In Hollywood 2020, Black Is The New Black

The mission of ‘Nother Brother Entertainment has always been "To further propagate diverse images through development of films." To that end a lot of blog posts on this blog are also devoted to diversity and inclusion. 

Our social networks contain not only information about our productions, but information about filmmaking and the film industry. In line with our mission, our additional content also chiefly focuses on diversity and inclusion in the film industry.

Below are links to recent Diversity and Inclusion initiatives in Hollywood that have occurred this year in chronological order of date of publication. Will try to update with more articles as they are available.

Black writers are getting hired. But they aren’t getting promoted

By Anousha Sakoui | Los Angeles Times

JUNE 24, 2020 

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-06-24/black-writers-are-getting-hired-but-they-arent-getting-promoted

Over 100 Black Creatives And Allies Launch “Change The Lens” Pledge To Boost Diversity In Film And Advertising

By Dino-Ray Ramos | Deadline 

JULY 9, 2020 

https://deadline.com/2020/07/black-creatives-change-the-lens-pledge-diversity-inclusion-representation-1202981662/

by Lesley Goldberg | The Hollywood Reporter 

JULY 13, 2020

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cbs-commits-expanding-development-bipoc-1303011

A Rush to Use Black Art Leaves the Artists Feeling Used

Black creative professionals say they have been used to lend legitimacy to diversity campaigns while being underpaid and pigeonholed.

By Tiffany Hsu and Sandra E. Garcia | New York Times

JULY 20, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/business/media/black-creatives-protests.html  

by Rebecca Ford | The Hollywood Reporter

JULY 23, 2020

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/news/changehollywood-michael-b-jordan-color-change-launch-roadmap-inclusion-1304003

CLICK the graphic below to see all of our blog posts about diversity

The 2020 Sundance Film Festival

So, at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival this happened

Dankwa Brooks with the Judges of the competition

From the Press Release:

"Donald Dankwa Brooks was awarded first place for his original script that demonstrated a keen awareness of the complex perspectives surrounding criminal justice. He was one of five finalists — selected from the more than 100 submissions that came from competitors across the country — awarded a trip to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah to pitch their scripts to a panel of esteemed judges. The judges included representatives from Strayer University, The Blackhouse Foundation, the criminal justice system, and the film and television industry."

 (Read the entire article via the link at the bottom of this post.)

It was a SUCH a whirlwind of being there that it took me this long to write about it. LOL

The competition took place at the Sundance Film Festival, the annual film festival, that takes place in Utah, is the largest independent film festival in the United States. 

This is the social media announcement of the competition.

The day after we all arrived at Sundance, we had the Pitch Competition. After I won, everything after that was a blur. LOL. There was a ton of pictures and interviews. Strayer Studios, the internal filmmaking unit of Strayer University, filmed EVERYTHING, and those materials will be available shortly. 

We had another Meet & Greet to attend and then we were free to experience the festival and the insane crowds. LOL. My driver from the airport told me that the crowds that first weekend would be insane and indeed they were.

My family and friends asked me to keep them updated about my time at Sundance and I tried to on social media at hashtag #NBE_Sundance. If you search that hashtag across social media (On Facebook, but mostly Instagram and Twitter), you’ll see my real-time posts. Below are a couple of my tweets.

From our official #PhotoShoot 📸 The Five Finalists of the #ScriptED competition!

I COULD NOT BE PROUDER of being in the same company with these talented women! It was a sure fire whirlwind of attention and press. I can’t wait to see what’s next for all of us #NBE_Sundance pic.twitter.com/UPdcX0s9Fm

— Dankwa Brooks (@DankwaBrooks) January 26, 2020

#AboutLastNight @the_blackhouse Meet the Filmmakers Party presented by WarnerMedia 150 🕺🏾💃🏾🕺🏾💃🏾#NBE_Sundance #BlackHouse2020 #Sundance2020 pic.twitter.com/qAD1Ybp8Ez

— Dankwa Brooks (@DankwaBrooks) January 25, 2020

I’ve been to other film festivals, but Sundance is really “next level” and something to behold. I’m still kind of recuperating, but I can’t wait to go back! LOL

My last full day at Sundance I recorded a Thank You message to the overwhelming response I got from everyone. You can watch that message below.



Here is the official 2020 highlights video  

💡READ the official press release below and stay tuned to this blog for more announcements.

Strayer University and The Blackhouse Foundation Name Donald Dankwa Brooks Winner of Scriptwriter Competition to Bring Real Perspectives on Criminal Justice to the Classroom

The Harlem Renaissance - BOOK REVIEW

The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920-1930 by Steven Watson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I knew about the HARLEM RENAISSANCE, but I fell in love with the time period when I studied it in Humanities at MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY. This book is an excellent further exploration of that time period. The book not only highlights the key figures, but the entire environment in which this historically cultural time took place.

Black folk didn’t have a lot of money, didn’t have a lot of anything, but what we had was SOUL. In the book you can see that ever since our presence on this continent, black folk had to do more with less and DID, even to the admiration and adoration of white folk. This book expertly details a lot of that. It also details the patrons of the Renaissance and how that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

The book touches on all aspects of the renaissance, including the environment/community like the section on the famous “Harlem Rent Parties”, the night life, the famous clubs like THE COTTON CLUB and THE SAVOY BALLROOM and the music artists/performers like JOSEPHINE BAKER, EARL “SNAKEHIPS” TUCKER, BESSIE SMITH, BILL “BOJANGLES” ROBINSON and ETHEL WATERS. The book focused most on the intellectuals, writers and journalists of the renaissance.

Famous figures like W. E. B. DU BOIS, LANGSTON HUGHES and ZORA NEALE HURSTON are heavily featured, but also JAMES WELDON JOHNSON, ALAIN LOCKE, ARTURO SCHOMBURG, WALLACE THURMAN, CLAUDE MCKAY, JEAN TOOMER and COUNTEE CULLEN are featured prominently.

The book also highlighted the patrons of the renaissance like the “Harlem Hostess” A’LELIA WALKER, but also white patrons like CHARLOTTE MASON and CARL VAN VECHTEN.

As a passage in the book stated, “CONTROLLING THE BLACK IMAGE. One consequence of the rising white interest in African-American literature was the black intelligentsia's drive to control its own image. Renaissance writers, intellectuals, and artists were charged with articulating a racial identity that not only plumbed indigenous black experience but simultaneously assumed a positive face for white society.“ This is ALWAYS the struggle.

The book was a WEALTH of information on this time period. This was SUCH a prodigious time for black artists and being a black artist, the Harlem Renaissance has always made me PROUD.

EPILOGUE

Because I’m so in love with the time period, I took copious notes via GoodReads on the book and shared them on the site HERE

View all my BOOK reviews on GoodReads