Inroads for Blacks in Show BizThe appointment...

Inroads for Blacks in Show Biz

The appointment calendars of blacks in Hollywood are suddenly getting very full these days with the recent formation of two groups geared toward helping them increase their clout within the entertainment community.

On May 2, about 100 lawyers, actresses, producers and film and record executives attended the second meeting of the Black Entertainment Alliance, whose goal is to “maximize (blacks’) impact and potential for empowerment within the music, film, television radio and video industry,” said organizer Anthony J. Tolbert, business affairs manager at MCA Records.

Meanwhile, 100 people attended the first meeting of the African-American Film & Television Assn. Saturday at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.

Robert Dockery Jr., co-founder of the latter group and president of his own production company, said there are enough problems facing blacks in the entertainment industry for both organizations to work on.

Citing the success of actor Eddie Murphy, filmmaker Spike Lee and TV talk show hosts Oprah Winfrey and Arsenio Hall, Dockery said: “I think blacks are feeling for the first time in many years a sense of hope that they can be a productive part of the industry.”

Register With Tech Ring

Can a fellow who once wandered around barefoot and was reputed to bathe irregularly make it into the social register? Absolutely, if his name is Steven P. Jobs and it’s Stewart Alsop’s “Social Register of the Personal Computer Industry” that we’re talking about.

Jobs, co-founder of the personal computer pioneer Apple, is just one of 650 corporate and industry leaders whom Alsop handpicked to be in the premier copy of the $295 book that debuted May 1. The book is an adjunct to Alsop’s regular P.C. Newsletter that is published in Redwood City, Calif.

Unlike other registers that list the pedigree of its entrants, Alsop’s offers the kind of information that is the currency of the Information Age: direct-line telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, the names and phone numbers of assistants and, if you need to bypass all assistants entirely, their electronic mail box listings.

No Fakes for Mom, Please

Giorgio Beverly Hills certainly took Mother’s Day very seriously this year.

So seriously, in fact, that it ran special newspaper ads last week in 24 cities to warn about fake fragrances--under the Giorgio label--made by counterfeiters.

“Due to our increased awareness of counterfeit products being sold under our name,” the ad said, “we can only guarantee the authenticity of Giorgio Beverly Hills products bought in authorized department and specialty stores.”

Why all the hubbub? More fragrances are sold around Mother’s Day than any other time, except Christmas. “We want to educate the consumer about the seriousness of the problem,” said Michael Gould, Giorgio’s chief executive.