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Netflix has ordered the political drama series “The Diplomat” from Debora Cahn, with Cahn also signing a multi-year overall deal at the streamer.

Under the deal, Cahn will write and produce series and other projects for Netflix. The streaming giant has ordered eight episodes of “The Diplomat” at 50 minutes each.

In the series, in the midst of an international crisis, a career diplomat lands in a high-profile job she’s unsuited for, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future. Cahn created the series and also serves as executive producer and showrunner. Janice Williams will also executive produce.

“It’s been such a joy working with Netflix,” Cahn said. “Jinny, Seb, Tara, and Sahar have been amazing creative partners, from the seed of the idea to what is starting to look alarmingly like a television show. I really can’t believe my luck.”

Cahn was most recently an...

Former West Wing and Homeland EP Debora Cahn is bringing her considerable political acumen to Netflix.

TVLine has learned that the streamer has placed an eight-episode series order for The Diplomat, a new political thriller written, EP’d and show-run by Cahn (who also spent six seasons as a writer/producer on Grey’s Anatomy).

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Netflix has given a series order to The Diplomat, a political thriller drama created by Debora Cahn. Cahn will serve as executive producer and showrunner under a multi-year overall deal with the streamer for series and other projects.

In The Diplomat, whose order is for eight 50-minute episodes, in the midst of an international crisis, a career diplomat lands in a high-profile job she’s unsuited for, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future. Janice Williams also executive produces the series, which is slated to film in the UK.

At Netflix, Cahn is reuniting with the streamer’s VP and head of Drama Development, Jinny Howe. The two started their TV careers together, Cahn as a staff writer on The West Wing, rising through the ranks to producer, and Howe as a creative executive at the company behind the Emmy-winning series, John Wells Prods.

Freddy Syborn, a writer and co-exec producer on Disney+’s upcoming Ms. Marvel series and co-creator of Jack Whitehall comedy drama Bounty Hunters, is adapting Daniel Cole’s Ragdoll for AMC and UKTV network Alibi.

The series comes from Sid Gentle Films, the British production company behind Killing Eve.

The six-part drama, described as a “modern-day Faustian thriller”, is centred around the murder of six people, whose bodies have been dismembered and sewn into the shape of one grotesque body — nicknamed the ‘Ragdoll’.

Assigned to the shocking case are DS Nathan Rose, recently reinstated to the London Met; his best friend and boss, Di Emily Baxter; and the unit’s new recruit, DC Lake Edmunds. The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by sending them a list of his next victims, with Rose’s name among them. And with those victims to protect, our heroes soon come under intense public scrutiny.

Standout Spanish cinema actors Irene Escolar and Bárbara Lennie have teamed on a new anthology series commissioned by HBO España and produced by Calle Cruzada.

Created and executive produced by the pair (pictured), who will also perform in the show, “Escenario 0” features six episodes from prominent writers and filmmakers. A unique project that will mix different disciplines to create an exceptional fusion between the performing and audiovisual arts.

“Escanario 0” is the latest example of HBO Europe looking to tap Spanish talent for its HBO Spain original programming. Previous series include Isabel Coixet’s “Foodie Love” and Álex de la Iglesia’s “30 Coins,” as well as the much-anticipated series adaptation of best-selling novel “Patria,” and recently announced comedy series “Por H o por B.”

Commission

Keshet has closed a deal for a Dutch remake of the popular musical quiz program “The Hit List,” commissioned by public broadcaster Npo to be produced locally by Vincent TV.

UKTV’s Alibi has greenlit Barcelona-set drama The Diplomat from Bodyguard producer World Productions and Cobra writer Ben Richards.

It marks the third original drama from the broadcaster following We Hunt Together, which was recently picked up by Showtime, and Red Production Company’s Traces.

The six-part series, which is described as Spooks meets The Good Wife, follows Laura Simmonds and her Barcelona Consul colleague and friend Alba Ortiz as they fight to protect British nationals who find themselves in trouble in the Catalan city. Mixing the roles of lawyer, counsellor and cop, Laura and Alba’s diplomatic skills are stretched to the limit by the stream of cases that walk through the Consul’s doors.

