News

Warner Bros. Television has promoted veteran executive Clancy Collins White to the newly created position of president of creative affairs.

In the role, Collins White will continue to oversee scripted programming development for Wbtv while also adding oversight of casting and research. She reports to Channing Dungey, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group and Wbd US Networks.

“Warner Bros Television has been my home for more than 20 years, and I am incredibly honored by this opportunity and excited to take on this new role,” Collins White said. “I want to extend my deepest thanks to Channing for her mentorship and unwavering support. I look forward to continuing our work together alongside our amazingly talented teams and the best storytellers in the business.”

In addition, Wbtv casting head Mele Nagler has been promoted to executive vice president of that department. She will now report to Collins White and continues...

Celebrity Jeopardy! fans, we’ve got a fresh off the press preview for the new Season 3 Episode 9 episode titled Quarterfinal #9: Omar J. Dorsey, Mina Kimes and Fortune Feimster!

Find out everything you need to know about the Quarterfinal #9: Omar J. Dorsey, Mina Kimes and Fortune Feimster episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!, including a full preview, videos, release date, cast information and how to watch!

Celebrity Jeopardy! Quarterfinal #9: Omar J. Dorsey, Mina Kimes and Fortune Feimster Season 3 Episode 9 Preview

The excitement continues as “Celebrity Jeopardy!” gears up for another thrilling episode titled “Quarterfinal #9: Omar J. Dorsey, Mina Kimes and Fortune Feimster.” Set to air on ABC at 8:02 Pm on March 12, 2025, this episode promises to deliver a captivating mix of trivia, charm, and competitive spirit.

Omar J. Dorsey, known for his dynamic roles in popular series like “Queen Sugar” and “The First Lady,” brings his charisma...

The Young and the Restless (Y&r) spoilers indicate that actor Jermaine Rivers recently made a splashing debut on the soap, playing Nate Hastings’s (Sean Dominic) half-brother, Damian Kane.

Fans are on the fence about whether Damian is a good guy or villain; however, everyone can agree that Rivers has done a fantastic job with the character so far. So, what’s Jermaine Rivers all about? Here’s what fans need to know!

Five Fast (Fun) Facts About The Actor

CBS recently released a social media video with the actor playing ‘Fast Five with Jermaine Rivers’. Here were the five (fast and fun) facts revealed about Rivers:

1. Rivers was born in Vienza, Italy, and was an army brat growing up.

2. Three words he came up with to describe Damian Kane was: cool, calculating, and mysterious.

3. The Godfather movie was a major influence on him becoming an actor.

4. Rivers looks forward...

Actor Jermaine Rivers has only appeared on The Young and the Restless a few times so far, yet he has already made an impression.

All About The New Guy

The actor and military veteran (he served in the military for 20 years) recently introduced himself with a handy new social media video courtesy of CBS. He played Fast Five with Jermaine Rivers and revealed five facts about himself.

Fast Fact #1: He’s an army brat who was born in Vicenza, Italy. Fast Fact #2: The three words he’d use to describe his Y&r character, Damian Kane: 1) Cool. 2) Calculating. 3) Mysterious. Fast Fact #3: The Oscar-winning movie The Godfather influenced him to be an actor. Fast Fact #4: Who else is he looking forward to working with on Y&r? Peter Bergman (Jack) and Eric Braeden (Victor). Fast Fact #5: A spoiler-free tease for Damian’s storyline? Damian will,...

Exclusive: Selma filmmaker Ava DuVernay is hoping to make a television series about Los Angeles’ first Black mayor, Tom Bradley.

DuVernay would like to adapt an upcoming book by The Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell on the city’s longest serving mayor, who was in charge of the city between 1973 and 1993.

DuVernay revealed her desire on Gladwell’s new podcast, which he is launching with Black-ish creator Kenya Barris.

The duo are launching The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell tomorrow via Audible. The podcast interview series sees them speak to extraordinary individuals from entertainment, sports, business and politics about their distinct paths to success.

DuVernay, who is behind series such as Netflix’s When They See Us and OWN’s Queen Sugar, was a guest on the podcast.

“I’ve been working on this book about Tom Bradley,” said Gladwell.

“I know you have and I’ve been tracking that thing.

Are there any Queen Sugar fans out there? If you are, you need to know that the actor who played “Davis West” on the hit Oprah Winfrey Network drama has joined the upcoming daytime drama Beyond the Gates. In Queen Sugar, Timon Durrett played a pro-level basketball athlete. Davis played hard on and off the court, ultimately blowing up his family. So Durrett knows how to play the highs and lows of drama and deviousness. And he will bring it when Btg debuts in 2025.

The Early Days

The Chicago native traveled to Mississippi to attend Alcorn University, where the 6’5″ athlete played college basketball and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1988.

When Alcorn University shined a spotlight on its esteemed alum, Durrett told them about what it was like being a student-athlete. “To some, you are a role model, and if you disappoint, there’s a lot of scrutiny,...

