Noticias

Exclusive: Masked country music star Orville Peck and two-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada are set as the new Emcee and Sally Bowles of Broadway’s Cabaret at the KitKat Club, producers announced today.

Peck, making his Broadway debut, and Noblezada will play a limited 16-week engagement at the August Wilson Theatre starting Monday, March 31, through Sunday, July 20. They’ll take over for Adam Lambert and Auli‘i Cravalho who, as previously announced, will play their final performances on Saturday evening, March 29.

Casting for the two roles after Sunday, July 20, will be announced this summer. Today’s announcement was made by producers Adam Speers for Atg Productions, Underbelly, Gavin Kalin Productions, Hunter Arnold, Smith & Brant Theatricals, and Wessex Grove.

Producers aren’t saying whether Peck will play the Emcee with or without a mask.

“The Emcee has been my dream role since I was a teenager,” said Peck, who is rarely...

The age of streaming platforms has provided wider access for international audiences to watch content hailing from all corners of the world. Particularly, the past decade has seen a significant rise in Asian cinema and content being embraced by Western audiences, especially in America. From South-East Asia, the Philippines has been steadily progressing in sharing its art and entertainment with international audiences. The culture's representation in recent Filipino-American films like Easter Sunday, Yellow Rose, and Fabulous Filipino Brothers, or the acknowledgment of Filipino talents like Dolly de Leon (The Triangle of Sadness), Nico Santos (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), and John Arcilla (On the Job: The Missing 8) in Western media are notable strides towards the Philippines being embraced in Western culture.

August is officially the last month of summer, but it’s also when schools start to reopen while others might take a vacation. Any movies hoping to make money this month are working against many other factors, which is why it’s become somewhat of a last resort for many studios. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

There have been more than a few blockbusters to open the month, including James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” and “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” but this August, there aren’t any franchises to be found, other than movies already in theaters, like “Thor: Love and Thunder” and Warner Bros’ weaker-than-expected “DC League of Super-Pets.” [sad trombone]

See August 2022 box office preview

In some ways, Brad Pitt could be seen as a franchise, since he continues to be one of the more relevant and dependable box office superstars,...

Mulan was my childhood icon. After seeing her face and recognizing something similar in mine, I decided that I also wanted to cut my hair off in an act of 5-year-old defiance.

With my Papa’s nose hair trimmers, that was. And for a long time, Mulan was one of the very few characters I saw on TV and in magazines that looked like me. This confused me in a way because my own life was full of all different types of people who made my life feel wonderful. I wondered why I wasn’t watching more of their stories.

As I grew older and fell more in love with acting and the need to be a part of telling stories, I acclimated to a very small (yet whom I fiercely adored) list of actors that looked…. kinda like me. They were beacons of hope that made me think maybe one day,...

Exclusive: All Rise‘s Reggie Lee will team with Yellow Rose and Lingua Franca producer Jeremiah Abraham and Abs Cbn for Concepción, a drama series in the works from creator Craig Obligación Wilson.

Written by Lynn Harrod who serves as co-showrunner with Wilson, Concepción follows the lives of an Asian-American kingpin and his extended crime family that lords over Historic Filipinotown (“HiFi”) in Los Angeles. The series is set across 28 years, alternating between the eras of 1992 and 2020. At the center of the series is Paulo “Pepe” Concepción, aka “Lolo Pepe,” who built a vast criminal empire through small-business extortion, gambling, racketeering and most of all the street sales of “Shabu” (Filipino meth). Over the span of the story, Lolo and his family live and work within the underworld of HiFi. Their morals, ethics and loyalties continually are tested as they struggle to revitalize HiFi and expand the power of their empire.

HBO Max announced that the cast of “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” now includes Sharon Leal, Elena Goode and Lea Salonga as series regulars and Zakiya Young and Carly Pope in recurring roles.

Previously announced cast members of the “Pretty Little Liars” reboot include Chandler Kinney, Bailee Madison, Maia Reficco, Malia Pyles, Zaria, Mallory Bechtel, Alex Aiono and Eric Johnson. The series is set in the present, 20 years after a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, a disparate group of teen girls — the new “Little Liars” — find themselves tormented by an unknown “Assailant” and made to pay for the secret sin their parents committed two decades ago, as well as their own.

Leal will play Sidney, Tabby’s (Kinney) single mother who works in real estate to provide for her daughter and Imogen (Madison), another girl in town. Leal’s previous credits include “Dreamgirls,...

Bron Studios is lending a helping hand to Aapi Creatives, a networking group started by Zosimo Maximo to amplify Asian American voices working in the industry.

