Issue #15

OVERSEEN & OVERHEARD

LET'S GET BUSY...TBS is getting a little more flava. The network just announced a deal with George Lopez. The actor/comedian will helm a late-night talk show--one that should make Arsenio Hall proud. Lopez says he wants the show to have a spontaneous, street-party atmosphere. If Lopez lives up to his promises and TBS properly promotes the show, they could have a winner on his hands. Late-night fare has been screaming for some color since Hall left the building.

NPR'S MEA CULPA?...National Public Radio is saying it's sorry it axed the last of its African-American shows. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller recently announced that it canceled "News & Notes" because too few stations carried the Black news program. But, she added, that all other NPR shows will now "reflect the full spectrum of our listenership, or our potential listenership...we need to make sure that we are constantly thinking about a diversity of audience. So rather than having a special program that is just for African Americans or a special program that is just for Latino listeners, we needed to be represented in the fabric of everything that we do." While diversity in coverage across the board is a no-brainer, some might say this is a cop out from NPR in not putting funding into a show that could truly offer news and views from a Black perspective.

IMAGE ONLY...According to a recent report by the Associated Press, Madison Avenue in the age of Obama is already producing commercials projecting diversity and racial harmony. From Pepsi's newest spot "Refresh Anthem" to E Trade's latest commercial featuring its usual White baby and now a Black infant, the ad world is being more inclusive. But The A-List wants to ask: How many ad dollars are being spent in Black media outlets? How many creatives of color are being used?

HERE HE COMES AGAIN...It doesn't look like Tyler Perry is going to go away any time soon--or that filmgoers will tire of his Madea schtick. Hot on the heels of the success of Madea Goes to Jail, which has grossed more than $66 million in North America thus far, Perry just begun work on his next project. I Can Do Bad All By Myself, based on Perry's play of the same name, is shooting at his newly opened studio in Atlanta. Perry, of course will star and Madea will make an appearance, but he's also he's pulled in Oscar-nominated Taraji P. Henson. The Lionsgate flick is to open September 11, after which Perry will film his sequel to 2007's Why Did I Get Married?, a Easter weekend 2010 release.

BEEN THERE...The story of the Tuskegee Airmen has been told and retold. But here's a new twist; singers Ne-Yo and Jazmine Sullivan are set to hit the big screen in yet another movie about the legendary black fighter pilots, Red Tails. Taping starts soon in Prague. Good to see Black history getting film treatment, but why rehash a story that's already been put on reel. There are so many other untold stories of the African-American experience that have yet to be been told.

TRIBECA NEWS...The Tribeca Film Festival announced that the ESPN Films production of Spike Lee’s Kobe Doin’ Work will have its world premiere at the fest on April 25. The flick about Kobe Bryant is sure to attract attention. We'll be there to bring you updated news.

QUICK TAKES...Want to expose your film to the Caribbean moviegoer? Enter the Bridgetown Film Festival, happening June 10-14 this year. For info on how to submit your flick, email filmgroup@sunbeach.net or check out the fest's MySpace and Facebook pages. Deadline: April * 30...Make way for another Richard Pryor bio pick. Eddie Murphy will play Pryor and Oscar-winning writer Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) is attached to the project as well. More details on this later...If you haven't heard, David Alan Grier's attempt at satirical news show on The Comedy Channel, "Chocolate News" has been canceled...Just in: Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, and Martin Lawrence are teaming up to do a remake of the British Death at a Funeral. This could be comedy's new dream team...Whoopi Goldberg is one busy lady. "The View" co-host just announced she will joining the A&E drama, "The Cleaner," for a multi-episode part. She'll play the former spouse of Benjamin Bratt's character...If you didn't read the credits on the March 26 episode of "30 ROCK," entitled “Apollo, Apollo,” then you missed that it was directed by Millicent Shelton. You go, girl!

