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Jordan Peele Hires Cultural Executive To Work On Story lines, Character Development

Jordan Peele Hires Cultural Executive To Work On Story lines, Character Development

Written by Dana Sanchez

Jul 02, 2018

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Filmmaker Jordan Peele has hired a cultural executive to improve representation and portrayals of marginalized groups in his films.

A recent graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, Kamil Oshundara will specialize in academic and cultural research. Her work will be woven into storylines and character development, according to Peele’s company, Monkeypaw Productions.

It’s a role not often seen in Hollywood production circles, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Part of her work will also involve diving deep into the genre material in the hopes of producing ‘critically conscious media’ that better represents marginalized groups.

Peele is an actor, comedian, writer, film producer and director whose epic horror film, “Get Out,” “represented the angst of being a Black man in America and gave birth to many jokes about the ‘sunken place,'” The Grio reported.

Peele co-produced the upcoming “BlacKKKlansman” film with director Spike Lee, due for release on Aug. 10. He is also the executive producer of the TBS comedy, “The Last O.G.” starring Tracy Morgan, which just finished its first season.

He’s teaming up with former Key & Peele writer Charlie Sanders for the comedic sci-fi anthology “Weird City”, which will debut on YouTube Premium, Rolling Stone reported.

Jordan Peele
FILE – In this Feb. 9, 2017 file photo, Jordan Peele poses for a portrait in Los Angeles to promote his directorial debut, “Get Out.” Peele received Academy Award nominations for best picture, director and original screenplay. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, File)

One of Oshundara’s responsibilities will be to oversee “Wendell and Wild”, Monkeypaw’s stop-motion animation feature that Henry Selick is directing for Netflix, according to THR. Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are voicing the title characters.

“Coming from an academic background, Kamil’s dedication to rigorous cultural research is tremendous, and her focus of creating artistic platforms for underrepresented voices is both inspiring and exactly the spirit in which Monkeypaw was founded on,” Peele said in a statement published in THR.

Oshundara was born in Philadelphia and raised outside Atlanta. She’s a scholar, queer community organizer, author, artist and activist who curates inclusive arts-based events in Los Angeles. She graduated in 2018 from UCLA with a joint degree in African-American studies and world arts and cultures.

Her research includes “Black speculative arts with a focus on Black horror and the and the mobilization of fear, fantasy and futurism in genre to explore the material realities of oppression and resistance for Black women,” Ebony reported.

Oshundara explained on Instagram how dreamed the job into existence, and how happy she is:

“7 months ago I was sitting on the front steps of my mama house talking with my neighbor and partner about how GET OUT changed my life, how radical the Sunken Place is as a theory, and how @jordanpeele AKA #PapaPeele was the new father of Social Thrillers and Black Horror. And NOW I’m working with him personally at @monkeypawproductions alongside of a radical team of conscious creators, gender bending geeks, queer loving scream queens and sci-fi fanatics dedicated to changing the world thru cinema and production.”

https://twitter.com/mrzzadashsoul/status/1012868486362587137

 

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