Maximo used Clubhouse to form a group of Aapi filmmakers who are inspired to change the narrative in Hollywood and build new opportunities for themselves. The group consists of Becky Baihui Chen, D.J. Jiang, Serena Rasoul, Diane Paragas, Jay DasGupta, Ashwini Prasad, Dinh Thai, Soma Helmi, Ruth Du and David Moriya.

Brenda Gilbert, the co-founder and president of Bron Studios, said it wasn’t until this year that she realized how much power Clubhouse had in terms of “getting people together and having open conversations with like-minded people that you wouldn’t generally have access to before.” Gilbert said she wants to make herself accessible to the members of Maximo’s networking group.

“We’re having open dialogue in terms of what can we...

Exclusive: Eva Noblezada and Brandon Wardell have joined the cast of the Amblin Partners family comedy, Easter Sunday, which is based on the stand-up comedy and life experiences of comedy star Jo Koy and is set around a family gathering to celebrate Easter Sunday. Wardell will portray Junior, the teenage son of Koy’s on-screen persona, and Noblezada plays Junior’s friend Ruth.

Jay Chandrasekhar will direct with Ken Cheng penning the script. Rideback’s Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich will produce. Koy, Cheng, Joe Meloche, Jessica Gao, Jimmy O. Yang, Rideback’s Nick Reynolds and Seth William Meier will exec produce. The studio is eyeing a production start this spring.

Holly Bario, President of Production, and Mia Maniscalco, VP Creative Affairs, will oversee the project for the studio.

Wardell is a comedian known for his work on Comedy Central and for his appearances in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Like and Subscribe,...

Producer Orian Williams makes his directorial debut with Jeff Buckley biopic “Everybody Here Wants You.” Culmination will produce and kick off worldwide sales of the pic at the European Film Market.

“Everybody Here Wants You” stars Reeve Carney as the singer-songwriter whose career was cut short by his death in 1997. The film has full support of the Buckley estate and has access to Buckley’s music.

Culmination Prod.’s Tom Butterfield will produce alongside Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, and Alison Raykovich, manager of his estate and VP of Jeff Buckley Music. Culmination’s Harry White handles sales at the EFM.

Jeff Buckley met his father, singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, whose own music spurred an intense following, only once. Tim Buckley died in 1975, but his estranged son did possess the same gift for music. Jeff Buckley released one album, “Grace,” in 1994, which rocketed him to the top of critics lists and inspired a deep fandom,...

Nominees for the 11th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors (Gms) Awards have been revealed. Recognizing the craft of music supervision in film, television, games, advertising and trailers, previous winners have included such top-of-their-field music supervisors as Mary Ramos (“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Robin Urdang (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Kier Lehman (“Queen & Slim”).

Among the film nominees for the 2021 edition of the Gms Awards, which was pushed to April in order to align with the rescheduled Oscars, are frontrunners like “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Soul” and “Promising Young Woman.” Television shows that scored nods include “Watchmen,” “Better Call Saul” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”

Songwriters, artists and music supervisors will be recognized together for the category of best song written and/or recorded for film.

As previously announced, Quincy Jones will receive the Icon Award. Maureen Crowe, the founding president of the Guild, will receive the organization’s prestigious Legacy Award.

Sony Pictures Television’s boutique production outfit Gemstone Studios along with creative agency Ideas United has selected Jenny Schuster’s dramedy Dirty Thirties as the winner of its inaugural Rising Storytellers Search, which seeks emerging voices and female-centric stories.

With this win, Schuster gets a pretty sweet prize package which includes a development deal with Sony Pictures Television’s Gemstone Studios as well as camera equipment, access to Sony Dmpc technical-virtual training and a subscription to Celtx Video Production Studio Software. On top of all that, Gemstone Studios plans to take Dirty Thirties out to buyers in February.

Dirty Thirties is a single-camera half-hour dramedy that follows Dani, a thirtysomething millennial who’s going through a bit of a reckless phase after being dumped by her long-term boyfriend. Not even close to where she thought she’d be upon entering her fourth decade, she resorts to pinot noir and ill-advised Tindering.

People who are struggling often look to find solace in others who have successfully navigated the same challenges. That’s certainly the case for the title protagonist in the new musical drama, ‘Yellow Rose.’ The eponymous Filipina-American character is driven by her determination to achieve her dream of becoming a country musician, despite the odds that […]

The post Exclusive Interview: Diane Paragas Talks Yellow Rose appeared first on Shockya.com.

Christmas Day falling on a Friday this year has seen the usual onslaught of new VOD releases massively cut back, with just a fraction of the typical number of titles becoming available on digital. To put things into perspective, last week brought 27 fresh additions including Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, while there were 30 the week before, but today brings a relatively paltry 7.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much here to grab your attention, either, and it’s entirely possible that none of these offerings will appeal to you, but nevertheless, you can check out the full list of VOD releases that just dropped down below.

