Steven Jackson Moves From Netflix To Head Production & Development For Spike Lee’s 40 Acres And A Mule Filmworks

Denzel Washington’s nomination for best actor in the Joel Cohen film The Tragedy of Macbeth marks him as the most nominated Black actor in Oscar History, with ten nominations and two wins. 

 Samuel L. Jackson will receive the Chairman’s Award during the 53rd NAACP Image Awards this month.

Barack Obama, Danny Glover, U.S. Rep.

Over his long career, Spike Lee has always jumped back and forth between documentaries and narrative features. It seems as if the filmmaker doesn’t necessarily think about what people expect from him and just does what he wants.

Ellise Shafer Spike Lee is set to direct a multi-part documentary on athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick for ESPN Films, Variety has confirmed.Production has started on the documentary, which was first announced in July 2020 as part of Kaepernick’s first-look deal with Walt Disney through his production company, Ra Vision Media.“Kaepernick, who has never given a full, first-person account of his journey, is collaborating closely with Lee who plans to use extensive new interviews and a vast never-before-seen archive to help Kaepernick tell his story from his perspective,” the press release states.Kaepernick recently executive produced and starred in the Netflix series “Colin in Black & White,” which premiered on the streamer in October. Starring Jaden Michael as a young Kaepernick, the show chronicles the athlete’s formative years, focusing on how he navigated obstacles of race, culture and class as a Black child adopted into a white family.

Paris Jackson and her brother Prince were at the opening night of MJ: The Musical, the Broadway show celebrating the career of their late father Michael Jackson. The siblings, age 23 and 24, were joined on Tuesday night by a host of other famous names at the Neil Simon Theatre, including Spike Lee and Reverend Al Sharpton.

Paris Jackson makes a rare appearance with both of her brothers – Prince and Blanket – as they head to the “MJ: The Michael Jackson Musical” opening night event held at Neil Simon Theatre on Tuesday (February 1) in New York City.

EXCLUSIVE: Hot off the heels of her Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, Universal and Monkeypaw have won the rights to Nikyatu Jusu’s next project which she will co-write with Fredrica Bailey. The untitled horror film is set up under Monkeypaw’s overall deal at Universal and the logline, based on an original idea by Jusu, is being kept under wraps

EXCLUSIVE: Jayson Council has joined Gersh in the position of Head of Culture. It is a new position, and representative of the talent agency’s commitment to inclusion, equity and belonging, the partners said. Council is a cross-industry social impact innovator veteran with 20 years of experience in leading equity driven education reform, social purpose philanthropy, community activation, and corporate social responsibility, Council will lead Gersh’s efforts in identifying new opportunities to advance the agency’s commitment to improving and enhancing its cultural competence, including belonging, inclusion, and equity among others.

Directed by Paula Eislet and Tonya Lewis Lee (Spike Lee’s producer and partner), the documentary “Aftershock” chronicles the dismal maternal mortality rate that women of color face in the United States medical system. The statistics are shameful, pointing to a systemic racist indifference, and the documentary chronicles the staggering number of times that expectant mothers entering into hospitals simply do not come out alive due to a lack of care and sensitivity.

EXCLUSIVE: Blumhouse Television has landed the rights to turn Stephen King’s bestselling novel Later into a limited series star vehicle for Lucy Liu. Series creator Raelle Tucker wrote the pilot script.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorIrwin “Butch” Wallace Young, the chairman of DuArt Film Laboratories who supported New York filmmakers for decades, died Jan. 20 in Manhattan.

Clayton Davis Jennifer Hudson’s name is already written in the Academy Awards history books. At 25, she became the youngest Black woman to ever win an acting Oscar for her turn as Effie White in “Dreamgirls” (2006). She’s also the first to do it for a debut role.

Spike Lee will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Motion Picture Direction at this year’s DGA Awards, Directors Guild of America President Lesli Linka Glatter announced today.

J. Kim Murphy Spike Lee will receive the lifetime achievement award for distinguished achievement in motion picture direction from the Directors Guild of America. The group announced Lee as the recipient of the organization’s top honor on Wednesday morning.“Icon.

“What I have an opinion about 25 years ago, it’s not necessarily the opinion I have now,” admits Brian Cox as response to the viewpoint the Succession star offers on the likes of Johnny Depp, Michael Caine, Ed Norton, Game of Thrones and others in his new memoir Putting the Rabbit in the Hat.