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FILM/TV BITS: ‘Model,’ ‘Chris’ premieres; Jones wraps ‘Redrum’; Boatman, Morris in ‘Frangela’; Hurd works completed; abolitionist film in U.S.
*The CW network is partnering with MSN to premiere episodes from "America's Next Top Model" and "Everybody Hates Chris" before their broadcast debuts. The two shows, as well as premiere episodes from "Supernatural" and the new drama from "Sex and the City" creator Darren Star, "Runaway," will be offered free and without commercial interruption on msn.com for one week before their on-air broadcasts. The first hour of "Model" will be available beginning Sept. 13 until its official launch September 20, and "Everybody Hates Chris" premieres on the site Sept. 24.
*Former “Girlfriends” star Jill Marie Jones just wrapped production on her feature film debut “Redrum,” where she plays a serial killer named Tanya Diggs. As previously reported, the Griot Filmworks production is directed by Kenny Young, who also stars in the film as Diggs’ husband. Co-stars include Joe Torry, Snoop Dogg and Bishop Magic Don Juan. The film will be released next year.
*Michael Boatman, Garrett Morris and Mo Collins have joined the cast of Fox's female buddy comedy pilot "Frangela," starring Frances Callier and Angela Shelton as best friends. Morris will play the superintendent of the apartment building where the two women live. Collins will play Callier's boss, while Boatman will play her husband.
*Veteran actor-turned-playwright/filmmaker, James E. Hurd, Jr., has completed the short film “Poet of the Swingin' Blade” and stage play “Turpentine Jake,” both stories about the hardships and debt peonage servitude that blacks faced in the early 1900’s through the 1960’s. History books go into great detail about slaves working in the cotton fields, and now James E. Hurd sheds light on the plight of workers who got caught up in a system that produced ultimately zero income for hard laborers in turpentine camps in South Florida.
*Michael Apted's slave-trade drama "Amazing Grace" picked up U.S. distribution on the eve of the Toronto International Film Festival, where it will make its world premiere in the closing-night slot. The film, which is still being completed, stars Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce, who led the British Empire to end slavery at the turn of the 19th century with the help of slave trader-turned-abolitionist Rev. John Newton (Albert Finney) and his wife (Romola Garai). The cast also includes Rufus Sewell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Youssou N'Dour, Ciaran Hinds and Michael Gambon.
