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Tyler Perry and Debmar-Mercury

Wayne Hubbard, Ira Bernstein, Candice Price and Mort Marcus

Tyler Perry is a household name in African American households and even though the majority of mainstream America still doesn’t quite know him, Hollywood most certainly does. Tyler Perry has had major successes as a writer, producer, director, playwright and actor. In all his endeavors, Perry's first two films Dairy of a Mad Black Woman and Madea’s Family Reunion have grossed over $113 million in the U.S. and the combined sales of his nine DVDs has surpassed 11 million units. Meet The Browns starring the Oscar nominated Angela Bassett, now playing will hopefully follow this same path. This past year Tyler Perry ventured into the broadcast arena which turned out to be another great success.

On January 30, 2008, Wayne Hubbard and Candice Price were on assignment at the National Association of Television Programming Executives, NATPE 2008 Conference and Exhibition at the Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, where over 7500 Top Media Executives come together. These executives take products such as Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne” and make major programming deals for television. Tyler Perry’s distribution partners are Co- Presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein, of Debmar-Mercury which is a worldwide production and distribution media company specializing in network, cable, syndication, VOD/Pay-Per-View and Pay TV. Tyler’s advised choice of distribution partners was a very wise one, for these two savvy executives respect, enjoy and fully understand Tyler Perry and his audience.

Tyler Perry is very particular about who he does business with and how. He does not take for granted the value of his main target market, which is African American, Christian Women, nor the dollars that they bring. He believes whole heartedly about ownership and the control of his product and image. In doing business with Hollywood, which has often turned its nose up to Black product and audiences, Debmer-Mercury Co-Presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein feel differently. Tyler Perry wanted to keep his control and ownership. Marcus and Bernstein negotiated for this along with handling his distribution. Tyler is great at his craft and they are wizard at theirs.

Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein cut a phenomenon deal in regards to how the business of broadcast television traditionally works. Their deal was unheard of in the Broadcast world. Normally a program gets picked up by a Major Broadcast Network and runs week after week. If the show succeeds without being cancelled it may make it to syndication on Cable or other networks. What happened with Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne” had never been done before. Tyler Perry had created ten episodes with his own money to do a test run on TBS last June. The ratings were remarkable for “House of Payne”, so Debmar Mercury was able to go in and cut the big dollar deal.

Tyler was to create 100 episodes upfront to be broadcast on TBS and FOX stations for the next four years. In September 2008 the FOX stations will start airing the show.  Ira Bernstein said, “House of Payne” is the first originally produced syndicated comedy to ever launch with a 100 episodes order. This is great for Independent Producers and distributors.” These guys genuinely respect and love working with Tyler Perry. Marcus and Bernstein have been in the business a long time and have made a lot of magic happen in the industry, but they light up and enjoy the entire Tyler Perry experience. “What Tyler has done is totally way out of the box thinking” Bernstein said,” it is all the way out the box and we love it, Hollywood just doesn’t get this.” Hollywood may finally be getting something, for he has been cast in a good role in the New Star Trek movie franchised due out late this year.

 

 

The Many Talents of Darrin Henson

By Vanessa Werts

Exclusive To Black Men In America.com

Remember the adage: jack of all trades, master of none?  Well sometimes it doesn’t apply.  Occasionally a person comes along with an unrelenting determination to do it all. Award winning choreographer, actor, producer, and director, Darrin DeWitt Henson is not only mastering his craft, he’s taking the entertainment industry by storm. 

In an unforgiving business where you’re only as hot as your latest project, Henson is proving that he has staying power.  Best known for his role as Lem, a reformed thug on the hit Television series Soul Food; and most recently for his leading role in the box office hit Stomp the Yard.  Other motion pictures to Henson’s credit include the HBO Film Life Support, and The Salon.  His repertoire also boasts the musical stage play Fabric of A Man, and his directing debut, Violations, starring Malik Yoba and Cynda Williams.     

A true renaissance man, Henson continues his momentum with four new projects scheduled for release later this year.  Sounds like a man too busy for much else, right?  Wrong.  Henson’s love of music and dance has set him on yet another journey.  He is currently touring cities throughout the country with his seminars and workshops, Darrin’s Dance Grooves Seminars, teaching both children and adults the importance of exercise and good health.  Henson is also promoting his second DVD, Darrin’s Dance Grooves 2.  

When Henson’s tour brought him to the Washington D.C. area, BMIA had the opportunity to sit down with him for a most intriguing interview.  During an hour long lunch at a D.C. suburb restaurant, Henson shared his approach to achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and details of his upcoming projects. 

