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Reginald Hudlin

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Reginald Hudlin
Reginald Hudlin seated at a table for a public talk
Hudlin in 2017
Born (1961-12-15) December 15, 1961 (age 62)
Centreville, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Film director, writer, producer
Years active1983–present
Known forHouse Party
Django Unchained
Boomerang
Spouse
Chrisette Suter
​
(m. 2002)​
Children2
RelativesWarrington Hudlin (brother)

Reginald Alan Hudlin[1] (born December 15, 1961)[1] is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Along with his older brother Warrington Hudlin, he is known as one of the Hudlin Brothers.[2] From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was President of Entertainment for Black Entertainment Television (BET). Hudlin has also written numerous graphic novels. He co-produced the 88th Academy Awards ceremony in 2016 as well as other TV specials.

Hudlin's breakout film was 1990's House Party.[3] He also directed the 1992 film Boomerang. Alongside Warrington, he executive produced the 1994 anthology television film Cosmic Slop, and directed the first of the film's three segments, "Space Traders". Hudlin worked as a producer on the 2012 film Django Unchained, directed by Quentin Tarantino, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

Early life

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Hudlin was born in Centreville, Illinois, the son of two teachers.[4] Hudlin's older brother, Warrington Hudlin, is also a film director, as well as an actor and producer.

The Hudlins grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, where the family had deep roots.[5] The Hudlin Brothers are paternal great-great-grandsons of Peter and Nancy Hudlin, who were part of the Underground Railroad. Their great uncle was tennis instructor Richard A. Hudlin, who mentored Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson.[6]

The Hudlins attended Katherine Dunham's Center for the Performing Arts, an experimental school, Warrington for high school and Reginald for after school martial arts classes.[7] Hudlin has said that the experience was formative, and led to his older brother attending Yale University, and his attending Harvard University.[8] In 1979, Hudlin graduated from Assumption Catholic High School in East St. Louis.[9]

While an undergraduate at Harvard University, Hudlin directed his thesis project, a short film called House Party, which received numerous awards including first place at the Black American Cinema Society Awards.[10] The film was inspired by his experience growing up in East St. Louis. In 1983, Hudlin graduated magna cum laude from Harvard with a B.A. in Visual and Environmental Studies.[8] His short film thesis was the basis for his first feature film, House Party.[11]

Career

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After college, Hudlin and his brother formed a production company and made music videos for such artists as Heavy D, Jamaica Boys, and others.[4]: 234  They additionally created the "Hey Love" 1980s TV commercial for a various-artists compilation record, that played regularly on late night TV.[12][13]

Hudlin directed—with older brother Warrington producing—his first feature-length film, 1990's low-budget teen hip-hop comedy House Party, which starred Kid 'n Play. One of the messages of the film was its promotion of safe sex. The film, distributed by New Line Cinema, was, according to Variety, one of the most profitable films of the decade.[14] New Line wanted to make sequels, but the Hudlins did not feel the compensation or deals were adequate.[15]: 446 

Hudlin directed 1992's Boomerang, again with older brother Warrington producing. The film was a big-budget romantic comedy that starred Eddie Murphy, who had a term deal at Paramount Pictures and hired the Hudlin Brothers because he liked House Party. It starred an all-black cast that included Robin Givens, Halle Berry, Martin Lawrence, David Alan Grier, and Chris Rock.[12][16] Boomerang was based on an original idea by Murphy and was written by Saturday Night Live writers Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield.[17]

A celebration of the 25th anniversary of Boomerang's release was held on July 1, 2017, at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., with a conversation between Hudlin and producer George Alexander.[18][19]

In 1992, while making Boomerang, Hudlin wrote the animated film, Bebe's Kids, which was championed by Paramount's Brandon Tartikoff, and was made in memory of comedian Robin Harris, who had died in 1990.[17]

In 1994, the Hudlin Brothers produced the HBO anthology television film Cosmic Slop, of which Hudlin directed the segment "Space Traders". The segment is an adaptation of the short story "The Space Traders" by Derrick Bell, found in Bell's book Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism.[20][21]

He then directed The Great White Hype, The Ladies Man, Serving Sara (2002), two episodes of the TV series Modern Family, an episode of The Office, an episode of The Middle, and several episodes of Outsourced. He was also a recurring producer and director of The Bernie Mac Show for three years.

