Image via WikipediaBut in greenlighting "The Black Panther" for its planned premiere early next year, Hudlin has ignited ethical questions on whether his personal involvement in the TV series benefits him financially while also clashing with his responsibilities as a network chief.
In press materials, he is listed as an executive producer on "The Black Panther" along with Denys Cowan, senior vice president of animation for BET Networks. Hudlin will also receive at least a story credit for the six episodes that have been ordered thus far, which are based on installments he wrote for Marvel.
Hudlin declined to answer questions this week about whether he was being paid specifically for producing or writing "The Black Panther," and whether he would participate in possible future sales of the animated series to other outlets or consumers. Other executives at Viacom-owned BET also refused to comment on the project.
Some ethics experts who were contacted about the matter speculated on whether Hudlin's treatment of "The Black Panther" represents a potential conflict of interest.
"This does raise the question of impropriety," said C. Kerry Fields, a business law and ethics professor at the USC Marshall School of Business. "This deal doesn't seem to have the sense of impartiality it should have. It certainly raises the issue of whether the board of directors for the network is exercising sufficient oversight. The cost, network support, advertising and its placement in the program lineup are all things he controls."
I heard much longer after the fact that Reginald Hudlin was no longer an executive at BET. I recently found this interview with Mr. Hudlin. I love it. He doesn't cover the reasons for his departure from BET but he does instead talk about the importance of Black Panther as a culture icon. The interview is from 2008 so it does not shed light on why the Black Panther Animated Series aired only in Australia and then released digitally. I've heard that it's been pulled from iTunes but I haven't checked that out myself. Something fishy is going on with how that show is being distributed.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1efb0884-29eb-473f-b013-b0cd28eb15c2)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=8b9669b4-b1ae-4996-a5dd-40d65ce3ccf7)
Djimon Hounsou is the voice of the Marvel Comics super hero, The Black Panther, an animated series which is slated to premiere in 2009. The series will be adapted directly from the first six issues of the Marvel Comic written by Reginald Hudlin (issues #1 – #6, “Who Is The Black Panther”).It's been great! I want to see more!
The movie is the result of a partnership between BET and Marvel Animation. In a press release from BET Networks, Djimon Hounsou stated that, “It’s a blessing for African Americans and minorities to have a Super Hero they can identify with,” said Hounsou. “While the Black Panther is a powerful force for good, he is also a respected world leader who takes pride in his African heritage. He embodies the past and future of his culture, demonstrating the endless possibilities of an Africa that is truly free.”
Kudos to Djimon. We are looking forward to seeing the end result.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=269c8926-7b74-4f8e-b5eb-b123e5fd44b0)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f001bfe9-0137-43e2-84cd-a3aedadf5a27)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b3c0f1a5-01c6-4386-843e-d2dbee2ffac5)
s tried to invade Black Panther's home country of Wakanda, circa 1943. Given that Wakanda has never been successfully invaded, we already know that Black Panther and Captain America stop them but that is not the most point of the story. What I find exciting is that:"A key player and point of view for the story is Gabe Jones," he explains. "Historically, Gabe Jones is one of the first 'normal' black people in comics. By 'normal,' I mean, not a racist caricature. Gabe is the first of the great breakthroughs in realistic depictions of black characters that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby did in the 1960's. He was the forerunner of Robbie Robertson and the Black Panther.
"I'm going to flesh out who Gabe Jones is. As an African American, he seemed like the perfect person to be the point of view of this story. He would take pride in both the Black Panther and Captain America, and also would find himself in conflict with both."
familiar with his work. He has been in the entertainment industry for years Since 1990 - writing, directing, producing, and sometimes simultaneously. He was named President of Entertainment for BET in June of 2005 and since then BET has actually had programming that I want to watch! I think he has a lot to do with that. I found out this information because I came across an announcement that BET will be airing and producing an animated series based on the Marvel character and comic book The Black Panther. Needless to say I was excited and have written a few posts about the Black Panther on the blog. I have unfortunately been unable read many comic books in the past few years so I was amazed that Hudlin is also writing the comic book. He's a busy guy to be juggling all those projects at once. However the fact that he writes the monthly book also gives me hope that the animated series is in good hands. I just hope that it is on the same level as the other great animated projects that have been on the air since 1992. I founds an interview he did on the internet that is quite good called "Who Is Reginald Hudlin?" He talk about doing feature films and writing Black Panther and Spider-man. I've missed most of this work but I plan to try to catch up. Here is a video interview from Comic Con.
Posts
All Comments