The Max original series Bookie follows two sports bookies trying to survive running their illegal gambling business in California while dealing with thieves, gangs and family troubles. All the while, hilarity ensues for viewers who have enjoyed the show so much that a second season is just around the corner. And it's unlikely things will slow down for Danny and Ray at all.

Cbr had the opportunity to sit down with the show's leads, The Super Mario Bros. Movie alum Sebastian Maniscalco (who plays Danny) and Queen Sugar's Omar J. Dorsey (who plays Ray). The two actors previewed Danny and Ray's misadventures in Bookie Season 2. They also discussed building a strong friendship on the show and what it's like to take that bond and let it breathe on-screen.

Cbr: Sebastian, Bookie is your first project where you are both acting and producing. What was it like being an executive producer,...

“The Sex Lives of College Girls” is back for Season 3, with some major switch ups to the core four.

While Leighton (Reneé Rapp), Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott), Bela (Amrit Kaur) and Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) reunite for sophomore year, their reunion is short-lived as Rapp’s Leighton exits the series mid-season.

Meanwhile, the Max series welcomes two new cast members in Mia Rodgers and Gracie Lawrence, who play new Essex arrivals Taylor — an edgy international student — and Kacey — a transfer student who would rather spend time with her boyfriend than development friendships with Whitney, Bela and Kimberly.

For a full breakdown on which familiar faces you can expect to see in Season 3, as well as newcomers this season, keep on reading.

Photo credit: Max

Reneé Rapp as Leighton

Renée Rapp returns as Leighton Murray for a short arc before departing the series. After embracing her sexuality throughout the first two seasons,...

What would you do to get into Pentatonix’s Christmas Eve concert? Well, for Christina Milian in “Meet Me Next Christmas,” the answer is, a lot.

That’s because, a year ago, Layla (Milian) met what she believed to be the man of her dreams after her flight got cancelled. They agreed to meet up one year later, at the concert. But, when she goes to buy her ticket, it’s already sold out.

So, she enlists the help of a personal concierge, and together, they run around New York City trying to secure a ticket. You’ll see some familiar faces on that journey though, so we rounded them up for you.

Here’s who’s who in “Meet Me Next Christmas.”

Netflix Layla (Christina Milian)

“Meet Me Next Christmas” centers on the love story of Layla, played by Christina Milian. You might know her first as a singer,...

Exclusive: Range Media Partners has signed Haitian-American actor, writer, filmmaker, and artist Numa Perrier, whose well known Netflix rom-com The Perfect Find, starring Gabrielle Union and Keith Powers, won the Audience Award at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.

Prior to directing that film, Perrier made her feature directorial debut with the critically acclaimed Jezebel, a 2019 SXSW Critics Pick hitting Netflix via Array Releasing, which she also wrote and starred in. That film garnered numerous accolades, including Best Feature Film and Best Director at The American Black Film Festival, as well as a spot on the Rotten Tomatoes 2021 Directors to Watch List.

In television, Perrier has directed episodes of Reasonable Doubt, Young Rock, The Wonder Years, Queen Sugar and Unprisoned, starring Kerry Washington for Hulu, for which she won Best Director of a Comedy Series from The Hollywood Critics Association. Twice nominated for NAACP Image Awards as Best Director, she’s also...

CBS has added 10 new cast members for upcoming daytime soap opera “Beyond the Gates.”

Joining the show are: Brandon Claybon, Timon Durrett, Sean Freeman, Marquita Goings, Maurice Johnson, Trisha Mann-Grant, RhonniRose Mantilla (Broadway’s “Harmony the Musical”), Ambyr Michelle, Colby Muhammad (Broadway’s “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”), and Arielle Prepetit.

Full character descriptions can be found below.

The new additions join previously announced cast members Tamara Tunie, Daphnee Duplaix, and Karla Mosley. “Beyond the Gates” was originally picked up to series at CBS back in April. As previously reported, the show was developed under CBS Studios’ content partnership with the NAACP. The show will begin production in November and will premiere in early 2025.

The official logline for the series states:

“‘Beyond the Gates’ is set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington, D.C., and in one of the most affluent African American counties in the United States.

Exclusive: Gersh has inked actor Omar J. Dorsey for representation.

Dorsey most recently starred as the co-lead, Ray, in HBO Max’s Chuck Lorre sports comedy series Bookie. The second season of the Sebastian Maniscalco show is set to premiere in December.

A frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Dorsey starred in her Oscar-winning film Selma and Emmy-winning series When They See Us. He also starred for seven seasons in the beloved drama Queen Sugar, which was directed and executive produced by DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey. His turn in Queen Sugar earned Dorsey a Black Reel Award for Television in the Supporting Actor, Drama Series category.

His film credits also include roles in the Oscar-nominated Harriet and Best Picture nominee, The Blind Side, which won Sandra Bullock her Academy Award and grossed over $309M at the global box office. Other features credits include the Blumhouse Halloween trilogy with Jamie Lee Curtis,...

