Ghana advances to the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.
(Photo: Google Images)
Ghana advances to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals. (Photo: Google Images)
Al Jazeera is reporting that Ghana has advanced to the semi-finals for the fifth consecutive year in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. Christian Atsu scored two goals and Kwesi Appiah added another to help Ghana advance to the semi-finals with a 3-0 win over Guinea.
Ghana will face host Equatorial Guinea in the semi-finals on Thursday in Malabo. A soft penalty cost Tunisia a semi-final place on Saturday as they went from a goal up in stoppage time against Equatorial Guinea in Bata to losing 2-1 in extra time. Tunisian Football Federation president, Wadie Jary, resigned from the Confederation of African Football on Sunday in protest of the soft penalty.
Manchester City team-mates Yaya Touré and Wilfried Bony helped seal Ivory Coast’s advancement to the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations with a 3-1 win at the expense of Algeria on Saturday.
In Saturday’s other quarter-final Democratic Republic of Congo fought back from two goals down to beat Congo 4-2, with Dieumerci Mbokani scoring twice.
D’Angelo and The Vanguard appear on Saturday Night Live. (Photo Credit: NBC)
Soul singer D’Angelo returned to television with his band The Vanguard on this past weekend’s Saturday Night Live. The eccentric singer played two songs from his ‘Black Messiah’ album, “The Charade” and “Really Love.” D’Angelo kicked off the set with “Really Love.”
“For the Black Messiah track, D’Angelo wore a hoodie to salute Trayvon Martin while the Vanguard donned shirts with the words “I Can’t Breathe,” a tribute to Eric Garner. On the Studio 8H floor laid a chalk outline of a human body, D’Angelo’s nod to the song’s lyrics and Michael Brown.”
Black Messiah is D’Angelo’s first studio album in 14 years.
Nigerian actor Muna Obiekwe has died.
(Photo Credit: Google Images)
Nigerian actor Muna Obiekwe has died. (Photo Credit: Google Images)
AllAfrica.com is reporting that popular Nigerian actor Muna Obiekwe has died. Obiekwe died after a long battle with kidney disease. Obiekwe starred in the Nollywood films Blackberry Babes, Eye of the Gods, Wicked Intentions, Scarlet Woman and Samantha. He starred in mostly romance films and was once at the center of controversy when a fellow actress accused him of grabbing her chest on the set of the film Pregnant Hawkers.
The Enugu-based celebrity will be laid to rest on Feb. 3. A candlelight procession will be held in Lagos on Feb. 1.
Obiekwe will be buried at Umudioka in Anambra State, and several celebrities are expected to be at the event to pay their respects Obiekwe.
South African Apartheid era assassin Eugene 'Prime Evil' de Kook has been granted parole after serving 20 years in prison.
(Photo Credit: Google Images)
South African Apartheid era assassin Eugene ‘Prime Evil’ de Kook has been granted parole after serving 20 years in prison. (Photo Credit: Google Images)
BBC News is reporting that South African Apartheid assassin Eugene de Kock has been given parole after serving 20 years in prison. De Kock, 66, was nicknamed ‘Prime Evil’ for killing and maiming activists fighting white rule in South Africa during the 1980s and early 1990s. The former colonel was head of the notorious Vlakplaas police unit and admitted to more than 100 acts of murder, torture and fraud during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.
In 1996, De Kock was sentenced to two life terms in prison and a further 212 years for his crimes. Justice Minister Michael Masutha said De Kock would be released “in the interests of nation-building.”
The author writes:
“Sandra Mama, widow of Glenack Mama who was killed by De Kock in 1992, said she thought the minister was right in granting parole.
‘I think it will actually close a chapter in our history because we’ve come a long way and I think his release will just once again help with the reconciliation process because there’s still a lot of things that we need to do as a country,’ she told the BBC.”
Kanye West and French designer Jean Touitou.
(Photo Credit: Google Images)
Kanye West and French designer Jean Touitou. (Photo Credit: Google Images)
Marjon Carlos of Fusion is reporting that Timberland has severed ties with French fashion designer Jean Touitou over his use of the N-word during his A.P.C. Fall menswear show in Paris. A.P.C. founder Touitou “glibly” dropped the N-word multiple times to describe his “ghetto signifiers” consisting of sweatpants, oversized top coats and Timberlands. According to the article, Timberland was not very happy with Touitou’s controversial remarks or creative direction and have severed ties with the designer. Carlos reports:
“Yesterday we became aware of the offensive remarks made by Jean Touitou during his A.P.C. Fall Menswear show in Paris. We have chosen to immediately terminate our involvement with the A.P.C. brand, including the footwear collaboration we had planned for this fall.
