Congratulations to Disney’s 2021 NAACP Image Awards Winners
The Walt Disney Company received 17 NAACP Image Awards for 2021, including eight for ABC, which marked the most for any network or distributor this year. The awards were announced during a special live broadcast of the 52nd NAACP Image Awards, hosted by Anthony Anderson, star of ABC’s black-ish, on Saturday, March 27, 2021 and as part of a weeklong NAACP Image Awards Virtual Experience that began Monday, March 22, 2021. As he kicked off the live event, Anderson said, “Tonight, we celebrate all that is amazing, outstanding and beautiful about our Blackness… Black people, we are amazing, limitless and remarkable.”
The NAACP Image Awards honor the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film and also recognize individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors. This year’s nominees “have provided moments of levity, brought our communities together and lifted our spirits through culture when we needed it the most,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said when the nominations were announced in February.
ABC’s black-ish, which is currently in its seventh season on ABC, earned five NAACP Image Awards—more than any other show—including Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for Anderson and two awards for Marsai Martin, who was named Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited-Series).
Disney General Entertainment Content also received NAACP Image awards for ABC’s Celebrity Family Feud and Disney Junior’s Doc McStuffins, which earned two apiece; Viola Davis, star of ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, was named Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series; and FX’s The New York Times Presents “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” was honored as Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special).
In accepting her award, Davis thanked series creator Peter Nowalk, executive producer Shonda Rhimes and “the beautiful cast of How to Get Away with Murder,” which concluded in 2020 after a successful six-season run on ABC. “It was the joy and journey of my life to go on this ride with you,” Davis said and she credited Nowalk for “redefining what it means to be a leading lady, what it means to be a woman, what it means to be Black on network television.”
Four NAACP Image Awards went to Disney and Pixar’s Soul, which is streaming on Disney+, including Outstanding Animated Motion Picture and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance—Motion Picture. The film’s music was honored with two awards for Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album and Outstanding Jazz Album—Instrumental. “Being able to tell a universal tale that explores the meaning of life through the prism of a Black man’s experiences was a special and incredible honor for all of us,” said Kemp Powers, co-director of Soul. “And though the details of all of our stories are very specific, the struggle to find meaning in our lives is universal.”
ESPN’s The Last Dance, which chronicled Michael Jordan and the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls, was named Outstanding Documentary (Television). Additionally, Hulu Originals’ Little Fires Everywhere received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, which went to Attica Locke for her episode, “The Spider Web.”
Here is the full list of winners from across The Walt Disney Company:
black-ish (ABC)—5 awards
Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: Anthony Anderson
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Deon Cole
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Marsai Martin
Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited-Series): Marsai Martin
Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series: Anya Adams, “Hair Day”
Soul (Pixar Animation Studios / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Disney+ / Walt Disney Records)—4 awards
Outstanding Animated Motion Picture
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance—Motion Picture: Jamie Foxx
Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album: Soul Original Motion Picture Soundtrack; Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste and Tom MacDougall
Outstanding Jazz Album—Instrumental: Music From and Inspired By Soul; Jon Batiste
Celebrity Family Feud (ABC)—2 awards
Outstanding Reality Program, Reality Competition or Game Show (Series)
Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special)—Individual or Ensemble: Steve Harvey
Doc McStuffins (Disney Junior)—2 awards
Outstanding Animated Series
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television): Laya DeLeon Hayes
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)—1 award
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series: Viola Davis
The Last Dance (ESPN / Netflix)—1 award
Outstanding Documentary (Television)
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)—1 award
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: Attica Locke,“The Spider Web”
The New York Times Presents “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” (FX)—1 award
Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special)
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Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Eight Disney Releases Earn a Combined 17 Wins at the 2021 NAACP Image Awards
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from March 14th to 20th, 2021 - Update #19
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
CRIME - From YahooNews: The "Atlanta spa shooting" - here is what is known about the victims.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: The pressure mounts on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and the Golden Globes as broadcast partner, NBCUniversal, says that it plans to encourage to the HFPA to make whatever changes are necessary in regards to diversity.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: A technical crew member on ABC's "The Conners," has died after a "fatal medical event."
TELEVISION - From Deadline: HBO is considering three new ideas for "Game of Thrones" spinoffs.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, January Jones, Maika Monroe, and Andrew Dice Clay are set to star in action-thriller God Is A Bullet, from director Nick Cassavetes.
ANIMATION - From ShadowandAct: CBS Studios is planning an animated reboot of the late UPN/The CW live-action sitcom, "Everybody Hates Chris" (2005-09).
NEWS - From YahooNews: Ronald DeFeo, Jr., the man convicted of slaughtering his parents and four siblings in a home in Amityville, Long Island in 1974, has died at the age of 69. The murders and the home later inspired author Jay Anson's 1977 book, “The Amityville Horror," and the movies spawned from the book, beginning with 1979's "The Amityville Horror."
GOLDEN GLOBES - From Deadline: Facing a boycott, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which awards the "Golden Globes" commits to "at least 13% black membership."
CAPITOL RIOT - From APNews: Two men, George Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, West Virginia, and Julian Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, were arrested Sunday, March 13th and charged with assaulting U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with bear spray during the Jan. 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol Building. Officer Sicknick later died.
OSCARS - From Deadline: Here is the complete list of nominees for the 2021 / 93rd Academy Awards.
From RollingStone: Oscar 2021: The site lists its biggest Oscar snubs.
From THR: Oscars 2021 is a year of historic firsts and notable nominations.
