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Exclusive: Film Independent has selected six writers for its 2025 Episodic Lab. Running in person this year from August 11-22, the lab’s participants are Bryce Cracknell, Spencer Jamison, Rom Lotan, Lilian T. Mehrel, Leah Sarbib, and Ida Yazdi.

Film Independent’s Episodic Lab is designed to provide individualized story and career development for writers with original pilots for television. Through personalized feedback from experienced showrunners, creative producers and executives, who will serve as advisors, Fellows will get help in revising and refining their pilots, along with tips on navigating a changing industry landscape. As Founding Sponsor, Netflix will provide opportunities to learn specifically from showrunners helming their series. A final networking and pitch event will offer Fellows the opportunity to introduce themselves and their work to studio and network executives.

Creative Advisors and Guest Speakers will include Christian Alvarez, Kj Booze, Wendy Calhoun, Sera Gamble, Emmeline Yang Hankins, Eric Heisserer,...

We’re down to just three new episodes with the arrival of CBS’s Blue Bloods season 14 episode 16. Directed by Doug Aarniokoski from a script by Kevin Reilly and Van B. Nguyen, episode 16 – “The Gray Areas” – will air on Friday, November 22, 2024 at 10pm Et/Pt.

Tom Selleck returns to lead the final season’s cast as Frank Reagan. Donnie Wahlberg stars as Danny Reagan, Bridget Moynahan plays Erin Reagan, Will Estes is Jamie Reagan, Len Cariou is Henry Reagan, Marisa Ramirez plays Maria Baez, and Vanessa Ray stars as Eddie Janko.

“The Gray Areas” Plot: Danny and Baez investigate the death of a rising Mma fighter. Also, Eddie and Jamie race to find Badillo, whose job is on the line after he’s caught smoking weed. Frank is blindsided when Mayor Chase (Dylan Walsh) asks the governor to send in the National Guard to help patrol the subway system. Erin...

Marisa Ramirez as Maria Baez and Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan in ‘Blue Bloods’ season 14 episode 5

Emmy winner Tate Donovan guest stars as a labor union leader on CBS’s Blue Blood season 14 episode five. Directed by Robert Harmon from a script by Ian Biederman and Van B. Nguyen, episode five – “Bad Faith” – will air on Friday, April 5, 2024 at 10pm Et/Pt.

Tom Selleck returns to lead the final season’s cast as Frank Reagan. Donnie Wahlberg stars as Danny Reagan, Bridget Moynahan plays Erin Reagan, Will Estes is Jamie Reagan, Len Cariou is Henry Reagan, Marisa Ramirez plays Maria Baez, and Vanessa Ray stars as Eddie Janko.

“Bad Faith” Plot: Erin is designated to lead a federal investigation into corrupt horse racing. Also, Jamie investigates a drug trafficking operation involving rival gangs; Danny and Baez look into a series of assaults in Little Vietnam with the help of a...

Writing a feature film is easy. All you need is one gimmicky logline, as cheap and single-serving-disposable as a coffee pod from the complimentary hotel room K-Cup spinner. Once you stumble upon one of these so-called “high concept” ideas, the script practically writes, sells and produces itself. It’s creative work for stupid babies, as all filmmakers will surely agree–totally unlike, in other words, the act of conceptualizing an entire episodic series, a demonstration of storytelling virtuosity so complex and adult it straddles the border between ancient Euclidean geometry and New Age witchcraft.

Okay, so maybe that’s a little extreme. But for aspiring series creators and showrunners, structuring a workable, potentially long-running television concept requires imagination and problem-solving on both the micro- and macro- levels–a mastery of tone, plot and characterization across variable interlocking units of temporal storytelling: scenes, dramatic acts, full episodes, multi-episode arcs and complete seasons.

Exclusive: Film Independent has named the eight writers selected for the seventh edition of its Episodic Lab, designed to provide individualized story and career development for writers with original pilots for television. The participants and projects are Desdemona Chiang (Zhizha! (紙紮!)), Giovanni Maldonado Chinea & Myles Hawthorne (The Machetero), Robert Cohen & Ioana Uricaru (Overcast), Catherine Durickas (Beige Is Not Dead), Azza Malik and Robert ToTeras (Jourdain).