Simply stated, this kind of language and approach is in complete contrast with our values. Timberland seeks to collaborate with designers and brands who are at the forefront of lifestyle trends; equally important, they must also share our values. We will not tolerate offensive language or racial slurs of any kind being associated with the Timberland brand.”
Touitou says that Kanye West, who was mentioned in the remarks, approved of his creative vision and supported the idea. Nonetheless, the embattled designer has issued an apology:
“’When describing our brand’s latest collaboration, I spoke recklessly using terms that were both ignorant and offensive,’ Touitou said in a written statement. ‘I apologize and am deeply regretful for my poor choice of words, which are in no way a reflection of my personal views.’”
Popular talk show host Marcia Henville was murdered.
(Photo Credit: Caribbean 360)
Popular talk show host Marcia Henville was murdered. (Photo Credit: Caribbean 360)
Caribbean 360 is reporting that popular talk show host Marcia Henville was murdered. The author writes:
“Marcia Henville, the television talk show host, whose charred remains were discovered after a fire gutted her bedroom early Saturday morning, was murdered, according to the results of an autopsy done on Monday.
The autopsy done by pathologist Dr. Eslyn Mc Donald Burris found that the 51-year-old mother of two had been beaten on the head, stabbed about the body, and her throat cut. On Saturday, fire officials had confirmed that the charred remains of the host of Point Blank aired on CCN TV 6, was found in the bedroom of her home in St. Augustine, east of here.
Her husband, who is now under police guard at the hospital, escaped with burns to his body. He had earlier told police that he and his wife had returned home early Saturday morning after attending a Carnival show in the capital.”
Henville’s husband told police that the fire may have started because of a scented candle. It has been reported that Henville was in the process of divorcing her husband and was to serve him with papers the Monday following the fire. Neighbors said they heard yelling before the fire broke out.
Supporters sent condolences out via Twitter.
This story is developing. Henville was born in East London to Trinidadian parents. She was 51.
'Disgraced' star Karen Pittman.
(Photo Credit: Deborah Lopez Lynch
‘Disgraced’ star Karen Pittman. (Photo Credit: Deborah Lopez Lynch)
Karen Pittman is a star. Not a star like Viola Davis, Meryl Streep or Julia Roberts, yet, but a star in the making. Pittman is currently co-starring in Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced. Like Akhtar’s celebrated novel American Dervish, Disgraced takes on complicated issues like religion, race, gender and identity construction in a world that claims these things no longer matter.
Pittman plays the role of Jory, a powerful lawyer, married to Isaac (Josh Radnor), a Jewish art dealer, caught in a quagmire that threatens to unhinge Amir (Hari Dhillon), a tightly wound Muslim American lawyer married to Emily (Gretchen Mol), a naïve yet calculating white American artist. Pittman steals the show from her more famous leads, delivering a powerful and impassioned performance that literally takes the air out of the Lyceum Theatre. You can literally hear a pin drop as Pittman becomes Jory, navigating her way through the precarious world of being a black women in places that don’t believe you belong there and undermine your ascent, despite your best efforts.
The character of Jory has completely disappeared when Pittman arrives for the interview dressed down. The actress, who has a recurring role on FX’s The Americans, speaks softly and thoughtfully about the character of Jory. It becomes readily apparent that the Northwestern and NYU graduate has studied the craft of acting and takes preparation very seriously. “As an artist, this play is the most true reflection of what I wanted to do as an actor. I feel like (Ayad) has a brush stroke for what this human being (Jory) should look. I don’t think that it was a coincidence that we were sort of thinking about what this woman should look like and what she represents in the play in a similar fashion, which is why in many ways it has continued to come together for audiences.”
