Gooding to Appear in ABFF’s “A Conversation With…”
New York, New York, June, 27, 2006 – The Film Life & HBO American Black Film Festival (ABFF) today announced that Oscar® winning actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. will be the subject of the festival’s highly anticipated, “A Conversation With…,” sponsored by Time Warner and Entertainment Weekly. The interview will take place during the festival’s 10th-year anniversary, scheduled from Wednesday, July 19, through Sunday, July 23, 2006, in South Beach, Miami, Florida.
In the provocative “A Conversation With…,” which will be held Saturday, July 22 in the Lincoln Theatre in South Beach, Gooding will discuss his craft, his calling and his latest projects with Entertainment Weekly writer Neil Drumming.
“Cuba Gooding, Jr. is an actor who has garnered notable and critical acclaim for his roles,” commented Jeff Friday, co-founder, of the ABFF. “We are honored to present him in this year’s “A Conversation With…” and look forward to an intriguing and engrossing discussion.”
Gooding’s performance as high-maintenance professional football star Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire (1996) won him an Oscar as best supporting actor. Starring opposite Tom Cruise, Gooding solidified his position as one of Hollywood’s most talented actors. In addition to the Oscar, Gooding was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Award, the Broadcasters Film Critics Award and the Chicago Film Critics Award for his role.
Gooding was recently seen as a rogue police officer Salim Adel, in the gritty independent film Dirty. He is starring in the film Shadowboxer, ABFF’s opening film and can be seen later this year in What Love Is and End Game.
Gooding has gained recognition in supporting roles including the Oscar® nominated A Few Good Men (1992), starring opposite Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore; What Dreams May Come, with Robin Williams; and the critically acclaimed Men of Honor, with Robert DeNiro. Gooding’s breakout role was in the classic Boyz n the Hood.
HBO is the festival’s founding and title sponsor. Wal-Mart Voices of Color is the ABFF’s presenting sponsor. Platinum level sponsors are AXE Bodyspray, Boost Mobile, Kodak, Lincoln and Time Warner.
Other corporate supporters include American Airlines, Black Enterprise, BLOCKBUSTER, Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) and VURV, Inc. (gold sponsors); CodeBlack Entertainment, The Daily Blossom Events, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Legacy Creative Group, Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council (TDC), Nickelodeon, Nielsen Media Research and Starbucks Coffee Company (silver sponsors). Media sponsors include AOL Black Voices, Black Noir, DVRepublic.com, EUR Web, 98.7 Kiss FM, KJLH, Landmine Design, Socialstep.com, S.W.A.T.S, Upscale magazine, Uptown magazine and V103, WPGC.
Entertainment Weekly, a winner of four National Magazine Awards (two for General Excellence, one for Design and one for Special Interest) is America’s leading consumer magazine of entertainment and popular culture. The magazine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., and has a guaranteed circulation rate base of 1.725 million reaching an audience of 11.4 million readers.
Home Box Office, Inc., is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., providing two 24-hour premium television services, HBO and Cinemax. Together, both networks reach approximately 40 million subscribers in the United States via cable and satellite delivery.
The ABFF is a property of Film Life, Inc., a New York-based film marketing and distribution company. Its mission is to spearhead the global distribution of quality Black films and be the leading American brand producing Black movies and related entertainment content.
Festival information, including eligibility requirements, registration and the 2006 schedule of events, is available online at www.abff.com, via phone 212.966.2411, ext. 400, or by e-mail at abff@thefilmlife.com.
Contact:
Chelsye. J. Burrows, ABFF Publicity
CJB Public Relations
212.966.2411, ext. 417, or 917.653.9440
cjbpr@comcast.net