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Logline

Baldwin in the City of Angels retraces James Baldwin’s volatile year in 1968 Los Angeles when Columbia Pictures commissioned him to write screenplay for Malcolm X story. During the process, Baldwin came face-to-face with a Hollywood ‘Dream Factory’ designed to distort reality. Baldwin’s prophetic warnings against media manipulation are mirrored with today’s 2026 landscape where consolidation of media platforms and rise of generative AI have scaled ‘media manipulation’ into a global threat to information integrity.

Synopsis

Baldwin in the City of Angels is a cinematic inquiry into James Baldwin’s most overlooked and “ghastly” year: 1968 in Los Angeles. Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a grieving Baldwin retreated to Hollywood to script Columbia Pictures’ The Autobiography of Malcolm X. What followed was a brutal collision between Black revolutionary thought and the white-controlled “Dream Factory.”

The film utilizes a dual-narrative structure. The Historical Core reconstructs Baldwin’s L.A. through “lost” screenplay fragments, archival recordings from the Second Baptist Church, and his searing critiques in The Devil Finds Work. The Modern Mirror jumps to 2026, where the “studio interference” Baldwin faced has evolved into an era of media consolidation and algorithmic echo chambers under the Trump administration. Guided by Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey, the film asks: If the 1960s media couldn’t handle Baldwin’s truth, how does today’s consolidated apparatus handle the truth in an age of populism?

Meet the Filmmakers

Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey — Executive Producer
Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey believes journalism at its best doesn’t just report the news — it makes room for people to be truly seen. A political journalist, Pepperdine University professor, and trusted convener in dialogue and social change, his voice has reached millions through The Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC, CNN, CBS News, NewsNation, SiriusXM, The Grio, and as a daily anchor for FOX Broadcasting and FOX SOUL. He now serves as Host & White House Correspondent for A More Perfect Union, the daily radio show and podcast produced by KBLA Talk 1580. Before the microphone, Dr. Quartey spent nearly two decades in policy advocacy — civil and human rights, childhood obesity, senior care — work that shaped his signature approach: humanizing leaders and challenging the assumptions we don’t know we’re making. He now serves as Journalist-in-Residence for the Black Land Loss Narrative Archive Project, preserving stories of Black land loss for future generations. He holds a doctorate in organizational leadership and a master’s in social entrepreneurship and change from Pepperdine, and a bachelor’s in political science from USC. Home is Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Dr. Garrett E.B. Thompson — Producer
For Dr. Garrett E.B. Thompson, filmmaking is a way of paying attention — to culture, history, and the stories that don’t always get told with care. Over 15 years in the industry, he’s moved fluidly between scholarship and craft, earning an MFA in Production and a PhD in Film Critical Studies, with an emphasis in African American Cinema and Hip Hop Culture, from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, mentored by the “Notorious PhD,” Dr. Todd Boyd.

That grounding shows in the work. Garrett most recently produced STAY, the two-time NAACP Image Award–nominated feature on Hulu’s 2025 Huluween slate, and served as a 2025 Netflix & Blackhouse Nonfiction Producing Fellow alongside Boardwalk Pictures, the team behind Fit For TV, Charlie Sheen, and Cheer. His commercial credits span Nickelodeon, Snapchat, Nike, Coca-Cola, Cheerios, AT&T, J.W. Marriott, NYX Cosmetics, Hot Wheels, and DiGiorno Pizza. True to his belief that craft should be shared, Garrett has taught African American Cinema as an adjunct professor at USC and spoken at universities and conferences nationwide.

Jon-Thomas (J.T.) Royston — Producer
Jon-Thomas “J.T.” Royston learned early how to find belonging in unfamiliar places. Raised as a military brat across Germany, Hawaii, and Southern California, he grew up fluent in connection — a skill that now anchors his work as Co-Founder and CEO of Never Whisper Justice, an impact-first creative studio where he leads production, operations, and impact strategy.

Under his care, Never Whisper Justice has told some of the most tender and necessary stories on screen, producing the award-winning films Black Boys (2020) and Black Girls (2024), both on NBC Peacock. Each insists on something simple and radical: that children, especially those too often overlooked, deserve to be seen in their full humanity. J.T. approaches every project with one guiding question: how can this story change the way we see each other? It’s a philosophy that has made Never Whisper Justice a trusted home for narratives that move both audiences and culture.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact [email protected].