All proceeds will benefit SDYS Storefront Shelter for 12-17 year olds and House of Hope Beds for 18-24 year old homeless youth. The annual contributions from Photocharity provide funding for daily breakfasts at the Storefront; salaries for the Storefront’s street-outreach workers; an independent skills tutor (who helps homeless teens learn job skills, how to obtain medical attention and more); and a music and creative arts program, which provides an outlet for homeless youth at the Storefront to channel and express their emotions.

Entertainment Weekly debuts the first photo from the movie, which hits theaters on Dec. 25,  and they also talk with Jamie Foxx about this southern-fried take on the old spaghetti western. (Click on the image above to view it full size).

Does he think Django Unchained will be controversial? “Oh, hell yeah,” Foxx says. “You kidding me?”

The Oscar-winner describes his character as Shaft’s “Richard Roundtree meets Clint Eastwood.”

After being sent to a chain gang after rebelling against his owners, Django is recruited by a German bounty hunter (Inglorious Basterd’s Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz, left, with Foxx) to help him settle an old score. Django has information that Waltz’s Dr. King Schultz needs, so the German mercenary liberates the slave and promises that if he helps him kill the Brittle Brothers, Django’s old owners, he’ll make it worth his while. “He says, ‘I’ll kill ‘em, and you’ll get some money and be on your way as a free man,’” Foxx says.

Along the way, the duo end up crossing paths with Leonardo DiCaprio’s hammer-wielding character, a deranged plantation owner named Calvin Candie, who likes to make his toughest slaves fight to the death in gladiatorial combat. “Candie is a business man who owns a plantation called Candie Land, and that’s where my wife ends up being,” Foxx says. To find her, “we have to get in good with Candy, by me playing a valet for Christoph’s character.”

Even more than a century-and-a-half later, slavery is a highly sensitive subject, and though Tarantino is a filmmaker known more for his flamboyant, violent storytelling than sober exploration of historical issues, Foxx says there is a serious side to Django Unchained. “There’s a beautiful way [Tarantino] found for the characters to talk to each other. It’s mindblowing. You’ve never heard it this way,” the actor says. “You’ve seen movies deal with slavery — or westerns that never dealt with slavery – do it the safe way. This way is like … wow.”

Many of these exchanges take place amid the evolving relationship between Django and Schultz. “Christoph’s character is a little aloof to what slavery actually is. He’s not familiar with everything, and when he sees atrocities, it’s Greek to him,” Foxx says. “But Django lets him know this is the way the world is and we got to get used to it. He teaches Django certain things he needs to become a whole man, and [Django] also teaches Christoph that when life deals you these cards, here’s what you’ve got to do.”

Ultimately, as we mentioned at the beginning, Django Unchained is a story about the heart, and the way cruelty can destroy the things we love most.

“All Django wants to do is get his wife,” Foxx says. “He’s not trying to cure or solve slavery. He just wants to get his life back.”

I’ve added photos of  the “Django Unchained” cast at Sony’s International Press Week in Cancun, Mexico.

Sony Pictures and the Weinstein Company released a teaser poster and a synopsis for Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. Click on the image below to view the poster.

According to the press release, the plot is as follows:

Set in the South two years before the Civil War, Django Unchained stars Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive. 

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways.  Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side.  Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

Django andSchultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award®-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport.  Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave.  Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them.  If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival…

Written and directed by Tarantino, Django Unchained will be released in the U.S. on December 25, 2012, and internationally by Sony Pictures. The film is produced by Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone.  The executive producers are Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Michael Shamberg, Shannon McIntosh and James Skotchdopole.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has dropped out of Django Unchained, due to a scheduling conflict with his feature directorial debut.

Two weeks ago, Jamie Foxx was spotted taking pictures with the players at the PlayNOLA Uptown Kickball league.

Many Americans have taken to the streets in protest, wearing hoodies similar to the one Martin was wearing on the night he died.
Some celebrities are also showing their support. Jamie Foxx, Diddy, The-Dream, Frank Ocean, Nelly and Swizz Beatz took pictures wearing hoodies and posted them on Twitter and other social networking sites.

Jamie Foxx tweeted:

“God bless Trayvon Martin and his family. Humans but we’re losing the race”.
“My hoody will be on forever”.

Me, Jamie and Tank were in the vibing in the studio. Tank had this beat and Jamie loved it and we just started humming different melodies. Tank went in the booth and he just came up with one word which was “overdose”. We were like “Wow that’s it!” We vibed and went back and forth. We got that song done in about an hour. It just came out special. That’s one of my favorite songs, believe it or not, out of all the songs I have out there.

Check out the full interview here.

Take a look at the video clip of Jamie and Kanye performing on stage.

Trey Songz surprised the crowd at Nokia Theatre in LA last week when he brought out special guests Ne-Yo and Jamie Foxx to perform “She Got Her Own”. Check out the video below.