From YahooLATimes: The record for oldest Oscar nominee is now a three-way tie
From Variety: Variety is updating its nominee list with the winners, as the winners of the pre-show Grammy categories are already being announced.
BOX OFFICE - From Variety: The winner of the 3/12 to 3/14/2021 weekend box office is Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon" with an estimated take of 5.5 million dollars.
MOVIES - From THR: Because of a re-release in China, James Cameron's legendary 2009 film, "Avatar," reclaims its place as the all-time highest grossing film in terms of global box office. It's gross is 2.8 billion dollars vs. "Avengers: Endgame" at 2.797 billion.
OBITS:
From CBSBoston: Triathlete and Boston Marathon icon, Dick Hoyt, has died at the age of 80, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Hoyt was best known as one-half of "Team Hoyt," with his son, Rick Hoyt. Rick was born a "spastic quadriplegic." Dick participated marathons and races by pushing Rick as he sat in front in a special seat of a bicycle. The father and son were a fixture at the Boston Marathon from 1980 to 2014.
From THR: The actor, Yaphet Kotto, has died at the age of 81, Monday, March 15, 2021. He is best known for numerous roles. He was the "Dr. Kananga"/"Mr. Big," the "Bond villain" in the 1973 James Bond film, "Live and Let Die" (the first to star the late actor Roger Moore in the lead role). He played the role of "Parker" in the seminal science fiction film, "Alien" (1979). He played "Lt. Al Giardello" in the long-running NBC police drama, "Homicide: Life on the Streets," and he wrote three episodes of the series. Kotto was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 1977 for his role in the 1976 TV film, "Raid on Entebbe." Kotto apparently turned down the roles of "Lando Calrissian" in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Captain Jean-Luc Picard" on "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
From Deadline: American professional boxer and actor, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, has died at the age of 66, Saturday, March 13, 2021. Born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler, he had his name legally changed to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler" in in 1982. He reigned as undisputed middleweight champion from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful defenses of that title. Hagler retired from boxing in 1987. After retirement, he moved to Italy where he starred in a series of action films, including "Indio" and "Indio 2 - la rivolta."
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from November 8th to 14th, 2020 - Update #25
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
Support Leroy on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
CELEBRITY - From Deadline: A suspect has been arrested in the Oct. 2nd sucker punch attack on beloved actor, Rick Moranis.
MOVIES - From THR: Paramounts pictures has removed the Michael B. Jordan starrer, "Without Remorse," off its 2021 release schedule. It may sell the film to Amazon Studios. Director Dean DeBlois' film, "Micronauts," based on the Hasbro toys, has also been moved from 2021.
DISNEY - From THR: Director John M. Chu("Crazy Rich Asians") is in negotiations to direct a live-action version of Disney's 2002 animated hit, "Lilo & Stitch."
KAMALA HARRIS - From BET: Meet Kamala Harris' husband, stepchildren, parents, and more.
STREAMING - From THR: The "Friends" reunion special, which will stream on HBO Max, is scheduled to be film in March 2021, according to one of the series' original stars, Matthew Perry.
AWARDS - From Variety: The nominations for the 2020 / 30th annual "IFP Gotham Awards" have been announced. The late Chadwick Boseman received a "Best Actor" nomination for his role in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." The winners will be announced Monday, Jan. 11th, 2021.
CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment: George W. Bush's daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, shares a sweet photos of the time she showed Barack Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia, around the White House, and it has gone viral.
MOVIES - From THR: Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, and MGM are uniting for an adaptation of Ta'Nehisi Coates' hit novel, "The Water Dancer."
MOVIES - From THR: Universal Pictures and Dwayne Johnson are planning to reboot their 2002 film, "The Scorpion King," which when on to spawn a straight-to-DVD movie franchise.
MOVIES - From THR: Johnny Depp may have been fired from "Fantastic Beasts," but he will get his full salary due to pay-or-play contract.
From THR: Danish actor Mads Mikkelson is in early talks to replace Johnny Depp in the third installment of the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise.
CELEBRITY - From HuffPost: Jason Momoa Says He And Lisa Bonet Were ‘Starving’ After He Died On "Game of Thrones."
STREAMING - From Deadline: Jamie Foxx to star in and produce "The Burial" for Amazon Studios.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: The network has introduced an edict that 50% of its casts for its unscripted shows must be Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC) and it has committed that at least 25% of its annual unscripted development budget must go towards creators and producers that are BIPOC.
PRESIDENT - From NBCNews: Democratic candidate Joe Biden defeats President Trump to win White House
From LATimes: Kamala Harris makes history many times over as vice president-elect
From YahooNews: Read: President-elect Joe Biden's full victory speech
From YahooNews: Read Kamala Harris' full speech after historic election win
From CNN: The Moment When Networks Called The Presidential Race For Joe Biden
From Deadline: Hollywood reacts to Joe Biden's victor over President Donald.
From YahooEntertainment: Celebrities react to Joe Biden's victor over President Donald.
From YahooSports: The NBA's Golden State Warriors celebrate Oakland native and Warriors' fan, Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris.
From CNN: Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, will be the first male spouse of a vice-president. He will also be the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice-president.
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BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: The winner of the 11/6 to 11/8/2020 weekend box office is "Let Him Go" with an estimated take of 4.1 million dollars.
TELEVISION - From YahooEntertainment: Dave Chappelle addresses Trump, racism and the coronavirus in a powerful "SNL" monologue
MOVIES-SCANDAL - From CTVMontreal: Dying for movies: Suicide highlights labour issues in Canada's visual effects sector.
