3/18/2005



The Tipping Point

The visions of black artists are influencing mainstream film and television, but no one is resting on their laurels.

By Stephen Galloway and Ray Richmond


The news broke early, and it broke fast. As industry power brokers gathered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, the former hub of independent movies that has become the entertainment world's Davos, word spread like a virus that a wee indie film shot in 24 days in Memphis, Tenn., was the picture to acquire.

That picture was "Hustle & Flow," a $3.5 million hip-hop drama that centers on a Southern pimp's struggle to become a rap star and was made by two black producers and a white director. Within hours, the little movie, which had been turned down by all funding sources before John Singleton financed it with his own money, was drawing the interest of studio toppers from Sony's Amy Pascal to Miramax's Harvey Weinstein. Days later, Paramount closed a deal to pay $9 million for "Hustle," with an additional commitment to back two other $3.5 million features that Singleton, best known for directing 1991's "Boyz N the Hood," also would produce.

It was a terrific coup for Singleton, director Craig Brewer and producer Stephanie Allain, a former Columbia executive who had been working outside the studio system since the turn of the millennium. This was not a quirky art house movie like the 2003 Sundance showstopper "American Splendor" nor a white-bread tear-jerker like "The Spitfire Grill," a low-budget film that raised eyebrows when Castle Rock purchased its rights for a fortune in 1996; rather, "Hustle" is a gritty drama set on the mean streets of one of America's roughest cities, featuring a multiethnic cast and a black hero and centering on a latter-day archetype: the contemporary pimp. The message it sent was simple: Urban was in.

Urban is in, and that word -- an industry code name for African-American -- is likely to be heard a lot more as black artists make their presence felt in Hollywood as never before. Consider:

-- Of this year's 20 acting Oscar nominations, five went to black performers (Don Cheadle, Morgan Freeman, Sophie Okonedo and Jamie Foxx, who earned two mentions) -- and Foxx and Freeman won in the lead and supporting categories, respectively. More significantly, those noms and wins hardly merited a fuss, quite a contrast from the 2002 ceremony when dual victories by Halle Berry and Denzel Washington drew reams of media attention.

only the second black performer (following Whoopi Goldberg) to host the ceremony. Rock's appointment marked clear recognition by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that what once was fringe is now mainstream.

-- Black stars rank among Hollywood's biggest boxoffice draws, including three $20 million-plus players (Eddie Murphy, Will Smith and Washington) and a host of others who possess the power to get a picture off the ground (including Berry, Foxx, Ice Cube and Queen Latifah).

-- Black actors are being cast in roles written for whites -- including Foxx in DreamWorks' "Collateral," Smith in Sony's "Hitch" and Berry in 2002's James Bond installment "Die Another Day" -- demonstrating increased colorblindness in Hollywood. "Now, it is a mantra for studios to insist that (a film's) cast be multiethnic," Singleton says. "American film has become multiethnic, and I think that is a good thing."

-- A host of movies with predominantly black casts have stormed the boxoffice recently, from 2002's "Barbershop" and its 2004 sequel to Universal's "Ray" to Sony's "Are We There Yet?" Their success has proved that black-themed films can reach well beyond the fraction of the U.S. population that describes itself as African-American.

-- Filmmakers such as Antoine Fuqua, F. Gary Gray, Singleton and Forest Whitaker are being assigned big-budget studio features and proving that they can deliver in terms of staying on budget and satisfying a broad audience.

It all adds up to a genuine shift in African-Americans' role in Hollywood, and many observers believe that has led to a tipping point in the history of blacks and show business.

"Something special is starting to happen that didn't happen when Halle and Denzel won the Oscars," producer George Tillman Jr. says. "Something bigger is happening, and I'm really excited about it."

Adds Allain: "There is always a point where you don't go back -- it happened in basketball, and it happened in baseball. We have gained acceptance in the mainstream."

If a tipping point has been reached -- and African-Americans are far from unanimous in agreeing on that -- then the reasons are complex and difficult to decipher. Some believe that the presence of blacks in other areas of entertainment, most notably music, reached such critical mass that it had to spill over into film; others say the pioneering work of such filmmakers as Melvin Van Peebles and Spike Lee proved that a market exists for black-targeted movies; still others believe that hip-hop has had such a massive effect on American culture, from music to fashion, that even the staid corporate executives who control the major studios had to take note.

