By Dave McNary | Variety Jordan Peele’s horror-thriller “Us” will launch the 26th edition of the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 8. “Us,” which follows a family confronted by a group of doppelgängers, stars Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, and Elisabeth Moss....
By Joe Otterson | Variety Former ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey is joining Netflix as the vice president of original content, Variety has learned. In her new role, she will report to Cindy Holland, who is also vice president of original content. Dungey is...
…We’re Scratching Our Heads About by Jordan Simon | Shadow and Act The nominations for the 2019 Golden Globe Awards were announced Thursday morning, and while we are satisfied for the well-deserved nominations given to Black Panther,...
By Kristopher Tapley | Variety Wednesday afternoon, comedian Kevin Hart was announced as the host for the upcoming 91st annual Academy Awards. By Thursday night, he had stepped down. The turn of events followed outcry over previous anti-gay tweets, and comments Hart...
By Margeaux Sippell | Variety Variety has announced this year’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch. For the seventh year in a row, the Whistler Film Festival will host the 10 Screenwriters to Watch event in Whistler, B.C. The screenwriters to be honored will share their...
by Amanda N’Duka | Deadline Hollywood Keesha Sharp, who plays Trish Murtaugh on Fox’s Lethal Weapon series, has picked up rights to John Williams’ 2013 biography America’s Mistress: The Life and Times of Eartha Kitt. She and her husband Brad Sharp will develop...
by Patrick Hipes | Deadline Hollywood The American Film Institute said this morning that Denzel Washington will receive the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award. The honor will be presented to the two-time Oscar winner on June 6, 2019 at the AFI’s annual gala tribute....
By Variety Staff | Variety Variety has announced the honorees for its upcoming Power of Women: Los Angeles. The annual event recognizes some of Hollywood’s most philanthropic women whose efforts have made a significant impact to their chosen charities and causes. The...
By Dave McNary | Variety The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted to present Honorary Awards to publicist Marvin Levy, composer Lalo Schifrin, and actress Cicely Tyson, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producers...
by Nellie Andreeva | Deadline Hollywood Rapper, actor and producer Alvin ‘Xzibit’ Joiner has launched production and management divisions at his music label Open Bar Entertainment and has signed with ICM Partners across the board. Joining OBE is manager-producer Eric...
Jordan Simon | Shadow and Act Anyone who has seen the film No Good Deed will know that acclaimed actor (and future James Bond in our heads) Idris Elba is no stranger to playing the villain. With that said, The Fast and the Furious franchise just received a significant...
By Brent Lang | Variety Will Smith and Marc Forster have partnered to acquire Telepool GmbH, a German licensing and distribution company. As part of the deal, the company will become a development, financing, and distribution partner for Smith and Forster’s films....
Shirley Halperin and Justin Kroll | Variety.com Dr. Dre is working on a movie about the late singer Marvin Gaye, Variety has learned. The rapper, whose film credits include 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton,” on which he served as producer and inspiration for the film,...
by Bruce Haring | Deadline Hollywood Matt “Guitar” Murphy, best known as one of the stalwarts of the Blues Brothers Band and a renowned sideman with Howlin’ Wolf, Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters, James Cotton and many others, has died. He was 88 and his death was confirmed...
by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski | Deadline Hollywood Former Real Husbands of Hollywood star Boris Kodjoe is returning to the BET fold, signing an exclusive development deal with BET Networks. Under the pact, Kodjoe will develop ideas and show concepts for all...
By Peter Warren | AVN LOS ANGELES—Adult legend and AVN Hall of Famer Johnnie Keyes, best known for his role opposite Marilyn Chambers in the iconic 1972 Mitchell Brothers film Behind the Green Door, died Sunday in Seattle, Washington, from complications following a...
ESPN News Services Jack Johnson, the first black man to become world heavyweight champion, was posthumously pardoned Thursday by President Donald Trump for a 1913 conviction for violating the Mann Act. Trump had said in April that he was considering the pardon after...
Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman’ Wins Grand Prix Award At CannesAfter receiving nearly universal acclaim after is bow at the Cannes Film Festival, Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman has been awarded the Grand Prix award, which is the runner-up award. The...
Byron Allen’s Inspirational Early AM Speech To Exhibitors: “I Don’t Like The Whispers From Studios Who Want To Reduce Your Window” Entertainment Studios CEO, chairman and founder Byron Allen touched several topics in his CinemaCon breakfast...
Gabrielle Union Inks First-Look Deal With Sony Pictures TV Gabrielle Union, star and executive producer of NBC’s drama pilot L.A.’s Finest, has signed a first look deal with Sony Pictures TV, the studio behind the offshoot from the Bad Boys movie...