OBITS:
From NFL: American football player, Paul Hornung, has died at the age of 84, Friday, November 13, 2020. Hornung was a legendary University of Notre Dame football player, where he was the 1956 Heisman Trophy winner. In the NFL, he played for the Green Bay Packers from 1957 to 1966, where he won four NFL Championships, including being a member of the Packers team that won "The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game" (now known as "Super Bowl I). Hornung was inducted into the "College Football Hall of Fame" in 1985 and the "Pro Football Hall of Fame" in 1896.
From Deadline: Canadian-American television game show host, Alex Trebek, has died at the age of 80, Sunday, November 8, 2020 after his years-long battle with pancreatic cancer. Trebek was best known for his tenure on the 1984 revival of the game show, "Jeopardy!" Trebek hosted the show from 1984 to 2020 and won seven Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on the show out of the 31 times he was nominated during his career. In 2011, Trebek received the Daytime Emmy "Lifetime Achievement Award."
COVID-19:
From YahooNews: Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?
From YahooNews: Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.
From Deadline: The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.
From TheNewYorker: The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.
From YahooNews: Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?
From YahooLife: What is "happy hypoxia?" And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?
From JuanCole: Remember when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19. Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.
From TheIntercept: The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...
From TheAtlantic: The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.
From ProPublica: Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns
From TheGuardian: More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.
From RSN/WashPost: The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.
7/13 - From YahooSports: Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.
7/13- From YahooNews: The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.
7/19 - From YahooFinance: Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.
7/22 - From YahooNews: A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.
7/22 - From YahooLifestyle: Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.
7/23 - From TheWrap: The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19
From Bloomberg: Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?
7/27 - From CNN: Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients. He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.
7/31 - From Slate: COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!
8/9 - From YahooAFP: According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.
8/16 - From Truthout: COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians
9/19 - From WashPost: U.S. coronavirus death toll reaches 200,000
9/23 - From CNBC: Mark Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and star of ABC's "Shark Tank," suggests that every household in American get a $1000 check every two weeks for the next two months.
9/28 - From Deadline: John Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker reports that over 1 million people have died of COVID-19 worldwide.
10/2 - From YahooNews: President Donald and the First Lady have tested positive for COVID-19.
10/26 - From YahooFinance: Walmart CEO detects a new wave a panic buying as consumers stock up for another surge in coronavirus cases.
11/5 - From CNN: The US set a grim new Covid-19 record Thursday -- following a week marked by high case numbers -- surpassing 120,000 infections in a single day.
11/7 - From YahooNews: "It's a slaughter," doctors say of new coronavirus wave.
11/13 - YahooNews: "We blew it": U.S. reaches 'explosive' COVID-19 spread as virus is nearly impossible to control, experts say
BLACK LIVES MATTER:
From RSN: Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability
From TheGuardian: Yusef Salaam, one of the "Central Park Five," says in an interview, "Trump would have had me hanging from a tree in Central Park."
From NPR: Prosecutors' plea deal required drug suspect to name Breonna Taylor a "co-defendant."
From ChicagoSunTimes: Rev. Jesse Jackson: America has millions of people in poverty because Americans choose not to demand the policies that would lift them out of poverty.
From APNews: No one will be held accountable for the killing of Louisville African-American resident, Breonna Taylor.
From Channel4: Revealed: Trump campaign strategy to deter millions of Black Americans from voting in 2016
From GuardianUK: California is going to consider paying reparations to the descendants of African slaves after adopting a landmark law to study and to develop proposals around the issue.
From TheRoot: What to Do When Your Country Turns Into a Dumpster Fire
From Vox: It's True: 1 in 1,000 Black Americans Have Died in the Covid-19 Pandemic
From CBS: Breonna Taylor's boyfriend certain cops didn't identify themselves
Saturday, November 7, 2020
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from November 1st to 7th, 2020 - Update #33
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
Support Leroy on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
POLITICS-HALLELUJAH - From CNN: Joseph R. "Joe" Biden has been elected the 46th President of the United States. Inauguration Day is Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
From CNN: The Moment When Networks Called The Presidential Race For Joe Biden
MOVIES - From Deadline: After 18 months and 40,000 COVID-19 tests, "Jurassic World: Dominion" has finished shooting.
From CNN: Kamala Harris, who on Saturday became America's first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect, represents a new face of political power after an election all about who wields power and how they use it.
MOVIES - From BleedingCool: Vince Vaughn talks about a sequel to his 2004 hit, "Wedding Crashers." [When your career is in decline, make a sequel to your biggest hit ... ]
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Donald Glover speaks excitedly about Seasons 3 and 4 of his FX television series, "Atlanta."
CRIME - From TMZ: Rapper King Von is dead after a violent confrontation outside an Atlanta nightclub that ended in gunfire
AWARDS - From Deadline: The nation of Guatemala has made the horror film, "La Llorona," its selection to compete in the race for an Oscar nomination in the category, "Best International Feature Film" (which has previously been known as "Best Foreign Language Film").
MOVIES - From Variety: Johnny Depp says Warner Bros. asked him to resign in his "Fantastic Beasts" role of Gellert Grindelwald, and he says that he has agreed.
HOME RELEASE - From Deadline: Warner Bros. has announced a December 15, 2020 Blu-ray and DVD release date for his much talked about hit film, "Tenet."
SCANDAL - From Variety: A murder suspect has been arrested in the Sunday, November 1st shooting death of actor Eddie Hassell in Grand Prairie, Texas.
