Davis adds DJ Classicz family fun

Shingle focuses on urban pix

By VARIETY STAFF

HOLLYWOOD -- With a track record of pics including "Daddy Day Care" and "Fat Albert," producer John Davis's Davis Entertainment is launching a new arm devoted to making urban family films.

Filmmaker Dallas Jackson will head the DJ Classicz label. Jackson recently wrote and produced "Uncle P," an indendent pic acquired by Beacon Pictures, starring hip hop mogul Master P and his son, Lil' Romeo. Jackson has written several scripts in the urban family genre, several of which will be developed under the new Davis umbrella label. The filmmaker is currently developing feature projects for hip hop artists including Ludacris, Christina Millan and Ice Cube.

One Jackson screenplay, "Romeo and Juliet," a youth film written for Li'l Romeo, is in development at MGM with director Katia Lund attached. Lund co-directed Oscar-nommed "City of God."

"There is a market for urban family films, no question," says Davis.

Davis Ent. also produced the "Doctor Doolittle" films, which together grossed $295 million worldwide.

"The fact that seven movies featuring African-American stars, directors and producers opened at number one so far this year is no fluke, it's a wake-up call to all studios," says Jackson.