But the greatest resistance to wholesale change remains on the executive front. If Hollywood has felt incentivized to open its doors to wide-ranging talent, then many of its ancillary staffers have been slow to recognize the dawning of a new age.

"The big issue and hurdle now is trying to figure out how to get (the interest of) the people in distribution overseas, and the marketing executives selling to those distributors in Germany and Japan and Australia, (to open their minds)," says Charles King, an agent at WMA who represents several prominent African-Americans.

King scorns the traditional argument that overseas territories are hostile to black stars and black culture.

"When I went to Paris last summer, I got in a cab, and the driver had a tape of hip-hop playing -- Kanye West and OutKast," he says. "But (studio) executives say there is no foreign value to these films! The distributors are 80 years old, guys who aren't in touch with what is happening in the world. When the music and the fashion are so pervasive, how can you say there aren't people in those marketplaces who want to experience (the same ethos) in filmed entertainment?"

"Ray" screenwriter James L. White believes that the recent success of films such as his and United Artists' "Hotel Rwanda" will make studio executives reconsider.

"There is a fear because of the adage that black films don't travel well, but I think a lot of the films that have come out this past year are opening up a different window into black life, showing us as humans, showing that we love, we cry and we die, just like anyone else," he says. "We are not the 'supernegroes,' neither are we the 'superbuffoons'; if the studios (realize that), then black films will travel well."

White echoes King in acknowledging that one of the largest obstacles remains the absence of black decision-makers at the major studios, a situation that puzzles even African-Americans who have done well in the industry.

"We have always thought of ourselves in this industry as talent," actor-director Bill Duke says. "In terms of show business, we emphasize the show, and the business side is neglected for the most part."

For a while, New Line and Miramax -- studios historically on the cutting edge -- hired executives such as Allain and Helena Echegoyen to develop black-targeted movies. But those efforts petered out, and now there are no black production executives at the executive vp level or above except Time Warner chairman and CEO Richard Parsons.

"There is not a single African-American president of production, and you probably only have two African-Americans at the studios that are at the vp (or senior vp) level," King says. "If you look through town, there's a number of studios that don't have a single black executive. Can't you at least have one, now that it is 2005?"

Most studios run diversity programs that attempt to foster minority talent. Sony has a vp in charge of diversity, and the studio offers internships from high school to the master's in business administration level, frequently sends representatives to minority-targeted job fairs and, according to spokesman Susan Tick, is "currently working on pilot for a mentoring program designed to launch more minorities into production and marketing."

But many insiders question the effectiveness of such programs in promoting talent at a higher level.

"The numbers that were released in 2003 do show that there has been an increase in hiring, but a lot of times they are hiring writers on the lower levels, and those same writers are not retaining the jobs from year to year," says Jackie Davis, co-chairman of the Writers Guild of America's Black Writers Committee.

Adds committee co-chairman Bonita M. Alford: "We have these programs that will pay for a (minority) staff writer for a year, and the year comes up and the production says: 'We don't have any more money. Sorry.'"

Equally notable is the absence of women from many such jobs. The higher up the ladder one looks, the more apparent that becomes -- and nowhere more so than on big feature films.

"There are more large-budget films being directed by people of color, but you are still hard-pressed to find films of significant budgets being handled by women of color," says Loretha Jones, co-chairman of the Directors Guild of America's African-American Steering Committee.

One would be equally hard-pressed to find women of color in television, where particularly in network primetime it sometimes seems as if each move forward for minority men or women is followed by a step or two back.

"We've seen great breakthroughs in terms of actors on TV, but behind the camera, we still have a long way to go," says Yvette Lee Bowser, executive producer of the UPN sitcom "Half & Half." "The bigger networks still are fearful that shows with African-American casts can't tap the mainstream. It's all a matter of risk: Executives are less likely to take a chance on new faces or different voices because it could impact their jobs if they fail."

The exception remains UPN, where white faces remain the minority and African-American comedy is king. All six of the network's comedies feature black or multiethnic casts, and all have black executive producers, a group that also includes "Girlfriends'" Mara Brock Akil and "One on One's" Eunetta T. Boone.

It should come as no shock, then, that UPN boasts seven of television's top 10 shows among black viewers.