POLITICS-MOVIES - From InformedComment: Top Five Horror films on Halloween that remind us of Trump’s Presidency
DISNEY - From Deadline: It is a day of layoffs from Disney units, ESPN and Searchlight. This is related to the COVID-19 fallout.
CELEBRITY - From YahooGMA: Emmy-winning actor, Michael J. Fox, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, reveals that he is losing his ability to act.
SPORTS - From NBA: The best player from the last 20 NBA drafts, according to NBA.com.
POLITICS-CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment: Duchess Meghan of Sussex has another first to add to her resume: She's the first member of the British royal family to vote for president in an American election.
STREAMING - From Deadline: Warner Bros. and director Robert Zemeckis' remake, "The Witches," is getting backlash from disability community.
STREAMING - From ShadowandAct: Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx will star in and executive produce "Dad Stop Embarrassing Me" for Netflix. It is based on his relationship with his daughter, Corinne Foxx.
STREAMING - From Variety: Oscar-winning actor, Jeremy Irons ("Reversal of Fortune"), will headline Netflix's adaptation of Robert Harris' 2017 bestselling novel, "Munich."
TELEVISION - From CinemaBlend: Actress Hilarie Burton ("One Tree Hill") has been cast as "Lucille," the wive of Neegan in AMC's "The Walking Dead."
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Actress/recording artist, Eve, is leaving the CBS afternoon talk show, "The Talk," after four seasons.
POLITICS - From BET: U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) criticizes Black supporters of President Donald.
CELEBRITY - From THR: Oscar-nominated actor, Johnny Depp, has lost his defamation lawsuit in the United Kingdom. Depp has brought an action against News Group Newspapers over "The Sun's" 2018 article, "Wife Beater," about Depps contentious marriage to and divorce from actress Amber Heard.
BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: The winner of the 10/30 to 11/1/2020 weekend box office is "Come Play" with an estimated take of 3.15 million dollars.
COMICS - From GamesRadar: George C. Romero is partnering with publishing company, Heavy Metal, to produce a comic book prequel to his late father, George A. Romero's seminal zombie film, "Night of the Living Dead" (1968).
MOVIES - From NewYorkTimes: "The Purge" film franchise reveals the ugly truth about America.
OBITS:
From BBC: The English actor, Geoffrey Palmer, has died at the age of 93, Thursday, November 5, 2020. Palmer was best known for his roles on British television sitcoms like "As Time Goes By" (1992-2005). He also had memorable roles in films such "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988) and "The Madness of King George" (1994).
From Variety: Actress Carol Arthur has died at the age of 85, Sunday, November 1, 2020. Arthur was best known for her appearances in several Mel Brooks films, including "Blazing Saddles" (1974). Arthur was married to the late actor Dom DeLuise from 1965 to his death in 2009. The couple had three sons, actor Peter, Michael, and David DeLuise.
From Variety: Actor Eddie Hassell has died at the age of 30, Sunday, November 1, 2020, apparently shot to death. Hassell is best known for his roles in the 2010 Oscar-nominated film, "The Kids Are All Right" and on the NBC television series, "Surface."
From BBC: The Scottish actor and film producer, Sean Connery, has died at the age of 90, Saturday, October 31, 2020. Connery was best known for playing seminal secret agent and spy, James Bond, Agent 007, in seven films over a 21 year period, beginning with "Dr. No." in 1962 and ending with "Never Say Never Again" in 1983. Connery also won a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar for his role in the 1987 film, "The Untouchables."
From Deadline: Tributes for the late Sean Connery flood in...
COVID-19:
From YahooNews: Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?
From YahooNews: Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.
From Deadline: The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.
From TheNewYorker: The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.
From YahooNews: Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?
From YahooLife: What is "happy hypoxia?" And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?
From JuanCole: Remember when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19. Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.
From TheIntercept: The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...
From TheAtlantic: The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.
From ProPublica: Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns
From TheGuardian: More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.
From RSN/WashPost: The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.
7/13 - From YahooSports: Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.
7/13- From YahooNews: The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.
7/19 - From YahooFinance: Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.
7/22 - From YahooNews: A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.
7/22 - From YahooLifestyle: Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.
7/23 - From TheWrap: The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19
From Bloomberg: Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?
7/27 - From CNN: Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients. He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.
7/31 - From Slate: COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!
8/9 - From YahooAFP: According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.
8/16 - From Truthout: COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians
9/19 - From WashPost: U.S. coronavirus death toll reaches 200,000
9/23 - From CNBC: Mark Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and star of ABC's "Shark Tank," suggests that every household in American get a $1000 check every two weeks for the next two months.
9/28 - From Deadline: John Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker reports that over 1 million people have died of COVID-19 worldwide.
10/2 - From YahooNews: President Donald and the First Lady have tested positive for COVID-19.
10/26 - From YahooFinance: Walmart CEO detects a new wave a panic buying as consumers stock up for another surge in coronavirus cases.
11/5 - From CNN: The US set a grim new Covid-19 record Thursday -- following a week marked by high case numbers -- surpassing 120,000 infections in a single day.
11/7 - From YahooNews: "It's a slaughter," doctors say of new coronavirus wave.
BLACK LIVES MATTER:
From RSN: Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability
From TheGuardian: Yusef Salaam, one of the "Central Park Five," says in an interview, "Trump would have had me hanging from a tree in Central Park."
From NPR: Prosecutors' plea deal required drug suspect to name Breonna Taylor a "co-defendant."
From ChicagoSunTimes: Rev. Jesse Jackson: America has millions of people in poverty because Americans choose not to demand the policies that would lift them out of poverty.