Hari Dhillon (Amir) and Karen Pittman (Jory) star in Ayad Akhtar’s play ‘Disgraced.’ (Photo Credit: Joan Marcus)
Audiences are continuing to flock to the play that asks them to consider their role in the story. Who are these characters and who are you in relation to these characters? Pittman has an idea. “ Jory comes out of my 8-year-old imagination. I have to be a very mature person, but for a good part of my day, I get to be my 8-year-old self. Jory came right into the room and sat down next to me as I was reading. By the time I finished reading the story, she was a full-grown human being,” says Pittman, which attracted her to the role.
“I read the story and thought that the story was a conversation that everyone needs to listen to and then I went back through and read specifically who Jory was and what people were saying about Jory, that’s when she sort of just sprung to life and sat down next to me and started reading lines with me. This sort of schizophrenic, personality disorder thing that actors have – that was my process with her,” adds Pittman.
Like Pittman, her process to becoming a character is cerebral. Like Pittman and Jory, the reality of race and gender are never far away despite what some may see as a privileged life.
“I’m thinking that we’re lucky that we’re living in the 21st Century,” says Pittman as she delicately sips her tea. “My mother had to have that same level of resilience and focus as Jory. She was the daughter of a sharecropper and picked cotton in Mississippi. She had six other siblings. Her parents maybe got their education up to the sixth grade. But she lived during Jim Crow and during those times in America where women didn’t have the kind of freedoms that we have now. There’s a whole generation of African-American women who had to stay, had to you know just make choices that we don’t have to make anymore. Jory has choices.”
Pittman has choices in where she wants to live, the roles that she chooses and the extent to which she’s willing to compromise her most important role, mother. Pittman speaks of her two children fondly and often. It is clear that they are the stars of her show and that her professional decisions are always made with them and her life’s journey in mind.
“How I came to NYC is I that I have a mother who insisted on overachieving. I had a father who very much instilled in me that you can do anything. Not so much that you can do anything, but I just love you no matter what you do,” offers Pittman. The child of educators, Pittman educates herself about her characters, potential roles and performances.
Pittman states, “I am not one of those actors who cannot afford to know where I am in the world. I am one of those actors who reads a review. I am one of those actors that when my agent is telling me they really want you for this role, I say lets really look at this,” she offers. When asked if she would be willing to star in Soul Plane 3 in order to become ridiculously famous, Pittman answers honestly, thoughtfully.
“I’m not as apt to explore every avenue to put myself out there because I have two children. If someone says you’ve got to up and move to L.A., we’ll send a plane for you, I’m thinking where are my kids going to sit on that plane. By the pure fact that I’m a mom and I have two kids, I can’t really do everything or anything. That kind of keeps me grounded cause I think in some way I might lose myself without them.”
Pittman admits that at one point in her adult life, she indeed had lost herself and was chasing pavements in pursuit of superficial reasons.
“My reasons for being an actor were very superficial, very selfish. I want to be on the red carpet, I want to be cute. I want to have so many people like me. I want the director to think I’m good. I want my actor friends to think I’m good – that entire getting more and more thing“ says Pittman. “I sort of settled down and meditated and came to a space where I realized that you can’t feed two children on a juvenile, immature desire to be seen. If you’re going to keep acting, then what is your greater calling? What are you called to do? If you feel like this is your vocation – God has called you to do this, what is your greater responsibility to this talent or gift or whatever.”
Through a lot of “work,” meditation and a shift in her thinking, Pittman came to the conclusion that she wanted to be of greater service to audiences through her acting. She decided to dig deep and to “hand herself over to the collaborative process as an artist” and this is when doors opened up and things began to happen. Realizing her gift as an actress and treating it as a gift has led to many opportunities and Pittman is acutely aware of this factor.
“Once you start to get more fully connected to the life that you want, the stuff that you really desire, then what you need will keep manifesting itself,” she offers.
Pittman prepares for life in the same way that she prepares for her film, television and stage roles –paying careful attention to the details that make up who she is and aspires to be.
“For me, it’s just getting a cup of coffee, taking quiet time, working out, picking up my kids, seeing them, looking in their faces – just that thing where you are fully present in your life every single day, every moment for yourself. It’s a real challenge,” says the triple threat. “It’s the eating right, doing the stuff that you have to do in order to be connected. Oddly, once you put it out in the universe that you’re ready for whatever the world will bring and you start accepting it, you can’t stop it when it starts.”
Pittman is definitely an actress whose rising star has started and can’t be stopped.
Disgraced runs at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City through March 1.