From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was the President of Entertainment for BET. Notable shows shepherded by Hudlin at that time included the documentary series American Gangster and Sunday Best, a gospel-music singing-competition show. Hudlin created The BET Honors and the BET Hip Hop Awards.[citation needed]

Hudlin wrote the Marvel Comics series Black Panther from 2005 to 2008, including the 2006 storyline "Bride of the Panther," which saw the character marry X-Men leader Storm.[citation needed]

Hudlin was a producer of Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, starring Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson. On January 10, 2013, Hudlin received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture for the film.[22]

Since 2013, Hudlin has been executive producer of the NAACP Image Awards.

In 2014, Hudlin produced the Black Movie Soundtrack celebration of Black music in movies, held at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl and hosted by Craig Robinson. Black Movie Soundtrack II, also hosted by Robinson, was held in 2016.[23]

In 2015, DC Comics announced that Hudlin and artists Denys Cowan and Derek Dingle would be part of the relaunch of the publisher's Milestone Media imprint, founded by Cowan, Dingle and Dwayne McDuffie.[24][25] The comic line returned in September 2020 with the Hudlin-penned Milestone Returns #0.[26]

In 2015, Hudlin joined the board of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization founded in 1986 chartered to protect the First Amendment rights of the comics community.[27]

By June 2017, Hudlin had been hired to direct a movie based on the comic Shadowman.[28] That October, Hudlin's film Marshall, about Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court justice, starring Chadwick Boseman, was released.[19][29]

Hudlin contributed a story to the Black Panther Annual #1, released in February 2018.[30] By July the following year, Hudlin had been hired to direct the Walt Disney Pictures film Safety for Disney+.[31]

In June 2021, the French website LivresHebdo said Reginald Hudlin is to direct a movie based on the comics Cinq branches de coton noir [fr], written by Yves Sente and drawn by Steve Cuzor [fr].[32]

On July 12, 2021, it was announced that Hudlin along with Ian Stewart will the executive producers for the 73rd Emmy Awards which will have a live audience on September 19, 2021 on CBS.[33][34]

Personal life

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In 2002, Hudlin married Chrisette Hudlin (née Suter), a public relations consultant, in Montego Bay, Jamaica.[35][36] They have two children.[37]

Reginald Hudlin's lawyer at the time[when?] was Doug Emhoff.[38] In 2013, Chrisette Hudlin set up Emhoff on a blind date with then-Attorney General of California and current Vice-President, Kamala Harris.[38][39]

Filmography

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Feature films

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Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes
1990 House Party Yes No Yes
1992 Boomerang Yes No No
Bebe's Kids No Executive Yes Also song writer ("I Ain't Havin' It", "Freedom Song", "Straight Jackin'")
1996 The Great White Hype Yes No No
2000 The Ladies Man Yes No No
2002 Serving Sara Yes No No
2017 Marshall Yes Yes No
2019 The Black Godfather Yes No No Documentary
2020 Safety Yes No No
2022 Sidney Yes Executive No Documentary
2023 Candy Cane Lane Yes No No

Producer only

Acting roles

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Year Title Role
1986 She's Gotta Have It Dog 4
1990 House Party Burglar #1
1992 Boomerang Street Hustler
1993 Posse Reporter 31
1996 Joe's Apartment Rodney Roach (voice)
2000 The Ladies Man Aloysius

Documentary Appearances

  • Milestone Generations (2022) (Associate Producer)

Short films

[edit]
Year Title Director Writer
1983 House Party Yes Yes
1985 Reggie's World of Soul[4]: 234  Yes No
1986 The Kold Waves[4]: 234  Yes No

