hall of Fame and an Emmy nominated writer for his work on the documentary, “Joan Rivers: Exit Laughing”. His first book, “Black Comedians on Black Comedy” was an instant classic, taught as part of the curriculum at USC and adapted into the Showtime documentary, “Why We Laugh”, executive produced by Littleton and directed by Robert Townsend.
Littleton began his comedy career writing sketches for “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” on CBS Radio. Soon afterwards he became a regular at the world-famous Comedy Store, adopted the stage name, “D’Militant” and landed a job as D. L. Hughley’s exclusive writer when he hosted BET’s “Comic View”. Darryl was promoted to writer/producer and also penned material for Cedric the Entertainer, Sommore and Don DC Curry.
Littleton’s television credits include Robert Townsend’s WB sitcom, “The Parent Hood”, “Townsend Television” for Fox, HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam”, Comedy Central’s “Make Me Laugh”, Martin Lawrence’s “1st Amendment”, Telemundo’s “Loco Comedy Jam”, Byron Allen’s “Comic’s Unleashed”, “Unsung: The Jeffersons” where he was the go-to expert on 70’s sitcoms and ABC’s “America’s Funniest People” where he was the Grand Prize Winner.
Darryl Littleton toured Europe and Asia as a stand-up comedian entertaining US military troops, released 2 comedy CDs, worked as a commentator for NPR, toured as a public speaker, produced “Black & Blue: The Laff Records Collection” and published six additional books as well as the satirical graphic novel, “1 Broke Activist: The Adventures of D’Militant – Mein Trump“.
Frank Holder is the Founder and Publisher of the Humor Mill Magazine, an urban comedy and entertainment on-line digital magazine distributed to over 1.3 million email subscribers. Since its launch over nine years ago and with the addition of the humormillmag.com website, it is now the leading urban comedy website in the industry.
The Humor Mill is known for being a gateway to introducing unknown comedians to the general public. Since its inception, they have introduced thousands of emerging comedians, while sharing in-depth interviews, and exclusives for their audience.
Holder holds degrees in communication and was a Program and Music Director on such radio stations as WRBB, WERS, WZOU and WMJX. Holder recently launched The Minority Report, which is The State of Urban News & Affairs for the minority community and he’s in pre-production on The Humor Mill Comedy Festival which is set to launch in November of 2020.
“This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter” will be like no other book in your collection and once you add it you’ll never look at January to December quite the same way again.
A sequel to the 2004 comedy Johnson Family Vacation is in the works at Fox Searchlight.
Johnson Family Celebration will pick up nearly two decades after the events of the original film, and will see the return of Cedric the Entertainer as Nate Johnson, the well-meaning patriarch of the Johnson family that embarked on an ill-fated cross-country road trip. (Family Vacation grossed $31 million in theaters in 2004.)
Along with DeVon Franklin and his Franklin Entertainment banner, Cedric will produce with Eric Rhone via his A Bird and A Bear Entertainment. Michael Elliot — the writer behind Like Mike and Just Wright — will pen the sequel.
Taylor Friedman will oversee for the studio. Zahra Phillips will oversee for Franklin Entertainment.
Franklin was most recently in theaters with faith-based film Breakthrough, which grossed an impressive $50 million at the global box office. He is repped by WME and Hansen Jacobsen.
Cedric the Entertainer and A Bird and a Bear are repped by CAA, Visions Management and Del Shaw. Elliot is repped by Jackoway Austen.
Raedio, the new label co-founded by Emmy-nominated actress-producer-writer Issa Rae, and Atlantic Records have announced a new partnership, which kicks off with today’s release of the new single, “Kinda Love,” by singer-rapper TeaMarrr. The companion visual, directed by child (Ari Lennox, Lucky Daye), features cameos from Rae and comedian Jessie Woo — watch it below.
Formed earlier this year, Raedio serves artists and creators at the highest level as an “audio everywhere company,” according to the announcement. The label also is a platform to align acts with film and television projects, commercials, podcasts, and other endeavors.
Rae has maintained a close connection to the music world throughout her career. Her Peabody Award-winning HBO series “Insecure” has featured the work of female, independent or Los Angeles-based artists including Jazmine Sullivan, SZA, City Girls, Saweetie, Radiant Children, and more. Indeed, Rae’s emphasis on the importance of soundtracks dates back to her early web series, including “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.”
TeaMarrr (the three “r”s are not a typo) is a Boston-born, Los Angeles-based, Haitian-American singer-songwriter who broke through last year with the single “One Job” and its eye-popping video, which racked up more than 1.2 million streams and caught the attention of Rae, who signed her as the new label’s flagship artist. TeaMarrr’s forthright lyrics, melodic ability and elaborate choreography are all on display in the brand-new “Kinda Love” video, which is the first fruit of her alliance with Rae — watch it below.
