The Black List Sold to HBO; Will Premiere at Sundance

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By Joe Pompeo

January 18, 2008 | 6:23 p.m

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The Black List: Volume One, a collaboration between former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell and director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, has been sold to HBO Documentary Films, and will have its world premiere at Sundance on January 22. The documentary is "composed of dramatic portraits of some of today's most fascinating and influential African-American icons," including Sean Combs, Toni Morrison, Colin Powell, Chris Rock and Al Sharpton, to name just a few. The full release is after the jump.

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HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS REACHES DEAL TO AIR
THE BLACK LIST: VOLUME ONE
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Collaboration Of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders And Elvis Mitchell

To Have World Premiere At Sundance Film Festival

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NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 2008 – HBO Documentary Films has closed a deal on THE BLACK LIST: VOLUME ONE, a unique collaboration between celebrated portrait photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and award-winning journalist Elvis Mitchell that will have its world premiere at the festival next week. The HBO Documentary Films unit supported the development of THE BLACK LIST early on, and has been tracking the project closely.

Making its world premiere at Sundance on Tuesday, Jan. 22, THE BLACK LIST is composed of dramatic portraits of some of today’s most fascinating and influential African-American icons. The film’s interview subjects, who come from the worlds of the arts, sports and politics, begin their tales with the personal, and move into areas of larger social repercussions. Greenfield-Sanders served as director while Mitchell conducted the interviews with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sean Combs, Mahlon Duckett, Thelma Golden, Lou Gossett, Jr., Bill T. Jones, Vernon Jordan, Marc Morial, Toni Morrison, Suzanne-Lori Parks, Richard Parsons, Colin Powell, Susan Rice, Chris Rock, Al Sharpton, Lorna Simpson, Slash, Dawn Staley, Faye Wattleton, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Zane.

THE BLACK LIST will be the centerpiece of an ongoing multifaceted project that includes a traveling exhibit, portrait book and a user-generated campaign designed for multiple platforms.

Greenfield-Sanders’ still portraits of subjects from the film will be exhibited during the Sundance Film Festival at BLACKHOUSE, 501 Main St. BLACKHOUSE is a haven for filmmakers of color and an Institute Associate of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The deal reunites HBO with Greenfield-Sanders, who contributed photographs to the acclaimed HBO Documentary “Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq,” which aired on the network last fall.

THE BLACK LIST is produced by Elvis Mitchell, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Michael Slap Sloane, with Christopher McKee, Scott Richman, Payne Brown, Tommy Walker serving as executive producers. Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment and David Koh of Arthouse Films represented the filmmakers and Freemind Ventures in their negotiations with HBO.