Icons shine in HBO spotlight

'Black List' premieres in New York

By ADDIE MORFOOT

When it came to booking talent for HBO's "The Black List: Volume One," there was just one problem -- timing.

A collaboration between photog-filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell, the doc (which preemed at Sundance) features interviews with contemporary African-American icons.

Although interviewees include Sean Combs, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Serena Williams and Chris Rock, the helmer admitted he wasn't able to include everyone on his wishlist.

"I asked Sidney Poitier to be in the film, but he couldn't do it until February, which was months after the Sundance deadline," said Greenfield-Sanders. "The hardest part of the interview process was scheduling."

HBO's Sheila Nevins joined guests during the cocktail pour that preceded the Time Warner Center screening as well as at the dessert hour that followed.

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