Television

[edit]
Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes
1994 Cosmic Slop Yes No No TV movie;
segment: "Space Traders"
2000 City of Angels Yes No No Episode: "When Worlds Colitis"
2002–2005 The Bernie Mac Show Yes Yes No 11 episodes
2005 Richard Pryor: The Funniest Man Dead or Alive Yes Executive No Documentary film
Everybody Hates Chris Yes No No Episode: "Everybody Hates the Pilot"
2007 Wifey Yes No No TV movie
2009 Raising the Bar Yes No No Episode: "Making Up Is Hard to Do"
The Middle Yes No No Episode: "Christmas"
The Office Yes No No Episode: "Koi Pond"
2009–2010 Modern Family Yes No No Episodes: "Fears", "Come Fly with Me"
2010 Better Off Ted Yes No No Episode: "The Great Repression"
Sons of Tucson Yes No No Episode: "Father's Day"
Marvel's Black Panther No Executive Yes Also developer;
actor as President (voice) in episode "To the End"
2010–2011 Outsourced Yes No No Episodes: "Temporary Monsanity", "The Todd Couple"
2010–2012 Psych Yes No No Episodes: "Ferry Tale" and "True Grits"
2011 Friends with Benefits Yes No No Episode: "The Benefit of Being Shallow"
2012 Are We There Yet? Yes No No Episodes: "The Expensive Purse Episode",
"The Master of Ceremonies Episode", "The Quarantine Episode"
2013 Bones Yes No No Episode: "The Party in the Pants"
How to Live with Your Parents
(For the Rest of Your Life) 		Yes No No Episode: "How to Run the Show"
2014–2015 Bad Judge Yes No No Episodes: "Knife to a Gunfight", "Lockdown"
Marry Me Yes No No Episodes: "Stand by Me", "Change Me"
Murder in the First Yes No No Episodes: "Punch Drunk", "State of the Union", "Bruja Blanca"
2015 Weird Loners Yes No No Episode: "Weird Knight"
New Girl Yes No No Episode: "Panty Gate"
Telenovela Yes No No Episode: "Evil Twin"
2016 Heartbeat Yes No No Episode: "Backwards"
Angel from Hell Yes No No Episode: "Angel Appreciation Day"
Uncle Buck Yes No No Episodes: "I Got This", "Going to Jail Party"
2019 Black Monday Yes No No Episodes: "295", "243"
The Last O.G. Yes No No Episodes: "Criminal Minded", "Your Mom's in My Business", "Fight the Power"

Executive producer only

Year Title Notes
2005–2008 The Boondocks 31 episodes
2006 Somebodies Executive in charge of co-productions
2008 Brothers to Brutha Network executive
2017 Blue & Green TV movie

TV specials

[edit]
Year Title Role
1994 The Last Days of Russell Co-executive producer, director, writer
2006 Bring That Year Back 2006: Laugh Now, Cry Later Network executive producer
BET Hip Hop Awards Executive in charge of production
2008 The BET Honors Executive in charge of production
2010 Burr and Hart Director
2013–present NAACP Image Awards Executive producer
2014 Governors Awards
2016 88th Academy Awards Producer
Showtime at the Apollo Executive producer
2020–2022 Primetime Emmy Awards

Awards

[edit]

2021: Recipient of (Miami University of Ohio) Miami's Summer of ‘64 Award for his contributions in bringing the Black image to screen.

