{"id":755116,"date":"2026-07-10T18:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T18:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/755116\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T18:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T18:06:10","slug":"chike-ozah-coodie-simmons-announce-who-is-ernie-barnes-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/755116\/","title":{"rendered":"Chike Ozah & Coodie Simmons Announce Who is Ernie Barnes? Documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFilmmakers Chike Ozah<\/a> and Coodie Simmons<\/a> are bringing Ernie Barnes<\/a>\u2019 story to the big screen.<\/p>\n

\n\tBarnes was the first American professional athlete to achieve major recognition as a visual artist. Barnes played five seasons as an offensive lineman with the New York Titans, San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos. He was also a painter whose work included \u201cSugar Shack,\u201d a painting which sold for over $22 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn their new documentary \u201cWho Is Ernie Barnes?<\/a>\u201c, the filmmakers known as Coodie & Chike follow Barnes\u2019 story by drawing on his own words, rare archival footage and commentary from voices across art, music, sports, dance and entertainment \u2014 each reflecting on Barnes\u2019 enduring impact.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe documentary is set to start screening later this month, and is presented as a three-act immersive experience. Guests begin by viewing one segment in a specially designed \u201ctheater\u201d set that reflects a significant stage of Barnes\u2019 career. After each screening, guests move into curated \u201crooms\u201d that expand upon the chapter they have just watched, featuring exhibits and interactive experiences that highlight that period of Barnes\u2019 life. This sequence repeats for all three segments, creating an immersive journey through his life and career.<\/p>\n

\n\tSimmons said, \u201cYou can\u2019t let your imagination get in the way of God\u2019s manifestation.\u201d He added, \u201cI dreamed of having Ernie Barnes paintings on my walls, and then I looked up and I was documenting his artistic process in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOzah adds, \u201cI remember looking at his work as a kid and feeling something I\u2019d never felt before \u2014 like I had to chase that. His art set the bar for what I thought was possible. In a lot of ways, I\u2019ve been chasing Ernie Barnes my whole life. Telling his story now feels like a full circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show is scheduled to debut next year in Los Angeles during Super Bowl LXI, before traveling to Chicago and New York. It will return to Barnes\u2019 adopted hometown for the LA28 Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis film shows a glimpse of Ernie Barnes\u2019 dedication and his remarkable journey, answering why he is the most interesting and inspirational artist of the 20th century,\u201d says Luz Rodriguez, Barnes\u2019 longtime assistant and managing director of his estate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Filmmakers Chike Ozah and Coodie Simmons are bringing Ernie Barnes\u2019 story to the big screen. Barnes was the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[323587,323588,88,323589,206,323590],"class_list":["post-755116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-chike-ozah","tag-coodie-simmons","tag-entertainment","tag-ernie-barnes","tag-movies","tag-who-is-ernie-barnes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}