HIP HOP HOLLYWOOD


JERSEY IN THE HOUSE...if you're in Newark, check out the Alternate Routes Hip Hop Fest, April 1-4 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. There'll be spoken word jams, open mics and hip hop film screenings--all free. Among the film screenings, which will also include panel discussions, are The Hip Hop Project and The Other Side of Hip Hop: The Sixth Element. For more info, visit njpachiphop.org.

IT'S A BIG DADDY KANE THING...Funny how we recently mentioned the ride of hip-hop bio pics. Now comes word that the life of Big Daddy Kane will make its way to the big screen in the form of a feature-length doc called BDK. The film covers Kane's start growing up in Brooklyn to his rise to success. The film will be directed by Anthony Marshall, co-founder of the famed Lyricist Lounge.

ROBERTSON TREATMENT SYNDICATED COLUMN

Ava DuVernay reaches for her dreams in Hollywood

Achieving success in Hollywood is impossible for most and a high-hurdle even for the most talented. So imagine the rare odds of reaching that milestone, not once, but twice… Meet Ava DuVernay—known to most as “Ava the unstoppable.”

As the chief executive officer of the multi-media agency DVA Media + Marke

ting, Ava has for more than a decade played a pivotal role in the success of film projects like Dream Girls, Madagascar, Collateral and others. Through DVA she also owns and operates the nation's largest urban retail promotional network, Urban Beauty Collective and the African American blog site Urban Thought Collective. A self-described film fanatic, Ava realized her long held aspiration to become a filmmaker in 2006 with her award-winning short Saturday Night Life. Later this month, her debut full-length documentary This is the Life will be released on DVD nationwide. The Robertson Treatment recently spoke to the soon-to-be entertainment mogul to discuss her career as a real Hollywood player.

Robertson Treatment: What was your motivation for making this project?

Ava DuVernay: I always knew that I wanted to make a film chronicling the true LA hip hop movement. It's such a rich story with such colorful characters. None of it had ever been fully represented o

n screen. So when another project fell out that was supposed to be my first film, I jumped at the chance to tell this story.

RT: What did the hip-hop jam sessions at the Good Life Café represent to the community?

AD: The Good Life represented truth. Not to be too abstract about it, but we weren't hearing truth on the airwaves at the time. We were hearing a lot of "gangsta rap." The Good Life artists spoke the truth about their experiences as young people of color living in south Los Angeles. Not the studio gangsta stuff. Not the glossy, flossy stuff. Nothing contrived. The Good Life audiences didn't tolerate that. You had to come correct, be honest about what you were saying on the mic. Be hard-working at your craft. And in doing so, the truth about ourselves and our community saw the light of day. Despite best attempts by mass media and major record labels to homogenize and control that, The Good Life thrived by just being real.

RT: Your interpretation of LA's rap community is very raw, poignant and contrary to the way in which West coast rap is often viewed. Why do feel such divergent viewpoints of the genre exist?

AD: Money. Money makes people do crazy things. Makes people who aren't gangsters perpetrate as gang bangers. Makes people compromise. I can't judge that because every one has their reasons. I just want the film to show that there were people out here in LA who were true to themselves, their art. People who lived and breathed it and took it seriously. There were and are people for whom hip hop is not just about a check.

RT: Your filmography thus far includes representations of bBack life that are often not seen in cinema. Why is the telling of these stories important to you?

AD: Oh gosh, I hope I get to build a filmography that paints a fuller picture of Black Life. Not necessarily always perfect and Huxtablish. And not necessarily always demonized and violent. While those two sides exist, they are more often extremes. I'm interested in the space in between, where the majority of real folks live.

RT: You are a legend in entertainment and publicity circles as the go-to person for PR & Marketing, so given your success in that arena why are you branching out into a new career as a filmmaker?

AD: I don't know about the legend p

art, but I did okay in the PR and marketing business. I'm blessed to have enjoyed promoting the work of other filmmakers and artists. Now, I feel its time to step outside of the comfort zone of my agency. Challenge myself. Follow my whims. Why not?

