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Women’s Weekend Film Challenge (Wwfc) is launching a pilot accelerator program for writers to pitch female-centric content.

The program, which will see emerging TV writers pitching beginning in October of this year, was designed to help such writers advance their careers, as well as to increase the representation of women non-binary people working in television.

“So many members of our community have pilot scripts ready to go but no one to pitch to,” Wwfc co-founder Tracy Sayre said in a statement. “This gap became especially apparent over the last year as we’ve hosted weekly virtual workshops; far and away, the most popular events have centered around how to pitch and how to break into the writers room. This accelerator is a natural response to the career goals of our community.”

Wwfc is accepting applications for the accelerator on FilmFreeway from June 17 to July 21, 2021. The program will take place virtually.

David Levine, the co-head of drama at HBO, is departing the premium cabler, Variety has learned.

Francesca Orsi, Levine’s fellow co-head of drama, will now oversee drama series for HBO on her own.

“David has been a valued member of the HBO family for 10 years and worked on some of our finest shows,” said Casey Bloys, president of programming for HBO. “We look forward to working with him as a producer on projects in the years to come. We’re thrilled that Francesca will step up to head of drama programming.”

Levine currently oversees both “Westworld” and “True Detective.” He also oversaw project such as “Sharp Objects,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Knick,” and “True Blood.” His other recent projects include “The Outsider,” “The Nevers,” “Demimonde,” and the “Game of Thrones” prequel pilot.

Levine was promoted to his current position in 2016. He joined as a consultant in 2009, becoming director of...

Exclusive: David Levine, HBO’s Evp and Co-Head of Drama, is leaving the premium cable network after a decade to return to producing. Fellow Evp and Co-Head of Drama Francesca Orsi will become solo head of the department.

“David has been a valued member of the HBO family for 10 years and worked on some of our finest shows,” HBO programming president Casey Bloys said in a statement to Deadline. “We look forward to working with him as a producer on projects in the years to come. We’re thrilled that Francesca will step up to head of drama programming.”

The series Levine oversaw during his tenure include HBO’s Westworld, True Detective, Sharp Objects, Game of Thrones and True Blood as well as Cinemax’s The Knick. Levine, who also recently oversaw development on The Outsider, The Nevers, Demimonde and the Got prequel, is expected to continue to work on...

Updated with Vice statement: More than 75 current and former writers for HBO have signed a petition calling on Vice Media “to sign a strong union contract” with the WGA. The list includes several high-profile scribes including John Oliver, David Simon, Warren Leight, Tom Fontana, Eric Overmyer and Jesse Armstrong.

Read the petition and its signatories below.

Editorial staffers at Vice overwhelmingly ratified their first contract with WGA East in April 2016, a three-year deal that was retroactive to January 1 that year.

“This petition shows what WGA East solidarity looks like,” the guild said in a statement. “Just as our members who craft shows for HBO are expressing support for their brothers and sisters at Vice, the Wgae-represented employees in all parts of Vice are supporting each other in the quest for a good contract. That solidarity has already brought real gains in a number...

In this edition of TV Bits: HBO’s Watchmen TV series adds even more cast members American Horror Story season 8 premiere date set Comic book series Gideon Falls is being adapted for TV J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi HBO show Demimonde now has a showrunner What to expect from The Expanse season 4 A trailer for Animals season 3 Fox is adapting […]

The post TV Bits: ‘Watchmen’, ‘American Horror Story’, ‘Gideon Falls’, ‘Demimonde’, ‘The Expanse’, ‘Animals’ and More appeared first on /Film.

HBO added two more to the growing cast of Damon Lindelof’s “Watchmen” adaption, as Sara Vickers and “Aquaman” star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II joined the project.

As with its other castings, details on the two roles are being kept under wraps. Abdul-Mateen II is set star as the villain, Black Manta, in Warner Bros. upcoming DC Comics film, “Aquaman.” He also starred in last summer’s “Baywatch” and Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series, “The Get Down.”

Vickers, meanwhile, is best known for starring in the British series, “Endeavour,” having also appeared in “The Alienist,” “The Crown” and “Lovesick.”

Also Read: John Goodman and Danny McBride to Star in HBO Televangelist Comedy Pilot

HBO has quickly built out the cast for the adaptation of Alan Moore’s famed graphic novel series, adding Jeremy Irons, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher and Jacob Ming-Trent this week alone. The “Watchmen” cast also includes Regina King,...

“Westworld” is offline for now, but that’s OK because J.J. Abrams’ new high-profile HBO series has found its showrunner.

Bash Doran has been set to executive produce and run “Demimonde” as part of a two-year overall deal the “Jerusalem” creator has signed with the premium cable network.