The series opens on the unexplained death of a young British barman working around Barcelona’s notorious marina. While Laura supports the boy’s angry father, neither the Spanish police nor the Foreign Office...

Presents False Witness From director Tom Sands and writer Mick Sands. Starring Darcie Lincoln (Son of God), Sandy Batchelor (The Rise of the Krays), Kevin Interdonato, and Tom Forbes (upcoming Marvel film Morbius) When 25-year-old Mia Hoffman changed her testimony as a state witness and allowed a cop-killer …

The post High Octane Pictures Presents False Witness – Available for VOD May 5th appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

From the Horror Collective and Millennium Media comes the anticipated trailer for The Dare! Check it out before the movie is released on March 3rd on VOD, digital, and in theaters for one night only. Also in today's Horror Highlights: release details for Mondo's Godzilla: A Poster Show, The Long Dig, From the Stars... A Vampiress: An Unauthorized Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, and The Deep Ones.

The Dare Trailer Revealed: "The official trailer for the upcoming award-winning horror film The Dare has been unleashed for all to experience! The film, which was produced by Millennium Media and is being distributed by The Horror Collective, will be released on March 3rd, 2020 on VOD and digital platforms. It will also have a limited, one-night release in theaters that week.

The film features lead actor Bart Edwards, who plays Urcheon in Netflix’s hit series The Witcher. Additionally, horror icon Richard Brake...

Nell Greenwood.

Nell Greenwood has been appointed director of curriculum and registrar at Aftrs, succeeding Ian Lang.

Over the past 11 years, Greenwood has worked for the film school in various roles including lecturer, head of screenwriting, Masters in Screen course leader and, most recently, head of programs.

A screenwriter and script consultant, Greenwood co-wrote the AFI Award winning False Witness for UKTV with husband Ronan Glennane, and their first telefilm Pride and Joy was nominated for Best TV Film at the 46th Monte Carlo TV Film Festival.

Greenwood has also worked as the Irish Film Board’s head of development, and as a development executive for various production companies such as Natural Nylon Entertainment and Element Films.

Aftrs CEO Neil Peplow said: “Nell’s extensive experience in screen education, coupled with her industry background, ideally positions her to lead the Aftrs award course division. Nell’s work as Head of Screenwriting,...

.Australian feature Healing, starring Hugo Weaving, Don Hany and Xavier Samuel, is set to start shooting in Victoria on February 18.

The tale of redemption is inspired by a true story, writer-director-producer Craig Monahan said in a statement. .The script is inspired by true events and the powerful connection forged by humans with birds and animals..

Healing follows Viktor Khadem (Don Hany in his first major feature role), who has spent 16 years in prison and has almost given up on life. For his final 18 months, he is sentenced to a low-security, pre-release prison farm, where senior officer Matt Perry (Hugo Weaving) has established a unique program to rehabilitate broken men by giving them the responsibility for the rehabilitation of injured eagles, falcons and owls. Against all odds, Matt takes on Viktor as his number one test case, introducing him to Yasmine, a majestic Wedge-tailed Eagle, revealing a new path of inspiration and hope.

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Jan. 10, 2012

Price: DVD $22.98, Blu-ray $29.99

Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Wes Bentley (American Beauty) and Dougray Scott (The Diplomat) star in the 2011 film There Be Dragons, which is based on the true story about the lift of saint Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of controversial Catholic institution Opus Dei.

Written and directed by Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields), the biography movie follows investigative journalist Robert Torres (Scott), who’s researching a book about Escrivá (Charlie Cox, Moby Dick). His work gets derailed when his father Manolo (Bentley), his most promising source, turns uncooperative.

Robert discovers that Manolo was a childhood friend with Escrivá, and they attended the same seminary. However, the two men took different paths in life, with Escrivá dedicating his life to his faith and Manolo getting involved in the brutal Spanish Civil War. The more Robert investigates, the more he finds out the lives of the two men overlapped.

