BET Networks hosted a special For Your Consideration EMMY screening and panel for its first ever miniseries, ®THE BOOK OF NEGROES,® on Sunday April 26th at the Pacific Design Center®s Silver Screen Theatre with guest appearances by the series cast: Aunjanue Ellis (The Mentalist, Get On Up), Oscar® winner Louis Gossett, Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman, Roots) and Lyriq Bent (Saw, Rookie Blue).
Based on the critically-acclaimed novel, "The Book of Negroes" tells the story of Aminata Diallom (Aunjanue Ellis), a child sold into slavery in 1761 who will stop at nothing to return home. As an adult, Aminata is recruited to help register names of Black British Loyalists in a ledger known as ®The Book of Negroes,® an actual historical document that lists the names of runaway slaves who helped the British during the Revolutionary War. The series also stars Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire, A Few Good Men), Jane Alexander (The Cider House Rules), and Ben Chaplin (The Thin Red Line).
Lyriq Bent, Damon D®Oliveira, Aunjanue Ellis, Louis Gossett, Jr., Lawrence Hill
Aunjanue Ellis, Lyriq Bent
The screening featured episode 4, in which Aminata is offered a job by the British Navy to help recruit Black Loyalists to join them in Nova Scotia as free citizens. With renewed vigor, she begins registering thousands; but when it is finally her turn to go, authorities stop her.
Lyriq Bent, Louis Gossett, Jr., Aunjanue Ellis
Following the screening, Deadline®s awards columnist Pete Hammond moderated a panel Q&A with Aunjanue Ellis, Louis Gossett, Jr., Lyriq Bent, Lawrence Hill (®The Books of Negroes® award-winning author), Clement Virgo (the series® director, co-writer & executive producer) and Damon D®Oliveira (executive producer).
ABOUT BET NETWORKS BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation®s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.
