Entertainment

How Cord Jefferson's big break with 'American Fiction' may be a breakthrough for others

Published

2 years ago

January 8, 2024

How Cord Jefferson's big break with 'American Fiction' may be a breakthrough for others

Despite what many would consider notable success in Hollywood, Cord Jefferson says he started to believe that his dream just wasn’t going to happen for him. Jefferson has an Emmy Award for writing an episode of “Watchmen” and two WGA Awards for that miniseries and “Succession” in his possession, but those were honors for contributing to other people’s shows. When he would propose his own projects, he found himself failing over and over again to get a pickup from streamers or networks.

He began to wonder if he’d just end up as a co-executive producer on some other showrunners’ series and that would be that. Life took an incredible turn when he met with T-Street, Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s production entity, to pitch the feature film “American Fiction.”

“When they told me they were going to greenlight the film, I started crying,” Jefferson says. “I was so just overcome. I really thought that I might never get to make something that I wanted to make.”

Jefferson had fallen for “Erasure,” Percival Everett’s 2001 novel skewering publishing industry attitudes about Black literature, after reading it in December 2020. With Everett giving his blessing, Jefferson spent four months during the pandemic adapting it into a screenplay. The film landed in theaters almost exactly three years from his reading of the book, a rare speedy turnaround in the film business, let alone for someone’s directorial debut.

Erika Alexander and Jeffrey Wright star in “American Fiction.”

(Claire Folger / Associated Press)

The social satire centers on Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), a professor of English literature at a well-respected West Coast university. After finding himself at odds with his students and peers, Monk takes a leave of absence to return home to Boston to assist his mother, Agnes (Leslie Uggams), who is suffering from dementia. As he deals with a fractious relationship with his brother (Sterling K. Brown) and sister (Tracee Ellis Ross), he becomes increasingly frustrated that his latest novel cannot find a legitimate publisher.

Raging at the success of a competing author whose work he judges as pandering, he decides to write a stereotypical novel about the Black experience as a way to vent his anger. Written under a pseudonym and filled with inner-city clichés, he insists his agent submit “My Pafology” to all the major book publishers. When he gets a massive financial offer that could assist his mother’s care, he finds himself forced to go along with its publication.

“To me, it was very, very important to have those family moments and those more grounded, poignant moments in order to make sure that the film didn’t collapse under the weight of the comedy and the satire,” Jefferson says. “I never wanted it to feel silly. That was deeply important to me.”

Despite progress made in the 20 years since “Erasure” was first published, the material is still so relevant. Jefferson notes that fact is a “little heartbreaking,” but more so when you consider his “spiritual predecessor” for “Fiction,” Robert Townsend’s “Hollywood Shuffle,” was released in 1987. “It was sort of a real epiphany for me, because it was one of the first movies that I saw that was like, ‘Oh, OK, this is a serious issue. This guy’s talking about race and racism and these painful issues for him, but it’s really, really funny,’” he says.

In that context, the audition process for the role of Agnes provided one of the most “gratifying” moments for Jefferson while making the film. Jefferson recalls, “One of these actors [auditioning was asked], ‘Do you have any questions for Cord before we start?’ And she said, ‘No, but I just want to say I cannot believe they’re letting you make this movie.’ This is a Black woman in her 70s and she said, ‘I’ve been doing this for half a century, and you’re talking about things that we’ve been talking about for half a century, but they’ve never let us say. I just can’t believe that they’re letting you make this movie. I’m so delighted that this is going to be in the world.’”

After initially just being thrilled to have his film accepted into the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, Jefferson saw the Amazon MGM Studios release receive an awards season jump by winning the festival’s prestigious People’s Choice Award, an honor that has often led to a best picture Oscar nomination.

Awards often bring a larger spotlight, and Jefferson is hoping that any continuing success “American Fiction” earns allows someone else to make a film that “right now people think is crazy and outlandish” down the road.

“Hopefully, what this movie can do is crack the door open so that in 2033 or 2043, somebody out there who’s seen this film is then allowed to make a thing that people think these days is preposterous to make. I’m here because of the legacy of those kinds of people.”