Fourth ‘xXx’ Movie in the Works as Vin Diesel, H Collective Nab Rights to Franchise The H Collective and Vin Diesel ‘s One Race Films have acquired rights from Revolution Studios to the “xXx” film franchise and plan to begin shooting the...
Denzel Washington To Receive New Dramatists’ 2018 Distinguished Achievement Award Denzel Washington, about to hit the Broadway stage in George C. Wolfe’s production of The Iceman Cometh, will receive New Dramatists’ 2018 Distinguished Achievement...
by Denise Petski | Deadline Hollywood DuShon Monique Brown, known for her role as Connie, Assistant to Chief Boden, on NBC’s Chicago Fire, died Friday. The Cook County medical examiner’s office tells The Chicago Tribune that Brown died shortly after noon at St. James...
Antoine Fuqua and Universal Pictures are back in conversations about Scarface, a new version of the classic outlaw tale. They are in early talks for Fuqua to direct the film, and things are looking good as the negotiations get underway. Originally dated August 10,...
by Bruce Haring | Deadline Hollywood Director Idrissa Ouedraogo of Burkina Faso, a giant of African cinema, died Sunday. He was 64, according to his country’s national filmmakers guild. The cause of death was not revealed. The prolific Ouedraogo was best known for...
By Ariana Brockington | Variety Actor Reg E. Cathey, who played Freddy on “House of Cards” and appeared in “The Wire,” has died. He was 59 and had reportedly been battling cancer. Known for his distinctive baritone voice, Reginald Eugene Cathey began acting in 1984 in...
by Denise Petski | Deadline Hollywood UPDATED with CBS statement: Della Reese, the iconic jazz, gospel and pop singer who later moved into television and film, and starred as Tess on Touched By An Angel, has died. She was 86. Her former Touched By An Angel co-star...
By Rob Frehse | CNN Earle Hyman, a longtime stage and TV actor who was best known for playing Bill Cosby’s father on “The Cosby Show,” died Friday. Hyman was 91. He died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, according to Jordan...
By Richard Natale | Variety Emmy Award-winning actor Robert Guillaume, best known as the title character in the TV sitcom “Benson,” died Tuesday. He was 89. His wife Donna Brown Guillaume told the Associated Press he died at their Los Angeles home of complications of...
By Associated Press Bernie Casey, a professional football player turned poet, painter and actor known for parts in films such as “Revenge of the Nerds” and “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” has died. He was 78. Casey died Tuesday ( September 19,...
from Shadow & Act After debuting his first feature at SXSW years back, Barry Jenkins will be the keynote speaker at the film portion of the 2018 festival. “We are overjoyed to invite Barry Jenkins back to SXSW as a Film Keynote having presented the world premiere...
from Deadline Hollywood Universal Pictures has signed a first-look production deal with Malcolm D. Lee, the writer-director-producer that has made nine films with the studio including his first, The Best Man, and most recently Girls Trip, which hits theaters Friday....
Anita Busch | Deadline Hollywood Ernie Hudson, who just wrapped stints on two TV series — season 4 of Netflix’s hit Grace and Frankie and Fox’s freshman prime time cop show A.P.B. — has just signed on to headline the feature film The Family Business which is based on...
Cynthia Littleton | Variety HBO is developing a biopic of pioneering African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux that has Tyler Perry on board to star. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are shepherding the project for Sony Pictures TV through their Storyline Entertainment...
Anthony D’Alessandro | Deadline Hollywood Rumors began popping up on the fanboy sites over the Independence Day holiday that Samuel L. Jackson was reprising his role as Avengers architect and recruiter Nick Fury in Disney/Marvel’s Captain Marvel. Where there’s...
by Erik Pedersen | Deadline Hollywood The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its new Board of Governors today, and 10 of them are first-timers including Oscar winner and The View mainstay Whoopi Goldberg in the Actors branch and Participant Media...
by Mike Fleming Jr | Deadline Hollywood Sony Pictures is setting Gina Prince-Bythewood to direct Silver & Black, the film that is based on Silver Sable & Black Cat (aka Felicia Hardy) characters from Sony’s Marvel Universe revolving around its signature...
The Urban Action Showcase and Expo (UASE) is the premier all-action experiential entertainment platform celebrating diversity and honoring the past, present and future multicultural achievements within the blockbuster Action genre including Adventure, Fantasy,...
Shadow and Act | Tambay Obenson A project that’s long been in the works, it was in 2010 when it was first revealed that the Hughes brothers (Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes) of “Menace to Society,” “Dead Presidents,” “The Book of Eli” and more, had been tapped by...