"We've been very happy with our success; it has been great being appointment viewing for African-Americans," UPN Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff says. "Our goal has always been to be a multiethnic network and to represent the 18-34 demographic, 30% of whom are minority."

There are scattered pockets of black, Latino and Asian-American representation on other networks, but those outlets remain largely white enclaves. Diversity strides are being made, though, and ABC cites its Walt Disney Studios/ABC Entertainment Writing Fellowship program, which for 15 years has allowed minority scribes to receive instruction and access to jobs.

ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson, who received the DGA's Diversity Award in January, believes that the broadcast networks are doing a much better job vis-a-vis minority hiring than they once did.

"The awareness is there, but it really ebbs and flows," he says. "The key is to make minority individuals part of the process organically in terms of auditions, directing assignments, scripts and overall deals. The more diverse the pool is, the more diverse the product will wind up being."

Mitsy Wilson, senior vp diversity development at the Fox Entertainment Group, echoes that thought, adding that the hiring of blacks must be more about nurturing talent than a numbers game.

"We don't sit back and check mark that we have two more African-American or Latino faces than the year before -- that defeats the purpose," she says. "Fox's commitment to diversity begins with me: I've been in this job for five years, which reflects a commitment in all aspects of the company's business to be reflective of what is obviously the browning of America. In terms of the people we hire and the stories we tell, diversity must be an integral part of what we do, or we're not serving the people who buy our product."

That reality ultimately will push the networks to broaden their talent base. The smaller networks already are doing so, and insiders believe that the Big Three will soon.

"The opportunities are there for us now," Boone says. "The larger issue now for African-American writers (in particular) is getting a show on one of the traditional Big Three networks -- that's where the real strides need to be made."

That the talent is available, nobody doubts; what is missing is a system to encourage it. King believes that for the business to shift, more must be done to encourage young people to enter and to help them find a way up.

Singleton is attempting to do precisely that with a new company, New Deal Entertainment, and it is what he did after all other financiers had turned down "Hustle," a film whose history is both paradigmatic of an industry still somewhat blind to minority-produced material and emblematic of its future.

"I first read 'Hustle & Flow' in 2001, when I was working at (management firm) 3 Arts," Allain says. "It was like a spiritual awakening -- and I felt this when I read 'Boyz N the Hood.' I felt, 'I have a mission to get this movie made.'"

That mission would take four years and involve setting up the movie at USA Films, having it put in turnaround and selling a Hancock Park house in Los Angeles to pay for half of the picture's anticipated cost.

"All of the independent financing companies -- probably 50 different places -- turned us down, some multiple times," Allain says. "Every time I got a new piece of acting (talent attached) I'd go back, and they'd say no. Finally, I said, 'I am going to do what I know I shouldn't: I am going to put $200,000 in and go and find $200,000 more.' So then I called my friend John Singleton and said: 'John, I know you want to be in the mogul business. I'll put up $200,000, and you put up $200,000.' He read it and said, 'Oh, my God, we can get $8 million to make this movie!'"

A year later, even Singleton was surprised when that $8 million had not materialized. Still without funding, the director-producer took a huge step and agreed to back the movie with his own cash.

Now, Singleton is reaping the rewards and planning to make the most of Hollywood's inability to sniff the potential of "Hustle" and other films.

"This is something the studios are not paying attention to, but that's also where there is room for opportunity for people like me," he says.

It should be an opportunity for the rest of Hollywood, too. As the industry prepares to celebrate the 36th NAACP Image Awards, Singleton and others say it is time for leading executives to ask themselves why they have not made a film like "Hustle." Are the studios ready? Are the systems in place? Are the avenues available? Only when the executives can say yes to all of those questions will African-Americans be able to say they have gone past the tipping point and truly arrived.



Image Makers

Milestone program in the history of African-Americans on television.

By Chris Koseluk


Throughout the past five decades, primetime television has brought us countless series featuring memorable black performers. But every once in a while, a show comes along that goes beyond the norm and elevates awareness as it advances the genre. Following are programs we believe have helped progress the cause -- for classic television, that is.

