
Acting
Nia Long (born October 30, 1970) is an American actress and occasional music video director. She is best known for her roles in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Third Watch, and the films Soul Food, Love Jones, The Best Man, Big Momma's House, and Are We There Yet? Long was born in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. Her family is of Afro-Trinidadian descent. Her name, Nia, is one of the seven days of Kwanzaa, which means purpose in Swahili. Long's parents divorced when she was two years old, and she and her mother moved to Iowa City, Iowa. They subsequently moved to a South Los Angeles neighborhood when Long was seven. Long's father currently resides in Trenton, New Jersey. Long's half-sister is comedienne Sommore, one of the stars of The Queens of Comedy. She attended the Roman Catholic school St. Mary's Academy and studied ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, guitar, and acting. She graduated from WestchesterHigh School in 1989. Long's acting coach was Betty Bridges, better known as the mother of Diff'rent Strokes star Todd Bridges. Her earliest role was in the Disney television movie, The B.R.A.T Patrol alongside Sean Astin, Tim Thomerson and Brian Keith. Her first notable role on television was a three-year contract role as Kathryn "Kat" Speakes on the soap opera Guiding Light. Long portrayed Kat from 1991 to 1994, then f rom 1994 - 1995, she played Will Smith's girlfriend and fiancée Beulah "Lisa" Wilkes on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. In 2003, she joined the cast of the drama Third Watch, where she played NYPD Officer Sasha Monroe, continuing until the series finale in 2005. In 2005 and 2006, Long appeared on Everwood, and appeared on Boston Legal during its 2006-2007 season. Long also starred in Big Shots from 2007-2008 alongside Michael Vartan and Dylan McDermott. She also made a guest appearance on the successful sitcom Living Single during its first season. Long appeared in supporting roles in a number of movies including, Boyz n the Hood, Friday, and Made in America. She played a leading role, or a member of the primary ensemble, in several films, including Soul Food, Love Jones, Boiler Room, Big Momma's House, Are We There Yet?, and The Best Man. Ice Cube has starred with her in four films, while (fellow Westchester High alum) Regina King has starred with her in two. Long was voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the World in 2000 by People. She won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2004 for her performance on Third Watch. In addition to her film credits, she directed Yolanda Adams's music video for "This Too Shall Pass" and co-directed and appeared in Ashanti's music video, "Baby". She also appears in the video for Kanye West's, "Touch The Sky". Long and her former long-time boyfriend and fellow actor Massai Z. Dorsey have a son, Massai Zhivago Dorsey II, born on November 26, 2000.

In the middle of the Los Angeles ghetto, drugs, robberies and shootings dominate everyday life. During these times, Furious tries to raise his son Tre to be a decent person. Tre's friends, on the other hand, have little regard for the law and drag the entire neighborhood into a street war...

Newlyweds Nick and Suzanne decide to move to the suburbs to provide a better life for their two kids. But their idea of a dream home is disturbed by a contractor with a bizarre approach to business.

A young woman with no strong religious beliefs, Frankie Paige begins having strange and violent experiences, showing signs of the wounds that Jesus received when crucified. When the Vatican gets word of Frankie's situation, a high-ranking cardinal requests that the Rev. Andrew Kiernan investigate her case. Soon Kiernan realizes that very sinister forces are at work, and tries to rescue Frankie from the entity that is plaguing her.

Craig and Smokey are two guys in Los Angeles hanging out on their porch on a Friday afternoon, smoking and drinking, looking for something to do.

Gospel Hill tells the intersecting story of two men in the fictional South Carolina town of Julia. Danny Glover plays John Malcolm, the son of a slain civil rights activist. Jack Herrod (Tom Bower) is the former sheriff who never got to the bottom of the murder. Their paths begin to cross when a development corporation comes to town with plans to raze Julia's historic Gospel Hill.

An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, GOOD HAIR visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community.

A young woman goes to teach at the Ravenscroft Institute, a spooky old girls' school overrun by ants and staffed by some unusual types. Spurred on by a series of horrific hallucinations, she begins to investigate the mysterious disappearances of several students.

FBI agent Malcolm Turner goes back undercover as Big Momma, a slick-talking, slam-dunking Southern granny with attitude to spare! Now this granny must play nanny to three dysfunctional upper-class kids in order to spy on their computer hacker father.

Drug lord Dwayne Gittens rules Cincinnati with an iron fist. No wonder he's known as "God" on the streets. Determined to break Gittens' stranglehold on the city is undercover cop Jeffrey Cole. But as Cole takes on an assumed identity to penetrate Gittens' criminal empire, he makes a disturbing discovery -- he kind of likes being a gangster.

A close-knit group of gay friends share the emotional roller coster of life, relationships, the death of friends, new beginnings, jealousy, fatherhood and professional success. At various stages of life's disarray, these young men share humorous and tragic relationships and always have each other to rely on.

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story reveals the extraordinary rise, sudden disappearance, and resurgence of trailblazing Black trans soul singer Jackie Shane.

After a brief encounter with David Hammond, an old college friend, successful lawyer Ellie Warren tries to mend her marriage with her husband Marcus. But she finds herself caught in a terrifying game of cat and mouse when the encounter escalates into an obsession that jeopardizes everyone she loves.
Project is inspired by R&B singer Maxwell's debut album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite.




