Lee Daniels to Direct Documentary About Harlem’s Apollo Theater

Lee Daniels is honored with the Patron of the Artist Awards during the Screen Actors Guild Foundation 30th Anniversary Celebration at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on November 5, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.
Lee Daniels is honored with the Patron of the Artist Awards during the Screen Actors Guild Foundation 30th Anniversary Celebration at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on November 5, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.

*Lee Daniels will play hooky from “Empire” to direct “The Apollo Film Project,” an authorized documentary about the history of the famed theater in Harlem.

Daniels and Apollo Theater president-CEO Jonelle Procope are calling on the public to find any related memorabilia they might have.

“We are asking members of the community who have been to the Apollo, who may have parents or grandparents or other family members or friends who have done so, to help us find any material – audience footage, photographs, or other memories that we can use in our documentary film. We have established a website for anyone who wants to submit. We will, of course, respect everybody’s ownership of their property,” the duo said.

The film is from White House Pictures. Daniels will direct from a script by Cassidy Hartmann, Mark Monroe (“The Cove”) and Shola Lynch (“Free Angela and All Political Prisoners”).

“I am honored to be entrusted with the story of this incredible American iconic institution and work with this team. I used to go to The Apollo Theater as a kid and never in a million years would I have imagined I would be back to be doing this — it is very special for me,” Daniels said in a statement.

StudioCanal, Universal Music Group — which will curate the music — and Impact Partners are co-financing the project along with The Chicago Media Project.

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