To my pleasure, Henson was incredibly genuine, personable, and full of wisdom. 

BMIA: Tell me about your seminars and workshops.

Henson:  We have two workshops: public and private.  Anyone can attend a public workshop…they fill up pretty fast…we work with up to 75 people at the same time.  We also do workshops for groups, where a group can have me come in to conduct a workshop, and it’s not open to the public.  Our private sessions are for small groups [up to 10] or one-on-one where we focus on them and work with them individually.  We find out what their goals are…what they want to do…then we design a plan to help them get there.

BMIA: Do private workshops include help with dieting?

Henson: Loosing weight is all a state of mind…it’s about conditioning the mind.  We don’t call them diets we call them ‘livets’ because most of the time when people are dieting that’s exactly how they feel, so we want to create an infrastructure and base for people in their lives, to create a mental, physical, eating, ah…pattern for them to feel good about.  We want them to have a feel good relationship with themselves.  So we call them livets.  So we use the taste, touch, and smell sensory system…and feeling system, to work for the actual person.  If you eat something and it tastes good then we’re gonna construct it and teach you how to eat it where it actually supports your taste buds; exercise where you start to desire more of it opposed to less of it in the way that you exercise. So this is what’s important about how we approach our way of moving forward into our new selves.

BMIA: When you have a private workshop, do you tailor the program to meet each individuals needs?  

Henson: Absolutely.  What we do is, we find out how the person moves, what they’re used to doing, what their abilities are…and I have A, B & C routines; I have a beginners routine, I have a middle stage routine, and then I have an advanced routine depending on the particular individual.  If there’s a person who wants to lose weight and dance, what I do is I sit down with them and go over a number of different exercises to see what level of intensity they’re at.  I have them exercise before the actual dance class, and then we start the dance class and I construct moves that go along with their ability.  And what I have them do is…I have them do it three times a week for at least one hour.  So it’s an aerobic activity as well as a fun activity.  Everybody loves hearing music, everybody loves some form of dancing whether it’s line-dancing that you would. You do the Cupid Shuffle for an hour, you’re moving to different songs like the Cupid Shuffle or the Cha Cha Slide, Electric Slide; these are all theme dances that you do which deal with health, fitness, and exercise.  And after an hour of sliding you’re working your thighs, you’re working your abs, you’re working your arms…you move everything.  Many different things are constructed for them. 

BMIA: What age group do you work with in your dance workshops?

Henson: The demographics are ages 5-30.

BMIA: What brings you to the DC area?

Henson: I’ve been teaching in the local schools.  Yesterday, I taught at Thomas G. Pullen school [in Maryland]; today I’m doing a dance school…and basically what I’m trying to do is bring an awareness to people’s minds and bodies about goals.  In other words, if you set a goal, then that means that you have to constructively think about what your goal is, and you have to make decisions daily according to what your goal is.  If there’s something that you’re gonna do, eat, or think that doesn’t support your final goal then you have to change your way of thinking…you see?  So if you say you want to loose thirty pounds, but eating a certain type of food doesn’t support loosing that thirty pounds then you’ve got to change what you order.  If you know going to a place promotes loosing more energy opposed to gaining energy and awareness, maybe you should go to a different place.  Maybe what you watch on television, what you read…if it does not support that final goal then you have to change it…it’s about reaching that final goal.  So sometimes we have to ‘think about’ what we’re thinking about.

BMIA: It sounds like you work with kids a lot.  What drives you to work with the youth?

Henson: Pure spirits.  I think that you have to spend less time being, ah…I just think working with children is a lot easier; they’re a lot more unaffected than adults.  You have to spend a lot more time reconditioning an adults mind than a child.  And if you give them the proper information they’ll use it.  It’s kind of like, I look at children and watch them play their PS2 [Play Station 2] games or PS3 [Play Station 3] games; they just pick up and start playing.  Next thing you know they know how to play that game.  So you know dealing with a child’s mind is a whole lot easier…they’re much faster learners than adults are, because adults start to deal with fear.  Children aren’t afraid of anything. 

BMIA: Do you find that the kids are engaged when you’re there; are they hanging on your every word?

