The movie industry’s most anticipated night of the year was just as glitzy and glamorous as expected with Hollywood’s biggest stars gracing the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Last night, Leo finally got his beloved Oscar, the Girl Scouts sold over $65,000 worth of their signature cookies, and second-time host Chris Rock (unsurprisingly) roasted Hollywood. Hard.
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The Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity (CARD) is the first of its kind and another major blow against Hollywood representation. As the most exhaustive analysis of film and television representation released today by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, it portrays a sobering statistic of the entertainment industry’s gross lack of inclusion, no matter the media platform, from CEOs to minor characters.
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There is no doubt that African American actors have been getting the shorter end of the stick when it comes to the Oscars. Unfortunately, this is also the case for Latino, Asian and Native American actors as well. Only five Latino actors have ever won an Oscar. Only one Asian woman has ever won an acting Oscar. Click here to read more.
Lots has been said in regards to the lack of diversity issue with the Oscars. However, Spike Lee thinks that people are looking at it the wrong way. “We’re chasing a guy down the field when he doesn’t even have the ball,” Lee said using a football analogy. Lee feels the attention should be focused on the powers that be who green light projects. Click here to read more.
It’s been months since rumors and discussions began between Marvel and “Creed” director Ryan Coogler to helm “Black Panther,” but it’s finally official. The upcoming Disney/Marvel pic with Chadwick Boseman toplining as T’Challa has confirmed its first African-American director.
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If you didn’t score your Ava DuVernay Barbie on the day of release, expect to pay a hefty premium over the $65 MSRP. Despite all the fanfare and attention, DuVernay has been able to keep things in perspective. “People have really been kind talking about why they are embracing this doll, but it’s certainly not about me. It’s about the image. That’s what they’re responding to,” DuVernay said in a phone interview on Monday morning with BuzzFeed News. “It’s about balance. It’s about the full spectrum of who we are. It’s not enough even to have one black Barbie … because black women are not a monolith. We have all different kinds of hair, all different kinds of occupations, all different kinds of passions, so I think what folks might be responding to is the variance.” On top of her level head, DuVernay will be donating all her proceeds from the doll to civil rights advocacy group ColorOfChange.org and human rights nonprofit Witness. Click here to read more.
Priyanka Chopra may not be a household name in America right now, but she’s no stranger to the world of entertainment. After winning the Miss World title in 2000, Chopra has added numerous Bollywood movies to her resume and is one of the highest paid actors in the genre.
In 2012 Priyanka and her manager met Keli Lee, the executive vice president for talent and casting for ABC Entertainment Group, at a dinner party. As Ms. Lee named some of the actors she’d helped place through the company’s diversity efforts — Sofia Vergara in “Modern Family,” Sandra Oh in “Grey’s Anatomy” and Kerry Washington in “Scandal” Priyanka’s manager remarked, “Well, you haven’t done a South Asian yet, and we’re one-fifth of the population.” Well Keli Lee can now add South Asian to her list of racially diverse casting credits as ABC prepares for the premiere of Quantico next Sunday, September 27.
Click here to read the New York Times article.
Talk about irony. Season 4 of HBO’s Project Greenlight premiered on Sunday night to much controversy after Matt Damon interrupted the only African-American female filmmaker in the room to squeeze in a bit of “diversity training.”
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The premiere of hip hop biopic about rap group N.W.A., “Straight Outta Compton” debuted with a whopping $56.1 million during its first weekend. The film was set more than two decades ago, but its themes of racial tension, poverty and police brutality still speak to moviegoers living in a post-Ferguson world. “The movie tapped into something in our culture and that made it more of a must-see,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. N.W.A members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre helped produce the film about the early days of gansta rap and were integral to its marketing campaign. The film draws a diverse audience and is likely one of the most profitable films of the summer.
Read more on it here.
The much anticipated Walking Dead spinoff will follow the lives of different family units and how they cope with the zombie apocalypse in Los Angeles. One of these families will be a Salvadorian immigrant and his first-generation American daughter played by Ruben Blades and Mercedes Mason respectively. Guess the producers heard that Latinos are the largest ethnic group in California. Click here to read more. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images)
