Entertainment

Winfrey, ‘Selma’ Filmmaker Team on New Drama Series for OWN

Published

10 years ago

February 3, 2015

In this Jan. 6, 2015 file photo, Ava DuVernay, director of “Selma,” attends the National Board of Review awards gala in New York. DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey are creating a drama series for Winfrey’s TV channel. The project is inspired by the Natalie Baszile novel “Queen Sugar,” the OWN channel said Monday, Feb. 2. Winfrey will serve as executive producer and will play a recurring role, the first time she’s acted in a series for OWN, the network said. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah Winfrey and the director of the Oscar-nominated movie “Selma” are creating a drama series for Winfrey’s TV channel.

The project from Winfrey and filmmaker Ava DuVernay is inspired by the Natalie Baszile novel “Queen Sugar,” the OWN channel said Monday.

Winfrey will serve as executive producer and will play a recurring role, the network said. DuVernay will write, direct and executive produce the drama, her first TV series.

Former talk show queen Winfrey increased her presence on OWN’s non-scripted programs (including “Oprah Presents: Master Class”) to help steady the channel after its rocky start. The new drama will mark her acting debut on OWN after several big-screen projects and network TV movies.

Winfrey’s recent movies include “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and DuVernay’s film about the 1965 voting rights campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Selma,” which earned DuVernay a best-director nod at last month’s Golden Globe awards, is nominated for best picture and best song at the Feb. 22 Academy Awards.

Production on Winfrey and DuVernay’s drama series is scheduled to begin later this year, OWN said. The contemporary series will follow a woman who leaves her affluent Los Angeles life to move with her teenage daughter to an inherited sugar came farm in the South.

In a statement, DuVernay said she was “captivated by the idea of a modern woman wrestling with identity, family, culture and the echoes of history.”

Winfrey, who boosted many an author’s fortunes with her talk show’s book club, said she loved Baszile’s book and “immediately saw it as a series for OWN.”

A debut date for the series was not announced.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 27 – December 3, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 27 – December 3, 2024, 2024

Published

4 days ago

November 30, 2024

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Richmond Seniors Still Having a Ball After 25 Years

The Senior Winter Ball is a symbol of the Commission on Aging’s broader mission of providing enriching life experiences to the local senior community, particularly those in need of them. “Besides the social activities, we focus on issues such as housing, transportation and health,” said Michelle Hayes, the commission’s chairperson. “We get things done for our senior population.”

Published

1 week ago

November 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Myrtle Braxton (l-r), Byran H. Harris, and Michelle Hayes. Photo by Mike Kinney.

By Mike Kinney
The Richmond Standard

For a quarter century, seniors in the local community have had a prime location in the heart of the city to gather and celebrate the holidays.

That is courtesy of the annual Senior Winter Ball, which will mark a milestone this year when it takes place for the 25^th time. The gala will run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Richmond Memorial Auditorium.

The holiday tradition was started by the City of Richmond’s Commission on Aging in 1999 to entertain and celebrate seniors. The event also raises funds for local senior causes. Attendees wear their finest attire and enjoy dinner and dancing.

“It’s so exciting to see all of the gala attendees all dressed up and seeing their lifetime friends and making new friends as well,” said Bryan M. Harris, secretary for the Commission on Aging. “They will reminisce about old Winter Ball memories and at the same time create new ones.”

Richmond’s very own Chef Josephine Orozco of El Sol Catering will serve at this year’s anniversary dinner. The gala will also feature the band Top Shelf Classics, which plays hits from the 50s through the 80s and has been the gala’s annual performer for the last decade.

The Senior Winter Ball symbolizes the Commission on Aging’s broader mission of providing enriching life experiences to the local senior community, particularly those in need of them.

“Besides the social activities, we focus on issues such as housing, transportation and health,” said Michelle Hayes, the commission’s chairperson. “We get things done for our senior population.”

Myrtle Braxton, 97, has served on the commission for 17 years and is its current vice president. She says her goal is to increase the quality of life for seniors through safe social events.

“So many seniors are isolated and are sometimes forgotten by society,” Braxton said. “So, our commission is their advocate and makes sure they are not left behind.”

Tickets to the 25th Silver Anniversary Annual Senior Winter Ball are $45 per person or $360 for a table of eight. They are available in person via the Main Recreation office at 3230 Macdonald Ave., via email at csdregistration@ci.richmond.ca.us or by phone at 510-620-6793.