Black Excellence within the Black Experience of TV and Film
Delroy Lindo has wrapped production on his directorial debut, and he didn’t go small for his first time behind the camera, or in front of it. Jabari’s People, a Jamaican-set family drama, recently completed a 22-day shoot in Kingston, with Lindo directing and starring alongside a cast of 14, including Winston Duke, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Wendell […]
Lifetime has set Love on the Vineyard, a new original movie starring Paula Patton and Derek Luke, as part of the network’s Love of a Lifetime franchise. Janet Hubert also stars. The film marks a reunion for Patton and Luke, who previously starred together in the 2013 romantic comedy Baggage Claim. It’s also a reunion of […]
Netflix has landed Hoops, based on Kennedy Ryan’s bestselling book series, for drama series development, beating out competition for the rights. The project comes from Ryan, Adrian Dukes (All American), Will Packer Media, Chris Paul’s Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment, and Tracey Baker-Simmons. Series details and storyline are being kept under wraps, but the adaptation draws from […]
Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas is back with its biggest slate yet, 34 original movies and a new season of Mistletoe Murders rolling out over 10 weeks starting October 16. Diversity across the lineup remains thin overall, but a handful of titles do feature Black leads and standout cast members worth putting on your radar. Here’s […]
The HollyRod Foundation has announced its full list of honorees for this year’s annual gala, set for November 7 in Los Angeles. Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson will receive the Clarence & Jacqueline Avant Humanitarian Award, Ahman Green will receive the Matthew Thomas Robinson Courage Award, Maureen McCormick and Bruce Sickler will receive […]
EXCLUSIVE: Hartbeat’s push into vertical content continues to expand. The company has released cast and crew details for the first wave of its partnership with aTwist, three original microdramas, Trapstar: Queen of the Game, Circle of Lies, and Mirror, spanning crime, mystery, and psychological thriller, each centered on a Black woman at the heart of […]
Leslie Jones has come aboard Faces Within, the poetic transgender short film from writer-director Kareem Ferguson, as executive producer. The Emmy winner spent five seasons on Saturday Night Live and has starred in Ghostbusters and Coming 2 America. Set in small-town Virginia and suburban Ohio, the story follows a Black transmasculine man and his cisgender […]
Ryan Clark’s journey since being fired from ESPN should be studied. Sometimes when someone undervalues you, that loss becomes the opening for the world to value you beyond expectation. That lesson just got a very tangible proof point. Howard Schultz, the billionaire entrepreneur and former Starbucks chairman and CEO, has joined Pivot25 Productions, the media […]
There will be more Crew Girl in our future. Netflix has renewed the popular YA drama for a second season, just under two weeks after its September 10 premiere. Written by Vivian Lin and developed alongside Morwyn Brebner, Crew Girl follows Teagan Tao (Miku Martineau), a rising star in single sculls rowing whose future is […]
Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions is bringing back its “No Drama” filmmaker initiative for a second edition, again in partnership with Universal Pictures, with American Cinematheque now joining as a new partner. The global program, developed by Universal’s Filmmaker & Content Strategies group, launched in 2024 as a one-year, non-exclusive initiative supporting emerging genre filmmakers by […]