Behind the Try: A Try Guys Documentary All My Life Shortcut The Emoji Story Yellow Rose The War With Grandpa Half Brothers

Perhaps the only noteworthy title to be found on the above lineup is one that had the privilege of being the movie to knock Tenet...

It’s no secret that the box office space has been struggling to find life during the pandemic — and it seems to be even more difficult for the specialty box office space. As specialty films try to navigate the space by shifting to PVOD, digital, and virtual openings, some distributors continue to brave the landscape of shuttered theaters and strategize theatrical releases to keep the specialty box office afloat.

Neon’s buzzy Oscar offering Ammonite is the the most noticeable specialty box office title that was released in theaters this weekend. The period romance, written and directed by Francis Lee and starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, debuted on 280 screens this weekend, earning an estimated cume of $85,000, with a per-screen average of $304.

The film sits at a 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned the most on Saturday, with an estimated $32,000. Considering Covid-19 cases are spiking across the country, cinephiles are probably...

The Philippines-based Abs-cbn Global is looking to bring new life to a familiar Filipino music-centered media brand. Myx, which first launched in the Philippines in 2000 and then stateside in 2007, is getting a makeover.

Abs-cbn is launching a rebranded version of Myx that will spotlight the next generation of Filipino American talent as a premium cable, radio and digital content provider. The newly launched platform aims to be an entertainment, lifestyle and cultural touchstone for Filipino American audiences and beyond.

“We’re thrilled to bring exciting new content and digital experiences to the nearly 120 million in the Philippines and 10 million Filipinos around the world who demand premium, quality entertainment,” said Jun Del Rosario, Abs-cbn’s Global Head of North America. “Myx allows us to be more innovative as a company and to serve the discerning needs of our audience more immediately. Wherever they are, we will be too.”

Abs-cbn Global has...

Sony Pictures saw an 18% drop in second quarter profits to $299M from July-September versus the same period in 2019. However, the figures rep an increase on the first quarter’s $230M which ended June 30 this year. Revenues across the division were off by $615M compared to last year while theatrical sales dropped to $13M versus $715M in Q2 2019, clearly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

A key portion of the domestic market is still closed while there are lingering restrictions on cinemas and the threat of renewed lockdowns in Europe. In 2019, Sony’s Q2 earnings were largely attributable to the summer success of Marvel sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

In this year’s Q2, Sony had just The Broken Hearts Gallery and The Last Shift in domestic theaters. It did however have an overseas hit with Spanish title Padre No Hay Mas Que Uno 2...

Sony is merging its theatrical, home entertainment and TV distribution marketing operations under the co-oversee of Josh Greenstein, the studio’s Motion Picture Group President, and Keith Le Goy, the studio’s Networks and Distribution President.

The move comes at time for the Culver City, CA studio as it responds to viewers’ changing viewing habits during the pandemic, and the need to respond to emerging release patterns by harnessing Sony’s collective expertise in marketing a title through its entire lifecycle, across all platforms.

Due to the combining of departments, we hear that roughly 35 staffers were cut in distribution and marketing. While studio brass have been considering this type of restructuring for some time, the pandemic further hastened that decision.

Stateside, all theatrical, home entertainment and television distribution marketing divisions will be brought together, while there will be a regional model for those businesses abroad.

In the U.S., Sony...

The specialty box office was fairly quiet this weekend with The Kid Detective being the new theatrical release posting numbers. The Stage 6 Films comedy starring Adam Brody and Sophie Nélisse banked an estimated $135,000 on its opening weekend.

The movie debuted in 865 theaters and took in $45,000 on Friday, $57,000 on Saturday and is projected to earn are $33,000 on Sunday.

Written and directed by Evan Morgan, the movie is about exactly what the title suggests: a kid detective. Brody plays a once-celebrated kid detective who is now 31 and isn’t exactly bathing in fame. However, he continues to solve the same trivial mysteries as he navigates his hangovers and wades in puddles of self-pity. All of this changes when a naïve client brings him his first “adult” case in which he attempts to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.

The War With Grandpa continues to do fairly well during this Covid-era box office.

In what proved to be yet another sluggish weekend at the domestic box office, the big news was that Christopher Nolan’s reigning theatrical champion, Tenet, was finally pushed from the top spot after five consecutive weeks at No. 1. The new title holder: 101 Studios’ The War with Grandpa, a long-delayed, kid-friendly comedy starring Robert De Niro as a feisty old coot who battles his young grandson over a coveted bedroom.