Anchor Bay Entertainment will do right by the legend of King Arthur with the release of the Starz Original TV series Camelot : The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and DVD on September 13.

The Blu-ray and DVD will by priced at $59.99 and $49.98, respectively.

Jamie Campbell Bower is the young Arthur in Camelot.

The 10-episode epic adventure-drama offers offers a fresh, violent and sexy telling of the classic medieval tale of King Arthur and his castle and court of Camelot. The series begins in the wake of King Uther’s sudden death, when the sorcerer Merlin (Joseph Fiennes, The Red Baron) has visions of a dark future and installs young Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1) as king. But Arthur’s cold and ambitious half-sister Morgan (Eva Green, Casino Royale) will fight him to the bitter end for control of the crown. Faced with the challenge...

ABC1′s new 10 hour drama, The Straits, produced by Matchbox Films’ Penny Chapman and Helen Panckhurst begins shooting today. Scottish actor Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, Troy, Braveheart) joins the troupe of Australian actors assembling in Cairns and Torres Strait Islands.

The Montebello family are Far North Queensland’s Corleones, running drugs into Australia and guns and exotic animals out with ambitious bikies in Australia and Papau New Guinean raskols across the Strait also wanting a piece of the action. Cox plays Patriach Harry Montebello, with actress Rena Owen playing his part Torres Strait Island, part Maori wife, Kitty.

Joining Cox and Owen in the cast will be AFI Nominated Aaron Fa’aoso (East West 101, Ran), Logie winner Firass Dirani (Underbelly, Pitch Black) as well as new Australian talent; Jimi Bani (Ran, The Sapphires) and Suzannah Bayes-Morton (All Saints, The Tumbler), who together play the Montebello’s children.

In a statement,...

On June 7, Screen Media will release the DVD of the British romantic comedy Love’s Kitchen starring real-life spouses Claire Forlani (The Diplomat) and Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible II) and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay (TV’s Hell’s Kitchen).

Dougray Scott and Claire Forlani get cooking in Love's Kitchen.

Originally titled No Ordinary Trifle, the film revolves around renowned chef Rob Haley (Scott), who struggles to rebuild his life and career following the tragic death of his wife in a car accident. Part of his plan is his purchase of a run-down pub in the rural town of Wooten that he hopes to convert into a culinary sensation without the eyes of the London food press focused on him.

What Haley’s isn’t prepared for is the presence of food critic Kate Templeton (Forlani) and her father (Peter Bowles, The Bank Job), one of Wooten’s leading townsfolk. He...

Michael Weatherly is set to direct the March 1 episode of NCIS.

"One Last Score" marks the 179th episode of the hit procedural, now in its eighth year on CBS, but the very first that a member of the NCIS cast has stepped in to direct.

"Believe me, I knocked on the door a long time," Weatherly says. "Mark Harmon always says nobody here wants anybody else's job. Here I am, trying to do somebody else's job."

As a first-time director, Weatherly says his biggest challenge came as an actor. "By the end of this episode, I felt Dinozzo had significantly altered," he tells TV Guide.

"He awakens from a four-year sleep. I was glad to see him back! In this episode and the next, he's in a Sean Connery place - pretty deadly serious with a twinkle in his eye."

That may be provided by former Brothers & Sisters star Sarah Jane Morris.

Three weeks after its terrific two-part November sweeps story arc, NCIS returned last night with a new episode, only to leave us again until January in a puzzling scheduling move.

That said, "False Witness" was a typically solid effort. Guest star Annie Wersching (24) was introduced as Arlington D.A. Gail Walsh, but the real star had little to do with the plot.

At least less to do with it. Michael Weatherly took a break after seven-plus seasons as the show's comedic foil and portrayed Tony Dinozzo as a serious, straight-laced go-getter.

Had this been April 1, we'd have assumed he was kidding ...

Michael Weatherly was terrific as the anti-Tony Tony.