John Orquiola | ScreenRant When news broke that Warner Bros. is planning to reboot The Matrix, millions of movie fans went “Whoa!” According to reports, the studio is in the early, exploratory phase of development in relaunching the once-groundbreaking sci-fi...
Mike Jones | ScreenRant Of all the highly regarded comedic actors working today, very few can boast of a career equal to that of Eddie Murphy. The one time Saturday Night Live alum exploded on to the scene in the early 1980s, making a name for himself with several...
by Ashley Clark | Shadow and Act Jamal Joseph’s latest feature film “Chapter &Verse” is currently touring the USA after a film festival run, and opening in New York City and LA last month. Check your local listings. He also appeared in director Stanley Nelson’s...
By Lena Wilson | ScreenRant Last night saw an Oscars ceremony that will go down in history as one of the most contentious and chaotic in the awards’ near 90-year history — and not just because of that insane Best Picture flub. The 89th Academy Awards, which aim to...
from Variety.com Event: 89th Annual Oscar Awards Date: February 26, 2017 Location: Hollywood, California Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs was joined by Demian Bichir, Dustin Lance Black, Glenn Close, Guillermo del Toro, Marcia Gay Harden, Terrence Howard,...
from Shadow and Act Robert L. Johnson, Chairman of RLJ Entertainment today announced the appointment of Traci Otey Blunt as President of Urban Movie Channel (UMC). UMC is the first premium subscription-based streaming service created for African American and urban...
from Shadow and Act Actor, musician, activist, and humanitarian Harry Belafonte will turn 90-years-old on March 1, 2017. In celebration, Museum of the Moving Image in NYC will pay tribute to his legendary career as an artist and activist, albeit about a month early,...
from Shadow and Act Ice Cube’s film production company, Cube Vision, has inked a partnership with Kelvin Wu’s Hong Kong-based media investment company AID Partners, the latter announced today, making AID a significant shareholder and strategic adviser to Cube Vision....
from Shadow & Act | Tambay Obenson Tavis Smiley continues to make a push into scripted content (film and TV), teaming up with J.J. Abrams (a second time) to produce an event series on the final months of Michael Jackson’s life. It will be an adaptation of Smiley’s...
from Shadow & Act La La Anthony, Meryl Poster (“Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce”) and Queen Latifah (via her Flavor Unit production shingle with business partner Shakim Compere) have teamed up to adapt Anthony’s New York Times bestseller “The Power Playbook,” as a...
from Shadow & Act The Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Diverse Directors program provides access for highly qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds to potential episodic directing opportunities on scripted one-hour and half-hour SPT series. This Los...
By Michael Kennedy | ScreenRant In the mid-2000s, Dave Chappelle was truly on top of the pop culture world. The first two seasons of his Comedy Central sketch series Chappelle’s Show had captured America’s imagination, with characters and catchphrases from the show...
from Shadow & Act AARP announced today that actor, producer and Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman will receive the 2016 Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award. The Movies for Grownups multimedia franchise was established in 2002 to celebrate and encourage...
from Shadow and Act Bounce TV, the upstart African-American broadcast television network, is expanding its business to now include a subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service called Brown Sugar, which launches today. Brown Sugar features an extensive...
from Shadow and Act Bolstering its robust content pipeline of compelling, high-quality original programming, TV One has signed a multi-year deal with Atlanta-based production company Swirl Films. The agreement was announced today by TV One Senior Vice President of...
from PBS Newshour | Thirteen It is with extremely heavy hearts that we must share that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away this afternoon following several months of cancer treatment. She was surrounded by loving family and many friends whom...
from Shadow and Act On Thursday, Nov. 10, DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary film festival, running Nov. 10-17, will present Stanley Nelson with a Lifetime Achievement Award, given for his distinguished output of documentaries. Nelson will be honored along with...
from Shadow & Act “Moonlight” star Trevante Rhodes has booked his next gig; the actor has joined the cast of super producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s Afghanistan War drama, “Horse Soldiers,” which Bruckheimer Films and Black Label Media will produce. The film is based...
from Shadow & Act Over two years after they ended their relationship with Tyler Perry, Lionsgate is back in the Tyler Perry business – at least for another 2 films, in addition to the most recent, “Boo! A Madea Halloween,” which has been in theaters for almost 3...
by Anita Busch | Deadline Hollywood It happened on Wonder Woman and now it’s happening on The Flash. After Rick Famuyiwa stepped away from duties on Warner Bros.’ D.C. Comics hopeful $100M tentpole The Flash, word comes that the entire picture will be moved from its...
by Leo Barraclough | Variety Actress Naomie Harris, best known around the world for her role in the recent James Bond movies, will receive this year’s Variety Award at the British Independent Film Awards ceremony Dec. 4. The award recognizes a director, actor, writer...
