5 Years Ago
JANUARY 28, 1994
Veteran feature director/DP Barry Sonnenfeld has signed with bicoastal production company BFCS for commercial representation….Director Jesse Dylan, formerly with GLG, Los Angeles, has joined Hollywood-based HKM Productions….Jim Blashfield, who had been directing spots via Palomar Pictures, Hollywood, has returned to Limelight Commercials, also in Hollywood….An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale hit the Los Angeles area, causing death, property damage and widespread chaos, and disrupting commercial production throughout the area….
10 Years Ago
JANUARY 27, 1989
Director Chris Blum, who had most recently been with Group One, San Francisco, has signed with Berkofsky/ Smillie/Barrett, Los Angeles for commercial representation….Walt Disney-MGM Studios, Orlando, Fla., which is home to several syndicated shows, has been making a push for more commercial production….Pepsi’s "Glasnost," via BBDO/New York, will have its premiere during Super Bowl XXIII. The spot, directed by Leslie Dektor of Petermann/Dektor, Hollywood, is believed to be the first U.S. commercial shot in the Soviet Union….
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations,ย Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before โ dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy โ premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson โ smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More