Tag Archives: George Lucas

Disney+ to Premiere Rosario Dawson’s “Star Wars: Ahsoka” Series in August

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Rosario Dawson is headed to a galaxy far, far away this August…

Disney+ has set August 23 for the premiere of Lucasfilm’s series Star Wars: Ahsoka series, which stars the 44-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American actress and activist.

Rosario Dawson, Star Wars: AhsokaSet after the fall of the Empire, Star Wars: Ahsoka follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano (Dawson) as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.

The character was co-created by George Lucas and Dave Filoni and made her debut as the Jedi apprentice and foil of Anakin Skywalker in the animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and also starred in Star Wars: Rebels.

Both of those animated series were co-created Filoni.

She is from the alien species Togruta, who are known for their large montrals and head tails, and colorful pigments.

Dawson made the live-action debut of Ahsoka Tano during the second season of Disney+’s The Mandalorian.

In her Mandalorian debut, Ahsoka informed Mando that Baby Yoda’s real name is Grogu, and that he was raised in a Jedi temple on the planet of Coruscant. When the Empire came to power following the Clone Wars, Grogu became hidden. She refuses to train him as a Jedi, but advises Mando that he take the Child to the planet Tython, where there were strong Jedi forces left from an ancient Jedi temple. It’s there that Grogu meets up with Luke Skywalker who trains him further.

In addition to Dawson in the title role, Ahsoka stars Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla, Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll, Ivanna Sakhno as Shin Hati, Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth, David Tennant as Huyang, Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Eman Esfandi appearing as Ezra Bridger.

The series is written by Dave Filoni, who executive produces alongside Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson and Carrie Beck. Karen Gilchrist is co-executive producer.

Tristan Mack Wilds to Star in Universal’s Music-Competition Feature Comedy “Praise This”

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Tristan Mack Wilds is ready for a little praise (this).

The 32-year-old half–Afro-Dominican American actor has been cast in Universal Pictures’ film Praise This, starring Chloe Bailey.

Tristan Mack WildsAlso signing on for roles include Anjelika Washington, Quavo, Druski, Koryn Hawthorne and Jekalyn Carr.

Other new cast members include newcomers Kiara Iman Heffner and Ilario Grant, Birgundi Baker, Loren Lott, Crystal Renee Hayslett, Cocoa Brown, Vanessa Fraction and Kountry Wayne.

Praise This is a music-competition feature comedy set in the world of youth choirs, announced earlier this year as one of three Universal films coming to Peacock in 2023.

Tina Gordon is directing, having penned the latest draft of the script, which was based off an original idea by The Story Company.

Earlier drafts were written by Camilla Blackett and Brandon Broussard, Hudson Obayuwana and Jana Savage—the trio otherwise known as Murder Ink.

The film falls under Will Packer Productions’ first-look deal with Universal.

Production kicked off in Atlanta in June.

Wilds currently stars in the Apple TV+ series Swagger. Past credits include the Spike Lee miniseries Miracle’s Boys, the critically-acclaimed HBO series The Wire, the award-winning feature Half Nelson, The Secret Life of Bees and George Lucas’ Red Tails.

Mariah Carey to Receive Innovator Award from African American Film Critics Association

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Mariah Carey is being recognized for her storytelling…

The African American Film Critics Association has announced that the 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer/actress will receive an AAFCA Special Achievement Award at the 12th annual AAFCA Awards, taking place April 7.

 

Carey will be honored with the Innovator Award.

Other honorees include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom director George C. Wolfe, streaming giant Netflix, and voter suppression documentary, All In: The Fight for Democracy.

Wolfe, whose remarkable career in theatre spans over 40 years, is the 2021 AAFCA Special Achievement Salute To Excellence honoree.

“Even with the challenges of the pandemic, we look forward to providing audiences with a memorable virtual experience. As with every year, this year’s honorees represent the highest standards of excellence in their fields,” said AAFCA CEO and President Gil Robertson. “Mariah Carey is often recognized as a global icon for her musical gifts, but rarely is she celebrated for the visual storytelling in her music videos and specials. As an artist who is all-hands-on-deck in not just crafting her songs, but also in curating and creating the imagery surrounding them, Carey is especially deserving of the 2021 AAFCA Special Achievement Innovator Award.”

Netflix is “the Cinema Vanguard recipient for fostering a global tribe rooted in bringing all people together across various languages and continents through the power of cinema,” said Robertson.

All In: The Fight for Democracy, directed by Lisa Cortes and Liz Garbus, who also co-produced with political titan Stacey Abrams, has been selected for this year’s Stanley Kramer Award.

Said Robertson, “In addition, we, at AAFCA, are doubly pleased that Mrs. Karen Kramer and her team chose to present this year’s AAFCA Stanley Kramer Award for Social Justice to All In: The Fight For Democracy highlighting Stacey Abrams’ personal mission to combat voter suppression.”

Past recipients of the AAFCA Special Achievement Awards include Channing Dungey, Quincy Jones, Jason Blum, Edward James Olmos, George Lucas, Sidney Poitier, Jon Chu, and Cicely Tyson.Mariah Carey

Moreno Among the Recipients of This Year’s Kennedy Center Honors

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Rita Moreno continues to rack up the honors…

The 83-year-old Puerto Rican actress, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s SAG Awards, has been announced as one of recipients of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors.

Rita Moreno

Each year, the Kennedy Center recognizes a select group for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts with the primary criterion in the selection process being excellence. Honorees are chosen by the center’s board of trustees.

Moreno, a Grammy, Oscar, Golden Globe and Tony Award winner, will be honored along side Star Wars patriarch George Lucas, actress Cicely Tyson, songwriter Carole King, conductor Seiji Ozawa and the Eagles.

Moreno, who recently guest-starred on the CW’s Jane the Virgin, has previously received the Library of Congress Living Legends Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a National Medal of Arts and the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The event, a fundraiser for the Washington, D.C. arts center, will take place on December 6. CBS will broadcast the star-studded event on December 29.

Wilds to Star in Indie Drama “Fruitvale”

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Tristan Wilds and Melonie Diaz will be working with an Oscar-winning actress in the near future.

The 22-year-old part-Dominican American actor and 27-year-old Puerto Rican American actress have joined the cast of Fruitvale, an indie drama about a true-life police shooting being produced by Forest Whitaker.

Tristan Wilds

Ryan Coogler will make his feature debut writing and directing the film, which comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding the February 26 death of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager shot and killed by a local neighborhood watch officer in Florida.

Chronicle’s Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer, who won Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Oscars for her role in The Help, are already on board for Fruitvale, which tells the story of Oscar Grant, a young black man detained on New Year’s Day 2009 by the Bay Area Rapid Transit police and shot in the back and killed. The event was captured by many cell phone cameras, with the ensuing trial and its verdict causing protests and riots.

Melonie Diaz

Wilds will play Grant’s best friend while Diaz will appear as the mother of his young child.

Wilds previously worked with Jordan on the George Lucas-produced World War II aerial war movie Red Tails. He’s also one of the stars of the CW’s 90210.

Diaz has guest-starred on several TV shows, including Person of Interest and CSI: Miami. She’s also appeared in the films Nothing Like the Holidays and Hamlet 2.