Entertainment Industry Blacks

"I have an announcement to make," says Jeff Goldblum, his voice echoing across a movie set standing in for a Las Vegas hotel suite crowded with party-goers. "Fred, it's all over!" "Over? You must be crazy," replies "Fred" (Samuel L. Jackson, colorfully decked out in flowing purple robes and a faux turban). "What's over?"

Reggie Rock Bythewood adores his wife. He just doesn't find her name very amusing. So when the writer-director and his wife, Gina, honeymooned in Africa in 1998 and met some African men who started laughing when they were introduced to Gina, Bythewood was caught off guard, as well as a bit upset.

Actress Esther Rolle and Michael Schultz, the director of 1975's "Cooley High" and 1976's "Car Wash," are the recipients of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame's 18th annual Oscar Micheaux Awards, named for the late writer-director who, because of non-acceptance by the major studios, produced and marketed his own movies during the '20s and '30s.

At the 29th NAACP Image Awards, a glittering salute to the biggest names in black entertainment and the promotion of positive images of people of color, the standout winners were the movie "Soul Food," with five awards, and CBS' "Touched by an Angel," with four wins in the television categories.

At the 29th NAACP Image Awards, a glittering salute to the biggest names in black entertainment and the promotion of positive images of people of color, the standout winners were the movie "Soul Food," with five awards, and CBS' "Touched by an Angel," with four wins in the television categories.

The box-office hit "Waiting to Exhale" was the big winner at the 27th annual NAACP Image Awards, presented Saturday evening at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. But if anyone was holding their breath expecting controversy from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was in attendance along with many of the celebrities who declined to join his recent Academy Awards protest, none ever materialized.

Reggie Rock Bythewood adores his wife. He just doesn't find her name very amusing. So when the writer-director and his wife, Gina, honeymooned in Africa in 1998 and met some African men who started laughing when they were introduced to Gina, Bythewood was caught off guard, as well as a bit upset.

Here are the major winners of the 27th annual NAACP Image Awards, which were presented Saturday night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said Thursday that the organization would establish a Los Angeles branch by next spring that would help monitor and improve the hiring and portrayals of African Americans in the entertainment industry. While saying he was pleased with increases in the number of blacks performing on television and film, he maintained that the directing and writing ranks are still "woefully inadequate" when it comes to African Americans.

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said Thursday that the organization would establish a Los Angeles branch by next spring that would help monitor and improve the hiring and portrayals of African Americans in the entertainment industry. While saying he was pleased with increases in the number of blacks performing on television and film, he maintained that the directing and writing ranks are still "woefully inadequate" when it comes to African Americans.

The box-office hit "Waiting to Exhale" was the big winner at the 27th annual NAACP Image Awards, presented Saturday evening at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. But if anyone was holding their breath expecting controversy from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was in attendance along with many of the celebrities who declined to join his recent Academy Awards protest, none ever materialized.

Here are the major winners of the 27th annual NAACP Image Awards, which were presented Saturday night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

"I have an announcement to make," says Jeff Goldblum, his voice echoing across a movie set standing in for a Las Vegas hotel suite crowded with party-goers. "Fred, it's all over!" "Over? You must be crazy," replies "Fred" (Samuel L. Jackson, colorfully decked out in flowing purple robes and a faux turban). "What's over?"

Actress Esther Rolle and Michael Schultz, the director of 1975's "Cooley High" and 1976's "Car Wash," are the recipients of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame's 18th annual Oscar Micheaux Awards, named for the late writer-director who, because of non-acceptance by the major studios, produced and marketed his own movies during the '20s and '30s.