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    Back to The Business

    The Business

    Reginald Hudlin on his Clarence Avant documentary ‘The Black Godfather’

    You may have never heard of Clarence Avant, but this enigmatic manager, producer and record executive has touched the lives of a wide array of people you have heard of: Bill Withers, Hank Aaron, Barack Obama.

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    By Kim Masters • May 31, 2019 • 28m Listen

    You may have never heard of Clarence Avant, but this enigmatic manager, producer and record executive has touched the lives of a wide array of people you have heard of: Bill Withers, Hank Aaron, Barack Obama. In his new Netflix documentary ‘The Black Godfather,’ Hudlin lines up all those people and many more to reveal the behind-the-scenes story of Avant, now 88 years old. Hudlin explains how he got all of them to sit for interviews for a doc that will soon drop on Netflix, possibly because Avant’s daughter is married to Ted Sarandos. Hudlin also talks about his own career--which kicked off in 1990 with ‘House Party,’ a Sundance hit that started as a short film at Harvard.

    In this episode

    2 stories
    1. 1:21

      Hollywood news banter: big studios may bail on Georgia over abortion bill

      Despite the hefty tax breaks, several big studios are now saying they’ll have to bail on production in Georgia if the state’s new, restrictive abortion law goes into effect.

      Read the story
      6 min
    2. 7:49

      Reginald Hudlin on ‘The Black Godfather’ & black filmmakers breaking through

      You may have never heard of Clarence Avant, but this enigmatic manager, producer and record executive has touched the lives of a wide array of people you have heard of: Bill Withers, Hank Aaron, Barack Obama.

      Read the story
      21 min
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Kim Masters

      partner/writer at Puck News, host of KCRW's “The Business.”

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Kaitlin Parker

      Producer, 'The Business' and 'Hollywood Breakdown'

      CultureEntertainmentArts

    In this episode

    2 stories
    1. 1:216 min

      Hollywood news banter: big studios may bail on Georgia over abortion bill

    2. 7:4921 min

      Reginald Hudlin on ‘The Black Godfather’ & black filmmakers breaking through

    Back to The Business