From APNews: No one will be held accountable for the killing of Louisville African-American resident, Breonna Taylor.
From Channel4: Revealed: Trump campaign strategy to deter millions of Black Americans from voting in 2016
From GuardianUK: California is going to consider paying reparations to the descendants of African slaves after adopting a landmark law to study and to develop proposals around the issue.
From TheRoot: What to Do When Your Country Turns Into a Dumpster Fire
From Vox: It's True: 1 in 1,000 Black Americans Have Died in the Covid-19 Pandemic
From CBS: Breonna Taylor's boyfriend certain cops didn't identify themselves
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Sony Pictures Signs Production Deal with Jamie Foxx
Culver City, CA – Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx and his producing partner, Datari Turner, have signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to develop and produce feature films. The first project in development that Foxx and Turner are producing for the studio under their new deal is an untitled action thriller written by Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier, which Foxx is also set to star in.
“Not only is Jamie Foxx one of the most talented and decorated actors in the world he is also an idea machine. As a company we have been lucky to work with Jamie in Baby Driver and Amazing Spiderman, but his creativity as a producer is his most exciting role yet. Jamie is wildly creative, funny and brilliant, he walks the walk, he talks the talk and we are so proud to be in this partnership with Jamie and Datari. We already have a few projects secretly going and this is only the beginning,” said Sanford Panitch, President, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group.
Foxx recently won “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” at the NAACP Image Awards and received a SAG Award nomination for “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role” for his riveting performance in Just Mercy for Warner Bros. He can currently be seen in Netflix’s Project Power, which launched on August 14, and up next he will be heard in Disney/ Pixar’s Soul set for a November 20th release. Foxx is producing and set to star in They Cloned Tyrone and is executive producing and starring in Netflix’s father/daughter comedy series Dad Stop Embarrassing Me, which is based on his relationship with his oldest daughter, Corinne Foxx who also produces the series.
Turner produced the Netflix film Uncorked, earlier this year starring Courtney B. Vance and Niecy Nash, directed by first-time filmmaker Prentice Penny (showrunner of HBO’s “Insecure”). Uncorked was the Number One movie in America in its first weekend on the platform. He also produced the Sundance Award-Winning film Nine Days starring Winston Duke and Zazie Beetz, that was acquired earlier this year by Sony Pictures Classics. Blackfilm.com ranked Datari fourth on the list of Top 10 African-American producers of the decade.
Foxx is repped by CAA, LBI Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.
About Sony Pictures Entertainment:
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. Sony Pictures Television operates dozens of wholly-owned or joint-venture production companies around the world. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, and Sony Pictures Classics. For additional information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html
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Saturday, September 12, 2020
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from September 6th to 12th, 2020 - Update #20
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DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION:
From CNN: Full video of Vice-President Joe Biden's acceptance speech at the 2020 DNC.
From CNN: Full video of Sen. Kamala Harris acceptance speech at the 2020 DNC
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
MOVIES - From THR: Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx and his producing partner, Datari Turner, has signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures to produce films.
TORONTO - From Deadline: At this year's virtual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Netflix is in final negotiations to buy the rights to Oscar-winner Halle Berry's directorial debut, the MMA drama, "Bruised." The buying price is close to 20 million dollars.
From THR: Halle Berry says that she was "scared shitless" on the set of her movie, "Bruisded," which she directed.
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JAMES BOND - From Deadline: Actor George Lazenby, who played James Bond in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," says that he was not in a feud with his co-star in the film, actress Diana Rigg, who died Thurs. morning, Sept. 10th. Rumors of an alleged feud between the stars have long followed the film.
DISNEY - From BET: Actress Halle Bailey has started recording the soundtrack for Disney's live-action "The Little Mermaid."
DISNEY - From Deadline: Disney+ has ordered 10 episodes of female-led reboot of the ABC TV series, "Doogie Howser, M.D.," (1989-1993).
ANIMATION - From CartoonBrew: Don Bluth, the legend behind such animated films as "The Secret of NIMH" and "The Land Before Time," is launching a new venture with the hope of ushering in a "renaissance of hand-drawn animation."
TELEVISION - From Deadline: AMC's "The Walking Dead" will end in 2022 after a longer-than-usual season of 24 episodes. Then, in 2023, there will be a spinoff series starring Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) and Melissa McBride (Carol Peletier).
BLM - From KenoshaNews: In a guest commentary, Oscar-nominee, Mark Ruffalo, writes "Justice, unity, and community resilience in my hometown of Kenosha."
OSCARS - From Variety: Academy Awards announces new inclusion requirements for "Best Picture" eligibility.
POLITICS - From TheAtlantic: This link takes you, dear readers, to the infamous article about President Donald referring America's war dead as "suckers" and "losers."
DISNEY - From YahooFinance: Disney's decision to release its blockbuster, "Mulan," straight to its streaming service, Disney+, has lead to a spike in downloads of the Disney+ app.
ANIMATION - From CBR: Jackson Publick has confirmed that his long-running Cartoon Network animated series, "The Venture Bros.," has been cancelled. That means that Season 7, which aired in 2018, was the series' final season.
MOVIES - From Deadline: A crew member on the film, Geechee, was shot by the police in the Dominican Republic where the movie is being filmed. The police apparently opened fire on a convoy of cars containing the crew. Though reportedly shot several times, the crew member only suffered "minor issues" and has left the hospital and been flown home.
