Urban Entertainment solidified deals to produce five new Webtoons with directors John Singleton (BOYZ 'N THE HOOD), George Tillman Jr. (SOUL FOOD), Malcolm Lee (THE BEST MAN) and writers Chris Mack (ER) and Cheo Hodari Coker (the upcoming HBO Marion Barry biopic). Singleton and comedian Freddy Ricks will co-create HUSTLIN' HANK, a satire of New York street life. Lee will create the comedy MY BABIES' MAMAS, which focuses on one man's mishaps with the multiple mothers of his children. Tillman will team with producer Robert Teitel (MEN OF HONOR) on a yet to be announced project. Urban has already started production on THE DEVIL'S MUSIC, by Coker, and THERE GOES THE NATION, by Mack, which will debut in December along with other new series GAME, from Reggie Hudlin (THE LADIES MAN), and THOSE WHO WALK IN DARKNESS, from John Ridley (THREE KINGS, TV series THIRD WATCH). The other new productions are set to bow early next year. "It is really exciting to see that directors and writers of this caliber are seizing the opportunity that UrbanEntertainment.com provides to speak directly to their audience," said Damon Lee, Urban Entertainment president of development and production. Founder and CEO Michael Jenkinson said, "The recent failures of high-profile Internet content companies spell opportunity to us rather than doom. The business model in this space may not support massive infrastructure and bloated staffing, but I think a lean operation focused on creating productive assets rather than overhead can be very profitable." Urban Entertainment was founded in 1999 by Jenkinson, a former Fox exec, and was one of the first Web content sites to sell an online property for offline distribution. Currently, Ridley is writing a live-action script for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment based on his Urban Entertainment Webtoon, UNDERCOVER BROTHER.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