A spinoff series for the sitcom A Different World is now in early development at Netflix. Sources indicate that it will follow Dwayne and Whitley's daughter as she attends Hillman College. The project is led by writer/executive producer Felicia Pride, known for her work on the reboot of Bel-Air and Grey's Anatomy, along with executive producers Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Reggie Bythewood.

Netflix did not comment. However, the involvement of Allen, Werner, Prince-Bythewood, and Bythewood, the key figures from the original series, goes a long way to promising a return of this much-loved NBC sitcom that was spun off from The Cosby Show and had a run for six impacting seasons. The original show followed Denise Huxtable and her friends at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college, played by Lisa Bonet. Although Bonet could not stay beyond the first season, the program went...

The world has just gotten a little brighter with the news that Netflix is developing a sequel series to A Different World. Can you believe it? We couldn't be more excited about this incredible news!

If you didn't know, A Different World is an iconic late '80s Black sitcom that aired on NBC for six seasons from 1987 to 1993. It's a spinoff of another classic Black sitcom The Cosby Show, and it follows the lives of the students and staff at Hillman College, a fictional, historically Black college in Virginia.

This show even launched the acting careers of talented individuals such as Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Marisa Tomei, and many others. Other cast members included Lisa Bonet, Dawnn Lewis, Mary Alice, Darryl M. Bell, Sinbad, Charnele Brown, Cree Summer, and Glynn Turman.

While the first season mainly centered around Bonet's Denise Huxtable character, the subsequent seasons followed Denise's friends'...

Relax, relate, release. According to Variety, Netflix is developing a sequel series for the seminal sitcom A Different World. Details are scarce, but Variety says the project focuses on Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitney’s (Jasmine Guy) daughter. On the project’s ground floor is writer and executive producer Felicia Pride, whose impressive list of work includes Grey’s Anatomy and Queen Sugar. Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Reggie Bythewood join the effort as executive producers. Netflix will neither confirm nor deny the project’s status.

A Different World ran for six seasons from 1987 to 1993 and revolved around a group of students at a historically Black university. The show focuses on their struggles and up-and-coming youths in a world trying to keep pace with their radical ideas and worldview. The show is a spinoff of The Cosby Show, with Lisa Bonet’s Denise Huxtable leading the cast.

A sequel series to “A Different World” centered on Dwayne and Whitley’s daughter is in early development at Netflix, Variety hears from sources.

The project hails from writer and executive producer Felicia Pride, whose credits include “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Queen Sugar.” Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood also serve as executive producers. Werner produced the original show via The Carsey-Werner Company.

Netflix declined to comment.

“A Different World,” itself a spinoff of “The Cosby Show” and created by Bill Cosby, ran for six seasons on NBC starting in 1987, and it followed Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and her new classmates at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black university. After Bonet exited the series after one season, “A Different World” shifted its focus to the other students, played by Dawnn Lewis, Glynn Turman, Cory Tyler, Kadeem Hardison, Lou Myers, Darryl M. Bell, Cree Summer, Jasmine Guy,...

Netflix is eyeing a return to Hillman College.

The streamer is in the early stages of development on a sequel series to A Different World, the 1987-93 NBC sitcom that was set at a historically Black university. The new project would center on the youngest daughter of Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison), now a student at Hillman.

Netflix declined to comment.

The potential sequel comes from writer Felicia Pride (Grey’s Anatomy, Queen Sugar) and includes several members of the original show’s creative team, among them producer and director Debbie Allen, Tom Werner (whose Carsey-Werner produced A Different World), and writers Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood. They’ll all serve as executive producers on the project, along with Pride and Mandy Summers.

A Different World was a spinoff of The Cosby Show, following Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) to college at Hillman. Bill Cosby (who is not...

Exclusive: An A Different World sequel series chronicling Dwayne and Whitley’s daughter’s time at Hillman College, is in early development at Netflix, sources tell Deadline. The single-cam, half-hour comedy comes from writer/executive producer Felicia Pride and executive producers Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood.

Netflix declined to comment for this story.

Allen, Werner, Prince-Bythewood and Bythewood all worked on the original hit NBC series, a spinoff of The Cosby Show, which ran for six seasons. Allen was director-producer, Prince-Bythewood and Bythewood were writers, and Werner executive produced for The Carsey-Werner Company.

A Different World followed Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and her new classmates at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college. Though Bonet exited after one season, the show continued with the leading cast of Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, Sinbad, Charnele Brown, Cree Summer and Glynn Turman.

Exclusive: There’ s going to be some glory, curves and rage over at Ava DuVernay’s Array this summer, in all the best ways.

Back for its fifth year, the Array 360 conversation and screening series will feature films and more from directors Patricia Cardoso, Bill Duke Ed Zwick over the next two months.