This article was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of the award-winning news site the Burton Wire.
Snoop and his son watch tape of his game. (Photo Credit: ESPN)
Calvin ‘Snoop Dogg’ Broadus talks Snoop & Son with director Rory Karpf at the College Football Hall of Fame. (Photo Credit: Robin Lori/Steed Media)
It’s always refreshing when viewers can tune into primetime cable shows that portray male hip hop artists as mature and responsible heads of household as opposed to criminals, philanderers or superstars. Programs like MTV’s Run House,E!’s Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, VH-1’s T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle and BET’s Nellyville allow audiences to see a more intimate side to each performer off-stage.
Counter to what news headlines typically broadcast and suggest about men of color with children, each of these men lead by example. The fame and fortune takes a backseat in exchange for each artist becoming good role models. They provide their offspring with hard lessons in hard work, passion, independence and discipline.
The next addition to this trend of programs featuring hip hop talent at the helm is Snoop Dogg’s upcoming ESPN docu-series, Snoop & Son: A Dad’s Dream. The hour-long show premiered on Jan. 14, and will run over four consecutive Wednesdays, focusing primarily on Snoop’s relationship with his exceptional 17-year-old athletic son, Cordell Broadus.
Following an advanced screening of the first two episodes of Snoop & Son at Atlanta’s College Football Hall of Fame, Snoop says Cordell’s best abilities on the field are blocking and being a team player. “When I saw the potential in him being around so many athletes, I knew he had it in him,” says Snoop.
“There are certain things you have to do as a coach to pull it out of kids. If you know they can take it, you put a lot of extreme pressures on them you know they can overcome. Once he fell in love with football, it wasn’t about me no more. It was about him. That’s why I coach him so hard.”
Narrated by Mario Van Peebles, Snoop & Son’s pilot episode opens during Cordell’s junior year of high school. Snoop decided to relocate his family from California to Sin City because he’s a resident DJ at TAO Nightclub.
The series chronicled Cordell readjusting to Las Vegas as he continued to pursue sports. He is shown at summer camp conditioning, practicing during regular season, interacting with his coaches, socializing with his new friends and teammates and sifting through numerous recruitment letters.
Snoop & Son’s director, Rory Karpf, knew Cordell’s transition would make a compelling story. The Emmy- and Peabody award winner originally produced a segment on the football player for ESPN’s SportsCenter after he completed his documentary, The Book of Manning. Cordell mentioned the documentary to his dad. Snoop instantly fell in love with Karpf’s film.
The megastar thought it would be cool for Karpf to direct a similar film about his relationship with Cordell. “Rory knows how to bring out the emotion needed in this type of story,” says Snoop. Karpf, who typically makes emotional films centered around sports and father-son relationships, jumped at the chance to visually depict Snoop and Cordell’s story.
“It’s what shapes us as adults,” says Karpf following the screening. “You gotta make films that hopefully have a reflection of yourself in them. Being a father is something people can relate to. We’re all kids deep down inside. If we didn’t get certain things growing up, we long for them. If we did, it makes us sentimental.”
A great deal of Snoop & Son’s screen time captured Snoop and Cordell discussing the four-star athlete’s future. They’re either tossing the pigskin back-and-forth or on FaceTime while Cordell is at camp. A transparent Snoop briefly addressed a few trials such as his daughter, Cori, battling lupus and at one point being on the verge of a divorce from his wife because of his ego.
Famous for his hefty marijuana consumption, Snoop doesn’t even smoke around his drug-free son. “This is about me being part of my son’s life,” assures Snoop, “and just trying to make sure he understands that I love and care for him.”
Snoop Dogg at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. (Photo Credit: ESPN)
Emmy-winning cinematographer, Charlie Askew, spent 15 weeks working on Snoop & Son. He joined the project after briefly talking with Karpf at the Sports Emmys about working together. Paired with Karpf’s emotional, family-oriented storytelling is Askew’s ability to capture and edit together sped-up sequences, close up interviews, wide angles of the field and extended intimate scenes involving a father-and-son.
Referring to himself a “fly on the wall,” Askew credited his mentor, NFL Films’ late president and co-founder, Steve Sabol, for inspiring his narrative style. The director of photography says his relationships with both Snoop and Karpf took precedence over the technical aesthetics.
