Reginald Hudlin is a director, writer and producer whose work includes film comedy, documentaries, television and comic books. He wrote and directed House Party, released in 1990, and followed it with Boomerang in 1992. His career has also included television management as president of entertainment at BET. Alongside those responsibilities, he has written comics and worked on animated series. His later films include Marshall and Sidney, each centered on a figure in Black American history.
Hudlin is a member of Harvard’s class of 1983. His early feature work included Bebe’s Kids, the 1992 animated film, as screenwriter and executive producer. He also worked in television, with executive producing credits on The Boondocks and writing and producing work on the animated Black Panther series. The latter connected with his work writing the Marvel comic.
Beginning in 2005, Hudlin served as BET’s president of entertainment. His work there included original programming and shows such as Sunday Best, as well as BET Honors and the BET Hip Hop Awards. He later produced live television ceremonies, including the 88th Academy Awards in 2016. That production received an Emmy nomination for outstanding special class program. His other live-event work has included the NAACP Image Awards and Black Movie Soundtrack concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.
Hudlin was one of the producers of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, released in 2012. At the 2013 Oscars, he shared its Best Picture nomination with Stacey Sher and Pilar Savone. He later directed Marshall, released in 2017 with Chadwick Boseman in the title role. The film concerns Thurgood Marshall’s work as a young lawyer. His comics work includes writing Icon & Rocket: Season One for DC.
In 2022, Hudlin directed Sidney, a documentary about Sidney Poitier. Oprah Winfrey and Derik Murray produced the film in collaboration with Poitier’s family. The documentary includes interviews with actors and filmmakers discussing Poitier’s career and public life. Hudlin also directed Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood, released in March 2025. His installment features leading Black male actors discussing their careers, the difficulties of finding opportunities and the experiences that helped them secure leading roles.