Deadline | by Ross A. Lincoln Confirming months of speculation and recent rumors, Donald Glover has officially joined the cast of Disney and Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars Han Solo stand-alone spinoff film in the role of Lando Calrissian. The news was announced...
…unless you live in NYC Deadline | by Anthony D’Alessandro This just out of exhib-distrib confab ShowEast down in Orlando: the National Association of Theater Owners is reporting that the average ticket price for third-quarter 2016 is $8.51, which is down...
Variety | Variety Staff Actor Tommy Ford, a regular on the Fox comedy “Martin” and UPN sitcom “The Parkers,” was taken off life support an Atlanta hospital Wednesday afternoon. Ford was on life support after an aneurysm ruptured in his abdomen. He was 52. Ford’s rep...
from Shadow and Act The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) today announces that actress, singer, songwriter and producer Queen Latifah will accept the prestigious Prince Rainier III Award for her outstanding contribution to the Arts and her exemplary give-back....
from Shadow & Act Vivica A. Fox has been cast to play the President of the United States in the sci-fi film “Crossbreed,” which is being directed by Brandon Slagle. In the upcoming movie, Ms. Fox plays a USA president who sends war veterans on a mission to...
from Shadow & Act Expanding his media empire, Shawn Carter, a.k.a. Jay Z, has inked a two-year production deal with The Weinstein Company (TWC) that will give TWC an exclusive first-look at any film or television projects produced by Carter. The release adds that...
Shadow and Act | Tambay Obenson “‘School Daze’ was one of the highlights of my life because it was the first chance I had to act on screen. I would have been happy if that had been it, because I proved that I could do it.” – Bill Nunn. And thankfully, that wasn’t it,...
ScreenRant | By Lena Wilson TV fans recognize Danai Gurira as katana-wielding hero Michonne in AMC’s The Walking Dead. Gurira has garnered much praise for her four-seasons-long portrayal of Michonne, whose complex backstory is laden with trauma. We last saw Michonne...
from Shadow and Act IndiePix Films has announced a partnership with Retro Afrika Bioscope, an independent label of Gravel Road Distribution Group dedicated to locating, acquiring, restoring and re-releasing forgotten and discarded classics of African cinema. The...
Shadow & Act | Sergio Mims Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, better known as “The Oscar people”, has made it her mission to diversify the Academy so that it reflects the real world as it is today. And she...
from Shadow & Act It was 1 of 10 projects selected for the 14th annual Film Independent Fast Track film finance market earlier this year, where producer-director teams meet with top industry executives – financiers, agents, managers, distributors, granting...
from Shadow & Act The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF) announced that legendary actors Cicely Tyson, Richard Roundtree, and music icon Dionne Warwick will accept awards for their lifetime achievements in the arts during the 20th Annual...
from Shadow & Act “Straight Outta Compton” star Jason Mitchell will be honored with the Rising Star Award at next month’s San Diego Film Festival, the festival announced today. The 2016 edition of the annual event takes place from September 28 to October 2,...
from Variety Variety is pleased to announce its annual list of 10 Actors to Watch, an honor the publication has bestowed since 1998. Past honorees include many future Oscar winners and nominees, such as Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Brie Larson,...
Shadow & Act | Tambay Obenson In light of very recent news that a 3rd “Bad Boys” movie – which has long been rumored to be in the works – is now definitely moving forward at Sony Pictures under the official title “Bad Boys for Life,” I thought I’d open up a...
from African Voices Communications Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series is proud to announce two new awards that will be presented by Centric and offer opportunities for women filmmakers to have their work aired on Centric, a BET Network....
By Screen Rant Back in March 2015, Screen Rant visited the set of the upcoming film When the Bough Breaks, which tells the story of a married couple who hire a surrogate mother to have their baby. Things take a turn for the worse when the surrogate, Anna (Jaz...
By Kevin Wilson | ScreenRant Just over a month ago, Forbes released its list of the highest paid celebrities in the world between June 2015 and June 2016. There were musicians, athletes, comedians, actors and actresses, as well as some multimedia threats. We’ve sifted...
By Jasmin Mohamed | ScreenRant xXx, released in 2002, was the third film (just after The Fast & The Furious and Pitch Black) that helped launch Vin Diesel into super-stardom. Even though he had major roles in The Iron Giant, Boiler Room, and Knockaround Guys,...
