FUNKIN' ON NUMBER ONE

Two new documentaries on black Hollywood debut March 28 on Apple TV+

The release of a new documentary by Reggie Hudlin (see below) is a grand excuse to post a long interview with him from 2012 about his passion for funk music in general and Parliament-Funkadelic in particular. From his debut feature House Party through Boomerang, the Cosmic Slop HBO series he produced and his work to this day, funk has been part of Reggie’s aesthetic, whether that meant casting P-Funk mastermind George Clinton in a movie or letting the music impact how he shaped his edits. I’ve know Reggie since he was a young post-college student finding his footing in the film industry. This interview is full of passion and quite a few gems related to P-Funk and black art.

Director REGGIE HUDLIN talks the influence of funk on his work and life.

This two part documentary series airs on Apple TV+ starting on March 28 with films by two good friends, Reggie Hudlin and Shola Lynch. Reggie looks at black male stars in Hollywood and Shola at the story of leading women. Interviews with Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry, Will Smith, Whoopi Goldberg and so many other notable performers make this one of the most star studded documentary series ever assembled. Though both detail the saga of blacks in the motion picture industry, the two films differ in tone because men have just had more access and successful in being “number one on the call sheet” aka the lead actor in a movie. So these are films capture the triumphs of big name male talent and the formidable barriers that have limited black female success, both artistically and financially. I nodded my head watching Reggie’s film and almost cried viewing Shola’s. I recommend them both as excellent explorations of American cinema history.

SHOLA LYNCH at the New York premiere of her film. Below is the trailer for the series.