Currently playing globally on Netflix and in select theaters is The Black Godfather, a documentary directed by Academy Award nominee Reginald Hudlin on the life of Clarence Avant, the ultimate, uncensored mentor and behind-the-scenes rainmaker in music, film, TV and politics
For decades, the world’s most high profile entertainers, athletes and politicians have turned to a single man for advice during the most pivotal moments in their lives and careers, including Grammy Award® winners, Hall of Famers, a Heavyweight Champion of the World and two U.S. Presidents. That man is Clarence Avant.
The Black Godfather charts the exceptional and unlikely rise of Avant, a music executive whose trailblazing behind-the-scenes accomplishments impacted the legacies of icons such as as Bill Withers, Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, and Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Recently, at The American Black Film Festival, Blackfilm.com spoke exclusively with Hudlin about the making of this amazing documentary and how he got involved.
Can you talk about this project and how did you get involved with it?
Reginald Hudlin: Well, I’ve known Clarence probably my entire professional career. So I knew that his story had to be told, the minute I heard the Hank Aaron story, I knew it had to be told. And over the years, all my friends in the music business had told me these legendary tales, or talk with Clarence and hearing him tell stories. So fortunately, Nicole Avant, his daughter, convinced him to make a documentary.
Documentaries are not easy. It requires a lot of time and research as opposed to feature films. How long did it take for you to put it together?
Reginald Hudlin: It’s a three year project. We had researchers, we also had great journalists like Nelson George involved as producers. We had another, my producing partner, Byron Phillips. Clarence had negotiated all his deals when he worked in the music business. So we went in with a very solid base of knowledge. But even we quickly exceeded what we knew. As we researched and talk to people and kept finding out new, amazing stories about him.
Why name the film The Black Godfather? Is that something that everybody knows as an inside name?
Reginald Hudlin: No, that’s a name. It was very funny. For a long time I didn’t tell anyone I was making this movie. It was a secret project. So I was shooting it while shooting multiple other films. Then finally, when it was about to come, I was telling people about it. And I was at a school event. And I was telling a friend of mine, “Yeah, Clarence Avant.” I said you don’t know who he is but he’s famous. At that that very moment, Jay-Z walked by, who’s a parent at my kid’s school? And I said, “Jay, you know, Clarence, right?” and he goes, “The Godfather.” I was like, “that’s my point.”
As you were putting this together, was Netflix always on board? They seems to give filmmakers a lot of latitude when making feature films or documentaries.
Reginald Hudlin: It was truly a family affair. Given that Nicole, his daughter, was a producer on the project. Her husband is Ted Sarandos (the chief content officer for Netflix), and I really have to say Ted loves his father-in-law. That’s a very tight family. He was so excited about the movie and his attitude was, “What I’m gonna let this movie get made over at HBO? No way. This is our family story.” It was a movie made out of love. Everyone was enthusiastic. Everybody was saying we got to get it right. There’s no do overs on this one.
This doc goes back from Quincy Jones to Jay-Z. That’s a lot of years in between, so why you think this legendary guy has stood the test of time?
Reginald Hudlin: Well, I think for one thing, Clarence isn’t a guy who looks down on the young generation. He doesn’t second guest their musical thing. He doesn’t second guess people as young entrepreneurs. He doesn’t look at you and say, “look at your outfit I dismiss or you look at the way you talk, I dismiss you.” He’s willing to take everybody for who you are. If you’re serious about what you’re trying to do. If you’re a hard worker, you have heart, then he’ll take you on, and he’ll mentor you. And that willingness to accept people from where they’re coming from, as he had to be accepted. Ninth grade education from Climax, North Caroline is really is integrity on his part.
A three year journey is now in fruition. It’s now on Netflix. What do you take from here that you can take off the next project? And what would that be?
Reginald Hudlin: Well, one of the things that’s really wonderful about this film is that it crosses all barriers. I’ve gotten so much love for this. Black, white, young, old all over the world. There’s a universal that we plugged into, in terms of the comedy. It makes people cry. They feel inspired, they want to work harder. They want to change how they live their life. So sometimes by being very culturally specific, you plug into a universal that lifts all boats. And that’s the case with The Black Godfather, and I’m very proud of it.
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