Westbrook Inc. is an American multimedia and entertainment venture company. The company was founded by actor and rapper Will Smith and his wife and actress Jada Pinkett Smith. The company was founded in 2019, in order to execute the Smith Family's global content.
WikipediaFounded: July 10, 2019
Westbrook Inc. is an American multimedia and entertainment venture company. The company was founded by actor and rapper Will Smith and his wife and actress Jada Pinkett Smith. The company was founded in 2019, in order to execute the Smith Family's global content.
The company signed a first-look deal with National Geographic in 2021.Westbrook's debut film, King Richard, garnered widespread acclaim and earned numerous awards including six nominations (including Best Picture; the first nomination for this company) at 94th Academy Awards and four nominations at the 79th Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture – Drama), winning Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Smith.
Will Smith serves as an ambassador for FitBit through his YouTube Originals docuseries, “Best Shape of My Life.”
As an actor, he’s been linked to several high-profile projects. He will headline “Emancipation,” a historical thriller about a runaway slave that scored a $120 million sale from Apple Original Films. The film is expected to appear on the fall film festival circuit. Smith is also expected to appear in sequels to “Bright” and “Bad Boys,” film. He’s also attached to “Fast & Loose,” an action thriller from “Atomic Blonde” director David Leitch. Smith was linked with Netflix’s “The Council,” a biopic of drug kingpin Nicky Barnes,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs - Candle Media, as the Blackstone-backed startup
Candle has made several other acquisitions to date, including Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine ($900 million), kids’ content giant Moonbug ($3 billion), and Israeli studio company Faraway Road Productions (6 million). It intends to supercharge growth of its portfolio companies in the realms of content, community, and commerce.
Willard Carroll Smith II, also known by his stage name the Fresh Prince, is an American actor, rapper, and film producer.
WikipediaHeight: 6′ 2″
Smith's memoir Will, which was written with Mark Manson, Nat Geo announced that Smith would star in a series titled Pole to Pole, which will stream on Disney+.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide.
WikipediaThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second largest country in Europe after Russia, which borders it to the east and north-east.
Wikipedia
Taking Ukraine's energy would give Mr. Putin the second-largest natural-gas reserves in Europe, worth more than $1 trillion at today's prices. Ukraine has substantial renewable energy potential, including significant biomass resources and waste management possibilities, which remains largely untapped.
_________________________________________________________________________________
In July 2020, the rights to “Emancipation” went up for auction during the pandemic-induced virtual version of the Cannes Film Festival. At the time, Deadline reported Apple secured the largest film festival acquisition deal in film history, with a price tag of more than $120 million that covered both co-production and distribution rights. Apple beat AT&T’s
Warner Bros., Comcast Corporation’s
Universal, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF-A) and MGM for the rights.
Apple Inc.
came away from last week’s Academy Awards ceremony in equal states of euphoria and agita. On the positive side, the company’s Apple TV+ made history as the first streaming service to secure a Best Picture Oscar winner with “CODA,” a surprise victory over rival Netflix’s
“The Power of the Dog,” which many film industry observers pegged as a sure-bet for the top prize.
__________________________________________________________________
Key to the deal is the relationship that Apple Worldwide Video heads Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht built with Will Smith while they were Sony Pictures Television presidents and worked on the Jada Pinkett series Hawthorne, The Queen Latifah Show and Hala, which Apple acquired after its Sundance premiere. That familiarity was a factor in Apple winning the property, though the label also outbid the field. It is the latest statement buy for Apple, which just a month ago become the prime creative studio on Killers of the Flower Moon, the $180 million + adaptation of the David Grann book that Eric Roth scripted and which has Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio set to star. Apple also stepped up to acquire Greyhound, the WWII drama that Tom Hanks wrote and stars in, with Aaron Schneider directing. That film premieres on Apple TV
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smith, James Lassiter and Jon Mone will produce “Emancipation” through Westbrook Studios, along with McFarland Entertainment's Joey McFarland and Escape Artists' Todd Black. Fuqua will executive produce under his Fuqua Films banner, alongside Cliff Roberts. Amazon reportedly made a nine billion dollar bid to acquire MGM Studios. Warner Bros, Apple, MGM, Lionsgate and Universal have all made offers on the property at the Cannes virtual market this week.
__________________________________________________________________
Smith, James Lassiter and Jon Mone will produce “Emancipation” through Westbrook Studios, along with McFarland Entertainment’s Joey McFarland and Escape Artists’ Todd Black. Fuqua will executive produce under his Fuqua Films banner, alongside Cliff Roberts. McFarland began researching and developing the story and characters in 2018 and brought in Collage to pen the script and participate in additional research.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced Warner Bros. to halt production of “King Richard,” the story of Richard Williams, father and coach of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, which Smith is starring in