BOX OFFICE - From THR: The winner of the 9/4 - 9/6/2020 weekend box office is "Tenet" with an estimated 20.2 million dollars. Directed by Christopher Nolan, "Tenet" is the first Hollywood "tent pole" film released since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
MOVIES - From Deadline: The cast of director Rob Reiner's beloved 1987 film, "The Princess Bride," will reunited for a virtual script reading that will benefit the Wisconsin Democratic Party. The livestreamed event will begin at 4 pm Pacific Time on September 13. Signup and donation required to view event.
OBITS:
From THR: British actress, Diana Rigg, has died at the age of 82, Thursday, September 10, 2020. She may be best known for playing the role of "Emma Peel" in 51 episodes of the British TV series, "The Avengers," from 1965 to 1968. Her other well-known roles includes "Countess Teresa di Vicenzo," the wife of James Bond, in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969), and as "Olenna Tyrell" in HBO's "Game of Thrones" from 2013 to 2017. She was a Primetime Emmy Award for her role in the 1997 TV miniseries, "Rebecca," and a Tony Award for her role in the play, "Medea."
From Variety: The television actor, Kevin Dobson, has died at the age of 77, Sunday, September 6, 2020. Dobson was best known for two roles on long-running TV series. He was Detective Bobby Crocker on CBS' "Kojak" (1973-78) and M. Patrick "Mack" MacKenzie on CBS' "Knots Landing" (1982-93).
From SLPD: Major League Baseball legend and Hall of Fame member (1985), Lou Brock, has died at the age of 81, Sunday, September 6, 2020. An outfielder, Brock spent 15 and half years of his 19-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he won two World Series championships (1964 and 1967). He was a six-time All-Star and led the National League in stolen bases eight times. He was the career leader in stolen based from 1977 (when he passed Ty Cobb) to 1991 when Ricky Henderson surpassed him.
From Variety: The American producer, editor, and writer of animated television series, Joe Ruby, has died at the age of 87, Wednesday, August 26, 2020. Ruby co-founded the television animation production company, Ruby-Spears Productions, in 1977 with Ken Spears. Ruby and Spears created the original "Scooby-Doo" TV series, "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" in 1969 for Hanna-Barbera.
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 NEWS:
From CDC: The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."
From YahooNews: Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?
From YahooNews: Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.
From Deadline: The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.
From TheNewYorker: The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.
From YahooNews: Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?
From YahooLife: What is "happy hypoxia?" And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?
From JuanCole: Remember when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19. Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.
From TheIntercept: The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...
From TheAtlantic: The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.
From ProPublica: Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns
From TheGuardian: More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.
From RSN/WashPost: The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.
7/13 - From YahooSports: Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.
7/13- From YahooNews: The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.
7/19 - From YahooFinance: Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.
7/22 - From YahooNews: A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.
7/22 - From YahooLifestyle: Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.
7/23 - From TheWrap: The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19
From Bloomberg: Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?
7/27 - From CNN: Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients. He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.
7/30 - From Deadline: Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") reveals that he had a bout with COVID-19.
7/31 - From YahooEntertainment: Writer and actress, Lena Dunham, creator of HBO's "Girls, reveals that she contracted COVID-19 and the symptoms she experiences and still experience.
7/30 - From YahooGMA: In their bid to crackdown on illegal gatherings amid COVID-19, New York authorities break up an alleged sex party.
7/31 - From Slate: COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!
8/2 - From TheDailyBeast: In Mississippi, COVID-19 has coroners terrified.
8/6 - From YahooNews: Testing everyone constantly could stop the spread of COVID-19... according to this article.
8/8 - From YahooNYT: The coronavirus is new, but your immune system might recognize it.
8/8 - From YahooNBC: They thought COVID-19 was a hoax, and they almost died from it or are watching family and loved ones suffer with it or die from it.
8/9 - From YahooNews: The rest of the world is incredulous at the pitiful U.S. response to COVID-19.
8/9 - From YahooAFP: According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.
8/16 - From Truthout: COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians
9/1 - From YahooPeople: Mark Mothersbaugh is the front man of the rock band, Devo," and the prolific composer of music for film and television, but he also had a near-fatal battle with COVID-19. He recalls it in this article.
9/2 - From YahooNews: The first COVID-19 death linked to the massive biker rally in Sturgis, South Dakota has been reported in Minnesota, several weeks after the event attracted over 400,000 vehicles. Minnesota is also tracking 50 coronavirus cases related to the event.
9/8 - From YahooSports: College football senior Jamain Stephens Jr. dies after contracting COVID-19.
BLACK LIVES MATTER:
From RSN: Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability
From Billboard: In an interview will the venerable music publication, legendary country music singer-songwriter and actress, Dolly Parton, expresses support for the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
From RSN: Reader Supported News' "Sunday Song" for Aug. 8th, 2020 is "Chain Gang" by Sam Cooke.
From VICE: One of the 2020 Republican National Convention's top speakers, Abby Johnson, says the police would be justified in profiling her adopted biracial son.
From TheGuardian: Yusef Salaam, one of the "Central Park Five," says in an interview, "Trump would have had me hanging from a tree in Central Park."
From NPR: Prosecutors' plea deal required drug suspect to name Breonna Taylor a "co-defendant."
REMEMBERING CHADWICK BOSEMAN:
From Slate: Friends and Fans mourn "Black Panther" star, Chadwick Boseman, dead at 43.
From YahooHuffPost: Why Chadwick Boseman kept his cancer battle secret, according to his agent.
From Variety: Chadwick Boseman's life and career in photos.