Leadership and membership

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Works and publications

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Comics

  • McGruder, Aaron; Hudlin, Reginald; Baker, Kyle (illustrations) (2004). Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-1-400-08316-9. OCLC 54857618.
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Romita Jr., John (penciler); Janson, Klaus (inker); White, Dean (colors) (2005). Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther. New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-11748-3. OCLC 780282040.
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Tan, Billy (pencils); Buckingham, Mark (pencils) (2005). Marvel Knights Spider-Man [Vol. 04], Wild Blue Yonder. New York: Marvel Comics. ISBN 978-0-785-11761-2. OCLC 830159672. – Contains material originally published in magazine form as Marvel Knights Spider-man #13-18
  • David, Peter; Straczynski, J. Michael; Hudlin, Reginald; Wieringo, Mike (artist); Deodato, Mike (artist); Lee, Pat (artist) (2006). Spider-Man: The Other. New York: Marvel Pub. ISBN 978-0-785-12188-6. OCLC 62714568.
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Eaton, Scot (pencils) (2006). Black Panther: The Bride (Direct ed.). New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-12107-7. OCLC 948817543.
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Eaton, Scot (penciler); Garcia, Manuel (penciler); Turnbull, Koi (penciler); To, Marcus (penciler) (2007). Black Panther: Civil War. New York, NY: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-12235-7. OCLC 144224099.
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Portela, Francis (pencils) (2007). Black Panther: Four the Hard Way. New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-12655-3. OCLC 751756495. – Contains material originally published in single magazine form as: Black Panther #26-30
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Portela, Francis (penciler); Rodriguez, Carlos (penciler); Sharpe, Kevin (penciler); Cafu (penciler); Portela, Francis (inks); Hennessy, Bit & Andrew (inks); Staples, Val (colors) (2008). Black Panther: Back to Africa. New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-12452-8. OCLC 540015636. – Also includes Black Panther: Black to the Future
    • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Stroman, Larry (pencils); Lashley, Ken (pencils); Paris, Roland (inks); Cuevas, Carlos (inks); Sibal, Jon (inks); Milla, Matt (colors); Staples, Val (colors); Petit, Cory (letters) (2008). Black Panther: Black to the Future. New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-12452-8. OCLC 540015636.
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Portela, Francis (art) (2008). Black Panther: Little Green Men. New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-12657-7. OCLC 191890888. – Contains material originally published in magazine form as Black Panther #31-34
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Neary, Paul (inks); Lashley, Ken (pencils) (2009). Black Panther: The Deadliest of the Species. New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-13342-1. OCLC 765104721. – Collecting Black Panther #1-6
  • Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Cowan, Denys (pencils) (2010). Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers. New York: Marvel Worldwide. ISBN 978-0-785-14401-4. OCLC 780283834.
  • Maberry, Jonathan (writer); Hudlin, Reginald (writer); Conrad, Will (art) (2010). Black Panther: Power. New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0-785-13861-7. OCLC 437299872. – Contains material originally published in magazine form as Black Panther #7-12
  • Tarantino, Quentin (adapted from the original screenplay by); Hudlin, Reginald (adaptation); Guéra, R.M. (art by); Latour, Jason (art by); Cowan, Denys (art by); Žeželj, Danijel (art by); Floyd, John (art by) (2014). Django Unchained. New York: Vertigo. ISBN 978-1-401-24709-6. OCLC 877860979. – Originally published in single magazine form in Django Unchained #1-7
  • Maberry, Jonathan (writer); Hudlin, Reginald (writer; Conrad, Will (artist); Eaton, Scot (artist); Moll, Shawn (artist); Gugliotta, Gianluca (artist) (2017). Black Panther: Doomwar. New York: Marvel Worldwide, Inc. ISBN 978-1-302-90416-6. OCLC 951950784. – Contains material originally published in magazine form as Doomwar #1-6

