Amid the social and economical problems that the city has been plagued with, Whitaker has stepped in to lend his assistance:

Sundance Channel is taking an in-depth look at the challenges facing Newark, N.J., in a new documentary series backed in part by Forest Whitaker.

“Brick City” will center on Newark Mayor Cory Booker, local citizens and key figures — from real estate developers to ex-gang members — as they try to remake the city, working to stamp out violence, poverty and corruption and make improvements in housing, employment and education.

Whitaker, the Oscar-winning star of “The Last King of Scotland,” will serve as an executive producer with the series’ directors, Marc Levin (”Slam”) and Mark Benjamin (”The Last Party”).

The series will debut with six half-hour episodes in the third quarter of 2009. The series will take place over the span of about a year so viewers can see whether things change.

Sundance executive vp/GM Laura Michalchyshyn said Whitaker is a “huge supporter of this project and of Newark,” but that it was too early to determine if he might provide voice-over for the series.

Source

Actor Forest Whitaker is to star in, and direct, Louis Armstrong biopic What a Wonderful World, according to reports.

The film was being made by Paris-based company Legende, which produced last year’s Edith Piaf film La Vie en Rose, trade publication Variety said.

Oscar Cohen, who began working as road manager for trumpeter and singer Armstrong in the late 1940s, will be executive producer, it added.

Whitaker has previously played jazz great Charlie Parker in the film Bird.

The 1988 movie was directed by Clint Eastwood.

Ron Bass, whose previous credits include Entrapment and My Best Friend’s Wedding, will write the script.

It will begin with Armstrong’s impoverished youth in New Orleans, according to Variety.

“Armstrong left a monumental mark on our lives and our culture,” Whitaker told the paper.

“He lived an amazing life and, through his art, shifted the way music was played and would be heard after him, not just here in the US but all over the world.”

Whitaker has previously directed films including romantic comedies First Daughter, starring Katie Holmes and Michael Keaton, and Waiting to Exhale, featuring Whitney Houston.

In 2007, he won the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.

Whitaker is one of the greatest actors of our time and is very underrated. It’s very sad that after all of his accomplishments he has to face racism from studios as in the story here.

It’s sad that in this day and age nothing has changed when it comes to the way that many people view blacks. This is sad:

Acclaimed Australian director Rowan Woods had to fight to keep Oscar winner Forest Whitaker in his new film Winged Creatures after a film company executive dismissed the actor as “ugly, black and unbankable.”

Despite having “the hottest ensemble cast in town”, including Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Jennifer Hudson, Woods said the company who owned the script wouldn’t accept Whitaker as a leading man.

“The initial finance fell through when I stuck with Forest Whitaker for the role of Charlie,” Woods said.

“An executive told me straight: `Even if he wins the Oscar he’s ugly, he’s black and he’s unbankable.’”

Speaking at the Australian Directors Guild conference in Sydney this weekend, Woods said the company, which he wouldn’t name for legal reasons, eventually let go of the script because of their disagreement over Whitaker.

The budget on Winged Creatures dropped from $US11 million to $US4.5 million because Woods wouldn’t consider a Michael Douglas or an Al Pacino for Whitaker’s role.

“The unbankable part of it was nearly right,” he said.

“They wanted everyone but Forest Whitaker … and this is one of the best actors on the planet.

“By the time we had stacked the cast around Forest the asking price for the movie had more than halved from its initial level.”

Winged Creatures centres around a random shooting in a Los Angeles diner, and how it affects the lives of those who witness it.

It is Woods’ third feature film after local productions Little Fish and The Boys.

He said he was instantly drawn to the multi-storyline drama by Roy Freirich.

“This wasn’t the happy anecdote to my previous movies but it was too tempting,” he said.

“There was a quiet ferocity to the screen play that confronted the hypocrisy of the US gun lobby without being overtly political.”

Woods said his high profile cast was a pleasure to work with except for teenage starlet Dakota Fanning, who could be a diva on the set.

She initially refused to come out of her trailer on day one of shooting because her scene wasn’t filmed first, and was “intensely jealous” of her young co-star Josh Hutcherson.

“Everyone was on their best behaviour on this film because they have got a `really serious Australian director who is known for his ensemble work’,” Woods laughed.

“(Fanning) was the only one who was naughty.”

Woods said while he thinks Fanning is a fine actor, on this film she didn’t hit the mark.

“She is a gorgeous girl … but she was the disaster,” he said.

“There was something about her presence that wasn’t ringing true.

“Most of our work was cutting her scenes and a lot of her scenes were cut.”

Winged Creatures is due for a March 2009 release in the US with Australia to follow shortly after.

Source