Reginald Hudlin

From Harpo's Juke Joint

Reginald Hudlin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is also the president of entertainment for the cable channel Black Entertainment Television, and a comic book writer for Marvel Comics.

Reginald Hudlin did an interview with Jennifer Daniels, creator of the Joint. Read it here!

Reginald Hudlin President, BET Entertainment
Full name	Reginald Alan Hudlin
Birthdate	December 15, 1961
Birthplace	Centreville, IL
Website	Hudlin Entertainment

Early life

Reginald Hudlin is the youngest child of Warrington W. and Helen Hudlin. His early years were spent in East St. Louis, Ill., where his neighbors included gospel singer Brother Joe May, as well as Ike and Tina Turner.

Reginald graduated from Harvard University in 1983. While attending Harvard University, Hudlin directed a short film, "House Party" for his thesis. This work would later become the foundatios of the same-titled box office movie.

Career

Hudlin co-founded the non-profit organization, Black Filmmakers Foundation(BFF) which is headquartered in New York City.

By 1985, Reginald was gaining recognition for his works. He was named an innovator in the Village Voice because of his films, including The Kold Waves, Reggie's World of Soul and House Party. He later collaberated with Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin of Kid N' Play for a box office success comedy of his early work House Party. In early 1992, Boomerang, starring Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry, Robin Givens, and Eartha Kitt was released. The romantic comedy about a womanizing market expert who meets a feisty female executive, was hailed as a success. Hudlin's "romcom" featuring a black cast was hard for some film critics to swallow. Bebe's Kids, an animated musical comedy based on comic monologues of the late Robin Harris was co-produced by the Hudlin brothers. Reginald also contributed the screenplay and three songs for Bebe's Kids.

In 1996, he directed the film The Great White Hype, starring Samuel L. Jackson as a flashy boxing promoter who arranged a bout between a low profile boxer, played by Peter Berg against the black heavyweight champ, played by Damon Wayans. This film marked the first time Reginald worked without his brother. Around this same time, Reginald and his brother Warrington created Hudlin Bros. Inc., having signed a distribution deal with Epic Records. The company produced music videos for artists such as Heavy D and the Boyz. Reginald then returned to doing big screen films came with the 2000 release of The Ladies Man, a comedy starring Tim Meadows and Karyn Parsons. Followed by the comedy, Serving Sara which debuted in 2002 and starred Elizabeth Hurley, Cedric "The Entertainer" and Matthew Perry.

The animated satrical comedy The Boondocks based on the newspaper strip, first aired on November 8, 2005 on Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim". Reginald Hudlin, along with the strip's creator Aaron McGruder are the show's executive producers.

In June of 2005, Reginald Hudlin was became the President of Entertainment for BET. He is chief programming executive in charge of BET's music, entertainment, specials, sports, news and public affairs, film and program acquisitions, home entertainment and programming development units. ALong with serving as BET's President of Entertainment, Reginald writes The Black Panther comicbook for Marvel Comics.

Awards & Nominations

• Deauville Film Festival

Nominated for Critics Award, House Party 1990

• Independent Spirit Awards

Nominee: Best First Feature, House Party 1991 (shared with brother Warrington)

Nominee: Best Director, House Party, 1991

• Sundance Film Festival

Winner: Filmmakers Trophy (dramatic), House Party, 1990

Winner: Cinematography Award (dramatic), House Party 1990

Nominee: Grand Jury Prize (dramatic), House Party 1990

Trivia

• Had a bit role in the 1986 film She's Gotta Have It as "Dog #4".

• Has a comic book collection of over 50,000 books, many of which are considered rare.

• Married the former Chrisette Suter on 30 November 2002. They have a daughter, Helena Grace, and reside in Los Angeles.

• Is a frequent visitor to his web site's online forum.

See also

• Black Entertainment Television

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Links

• Hudlin's profile on Silver Bullet Comics
• Dynamic Forces spends "5 Minutes" with Hudlin
• [BET'S Reginald Hudlin: One Year Later], posted at Eurweb.com

Categories: American director stubs | Directors | Ivy League alumni | Illinois natives