Exclusive: Director Justin Simien talks MGM+ docu-series Hollywood Black
Currently playing on MGM+ is the docuseries Hollywood Black, which is an adaptation of historian Donald Bogle's 2019 best selling book of the same name. Directed and executive produced by Justin Simien, the series chronicles the history of cinema, but from a radically Black perspective. By unearthing personal stories from actors, writers, directors, and producers who fought for their place on the page, behind the camera and on the screen, the series provides a critical reexamination of a quintessentially American story—in brilliant color.
The docuseries includes Justin Simien, W. Kamau Bell, Steven Caple, Jr., Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Issa Rae, LaKeith Stanfield, Gabrielle Union, Lena Waithe, Forest Whitaker, and more
Executive Producers include Culture Machine’s Justin Simien and Kyle Laursen; Significant Productions’ Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi; RadicalMedia’s Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, and Jon Kamen; Jeffrey Swartz; and Shayla Harris, who also serves as showrunner.
A former publicist-turned-director, Simien is best known for his first feature film, Dear White People, which won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was later adapted into the Netflix series of the same name (2017–2021). He later wrote and directed the black horror comedy Bad Hair and directed the supernatural horror comedy Haunted Mansion.
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales spoke with Simien on the making of this docu-series.