News

SeriesFest, the annual television festival in Denver, has unveiled the winners of its independent pilot competition.

Lake Boga won best drama pilot, Settle Down won best comedy pilot, Vs. Goliath won best unscripted pilot and F*ckUps Anonymous picked up the award for best short series.

“We can think of no better way to close out another successful edition of the festival than to celebrate and give back to the independent storytellers who continue to push the boundaries of the medium,” said SeriesFest Co-Founders Randi Kleiner and Kaily Smith. “SeriesFest has a long history of being a discovery platform for the independent television community, and we are thrilled to be able to further this year’s creatives’ work through the opportunities these awards and resources provide.”

Lake Boga, which was directed by Ben Bryan and exec produced by Nick Farnell and Anthony Sharpe, follows Nathan, an experienced ex-military assassin, who...

After a two-week break, Tracker is back on Sunday, April 13. The all-new episode takes Colter (Justin Hartley) on a search in the cold wildernesses of Montana where two people went missing. "Colter helps an old friend with a search and rescue mission for two missing sisters in the snowy Montana wilderness. Meanwhile, Reenie (Fiona Rene) gets a visit from a new client that challenges her morality," reads the official logline for Tracker Season 2, Episode 16, "The Mercy Seat." CBS released a sneak peek of the episode, which shows Colter and his buddy Roger McLaren (Diego Klattenhoff) venture into the snow-filled Montana terrain to retrieve the missing women, but there is something odd about the whole thing.

One of the sisters, Shelly (Lexi Simonsen), is quite young, and when the video below begins, Colter has already found them, which is good news all around. It's freezing cold, so he tries to warm...

As humans, it is difficult for some of us to differentiate between the real and the imaginary. It’s difficult for some of us to understand this constant sense of guilt and a force of nature that keeps messing up everything we want to keep close and together. In debutant director Patrick VanZandt’s “Addy Daddy,” the protagonist Lucas (Jared Trevino), suffers from a similar kind of whirlwind of emotions where a singular sense of doubt in his relationship, forces him to re-evaluate all his decisions that led to that point.

The story begins with a traumatic incident from Lucas’ past. A videotape recording shows us a young Lucas (possibly behind the camera) witnessing the mental and physical abuse that his mother went through, at the behest of his controlling and hateful father played by Matt Kirkwood. When we meet a grown-up Lucas, he is living with a peculiar roommate,...

Beverly Olevin’s “Good Side of Bad” (2024) is a brisk, moving read; the ease with which the author etches vivid portraits of her characters in stark contradiction with their messy complexity. The tangled lives of the central family situate mental health front and center, with Olevin tackling the subject head-on, but never without sincere compassion. Alethea Root’s interpretation of Olevin’s work is astoundingly raw and intimate, as her “Good Side of Bad” plunges deep into the heart of pain, loss, and the bittersweet pull of familial bonds.

A young photographer, Florence (Lexi Simonsen), is seen running across a bridge, terrified for her life. Seemingly in response to evading her offscreen pursuers, she jumps into the water, which lands her in the hospital. Older sister, Sara (Jules Bruff) drops everything to be there for Florence, who insists that hooded men were hounding her for unknown reasons. A psychological evaluation...

Writer-producer duo Jules Bruff and Alethea Root have set a partnership with Guerrilla Rep Media for sales of their award-winning feature film “Good Side of Bad.”

The film, directed by Root, looks at the everyday challenges and realities of living with schizophrenia for both the sufferer and their family as well. In the film, when a young photographer has a severe mental break, her siblings come together to help her heal.

The film’s starring cast includes Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Tess Harper, Bruff (“Zodiac”), Lexi Simonsen (“S.W.A.T”), Alex Quijano (“The Fabelmans”), Myles Grier (“Lethal Weapon”), and Emmy winner Kim Estes. Root and Bruff previously collaborated on “Part Time Fabulous.”

The deal was negotiated by Carol Contes for the producers and Ben Yennie of Guerrilla Rep Media. Yennie, who was initially introduced to the film at the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience where it won best narrative feature and Root best director,...