HBO placed a straight-to-series order for “Demimonde” back in February. Abrams is set to pen the script, making this the first TV series the producer has written since 2008’s “Fringe.”

In classic Abrams’ fashion, HBO’s official logline for the series is purposely vague: an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama.

Doran will executive produce, along with Abrams and Ben Stephenson — head of television for Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions — in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Doran is the creator of the new UK Channel 4 series “Jerusalem,” which is currently shooting in the UK.

Jerusalem creator Bash Doran has been tapped as executive producer and showrunner of J.J. Abrams’ high-profile drama series Demimonde. It is part of a two-year overall deal the TV writer/playwright has signed with HBO.

Demimonde, an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama, comes from Warner Bros. TV, Abrams’ studio-based Bad Robot Prods. and HBO, which is co-producing. Doran will executive produce with Abrams and Bad Robot’s Ben Stephenson.

Doran is the creator of Channel 4 series Jerusalum, which is currently shooting in the UK with Emma Appleton and Luke Treadaway starring. She has written for such series as Hulu’s The Looming Tower, on which she served as co-executive producer, Showtime’s Masters of Sex, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and NBC’s Smash.

Doran also wrote the Netflix feature Outlaw King, starring Chris Pine and directed by David Mackenzie, which is currently in post-production. Doran’s plays Kin,...

As production is wrapping on the final installment of mega hit Game Of Thrones, HBO has given a pilot green light to a Got prequel series project from hot feature writer Jane Goldman and author/Got co-executive producer George R.R. Martin.

Created by Goldman & Martin and written by Goldman based on a story by her and Martin, the untitled project takes the prequel concept to a new level as it is set thousands of years before the events of Game Of Thrones. The series is described as chronicling “the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”

Goldman will serve as showrunner...

J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles are set to executive produce a new half-hour dramedy series for Apple called Little Voices. The series is being written, directed, and produced by Jessie Nelson, who is being films such as I Am Sam, Stepmom, and Corrina, Corrina.

The series is described as "a love letter to the diverse musicality of New York which explores the universal journey of finding your authentic voice in your early 20s." The music for the series will come from Bareilles who previously collaborated with Nelson on the Tony Award–nominated musical Waitress.

Apple has already ordered a ten-episode first season. This seems like a great project for everyone involved, including Abrams who got his big break with the series Felicity. Judging by what we know, it seems like there are may be some similarities between Felicity and Little Voices.

Abrams has got a ton of other projects in...

Apple has landed half-hour romantic dramedy Little Voice, from J.J. Abrams and the Waitress duo of Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson. The upcoming streaming platform has given a straight-to-series 10-episode order to the project, which will feature original music by Grammy and Tony Award nominee Bareilles, who is co-hosting Sunday’s 72nd annual Tony Awards.

Nelson will write and direct the first episode and serve as showrunner for Little Voice, from Warner Bros TV and Abrams’ studio-based Bad Robot Prods.

A love letter to the diverse musicality of New York, Little Voice, which shares the title of Bareilles’ breakthrough album, explores the universal journey of finding your authentic voice in your early 20s. It is described as a fresh, intensely romantic tale of the search to find your true voice… and then the courage to use it.

Bareilles and Nelson executive produce with Bad Robot’s Abrams and Ben Stephenson.

Apple has given a straight-to-series order to the half-hour dramedy “Little Voices,” which boasts J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles among its executive producers, Variety has learned.

The series is described as a love letter to the diverse musicality of New York which explores the universal journey of finding your authentic voice in your early 20s. Bareilles, who is hosting the upcoming 72nd Tony Awards, will provide original music. Apple has ordered a 10-episode first season.

Jessie Nelson, whose previous screenwriting credits include “I Am Sam,” “Stepmom, and “Corrina, Corrina,” will write, executive produce, direct the first episode, and serve as showrunner. Nelson previously collaborated with Bareilles on the acclaimed Tony Award–nominated musical “Waitress.”

The series is produced by Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Abrams and Bareilles will executive produce along with Bad Robot’s Ben Stephenson and Nelson.

This is Abrams’ and Bad Robot’s latest high-profile TV project.

Bad Robot and Oscar winner Undefeated ‘s producer Glen Zipper are teaming to develop and co-produce premium docuseries, expanding the TV slate from the J.J. Abrams-run company. The pact falls under Bad Robot’s existing development deal with Warner Bros TV.

No details were provided about projects in the works.

“Glen’s critical eye for telling real stories and extensive experience in the documentary space allows us to expand the range and ambition of the shows we produce,” said Ben Stephenson, Bad Robot’s Head of Television. “We have been fans of Glen’s work for years and look forward to partnering with him to tell gripping, true life stories.”