From CNN: Denzel Washington offers a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, for whom he once paid school tuition.
From THR: Co-star Harrison Ford remembers Chadwick Boseman as being "as much a hero as any he played.
From BuzzFeed: Why Chadwick Boseman's death hurts so much.
From Variety: Michael B. Jordan remembers his "Black Panther" co-star, Chadwick Boseman.
From YahooEntertainment: Remembering Chadwick Boseman: A journalist’s cherished, complicated friendship with a superhero.
From Deadline: The site has a page dedicated to the late actor, Chadwick Boseman.
From Variety: Chadwick Boseman: A Virtuoso Actor Who Could Do Just About Anything
From Variety: Chadwick Boseman’s Final Tweet Is Twitter’s Most-Liked Post of All Time
From YahooEntertainment: Did Chadwick Boseman hint at his cancer battle in a 2017 interview?
From Newsweek: Chadwick Boseman's final tweet was a picture of him with Vice-Presidential candidate, Senator Kamala Harris.
From NPR: Chadwick Boseman in his own words.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 21st to 30th, 2020 - Update #41
Support Leroy on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:
ACADEMY AWARDS - From YahooUSA: Academy exceeds inclusion goal after #OscarsSoWhite: New voters are 45% female, 36% diverse.
CELEBRITY-BLM - From YahooEntertainment: John Wayne was not a racist says the late actor's son, Ethan Wayne.
MOVIES - From Collider: The site has several images from David Ayers' upcoming thriller, "The Tax Collector," starring Shia LaBeouf and Bobby Soto.
BLM-CRIME-HISTORY - From Alabama.com: 16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton dies in prison. The bombing, which occurred in 1963, is known for the "Four Little Girls."
MOVIES - From YahooMoviesUK: "John Wick" director, Chad Stahelski, says that a reboot of the 1980s action-fantasy movie cult classic, "Highlander," is "in heavy development mode."
CELEBRITY-POLITICS - From TheDailyBeast: How Mary Trump (President Donald's niece) Found Herself in the Hot Mess of a William Faulkner Novel
MUSIC-STREAMING - From Variety: The streaming service, Disney+, will releases Beyonce's new visual album, "Black is King," July 31st. The LP is inspired by "The Lion King," and its released date is just after the one-year anniversary of the 2019 release of Disney's live-action version of "The Lion King."
LGBTQ - From YahooLifestyle: Gay ER doctor who survived COVID-19 says he can't donate plasma because he’s sexually active
POLITICS - From RSN: "Saint Donald and the Dragon" - Donald Trump and the China!
SPORTS - From YahooSports: Bubba Wallace on Confederate flag ban protests: 'We won’t see cops pepper-spraying them and shooting them with rubber bullets'
MOVIES - From THR: Actor Margot Robbie and writer Christina Hodson, who teamed up on "Birds of Prey," are reunited on a new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. It is separate from the other reboot being developed "Pirates" scribe, Ted Elliot," and "Chernobyl" writer Craig Mazin.
MOVIES - From THR: The release date of Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" has been delayed again, from July 31st to August 12th, 2020.
MOVIES - From THR: Inside "Hollywood's nastiest producer feud," the story of Roy Lee vs. John Middleton.
POLITICS - From TheGuardian: How the US military has failed to address white supremacy in its ranks. This is in the wake of an alleged plot by a young solider to coordinate with a neo-Nazi group to attack and kill members of his own army unit.
BLM-ANIMATION - From TVGuide: Jenny Slate will no longer voice Missy on Netflix's "Big Mouth": 'Black Characters on an Animated Show Should be Played by Black People'
From BuzzFeed: Voice actor Mike Henry has retired from providing the voice of "Family Guy" African-American character, "Cleveland Brown." He is the latest white voice performer to announce that he is exiting the voice role of a Black character, following Jenny Slate leaving Big Mouth and Kristen Bell shifting to a different role on Central Park.
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MOVIES - From Deadline: Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Revenant") and Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight") have united to make a film adaptation of the documentary, "Virunga," about rangers who risk their lives to protect an African national park and its endangered gorillas.
BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: 27 years after it first hit movie theaters, "Jurassic Park" was the #1 movie at the Father's Day weekend box office. Steven Spielberg, who directed "Jurassic Park," had a big weekend as his 1975 classic, "Jaws" was a close second.
TRAILERS - From Deadline: Disney+ releases the first trailer for the live-action version of the Broadway smash, "Hamilton." The film arrives on Disney+ July 3rd, 2020.
CULTURE-BLM - From THR: African-American Hollywood attorney, Nina Shaw, writes a guest column on being "the Only Black Person in the Room" for 30-plus years.
CELEBRITY - From YahooDailyBeast: Actress Bryce Dallas Howard talks about having Oscar-winning producer-director, Ron Howard, as her father. The interview is done in conjunction with Bryce's new documentary film, "Dads," which debuted on Apple TV+.
MUSIC - From YahooEntertainment: An acoustic guitar belonging to the late Kurt Cobain of the band, Nirvana, sold for a record 6-plus million dollars at auction. That is the highest auction price ever paid for a guitar. The 1959 Martin D-19E is the guitar Cobain played for the entirety of his "MTV Unplugged" performance.
CELEBRITY-COVID-19 - From ABCNews: Comedian D.L. Hughley passed out while performing on stage in Nashville TN. Afterwards, he tested positive for COVID-19 at a local hospital.
MOVIES - From YahooGMA: Jamie Foxx shows off his body transformation for his starring role in a biopic of champion boxer, Mike Tyson.