Henson: Absolutely.  What happens is you’re a person walking in there who’s known for his dance ability…you know, television series Soul Food of course…hit movie Stomp the Yard, you have a lot of influence over children and what they do.  So I look at it as you know, they listen to certain radio stations and hear certain music, watch certain television programs, but I’m in the flesh with them.  So if I can shake their hands and inspire them then I’m ah, you know…not infecting them, I’m affecting them.  So you know, that’s how I like to look at it. So I like to, at any available time participate in that gathering of the minds.  It’s powerful in an hour with them.  What you have is the children start changing their parent’s minds about things.  The child says mommy I don’t want to go to the movies, I want to go to dance class.   The next thing, the parents find after watching the dance class for an hour they say that’s fun I want to do that.  And then you’ve created a parents class.  You know I’ve done so many workshops for so long, so now we’re creating parent classes because so many parents bring their kids to the workshop and they come there from nine to five you know, when we do the big ones [workshops].  And so parents are like…we want to take classes.  So we created a three hour workshop for parents now.  That’s what Darrin’s Dance Grooves Part 2 is constructed for…it’s to do it in the privacy of your own home but with your family.  And the DVD is created where you can see both back and front of the instruction now.  And it’s broken down a whole lot slower…and I just think it’s a lot more fun than the first one.  It was great to see Britney Spears, it was fun to see N-SYNC in the first one, but right now we are living in a reality based world.  And reality means that it’s about what’s real to you.  It’s not about what Justin [Timberlake] is doing, it’s not about what Beyonce’s doing…it’s about what you’re doing.  You can take the influences of Beyonce…you can take the influences Mya, you can take the influences of Justin, of Omarion, the influences of Chris Brown, and do it [dance] in your own home. 

BMIA: Do people stop you on the street wanting to show you their moves, or what they’ve learned from the video?

Henson: We have tons of videos on Youtube, people imitating the moves…and they’re on Youtube and people are doing the dances and it’s great.  And I’m really happy about that because like I said, we’re affecting people, not infecting them.  And if it is infectious, then it’s infectious in a good way.  Because it’s changing people’s lives, and I’m very proud of that…I’m proud of that.  And you know, Darrin’s Dance Grooves 2 is still an unknown DVD, literally…it’s an unknown DVD because although we have a commercial for it, it’s an internet commercial.  We haven’t expanded to do a, ah…you know we have yet to do a national or international commercial like the first one.  Basically, the first one was a great DVD that I had created…and pitched the idea… it was a wonderful small company, they put a lot behind it…it took about 2 million dollars to advertise, you know; that’s a whole lot of money.  If we had a million of that to advertise right now, just to put it on the commercial then we’d do it and it would be as big.  You know we sold 4 million copies the first time.  I sold about a hundred thousand copies of the second one…direct sales on my Web site.  But you know we’re looking to expand.  You know those are great numbers but you know we’re looking to do a lot bigger number because we know how good the DVD is.

BMIA: You weren’t formally trained, yet you are an award winning choreographer.  What would you tell an aspiring dancer who wanted to take the same path as you? 

Henson: What I tell people is afford themselves the opportunity to have education with anything and everything…ah, Darrin’s road is going to be different from your road.  Individually I tell people whatever you feel innately, go with it because that is your road to success.  What you feel…that thing in your head that makes you go. Somebody called me two days ago and they said, man you know I’m in my third year of college and I’m really thinking about changing one of my subjects…I want to take an acting class, but I don’t know man…are there a lot of people in Hollywood who went to college and took acting class.  I said yes and no.  You know I didn’t go to college…I’m not saying that you shouldn’t, I’m just saying, Darrin didn’t…but I still ended up on the screen.  I still have three companies, I still have you know, a successful DVD; I still have creative career.  What I tell you to do is follow your heart.  I say, don’t make a living…live your making.  Because when you do that then you’re following what is given to you and what is naturally innate inside of you and you’ll never go wrong with it.  You know; if you love swimming, swim.  If you love dancing, just dance; it doesn’t cost anything.  If you love acting then read about acting; go and get a book, you know, on acting.  Go take an acting class.  Don’t worry about what the person next to you is doing.  That’s their life and those are their choices.  You follow you’re hearts desire without fear, without hesitation, without procrastination, and you’ll always advance.

BMIA: As a choreographer, actor, producer, and director, which presents the most challenge?

Henson: They all present their own challenges. Ah…as a dancer, your challenge is to dance for other choreographers, with their style on their body types, right.  As a choreographer your job is to create dance steps and stage shows that look completely different from other people’s stage shows.  As a director your job is to tell a story.  I directed a movie for Showtime called Violations, starring Malik Yoba and Cynda Williams….  You know I started a company a couple of years ago and they gave us the money and said you’ll own this movie, you direct this movie, you produce this movie…you get the company together it’s your movie, here’s the money.  It was wonderful.  And ah, you know that was one of the hardest things I had ever done in my life because you really have to live in each one of the characters heads as well as be able to tell the story in a way that’s going to be efficacious where people get it.  Ah…and as a producer your job is to get other people to believe in your project and ah, you know, win them over; so they all present their own obstacles.  I never call things problems because they’re not.  And if you do then every problem has a solution so then it’s just an obstacle.  And ah…but all of them are different and I love all of them for different reasons.