“When those moments happen and you’re really trying to play up the drama or a very emotional point, you want to let that play,” says Askew. “You have to know when to back down or away from the subject. [Snoop] let me very close to his family, and you can’t spoil that relationship.”
Karpf also witnessed Snoop’s transparency and ingenuity throughout Snoop & Son’s production. Unlike other high-profile celebrities he’s frequented that struggle with fame, the filmmaker says Snoop knows how to balance his personal and professional life.
Many times, Snoop went directly to coach his football team after his DJ gigs. If he’s tense when fans approach him, Snoop, Karpf says, still makes time for them. “He’s very genuine and very real,” says a lightly raspy-voiced Karpf. “He knows how to be a celebrity. He doesn’t complain. His work ethic is inspiring. I can look at him and manage more things in my life.”
Snoop & Son vividly showed Snoop as a football dad. An exceptional athlete himself prior to his recording career, he cheered, yelled and coached his son from the bleachers. The performer admitted that he used to be soft on Cordell when he first became his coach. Snoop raised the stakes once Cordell started taking football seriously.
“Now that he loves football, he’s got to love it that much more,” says Snoop, “because there are so many people that want your position who don’t have what you have. If you see it in them as a coach, it’s your job to help them hone into it. Stick to the script if that’s what you wanna do.”
Snoop is proud that he’s sold over 30 million records worldwide. He is equally proud that his football league spawned four current NFL players. He’s a surrogate father figure, periodically allowing some of the kids to crash at his home with his family. “We stay on them on-and-off the field,” assures Snoop. “We push them to be the greatest and not to be good.”
Periodically interjecting humor when he speaks, Snoop adds that his confidence is conveyed through his music. He owns his winning personality, calling himself a “sore loser.”
“I don’t like being number two or the other,” proclaims Snoop. “This world is full of good people, but there’s only a few great people. I want to be the best. When I walk into the room, I gotta be the one, and I’m gonna do something to prove I’m the one before I get there and while I’m there. That’s how I’ve always been.”
Cordell, on the other hand, doesn’t share his father’s boastful personality. He wasn’t fully aware of how beloved his dad is by his fans until he got to high school. Sports became his lane to escape from being under Snoop’s shadow.
On the field, Cordell was modest when he caught the ball or scored. “He’s content with being a role player,” says Snoop getting up from sitting on a wooden stool. “He doesn’t have to be the star or the go-to guy.”
When Cordell made a mistake, he became vulnerable and self-conscious. He apologized to his coaches. Anytime Snoop offered constructive criticism or cracked a joke, Cordell retreated and gave his dad the silent treatment. Snoop publicized that Cordell doesn’t care to be shown on television when he missed a catch or a play.
Those moments when Cordell felt like a failure, Snoop stepped in as his father, not his coach or a critic.
Snoop and his son watch tape of his game. (Photo Credit: ESPN)
“He don’t understand the dynamic of struggle,” says Snoop. “It’s a great story that shows you are human. You’re not just some all-star kid. You’re gonna go through things like this and be able to tell your story. It identifies with millions of kids all over the world who have to struggle.”
Snoop adds, “Whether he’s in football or not, it’s just a dream. Some dreams come true. Some don’t. It’s okay to dream. It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to succeed, but live your life to the fullest.”
Snoop believes that Cordell came of age when he hurt his shoulder, continued to play and lead his team to victory. That was the moment he witnessed Cordell grow from a boy into a man, the superstar offers. “You want your son to become a young adult,” says Snoop.
“It was emotional for me to see that. I saw him become all of that in one play.” Snoop hopes Cordell can apply that same level of maturity into where he will commit to play in the fall.
The fifth episode of Snoop & Son will air in mid-February after signing day. Snoop offered Cordell some advice in preparation of his signing. “Go where you’re wanted, not where you wanna go,” urges Snoop. “That’s what it is in life. You’re not given a spot. You earn a spot.”
Snoop’s and Cordell’s relationship is an example for why Karpf enjoys making his riveting brand of programs. Extremely humble, he’s not motivated at all by money. The documentarian is encouraged by storytelling, making personal connections and capturing family history during his creative process.
“You can’t have style over substance,” he says. “We really wanted this to be authentic. Snoop wanted to show all sides to the struggle.”