I Spy
Debut: Sept. 15, 1965 (82 episodes)
Starring: Bill Cosby, Robert Culp

Cosby proved integration can be fun as the ultracool, ultrasophisticated half of an American undercover spy team who was just as intelligent, just as capable and just a bit funnier than his Caucasian partner, played by Culp. In doing so, Cosby also proved primetime "Negroes" could be a lot more than only butlers and maids.


Julia
Debut: Sept. 17, 1968 (86 episodes)
Starring: Diahann Carroll, Lloyd Nolan

Carroll broke the sitcom barrier with this gentle, good-natured comedy. Playing a single mother struggling to make her way in the world after the death of her husband, Carroll was usually dealing with the overly cutesy antics of her son, Corey (Marc Copage), or butting heads with her boss (Nolan). Rarely did the issue of skin color arise.


Room 222
Debut: Sept. 17, 1969 (113 episodes)
Starring: Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas, Michael Constantine, Karen Valentine

Can't we all just go to school? The faculty and student body at Walt Whitman High was so ethnically balanced, they could have served as the poster children for Jessie Jackson's Rainbow Coalition. This helped give this teen drama the edgy, hip image it wanted as it tackled the gamut of the era's relevant teen problems.


Good Times
Debut: Feb. 1, 1974 (133 episodes)
Starring: Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker, Ja'net DuBois, Ralph Carter

A spinoff of "Maude" -- which was spun off from "All in the Family" -- this Norman Lear series was the first comedy to mine laughs from the black urban experience. Florida (Rolle) and James (Amos) Evans were an inner-city couple struggling to make ends meet as they cared for their three headstrong children. Times were tough, but that didn't mean they cut corners on the love -- or the laughs.


The Jeffersons
Debut: Jan. 18, 1975 (253 episodes)
Starring: Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford

No backing away from racial issues here. After all, this was Norman Lear country, where topics like skin color were exploited for all their comedic value. "Jeffersons," a spinoff from Lear's groundbreaking comedy "All in the Family," proved to be just as popular. Most of its appeal lay in its main character, George Jefferson (Hemsley) -- an insufferable, blustery loudmouth whose outbursts were often controversial, offensive and always hilarious. Equally important was his level-headed wife, Louise (Sanford), whose good-hearted ways showed us why we should love them both.


What's Happening!!
Debut: Aug. 5, 1976 (65 episodes)
Starring: Ernest Thomas, Fred Berry, Haywood Nelson, Mabel King

This comedy centered around three teen buddies (Thomas, Berry, Nelson) who hung out together, helped each other, sometimes got into trouble and usually ended up getting involved in wacky, sitcom-type antics. Oh, yeah, and they were black.


The Cosby Show
Debut: Sept. 20, 1984 (201 episodes)
Starring: Billy Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Lisa Bonet, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam

There's always a place for a good family series in primetime -- no matter what the color. And who better to prove that than Cosby. The sitcom genre was pronounced dead when his low-keyed comedy about the Huxtable family hit the air. Soon after, TV programrs couldn't put enough funny families on their schedules. Not surprisingly, few could match the charm and wit of the original.


In Living Color
Debut: April 15, 1990 (122 episodes)
Starring: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier, Jim Carrey, Tommy Davidson, Jamie Foxx

Hip, irrelevant, cutting-edge sketch comedy. No, we're not talking about NBC's "Saturday Night Live," we're talking about the primetime program that sprung from the warped mind of Keenen Ivory Wayans. The show was never afraid to take black stereotypes head-on and wring them for all the laughs they could. Then again -- white, gay, male, female, Asian and just about any other stereotypes worthy of parody also were fair game.


Living Single
Debut: Aug. 22, 1993 (118 episodes)
Starring: Queen Latifah, Kim Coles, Kim Fields Freeman, Erika Alexander

Four successful, independent girlfriends made their way in the big city as they looked for love and happiness. Radically different in personality, often at odds, but always there when it really counted, these "sisters" were everything one could ever hope for from a primetime family.


Moesha
Debut: Jan. 23, 1996 (127 episodes)
Starring: Brandy, William Allen Young, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Marcus T. Paulk

Hey, it worked for David Cassidy, so why not Brandy? The talented, young pop singer came to television in this urban family comedy about a 16-year-old coping with things teenagers cope with at that age. Its sweet, gentle and thoughtful manner made it a hit with young girls of all shapes, sizes and colors.