Originally intended to be released by The Weinstein Company, The War with Grandpa was trapped in an uncertain distribution purgatory ever since the studio’s top boss, Harvey Weinstein, became embroiled in a sexual-assault scandal that forced the company to close its doors. Now, two years later, the PG-rated comedy finally bowed in theaters under the banner of 101 Studios, a new distributor founded by former Weinstein Company exec David Glasser. The film currently has a 28% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes...

As 101 Studios’ family comedy The War With Grandpa dominated the box office with an estimated $3.6 million in 2,250 theaters, Diane Paragas’ Yellow Rose starring Eva Noblezada, Lea Salonga and Princess Punzalan made its debut at theaters and drive-ins to earn an estimated $150K from 900 locations, bringing its total domestic cume to $170K through Sunday.

Sci-fi specialty titles continued to maintain at the box office with Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson’s sci-fi comedy Save Yourselves! starring Sunita Mani and John Reynolds netted an estimated $62K this weekend to bring its cume to over $269K while the Neon’s sci-fi thriller Possessor Uncut from Brandon Cronenberg and starring Andrea Riseborough added over $163K to its till which brings its cume to $530K.

As expected, box office numbers aren’t skyrocketing out of control in the specialty space, but we are seeing life considering the circumstances — and that’s a good thing.

“The War With Grandpa,” a Robert De Niro comedy about the battle between a wily septuagenarian and his grandson over a bedroom, was originally supposed to hit theaters in 2018.

Plans changed after Harvey Weinstein, the indie film producer whose company The Weinstein Company was set to distribute the “Home Alone” knockoff, was exposed as a serial sexual harasser and predator. His fall from power led to the dissolution of The Weinstein Company and plunged “The War With Grandpa” and other films that the studio had expected to release such as “The Upside” and “The Current War,” into a perilous kind of limbo.

Two years after it was intended to hit theaters “The War With Grandpa” finally debuted, although in a markedly different theatrical landscape, one that faces an existential crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The film grossed $3.6 million from 2,205 locations while receiving a brushoff from critics who dismissed...

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week, […]

The post This Week In Trailers: Black Bear, 537 Votes, Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You, The Antidote, Yellow Rose appeared first on /Film.

Halloween and politics are just two of the major themes onscreen in a month that offers a flood of brand-new movies on streaming services and VOD. October naturally brings its share of pre-Halloween horror movies, even when movie theaters are closed. Hulu released Clive Barker adaptation “Books of Blood,” which features fresh entries in the vein of the scaremeister’s popular short story anthology, and Amazon Prime launches Welcome to the Blumhouse, shrewdly packaging four of the low-budget horror studio’s not-slick-enough-for-theaters picks into a streaming event. The program launches this week with “Black Box” and “The Lie.”

But this isn’t just any October. Weeks before an all-important presidential election, politically engaged filmmakers are swooping in to sway undecided voters. That explains the surprise release of Alex Gibney and company’s “Totally Under Control,” which looks at the failure of the U.S government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

There’s no faulting “Yellow Rose” for its good intentions, but this tale of a young Filipina teen finding her voice as a country artist (while dealing with her immigration status) almost always feels like it’s skimming the surface of a deeper story.

Documentary director Diane Paragas makes her debut as a fiction filmmaker, and while she and cinematographer August Thurmer certainly achieve verisimilitude in their Texas locations — the flatness of Bastrop, the city lights of Austin, the bright stage of a honky-tonk — the screenplay by Paragas, Annie Howell (“Claire in Motion”), and Celena Cipriaso tells the story in the broadest strokes possible, and the lack of specificity undercuts the film’s impact.

High-schooler Rose (Broadway performer Eva Noblezada) lives in a Bastrop motel, where her widowed mother Priscilla (Princess Punzalan) works as a housekeeper. Priscilla lovingly and strictly tries to keep an eye on Rose’s whereabouts, since both are without legal documentation,...

With a background in documentary filmmaking, Diane Paragas strove to make her narrative feature debut, “Yellow Rose,” which revolves around a 17-year-old Filipina American immigrant who dreams of becoming a country singer, look as natural as possible — particularly when those dreams are shaken.

Played by Eva Noblezada (Tony-nominated for her role in the 2017 Broadway revival of “Miss Saigon”), Rose spends her nights listening to records and writing songs. But when her mom, Priscilla (Princess Punzalan), is picked up by immigration agents, Rose understands that she must flee — and make choices that confront the reality of her life in the U.S. The movie, from Sony Pictures Classics, bows in theaters Oct.9.

