David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo is a British-American actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award. In 2016, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama.
Monique Angela Hicks, known mononymously as Mo'Nique, is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award.
Harpo Productions is an American multimedia production company founded by Oprah Winfrey and based in West Hollywood, California. The name "Harpo" is "Oprah" spelled backwards and it was also the name of her on-screen husband in the film The Color Purple (1985).
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 2005 American television drama film based upon Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Darnell Martin, written by Suzan-Lori Parks, Misan Sagay, and Bobby Smith Jr., and produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. It stars Halle Berry, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Michael Ealy, and aired on ABC on March 6, 2005.
The Color Purple is a 1985 American epic coming-of-age period drama film that was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Menno Meyjes. It is based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker and was Spielberg's eighth film as a director, marking a turning point in his career as it was a departure from the summer blockbusters for which he had become known. It was also the first feature film directed by Spielberg for which John Williams did not compose the music, instead featuring a score by Quincy Jones, who also produced. The film stars Whoopi Goldberg in her breakthrough role, with Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, and Adolph Caesar.
The Color Purple is a musical with music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, based on the 1982 novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker and its 1985 film adaptation. The musical follows the journey of Celie, an African American woman in the American South from the early to mid-20th century.
Tarell Alvin McCraney is an American playwright. He is the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble.
The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel. OWN is a joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios, conceptualized largely by popular talk show host, Oprah Winfrey—the name of Harpo Studios is Winfrey’s first name, spelled backwards.
Ava Marie DuVernay is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award, and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee for an Academy Award and Golden Globe. In 2011, she founded her independent distribution company ARRAY.
Nate Parker is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has appeared in Beyond the Lights, Red Tails, The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters, Arbitrage, Non-Stop, Felon, and Pride. Parker's directorial debut feature film, The Birth of a Nation, in which he also starred, made history at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival when Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired the distribution rights for $17.5 million, breaking the record for the most paid for a Sundance Film Festival production, surpassing Little Miss Sunshine, which had been acquired by Searchlight for $10 million ten years earlier. The film was ultimately unsuccessful in wide release and did not receive acclaim, after rape allegations against Parker resurfaced.
Oprah Gail Winfrey, known mononymously as Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the richest African-American of the 20th century and was once the world's only black billionaire. By 2007, she was often ranked as the most influential woman in the world.
Greenleaf is an American drama television series created by Craig Wright, and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Lionsgate Television. Clement Virgo also serves as an executive producer and director. It stars Keith David, Lynn Whitfield, and Merle Dandridge. Greenleaf premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on June 21, 2016.
Lonnie Chavis Jr. is an American teenage actor and activist. He is known for playing young Randall Pearson on NBC's drama, This Is Us. Chavis has been nominated for several awards and shared the win for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series with his This Is Us cast mates. In 2017, he starred in Showtime's short lived sitcom White Famous. In 2020, Chavis starred in his first feature film, The Water Man.
Apple TV+ is an American subscription OTT streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced during the Apple Special Event of March 2019, where entertainers from Apple TV+ projects appeared onstage, including Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg. The service can be accessed through Apple's website and through the Apple TV app, which has gradually become available on many Apple devices and some major competing digital media players, including some smart TV models and video-game consoles.
On the Record is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. It centers on allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Executive producer Oprah Winfrey publicly withdrew from the film shortly before it was released, citing "creative differences", severing a production deal with Apple TV+. The film premiered at Sundance on January 25, 2020, and was acquired by HBO Max, which released it digitally on May 27, 2020.
The Color Purple is a 2023 American musical period drama film directed by Blitz Bazawule. Marcus Gardley's screenplay is based on the stage musical of the same name, which in turn is based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It is the second film adaptation of the novel, following the 1985 film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Spielberg and Quincy Jones. Spielberg and Jones return as producers for the 2023 film, along with its Broadway producers Scott Sanders and Oprah Winfrey, the latter of whom also starred in the 1985 film.
Delilah is an American television drama series, created by Craig Wright, and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films and Warner Bros. Television. The series premiered on OWN on March 9, 2021 ran for eight episodes until April 27, and was canceled in early 2022.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves is an American Western television miniseries created by Chad Feehan, who also serves as showrunner, and executive produced by Taylor Sheridan, Feehan, David C. Glasser, David Oyelowo, Jessica Oyelowo, David Permut, Christina Alexandra Voros, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, and David Hutkin. It is based on the life of the first African American Deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River, Bass Reeves. The series premiered on Paramount+ on November 5, 2023, with back-to-back episodes.
Jesse Q. Sutanto is a Chinese-Indonesian author. As of 2023, she has published nine novels for adults, young adults, and middle grade readers. She is most famous for her novel Dial A for Aunties, which won the 2021 Comedy Women in Print Prize and has been optioned for a film by Netflix.
Kaling International, Inc. is an American film and television production company founded by Mindy Kaling. It is known for producing the television series The Mindy Project (2012–2017), Never Have I Ever (2020–2023), The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021–present), and Velma (2023–2024).