Cohen and Uricaru have been set to receive this year’s $20,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, awarded to projects with science or technology themes and characters, to support the development of their pilot Overcast through the Lab. Dear Azza,‘s Malik, meanwhile, will receive a $10,000 grant from the Mpac Hollywood Bureau, an organization working to elevate stories by and about Muslims in entertainment.

This year’s two-week, in-person Lab will help to further the careers of Fellows by introducing them to industry veterans — including experienced showrunners,...

Will Estes as Jamie Reagan in ‘Blue Bloods’ season 13 episode 17

Carjackings grab Danny and Jamie’s attention on CBS’s Blue Bloods season 13 episode 17, “Smoke & Mirrors.” Directed by Jackeline Tejada from a script by Kevin Reilly and Van B. Nguyen, episode 17 airs on Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10pm Et/Pt.

The cast is led by Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan, Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan, and Bridget Moynahan as Erin Reagan. Will Estes stars as Jamie Reagan, Len Cariou is Henry Reagan, Sami Gayle is Nicky Reagan-Boyle, Marisa Ramirez plays Det. Maria Baez, and Vanessa Ray is Officer Eddie Janko.

“Smoke & Mirrors” Plot: Frank clashes with the Dream Team when one of the members becomes the focus of a departmental investigation. Also, Jamie and Danny team up to investigate a series of carjackings involving one of Danny’s criminal informants. Eddie and her partner, Badillo (Ian Quinlan), help a...

Exclusive: Peacock has set the main cast of YA supernatural drama Girl in the Woods based on the Crypt TV IP. Stefanie Scott (Insidious: Chapter 3) — who will play the lead — Misha Osherovich (Freaky) and Sofia Bryant (I Am Not Okay with This) are set as series regulars. The Good Doctor‘s Will Yun Lee, Kylie Liya Page (Social Distance), Reed Diamond (13 Reasons Why) and Leonard Roberts (The Magicians) have been cast as recurring.

The series is based on Crypt’s 2018 short film The Door in the Woods, which was written and directed by Joey Greene, and the 2020 sequel The Girl in the Woods, written by David Calbert, Van Nguyen and directed by Roxine Helberg.

Scott will play the lead Carrie, the central character in the Crypt TV franchise. Carrie is a mysterious warrior who escaped from a cult-like colony that guards the world from monsters hidden behind a secret door in the woods.

Krysten Ritter will direct the first four of eight episodes

Peacock is adapting YA supernatural drama “The Girl in the Woods” as a streaming series. Krysten Ritter (“Breaking Bad”) will direct the first four of eight episodes.

The series is based on Crypt’s 2018 short film “The Door in the Woods,” which was written and directed by Joey Greene, and the 2020 sequel “The Girl in the Woods,” written by David Calbert, Van Nguyen and directed by Roxine Helberg.

Set in the Pacific Northwest, this “Girl in the Woods” follows Carrie’s escape from her mysterious, cult-like colony that guards the world from monsters hidden behind a secret door within the woods.

“‘Girl in the Woods’ is Crypt’s most ambitious adaption of our IP to date. We are thrilled to have such special talents in Krysten Ritter, Casey Modderno and Jacob Chase bringing this series to life with grounded characters...

Exclusive: Krysten Ritter is to direct the first four episodes of an adaptation of Crypt TV’s Girl In The Woods for Peacock.

The NBCU streamer has ordered an eight-episode series based on the horror company’s The Door In The Woods and its sequel The Girl in the Woods.

The series will have a new cast from the movies, which starred the likes of Kal Penn and Peyton List.

Set in the Pacific Northwest, Girl In The Woods follows Carrie’s escape from her mysterious, cult-like colony that guards the world from monsters hidden behind a secret door within the woods.

Crypt TV was launched in 2015 by Jack Davis and filmmaker Eli Roth with Blumhouse Productions as an investor. Its monsters have spawned five original series on Facebook Watch including The Birch and feature in Netflix anthology series Don’t Watch This. The Girl in the Woods deal is...

Film Independent has selected 30 filmmakers for Project Involve 2021.

