Independent Lens
WE WANT THE FUNK!
WE WANT THE FUNK! is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning its African and early jazz roots.
The Disappearance of Miss Scott
The Disappearance of Miss Scott traces legendary musician Hazel Scott’s journey, from her triumph during Jim Crow to the dissolution of her fame due to McCarthy-era blacklisting.
- Series
- American Masters
- Premiere Date
- February 21, 2025
- Length
- 90 minutes
- Funding Initiative
- Series and Special Projects
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Director / Writer / Producer
Nicole London
Nicole London is the Grammy Award-nominated producer of Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, which was also awarded a 2021 News and Documentary Emmy Award. Recent credits include Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me, The Talk: Race in America, and 16 films now playing in the Segregation Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum.
- Other ITVS Films
- WE WANT THE FUNK!
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Producer
Sheila MacVicar
Sheila MacVicar is co-founder of 4th Act Factual. After a long career in international journalism as a frontline foreign correspondent for CBC, ABC, CNN, and CBS, and with experience in network long-form, including documentaries, she segued into documentary production with the creation of 4th Act Factual in 2019.
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The Film
This film showcases Hazel Scott, a jazz virtuoso and Hollywood star. She campaigned for better treatment for Black actors and publicly defied Jim Crow laws. She was also the first African American to host a network TV show and was married to the outspoken civil rights campaigner Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. However, her career came crashing down after unjust accusations during the McCarthy era.
Hazel Scott was a piano prodigy at an early age, and by her early 20s, she was a Hollywood darling, until a turning point occurred during the filming of the movie The Heat’s On. When Black actors were relegated to costumes purposefully soiled for a particular scene, Scott walked off the set, shutting down production. After a three-day strike, studio heads relented but swore she would never work in Hollywood again.
Despite this, Hazel Scott returned to the concert stage. She remained uncompromising, refusing to play in spaces that segregated audiences. She was offered a television show that rose in popularity and quickly went national, but soon after, she was named in the ‘Red Channels’ pamphlet, which was known for exposing alleged communists. Scott demanded an appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee, though they ultimately discounted her testimony in favor of the anonymous allegations. Soon after, her sponsors fled, and her show was canceled. She sought refuge in France, like many Black American artists, but she would never again return to the fame of her early career.
