Codeblack Films is an American entertainment company. Codeblack focuses on films targeting African-American audiences.

History

Codeblack Enterprises was founded by Jeff Clanagan in 2005, who became CEO of the company. Originally focused on

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

releases, Codeblack entered into an agreement with

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

for film distribution. The multi-picture deal with Fox Faith was to produce six original films targeting the African-American faith-based market. The first two productions were film adaptations of the 1980s

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

hit '' Mama, I Want to Sing!'' and the popular play, ''A Good Man is Hard to Find.'' Codeblack Enterprises entered a distribution deal with

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

in 2012 forming Codeblack Films under Lionsgate. Codeblack's first film release under Lionsgate was

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. The accolades he has received include the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and nominations for two Grammy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. After winning se ...

's stand-up special '' Let Me Explain''. That same year,

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

's All Star Comedy Jam was released through Codeblack and Lionsgate. Codeblack released '' Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day'' as a limited release to 102 AMC theaters in April 2012. In 2013, Codeblack acquired the rights to produce films from the '' Flyy Girl'' book trilogy by Omar Tyree. It was later announced that

Sanaa Lathan Sanaa McCoy Lathan (; born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows ''In the House'', '' Family Matters'', ''NYPD Bl ...

would be starring as Tracy Ellison in the movie adaptation written by Geoffrey S. Fletcher and Nicole Jefferson-Asher and produced by Effie T. Brown. Codeblack released ''Why We Laugh: Funny Women'', a film about female comedians narrated and produced by

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...

, in 2013. That same year, it acquired '' Frankie & Alice'', a drama starring

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry ( ; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1986 and also placing six ...

, after its delayed release. In April 2013, Codeblack acquired the theatrical rights of ''Free Angela and All Political Prisoners'', a documentary about social activist

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of ...

. Also in 2013, Codeblack released the film '' The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete'', a story of two children on their which have been abandoned by their drug-addicted caretaker. The movie was directed by George Tillman Jr. and starred

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, producer, and talk show host. Having received List of awards and nominations received by Jennifer Hudson, numerous accolades for ...

Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. He gained wide recognition for portraying Sam Wilson / Falcon / Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with the film '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier ...

and

Jeffrey Wright Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. Wright began his career in theater, where he g ...

. It debuted at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

that year. Codeblack released ''

Repentance Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past or present wrongdoings, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is generally seen ...

'', a

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

about a life coach who is abducted by one of his clients, in February 2014. The film was directed by Philippe Caland, who wrote the script alongside Shintaro Shimosawa and worked with

Nina Yang Bongiovi Nina Yang Bongiovi is an Asian-American film producer and Associate Chair of the Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. In 2010, she partnered with actor Forest Whitaker to create Significant Productions; together, they ...

to produce the film. The film '' Addicted'' was released by Codeblack in 2014. It was shown on a limited 846 screens. Codeblack signed an agreement with Times Media Films in October 2014 to distribute its films to South Africa. In March 2015, Lionsgate's Codeblack Films entered an agreement with distributor Eagle Films to distribute all films produced or co-produced by Codeblack in the Middle East and North Africa. In March 2016, Codeblack's parent company, Lionsgate, announced a partnership with Kevin Hart and his company Hartbeat Digital to establish Laugh Out Loud, a video on demand service. Jeff Clanagan. Codeblack's CEO, became president of Hartbeat Digital and Laugh Out Loud. That same month, Codeblack produced a game show series on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

similar to "

The Newlywed Game ''The Newlywed Game'' is an American television game show. Newly married couples compete against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally created ...

" called "The Perfect Match" before the release of the film, ''The Perfect Match''. In September 2016, Codeblack announced that it was partnering with

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe ...

Flavor Unit Entertainment Flavor Unit Entertainment is an American entertainment company originally launched in Jersey City, New Jersey, but is now based in Miami, Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region ...

to co-produce and co-finance several films including ''The Love Playbook: Rules for Love, Sex, and Happiness'' based on the book by

La La Anthony Alani Nicole "La La" Anthony (née Vázquez; 19791982) is an American television personality and actress. In the early 2000s, she worked as an MTV VJ on ''Total Request Live''. She was the host of the VH1 reality television reunion shows '' F ...

. In April 2017, the first trailer was released for '' All Eyez on Me'', a biopic about rapper

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

distributed by Codeblack which would be released in June on what would have been his 46th birthday. The movie was featured as the closing film at the 2017 American Black Film Festival. On January 11, 2019, Lionsgate announced the end of the partnership with Codeblack Films, while also being separated from the former company and continue to operated independently.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Film production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Santa Monica, California Entertainment companies established in 2005 2005 establishments in California Privately held companies of the United States Former Lionsgate subsidiaries