This year marks the 28th iteration of Project Involve. The free nine-month program is for writers, directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, animators, programmers and entertainment executives from diverse backgrounds. During the program, participants meet one-on-one with film industry mentors, create short films, attend master workshops taught by top film professionals and industry networking events.

“Having triumphantly navigated this past year, the Project Involve team is prepared, very pleased and extremely excited to welcome the 2021 Project Involve Fellows into the Film Independent family” said Francisco Velasquez, Associate Director, Project Involve.

Project Involve alumni include Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Linda Yvette Chávez, Marvin Lemus and Aaliyah Williams (Gentefied), Effie T. Brown (Dear White People), Jon M. Chu (In the Heights) and Justin Simien (Dear White People).

Past Project Involve Mentors include Janicza Bravo, Ava DuVernay, Catherine Hardwicke, Alma Har’el, Barry Jenkins, Mako Kamitsuna, Spike Jonze,...

Exclusive: Mexican actress Barbara De Regil (Rosario Tijerass) is among cast to join action-thriller Blackout, starring Josh Duhamel (Transformers: The Last Knight), Abbie Cornish (Jack Ryan), Nick Nolte (Warrior) and Omar Chaparro.

Also joining are Jose Sefami (Amores Perros) and Hernan Del Riego (Historia De Un Crimen: Colosio). Shoot is underway in Mexico City.

Blackout will follow Cain (Duhamel), who wakes up in a Mexican hospital with no memory. After meeting Anna (Cornish), he discovers who he is but soon finds himself fighting for his life as several warring cartel factions attack him, each looking for something he has stolen. Cain looks towards co-worker and mentor, DEA Agent McCoy (Nolte), for answers.

The Patriot Pictures (Synchronic) feature is being directed by Sam Macaroni (Guest House), director of the VR fight sequences on John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Script comes from Van B. Nguyen. XYZ will launch world sales at the upcoming American Film Market.

Exclusive: Josh Duhamel (Transformers: The Last Knight), Abbie Cornish (Jack Ryan), three-time Oscar nominee Nick Nolte (Warrior) and Mexican mega-star Omar Chaparro (Pokémon Detective Pikachu) are to star in the action movie Blackout, which is set to get underway tomorrow in Mexico City.

Blackout will follow Cain (Duhamel), who wakes up in a Mexican hospital with no memory. After meeting Anna (Cornish), he discovers who he is but soon finds himself fighting for his life as several warring cartel factions attack him, each looking for something he has stolen. Cain looks towards co-worker and mentor, DEA Agent McCoy (Nolte), for answers.

The Patriot Pictures (Synchronic) feature will be directed by Sam Macaroni (Guest House), director of the VR fight sequences on John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Script comes from Van B. Nguyen. XYZ will launch world sales at the upcoming American Film Market.

Producers are Michael Mendelsohn from Patriot Pictures and Jim Steele.

Production to start on Thursday in Mexico City.

XYZ Films will kick off worldwide sales at AFM on the action thriller Blackout starring Josh Duhamel, Abbie Cornish, Omar Chaparro, and Nick Nolte.

Patriot Pictures is set to commence production in Mexico City on Thursday (October 29) under Covid protocols in line with Screen Actors Guild guidelines.

Sam Macaroni directs from a screenplay by Van B. Nguyen about an undercover DEA agent who awakens in a Mexican mental institution with memory loss and soon remembers who he is as several cartels come looking for him.

Union Patriot Capital Management is fully financing the film.

Exclusive: Women’s advocacy organization WeForShe has selected 20 unproduced female-written television scripts, plus an additional five “scripts to watch” for its fifth annual WriteHer List.

The scripts were selected from a record 500-plus nominations and evaluated based on criteria including diversity of cast, the number and quality of female roles, and the Bechdel Test — a measure of female representation in fiction. A group of network and studio execs, showrunners, producers and directors curated the list.

The scripts include Almost Olympian by Emma Jay, La Coyote by Rebecca Feldman, Vesta by Jenny Deiker Restivo and Thorns by Caroline Levich & Michelle Badillo.

The WriteHer List, introduced in 2015, is one of the tools created by WeForShe for use by the entertainment industry’s content creators and decision-makers to help increase the number of women working in entertainment.

“We are thrilled to see how the engagement has grown with the community year over year,...