"We need to talk about Florence..." An early promo trailer has debuted for an indie drama titled Good Side of Bad, the latest film from filmmaker Alethea Root. This recently premiered at the 2023 Dances with Film Festival this month, hence the trailer landing now to build up the hype. When a young photographer has a severe mental break, her siblings come together to help her heal. Lexi Simonsen stars as Florence, who returns home to her family to try to reconnect with them despite their struggles with mental illness. The film is adapted from the book of the same name written by Beverly Olevin. "With insight and empathy, Olevin explores the mysterious world of mental illness... and the tangled ties of family." Also starring Jules Bruff, Alex Quijano, Tess Harper, Kim Estes, and Myles Grier. This looks like yet another powerfully honest story about how challenging it is to deal with mental illness,...

Exclusive: LA’s Dances With Films celebrates 26 Years of storytelling June 22-July 2 at the Tcl Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

The festival will open with the World Premiere of Good Side of Bad, a powerful drama based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Beverly Olevin. Directed by Alethea Root and starring Jules Bruff (Zodiac), Lexi Simonsen (S.W.A.T.), Alex Quijano (High School Musical: The Series), Myles Grier (Lethal Weapon) and Academy Award Nominee Tess Harper, the film depicts a raw and intimate look into what it means to be a family navigating the waters of mental illness. Closing out the festival is Home Free by first time director Aaron Brown, and writer Lenny Barszap, a social impact Trojan horse disguised as a coming-of-age college comedy with a focus on homelessness.

Festival Founders Leslee Scallon, Michael Trent state “Looking toward our next quarter century,...

Exclusive: Sarah Jeffery (The CW’s Charmed), Emmy nominee Jane Adams (Hacks), Jake Weber (Those Who Wish Me Dead) and Balthazar Getty (Twin Peaks) will star in Year of the Fox, the latest feature from award-winning director Megan Griffiths, which has wrapped production in the state of Washington.

The film written by Eliza Flug is a fictionalized depiction of teenage experiences and personal encounters she had while growing up in Aspen, Colorado, during the last of its utopian heyday. Set in 1997, it tells the story of 17-year-old Ivy (Jeffery), who was adopted as an infant into a wealthy and notable Aspen family and is now navigating the fallout of her parents’ bitter divorce.

Ivy’s mother, Paulene (Adams), prepares to relocate to her native Seattle, taking Ivy with her. But Ivy’s influential and controlling father, Huxley (Weber), pulls Ivy ever closer by inviting...

Stars: Ryan Phillipe, Casper Van Dien, Jack Griffo, Lexi Simonsen, Richard Burgi, Samaire Armstrong | Written by Eric Bromberg, Paul Taegel | Directed by Brian Skiba

Secret-service agent Vic Davis (Ryan Phillippe) is on his way to pick up his estranged son, Shawn (Jack Griffo), from his college campus when he finds himself in the middle of a high-stakes terrorist operation. The daughter of a Supreme Court Justice is the target and this armed faction will stop at nothing to kidnap her. Vic quickly realizes that there’s no one coming to rescue them and must now use his entire set of skills to save her and his son from an incredibly dangerous and lethal situation.

Ok, Ok. Yes, we’re in Die Hard territory once again for The 2nd… even down to the seasonal setting. However unlike the myriad of Die Hard clones released these days, where our hero takes out...

If you're looking for a new action movie to check out this week, The 2nd just dropped On Demand and on Digital and we've got an exclusive clip offering a sneak peek at the bloody brawling. Ryan Phillippe stars as secret service agent Vic Davis, who gets caught up in a terrorist kidnapping scheme on his way to pick up his estranged son (Jack Griffo) from college. Directed by Brian Skiba from a script by Eric Bromberg and Paul Taegel, The 2nd also stars Casper Van Dien and Lexi Simonsen. The film is available on September 1, 2020 …...

Momentum Pictures has debuted a new trailer for the action flick ‘The 2nd’ starring Ryan Phillippe’.

Secret-service agent Vic Davis (Ryan Phillippe) is on his way to pick up his estranged son, Shawn (Jack Griffo), from his college campus when he finds himself in the middle of a high-stakes terrorist operation. The daughter of a Supreme Court Justice (Lexi Simonsen) is the target and this armed faction will stop at nothing to kidnap her Vic quickly realizes that there’s no one coming to rescue them and must now use his entire set of skills to save her and his son from an incredibly dangerous and lethal situation.

Directed by Brian Skiba, the film also stars Casper Van Dien, Jack Griffo and Lexi Simonsen.

Also in trailers – Ethan Hawke stars in trailer for ‘Tesla’

The film hits Demand and On Digital September 1st.

