Wednesday, March 8, 2017

10TH ANNUAL BLACK WOMEN IN HOLLYWOOD AWARDS

VIOLA DAVIS - HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER JANELLE MONAE AJA NAOMI KING - HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER GABRIELLE UNION - BEING MARY JANE TRACEE ELLIS ROSS - BLACKISH MEAGAN GOOD

SHOTS FIRED SCREENING

STEPHAN JAMES IS A VERY TALENTED ACTOR. HE PLAYS PRESTON TERRY ON SHOTS FIRED. STEPHAN JAMES PLAYED JESSIE OWENS IN RACE AND WAS IN SELMA AS CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS. STEPHAN JAMES JUST RECENTLY APPEARED IN MARCH ISSUE OF ESSENCE MAGAZINE AS ONE OF THE FRESH GENERATION OF PERFORMERS THAT HAS HIT OUR SCREENS TITLED IN THE ARTICLE LEADERS OF THE NEW SCHOOL. MACK WILDS PLAYS DEP. JOSHUA BECK HE PRESENTLY IS FEATURED ON VH1 THE BREAKS, HAS APPEARED ON THE WIRE, ADELE'S HELLO VIDEO, SECRET LIFE OF BEES AND RED TAILS. RICHARD DREYFUSS IS AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR WITH A CAREER SPANNING 50 YEARS. HIS BREAKOUT ROLE IN 1975 IN JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND AND RECENTLY STARRED IN MADOFF. REGGIE ROCK BYTHEWOOD CREATIVE/WRITER AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF SHOTS FIRED IS KNOW FOR DIRECTING BIKER BOYZ, PRODUCER OF NEW YORK UNDERCOVER AND NOTORIOUS JUST NAME A FEW HIS WORK OF MOVIES AND FILM IS EXTENSIVE. LOVED WHAT I SAW SO FAR VERY EXPLOSIVE AND SPEAKS ON THE RACIAL CLIMATE OF TODAY. GREAT SERIES WILL HAVE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE JAIL SYSTEM. MALE AND FEMALE RELATIONS AND POLITICS AND CURRUPTION. SHOTS FIRED WILL AIR MARCH 22, 2017.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

FEELING BLUE

MOONLIGHT BARRY JENKINS AND LA LA LAND DAMIEN CHAZELL AND THE OSCAR SHOCKER

It’s messy, but it’s kind of gorgeous,” says the writer/director of “Moonlight,” describing the instant that he, the audience at the Dolby Theatre, and 33 million viewers were stunned to learn that his movie, not Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” had actually won the best picture prize. “You have these two groups of people who came together for a second. There’s a picture with me hugging Jordan [Horowitz, a producer of “La La Land”], and Adele [Romanski, producer of “Moonlight”] has her arm on his shoulder. That’s what the moment was.” In an odd way, the most embarrassing snafu in the history of the Academy Awards offered a rare glimpse into expressions of grace, humanity, and camaraderie among fierce rivals contending for Hollywood’s biggest movie prize in a high-stakes race to the finish. “That’s something Barry and I have talked about,” Chazelle says. “It’s weird to be friendly with someone but to feel like there’s a mano-a-mano thing, which I guess is the nature of the Oscars. So it was nice to explode that myth a little bit on a big stage.” It’s nearly impossible to deny that what happened on that stage wasn’t a direct reflection of the times and a declaration of solidarity amid the mood of a divided nation. Last November’s election altered the climate and made themes of diversity, inclusion, and empathy more powerful than ever in entertainment offerings. While “La La Land” — an old-fashioned musical starring two sexy young stars and set in Hollywood’s backyard — was indisputably the frontrunner going into the awards season, as the campaigning continued there was a palpable shift in sentiment toward “Moonlight” and the resonance of its themes of acceptance and tolerance in the sensitive story about a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS FASCINATING ARTICLE IN VARIETY MAGAZINE.

MACY GRAY - WHITE MAN VIDEO

MACY GRAY IS NOW ON A EUROPEAN TOUR. HER LASTEST ALBUM IS ENTITLED STRIPPED.

VIOLA DAVIS COVERS PEOPLE MAGAZINE

Viola Davis doesn’t mince words about her childhood. “I was the kind of poor where I knew right away I had less than everyone around me,” she says. “We had nothing.” As she celebrates her historic Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress in Fences, Davis, 51, reflects on her journey to the pinnacle of Hollywood success in PEOPLE’s new cover story. “‘I cannot believe my life,'” she says. “I just can’t. I’m so blessed.” The first black woman to ever be nominated for three Academy Awards, Davis has been paving her own way for more than 30 years, with powerful performances in films like 2011’s The Help and on TV, where she currently stars in ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder. Davis first envisioned herself as an actor after she watched Cicely Tyson in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman when she was a child. “It wasn’t until then that I had a visual manifestation of the target I wanted to hit,” she says. It also gave her hope for the future and a different life for herself: “She helped me have a very specific drive of how I was going to crawl, walk, run from that environment.”