Though the film considers how the crackdown on immigrants affects an entire family, Paragas and editor Liron Reiter knew they had to narrow in on Rose when the first cut came in at more than two hours. “We needed to tell her journey,...

Filmmaker Garrett Bradley is known for tackling pressing issues facing the Black community with her work. Her documentary short America painted a portrait of how Black people are represented in American culture while Alone, investigated the impact of mass incarceration on the modern Black family through the eyes of a single mother in New Orleans. The latter won Bradley the Short Film Jury Award in non-fiction at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. She also served as the second unit director on Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us and directed of Queen Sugar. This weekend, the prolific filmmaker makes her way into theaters with her feature documentary debut Time.

The docu continues Bradley’s investigation of incarceration and its impact on the Black community as she follows Fox Rich, an entrepreneur, author, and mother of six who has spent the last 21 years fighting for the release of her husband, Rob, who...

Exclusive: UTA has signed Grammy winner, actress and singer Eva Noblezada in all areas.

Noblezada can be seen next starring in Sony’s musical drama, Yellow Rose, marking her feature film debut this Friday, October 9, when the project will be released theatrically worldwide. She plays the titular role of ‘Rose,’ a Filipino teen from a small Texas town who, while facing the threat of deportation, continues to fight for her dream as a country music star.

On Broadway, she made her debut as the title role in the revival of Miss Saigon, which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

She also starred in Hadestown, which made her one of just a handful of actors to receive Tony nominations for their first two Broadway roles.

She received a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for her work on the show.

Rose Garcia (Broadway star and Tony nominee Eva Noblezada) is a small town Texas teen who loves country music, the kind of gal who spends her pocket money on guitar strings and knows a frightening amount of facts about everyone from Patsy Cline to Townes Van Zandt. Music opens up Rose’s mostly small world, which is centered around her loving mom Priscilla (Princess Punzalan), who has reason to keep her teenage daughter so close to her, and the tiny motel where the pair live and work.

Diane Paragas’ “Yellow Rose” subtly weaves together the truth of Rose’s story in affecting, though never sentimental or maudlin, ways. Rose and Priscilla keep close because they’re undocumented immigrants, eager to keep their heads down and work hard and basically hope that Ice doesn’t come banging on their door in the middle of the night. It’s a concept that might sound played out,...

There’s something about the color of a Texas sky that’s virtually impossible to capture on film: cotton-candy pink clouds set against an expanse of lilac blue at sunset, or the warm honey-orange glow that greets the day. Diane Paragas’ “Yellow Rose” reflects those rare hues in a way that tells you the writer-director once called Texas as home, and watching her story of a Filipina teen with a hankering for country music — which must be Paragas’ story too, at least in part — made this former Texan realize there are a lot of colors we don’t see in films about the Lone Star State.

Sure enough, Paragas grew up in Lubbock, Texas, birthplace of Buddy Holly, which is more than six hours from the live-music capital of Austin, although her young heroine lives just half an hour east in the tiny town of Bastrop. “Yellow Rose” was a...

Actress and singer Eva Noblezada had her first big break playing the iconic role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon. She first appeared in the starring role in London before heading to the Broadway revival, where she scored her first Tony Award nomination. Miss Saigon is the entry for many Asian Americans — especially Filipinos — into the entertainment world. She then went on to star in the critically acclaimed Hadestown, which earned her her second Tony nomination. Noblezada’s career began to move full steam ahead and as a result, she learned how to grow up at an early age. More than that, she quickly learned the ups and downs of being an actress — specifically an actress on Broadway.

When Noblezada stopped by the New Hollywood Podcast, she was open in how she felt about Broadway and what it has taught her about navigating her career. She quickly grew confident...

October-November line-up includes The War With Grandpa, Freaky, Yellow Rose.

The world’s largest exhibitor AMC announced on Tuesday (October 6) that it will keep its cinemas in the US and around the world open and plans to reopen more in the US including the New York and Los Angeles markets when it is safe to do so.

The news comes after Cineworld said it will temporarily close its UK sites and its US-based Regal on Thursday (October 8) due to lack of tentpole product amid the pandemic.

At time of writing AMC said more than 80% of its AMC Theatres US footprint had reopened,...

AMC Theatres on Tuesday pledged not to close any of its movie theaters that have reopened, despite headwinds that the exhibition industry has faced during the pandemic and the lack of new Hollywood movies on the horizon.

The announcement was made the day after rival cinema chain Cineworld, which operates Regal in the U.S., reported plans to temporarily shutter all 536 locations on Thursday, citing the “challenging theatrical landscape.” Cinemark, another major theater operator, recently said it doesn’t intend to close any U.S. venues.