Henson went “submarine deep on us,” says Gary Johnson, founder of BMIA.com, as we switched from interview mode to dialogue, following my last question.  Before it all ended, we talked sports, history, ideologies about race, and philosophies on life, and even dropped some trivia.   Henson also showed his sense of humor when I joked him about the pompous character he played in Stomp the Yard.

You can catch Henson on the big screen this year in these high-powered films: The Express, where Henson plays Heisman Trophy winner Jim Brown; The Hustle, a comedy starring Charlie Murphy, where Henson plays a church pastor, and A Good Man is Hard to Find, starring Hill Harper, and Debra Cox.

To find out more about Darrin’s Dance Groove Seminars and workshops, or to purchase the Darrin’s Dance Grooves 2 DVD, go to http://www.darrinhenson.com.

Special thanks to Donnese Tyler for making this interview possible.

Click On Photo To Enlarge

Darrin Henson and Vanessa Werts after the interview.

BOBBY JONES COMEDY ALL STARS

VOLUME ONE

DVD SRP: $19.98
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Dr. Bobby Jones has revolutionized the gospel music world with his “Bobby Jones Gospel,” the first and only nationally syndicated black gospel television show.  His shows, “Bobby Jones Gospel” and “Video Gospel” are the longest running cable shows to date, as well as the two highest rated shows on BET.  Jones is a Grammy® winner for “I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today,” and also the recipient of the Dove Award, Stellar Awards and the Sally Martin (Mother of Gospel Music) and the Thomas A. Dorsey (Father of Gospel Music) Awards.  Bobby Jones Comedy All Stars showcases hilarious clean-content comedy for the urban audience!

 

Volume One features notable Christian comics:  Trina Jeffrie, the first lady of Christian comedy, Jonathan Slocumb, Ron Baker, Jr., LaVance Lining Andrew Ford (HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam,” BET’s “Comic Review,” TV’s “Showtime Live at the Apollo”) and Coco. 

PROGRAM INFORMATION

  • Year of Production: 2006

  • Title Copyright: © 2006 Saints of Comedy Holdings LLC.  All Rights Reserved.

  • Type: TV on DVD

  • Rating: NR

  • Genre: Comedy

  • Closed Captioned: English Closed Captioned

  • Subtitles: English and Spanish

  • Format: Full screen

  • Feature Running Time:  58 Minutes

  • DVD Audio Status: 2.0 Dolby Digital

 

Mark Hampton: Capturing a Vision, Continuing a Journey

He isn't a Michael Vick, or TI; he's not in trouble, so there won't be a front page story in the media, touting the stereotypical negatives of the black man. In spite of his stellar accomplishments, Mark is a very humble person.  He just recently received word from the committee reviewing his doctorate thesis that his argument had been accepted and of course – as most sons do – made that call to his parents, Ann and Arnold Hampton.   Family and friends were cheering and congratulating him as word spread across the country.  He was awarded his doctorate from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts and will take his final walk in June 2008.   

His thesis subject -- Reducing Exception Management Overhead With Software Restart Markers flies far over the head of the average person.   Being able to integrate high performance processor designs into the software and hardware technology of the average consumer is an over-simplified, but understandable description of his expertise and field. 

His field focuses between the hardware and software genres of computer science; somewhat like a bridge.  The trends in recent years indicate this is the key to the future of computer architecture.  Faster and faster processors were the initial trend.  That came to a halt as the paradigm shifted to figuring out ways to get performance by using software techniques and structure.  In the past, software architecture was not the emphasis. Going forward, high performance designs rely more upon the programming and compilation. 

Hampton’s post-doctorate objective is to turn his thesis into an actual product.  His vision for his future most likely lies in a startup or newly formed company versus a large established corporation.  In large corporations: you end up not getting what you want to accomplish done, management may not have your focus, you get lost in the shuffle, not really making a difference, said Mark.  I have friends who took that route and are frustrated by both the bureaucracy that comes with the territory and the inability to get an idea past a given superior who has no real idea of what they are trying to do.  His initial plan was to become a part of a startup company that was being formed in California, but the company’s formation has been put on hold until funding can be acquired.  Having been contacted by headhunters from various concerns, Hampton will not have a problem formulating a Plan B for this aspect of his future.  My job selection must meet a certain criteria -- how my position is defined, so that I have the freedom to create ideas freely and bring them to fruition, salary/benefits/employee culture, and physical location.  I want a good income, obviously, but I also want to enjoy what I’m doing and where I’m doing it, states Hampton.   My vision of my future varies.  I am very involved in my church and actually give sermons on a regular basis.  My father – Arnold Hampton – is a full time minister and when I was young, he did not want me to follow his footsteps into the ministry.  But in recent years, he has become open to the idea.  Now that I have completed my formal education, I may dedicate more time to speaking more often, perhaps as I travel I can speak to the congregations my church has throughout the country, a traveling minister, if you willTen years from now I envision myself as a minister, having spent some time in the computer architecture industry, having done a handful of things in respect to that.  I want to fill a particular need in the industry, then get bought out in a way that I benefit financially and long term.   I want to be able to say that I did that; then I can shift more to spiritual matters.   

