{"id":18326,"date":"2019-03-22T13:19:46","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T17:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/?p=18326"},"modified":"2024-08-13T14:56:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T18:56:30","slug":"black-filmmakers-actors-breaking-barriers-in-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/black-filmmakers-actors-breaking-barriers-in-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Filmmakers and Actors Breaking Barriers in Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>2018 was a <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2019\/film\/news\/black-filmmakers-female-directors-black-panther-study-1203099189\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">record-breaking year for black filmmakers<\/a> and actors, and in recent years studios have started backing more projects with diverse directors and casts. While there is still a long way to go in terms of representation, 2019 is shaping up to be another groundbreaking year.\u00a0March 22, 2019 marks the national premiere date of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/395281\/Jordan-Peele\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jordan Peele<\/a>&#8216;s second feature film,\u00a0<em>Us<\/em>.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/390882\/Lupita-Nyong'o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lupita Nyong&#8217;o<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/436850\/Winston-Duke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Winston Duke<\/a> lead the impressive cast, and\u00a0<em>Us\u00a0<\/em>has already achieved critical acclaim with a Rotten Tomatoes critical score of 95 percent.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18332\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18332\" style=\"width: 348px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18332\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ap_17062861620084-h_2017-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"348\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ap_17062861620084-h_2017-1.jpg 682w, https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ap_17062861620084-h_2017-1-300x230.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ap_17062861620084-h_2017-1-500x383.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ap_17062861620084-h_2017-1-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 348px) 100vw, 348px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18332\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jordan Peele just released his second feature film.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The film is a follow up to Peele&#8217;s 2017 horror film <em>Get Out<\/em>, which was the tenth most profitable film of 2017 and earned four Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/406396\/Daniel-Kaluuya\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Kaluuya<\/a>. Peele took home the award for Best Original Screenplay, making him the first black screenwriter to win in the category. Nyong&#8217;o and Duke both recently starred in the 2018 film <em>Black Panther<\/em>, which made history as the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. While Nyong&#8217;o is no stranger to the big screen and is an Academy Award winner for her role in the 2013 film <em>12 Years a Slave<\/em>, <em>Black Panther<\/em> was Duke&#8217;s first feature film.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18333\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18333\" style=\"width: 292px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-18333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/John-David-Washington-Spike-Lee.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"292\" height=\"244\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/John-David-Washington-Spike-Lee.jpg 2456w, https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/John-David-Washington-Spike-Lee-300x251.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/John-David-Washington-Spike-Lee-768x642.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/John-David-Washington-Spike-Lee-500x418.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 292px) 100vw, 292px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18333\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John David Washington and Spike Lee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Peele was also nominated for Best Picture at the 2019 Academy Awards with the film <em>BlacKkKlansman, <\/em>which he co-produced<em>. BlacKkKlansman<\/em> was directed by famed director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/2641\/Spike-Lee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spike Lee<\/a>, and with the film Lee won his first competitive Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film starred <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/394579\/John-David-Washington\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John David Washington<\/a> in the role of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/425751\/Ron-Stallworth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ron Stallworth<\/a>, a retired police officer who infiltrated the ranks of the KKK in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Washington is a former NFL running back who became an actor like his parents, Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington. Washington was recently cast in the lead role of an untitled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/386166\/Christopher-Nolan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christopher Nolan<\/a> project, set to be released in 2020. This casting makes Washington the first black lead to star in any of Nolan&#8217;s films.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18334\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18334\" style=\"width: 299px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/marsai_martin-publicity-p-2019.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"299\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18334\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marsai Martin is the youngest executive producer of a Hollywood production.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/396700\/Regina-King\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Regina King<\/a> won the 2019 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in <em>If Beale Street Could Talk<\/em>. The film was directed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/399664\/Barry-Jenkins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barry Jenkins<\/a>, an Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter. Following the 2019 awards season, there are several films scheduled to be released this year that are led by black filmmakers and casts. Issa Rae,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/396794\/Regina-Hall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Regina Hall<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/396971\/Marsai-Martin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marsai Martin<\/a>\u00a0are starring in an upcoming film, <em>Little<\/em>, scheduled to be released in April 12, 2019. At 14 years old, Martin is serving as an executive producer, making her the youngest executive producer on a major Hollywood production. It is directed by\u00a0Tina Gordon Chism, who is known primarily as a screenwriter.<\/p>\n<p><em>Men in Black: International<\/em> is set to be released on June 14, 2019 and is directed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/speakers\/395806\/F.-Gary-Gray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">F. Gary Gray<\/a>. Notable actor Will Smith will appear in three films in 2019: <em>Aladdin<\/em>, <em>Spies in Disguise<\/em>, and <em>Gemini Man<\/em>. Idris Elba recently hosted an episode of <em>Saturday Night Live<\/em> and will appear in two 2019 films: <em>Hobbs &amp; Shaw<\/em> and <em>Cats<\/em>. He was also announced as Smith&#8217;s replacement in the 2021 film <em>The Suicide Squad<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2018 was a record-breaking year for black filmmakers and actors, and in recent years studios have started backing more projects with diverse directors and casts. While there is still a long way to go in terms of representation, 2019 is shaping up to be another groundbreaking year.\u00a0March 22, 2019 marks the national premiere date of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[398,397],"tags":[355,709,870,678,820,1226,1801,1803,873,325,1804,326,1802,744],"class_list":{"0":"post-18326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-diversity","8":"category-entertainment","9":"tag-academy-awards","10":"tag-actor","11":"tag-actors","12":"tag-actress","13":"tag-actresses","14":"tag-african-american","15":"tag-black-filmmakers","16":"tag-breaking-barriers","17":"tag-directors","18":"tag-diversity","19":"tag-diversity-in-hollywood","20":"tag-entertainment","21":"tag-filmmakers","22":"tag-hollywood"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Untitled-1-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18326"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24523,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18326\/revisions\/24523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}