AMC, the biggest theater chain in the U.S. and Europe, said it’s able to stay open, in part because of the recent deal it struck with Universal Pictures. The historic pact allows Universal the option to put new movies on premium video-on-demand platforms after 17 days on the big screen. In return, AMC gets a cut of the digital profits. Universal has put numerous titles,...

In the wake of Cineworld’s decision to shutter its UK venues and Regal U.S. theaters, AMC, the No. 1 exhibitor in the world, will remain open. AMC joins No. 3 exhibitor Cinemark in staying open during the pandemic, despite Cineworld and Regal’s plans to close this Thursday.

More than 80% of AMC’s U.S. circuit is open and an even higher share of the chain’s international theatres across Europe and the Middle East are open, with more than 90% of its Odeon Cinemas Group across Europe and 100% of the chain’s locations in the Middle East in operation. In addition, AMC is actively planning to open more of its theatres, especially in New York and California, when authorized to do so by state and county officials.

Yes, business is tough for exhibition, especially as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo stands firm on not reopening cinemas, but AMC is planning to weather the storm,...

Monday, Oct. 5 Filipina Music Drama ‘Yellow Rose’ Backed by Gold House

Cultural movement Gold House is supporting the Filipina music drama “Yellow Rose” through its #GoldOpen campaign, which backed “Parasite,” “The Farewell,” “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Just Mercy.”

The Sony release, which opens Oct. 9, centers on an undocumented Filipina teen from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while having to decide between staying with her family or leaving the only home she has known.

The film, directed by Diana Paragas in her narrative feature debut, stars Eva Noblezada and Lea Salonga. Events include a live Twitter watch party on Oct. 8 and a streamed Q&a on Oct. 9 with the “Yellow Rose” cast and Paragas director moderated by Jazz Tangcay of Variety. The campaign also includes efforts to celebrate Filipino American history and Filipino storytellers through Cinema Sala and the Filipino American Historical Society.

Early on in “Yellow Rose,” a drama about a Filipina teenager named Rosario “Rose” Garcia, Rose (Eva Noblezada) is browsing the jukebox at the Broken Spoke, an old-school Texan country music bar. An older, white man approaches her and points out something about the Willie Nelson song she’s eyeing. Rose, a hard-core country fan herself, promptly schools him on his trivia.

Read More: ‘Yellow Rose’ Trailer: A Filipina Teen Dreams Of Country Music Stardom In This Upcoming Drama

“That’s impressive,” the man answers.

Continue reading Musical Drama ‘Yellow Rose’ Gives White Characters The Mic Instead Of Its Own Protagonist [Review] at The Playlist.

Breaking: Don’t count on Sony Animation’s Lord & Miller movie Connected for this fall. The feature joins a number of other features fleeing the immediate fall calendar or delaying until later in the year, or even in 2021. Connected, last scheduled for Oct. 23, is now being moved by the studio to an unset future date this year.

Studios saw what Tenet‘s (and other films’) grosses were like without New York and Los Angeles, and both cities are required to be part of a tentpole’s marketing blitz; hence the meltdown of the immediate theatrical fall schedule. Connected joins Wonder Woman 1984 which was recently delayed from Oct. 2 to Christmas Day, STX’s Greenland, which moved to a Tbd 4Q date after stepping off of its Sept. 25 release, and Universal/MGM’s Candyman which jumped from Oct. 16 to next year Tbd as notable delayed releases. Also, we’re waiting to see...

While Warner Bros. and Disney have tested the waters at the box office with the releases of Tenet and The New Mutants, Sony Pictures will not be following in their footsteps. At least not any time soon. The studio has confirmed that it will not be releasing any major blockbusters in theaters until things return to normal, or at least something much closer to normal. That means movies like Venom 2 could be even further away than previously expected, depending on how things shake out.

The news comes directly from Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Tony Vinciquerra. He was recently a guest at Bank of America's 2020 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference. During the conference, Vinciquerra addressed the notion of releasing blockbusters in the current marketplace, since theaters have been reopening in the U.S. and throughout much of the world. Here's what he had to say about it.

"What we won't do...

"I won't go quietly into the night...!" Sony Pictures has released an official trailer for a country music singer movie titled Yellow Rose, made by Filipino-American filmmaker Diane Paragas. This originally premiered at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival last year, and it also played at the Austin and Hawaii Film Festivals last year. Yellow Rose is the timely story of a Filipina teen from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while having to decide between staying with her family or leaving the only home she has known. The film stars Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada in her feature film debut, along with Lea Salonga, Princess Punzalan, Dale Watson, Gustavo Gomez, Libby Villari, and Liam Booth. No surprise, this looks like an exquisite and affecting film about the power of (country) music. Worth a look. Here's the ...

