Idris Elba

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
May 17 2012

Hollywood by Choice

For avid moviegoers, this is their favorite time of the year, because we’re in the beginning of the summer blockbuster films. But are there any African American actors and actresses featured in these films? Being a part of a blockbuster film often translates into more work, not necessarily lead roles, but certainly pivotal roles.   

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
Jul 7 2011

Hollywood by Choice

It’s time to laugh. Summer is in full swing, get out of the heat and laugh to your hearts content. Why not start with Jamie Foxx and “Horrible Bosses.”

Jun 27 2011

Humanitarian Award: Steve Harvey

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Chris Brown was the big winner at Sunday’s 2011 BET Awards ceremony, taking home four awards including the Male R&B Artist and the Viewers’ Choice Award.

Brown also took the award for Best Collaboration, a category where he had two nominations and was competing against ex-girlfriend Rihanna, whom Brown admitted assaulting after a pre-Grammy Award party in Los Angeles in 2009.

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
Dec 16 2010

Hollywood by Choice

 Before you know it, Christmas Day will be here. Just in case you haven’t finished your shopping, I’d like to offer these DVD suggestions to add to the video libraries of your loved ones, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
Dec 2 2010

Hollywood by Choice

Idris Elba is one of the hottest stars in Hollywood and apparently in the United Kingdom as well.

Doing double-duty, Elba just completed his first season as the star of the six-part BBC series, “Luther,” and he’s a familiar face in a number of American films and television productions, minus the accent.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
Allied Integrated Marketing recently announced it is launching a new African American marketing division, Allied Moxy. The new division will create innovative campaigns that integrate publicity, promotions, digital and grassroots outreach to speak directly to the full diversity of African American consumers. Spearheading Allied Moxy are industry veterans Kim Walters and Gloria Jones. Walters will oversee national strategy from Los Angeles, while Jones will oversee regional/local strategy from Washington, D.C. Walters brings more than a decade of marketing experience working with entertainment companies such as Codeblack Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and A&E Lifetime Television, as well as consumer brands such as KIA and L.A. Gear and awards programs such as NAACP Image Awards and Soul Train Music Awards. Jones has been with Allied for five years running publicity and promotional campaigns for clients, including Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Relativity Media, and previously worked for WBDC-TV in D.C. and MTV Networks’ Nick @ Nite and TV Land.

 

Representing Los Angeles and Center Theatre Group, Tyler Edwards, a senior at the Orange County High School of the Arts, placed third at the national finals of the fifth annual August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC) at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre in New York City. “I am thrilled . . . I’m so glad that I took it for L.A. the first time we got up . . . that’s what we’re talking about!” said an elated Edwards following the competition. Edwards, an aspiring actor, describes the soaring, lyrical monologues found in the plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson as “very inspirational,” and said prior to the Los Angeles Regional Finals of the August Wilson competition, “I would love to share a bit of that inspiration with any audience, in hopes that they leave with more appreciation than they walked in with.”

 

Georgia
Bounce TV, the nation’s first-ever over-the-air broadcast television network for African Americans, will launch a second new original comedy series, “Uptown Comic,” on June 18, immediately after the series premiere of the just-announced sitcom “Family Time.” “Uptown Comic” is a half-hour series featuring stage and skit performances by some of the hottest up-and-coming comics in the country. The show is currently in production in front of a live studio audience at the longest-running African American comedy club in the U.S.—Uptown Comedy Corner in Atlanta. Actor and comedian Joe Torry (Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam) hosts. “Family Time,” a half hour situation comedy created by Bentley Kyle Evans ( “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Martin,” “Love That Girl”) and produced by Evans and partner Trenten Gumbs is set to launch Monday, June 18, at 8 p.m. The series premiere of “Uptown Comic” will follow and be seen weekly at 8:30 p.m. (All Times Eastern.)