BE FEARLESS

THE MEN IN MOONLIGHT ARE CALVIN KLEIN MODELS

From Oscar winners to… underwear models? Hot off a night of big wins—the cast of Moonlight took home Best Picture after a dramatic mistake on stage and Mahershala Ali was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar—the leading lads have just scored a big campaign with Calvin Klein, just announced on the brand’s Instagram and website. Trevante Rhodes, 27, Ashton Sanders, 21, and Alex R.Hibbert, 12, each played the lead character Chiron in different stages of his life, and star in the ads along with Ali. The three actors wore Calvin Klein suits to the Oscars, as did nominated costar Naomie Harris. While we’re all busy trying to recover from “Moonlight”’s dramatic, history-making Oscars win, its male stars are quietly dominating the world of high fashion. Mahershala Ali, Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes star in Calvin Klein’s newest men’s underwear campaign, aptly titled “Revelation.”

SHOTS FIRED

SHOTS FIRED From Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Beyond the Lights,” “The Secret Life of Bees,” “Love & Basketball”) and Reggie Rock Bythewood (“Notorious,” “New York Undercover,” “Get on the Bus”), SHOTS FIRED is a 10-hour event series that examines the dangerous aftermath of two racially charged shootings in a small Southern town, providing an explosive autopsy of our criminal justice system. When JOSHUA BECK (Mack Wilds, “The Wire”), an African-American Sheriff’s deputy, kills an unarmed white college student, a small town in North Carolina is turned upside-down. Before the town has a chance to grapple with this tragedy, the neglected murder of an African-American teen is brought to light, opening wounds that threaten to tear the community apart. Leading the Department of Justice’s inquiry into these shootings is seasoned investigator ASHE AKINO (Sanaa Lathan, “The Perfect Guy,” “Love and Basketball”) and a young Special Prosecutor, PRESTON TERRY (Stephan James, “Race,” “Selma”), both of whom are African-American. As they start to peel back the layers of both cases, they suspect a cover-up that may involve some of the state’s most powerful people, including fiercely political North Carolina Governor PATRICIA EAMONS (guest star Academy-, Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress Helen Hunt, “As Good As It Gets,” “The Sessions”). She’s in a tough re-election fight, and the recent shootings in her state are making it even tougher. Meanwhile, real estate mogul and owner of a privatized prison ARLEN COX (Academy- and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, “The Goodbye Girl,” “Jaws,” “Madoff”), is pulled into the volatile debate over policing in the town, and LT. CALVERT BREELAND (Stephen Moyer, “The Bastard Executioner,” “True Blood”), a seasoned veteran in the Sheriff’s Department, gets caught in the middle of the investigation. As Ashe and Preston navigate the media attention, public debate and social unrest that come with such volatile cases, SHOTS FIRED tackles the racial divide from every seat in the house. SHOTS FIRED is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, in association with Imagine Television and Undisputed Cinema. The series is created and executive-produced by Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood. Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo also serve as executive producers.

Season 2 of GREENLEAF ON OWN

OWN’s hit drama “Greenleaf,” starring Merle Dandridge, Keith David and Lynn Whitfield, explores a family that runs a megachurch in Memphis — but with deep-seated secrets. The series has been a ratings success for the cabler — and Netflix recently nabbed SVOD rights. Oprah Winfrey, who executive produces the series, has also played a recurring role in the drama as Grace’s (Merle Dandridge) Aunt Mavis — and from the looks of the season two trailer, she’s set to make an on-screen return. The first season ended on a cliffhanger, with David’s Bishop Greenleaf threatened by the exposure of a crime he may have committed years ago. “Get ready: The judgment’s coming” he’s warned in the promo. The women in his life will be facing problems, too: “When you feel that resentful spirit rising up inside of you, that’s when you’re actually in serious spiritual trouble.” The first eight episodes of season 2 will debut on Wednesday, March 15 at 10 p.m. The remaining eight episodes will air in the summer

SAINTS AND SINNER SEASON 2 ON BOUNCE TV

Season Two brings viewers back to Cypress, Georgia, the sleepy southern town outside Atlanta which has been rocked by the murders of a beloved pastor and the town's Mayor. Death's shadow continues to loom over the town's epicenter, Greater Hope Baptist Church, as a dead body is discovered on its grounds, bringing up the church's sordid past along with it. As concealed secrets claw their way to the surface, new alliances are formed and deceit, jealousy and compromising sexual affairs threaten to shatter lives and demolish the heart of the church and the town forever. The principal cast of "Saints and Sinners" includes Vanessa Bell Calloway, Clifton Powell, Christian Keyes, Keith Robinson, Jasmine Burke and J.D. Williams. Check out Saints and Sinners on Sundays at 9:00 starting March 5, 2017 on Bounce TV. You can also get the Bounce app and watch it on your phone.

UNDERGROUND SEASON 2

The upcoming season of the WGN America series will follow the continuous struggle of a divided America for freedom at a time when the country is on the edge of civil war. The first season of "Underground" became the network's most-watched original series, garnering over three million viewers a week. Underground season 2 premiers on Wednesday March 8, 2017 on WGN. Please check your local listings for channel.