A reformed gangsta, Snoop has come a long way since trading his criminal rap sheet for the rap charts. He’s proud to be home more. He still jokes that regardless of where Cordell decides to enroll, he will proudly wear USC Trojans undergarments.
More importantly, Snoop knows his job as a parent is the most important role he will ever play. Maturity, Snoop believes, is inevitable. “It’s okay to change,” says Snoop. “As a man with a family, you gotta learn to put on a new jacket, walk a different walk and give the youth something to look up to.”
Karpf and Askew are both glad to add Snoop & Son to their filmography. They believe all viewers who are fathers, not just African American males, will identify with Snoop’s involvement in his family’s life.
“You’re witnessing a really cool father-and-son dynamic,” says Karpf. This is the type of show that can inspire a lot of people. He inspired me.”
Askew concurs. “People are gonna see another side of Snoop and his family,” he says. “I don’t think they’re gonna expect what they see. It really comes out good with the father-and-son relationship.”
This post was written by Christopher A. Daniel, pop cultural critic and music editor for The Burton Wire. He is also a contributing writer for Urban Lux Magazine and Blues & Soul Magazine. Follow Christopher @Journalistorian on Twitter.
Fox’s ‘Empire’ and ABC’s ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ will be represented at the 2015 aTVFest at SCAD in February.
(Photo Credit: ABC/FOX)
Fox’s ‘Empire’ and ABC’s ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ will be represented at the 2015 aTVFest at SCAD in February. (Photo Credit: ABC/FOX)
Terrence Howard is one of many premier talents slated to appear at the 2015 aTVfest, which will be held on Savannah College of Art and Design’s (SCAD) Atlanta campus, Feb. 5-7. The Oscar-nominated actor currently starring as artist-turned-music mogul Lucious Lyon on the hit Fox primetime series,Empire, is being honored with this year’s Spotlight Award.
Now in its third year, aTVfest is the highly anticipated three-day event that attracts some of television programming’s most notable performers, producers, writers, directors, agents, managers and executives. Various networks come out to screen episodes of current and debuting comedies, dramas and animated programs at various venues throughout SCAD Atlanta’s campus.
Cast and crew members then participate in post-screening Q&As to speak more in-depth before the audience about their respective shows. Other panels, breakout sessions and informative town hall discussions throughout the day are themed around topics prevalent in the television industry such as casting, reality shows, changes in digital media and technology, business and developing/pitching new shows.
Aunjanue Ellis and Cuba Gooding, Jr. star in BET’s ‘Book of Negroes.’ (Photo Credit: BET)
aTVfest also puts on a juried showcase on opening day for student filmmakers to present their new works.
Each day at aTVfest provides invaluable networking opportunities and informative moments for young people that are aspiring to pursue careers in television. It’s one signature industry event that shouldn’t be missed
This post was written by Christopher A. Daniel, pop cultural critic and music editor for The Burton Wire. He is also a contributing writer for Urban Lux Magazine and Blues & Soul Magazine. Follow Christopher @Journalistorian on Twitter.
Nzingha Stewart is on the brink of becoming a household name. The music video director turned filmmaker and producer For Colored Girls (2010)is making her mark in the television world ‘Pretty Little Liars’, ‘The Game,’ and ‘The Fosters.’ This weekend, With This Ringdebuts on Lifetime television network. Based on the novel The Vow, written by Denene Millner, Angela Burt-Murray and Mitzi Miller, the movie explores relationships between four African-American women who vow to get married within a year of attending a friend’s wedding.
Stewart, who wrote the screen adaptation and directed the film, says the movie is about more than their friendships. It’s about women waiting for the next big thing in their lives to happen in order to be happy. Executive produced by Gabrielle Union, Tracey Edmonds and Sheila Ducksworth, the bond of the women in the film is reflected in the closeness of the women working on and off-screen to get this movie made.
I caught up with Stewart, who was in Chicago conducting research for her next project, which is being co-produced by Grammy award-winner John Legend and Harpo Studios, to discuss her hopes for the film and black women’s happiness.
NB: What was it about ‘The Vow’ that made you want to make this novel into a film?
NS: When I read the novel, I thought how much I loved the friendship between the four women. There weren’t many films that had that. It’s like once every 10 years we get Waiting to Exhale or something where you can see black women being there for each other but this story was different. More than the romantic comedy aspect of it or more than just exploring male/female relationships, I like this group of women and I like to see women kind of hold the fort for each other.
