WME has signed the Estate of Nigerian bandleader, composer, political activist and Afrobeat creator Fela Kuti for management worldwide under its WME Legends division.
WME’s Legends division focuses on estate and legacy brand management with the objective of managing and growing the legacies of artists and brands. Kuti, whose music was celebrated in the 2009-2011 Broadway musical Fela!, died of complications related to AIDS In 1997.
The WME Legends team will manage Kuti’s name, image, likeness, as well as life, IP, music and publishing rights across WME and parent company Endeavor’s departments and companies worldwide in partnership with the administrators of Fela’s Estate.
Specifically, the agency says, a focus will be on projects to grow the estate’s legacy for a new generation via a definitive scripted biopic, expansion of the Fela! stage musical franchise, previously unreleased masters and unpublished songs, licensing and merchandising along with commercials,...
WME’s Legends division focuses on estate and legacy brand management with the objective of managing and growing the legacies of artists and brands. Kuti, whose music was celebrated in the 2009-2011 Broadway musical Fela!, died of complications related to AIDS In 1997.
The WME Legends team will manage Kuti’s name, image, likeness, as well as life, IP, music and publishing rights across WME and parent company Endeavor’s departments and companies worldwide in partnership with the administrators of Fela’s Estate.
Specifically, the agency says, a focus will be on projects to grow the estate’s legacy for a new generation via a definitive scripted biopic, expansion of the Fela! stage musical franchise, previously unreleased masters and unpublished songs, licensing and merchandising along with commercials,...
- 10/24/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
New Canadian Black talent faces many obstacles to making real inroads on film and TV sets, some hidden or barely acknowledged.
But music video-turned-film and TV director Julien Christian Lutz – also known as “Hotline Bling” helmer Director X – sees one barrier in plain sight and easily surmounted: offering support and guidance to emerging Black talent so they can know their way around Canadian film and TV sets.
“You walk onto those sets and into those writing rooms, they’re very white places,” Lutz, co-founder and managing partner of indie banner Fela, told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of a Toronto Film Festival panel on Sept. 11, entitled Empowering Rising Voices: Advocating for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Through Film, and presented by indeed.
Training Black talent is required across the industry, in front and behind the camera. “We have a talent pool that’s been neglected. They haven’t had the experience they need.
But music video-turned-film and TV director Julien Christian Lutz – also known as “Hotline Bling” helmer Director X – sees one barrier in plain sight and easily surmounted: offering support and guidance to emerging Black talent so they can know their way around Canadian film and TV sets.
“You walk onto those sets and into those writing rooms, they’re very white places,” Lutz, co-founder and managing partner of indie banner Fela, told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of a Toronto Film Festival panel on Sept. 11, entitled Empowering Rising Voices: Advocating for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Through Film, and presented by indeed.
Training Black talent is required across the industry, in front and behind the camera. “We have a talent pool that’s been neglected. They haven’t had the experience they need.
- 9/10/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Director X knows a thing or two about music videos. From working under Hype Williams on the set of the 1998 classic movie “Belly,” to directing music videos for hip-hop heavyweights like Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the visual artist — whose real name is Julien Christian Lutz — has been delivering outstanding visuals for three decades and counting.
Today, Lutz’s production company Fela teams up with Insight Production in announcing the launch of a new series dubbed “Video Star.” The show will explore the behind-the-scenes process and cultural impact of the most groundbreaking, innovative music videos dating back to the ’70s. It will additionally spotlight videos of the ’90s (when seven-figure budgets were introduced) leading up to modern-day examples, including some of Director X’s own innovative creations.
“We’ve been talking about doing something that really celebrates the history of music videos and gives this genre of entertainment the credit it...
Today, Lutz’s production company Fela teams up with Insight Production in announcing the launch of a new series dubbed “Video Star.” The show will explore the behind-the-scenes process and cultural impact of the most groundbreaking, innovative music videos dating back to the ’70s. It will additionally spotlight videos of the ’90s (when seven-figure budgets were introduced) leading up to modern-day examples, including some of Director X’s own innovative creations.
“We’ve been talking about doing something that really celebrates the history of music videos and gives this genre of entertainment the credit it...
- 3/30/2023
- by Shirley Ju
- Variety Film + TV
Twenty years ago, the AIDS-awareness nonprofit Red Hot unveiled Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti, a tribute record that recruited over three dozen artists in celebration of the Nigerian musician. Now, after two decades, the record has been made available on streaming for the first time.
Red Hot + Riot: A Tribute to Fela Kuti received an update for the streaming era on its newly released deluxe reissue, which features two hours of previously unreleased alternate versions and additional covers previously trimmed down to accommodate the format of a physical CD.
Red Hot + Riot: A Tribute to Fela Kuti received an update for the streaming era on its newly released deluxe reissue, which features two hours of previously unreleased alternate versions and additional covers previously trimmed down to accommodate the format of a physical CD.
- 12/1/2022
- by Larisha Paul
- Rollingstone.com
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