Starting on August 3, Cardoso will be kicking off the 2024 program at Array’s Creative Campus in LA’s Historic Filipinotown with a screening of her Sundance award winning 2002 film Real Women Have Curves. The director, who helmed a May 30, 2018 episode of the DuVernay created OWN TV series Queen Sugar, will provide live commentary on the acclaimed picture for the Scene on Screen event.

Check out the full Array 360 2024 schedule below

Two week later, DuVernay and Array will be hosting a daylong Filmmaker Tribute for Bill Duke. With a spotlight on the Palme d’Or nominated director/actor...

It took 30 years after the Emmy Awards’ Outstanding Director for a Drama Series category was launched for the first woman, Karen Arthur, to be nominated in 1985. And it took almost 40 more years for the first Black woman, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, to land a nomination in the field, something she accomplished last week. She did it for her work on HBO’s Winning Time, which she also executive produced.

This marks the first Emmy nomination for the veteran actress-turned-director, who last week also earned her second, sharing the Outstanding Drama Series nom for HBO’s The Gilded Age in her role as executive producer.

In an interview with Deadline, Richardson-Whitfield spoke about the key role Ava DuVernay played (twice) in her taking on a new career as a director in her 40s, the challenges she has faced as a woman in a male-dominated drama-directing field, and her relationship with HBO where she...

Deric Augustine and Patrick Keleher have joined the cast of “The Rookie” as recurring guest stars in Season 7, which is set for a mid-season premiere on ABC. The news was announced during Disney’s presentation at the summer 2024 Television Critics Association press tour.

Augustine will play Miles, who is described as “one of the newest rookies at the LAPD. As a Texas transfer, Miles is a ‘rookie’ despite being a two-year veteran of the force.” Keleher will play Seth, another new rookie who “seems like the ideal police officer, but the job requires quick, decisive action — something that doesn’t come naturally to Seth.”

Augustine’s credits include playing Muhammad Ali in the first two seasons of “Godfather of Harlem” on MGM+ and Clay in Seasons 4 and 5 of “All American” on the CW. He has also appeared in “Swagger,” “Shameless,” “Criminal Minds,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Cloak & Dagger” and “Queen Sugar.

Exclusive: Devin Craig (Queen Sugar), Ruby Cruz (Bottoms), Michael Provost (Insatiable) and Roby Attal (Red 11) are heading to class in the upcoming third season of Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble‘s The Sex Lives of College Girls. All four will recur as students at Essex College.

Created by Kaling and Noble, Max‘s The Sex Lives of College Girls follows four college roommates in their first year at New England’s prestigious Essex College. Season 2 picked up with the students returning after their fall break, tackling the challenges that were thrown their way at the end of Season 1, while also facing their next semester filled with new faces, parties and predicaments.

Returning series regulars for Season 3 are Pauline Chalamet, lyah Chanelle Scott, Amrit Kaur, Christopher Meyer, Ilia Paulino and Renika Williams. As we previously reported, Reneé Rapp has exited the series as a regular for the upcoming season. She’ll...

On Thursday, June 20, 2024, The Kelly Clarkson Show welcomes a diverse range of guests, including filmmaker Ava DuVernay, singer-songwriters Zayn Malik and Wrabel, and lifestyle expert Lawrence Zarian. DuVernay, known for her acclaimed films Selma and 13th, has also directed several episodes of the critically acclaimed series Queen Sugar. She joins Clarkson to discuss […]

The Kelly Clarkson Show: Ava DuVernay, Zayn Malik, Wrabel...

Days Of Our Lives spoilers and updates pose the question, is Greg Vaughan leaving Dool? Could Eric Brady leave Salem with Nicole Dimera (Arianne Zucker) and baby Jude Brady (Oliver McLarty)-and what about Holly Jonas (Ashley Puzemis)?

Days Of Our Lives Spoilers – Greg Vaughan Has Left Before, But Returned

Greg did leave the show in 2020 but returned later, accounting for all the character’s trips to Africa that broke up his marriage to Nicole. Greg was working in a television show called “Queen Sugar” that required him to film in New Orleans, Louisiana.

With the scandal that broke about former Dool producer Albert Alarr and Arianne Zucker’s lawsuit and exit from the show after years, fans can’t help but wonder about Eric.

To make a long story short, there has been no official news about Greg leaving the show. It was publicized he was filming the memorial...

When prolific director DeMane Davis stepped in to direct the seventh episode of the Max series “The Girls on the Bus,” she was immediately given a challenge.

“The show reminds me of old movies from the 1970s that I loved growing up. It’s a very funny show and so fast-paced that it just crackles,” Davis tells Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview. “But I was told my episode was the most dramatic of all the episodes that had come before. People were like, ‘Sorry it’s not as funny.’ And I was like, ‘No, that’s okay. I can do that.’ Because I love being in that vein. And so what I did is, in the funny moments, I leaned into them a little bit more than I would normally – just to kind of give relief and to help the ride of the story. But I was honored...

