MGM+ Orders ‘Hollywood Black’ From Justin Simien, Forest Whitaker — Docuseries Exploring The Black Experience In Cinema History

deadline.com:

MGM+ has given the green light to Hollywood Black, a documentary series from director Justin Simien that aims to serve as “a definitive chronicle of a century of the Black experience in Hollywood.” The four-part series, based on the work of scholar Donald Bogle, is being produced by Simien’s Culture Machine, Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi’s Significant Productions, and the Academy Award-winning production company RadicalMedia.  “We are thrilled to work with Justin Simien, Jeffrey Schwarz, RadicalMedia, and to expand our prolific creative partnership with Forest and Nina,” Michael Wright, head of MGM+, said in a statement. “Hollywood Black, like other recent MGM+ docuseries, is an entertaining and thoughtful look at a vital part of American culture, examining the evolution of Black cinema and the talented artists who built it.

It is a timely and relevant look at the Black experience in Hollywood.” Simien’s credits include directing the 2014 film Dear White People, as well as the Netflix dramatic series based on that film, and the comedy-horror feature Bad Hair from Neon.

Haunted Mansion, Simien’s film inspired by the Disneyland attraction, comes out this July. No release date for Hollywood Black has been announced. “Hollywood, like many American industries, was built on Black culture and Black talent, even though it excluded Black people from many of its origin stories,” Simien observed. “[Hollywood Black] seeks to illuminate present-day controversies, from #OscarSoWhite to the almost regular ‘blackface reveal’ of prominent white celebrities, told through the lens of Black individuals throughout Hollywood history.