Kirk Franklin Expands Entertainment Company With Fo Yo Soul Film and Television

Fans will be pleased that Franklin will release another CD this year. Songs For The Storm…Volume 1 from the FoYo Soul “Life Series” will hit stores on November 7, just in time for the holidays. Keeping in mind those affected by Hurricane Katrina, the project is a collection of songs Kirk personally chose from his own song catalog that speak to the storms of life. Songs For The Storm…Volume 1 will include one new song, Look At Me Now, currently being serviced to gospel radio. Other songs included on the CD are He Will Take The Pain Away, Let Me Touch You, When I Get There, Conquerors, When You Fall, Blessing In The Storm, The Storm Is Over Now, You Are, The Family Worship Medley and one of Franklin’s signature hit singles, Melodies From Heaven. As an added bonus for consumers, the package will also include the music video for the poignant single, Imagine Me (from the Hero CD).

Franklin has also teamed up with Marian Wright Edelman and the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) to help shine a light on 13 million children - living in poverty in the richest nation on earth. In his role as Goodwill Ambassador for the CDF, Franklin is reaching out to fellow musicians and entertainment industry friends to ask for their support and participation in the “Imagine Me” Celebrity Benefit Concert scheduled on January 11, 2007 in Nashville. Franklin, who himself overcame a hard scrabble childhood in Fort Worth, Texas and was raised by an aunt who set the CDF kind of example, hopes the event will raise funds to aid the organization’s 30-year-plus mission to inform people on issues critical to children and their families through research, public policy initiatives, programs and field work throughout the country.

This fall, Franklin’s voice and dramatic interpretation can be heard on The Bible Experience, a dramatized audio recording of the Bible featuring an unprecedented roster of celebrities and clergy. The production of the New Testament features a diverse and multigenerational ensemble cast including: Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Ruby Dee, Eartha Kitt, Star Jones Reynolds, Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, Angela Bassett, Blair Underwood, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Gary Dourdan, Kim Fields, Hill Harper, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, LeVar Burton, Alfre Woodard, Jeffrey Wright. Bishop T.D. Jakes, Dr. Juanita Bynum, Bishop Charles Blake, Pastor Billy C. Ingram, Bishop Noel Jones, Bishop Clarence McClendon, Pastor Marvin L. Winans, Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer and much more.