Sony has set moderate theatrical fall releases for two independent features, Diane Paragas’ narrative feature debut Yellow Rose and Andrew Cohn’s comedy The Last Shift which made its global premiere at Sundance. Last Shift, which Sony Pictures World Acquisitions picked up, will debut on Sept. 25, while Yellow Rose which the label’s Stage 6 Films acquired last year sans Philippines, will open on Oct. 9.

In Last Shift, two-time Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins stars as Stanley, an aging fast-food worker, who plans to call it quits after 38 years on the graveyard shift at Oscar’s Chicken and Fish. His last weekend takes a turn while training his replacement, Jevon (Shane Paul McGhie), a talented but stalled young writer whose provocative politics keep landing him in trouble. The men are worlds apart. A high school dropout who has watched life pass by his drive-through window, Stanley proudly details the nuances of the job.

Sony Pictures revealed on Friday that The Last Shift and Yellow Rose now have release dates.

The Last Shift, a comedy from Stage 6 Films and Emmy winning writer Andrew Cohn, will release this year on Sept. 25. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired the film, which had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Richard Jenkins and Shane Paul McGhie star in the film, which follows an aging fast-food worker who plans to call it quits after 38 years working the graveyard shift at Oscar’s Chicken and Fish. Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Birgundi Baker, Allison Tolman and Ed O’Neill also ...

Exclusive: The inclusive Bentonville Film Festival (Bff) was the perfect stage to launch Gemstone Studios’ inaugural Rising Storytellers Search, a competition seeking underrepresented female-led narratives. The competition was unveiled today during the fest which continues through August 16.

Gemstone, a boutique production unit of Sony Pictures Television, is teaming with Ideas United and Geena Davis’ Bff for Rising Storytellers. The competition invites aspiring storytellers to submit pitch videos of up to six minutes in length to compete for the chance to win a development deal with Gemstone Studios. The winner will also receive other prizes from Sony Electronics’ Imaging Division and other goodies.

“As Sony Pictures Television’s indie production label, Gemstone Studios places an enormous value on undeniable storytelling representative of the diverse slate of creators that exist today,” said Marie Jacobson, EVP of Gemstone Studios. “Our Rising Storytellers Search is mining for the very voices audiences crave right now.

Ava DuVernay’s Array is presenting its fourth filmmaker tweet-a-thon, Array Film Fellowship. The annual daylong social media event is set to kick off on April 30 at 9 am Pt and will run for a staggering 10 hours and feature the voices of over 50 directors.

From Academy Award winners to veterans to legends to new voices the Twitter takeover will feature Guillermo Del Toro, Patty Jenkins, Jon M. Chu, Julie Dash, Jill Soloway, Patricia Cardoso, Mira Nair, George Tillman, Victoria Mahoney, Diane Paragas, Nisha Ganatra, Prentice Penny, Numa Perrier and many more.

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The filmmakers will wax poetic on the social media platform and share details about their craft, latest projects, take questions from film lovers...

Exclusive: UTA has signed filmmaker Diane Paragas for worldwide representation in all areas.

Most recently, Paragas directed, wrote and produced her narrative feature debut, Yellow Rose. The musical drama was acquired by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and will be released by Spwa’s film production label Stage 6 later in 2020.

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The film premiered at the 2019 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, where it won the grand jury award for best narrative feature. Since then, it has won multiple grand jury and audience awards at North American film festivals.

The feature focuses on the trials and tribulations of a 17 year old Filipina girl who longs to be...

Jeremiah Abraham, who co-produced Yellow Rose, has launched Tremendous Communications, a multicultural public relations and marketing company that looks to give shine to entertainment properties and find opportunities to highlight people of color and marginalized voices in media.

The new company looks to work with clients to help strategize and engage. They will help promote new theatrical releases, digital video, talent and more with a focus on Asian American content.

“Tremendous Communications aims to help the industry see the value of Asian Americans on screen and also as avid consumers of content. We’re also pushing for increased diversity in the Apa community — spotlighting a wider range of cultures like FIlipino Americans whose stories and accomplishments have generally gone underrepresented,” said Abraham, who is founder and CEO of Tremendous.

He adds, “Asian Americans have become a very powerful and discerning demographic. Misrepresentation on-screen will no longer be accepted by the...

Character Media (formerly known as Kore Asian Media) hosted the 18th annual Unforgettable Gala on Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles to honor and recognize Asian American icons and changmakers in the entertainment industry, who are representing the Api community through their creativity and excellence. Among the top winners of the evening was Lulu Wang’s awards season contender The Farewell starring Awkwafina.