OBITS:
From Deadline: Pioneering television comedy writer and director, Carl Reiner has died at the age of 98, Monday, June 29, 2020. Reiner is best known as the creator and writer-director and actor on "The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66). Five of the 9 Primetime Emmy Awards Reiner won were for his work on the show. He first came to big TV fame and acclaim working on Sid Ceasar's TV series, "Your Show of Shows" (NBC, 1950-54) and "Ceasar's Hour" (NBC, 1954-57). Reiner was also famous for being the son of television and film writer, director, and actor, Rob Reiner.
From Variety: Animator and director, Kelly Asbury, has died at the age of 60, Friday, June 26, 2020. Asbury co-directed "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" (2002) and directed "Shrek 2" (2004). He began his career with Walt Disney Feature Animation and, he worked on such films as "The Black Cauldron" (1985) and "Toy Story" (1995).
From Deadline: Noted film director, Joel Schumacher, has died at the age of 80, Monday, June 22, 2020. Schumacher was known for a number of films, including "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985), "The Lost Boys" (1987), "Flatliners" (1990), "The Client" (1994), and "A Time to Kill" (1996). He caused ire among comic book fans with his two contributions to the Batman film franchise, "Batman Forever" (1995) and "Batman and Robin" (1997).
From Deadline: American businessman and film financier, Steve Bing, has died at the age of 55, Monday, June 22, 2020. In the film business, Bing invested in two animated films by director Robert Zemeckis, "The Polar Express" (2004) and "Beowulf." He founded Shangri-La Entertainment, which had interests in property, construction, entertainment, and music.
BLACK LIVES MATTER NEWS:
From RSN: The four corners of police violence
From TheIntercept: Black Lives Matter Wants to End Police Brutality. History Suggests It Will Go Much Further.
From YahooNews: "The Confederacy of California": life in the valley where Robert Fuller was found hanged
From CNN: Colorado police officers involved in the death of Elijah McClain reassigned for safety reasons.
From Truthout: " Three North Carolina Police Fired for Racist Rants, Threats to Kill Black People" - and what they said is crazy and scary
From Truthout: Bryant Gumbel Gives Powerful Commentary on the 'Black Tax,' the 'Added Burden' of Being Black
From YahooEntertainment: Oscar-nominated songwriter and Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Ray Parker, Jr., may be best known for writing the theme to the film, "Ghostbusters," but when he was a teenager, Parker was beaten by Detroit police officers.
From RSNewYorker: Jelani Cobb: An American Spring of Reckoning.
From NBCNews: Baton Rouge, LA activist, Gary Chambers, makes an impassioned speech about changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School in Baton Rouge.
From YahooNews: Racial violence and a pandemic: How the Red Summer of 1919 relates to 2020
From DemocracyNow: Fear Grows of Modern-Day Lynchings as Five People of Color Are Found Hanged
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 NEWS:
From CDC: The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."
From YahooNews: Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?
From YahooNews: Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.
From Deadline: The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.
From TheNewYorker: The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.
From YahooNews: Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?
From YahooLife: What is "happy hypoxia?" And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?
From JuanCole: Remeber when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19. Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.
From TheIntercept: The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...
From NPR: A sad milestone: over 100,000 American have died due to COVID-19.
From TheAtlantic: The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.
From ProPublica: Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns
From Truthout: Trump Moves to End Federal Support for Testing Sites Amid Record COVID Spikes
From TheGuardian: More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.
From RSN/WashPost: The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.
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Friday, April 3, 2020
Jamie Foxx Developing Faith-Based Film, "When We Pray"
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fight to Fame Films and Cinema Libre Studio have agreed to finance “When We Pray,” a faith-based feature film, developed for Jamie Foxx to direct.
Fight to Fame Films and Cinema Libre Studio have agreed to finance “When We Pray,” a faith-based feature film, developed for Jamie Foxx to direct.
“When We Pray” is about two brothers who become pastors at different churches in the same community. One brother develops his church into a modern, high-tech congregation that uses digital devices and ATM machines. The other brother follows a humbler path but soon finds his church in decline and in need of financial help.
The screenplay is written by Foxx and Donald Ray "Speedy" Caldwell, who has collaborated with Foxx previously. The two are currently polishing the script with production scheduled to start before the end of the year.
Cinema Libre Studio will produce in collaboration with Jamie Foxx as well as in conjunction with Fight to Fame Films, which will finance.
The deal was negotiated by Philippe Diaz, founder and Chairman of Cinema Libre Studio, who also serves as President of the Fight to Fame film committee, with the involvement of Rodney Mason from Fast Mouse Films who will serve as Executive Producer.
Diaz says “It’s a great honor to work with such a talented and passionate man as Jamie Foxx and I’m pleased to have our new, Fight to Fame partners onboard which will give Jamie the total freedom to make this film which is close to his heart, thus launching this new unique collaboration.”
Carrie Wang, Chairman of Hong Kong-based Fight to Fame Films says, "Jamie Foxx is a Hollywood superstar--but audiences around the world love him as well. Our strong relationships in China and other Asian countries will ensure that "When We Pray" will be enthusiastically received by Asian moviegoers."
About Fight to Fame Films
Fight to Fame Films is a financing entity part of the Fight to Fame group, which is comprised of international investors, including Chinese partners. The group organizes combat sport tournaments around globe to identify the next generation of action movie stars regardless of skin color, language or religion. Fight to Fame Films will finance several films a year, from low to high budget, with a focus on developing action film franchises in which this new generation of action stars will act.
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