Townsend Entertainment (also known as The Townsend Entertainment Company and officially, Townsend Entertainment Corporation [1] ) is an American entertainment company, involved primarily in the production of films and television programs. Townsend Entertainment was founded by actor, producer, director and writer Robert Townsend. [2] Its headquarters are located in Beverly Hills, California.
Industry | Entertainment |
---|---|
Founder | Robert Townsend |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Products | Films television |
Townsend Entertainment was founded by Robert Townsend in July 1995. It is just one of several entertainment companies that Townsend has founded. His others include Tinsel Townsend Productions, Inc. which produced The Meteor Man (1993) [3] and Townsend Television (1993), Conquering Unicorn Inc. producing Hollywood Shuffle in 1987, [4] and more.
In 1995, Townsend Entertainment partnered with Warner Bros. for the production of The Parent 'Hood , [5] a family sitcom starring Townsend as Robert Peterson. The show was first released on January 18, 1995 and aired until July 25, 1999. [6] In the show's earlier seasons, it was revered as "the 'Cosby Show' of the '90's" intertwining family morals and values with comedy. [7]
Townsend Entertainment collaborated with V Studio to produce In the Hive (2012), a drama film starring Jonathan McDaniel, Michael Clarke Duncan, Vivica A. Fox and Loretta Devine. The film was written by Cheryl West and directed and produced by Robert Townsend. [8] [9]
In more recent years, Townsend Entertainment released Playin' for Love, [10] a romantic comedy about a high school basketball coach and his star player's mother. [11] Starring Robert Townsend and Salli Richardson, the film was released on January 16, 2015. [12] The film made its debut at the 17th Annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF) in Miami Beach, Florida in 2013 at the Colony Theatre. [13] [14] The screening was a red carpet event featuring a live mural by MLK Mural. [15] Townsend was awarded a grant from the City of Miami Community Redevelopment Agency for the film and employed students from the University of Miami to assist in the making of the final product. [16]
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Suzzanne Douglas was an American actress. She was best known for her role as matriarch Geraldine "Jerri" Peterson on The WB sitcom The Parent 'Hood, starring Robert Townsend, which originally ran from 1995 to 1999. Douglas also portrayed Amy Simms in the 1989 dance/drama film Tap alongside Gregory Hines and the legendary Sammy Davis Jr., for which she won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
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Playin' for Love is a 2013 comedy film starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Robert Townsend and directed by Townsend. The film, produced by Townsend Entertainment, premiered in 2013 at the American Black Film Festival and released theatrically in the United States on January 16, 2015.