Oscar Winner Roger Ross Williams To Produce Documentary About Ebony & Jet Magazine With Lisa Cortés Directing
It was announced today that a new documentary, THE EMPIRE OF EBONY, exploring the rise and impact of the first black media empire Ebony, is in production from Academy Award and Emmy Award Winning Filmmaker Roger Ross Williams’ (The Apollo, Life Animated) production company One Story Up. The film is directed by Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award winning filmmaker Lisa Cortés (All In: The Fight For Democracy, The Apollo). Williams and Cortés will produce and Brenda Robinson (Passing, United Skates), Linda Johnson Rice, chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, and One Story Up’s Emmy Award-Winning Geoff Martz (The Innocence Files, Between The World And Me) will serve as Executive Producers. Project presented by One Story Up and Impact Partners, in association with Chicago Media Project, MACRO, The Lagralane Group and Artemis Rising Foundation.
THE EMPIRE OF EBONY will take an expansive look at The Johnson Publishing Company and their titles Ebony and Jet. The film will explore two of the most influential publications in the history of American media all the way from the media empire’s beginnings as a small publishing company, started by John H. Johnson and Eunice W. Johnson with a five-hundred dollar loan, to its incredible growth into a publishing juggernaut with an unparalleled cultural impact. The film will chart the rise of Ebony and Jet and their growth into a brand with a readership base in the millions which has had an undeniable effect on American culture. This will include the important role these publications played in illuminating key moments in American history that went unreported by the mainstream media.
With access to Ebony and Jet’s extensive archives, the film will also chronicle the media empire's revolutionary effect on not just the media landscape but American culture, consumerism, and history. THE EMPIRE OF EBONY will provide a powerful testament to the visionary entrepreneurship of the Ebony media empire and a dynamic story of Black struggle and triumph in America.
The film marks a reunion for Williams and Cortés who previously collaborated on 2019’s Primetime Emmy Award-winning documentary THE APOLLO for HBO, which opened the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and traced the collective stories and incredible history of the legendary Harlem theater.
“The lasting impact Ebony and Jet has is undeniable. With these publications, the Johnson Publishing Company changed the entire American press landscape and completely revolutionized the way Black Americans were able to see themselves in popular culture, media, and advertising,” said Williams. “We’ve seen numerous documentaries about other publications like Rolling Stone, Playboy, and The New York Times, but have yet to see something about such dynamic magazines like Ebony and Jet. I’m thrilled to be able to collaborate with Lisa, Linda, and Brenda through One Story Up to bring this project to life and shine a well deserved spotlight on this influential and powerful media empire.”
“Growing up, Ebony and Jet were in every Black household and they were Everything! You could start reading at home and finish at the beauty parlor, barbershop, or at your Auntie's house. In the pages of these magazines I saw Black people who inspired me to dream and create. I'm so excited to be working with the incredible team at One Story Up anchored by Roger Ross Williams, and honored that Linda Johnson Rice has entrusted me to tell this story for the first time. Through a visual archive spanning seventy-five years of the most important moments of African American life, The Empire of Ebony will be a revelatory story of entrepreneurship, innovation and Black love,” said Cortés.
“I am thrilled and honored to work with these stellar filmmakers to share my family’s legacy and showcase the impact that Ebony and Jet have had and continue to have on African African culture and the world at large. I trust Roger, Lisa, and Brenda to tell this story that is both a deeply personal account of what my parents built together and a sweeping history of Black America,” said Rice.
The film is also produced by Alyse Shorland. Executive producers on the film include Regina K. Scully, Patty Quillin, Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman, Julie Parker Benello, Chaz Ebert, Jason Delane Lee, Yvonne Huff Lee, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Jenifer Westphal, Joe Plummer, Charles D. King, Poppy Hanks, Steve Cohen, Paula Froehle, Jim Swartz, Susan Swartz, David Fialkow, Nina Fialkow, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin and Katrina vanden Heuvel. Co-Executive Producers include Malcolm Jenkins, Melony & Adam Lewis, Marni Grossman and Robert Pasin.
THE EMPIRE OF EBONY is currently in production.