Presented by ABFF Ventures, the 2020 ABFF Honors, hosted by Emmy-nominated comedian and actor Deon Cole (Black-ish), will take place February 23 in Los Angeles. Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx (“Ray”) will receive the Excellence in the Arts Award, which honors a contemporary artist whose work has amassed critical acclaim. Other Honorees include recent Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”) with the Rising Star Award and the cast of “The Wire” with the Classic Television Award.
Academy Award winner Louis Gossett, Jr. (“Watchmen,” “An Officer and a Gentleman”) will be honored with the Hollywood Legacy Award for his contributions to the entertainment industry. EmmyⓇ Award-winning producer, writer, and actor, Lena Waithe (“The Chi,” “Boomerang,” “Queen & Slim”) will receive the prestigious Industry Renaissance Award, which recognizes content creators whose exemplary work in film and television contributes to changing perceptions of people of color in the entertainment industry.
The ceremony will also announce the Movie of the Year award winner. This year’s nominees include Deon Taylor’s Black and Black, Craig Brewer’s Dolemite Is My Name, Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy, Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet, Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Melina Matsoukas’ Queen & Slim and Jordan Peele’s Us.
For Jeff Friday, who has been the founder and CEO of the American Black Film Festival for nearly 25 years, this is the 4th year of the ABFF Honors and it’s only getting stronger and stronger. In an earlier statement, Friday stated, “These films collectively represent the diversity and complexity of the African American experience in America. This has been a phenomenal year for black content and we are excited to celebrate its universal appeal and the community of creators behind it.”
In speaking exclusively with Blackfilm.com, Friday talked about the Honors ceremony, putting it together as well as his new venture, Jeff Friday Media.
What’s the challenge of putting that together and just making it happen?
Jeff Friday: The only challenge honestly is the fundraising part. One of the things that we’ve been blessed to have over the past 24 years is the fact that the talent community supports us all the time. And we’ve got an amazing group of corporate partners who have supported us, led by HBO, who’s been with us for 24 years. When you got dedicated corporations like HBO (24 years) and Cadillac (10 years) and American Airlines (20 years), it makes it a lot easier. The show is a lot of work but at the end of the day, it’s certainly worth the effort and it’s a great night. It’s what we call our Golden Globes.
Every time we have conversations about Oscars so white or whatever, and I try not to engage in those conversations. My mantra for creating the ABFF festival was because Hollywouldn’t so I try to stay true to my mantra. I give very little energy toward what Hollywood tries to do or what trends or waves are happening in Hollywood. What we try to do is be consistent and steadfast in our commitment in celebrating Black culture and Black film and entertainment. That’s what we do. We don’t worry about anyone else. We stay focus in our mission.
Was there ever a thought of having the Honors Awards before the Oscars?
Jeff Friday: Yes. So originally we were before Oscars. This is the first year that we came after the Oscars, but the Oscars moved early by a few weeks, because they were they were late February last year. So I do think that in order for us to be more squarely in the award season, we should be before the Oscars; but again I try not to follow them. What does honoring Louis Gossett Jr. has to do with the award season? Nothing, not a whole lot. The only competitive award that we have is the Movie the Year Award. That relates to the timing of the Oscars and the awards. But the rest of the show but we’re bringing back the cast of The Wire for our Classic Television Award. So I feel is a little more evergreen in that who gives a damn when that is, whether it’s the week before the Oscars or two weeks after the Oscars, we’re bringing back David Simon and the cast of The Wire to celebrate this amazing show that I don’t think really got the accolades it deserved when it was on HBO. Our show is a little different because it is more an honor show than a competitive show, I don’t think that the timing in relation to the Oscars really makes a big difference. I just don’t want to give that much power to other institutions in this business. I like to do what we do when we do it.
I remember when you honored the cast of Martin and brought them back on stage for the first time.
Jeff Friday: So far we’ve brought back the cast of Love Jones and brought everybody back on stage. For our 2nd ABFF Honors, we had the cast of Martin and brought back everyone except for Tommy Ford who had passed but we brought Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell back together which is a big moment for us. Now we’re bringing back The Wire. Love Jones, Martin and The Wire, three of our best forms of entertainment. Timeless from a generational standpoint and I don’t think the Emmys are bringing back the cast of Martin. I don’t think that would have ever happened. No disrespect to them but I don’t think the Oscars would bring back the cast of Love Jones on stage. I just don’t see that ever happening. The reason I love this show is that it gives us a chance to curate something that’s really dope and speaks to us directly without having to whine and complain about what the other shows aren’t doing. I really don’t like to complain about what other people don’t do. We loved Martin. Let’s get them back. Let’s celebrate it and we loved The Wire. How many black people didn’t watch The Wire. That was our show for a long run and it never won a single Emmy award.
There’s a whole list of shows and movies you can always honor. Is there a team that puts together the list and eventually the choice of which person, film or show to honor?
Jeff Friday: There are four producers of the show, including myself. We actually select the honorees, which include the individuals and the film in the classic film or TV show. We go through the whole process of brainstorming who’s the right person for the year? What I’m most proud of is our invitation to Cynthia Erivo six months ago. We announced her in November or late October, and as soon as we announced her that wave of Cynthia Erivo had already started. She’s on everybody’s brain all the time now, right? We couldn’t be more happy to have her there and Lena Waithe, who’s getting the Industry Renaissance Award. She’s changing the game constantly. Jamie Foxx for his long and diverse career in live comedy, music, television and film. Then there’s Mr. Gossett Jr, who I just don’t think that has received his dues as a legendary actor and he’s now at 83 years old. We’re really happy with our lineup of honorees. The nominated films are chosen the by Entertainment Journalist Committee, which you’re a part of. You guys nominate the seven films that we have for Movie of the Year.
When you’re not setting up the festival for the summer or the Honors in the winter, what else do you have going?
Jeff Friday: I just launched a production company, Jeff Friday Media about six months ago. It’s my first full fledged production shingle. Our very first project and I’m very fortunate is that we sold a project called Storm O Brooklyn, which is about the 1989 murder of 16-year-old Yusuf Hawkins in Brooklyn. He was from East Brooklyn who went into an Italian neighborhood looking to buy a used car, but some folks thought he was dating a white girl and got killed. This is around the time Spike did ‘Do The Right Thing.’ There was never a film about Yusef’s murder. It was a racially charged moment in New York history. We got the rights from his parents to do the movie, a documentary and it’s our very project under the Jeff Friday Media banner. We sold it to HBO.
I’m looking to have more feature films in production. I’m looking forward to being an independent movie producer. My goal is to do really important, socially conscious documentaries; and just films inspired by the films from the 90s that we love, like Love Jones and Love and Basketball. More dramas, romantic comedies and those sorts of things, but more geared towards smart African American audiences. Our slate will be about four movies a year. We’re gearing up for 2020-21 right now.
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