Black leaders in the film industry have continuously broken barriers with their films in order to pave the way for upcoming voices, and many do so by forming their own production companies. Case in point—Oscar Micheaux, noted as America's first Black filmmaker, was the only man of color to ever produce a feature-length film in 1919. Micheaux, regarded as the most successful African-American filmmaker during the first half of the 20th century, worked as a film director and independent producer on more than 44 existing projects. He produced both silent and sound pieces throughout his career, creating opportunities for hundreds of artists along the way.

Spike Lee transformed the industry in '86 with his directorial debut, the acclaimed romantic comedy film She's Gotta Have It, centering on sexuality in the Black community; the main character, Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns), explores sexual relationships with three different men. Although deemed as controversial by some,...

Jane Seymour is speaking out against ageism and the idea that women have a “sell-by date.” The 73-year-old actress is fighting back against the social phenomenon that is “unseenism,” which describes the notion that women get devalued as they age in society. “Unseenism” also often leads doctors to dismiss the medical concerns of women above a certain age. “A lot of women, sort of [age] 50 on, just kind of hide away and expect not to be listened to or heard,” the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman star tells People. “It’s a real, really large issue in the medical world because you have to empower women to actually stand up for their rights.” Although she is a two-time Golden Globe winner and Emmy winner, Seymour still feels unseen not only in Hollywood but also in her day-to-day life, like when she goes to get her car repaired. That is why she joined...

Exclusive: Will Packer Media and Kinetic Content are developing Tia Williams’ Seven Days in June as a series for Prime Video, with Felicia Pride serving as writer and showrunner.

Pride will also executive produce the project through her production company Honey Chile, along with Will Packer and Sabrina Wind through Will Packer Media. Williams will also EP, while Honey Chile’s Ivy Grant will serve as a consultant.

Seven Days in June was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick in June 2021 and a New York Times bestseller. Named best book by several publications including USA Today, Harper’s Bazaar and the Los Angeles Times, the novel is a BookTok favorite and has been heralded as “gutting, arousing, and sparklingly witty” by Vogue Entertainment.

Williams’ fourth novel The Perfect Find was adapted into the 2023 film starring Gabrielle Union that debuted on Netflix. Her upcoming novel A Love Song for Ricki Wilde,...

Exclusive: Film and TV helmer Victoria Mahoney has been tapped to direct Suits: L.A., NBC’s proposed Suits offshoot, which has been heating up for a pilot order.

As Deadline reported exclusively in October, the project, from Suits creator Aaron Korsh, is not a revival or reboot of the popular USA Network series and, unlike the 2019 Pearson, the new legal procedural is not a spinoff either — it would be a Suits universe series in the vein of the CSI and NCIS franchises featuring new characters in a new location, Los Angeles.

Like Suits, which was set in New York and filmed in Toronto, Suits: L.A. also will film in Canada, with Vancouver standing in for Los Angeles. Production is slated to begin in March, I hear.

Korsh executive produces alongside David Bartis, Doug Liman and Gene Klein, who were EPs with him on the original series.

While the Suits: L.A....

Welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.

As schedules go, they could not record together, so we’re having another double episode today, but this time with Origin director Ava DuVernay and the film’s star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.

Origin is based on Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 bestseller Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents and tracks the Pulitzer Prize winner’s creative and personal journey over several continents through grief, revelation and the evils of historical stratification. The film draws parallels between historical and modern-day oppression and persecution across the world. By weaving global threads of cruelty and dehumanization together, it underscores the timeless – and timely – dangers of extremist ideology and leaders who exploit prejudice.

King Richard Oscar nominee Ellis-Taylor plays Wilkerson, and she’ll also be featured in Netflix/Lee Daniels’ film The Deliverance opposite Andra Day and Glenn Close,...

The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative on Thursday unveiled its latest The Inclusion List, a data-driven ranking system that looks to identify the most inclusive TV series across broadcast, cable and streaming in front and behind the camera.

The list, a collaboration of the Inclusion Initiative and the Adobe Foundation, used data on personnel from the 2021-2022 broadcast season and streaming series from 2021-2023. More than 560 series were scored, looking at 4,500 series regular roles and more than 11,000 crew members across more than 110,000 behind-the-scenes positions were evaluated.

Leading the Top 100 lists were the recently ended Queen Sugar from OWN, HBO’s The Baby and the CW’s All American: Homecoming on the broadcast and cable side, and Raising Dion (Netflix), Gentefied (Netflix), The Garcias (Max), The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray (AppleTV+), Reasonable Doubt (Hulu), Now and Then (Apple TV+), Rap Sh!t (Max), With Love (Amazon Prime), First Kill (Netflix), and Swarm...

Just in time for Monday’s Emmy awards, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and Dr. Stacy L. Smith, along with the the Adobe Foundation, have unveiled The Inclusion List for episodic programming, which recognizes the most inclusive series in broadcast, cable and streaming.

