Welcome to another episode of Deadline’s Scene 2 Seen Podcast.
Today’s guest is Liesl Tommy, the director and executive producer of the 2021 Aretha Franklin biopic Respect which stars Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, and Marlon Wayans.
The director has some amazing credits on her resume including The Walking Dead…
Editors note:Deadline's Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will be factors in this year's movie awards race.
When it came to encapsulating the epic life, prodigious talent and seismic impact of the iconic Aretha Franklin, the creative team behind Respect had a massive tapestry…
Aretha Franklin has been getting a lot of attention lately, not only for the critically praised big-screen biopic Respect, in which Jennifer Hudson plays the Queen of Soul to great effect, but also in 2021’s television limited series Genius: Aretha, in which Cynthia Erivo gets a crack at the role for which she earned…
With her Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, director Liesl Tommy looked to capture a world of “Black excellence…beauty and…fabulousness” from the past that she feels few films ever have.
Her feature directorial debut follow Franklin (Jennifer Hudson) from her childhood in the 1950s through her rise to stardom, examining…
Respectdirector Liesl Tommy was joined by writer Tracey Scott Wilson, cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau and production designer Ina Mayhew at Deadline’s Contenders: New York award-season event Saturday to discuss their movie about legendary singer Aretha Franklin.
From a screenplay by Wilson (The Americans, Fosse/Verd…
Jennifer Hudson felt that the best way to honor the late soul singing legend Aretha Franklin in the biopic Respect was to deliver as much authenticity in her performance as the Queen of Soul invested in her music.
"How do you even begin to capture or approach someone so massive as Aretha Franklin, that’s so dear to…
MGM has set stage director Liesl Tommy to directRespect, the feature film about music icon Aretha Franklin. Oscar winning Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson was handpicked by Franklin to play her, and Oscar-winning Thelma & Louise and Nashville creator Callie Khouri is writing. Liesl is the first black woman to earn a…