Filmmaker Reggie Hudlin From the Film The Black Godfather at The 2019 American Black Film Festival
Director Reggie Hudlin has been known for many well-known and critically acclaimed movies and he is back with a groundbreaking documentary The Black Godfather about a man we may not know, but is responsible for so many careers in media and entertainment.
Reggie Hudlin attending the American Black Film Festival in Miami to talk about his documentary. When asked how he became a part of the film, he stated that the Godfather himself “Clarence Avant chose him to work on this film.” What an honor, and the story reveals so much that many people including myself never knew.
In this film, the Academy Award® nominee Reginald Hudlin featured interviews with Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Bill Withers, Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, Lionel Richie, Suzanne de Passe, David Geffen, Jerry Moss, Cicely Tyson, and Jamie Foxx, among others, The Black Godfather pulls the curtain back on the maestro himself, projecting a spotlight on the man who’s spent his entire career ensuring that it shined on others.
For decades, the world’s most high profile entertainers, athletes and politicians have turned to a single man for advice during the most pivotal moments in their lives and careers, including Grammy Award® winners, Hall of Famers, a Heavyweight Champion of the World and two U.S. Presidents. That man is Clarence Avant.
The Black Godfather charts the exceptional and unlikely rise of Avant, a music executive whose trailblazing behind-the-scenes accomplishments impacted the legacies of icons such as as Bill Withers, Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, and Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Driven by a sense of equality, loyalty, and justice, Avant left the Jim Crow south behind to emerge as a powerhouse negotiator at a time when deep-seated racism penetrated every corner of America. Avant defied notions of what a black executive could do, redefining the industry for entertainers and executives of color and leaving a legacy of altruism for others to emulate.
