Roc Rolls

HBO has entered into an exclusive overall development deal with Charles S. Dutton, a multiple Emmy winner for his work as both an actor and a director. The agreement covers series, movies and miniseries.

Charles S. Dutton has a career spanning theater, television and film. His HBO credits include acting roles on the hit series "Oz" (Emmy nomination) and "The Sopranos." Dutton made his directorial debut in 1997 with the HBO original movie "First Time Felon," and went on to direct the acclaimed HBO miniseries "The Corner," for which he received a Best Director Emmy.

A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Dutton created the lead roles in three of August Wilson's early plays: "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," "The Piano Lesson," both of which brought him a Tony nomination, and "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." He also received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the TV adaptation of "The Piano Lesson," making him one of the few actors to earn Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the same role.

On TV, Dutton also starred in and executive produced the hit series "Roc" (produced by HBO Independent Productions), for which he received several NAACP Image Award nominations. His other TV acting credits include the miniseries "The Murder of Mary Phagan," "The 60's," "Deadlock" and "Aftershock," as well as appearances on the series "House," "Without a Trace" (Emmy win) and "The Practice" (Emmy win).

Dutton also stars in and directs the upcoming TV movie "Racing for Time."Dutton's numerous feature films include "Q & A," "Alien3," "Menace II Society," "Rudy," "A Low Down Dirty Shame," "Cry, The Beloved Country," "Nick of Time," "A Time to Kill," "Get on the Bus," "Gothika" and "Secret Window." He received Independent Spirit Award nominations for "Blind Faith" and "Cookie's Fortune." Dutton's upcoming movies include John Sayles' "Honeydripper" and "Express," starring with Dennis Quaid.

Dutton made his feature film directorial debut in 2004 with "Against the Ropes" and more recently directed episodes of the cable series "Sleeper Cell," for which he was nominated for a DGA award. btn

From I.W.: Damn I forgot all about those August Wilson plays. And I didn't know he really directed "The Corner", I just thought he was in it. Dutton has been doing big things on the low. He's probably doing some of those "Roc" skip hops right now.