Hampton, who is a member of the Hampton family – one of the largest families of musicians in the country -- has other talents and goals in his personal life.  My vision, for the personal part of my life, is not quite clear yet; I don’t necessarily have any specific vision for myself, except to settle down and marry.  I have been so consumed with school and church, that most of my thinking has been focused there and all else has fallen by the wayside.  I don’t even play chess anymore and I want to get back to that, get to master rank at least.  I would like to travel; there are some places I still want to visit.  Looking back, I am somewhat wistful for the experiences I had like being on stage acting and singing as I did in high school.  I always had a fascination with martial arts, specifically in Wing Chun; I do want to get back to that.  I regret that I didn’t continue with that.  But I haven’t really worked all that out for myself yet.  I have interest in a lot of different things.   

For those who have not yet realized what makes this story unique, Mark Hampton is an African American man.  I tend to see my field as colorless.  I am not sure that it is related to the industry at large or what.  My friends have had issues in their particular fields, but I have not had any covert or overt issues here, specifically in my group.  I was the sole black person in my group.  I never feel that it is a distinguishing factor, even when I go to conferences in my field -- which are held globally.  The issue is always about what you can do, not the color of your skin.

 

For aspiring high school and college students who are looking to successfully attain their respective goals, Hampton has this advice:  Have a clear vision of who you are, what your priorities are and stick to them.  Develop a support network, particularly in grad school, because you are isolated.  I had a group ACME -- Academy of Courageous Minority Engineers; we actually had a paper published as a group.  It’s important to have others with whom you can identify and understand the challenges you face.  For more information about Mark Hampton, visit his website: www.cag.csail.mit.edu/~mhampton.

Thanks to E. Joyce Moore for bringing Mr. Hampton to our attention.


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G&D:  More than Music

“There’s a message!” 

G&D is Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins; a musical group that has come together for more than a musical impact…they are equipped with a message.  They aren’t just bringing a generic message and delivery that comes a dime a dozen.  The group has done their research and they have a defined stance on multiple topics.  Is crossing over an under minded move to the organic birth of their art form?  Wassup with the wars goin’ on in the world?  When all is said and done, what will be the definition of success for them?  I had a chance to sit down with the “D” of G&D to discuss these topics and much more.

As I listened to their album, I found a contradiction in their ability to tie so many themes together.  This many sounds rarely exists on one album yet still finds the ability to dovetail the prior and track into the current one while adequately preparing you for what is to come.  While I strained to hear that “oh so obvious” stand out sound or genre grabbing thread of continuity, I realized something…I couldn’t.  As hard as I tried, the sound isn’t just R&B, Hip Hop, or even Rock.  It’s all of these things with sprinklings of World, Classical, Soul, Spoken Word and even Shakespearean-like dialects.  After a complete run through the album, one question pops up.  Where did their sound come from?

“I’m influenced by creativity and the ability to be creative.  That’s what influences me.  Steve Taylor is someone who I listen to.  He’s a White guy from Oakland.  He speaks on a John Lennon type talk.  Anyone who speaks on change is a definite influence on me, because there is a message and no way around that.”

More thought on the sound that G&D bring versus other artists in the industry, quickly cause words to pop up.  Grassroots.  Organic.  Neo-Soul.  Genre-less.  These are some of the words to define a new crop of artists that have come up in the music industry.  Some people know all about these various artists such as Cree Summer, The Dre Allen Project, Kina, Rahsaan Patterson etc.  Other people, however draw a blank look when these names are dropped.  Why?  There is a comfort with a smaller and more “dedicated” set of followers.  It seems as though they are quite content with a solid fan base, consistent income from tours and the freedom to create their own art.  The bonus; this comes without the constraints of music executives who have never set foot on stage before.

This approach has cultivated a sub industry within the music world that encourages independent releases, self funded tours and multitasking PR Management teams to run things for these artists.&nbs