Selected writing

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Otfinoski, Steven (2014). African Americans in the Visual Arts. Facts On File. p. 99. ISBN 9781438107776.
  2. ^ Hudlin, Reginald; Hudlin, Warrington; Glicksman, Marlaine (May 1990). "They Gotta Have It". Film Comment. 26 (3): 65–69. JSTOR 43454842. Closed access icon
  3. ^ Hudlin, Reginald; Hudlin, Warrington; Kantor, Michael (1990). "Tearing the Roof Off the Sucker: An Interview with Reginald and Warrington Hudlin". Cinéaste. 18 (1): 22–23. JSTOR 41687018. Closed access icon
  4. ^ a b c d Donalson, Melvin Burke (2003). "Chapter 9: Not Without Laughter: Directors of Comedy and Romance, Chapter 10: Off the Hook: Comedy and Romance with a Hip-Hop Flavor". Black Directors in Hollywood. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-79875-5. OCLC 55731956.: 234 
  5. ^ Greenberg, James (March 4, 1990). "In Hollywood, Black Is In". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Franklin, Donald E. (February 27, 2000). "Its History Rides on the Underground Railroad". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis. p. C.1. ISSN 1930-9600. ProQuest 40400223. Closed access icon
  7. ^ Elliott, Debbie; Dryden, Jim; Dunham, Katherine (May 27, 2006). "Katherine Dunham Helped Teach the World to Dance" (Audio interview). NPR.
  8. ^ a b "The Reginald Hudlin Story". Hudlin Entertainment.
  9. ^ "Metro East native Reginald Hudlin receives Oscar nod for 'Django'". The St. Louis American. January 11, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Thomas, Kevin (January 27, 1986). "Winning Black Videos, Films Highlight Youth". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  11. ^ $hort, Too; Loco, Bobby (March 8, 2017). "Writer / Director Reginald Hudlin" (Audio podcast). Too $hort's Boombox. PodcastOne.
  12. ^ a b Gross, Terry (July 10, 1992). "Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 10, 1992: Interview with Warrington Hudlin and Reginald Hudlin" (Audio, starts at 36:13). Fresh Air. NPR. OCLC 971502139.
  13. ^ ""Hey Love" 1980s TV Commercial – No My Brother". YouTube. 1980s. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021.
  14. ^ Hudlin, Reginald (September 10, 2000). "If It's a Question of Money..." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  15. ^ Alexander, George (2003). "Reginald Hudlin". Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema. New York: Harlem Moon. ISBN 978-0-307-41959-0. OCLC 53445264.
  16. ^ Dowd, Maureen (June 28, 1992). "FILM; He's Never Been Happier, or More Glum". The New York Times.
  17. ^ a b Morales, Wilson (July 1, 2012). "Exclusive: Director Reginald Hudlin talks Boomerang 20 Years Later, Black Panther, and producing Django Unchained". BlackFilm.com.
  18. ^ House, Jermaine; Hernandez, Shrita (June 29, 2017). "African Americans and the Advertising Industry Series Leads the National Museum of African American History and Culture July Programming" (Press release). National Museum of African American History and Culture.
  19. ^ a b Ekokobe, Reggie (July 1, 2017). "Exclusive: Director Reginald Hudlin talks 'Boomerang' 25 Years Later, 'Marshall,' and More". First Klass Breakfast.
  20. ^ Meisler, Andy (November 7, 1994). "Using Fun to Show Blacks to Whites". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Bell, Derrick (1992). "Chapter 9: The Space Trader". Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. New York City, New York: Basic Books. pp. 158–194. ISBN 978-0-786-72323-2. OCLC 904402741.
  22. ^ a b Dowell, Masha (February 14, 2013). "Interview: Reginald Hudlin On His Oscar Journey, Working w/ RZA, Directing Again, More". IndieWire.
  23. ^ Gardner, Chris (February 25, 2016). "Oscar Producer Plans Second 'Black Movie Soundtrack' at the Hollywood Bowl". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  24. ^ Betancourt, David (January 21, 2015). "Exclusive: Milestone Media rises again. Hudlin, Cowan and Dingle will revive company with eye toward characters of color". The Washington Post.
  25. ^ Obenson, Tambay A. (August 4, 2015). "Watch: Reginald Hudlin and Denys Cowan Talk Milestone 2.0". Indiewire. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  26. ^ Johnston, Rich (August 23, 2020). "Milestone Returns #0 Previews in Three Weeks from DC Fandome for Free". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  27. ^ Melrose, Kevin (March 11, 2015). "Reginald Hudlin Joins CBLDF Board of Directors". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  28. ^ McMillan, Graeme (June 13, 2017). "Reginald Hudlin to Direct Valiant's Supernatural Superhero Movie 'Shadowman' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  29. ^ Hipes, Patrick (June 9, 2016). "Open Road Acquires Thurgood Marshall Biopic Starring Chadwick Boseman". Deadline Hollywood.
  30. ^ Sava, Oliver (February 15, 2018). "Iconic creators return to Wakanda in this Black Panther Annual exclusive". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018.
  31. ^ Kit, Borys (July 12, 2019). "'Django Unchained' Producer Reginald Hudlin to Direct Sports Drama for Disney+ (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  32. ^ Dahlia Girgis (June 30, 202). ""Cinq branches de coton noir" adapté au cinéma". LivresHebdo.
  33. ^ McCarthy, Tyler (July 12, 2021). "2021 Emmy Awards announce Cedric the Entertainer as host ahead of nominations". Fox News. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  34. ^ "The "73rd Emmy Awards" to Return With Live Audience and Cedric the Entertainer As Host for Broadcast on CBS, Sunday, Sept. 19". Television Academy. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  35. ^ Variety Staff (January 6, 2003). "Chrisette Suter and Reginald Hudlin". Variety.
  36. ^ Owens, Donna M. (January 13, 2016). "California Attorney General Kamala Harris Plans to be America's Next Black Female Senator". Essence.
  37. ^ Hudlin, Reginald (2016). "Top Ten Heroes of the Year". Hudlin Entertainment.
  38. ^ a b Desta, Yohana (August 19, 2020). "How Hollywood Shaped Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff's Marriage". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  39. ^ Bennett, Jessica (January 17, 2021). "Kamala Harris Will Make History. So Will Her 'Big, Blended' Family". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  40. ^ "Winners & Nominees 2013". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 2013.
  41. ^ "Reginald Hudlin and Joss Whedon Are the Latest Comic-Con Icon Award Recipients!". Comic-Con International: San Diego. July 29, 2015.
  42. ^ Galuppo, Mia (December 15, 2015). "Oscars Producer Reginald Hudlin to be Honored at AAFCA Awards". The Hollywood Reporter.
  43. ^ "Executive Board – Reginald Hudlin". UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. 2017.

Bibliography

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