“Music has always been an essential part of every project I do and working with emerging talent is a personal passion,” Rae said. “Raedio allows me to continue that work within the music industry and audio entertainment space. The Atlantic Records team are innovators in terms of shifting and shaping culture. I’m excited to join forces with them to discover new artists,”
“Issa Rae is a next-level, future-thinking creative force who’s been breaking down cultural barriers and conquering one field after another,” said Atlantic Chairman & COO Julie Greenwald. “She’s made music a central character in her artistic evolution, and now she’s brought all that amazing passion, inspiration, and taste to the formation of Raedio. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Issa and her team on this exciting new venture, and TeaMarrr is the perfect artist to launch with.”
Raedio also provides music supervision services for HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” The Raedio team, led by Rae’s longtime business development executive and now President, Benoni Tagoe, champions the next generation of artists and presents a progressive paradigm for the music industry.
Source: Variety
Naomie Harris is in talks to play Spider-Man villain Shriek in Sony’s “Venom 2,” with Tom Hardy returning as the titular anti-hero.
Andy Serkis is on board to direct, with Michelle Williams and Woody Harrelson also reprising their roles.
The original film was a huge hit for the studio when it premiered in 2018, grossing $213 million at the domestic box office and a massive $855 million worldwide. It followed Hardy as Eddie Brock, a journalist who becomes host to the alien entity known as Venom.
Shriek is Carnage’s romantic interest in the comics so she’s bound to team with Harrelson in this movie to face off against Hardy’s Venom.
Sony recently dated an untitled Marvel sequel for October 2020, which superhero enthusiasts are speculating is “Venom 2,” possibly giving it the same release date as its predecessor.
Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and Amy Pascal will return as producers, alongside Hutch Parker. Kelly Marcel is penning the script.
Harris, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in “Moonlight,” can next be seen in the Screen Gems thriller “Black and Blue,” and is set to reprise her role as Eve Moneypenny in the new James Bond pic “No Time to Die.” She is currently filming the HBO/Sky co-production “The Third Day” opposite Jude Law.
Harris is repped by Untitled Entertainment, WME, Artists Partnership and Ziffren Brittenham.
Sony had no comment on the casting negotiations.
Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and Marlon Wayans have joined Jennifer Hudson in MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect.
Also joining the production are Broadway star Audra McDonald, recording superstar Mary J. Blige, Broadway actors Saycon Sengbloh and Hailey Kilgore, as well as Marc Maron, Tate Donavan, Tituss Burgess, and newcomer Skye Dakota Turner.
Liesl Tommy, a Tony winner best known for her stage work, is directing the drama which follows the Queen of Soul’s rise to fame in the 1960s and 1970s and chronicles her abusive marriage. Hudson is portraying Franklin.
Whitaker will play Franklin’s father, a Baptist minister and popular preacher who was unfaithful to his wife.
Wayans will play Ted White, Franklin’s first husband whom she married when she was 19 and who was abusive.
McDonald will play Franklin’s mother. Sengbloh will play her elder sister, Erma, while Kilgore will play her sister Carolyn.
Blige will play Dinah Washington, with Burgess playing Reverend Dr. James Cleveland, Maron playing legendary Atlantic Records music producer Jerry Wexler.
Turner, who appeared on Broadway’s Young Anna Mae in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, will play young Aretha.
Said Tommy regarding her cast: “I am thrilled with the incredibly talented cast we have assembled for our film, and I’m so proud that Ms. Franklin entrusted us to tell her story and to share it with the world. As a storyteller, hers is the kind of story we all dream of telling. Her music has inspired me since I was a little girl, and the milestones of her life and career have shown us all how to strive and thrive. To have this powerhouse group of actors – and the phenomenal talent of Jennifer Hudson in this iconic role – means we have the chance of making this film as transcendent as her glorious life and legacy.”
Tradecrafts’ Scott Bernstein (Straight Outta Compton) and Harvey Mason, Jr., a music producer who has worked with both Hudson and Franklin, will produce.
The film will feature the songs Respect; I Say A Little Prayer; Think; (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman; You’ve Got A Friend; Dr. Feelgood; Do Right Woman, Do Right Man; Spanish Harlem; and Young, Gifted and Black. The film will also feature Ain’t No Way; Precious Lord; There’s A Fountain Filled With Blood; Amazing Grace; and Chain of Fools.
Jonathan Glickman and Adam Rosenberg are overseeing the project on behalf of the studio.
Whitaker, who won an Oscar portraying Idi Amin in Last King of Scotland, currently stars in Godfather of Harlem, Epix’s prequel to the crime film American Gangster.
Wayans is coming off Sextuplets, his Netflix comedy that debuted to over 50 million views in a little over a week, according to sources. He also produced the movie via his Ugly Baby Productions and starred as seven characters. Respect continues his dramatic push as he recently wrapped On the Rocks, Sofia Coppola’s drama starring Jenny Slate and Rashida Jones.
Whitaker is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment, and Ziffren Brittenham. Wayans is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, WME and Lawrence Kopeikin and Kevin Yorn of Morris Yorn.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter