Cheetah Girls Writer Deborah Gregory's Story

Writer, performer and designer Deborah Gregory is the award-winning author of "The Cheetah Girls" novel series. The 22-book series (16 books written by Deborah Gregory plus 6 movie tie-in books) is about five talented teens that form a singing group and make their dreams come true. The Disney Channel original movie produced in conjunction with Whitney Houston, "The Cheetah Girls" --based on the book series stars Raven Symone, Adrienne and Kiely from 3LW as well as Lynn Whitfield. Deborah Gregory served as a co-producer on the film project.

Gregory is also a National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) award-winning contributing writer for ESSENCE magazine since 1992. Her work has also appeared in VIBE, MORE, Heart & Soul, Entertainment Weekly, and US magazines. Her pop culture column, THE DIVA DIARIES, appears in GRACE magazine, the national fashion and lifestyle "reality" publication targeted at multi-cultural women. She recently released her new book, written as an adult novel, “Catwalk”, a tale about budding fashionistas who vie for the prize and are destined to rip the runway by any means necessary. She also has developed a one-woman show "LEOPARD LIVES" --a coming of age story about a child growing up in the New York City foster care system of which Ms. Gregory is also a survivor.

Ms. Gregory has also contributed to several books including, "Men of Color: Fashion, Mission, Fundamentals"; "Body and Soul, SoulStyle: Black Women Redefining the Color Fashion," "Essence Total Makeover Book," and "50 Most Influential People." She also contributed to photographer Marc Baptiste's book of nudes, "Beautiful". The pictures include a host of celebrities who posed nude including Stacey Dash, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Williams, Beverly Johnson, and LisaRaye.

Deborah Gregory also launched her company, CHEETAHRAMA, offering her original designs including hand-crafted decoupage art cases and hair accessories which are sold at stores nationwide.

Ms. Gregory received her A.A.S. from Fashion Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science from Empire State University in 1986. She currently lives in New York City with her pooch Cappuccino who poses as the Cheetah Girls mascot Toto.

That’s all good news. The bad news is that Deborah Gregory says that she has not been paid one cent. “It’s called ‘net profit participation,’ says Ms. Gregory. And she isn’t the only author to find out the hard way about Hollywood accounting, which reduces the reported profit of a movie through the calculation of overhead expenses, employee salaries and advertising costs. Other book authors reportedly not receiving money for their books turned movies include Olivia Goldsmith who wrote The First Wives Club, Alice Walker who wrote The Color Purple, and Stan Lee who wrote Spider Man. Lee filed a lawsuit against Marvel for his unpaid share of profits based on the character and reportedly won more than $10 million.

Net Profit is defined as an amount of money earned after all expenses have been deducted from the total revenue. There is a saying in Hollywood that “a percentage of the net is a percentage of nothing.” Ms. Gregory claims that she has received only $125.000 from the Disney Channel for the two and a half year option, producer fees and purchase price for two movies. The Cheetah Girls was made into a Disney Channel TV movie, capturing 6.5 million viewers. The sequel topped the first, becoming the most-watched original movie in the Disney Channel’s history. The Cheetah Girls have become a brand with massive merchandising, including soundtracks, DVDs, video games and sold-out concerts.

Authors don’t have a real union like screenwriters do. They have the Authors Guild, which does not operate like a real union. So studios are not accountable to the authors, although 40 percent of all movies and TV projects have the source material from books.

If you ever write a book which turns into a movie, Deborah Gregory provides these suggestions on how authors can protect themselves from “net profit participation.” (1) Get as much money as you can up front for your movie rights. (2) Consider writing the screenplay or TV teleplay so that you can get into the Writer’s Guild. That will provide you DVD residuals. (3) Have bonus clauses included. As merchandise is made, for example, that will ensure that a bonus kicks in.

Halle Berry Crowned the “Sexiest Black Woman Alive”

TV One recently voted Halle Berry as the sexiest Black woman alive. TV One Access co-host Jamal Munnerlyn and guest co-host Tatyana Ali counted down to the 16 sexiest Black women alive. The show also gave viewers a look at women who embody categories such as “Sexiest Athletes,” “Sexiest Sense of Style,” and “Quintessential Complete Package.” TV One is a Black oriented channel — a la BET, but with way less music videos.