Hosted by star of Kim’s Convenience actor and of Marvel Studios’ forthcoming Shang Chi and the Ten Rings Simu Liu, the evening was essentially the Golden Globes for the talented members of Asian American Hollywood and beyond. Liu kept the show going with quips and jokes throughout the evening including a bit where he, Blues Clues host Joshua Dela Cruz and Grey’s Anatomy actor Alex Landi shared shirtless “inspirational” social media pics of themselves while online personality Eugene Lee Yang came in to...

Exclusive: Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (Spwa) has acquired all worldwide rights, excluding the Philippines, to the musical drama Yellow Rose directed by Diane Paragas.

This marks Paragas’ narrative feature debut and stars Eva Noblezada’s (Hadestown) as a Filipino teen (Noblezada) from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while facing the threat of deportation. The film also stars Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga (Once on this Island), Princess Punzalan (Mula Sa Puso), Dale Watson (Friday Night Lights), Gustavo Gomez (The Walking Dead), Libby Villari (Boyhood) and Liam Booth (Ghosts Never Sleep).

Yellow Rose is Noblezada’s feature film debut and she starred in the Broadway revival of Miss Saigon in the role of Kim, which was originated by her co-star Salonga. Most recently, Noblezada received her second Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of Eurydice in the critically acclaimed Hadestown, which...

The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Reel Asian), Canada’s premier pan-Asian festival, today announced its full 2019 programming lineup which will offer festival goers the opportunity to experience the evolution of Asian representation in cinema. First, the Festival will pay tribute to the past with a 100th anniversary screening of the silent film classic The Dragon Painter. Stephen Gong, film historian and Executive Director of the Center for Asian American Media will bring the film to Reel Asian for a special screening, presented with a live performance of a reimagined score by singer-songwriter Goh Nakamura. Then, looking to the future of storytelling in media, the Festival presents East of the Rockies, an augmented reality (Ar) experience written by one of Canada’s most acclaimed and celebrated literary figures, Joy Kogawa. The Reel Asian Film Festival will take place November 7 to 15, 2019. For the full programming lineup and ticket information, visit reelasian.

Nearly a decade since Ava DuVernay launched Array, what was initially a small distribution company has grown to become a multimedia empire that now sits on a sprawling Los Angeles campus. The gated property in Historic Filipinotown contains, among several things, post-production facilities and a recently completed state-of-the-art, 50-seat theater that will screen Array titles, work by local artists, and an annual film series, which was announced today, curated and funded by DuVernay’s non-profit Array Alliance. Titled Array 360, the program will bring together award-winning filmmakers and emerging artists for six weekends of cinema, community, and conversation.

Array 360 will run from September 27 – November 2 at the all-new Amanda Theater, as the new screening space will be called. The inaugural slate features a celebration of women filmmakers including Agnès Varda, Euzhan Palcy, Barbara Loden, Suzana Amaral, Kathleen Collins, Shirin Neshat, Garrett Bradley, and Mati Diop, among others; a John Singleton retrospective; a...

Ava DuVernay continues to champion inclusivity and global film perspectives with Array 360 film series to mark the completion of the Array Creative Campus and the brand-spankin’ new, state-of-the-art Amanda Theater. The series will kick off September 27 and continue through November 2.

Located in the Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles, the Amanda Theater will host the inaugural film series created and funded by DuVernay’s non-profit Array Alliance. For six weekends, Array 360 will feature award-winning filmmakers and emerging artists.

“As a model, Array does steep itself in inclusion models to correct long-held absences. We believe in balance from the beginning,” said DuVernay. “Our Array Creative Campus was built with this belonging in mind from the first day and Array 360 is a reflection of our mantra that everyone has a place in true cinema.”

“In addition to paying tribute to exquisite filmmakers, some of whose work has gone underappreciated, our Array 360 series strives...

The lineup for the 23rd annual Urbanworld Film Festival was announced Friday, with Tony-award winning broadway actor Cynthia Erivo and Emmy award-winning director Roger Ross Williams making appearances at the event, which is geared towards representing and celebrating diverse, international voices in film, music videos, television, screenplays and shorts.

Director and co-writer Kasi Lemmons will open the festival Sept 18 with her Focus Features biopic “Harriet,” following the influential life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman who led slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Following the screening, star Erivo, Lemmons and executive producers Debra Martin Chase and Daniela Taplin Lundberg will discuss the film with CBS This Morning Saturday’s Michelle Miller moderating. Lemmons is this year’s festival ambassador.

Other notable films include HBO’s documentary “The Apollo,” which features archival footage to chronicle the history of Harlem’s landmark venue the Apollo Theater. A Q&a with director Williams and...