You are viewing the archive: “Mara Brock Akil”

‘Sparkle’s Mara & Salim Akil Make Paramount Deal On ‘Abandonment Issues’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday September 14, 2012 @ 11:27am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Mara Brock Akil, Paramount Pictures, Salim Akil, Sparkle
Mike Fleming

Mara Brock Akil and Salim AkilBREAKING: Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, who last teamed on the Screen Gems remake Sparkle with Whitney Houston, have made a deal with Paramount Pictures for a new project with the working title Abandonment Issues. Mara Brock Akil will write the script and Salim Akil, her husband, will direct and they will produce together. Salim made his feature directing  debut with last year’s TriStar comedy Jumping The Broom, which opened tops at the box office and grossed over $40 million domestically. READ MORE »

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BET Orders Movie-Backdoor Pilot From Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil With Diggy Simmons

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday August 20, 2012 @ 4:54pm PDTTags: BET, Big Deals TV, Mara Brock Akil, Salim Akil
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: More than two decades after Will Smith launched his acting career with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, another young rapper is transitioning to scripted comedy with the help of a husband-and-wife writing/producing duo. BET has greenlighted the Untitled Diggy Simmons Project, a two-hour backdoor comedy pilot/original movie starring 17-year-old rapper/blogger Daniel Dwayne Simmons, aka Diggy Simmons, and executive produced by Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, the team behind BET’s hit comedy The Game and upcoming original movie/backdoor pilot Being Mary Jane, which is set to premiere next year as part of the BET Premiere Cinema movie franchise. Being Mary Jane, starring Gabrielle Union, is expected to go to series.

The Diggy Simmons project, said to have an Entourage vibe to it, is described as a fresh and edgy look at Diggy Simmons, his life as a blogger, and the close group of loyal friends who hold him down on his rise to the top. Simmons will play the main character Blake. Also cast in the project are Allen Maldonado as Manny, Blake’s best friend. Manny lives with his twin sister Tae (Teyana Taylor), who is Blake’s ex-girlfriend, after their grandmother died. Chris Brew will play Dot, a tech geek, now a student at NYU, and a childhood friend of Blake and Manny. Bria Murphy will play Manny’s girlfriend Nia. Stephanie Charles will play Sheri, Dot’s ex-girlfriend.  Read More »

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BET Greenlights ‘Single Black Female’ Pilot From Mara Brock Akil And Salim Akil

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday February 13, 2012 @ 5:00am PSTTags: BET, Mara Brock Akil, Single Black Female
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that BET has given a pilot order to Single Black Female, an hourlong project from Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, the husband-and-wife duo behind the cable network’s hit comedy series The Game. The Game creator/executive producer … Read More »

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BET Inks Deal With Salim & Mara Brock Akil

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 12, 2011 @ 7:04am PDTTags: BET, Mara Brock Akil
Nellie Andreeva

BET has signed a multi-year deal with The Game creator/executive producer Mara Brock Akil and director/executive producer Salim Akil. Under the pact, they will continue their services on the hit series, which has been renewed for a fifth season, in addition to developing new shows through Akil Prods. with a … Read More »

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‘The Game’ Makes Big Return On BET

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday January 12, 2011 @ 1:14pm PSTTags: BET Let's Stay Together, CW, Mara Brock Akil, The Game, The Game BET
Nellie Andreeva

The CW may be having second thoughts about canceling The Game and getting out of the comedy business. The return of The Game on BET, which resurrected Mara Brock Akil’s series months after the CW axed it, drew a massive … Read More »

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