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Academy Dialogues Exclusive Clip: Ava DuVernay Has a Rare Discussion About Craft With Julie Dash and Euzhan Palcy
If you’ve been keeping up with our ongoing coverage so far, you may know that The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has been releasing regular panel sessions called Academy Dialogues as part of its equity and inclusion initiative Academy Aperture 2025. Next up, we have an all-Black female filmmaker panel titled Academy Dialogues:…
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How a Ticket Snub at Disneyland Factored Into Shonda Rhimes Taking Her Shondaland to Netflix
Thursday nights have been always been the time for peak drama, thanks to Shonda Rhimes’ TGIT (Thank God It’s Thursday) primetime TV event featuring the likes of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder. The characters in her stories typically go through some kind of dramatized conflict (or countless ones), leaving audiences…
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Barney Is a Dinosaur From Daniel Kaluuya's Imagination and Now We Know Why the Hell He's Making This Movie
What would 2020 be without a bizarre introspective film about a big-ass purple dinosaur?! Back in October, Mattel Films announced Daniel Kaluuya would be producing a live-action film based on Barney the Dinosaur. The popular purple dinosaur made his TV debut in 1992 with the premiere of Barney & Friends. “Barney was a ubiquitous figure…
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Exclusive: Meet YouTube 'On the Yard' for Their Virtual HBCU Homecoming; Busta Rhymes and John David Washington Added to Lineup
It’s autumn, which not only means the leaves are turning beautiful colors, but it’s the season swarms of HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) alumni typically descend upon their alma maters for homecoming shenanigans. Well, not in 2020. Due to the global pandemic, the annual event that most look forward to isn’t happening. Those of…
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Let's Get Our Hair Did and Play a Round of Black Ass Game With the Cast and Crew of Bad Hair!
We may not be getting our hair did as often in 2020 due to social distancing protocols, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t talk hair! Just in time for its upcoming release, we talked with the cast and crew of Hulu’s Bad Hair. The film’s synopsis via Hulu’s press release sent to The Root:…
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Warner Sister: Channing Dungey Has Been Named the New Chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group
That moment when WB stands for “Woman Boss!” According to Deadline, Channing Dungey has been named the new chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group. The announcement was made on Monday, just 10 days after it was announced that Dungey was exiting her role as VP Original Content and Head of Drama at Netflix. Following her…
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Regina Hall Signs First-Look Deal at Showtime to Develop and Produce TV Projects
Regina Hall may have screamed hilariously in Scary Movie when she portrayed a terrified Brenda, but now we’re screaming with joy for her big news! On Monday, Showtime Networks Inc. Executive Vice President of Scripted Programming Amy Israel announced that Hall officially signed a first-look deal with the network. With the deal, she’ll be developing…
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I Got a Sneak-Peek at Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and It Looks as Rich and Vibrant as Viola Davis' Greasepaint
“A-one, A-two, a-you know what to do…” On Monday, a select few of us were invited to a sneak peek preview of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as well as a panel discussion with the film’s director, George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) and titular star Viola Davis, moderated by author,…
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Michael K. Williams Dug Deep Into His Own Generational Pain to Portray Montrose in Lovecraft Country
Michael K. Williams is a standout actor in any role he portrays, and most recently, he has been receiving much acclaim for his turn as Montrose Freeman in Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country. Throughout the HBO series, Montrose is consistently plagued by the traumas that haunt him, even to the detriment of the group’s larger mission.…
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Steve McQueen Says Black Brits Influence All of British Culture and That Black Talent Should Be Able to Make 'Crappy' Films, Too
Steve McQueen is pretty damn passionate when it comes to Black creators. In a recent interview with Esquire UK, McQueen discussed the impact of Black British people on the totality of British culture and the creative freedom of Black talent, while promoting his film anthology series Small Axe. When it comes to cultural appropriation (and…
