My Publicist Note Book

Save P ho “Hidden Figures” takes us back to 1961, when racial segregation and workplace sexism were widely accepted facts of life and the word “computer” referred to a person, not a machine. Though a gigantic IBM mainframe does appear in the movie — big enough to fill a room and probably less powerful than the phone in your pocket — the most important computers are three African-American women who work at NASA headquarters in Hampton, Va. Assigned to data entry jobs and denied recognition or promotion, they would go on to play crucial roles in the American space program.  Based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s nonfiction book of the same title, the film, directed by Theodore Melfi (who wrote the script with Allison Schroeder), turns the entwined careers of Katherine Goble (later Johnson), Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan into a rousing celebration of merit rewarded and perseverance repaid. Like many movies about the overcoming of racism, it offers belated acknowledgme...

Uncovering a Tale of Rocket Science, Race and the ’60s Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer star in “Hidden Figures,” a largely untold story of African-American mathematicians in the space program. “This is a female-driven movie about contributions that women really made,” Spencer told The New York Times about the 2017 film focusing on four black female NASA mathematicians in the 1960s. When "Hidden Figures" hits the big screen next January, audiences across the nation will see the true story of the African American women mathematicians who were behind one of NASA's first successful space missions. Henson stars as Katherine Johnson, Monáe as Mary Jackson, and Spencer as Dorothy  Vaughan. "This is a female-driven movie about contributions that women really made, to our world, not just our society. That’s a big statement.”- Octavia Spencer Taraji, Janelle, and Octavia, thank you for using your platform and talent to bring an important sto...

"The Minority Report" host becomes the latest black lead on the small screen, joining a rapidly growing roster of talent on newly ordered  prime time  series. Comedy Central's Friday announcement that  Larry Wilmore  would take over the time slot previously occupied by  Stephen Colbert  with his new  Minority Report  caps a major week for black leads on the small screen. STORY: Early Trends Emerge as Broadcasters Bet on Black Leads, Politics, Terror  The Daily Show  correspondent, who will launch his new series in the 11:30 p.m. slot starting in January, joins a rapidly growing roster of black leads on newly ordered prime-time broadcast scripted series. The emergence of black leads was one of the earliest trends to emerge from the wave of broadcast network pickups this week.  ABC on Thursday ordered  Anthony Anderson  comedy   Black-ish   to series.  That ...