The list ranges from Tyra Banks, who was the first Black woman ever to grace the cover of “Sports Illustrated,” to Grammy Award-winning artist Alicia Keys. A few surprises include presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama’s wife Michelle and “Deja Vu” break-out star Paula Patton.”

Here’s the list, according to TV One, of the “16 Sexiest Black Women Alive”:
1. Halle Berry
2. Gabrielle Union
3. Beyonce
4. Naomi Campbell
5. Rihanna
6. Paula Patton
7. Lauren London
8. Angela Bassett
9. Iman
10. Vanessa Williams
11. Janet Jackson
12. Jada Pinkett Smith
13. Alicia Keys
14. Tyra Banks
15. Beverly Johnson
16. Alek Wek

Personally I don't see how they could make a list of sexiest Black women and leave off Sanaa Lathan. Give me a few more minutes and I could think of more names that are more sexier than Halle. Sure Halle Berry is a very beautiful woman but sexiest Black woman alive...

My list would be something like:
1. Angela Bassett
1A Sanaa Lathan
2. Gabrielle Union
3. Vanessa Williams
4. Melinda Williams
5. Lauren London
6. Iman
7. Jada Pinkett Smith
8. Nia Long
9. Kerry Washington
10. Kellita Smith
11. Halle Berry
12. Golden Brooks
13. Stacey Dash
14. Kenya Moore
15. Elizabeth Withers
16. Beyonce
17. Tyra Banks
18. India.Arie
19. Beverly Johnson

NAACP Image Awards

Actor Hill Harper, winner of the NAACP Image Award for his role on CSI: NY, expressed my sentiments exactly (The Nubian Epistle focus: presenting positive images of Black people without bringing others down) when he stated, It's called an Image Award and I believe they're not just looking at acting, but they're looking at the image you portray and how you live your life. I'm very proud to win it, because I try to lift up and break stereotypes about the African-American male, and I'm proud of my work. It's not just about acting."

Other winners included Actor Denzel Washington, who won for his roll in the movie The Great Debaters, which won for best movie. He said, "I'm happy for everybody up here," who also directed the film. "I'm very grateful for this award and particularly just happy that some of these young people got recognized. Denzel sported a shaved head, for his upcoming movie, The Taking of Pelham 123. The Great Debaters also produced other winners including younger actors Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker. Alicia Keys won four awards in the music category -- album, song, music video and female artist.

Senator Barack Obama didn't earn any trophies at this year's NAACP Image Awards, but he was a winner even though his name was not mentioned. Many stars such as actor/director Tyler Perry just dropped campaign catch phases such as “Yes we can.” Perry, whose House of Payne TV series picked up three awards and is known for playing multiple characters, joked, "I'm voting three times: one as myself, one as Madea and one as Joe." House of Payne's additional wins were for its stars LaVan Davis and Lance Gross.

Hill Harper, who is a member of Senator Obama campaign finance committee, revealed, "Barack Obama and I have known each other for 20 years. We went to Harvard Law School together." The timing of the writers strike was perfect for Harper to hit the campaign trail in support of Obama; he's due back on the set the day after the March 4 primaries. Other winners were less partial to a specific candidate, but did point to politics:

Stevie Wonder, inducted into the NAACP Hall of Fame, used his time onstage to praise the 99-year-old organization, saying "it's through this organization that we now have two (presidential) candidates, one a female and the other an African-American. … I say let them both win so that we can have a strong, united people of the United States. I'm very, very excited about the possibility." Ugly Betty's Vanessa Williams, supporting actress in a comedy series winner, said: "This is such an exciting time in our lives. We can all feel the change happening and we all have the power. Vote." And Regina Taylor, who won an acting award for her role on CBS' The Unit, said the trophy was a great honor, partly because "when we're looking at the news and seeing a woman running for president and a Black man running for president, you have to look back and see how we got here, and the NAACP is the organization that was in the center of it."

Special honors went to veteran Oscar-nominated actress Ruby Dee and to singer Aretha Franklin. Aretha said she had attended the NAACP ceremony since the early days, "when the sets were falling down and cue cards were being written in the wings just before the artists walked on stage," she said. "This is the icing on the cake for me."

Obama-related works actually did win awards: a TVOne interview and a biography by David Mendell.