Having had two different managers and a pair of agents in my relatively young career, far be it from me to ever downplay the significance of achieving the rep milestone. Anyone with proximity to the business knows that attracting enough attention to build a team– a group of people who work to promote you, so you’re not fighting your career battles alone– is a sizable feat. This means the idea of ever having to part ways with members of your rep team is daunting and never taken lightly.   But there does come a time in almost every screenwriter’s career when they may have to consider making ..read more

Film and TV are often seen as being more accessible mediums than literature. But the truth is, there are enforced screenwriting rules– more stringent expectations than guidelines around poetry or prose– that can sometimes be treated as sacrosanct. Of course, this depends on who is reading the script and who has done the writing. The gatekeeping of the screenwriting world is bemoaned with a fervor that surpasses any other writing discipline. The seemingly random but staunch implementation of these rules is the source of much anxiety. After all, some screenwriters are celebrated for shirking any ..read more

Directing duo Lisa Cortés and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza teamed up to reveal the 60-year-old untold backstory of the first Black astronauts in the National Geographic documentary, The Space  Race. With compelling interviews that share the challenges and triumphs of the scientists who broke the glass ceiling for Black astronauts, one might wonder how these stories went unheard for so long.   The film brilliantly narrates the incredible yet overlooked contributions of Black astronauts to the space race. The pioneering individuals highlight their challenges and triumphs in breaking t ..read more

The storytelling business is the emotions business. It has been said that the basis of the story is character. But that adage doesn’t help without emphasizing the importance of what a character feels, not just what they do. To tell a story that moves the characters with a purpose, it’s imperative to employ a sense of emotional intelligence (or EI). Knowing what a character feels– and why– increases a writer’s chances of tapping into the audience’s emotions. More than that, a writer must know how to manage their own feelings to be the best artist they can be. Emotional Intelligence is defined a ..read more

December is here and with the new month comes new film releases! We’ve eagerly awaited many movies throughout the year which are finally being released this month and there are others that we think might also catch your interest! If you think we might have missed a gem on this list of monthly movie releases, please share it with us. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Reel Effect newsletter so you never miss our Reel Black releases! Candy Cane Lane – December 1 – Prime Video With the talents of Tracee Ellis Ross and Eddy Murphy leading the charge, get ready for a holiday spectacular that’s about ..read more

Megan Good and Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix take on the topic of child sex trafficking in a new, chilling Lifetime movie, “Buying Back My Daughter,” now playing on Hulu. This is one of many recent projects produced by and starring Megan Good. In this film, we follow a concerned mother Dana, played by Megan Good, and father Curtis, played by Roger Cross. A well-to-do family set out to find their missing daughter after she is kidnapped by sex traffickers. At first glance, they appear to be a more affluent Black family struggling to understand how this could have happened in their affluent ..read more

The Marvels, directed by Nia DaCosta, continues the story of Carol Danvers also known as Captain Marvel, portrayed by Brie Larson. A female-led, unknown cast including Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan – the M.C.U.’s first Muslim superhero – some say the odds were stacked against the film from the start.   In his interview with the Movie Business podcast, the President of Marvel Studio dismissed the idea of superhero fatigue and disinterest among audiences. He went on to emphasize the importance of the story and it being told by the right filmmakers, an ..read more

“Life of Payne” is a riveting memoir about a bank robber,   revolutionary, father, and Black Panther party financier, Winfred Wade Payne. In his tell-all memoir titled “Life of Payne” written by Clark Atlanta University Professor Dr. Joseph Jones, Dr. Jones tells Mr. Payne’s life story as a revolutionary, father,  and self-proclaimed liberator of Black people with scholarly conviction.  Mr. Payne details his troubled upbringing in Little Rock, Arkansas in the 1970s, at the dawn of the Black Panther movement, growing up with an absent father and young single mother. Payne recoun ..read more

Recently, venture capital fund “The Fearless Fund” has been taken to court and accused of “reverse racism” by conservative lobbyist Edward Blum. The conservative non-profit owner accused the fund of discrimination despite the group’s mission to address the devastating lack of venture funding for Black businesses and even more so, for Black woman-owned businesses.  Conservative lobbyist Edward Blum The complaint scrutinizes the Fearless Fund x MasterCard Partnership as Blumb alleges that the contest calling for Black women participants to apply for the program is “discriminatory” and ille ..read more

National Geographic’s documentary film, Bobi Wine: The People’s President, grippingly illustrates the story of a musician turned political inspirator, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu,  popularly known as Bobi Wine. This film gives a riveting account of Bobi’s quest to bring change to Uganda through politics and music.   The film opens with Bobi performing onstage to fans who sing every word back to him with energy and electric enthusiasm. It would soon paint a stark, opposite image of the moments that would face him in the near future. This scene speaks profoundly of a man who by com ..read more