By Jared Jones | ScreenRant The ball is now rolling on the DC Extended Universe’s Aquaman thanks to Arthur Curry’s appearances in both Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and the first Justice League teaser trailer. Jason Momoa will be headlining the upcoming James...
Shadow & Act> | Sergio Mims Well we’re swiftly approaching the end of the summer film season and getting ready for fall film releases, starting next month, but the consensus is in already: This has been one rotten summer season for movies. Sure there were some...
by Michael Cieply | Deadline Hollywood If ever there was a reluctant revolutionary, it is Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Asked lately what she expected from a fourth year as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — if she is indeed re-elected by the...
from Shadow & Act The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today that the 2016 News & Documentary Emmy Award honoree for Lifetime Achievement is documentarian and founder of Firelight Media, Stanley Nelson. Mr. Nelson is to be honored...
Patrick Hipes | Deadline Hollywood Lennie James is joining the cast of the Blade Runner sequel, which ss set several decades after the 1982 original, with Harrison Ford returning to play Rick Deckard. The cast also includes Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas,...
Shadow & Act | Sergio Mims We’ve certainly talked a lot about this new Kino Lorber five-disc Blu-Ray/DVD set, “Pioneers of African-American Cinema,” but we wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t so vital and important. Nearly 500 independently produced black films...
Feature-Length Defining Portrait of Marvin Gaye in Development with Full Support From Family Shadow & Act | Tambay Obenson Still no updates on Jesse L. Martin’s Marvin Gaye film, which stalled production in 2013. And no word on whether what was rumored to be a...
Shadow & Act | Tambay Obenson Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Chad’s foremost filmmaker, whose latest film – the documentary “Hissein Habre, A Chadian Tragedy” – premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May of this year, and, before that, the feature drama “Grigris”...
Shadow & Act | Tambay Obenson Sundance Institute today announced it will present its Vanguard Award to filmmaker and actor Nate Parker at Night Before Next, a summer celebration benefiting the Institute and its artists on the eve of Sundance Next Fest at the...
Shadow & Act | Tambay Obenson The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles (BAFTA Los Angeles) has announce that it will honor Samuel L. Jackson with the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment at this year’s...
Shadow & Act | Tambay Obenson “Ready Player One” is a 2011 multiple award-winning science fiction and dystopian novel by Ernest Cline. A film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg is in the works, and is slated to begin production this summer (2016), for a...
Shadow & Act | Tambay Obenson Revealed yesterday, after much anticipation and speculation, audiences now know the identities of the characters in the upcoming “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” The character Forest Whitaker is playing is one that fans know from the...
Shadow and Act | Tambay Obenson It feels like it’s been a long time since we last saw Eddie Murphy on the big screen. I’m sure he’s comfortable financially, and isn’t exactly pressed to make new money by taking on almost every project that’s offered to him. So when...
Shadow and Act | Tambay Obenson The SAG-AFTRA Foundation announced today that SAG, Emmy, Golden Globe nominated Actress Kerry Washington will receive the Actors Inspiration Award, to be presented at its 7th Annual Los Angeles Golf Classic on Monday, June 13th at a...
Shadow and Act | Tambay Obenson With HBO’s “Confirmation” behind him (his last directorial effort), Rick Famuyiwa (who also directed last year’s “Dope”) is Warner Bros’s choice to direct its “Flash” superhero movie. The WB has set a March 16, 2018 release date for the...
Shadow and Act | Tambay Obenson Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith are eyeing roles in Universal Pictures’ “Girl Trip” which will be directed by Malcolm D. Lee, and produced by Will Packer. Previously set for an August 11, 2017 release, the studio has moved that...
Shadow and Act | Tambay Obenson The 37th Durban International Film Festival has announced its program, offering another diverse slate, showcasing independent African and international film. It will take place at 15 venues across the city and its outlying areas from...
Shadow and Act | Tambay Obenson The FOX | HBCU Media Alliance (“FHMA”), which nurtures and promotes a growing and dynamic pipeline of talent from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) for executive and creative professional opportunities across the 21st...
Tambay Obenson | Shadow and Act Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Ragnarok” has beefed up its cast with an impressive group of actors including Cate Blanchett (playing the mysterious and powerful new villain Hela), Jeff Goldblum (as the eccentric Grandmaster), Karl Urban as...
by Mike Fleming Jr | Deadline EXCLUSIVE: New Line has acquired Life In Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, and has set Remember the Titans scribe Gregory Allen Howard to adapt the biography of Misty Copeland. She made history by becoming the first African American woman to...
