‘Dear White People’ will Premiere on Netflix Series with 10-episodes
Filmmaker Justin Simien’s “Dear White People” is coming to Netflix. Simien is on board to create the TV version of his hit. Based on the 2014 film of the same name, the satirical series follows a predominantly white Ivy League college, a diverse group of students who navigate various forms of racial and other types of discrimination. The series will air on Netflix series April 28th with 10-episodes. Dear White People stars Logan Browning (“Hit The Floor”), Antoinette Robertson (“The Haves and the Have Nots”), Deron Horton (“Burning Sands”), John Patrick Amedori (“Almost Famous”), Brandon P. Bell, Ashley Blaine Featherson, and Marque Richardson (“Dear White People”). On what viewers can expect from the TV version, “They can expect to see a continuation from where the film left off and the black face party revisited. All of the characters are explored in depth using POV episodes. This allows the viewers the opportunity to understand each character individually and the motivational forces behind their actions,” Robertson revealed to huffingtonpost.com.
‘Queen Sugar’ Season Two Debuts with a Two-Night Premiere Event this June on OWN
Fans will get a double dose of drama this summer with the return of “Queen Sugar.” The critically acclaimed drama series from Academy award-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay (“13th,” “Selma”), executive producer Oprah Winfrey and Warner Horizon Scripted Television, returns for its second season with a two-night event on OWN Tuesday, June 20 and Wednesday, June 21 (10 p.m. ET/PT each night). The series will regularly air Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. The second season follows the Bordelon siblings struggle to move forward with their lives as they strive to honor the legacy of their father following his unexpected passing. Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner, “Unforgettable”) relocates to Saint Josephine, Louisiana to help run the family business. As the only black female sugarcane mill owner, she must fight to regain her independence while rebuilding her relationships with her estranged siblings. Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe, “Girls Trip”) struggles to transform from a formerly incarcerated single father to a land owner in the eyes of his family as he works to restore his relationship with his son’s mother. Nova (Rutina Wesley, “True Blood”) finds herself torn between her activism and her desire to be loved. Together, they must learn to rely on one another as they navigate their tenuous bonds as family. Continuing a creative initiative established in the show’s first season, series creator and executive producer DuVernay has assembled an all-female directing team for season two including: Kat Candler, DeMane Davis, Cheryl Dunye, Aurora Guerrero and Amanda Marsalis. Hulu and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution struck a new deal that grants the premium streaming television destination the exclusive subscription streaming rights to all past episodes of “Queen Sugar.” The complete first season of the series will be available to stream exclusively on Hulu beginning April 21, and subsequent seasons will become available to stream following their initial season run on OWN. The debut season achieved success with a NAACP Image Award for Best Drama Series, Television Show of the Year from both American Black Film Festival (ABFF) and African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and was a People’s Choice Awards nominee for Favorite Cable Drama. Additionally, season one averaged over 2.7 million total viewers in Live+3.
‘I Am Not Your Negro’ Arrives on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD on May 2
The 2017 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD from Magnolia Home Entertainment on May 2. The documentary is adapted from novelist and activist James Baldwin’s book, “Remember This House.” In 1979, Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing the book. At the time of Baldwin’s death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of this manuscript. “I Am Not Your Negro” revisits the assassinations of America’s most influential civil rights activists: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. The docuseries is narrated by Academy Award Nominee Samuel L. Jackson and features archive footage of James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Ray Charles, Sidney Poitier, Billy Dee Williams and a host other iconic figures. Raoul Peck directs the documentary.