Ziva and Tim were so flummoxed by this new Dinozzo that they were were noticeably distracted. Gibbs? He does not get distracted, but he did notice. Even that says something.

The case Dinozzo was so on top of involved the lead...

As Renee Walker on 24, Annie Wersching was all business — at least until a final, fateful clinch. But on tonight's episode of NCIS (8/7c, CBS), Wersching is only part business as Deputy DA Gail Walsh. Her character in the episode titled "False Witness" is "very ambitious and hardworking," says Wersching, "yet she also has some drive to get part of her personal life going. So she's interested to see if anyone at NCIS is a prospect"—like, specifically, Tony Dinozzo (Michael Weatherly).

Since Wersching's only signed on for one episode...

Read More >...

NCIS returns next Tuesday, December 14, with a new episode. In "False Witness," the team investigates the disappearance of a Naval officer who is the sole witness in a murder trial.

Guest-starring Annie Wersching (24's Renee Walker) as Deputy D.A. Gail Walsh, the episode promises some good laughs as well, from the looks of the promo released last night.

Here's CBS' first teaser for the final NCIS of 2010 ...

False Witness Promo...

Next week would be the Holiday episode of "NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service" and "NCIS: Los Angeles" but crime doesn't take a holiday. In the former show, the NCIS team investigates the disappearance of a Navy petty officer who is the sole witness in an upcoming murder trial.

"False Witness" presents a dead turkey that the victim hunted when he was murdered. It becomes the team's only link to find out what happened in the woods. Speaking of the episode which mood is lightened up, co-executive producer of the series Steven Binder who wrote the episode said, "Let's just say that Tony Dinozzo will be behaving very differently from what we're used to."

Meanwhile in "NCIS: L.A.", Kensi connects personally with a discharged Navy Intelligence officer suffering from post traumatic stress disorder who is the sole survivor of a deadly dispute being investigated by the NCIS team. "Disorder" airs...

This adaptation of James Follett's 70's post-apocalyptic disaster novel, "Ice," comes from the producers of the 13-part network series, Crusoe and the recent 2-part modernization of Day of the Triffids. It stars Vampire Bill, Stephen Moyer, Sam Neil, and that mom from Spielberg's A.I..

Synopsis:

Ice sees the destructive effects of climate change cause unimaginable devastation and panic worldwide as the human race finds itself contemplating the dawn of a new ice age.

It is 2020. Findings by environmental scientist Professor Thom Archer suggest that Halo, the corporate energy company drilling on the Greenland Glacier are causing it to melt.

Archer's warnings are ignored, so he heads to the Arctic to find indisputable evidence. Upon arrival, he realises humankind is under immediate threat, and races home to save hisfamily.

The glacier collapses, with devastating consequences. Astonishing weather patterns emerge and plunge the world's temperatures into steep decline.

Ice confronts...

DVD Playhouse—August 2010

By

Allen Gardner

Black Orpheus (Criterion) Winner of the 1959 Best Foreign Film Oscar and that same year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes, Black Orpheus is a modern-day update of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice reset in 20th century Brazil during Carnival in Rio. Director Marcel Camus offers up a visual feast with some of the decade’s most ravishing color cinematography. A classic. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Archival interviews with Camus and actress Marpessa Dawn; Interviews with Brazilian cinema scholar Robert Stam, jazz historian Gary Giddins, and Brazilian author Ruy Castro; Documentary on the film; Trailer. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.

The Last Song (Touchstone) Sentimental adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ (by Sparks and Jeff Van Wie) sentimental novel about a father and daughter attempting to repair their damaged relationship. Greg Kinnear, as the dad in question, comes off best, while tween sensation Miley Cyrus...

It’s been four years since Encore published its Top 20 Directors and Producers list, and we felt it was time to compile a new, more comprehensive list that included professionals working across all areas – film, television and Tvc production – as well as the leaders and decision-makers that determine the direction of the industry.