Bad Robot’s TV credits include HBO’s Westworld and upcoming Lovecraft Country and the Abrams-penned Demimonde. It also has the Hulu anthology series Castle Rock.

Zipper is repped by CAA.

Greenlit means a project is officially a go, so all you have to do is follow these leads to stay up to date. You never know where you’ll find an opportunity to land an audition! “You Are My Friend” Hollywood’s resident good guy Tom Hanks has lined up what is maybe his most fitting role yet: America’s resident good guy, Mr. Fred Rogers. Hanks will play the late, great Rogers in TriStar’s biopic “You Are My Friend,” inspired by the real-life friendship between Rogers and award-winning journalist Tom Junod, who has his cynical life transformed after begrudgingly accepting to do a profile on the TV personality. Marielle Heller will be directing, who previously worked on “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” though she has since directed for Amazon’s “Transparent.” Her writing and producing staff also come from the award-winning series, so, while there’s no...

Whenever J.J. Abrams is behind a new sci-fi series, audiences pay attention. That’s mostly because of his involvement in the ABC series Lost, but more recently, Abrams also turned heads with the series adaptation of Michael Crichton’s 1973 film Westworld, which became a hit for HBO. Now, he’s be returning to the cable network with another intriguing new […]

The post ‘Demimonde’ Brings J.J. Abrams Back to HBO for a New Sci-Fi Drama Series appeared first on /Film.

J.J. Abrams’ new sci-fi TV show Demimonde has been ordered to series by HBO as the director continues his fruitful relationship with the network. While Abrams has made a splash on the big screen thanks to his work in the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Cloverfield franchises, the auteur always returns to television. Thanks to Lost, his legacy as someone able to craft compelling and complex stories has remained unchallenged and his work producing the Westworld reboot has shown he can still ensnare an audience. The next few years, however, will see even more of his work.

It’s no surprise that networks and studios wants to be in the J.J. Abrams business given his track record of success, and while there were murmurs that his new show Demimonde might land at Apple as part of their forthcoming streaming service, THR reports that the sci-fi drama has landed at HBO with a straight-to-series order. Per THR, “the Abrams drama is about a family — consisting of a mother who works as a scientist, her husband and their young daughter — who all get into a terrible car crash. After the mother winds up in a …...

Forget about “Westworld” (no, don’t actually) because HBO has given a straight-to-series order to J.J. Abrams’ new sci-fi drama, “Demimonde.” Abrams will write the script, making this the first TV series the producer has written since 2008’s “Fringe.” In classic Abrams’ fashion, HBO’s official logline for the series is purposely vague: an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama. Also Read: 'Westworld': Jimmi Simpson Confirms He's in Season 2 -- But Is 'Gonna Shut Up' From There Abrams will executive produce with Ben Stephenson — head of television for Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions — in association with Warner Bros. Television. In other Abrams-hbo news, the producer’s...

Efp chooses panel of industry experts to select Europe’s best acting talents for its annual Berlinale showcase.

European Film Promotion, the international association of organisations promoting European cinema worldwide, has announced its European Shooting Stars jury for 2017.

The panel will select the ten most promising young actors from across Europe in early December.

Members of the jury include Hungarian actress and former Shooting Star Dorka Gyllus (Demimonde), British casting director Lucinda Syson (Batman Begins), Portuguese producer Pandora da Cunha Telles (Bridges Of Saravejo), Swiss film director Xavier Koller (Journey Of Hope) [pictured] and Swedish film editor and critic Jan Lumhold (Svenska Dagbladet).

At the upcoming Berlinale, which runs from February 9 – 19, 2017, Efp will celebrate the 20th edition of its European Shooting Stars initiative.

The Shooting Stars programme aims to bring together European talent with agents, casting directors and international media. The three-day annual event ends with its awards ceremony on February 13, where each selected actor is honoured on the...

Demimonde screens Friday, Nov. 4 at 7:00pm and Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 9:00pm as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. Ticket information for the November 4th show can be found Here. Information for the November 9th screening can be found Here.

In January 1914, a horrific murder shakes the city of Budapest: One of the city’s most famous courtesans, Elza Mágnás, has been strangled and her body thrown into the icy waters of the Danube. Chronicling the last four days of Elza’s life through the eyes of a young and naive maid, “Demimonde” — which is based on a true tale of love, passion, sex, and power — untangles the prostitute’s bizarrely complex relationships with her housekeeper, her sponsor, and her lover.

Demimonde review by Cate Marquis

Demimonde is an atmospheric, even Gothic, mystery set in the “demimonde” of early 20th century Budapest, a tale that...