Issa Rae News

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Regina Hall will join Issa Rae and Black-ish star Marsai Martin in the Universal comedy Little.

In celebration of the nationwide release of Superfly, in theaters June 13, the 2018 American Black Film Festival (ABFF) will open with the festival's premiere screening of Sony Pictures' Superfly on that same night at the Fillmore Theater in Miami Beach, Florida. Directed by the acclaimed Director X, director of legendary music videos for such artists as Drake and Rihanna, and starring Trevor Jackson (“Grown-ish”), the film's original soundtrack has been curated and produced by Future, who also produces the film with Joel Silver (The Matrix trilogy, Die Hard).

Today, the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) continues its 22-year legacy of providing a platform for diverse storytelling and emerging filmmakers, by announcing the 2018 official selections in all screening categories. The festival returns to Miami Beach, FL from June 13-17. 

BALLERS and INSECURE Both Return to HBO This August

The hit comedy series BALLERS and INSECURE will kick off their new seasons back-to-back SUNDAY, AUG. 12 on HBO.

MTV today announced the categories and nominees for the 2018 'MTV Movie & TV Awards,' hosted by Tiffany Haddish, that celebrate the actors, stories and moments that drove pop culture in the last year. The show will once again feature non-gendered categories - a change that marked an industry-first historic shift. Airing on Monday, June 18 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT from the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles, additional categories and honors will be announced at a later date. The press credentials website will open next week.

Quirky production duo WESLEE, made up of US born Josh, and English vocalist Emma, have unleashed their deep and rhythmic new single 'Sweat Dreams', out now.

20th Century Fox shares the details for their upcoming releases that will be included in today's CinemaCon 2018 Presentation in Las Vegas, Nevada. See below for a list of titles and the synopsis for each film!

On the heels of smashing box-office records, Black Panther director/writer Ryan Coogler returns to the 22nd annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF) as one of its most distinguished alumni. He will headline the “ABFF Talk Series” on Saturday, June 16 in Miami, Florida.

The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) announced the winners of the 43 rd annual Gracie Awards to take place May 22 at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. The event will recognize such esteemed honorees as Ashley Judd, Billie Jean King, Claire Danes, Elizabeth Marvel, Hoda Kotb, Issa Rae, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Katie Couric, Megan Mullally, Pam Oliver, Reese Witherspoon, and Shirley Strawberry, along with some of the most talented women in television, radio and digital media. Local and student award winners will be recognized at the Gracie Awards Luncheon on June 27 at Cipriani in New York City.

The 22nd Annual American Black Film Festival, (ABFF) taking place in Miami, Florida June 13-19, 2018, is thrilled to announce a new talent pipeline program, in partnership with truTV: the ABFF®truTV Comedy Writers Competition.

Today, Jelani Alladin speaks exclusively with BWW about making his Broadway debut in FROZEN and bringing new twists and turns to this beloved story.

Aspire, the network that reflects, shares and celebrates the experiences of black culture and urban lifestyle, announced today that its second episode of Idols, Icons + Influencers will premiere Sunday, March 25 at 8 p.m. ET. Done in partnership with ABFF Studios, the television and production arm of the American Black Film Festival (ABFF), this dynamic new interview series brings viewers inside the lives of leading Black figures in film, television, sports, arts, music and social action, through one-on-one intimate and candid conversations. In this episode, host Chris Spencer (executive producer of Grown-ish, Real Husbands of Hollywood) sits down with actress Regina Hall (Girls Trip, Think Like a Man,The Best Man) in front of a live audience for an honest, and often hilarious conversation, filled with personal stories about the successes and setbacks in her life and career and some surprising lessons she's learned along the way. Each taping is followed by a meet and greet hospitality event where the audience can engage with the featured guest. The first interview in the series was with acclaimed director, writer and producer Malcolm D. Lee (Girls Trip, Best Man Holiday, and Barbershop: The Next Cut). The third installment will premiere this August.

Sundance Institute Announces Fellows for Two Focused Intensives

Entering its 29th year, Disney|ABC Television has selected 10 writers for their 2018 Writers Program. The 10 individuals, up from eight, mark a number the writing program hasn't seen since 2008.

This past week, Angie Thomas, author of last year's breakaway #1 New York Times Best Selling debut novel THE HATE U GIVE, revealed the cover for her brand-new novel, ON THE COME UP, out June 5, 2018. THE HATE U GIVE has spent more than 50 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers List--and many of those consecutive weeks at #1! It is going to be a movie starring  Issa Rae and Regina Hall. Among its many awards and accolades, it has most prestigiously been long-listed for the National Book Award, won both the William C. Morris Award for Debut Novel and the Odyssey Award for audiobooks, as well as receiving Honors for both the Coretta Scott King Award and the Michael L. Printz Award. Barnes and Noble will even publish an exclusive Collector's Edition next week on February 27th. ON THE COME UP is the author's highly-anticipated second novel, st in the same world as THE HATE U GIVE, and today, we have all the details on it for you! 

Mayor Eric Garcetti today joined filmmaker Ava DuVernay and producer Dan Lin to launch the Evolve Entertainment Fund (EEF), a public-private partnership aimed at creating new opportunities for communities that have been historically excluded from the entertainment industry.

The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) Honors is excited to announce that Lena Waithe (The CHI, Ready Player One) is confirmed to present at the annual ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 25th, hosted by comedian and actor Cedric the Entertainer.

I can't think of a more versatile drag performer than Willam, nor a bigger brand. Starring in multiple shows and a Lady Gaga film in the same year. A second book on the horizon. And who knows what else is in store?

Day 2 at the MACRO Lodge presented by Shea Moisture went out with a bang! Mistaken multiple times for TAO by passersby due to the overwhelming crowd waiting to get in, Midnight MACRO hosted by Charles and Stacey King, at the MACRO Lodge on Main St was Saturday night's best party. The overcapacity event brought in not only the cast of MACRO's Sorry to Bother You (Tessa Thompson, Lakeith Stanfield, Steven Yeun, Director Boots Riley) which had its Sundance premiere earlier in the evening, but also saw a number of the festival's other attendees including Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, Omari Hardwick, Anthony Ramos (She's Gotta Have It), Coleman Domingo, Lena Waithe, Danai Gurira, John Legend, Issa Rae and Insecure co-star Jay Ellis, Gabby Sidobe, and Chris Hardwick.