Following a similar effort for films, the list analyzes on-screen and behind-the-camera personnel from more than 500 programs to determine the 100 most inclusive broadcast and cable series from the 2021-22 broadcast season, as well as streaming series from 2021 to 2023. The project also recognizes 20 producers responsible for the most inclusive content.

“The goal of the Inclusion List is to recognize the stories and storytellers who are taking inclusion seriously and whose content reflects their values,” said Dr. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “With today’s release of the Inclusion List for broadcast/cable and streaming series, we are excited to acknowledge the creative voices championing inclusion across the spectrum of episodic content.

She’s a writer, producer, director and Oscar-nominated documentarian, and Ava DuVernay soon will be a Casting Society career honoree.

CSA said today that the Array founder will receive its 2024 Lynn Stalmaster Award for Career Achievement at the 39th annual Artios Awards gala March 7 in Los Angeles.

“Ava DuVernay is a visionary storyteller who has staunchly championed casting professionals and the art of casting throughout her impactful career,” CSA President said Destiny Lilly said. “Her passion for inclusive and progressive casting throughout her career has catapulted careers and made her a leader in the industry.”

DuVernay’s most recent film is Origin, starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, which premiered at Venice and was nominated for the Golden Lion there. Along with the Oscar-nominated 2016 documentary 13th, her big-screen credits also include Selma, Middle of Nowhere and Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, which made her the highest-grossing Black female director in U.S.

Exclusive: Former Mosaic manager Cullen Conly has joined Anonymous Content’s literary department as a manager and producer, based out of the company’s New York office.

Conly started his career in the mailroom at WME before holding positions at Paramount Vantage, Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program and at ICM Partners, where he was a Motion Picture Literary agent in the company’s New York office. At Mosaic, he was based in LA.

His client list of filmmakers and TV writers includes Oscar-winning filmmaker Sian Heder (Coda), Emmy-winning filmmaker Cory Finley (Landscape with Invisible Hand), Andrew Ahn (Fire Island), Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On), Kat Candler (Queen Sugar), Laura Moss (Birth/Rebirth), Lindsey Ferrentino (National Theatre at Home: Ugly Lies the Bone), Chad Hodge (Single All the Way), Logan Kibens (The Power), Matt Lutsky (On Becoming a God In Central Florida), Michael Lannan (Looking), Rhys Ernst...

Exclusive: Brad Ingelsby’s upcoming HBO crime drama series starring Mark Ruffalo has added to its exec producer and director ranks.

Salli Richardson-Whitfield has joined the project and will direct multiple episodes and exec produce. She joins Jeremiah Zaga, who will direct the pilot episode plus multiple episodes as well as exec produce.

It comes as Richardson-Whitfield becomes one of HBO’s go-to directors, having recently directed episodes of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty and The Gilded Age.

The untitled drama is set in the working class suburbs outside of Philadelphia and follows an FBI agent who heads a Task Force to put an end to a string of drug-house robberies led by an unsuspecting family man.

Mare of Easttown creator Ingelsby is writing the limited series, which forms part of his overall deal with the network.

The series is produced in association with wiip. Ingelsby exec produces alongside Zagar,...

Oprah Winfrey was a ratings powerhouse with her daytime show for many years but her cable channel, OWN, has had its challenges. OWN has had some very successful comedies and dramas but no show can last forever. Which series will be cancelled or renewed next? Stay tuned!

Scripted OWN TV shows listed: All Rise, Ambitions, Cherish the Day, David Makes Man, Delilah, For Better or Worse, Greenleaf, The Haves and the Have Nots, If Loving You Is Wrong, The Kings of Napa, Love Is ___, Love Thy Neighbor, The Paynes, and Queen Sugar.

Last update: Most recent ratings added for All Rise.

Read More…...

Free TV Networks, a new programming entity with a presence in both over-the-air broadcast and streaming, has enlisted Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate and Gray Television as partners and suppliers.

The new company is founded and led by Jonathan Katz, who gained attention a decade ago by creating multicast networks, or “diginets” using spectrum made available via the TV industry’s conversion to high-definition signals during the 2000s. That portfolio of networks, including Bounce, Escape and Grit was acquired in 2017 by E.W. Scripps for $292 million.

The first channels from Free TV will be networks centered on African-American programming and Westerns. Launching New Year’s Day as a diginet, the flagship brand will be The365. It will cater to African-American viewers with a lineup of movies and series like

Warner Bros.’ I Am Legend, Purple Rain and Queen Sugar along with Lionsgate titles like Crash, Monster’s Ball,...

Exclusive: The Sundance Institute has named the participants and projects selected for the 2023 edition of its Episodic Lab, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah from November 3–7. The list includes Daniela Bailes (The Letters), Elaine Hsieh Chou (Get Home Safe), Marissa Díaz (Cochinas), Sam Dunnewold (Guts), Laurie Hartung (Rabbit Hole), Farah Merani (The Painted Muse), Sylvia-Anne Parker (Blackbirds), and Hernando Cortes Watson (Horsepower).

