kenya barris – The Comedy Bureau

American Black Film Festival to Launch Its Own Virtual Comedy Festival & Is Currently Taking Submissions

January 29, 2021

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Just because many comedy festivals are taking this year/another year off or maybe just doing a very scaled down virtual version of their festivities, doesn’t mean that some sort of new comedy festivals won’t come about.

Cast in point, the American Black Film Festival is launching their very first comedy festival to highlight comedians and comedy writers that are black and brown from Jun. 2nd-6th. Everything from stand-up to sketch to film, TV, and podcasts will be highlighted and Kenya Barris will even serve as the ambassador of this very 1st Annual ABFF Comedy Festival.

If you’re an “emerging black and brown comedic talent, creators, and performing artist” that has been waiting for something like this to come around, you’ll be happy to know that there’s an open call for submissions into one of the four competitions they have slated for this festival. The deadline to submit is Mar. 8th, FYI.

Get more info, buy early bird passes that go on sale on Feb. 8th, and more at abff.com/comedyfest/.

Kenya Barris Will Be Latest to Attempt a Richard Pryor Biopic

October 26, 2020

News

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(via IndieWire)

The last attempt at officially making a biopic surrounding the life of comedy legend Richard Pryor was four years ago when Lee Daniels and The Weinstein Company tried to make a go of it. That was such a different time, place, universe, etc., but, of course, that ended up stalled like so many other Pryor biopic projects.

Still, the greatness of Richard Pryor along with the epic life that he lived is ripe for such a feature film treatment. That’s why Kenya Barris along with MGM are going to be the latest to try adapt Pryor’s life for the big screen (well, who knows what sort of screen you’ll be watching this on if and when this movie gets made).

There are no other details at this time, but one can only hope that Barris and MGM can and will pull it off.

This just in: MGM and Kenya Barris are teaming up for a biopic on comedian Richard Pryor. Barris will write, produce, and direct.

"To me, this is a film about that voice, the journey that shaped it, and what it took for it to come to be.” @funnyblackdude pic.twitter.com/Em526J3RgD

— IndieWire (@IndieWire) October 26, 2020

JFL Montreal Announces Line-Up For Their First Online Edition

September 9, 2020

News

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JFL Montreal, one of the biggest, longest running comedy festivals in the world, is pushing forward with having a festival of some kind this year. It won’t be quite the limited capacity, mask-wearing attempt at a festival that the Venice Film Festival just had, but JFL has assembled a handful of big stars including Hannah Gadsby, Nicole Byer, Kenya Barris, Amber Ruffin, and Andy Kindler for what will be the very first online JFL Montreal Comedy Festival. Oh yeah, it also will be free.

It’s a much, much more trim version of what is normally just over a week of the main festivities, but a showcase of Variety’s Top 10 Comics to Watch will still be happening and the “Creators” category of New Faces will be featured (doing live stand-up or sketch over Zoom probably wasn’t the best way to feature New Faces). Andy Kindler on the line-up most certainly means that there will be another annual State of the Industry Address from Kindler (one of JFL’s biggest highlights for our money) and what Andy has to say about the state of comedy this year will very likely be even more unforgettable than it normally is.

This virtual edition of JFL Montreal will be streaming for FREE on Fri. Oct. 9th & Sat. Oct. 10th right here. No need to RSVP or get one of several different festival badges.

Netflix Orders Astronomy Club Variety Sketch Series

July 17, 2019

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Netflix Orders Astronomy Club Variety Sketch Series

The long running NYC based comedy group Astronomy Club will now be the latest sketch series on TV via Netflix, thanks to Kenya Barris. Barris struck a deal with Netflix to bring their sharp, yet silly sensibilities into a full-fledged series.

See Astronomy Club in action with one of the best sketches: A Meeting of Great Black Inventors.

Also, with this announcement that the world of sketch comedy on TV will be as diverse as it has ever been with Arturo Castro’s Alternatino, Robin Thede and Issa Rae’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, and now, Astronomy Club.

Coming to America Sequel That Will Be Written by Kenya Barris and Directed by Jonathan Levine Moving Forward at Paramount Pictures

September 28, 2017

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Coming to America Sequel That Will Be Written by Kenya Barris and Directed by Jonathan Levine Moving Forward at Paramount Pictures

Remakes/reboots/sequels/etc. are still the order of the day it would seem.

One can only hope the talents of Barris and Levine can make this Coming to America sequel live up to the nostalgia of the original Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall blockbuster 30 years later and also be something that can stand on its own comedic merits.

No word on who will be attached to star, but before you start imagining who might be a good pairing, the time period of the sequel, either picking up right where they left off in 80s/90s or, more likely, in modern day 2018 has yet to be announced.

For our money, we’d like maybe see Baron Vaughn involved somewhere in this.

Both Kenya Barris and Jill Soloway Re-up Their Overall Deals at ABC and Amazon Studios Respectively

May 8, 2017

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(via Deadline)

The creative heads behind black-ish as well as Transparent and I Love Dick re-upped the lease on the big sandbox that they get play with.

Announced today, Kenya Barris and Jill Soloway just renewed their overall deals. Barris has another 4 years locked in with ABC Studios and Soloway has three more with Amazon.

So, you can imagine that the development slates for both the broadcast network and streaming service will be bending genres, doing well to take care of Hollywood’s representation issues, and being more in the zeigest even more than they currently are doing now.

Black-ish Creator Kenya Barris Working on White Men Can’t Jump Remake

January 19, 2017

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Black-ish Creator Kenya Barris Working on White Men Can’t Jump Remake

Athletes that have found a new home in Tinseltown, Blake Griffin and Ryan Kalil, will be joining Barris in remaking the 1992 comedy classic.

We wonder if Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes will make a cameo as the street ball legends they try hustling at the end of the original movie.

October 10, 2016

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More details and tickets available here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows/events as well as open mics and maps are embedded at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Watch Comedy Showrunner Roundtable Discussion with Showrunners of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Veep, Fresh Off the Boat, Master of None, Black-ish, Grace and Frankie

August 4, 2016

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The Hollywood Reporter gathered up the recently Emmy nominated Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), David Mandel (Veep), Nahnatchka Kahn (Fresh Off The Boat), Marta Kauffman (Grace and Frankie), Alan Yang (Master of None), and Kenya Barris (Black-ish) for an in-depth discussion of running their Emmy nominated shows, the state of comedy, and more.

Give a watch to the hour plus conversation here.

Watch THR’s Roundtable Discussion with Showrunners of Transparent, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Black-ish, Silicon Valley, Togetherness, and Modern Family

You can not only get into the headspace of many today’s top comedy showrunners, but what their headspace is like when they’re all in a room together.

Jill Soloway of Transparent, Robert Carlock of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Kenya Barris of Black-ish, Alec Berg of Silicon Valley, Jay Duplass of Togetherness, and Steve Levitan of Modern Family all came together to sit and chat at The Hollywood Reporter’s fascinating roundtable discussions about their shows and how they fit into the booming and constantly evolving landscape of television.

As you’ll see, there are plenty of the reasons that each one of these shows with these folks at the helm are successful.

Watch the hour long discussion here.