NB: Your background is primarily in music video and film. Recently, you’ve been working in television on “Pretty Little Liars” and “The Fosters.” What made you decide to do this film as a television movie?
NS: We actually started out thinking of it as a TV movie. We decided to try and get this on TV because it’s so, so hard to get black movies made otherwise. We had to consider, do we want to be on this merry go round of ten years and a whole bunch of crazy notes and all of the things that make it so hard to get a black movie made when networks want and need this type of story in the TV space. We decided to go for television. I’m just as happy for people to watch movies in their homes as I am for them to watch it on the big screen. As long as they see it, I’m happy.
Brooklyn Sudano, Jill Scott, Regina Hall and Eve Jeffers star in Lifetime TV’s ‘With this Ring” directed by Nzingha Stewart. (Photo Credit: Lifetime)
NB: What is about this story that speaks to audiences?
NS: There are two audiences for this film — women waiting for something to happen in their personal lives and women waiting for something to happen in their careers. I never like those movies where it feels like women’s lives are incomplete unless they’re in a relationship, but so many women feel that their lives are incomplete unless they’re in a relationship. I call this way of thinking on the carpet in this movie and examine this idea in the film. How happy are you? If this is the end goal and one out of however many black women aren’t going to have that, then are you just going to be unhappy? Is that what we’re going to agree to? What if whatever “it” is happens in 10 years? Are you going to wait 10 years to be happy? Is that a good idea?
A lot of the same things come up at work for the character played by Regina Hall. She’s not quite where she wants to be and she’s getting in trouble at work. There are some women where the career is the thing keeping them from happiness — they’re not where they want to be or not making enough money. It’s like until I achieve this benchmark, I’m not going to be happy.
It’s not something we really talk about in this way in movies. Sometimes, it’s not what we talk about with our friends in real life, but so many people just in general are waiting for that thing that’s going to change their lives before they allow themselves to just be happy in the moment and that’s really what the movie is about. I feel like everybody has had that thing they’re waiting on that’s over their head that’s like until this happens, I’m going to ride this thing out and not fully invest in this life.
NB: You mentioned Regina Hall. Tell me what the casting was like. Did you see the cast as you were writing or was there more of a traditional casting process?
NS:We always saw Jill Scott as Vivian going into it. We originally thought about Gabrielle in the lead role as Trista, but once Mary Jane (Being Mary Jane) got started and the shooting schedule came out, both projects were literally shooting on the same days. Gabrielle was amazing and said it was a blessing to get this movie made and that it’s an opportunity to give another black actress some work, so lets go with Regina, who she’s really good friends with. I love Regina Hall, so, it was kind of a no-brainer. Lifetime brought us the idea of Eve. I love Eve and I’ve shot her music videos. She’s amazing. She’s a hard worker. She loves women. She’s awesome. Brooklyn Sudano auditioned and as soon as Brooklyn walked out, we said, so we’re done there. It was kind of easy. It just sort of came together perfectly.
NB: What are your hopes for this movie?
NS: My hope for this movie is that women see it and might examine where in their life they’re sort of holding out for happiness and realize, ‘I don’t want to do that anymore’. I’ll be really fulfilled if I get this promotion, or I’ll be really fulfilled if my career is recognized in this kind of way or I’ll be really fulfilled when I have a partner, or I’ll be really fulfilled when I buy a house — I really hope that women who are waiting to exhale realize that they have one life and need to get busy living it. I love women and I don’t want to see us doing that to ourselves anymore.
NB: What was it like working with so many dynamic women?
NS: I really love this group of women. Going into the process, you don’t know what to expect when it’s five women together, all of the time, everyday for two months. It really became the kind of thing where almost every morning, there’s a group text that goes out to somebody encouraging the women to have a great day or saying you look so pretty or how’s the baby? Almost every single morning, it was such an awesome group of women that were so supportive. They had great chemistry. They never separated and went to their trailers until the next scene because they just liked each other, so they hung out all of the time. They would stay on set, talking, and taking pictures. It was a great group of women and an amazing experience.
With this Ring premieres tonight (January 24) at 8 p.m. EST. Check local listings for channel information. #WithThisRing
This story was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder and editor-in-chief of the award-winning news site The Burton Wire. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual.