Designed for early-career writers with an original series IP that has not yet been produced, the Lab affords participants the opportunity to workshop pilots under the guidance of established showrunners and EPs. Creative advisors for the 10th edition include Shal Francis (The Morning Show), Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights), Christina Lee (Search Party), Latoya Morgan (The Walking Dead), Erica Rivinoja (Clone High), Sanjay Shah (Everybody Still Hates Chris), Sarah Treem (The Affair), and Graham Yost (Slow Horses).

Over the course of the program, writers will...

Families are complicated, and everyone has a story.

It's one of many summations one concludes upon tuning into the first three installments of Black Cake.

The series is adapted from the New York Times Bestselling novel by author Charmaine Wilkerson, with an impressive cast led by the incredible Mia Isaac.

Black Cake is an ambitious and tall order, as most book-to-series adaptations tend to be, and whether or not it lives up to the refinement and greatness of the novel is left up to those who are most familiar with the book.

In that sense, Black Cake is a series that feels tailor-made specifically for those familiar with the source material, and if you fall outside the scope of that, there's a solid chance that you'll have some struggles following along with the series.

This globe-trotting, timeline-hopping, perspective-shifting family drama is undoubtedly unique.

It also taps into and makes a...

Third time’s a charm for Hollywood Health & Society’s Do the Write Thing.

The organization — a program of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center that provides the entertainment industry with intel that can be incorporated into storylines on health, safety and security — is finalizing details for its third installment of Do the Write Thing, a mixer that creates space specifically for “creatives and the community to come together, celebrate, and uplift unheard voices in Hollywood.”

The event, open to Hollywood creatives who RSVP, is scheduled to take place at the Aster on Vine Street in Los Angeles on Oct. 5. Anthony Sparks, executive producer of Peacock’s series Bel-Air, is confirmed to participate in the featured conversation. He’s got a long list of credits that also includes writing, producer or executive producer credits on such shows as The Blacklist, Queen Sugar and Mike. He’s also the recipient...

After directing “Origin” — the feature adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” — Academy Award-nominee Ava DuVernay is feeling incredibly content.

In fact, when she appears over Zoom from her office at the Array creative campus in L.A. in late August, just a couple days ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, there’s a glow about her. And it doesn’t seem to be coming from a ring light.

Asked what she’ll take from the process of making “Origin” into her next project, DuVernay replies: “How did this change me? So much so that if I never made another film, the experience of making this one would be enough.”

The filmmaker turned 51 on August 24, the same day I previewed the film with a small group of critics and journalists. She spent the better part of her...

Ambitious, intellectual and deeply humanistic, Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” opens with a soul-shattering prologue. A Black teen runs an evening errand at a white neighborhood in Florida. He is on the phone with his girlfriend, complaining about a suspicious guy following him in his car. Both are concerned and his girlfriend asks him to let her know when he’s back home. We don’t see the end of the episode, because we don’t have to. The Black teen’s name is Trayvon Martin, fatally shot on a February night in 2012 by George Zimmerman, a man of Hispanic descent, for no reason.

It’s a disquieting sequence of shadows, reflections and a sense of claustrophobia, shot with remarkable skill as well as a sense of duty and restraint. While complimenting the quality of filmmaking behind a devastating moment of recent American history might be a tad crass to some eyes and ears,...

In a sign of Hollywood’s escalating internal tensions, a prominent Directors Guild of America member openly advocated against the election of 10 writer-directors to the guild’s board earlier this month on the grounds that they were “primarily writers” and hailed from “fringe groups.”

In a leaked email that has been shared widely in the creative community, Linda Montanti, chair of the guild’s Western Ad/Upm Council, urged a bloc of DGA voters to not support the board candidacies of a number of multihyphenates who are members of both the DGA and WGA — some of whom have been outspoken about strike issues. The list includes writer-producer Boots Riley, Oscar-winning “Coda” writer-director Sian Heder, actor-filmmaker Justine Bateman, actor-writer Paul Scheer and “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin. The unorthodox move prompted DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter to contact the members affected to assure them that Montanti’s move was not condoned by top DGA leaders.

Ask a writer how they paid the bills before the Writers Guild of America went on strike, a work stoppage that Wednesday passed the 100-day mark, and the answers might vary from “developing a television show” to “finishing a feature rewrite.” These days, however, as the writers strike halts film and TV productions for fairer compensation, contracts and working conditions for its 11,000 plus members, even established writers are taking to Etsy to help pay the bills or teaching to keep storytelling skills sharp (and in so doing, ironically, they’re trying to help aspiring writers get a leg up in their careers). These four established writers — who are in complete support of the WGA — have each taken leaps as entrepreneurs, reshaping their skill sets into viable side hustle businesses, in light of the risk of no guaranteed income in the foreseeable future.