Instead of having a limited list of panellists, we consulted with the main agencies and organisations, and also asked our readers to nominate their candidates. We ended up with a list of more than 200 screen industry professionals, and deciding the final 50 was indeed a difficult task. Of course, some other very influential and successful people didn’t make the final cut, but there were only 50 spots and too many talented men and women!

We hope you’ll enjoy – or not, and if so, debate it passionately – the selection of what will become our annual Power 50 list.

1. Christopher Mapp...

When you have an $11.4m comedy in your hands, a sequel is a no-brainer, even if it takes 10 years to make it happen. Miguel Gonzalez met with the creators of The Kings of Mykonos and discussed why ‘ethnic’ content is the secret to domestic and international success.

Five years ago actor/writer/producer Nick Giannopoulos started developing a story about a couple of Australians with a Mediterranean background going back to their ancestral homeland for the first time, only to discover that it is no longer the same place their parents left, and that they are, in fact, more Australian than they ever thought they were.

“It’s an Australian fish-out-of-the-water comedy, shot in Greece yet uniquely Australian. That’s why Crocodile Dundee worked; these are western suburbs Melbourne boys plonked into the middle of one of the most cosmopolitan islands in the world, with their thongs and broad Australian accents,...

Harvey Fierstein, Douglas Hodge, and Kelsey Grammer/Photo credit: Walter McBride for BroadwayWorld.com

Following this assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear. Yes, we're serious.

BroadwayWorld.com was at the start of rehearsals for La Cage Aux Folles, and has pictures of the big, fancy books being handed out to all the stars. Most of the pictures are better than what I chose, but I liked the monkey on Harvey's phone. They also have a list of the Cagelles with an out actor or two. The New York Times has a great review on The Tempermentals (and a nice shirtless picture of Michael Urie) and what it means to gay theater. h/t cufflinksandtie The latest edition of False Witness: The Michele Bachman Story comic is available for purchase, and it's all about the gays. Even if...

Vampire Bill, dino expert, Dr. Alan Grant, and that mom from A.I. fighting against the dangers of a second ice-age? Bring it on!

From the producers of the 13-part network series, Crusoe and the upcoming 2-part modernization of Day of the Triffids comes an adaptation of James Follett's 70's post-apocalyptic disaster novel, "Ice."

Synopsis:

Ice sees the destructive effects of climate change cause unimaginable devastation and panic worldwide as the human race finds itself contemplating the dawn of a new ice age.

It is 2020. Findings by environmental scientist Professor Thom Archer suggest that Halo, the corporate energy company drilling on the Greenland Glacier are causing it to melt.

Archer's warnings are ignored, so he heads to the Arctic to find indisputable evidence. Upon arrival, he realises humankind is under immediate threat, and races home to save hisfamily.

The glacier collapses, with devastating consequences. Astonishing weather patterns emerge and...

Scottish actor Dougray Scott had a tough time filming one scene in his new TV mini-series The Diplomat - he had to photograph his real-life wife lying dead in a coffin.

Actress Claire Forlani plays the actor's ex-wife in the series, and neither could imagine what type of torture the funeral scene would be - until the day came to shoot it.

Scott explains, "It was eerie. My character has to take a picture of his ex on his cellphone as she's lying dead in a coffin.

"It was a little bit strange to see your own wife lying in a coffin. It's not one of the most comfortable things. It was pretty surreal.

"And I don't think she wanted to stay in that coffin very long, that's for sure! At least it wasn't a completely closed coffin. I think that would've freaked her out even more."

It was the first time the real-life couple, who wed in 2007, had worked together, and Scott admits the shoot, though tough at times, was like an extended honeymoon.

He tells WENN, "It was a year after the wedding and it was great spending time together, especially when you're on the other side of the world in Australia, where we shot the movie. It's not easy to commute, so it was good.

"I'd never acted with her before and the good thing about acting with someone you know well is there is a sense of trust there already, which obviously is very good for filming. It can happen that married couples have no chemistry but there was an energy there between us.

"I'd love to work with her again. She is wonderful."

The Diplomat debuts in America at the end of January.