RT: What sentiment or space of emotion do you want to leave people with after watching This Is Life?

AD: I hope people feel inspired to learn more about the music and the artists we follow in the film. These are wonderful people, talented people, who deserve some time in the sun. I hope this film sheds some overdue light on them.

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CONCERT REVIEWS

TINA TURNER, London If you’re lucky, once in your life you’ll get to experience what they call a living legend. I personally think the term is used too loosely but on rare occasion the title is accurately fitting. The real blessing is being in the right place at the right time in history to witness that living legend‘s star shining at its very brightest. Ms Tina Turner is without question a LIVING LEGEND and her star has never shined as bright as it did on Saturday night! When Tina took the stage at the O2 here in London for her ‘50th Anniversary Tour’, no one in the audience (median age about 50) was quite prepared for what this 69-year-old was about to deliver. Sure the show got rave reviews from critics and she is the legendary Tina Turner but you really had to be there to feel the sheer force of her performance.

She made a grand entrance descending to the stage on a small and very precarious looking platform wearing a black sequin top, black sequin knee length leggings and three-inch Christian Louboutin’s singing 'Steamy Windows'. Backed by a super tight seven-piece band, three backing singers, four exquisitely trained dancers and four performing ninjas, Tina rocked through 21-songs in two hours with fire and passion. For 'Acid Queen' the set parted to reveal TT in a flowing red dress only to be stripped away to a stunning red, beaded mini that some 20 year olds wouldn’t dare rock. She gave a theatrical performance of 'We Don't Need Another Hero’ complete with dramatic set, shoulder pads and head gear! And an equally spectacular set was erected for her performance of ‘GoldenEye’ from the James Bond film GoldenEye. But the house really came down when Tina and her crew slipped into ‘Proud Mary’ nice and easy… her energy was unbelievable and her vocals were not compromised in the least. She sounded every bit as good as she ever did. When it was time for crowd favourite, 'Nutbush City Limits' named after her birth place, Nutbush, TN, Tina climbed into a giant claw at the end of a crane like mechanism and was projected far out over the crowd as everyone screamed NUTBUSH! But all the hair, legs, hi-energy dancing and signing was only part of what moved the audience at the O2. We were standing in the presence of a woman who had been there and done it all on some legendary highs and all too public lows but her graciousness and humility was still in tact. It radiated and is what made this star shine like never before in her career. When Tina Turner took her final bow, there were thousands of fans screaming, clapping... and holding back tears – I was no exception. Tina Turner has rocked the music business for fifty years and in one performance put the Britneys, Rihannas, Beyonces and Madonnas of the world on notice because none of them are any where near to keeping up! --Melissa Ross


OREN LAVIE, L.A.
The A-List was fortunate to be one of the few to catch a recent performance of Israeli Singer, songwriter, playwright and theater director Oren Lavie at the super cool and intimate L.A. club LARGO on Wednesday, Fed. 11th. The standing room only performance was the second of two this month in the area in support of his recent U.S. album release "The Opposite Side of the Seas." He was accompanied on the small stage by a background singer and two musicians while serenading the audience with his sublime, melodic, and enchanting songs. He even felt comfortable enough midway during his performance to share with us a written work in progress; a children's book. We wish him much success and look forward to seeing him again when he performs in L. A.

SPOTTED

Morgan Freeman filmin' in Cape Town, South Africa, with Matt Damon in a Clint Eastwood-directed film called Human Factor about Nelson Mandela’s attempts to unify the country after apartheid. Freeman stars as Mandela in the Warner Bros. film.

"Law & Order" alum Jesse Martin shootin' a new NBC series in Cape Town entitled "The Philanthropist." The production is actually based in London and filming in South Africa and the Czech Republic.

Lil Wayne and actress Jalene Mack chillin' on the New Orleans set of Hurricane Season, also starring Forest Whitaker, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson and Bow Wow.

The A-List will go on hiatus following our upcoming coverage of Cannes.