The post Ryan Phillippe is handy with...

Hey, look. It's Die Hard on a college campus! Momentum Pictures is releasing Brian Skiba's action flick The 2nd On Demand and digital on September 1st. It stars Ryan Phillippe and Casper Van Dien along with Jack Griffo, Lexi Simonsen   The official poster - with a splash of the American flag at the bottom there to remind you that Americans are not terrorists - and trailer were released today. I may have given a pass to a smaller indie action flick like this in the past but I find myself tickled with the idea of Ryan Phillippe as an action star.   See him in action in the trailer below.    While picking his son up from college, Secret Service Agent Vic Davies finds...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

"Did you saw your driver was new?" Momentum Pics has unveiled an official trailer for an action thriller titled The 2nd, from Arizona-native genre filmmaker Brian Skiba. Unfortunately this looks like jingoistic propaganda disguised as an action movie - tread carefully. Ryan Phillippe stars as a secret service agent on his way to pick up his estranged son from his college campus when he finds himself in the middle of a high-stakes terrorist operation. The daughter of a Supreme Court Justice, and his son's friend, is the target and this armed faction will stop at nothing to kidnap her and use her as leverage for a pending landmark legal case. Also starring Casper Van Dien, Jack Griffo, Lexi Simonsen, & William Katt. No surprise - this looks really awful. A wannabe, knock-off White House Down with bad lighting and bad performances. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Brian Skiba's The 2nd,...

Exclusive: Rapper Coolio has joined the cast of the HBO Max drama pilot Vegas High.

In what would be a recurring role, the Grammy winner will play Ray, a Las Vegas businessman who is uncle to Olive, played by Kyanna Simpson. It will be the rapper’s first recurring role in a TV drama.

The 1990s-set coming-of-age story follows a girl who’s caught between two worlds: the fast-paced lifestyle of Las Vegas and her strong Mormon faith and community.

Starring are Jordana Spiro (Ozark), Josh Andrés Rivera (West Side Story), newcomer Reagan Rozas in the lead role, Simpson (Chambers), Emma Meisel (American Horror Story: 1984), Lexi Simonsen (2nd), Kevin Rahm (Madam Secretary) and All American‘s Da’Vinchi.

The show heralds from writer Sarah-Raquel Jimenez, director Gillian Robespierre and Michael Showalter’s Semi-Formal Prods and is inspired by Jimenez’s own experiences.

Rapper, producer, actor and chef Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr.

Exclusive: Newcomer Reagan Rozas, Kyanna Simpson (Chambers), Emma Meisel (American Horror Story: 1984), Lexi Simonsen (2nd), Kevin Rahm (Madam Secretary) and All American‘s Da’Vinchi are set as series regulars opposite Jordana Spiro and Josh Andrés Rivera in Vegas High, HBO Max’s coming-of-age period drama pilot from writer Sarah-Raquel Jimenez, director Gillian Robespierre and Michael Showalter’s Semi-Formal Prods.

Written by Jimenez and directed by Robespierre, Vegas High is inspired by Jimenez’s own experience. It is a 1990s-set coming-of-age story about Laura (Rozas), a girl who’s caught between two worlds: the fast-paced lifestyle of Las Vegas and her strong Mormon faith and community.

Rozas’ Laura Hernandez is a sweet, poetic soul and devout Mormon who lives in Las Vegas with her blended family while attending Vegas High.

Meisel will play Maddie, Laura’s best friend, Maddie is a devout Mormon girl, and is regularly seen attending events with...

"Before we begin, are there any more questions?" With a few days left until Halloween this year, it's time to get in the horror mood with this short film titled Trick. Not to be confused with the full-length feature film also titled Trick, this horror short is written & directed by filmmaker Elwood Quincy Walker. Trick is about a group of teenagers who decide to hold a seance to try and prove or disprove an urban legend about children that went missing on Halloween night. The short film stars Emily Joy Lemus, Jordan Valadez, Lexi Simonsen, Ryan Kearton, Sam Uehling, Chloe Glassel, Aj Danna, Liz Roman, plus Shar Mayer. This has chilling look and feel, an impressive little short to give you the creeps. Don't watch it alone. Thanks to Bloody Disgusting for the tip. Description from Vimeo: "A group of teenagers hold a seance in attempts to summon the...