Leila Cohan

As the writers strike passes 100 days,...

As TV academy voters fill out their 2023 Emmy Awards nominations ballots, they will have to consider 163 shows for Best Drama Series. This is only down by eight compared to last year. After six years of not having to limit their choices in any categories, members can now not let their selections exceed the number of eventual nominations for a given award, which will be eight in this case.

2020 and 2022 champ “Succession” is in the hunt for its third win in this category and will potentially only have to fend off two of its seven rivals from last year. “Better Call Saul” and “Yellowjackets” returned in time to meet the eligibility window of June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023, while “Euphoria,” “Severance,” “Squid Game,” and “Stranger Things” did not. The last remaining 2022 contender, “Ozark,” officially finished its four-season run last April. Also back in the running are former winners “The Handmaid’s Tale” (2017) and “The Crown” (2021).

Remember,...

Exclusive: Morris Chestnut (The Best Man: The Final Chapters), DomiNque Perry, Claudia Logan (Harlem), and Bryan Terrell Clark (When They See Us) have been cast opposite Diarra Kilpatrick on her upcoming BET+ series Diarra from Detroit.

Created by and starring Kilpatrick, the original dark comedy series, which is part of Kilpatrick’s recent overall deal with BET, is slated to premiere on BET+ in late 2023.

Diarra from Detroit follows Diarra Brickland (Kilpatrick) a divorcing schoolteacher who refuses to believe she’s been ghosted by her rebound Tinder date. Her search for the missing man pulls her into a decades-old mystery involving the Detroit underworld. As the case unfolds, her co-workers, friends, and lovers become unlikely allies as she falls down a dangerous rabbit hole.

Chestnut plays Swa, Perry portrays Aja, Logan is Moni and Clark plays Mr. Tea. Character descriptions are being kept under wraps for now.

It’s a new month, and Hulu subscribers are getting a slew of new movies and TV shows to enjoy.

June 1 is jam-packed with more than 30 titles that have landed on the streamer, including the seventh and final season of Ava DuVernay’s “Queen Sugar,” the Jack Nicholson-led film “Hoffa,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” and the entire “Twilight” franchise.

Mixing in a little of the old with new come goodies from 2023, like “Flamin’ Hot,” which tells the story of Mexican migrant Richard Montanez who came up with the idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while working as a janitor at Frito Lay. The film lands on Hulu June 9.

Ending June with a bang will the be second season of “The Bear,” (June 22), Season 20 of “The Bachelorette” (June 27) and the sixth and final season of “Grown-ish.”

Here’s everything you can expect to hit Hulu this June.

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The Best Free Movie Streaming Sites,...

It’s summer time on Hulu and that can only mean one thing. With its list of new releases for June 2023, Hulu is bringing back last summer’s unexpected hit.

FX’s The Bear season 2 premieres all episodes on June 22. If you’re not already captivated by this intense culinary story about the little Italian beef shop that could, definitely catch up now. This time around, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and friends will attempt a major foodie rebrand. The only other Hulu series of note this month is the docuseries The Age of Influence. Premiering on June 5, this doc will examine the dark side of influencer culture.

Just like its corporate partner Disney+, Hulu will premiere Eva Longoria’s directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot, in June 9. The movie tells the true story of Frito-Lay janitor Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia) who created an iconic snack that forever changed the food industry. Also...

Jesse Collins Entertainment President Dionne Harmon announced today that John Wehage has joined the company as Executive Vice President, Head of Production of the full-service Emmy-winning production company. Karen Grant-Selma will lead the company’s in-house legal team as Executive Vice President, Head of Business & Legal Affairs. Both will report to Harmon.

Wehage will oversee the physical production of all of the company’s specials, scripted and unscripted television content. With a career spanning over two decades, he has had various leadership positions across a variety of formats spanning hundreds of hours of programming including stage, live, competition, docu-follow, gameshow, digital, documentary and adventure programming. Most recently with Scout Productions, he contributed to the success of acclaimed shows such as Legendary (HBO Max), The Hype (HBO Max), Merpeople (Netflix), The Secrets of Hillsong (FX), The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning (Peacock) and the Emmy Award winning Queer Eye (Netflix).

Prior to Scout,...

“The longest [running] Black family drama on television leaves a legacy of knowing that these stories are worthy, knowing that there’s an audience for them,” declares producer/director DeMane Davis about the legacy that “Queen Sugar” will leave on the TV landscape. For our recent webchat she adds, “It’s not a show that has a lot of bells and whistles. It doesn’t need it because it has these faces. It has this skin. It has this hair and then it has these directors of photography,” she says, “who know how to light that skin, know how to get light into the eyes, so that you see the depths of someone and you see the layers. There’s nothing like this on television.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See dozens of interviews with 2023 awards contenders

In “Queen Sugar,” three siblings in rural Louisiana inherit an 800-acre sugarcane farm...