Movie Reviews

Primate

Published

5 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Every horror fan deserves the occasional (decent) fix, andin the midst of one of the bleakest movie months of the year, Primatedelivers. There’s nothing terribly original about Johannes Roberts’ rabidchimpanzee tale, but that’s kind of the …

Entertainment

Tom Cherones, director and producer of ‘Seinfeld,’ dies at 86

Published

7 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Tom Cherones, director and producer of ‘Seinfeld,’ dies at 86

Television director and producer Tom Cherones, best known for his work on the first five seasons of the Emmy-winning series “Seinfeld,” has died. He was 86.

He died Jan. 5 at his home in Florence, Ore., according to a statement from his family.

He directed some of the most iconic episodes of “Seinfeld,” including “The Chinese Restaurant,” “The Parking Garage” and “The Contest.” The first episode he directed was the show’s second-ever episode, “The Stake Out.” The director ultimately helmed over 80 episodes of the show.

“I think they liked the way I ran the set,” Cherones said of why he was chosen to direct so many “Seinfeld” episodes in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation. “I shot the show a little different … I just shot it in a way that I thought made it look better than the average show.”

Cherones left the show at the behest of its star Jerry Seinfeld.

“Jerry asked me to [leave], he was tired of the same thing I guess,” he told the Television Academy Foundation. “We changed writers almost every season and finally he just wanted somebody else, another presence to try to keep it fresh. He always said from the beginning that when this thing isn’t working anymore we’re going to stop.”

Cherones received six Emmy nominations for his work on “Seinfeld,” winning his sole Emmy for his production work in 1993.

“Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander mourned Cherones death in an Instagram post on Friday.

“Tom directed nearly half the ‘Seinfeld’ episodes. He created the visual style and tone and how to capture the magical interplay of our cast,” Alexander wrote.

“His generosity also enabled me to become a member of the Directors Guild and he was a wonderful mentor. He was a good guy and a wonderful director and teacher. Generations of our fans have and will continue to enjoy his work. Thanks for everything, Tom. Rest well. My love to your family and friends.”

After leaving “Seinfeld,” Cherones would go on to direct 23 episodes of the second season of the Ellen DeGeneres sitcom “Ellen.” He also directed several episodes of the ‘90s NBC sitcoms “Caroline in the City” and “NewsRadio” and stand-alone episodes of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” “Boston Common” and “Desperate Housewives.”

Cherones was born Sept. 11, 1939, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of New Mexico in 1961. After a four-year stint in the U.S. Navy, he earned a master’s degree from the University of Alabama in 1967.

He worked at a PBS affiliate station in Pittsburgh, including aiding in the production of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Cherones moved to L.A. in 1975 and found production work on such series as “General Hospital” and “Welcome Back, Kotter,” and with several of the major Hollywood production studios.

Later in life, Cherones returned to the University of Alabama to teach production classes from 2002 to 2014.

Cherones is survived by his wife Carol E. Richards, his daughter Susan Cherones Lee, son Scott Cherones and two grandchildren, Jessa and Thomas Cherones.

Movie Reviews

1986 Movie Reviews – Black Moon Rising | The Nerdy

Published

17 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

1986 Movie Reviews – Black Moon Rising | The Nerdy

by Sean P. Aune | January 10, 2026

Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1986 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.

We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.

Yes, we’re insane, but 1986 was that great of a year for film.

The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1986 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.

This time around, it’s Jan. 10, 1986, and we’re off to see Black Moon Rising.

Black Moon Rising

What was the obsession in the 1980s with super vehicles?

Sam Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) is hired to steal a computer tape with evidence against a company on it. While being pursued, he tucks it in the parachute of a prototype vehicle called the Black Moon. While trying to retrieve it, the car is stolen by Nina (Linda Hamilton), a car thief working for a car theft ring. Both of them want out of their lives, and it looks like the Black Moon could be their ticket out.

Blue Thunder in the movies, Airwolf and Knight Rider on TV, the 1980s loved an impractical ‘super’ vehicle. In this case, the car plays a very minor role up until the final action set piece, and the story is far more about the characters and their motivations.

The movie is silly as you would expect it to be, but it is never a bad watch. It’s just not anything particularly memorable.

1986 Movie Reviews will continue on Jan. 17, 2026, with The Adventures of the American Rabbit, The Adventures of Mark Twain, The Clan of the Cave Bear, Iron Eagle, The Longshot, and Troll.