Black Excellence within the Black Experience of TV and Film
We sat down with Michael V. Epps (Jake Taylor) and Shamon Brown Jr. (Papa) ahead of The Chi’s eighth and final season on Paramount+ to talk about brotherhood, what it means to grow up on screen alongside your audience, and the specific details of Chicago culture they brought to their characters. Shamon opens up about […]
The Chi is ending its run as one of the most culturally significant Black dramas on television. Created by Lena Waithe, the Showtime series has spent eight seasons telling grounded, complex stories rooted in the South Side of Chicago, exploring family, community, street life, love, and the conversations Black communities have always had but rarely […]
After eight seasons, The Chi is coming to an end. Showtime’s beloved drama set on the South Side of Chicago has spent years telling stories of love, loss, community, and resilience through some of television’s most grounded and emotionally complex characters. As the final season unfolds, the cast is reflecting on what the show has […]
There are roles that challenge you. And then there are roles that completely rebuild you. For Mallori Johnson, Is God Is was both. As Anaia — the quieter, more contemplative of the twin sisters at the center of Aleshea Harris’s genre-defying revenge thriller — Johnson didn’t just have to access some of the most emotionally […]
With Is God Is, Vivica A. Fox steps into a rare and transformative role as Ruby, a mother whose past and final request become the emotional ignition point for a brutal, mythic revenge journey. The film, written and directed by Aleshea Harris and produced by Tessa Thompson, adapts Harris’ acclaimed stage play into a Southern […]
When Michael — the long-awaited biopic chronicling the life and legacy of the King of Pop — finally hit theaters on April 24, 2026, it didn’t just arrive. It landed like a moonwalk. Directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Michael Jackson’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson in his acting debut, the Lionsgate film traces Jackson’s extraordinary […]
Michael is one of the most anticipated music biopics in recent years, directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by John Logan. The film explores the life, artistry, and humanity of Michael Jackson—moving beyond the global icon we all know to reveal the people, relationships, and personal spaces that shaped him behind the scenes. At the […]
When Andre Gaines decided to adapt Amiri Baraka’s 1964 one-act play The Dutchman, he admits he initially thought it might be a simpler lift — two characters on a train, a contained story. But once he began writing, he quickly realized that translating Baraka’s poetic, explosive dialogue into a modern feature would require more than […]
When you hear the word GOAT, you automatically think championships, rings, and record-breaking stats. But the new animated film GOAT, hitting theaters this Friday, expands that definition in an unexpected and refreshing way. Set in an all-animal world where athletes compete in Roarball, a high-energy sport inspired by basketball, the film brings culture, style, and […]
In Hollywood, the spotlight usually lands on the actors we see. But the people who recognize potential, make the calls, and bring the right creatives together at the right time are often the reason those careers come to life in the first place. Few understand that responsibility better than Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd. A casting director, […]