News

Exclusive: Academy, Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has joined the cast of Lucky, a new limited drama from Apple TV+ starring and executive produced by Anya Taylor-Joy. Creator Jonathan Tropper also executive produces alongside Reese Witherspoon.

Based on Marissa Stapley’s bestselling novel and Reese’s Book Club pick of the same name, Lucky stars Taylor-Joy as the eponymous heroine. She is a young woman who left behind the life of crime she was raised in years ago but must now embrace her darker, criminal side one final time in a desperate attempt to escape her past.

Ellis-Taylor will play as ‘Agent Billie Rand.’

Lucky is produced by Hello Sunshine and Tropper Ink, and is created by Tropper under his overall deal with Apple TV+. He serves as co-showrunner alongside Cassie Pappas. Witherspoon EPs alongside Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine, a part of Candle Media.

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of December titles. The Tubi December 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals, TV series, and numerous action, art house, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, the company engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library of over 250,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of exclusive Originals, and nearly 250 live channels.

You can watch the Tubi December 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the Tubi site.

Tubi Originals...

We are sad to report that legendary African-American actor Louis Gossett Jr. passed away on March 28, 2024 in Santa Monica, CA. He was 87 years old at the time of death, and was on his way to celebrate his 88th birthday in May this year. No official cause of death has been given, but Gosset has had health issues in the recent decade, being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 and being hospitalized for Covid-19 during the pandemic. The news was confirmed by Gossett’s first cousin Neal L. Gossett.

A true acting legend, Louis Gossett Jr. was born in New York on May 27, 1936. His mother was a nurse, and his father was a porter. Although he was proficient in sports as well, after his stage debut at the age of 17, his teacher encouraged him to pursue an acting career. Although he obtained a sports scholarship at the NYU and was offered to play basketball,...

Louis Gossett, Jr., a trailblazing actor who became the first Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, sadly passed away late Thursday night on March 28, 2024. He was 87 years old. The news was reported by the Associated Press, who confirmed his death through the late actor's nephew Robert.

Most recently appearing in Warner Bros.' "The Color Purple" remake and in HBO's "Watchmen" series, Gossett, Jr. is perhaps most well known for his award-winning turn as drill instructor Emil Foley in 1982's "An Officer and a Gentleman." Additionally, he won an Emmy award for his role in the popular 1977 miniseries "Roots" and went on to earn widespread acclaim and recognition on both television and movies, racking up numerous Primetime Emmy Awards over the years. After first getting his start on Broadway at a time when the odds were severely stacked against him, Gossett, Jr. made his big-screen...

Louis Gossett Jr., who won a supporting actor Oscar for playing the hard-as-nails drill instructor in 1982’s “An Officer and a Gentleman” a few years after winning an Emmy for his role as the cunning Fiddler in “Roots,” died early Friday morning. He was 87.

Gossett’s family announced his death in a statement, writing: “It is with our heartfelt regret to confirm our beloved father passed away this morning. We would like to thank everyone for their condolences at this time. Please respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”

In Taylor Hackford’s “An Officer and a Gentleman,” Gossett’s Sgt. Emil Foley memorably drove Richard Gere’s character to the point of near collapse at a Navy flight school. Gossett was the first Black man to win the best supporting actor Oscar for that role.

In addition to “An Officer and a Gentleman,” Gossett is best known...

Stoked by raves and strong receptions to their world-premiering Toronto festival films, “Brother” producers Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo, “Black Ice” producer Vinay Virmani, and “Alice, Darling” producer Noah Segal are warming up a new basketball-themed crime series, “The Count,” for this fall’s marketplace, Variety has learned.

A modern spin on French author Alexandre Dumas’ classic 19th-century novel of wrongful imprisonment “The Count of Monte Cristo,” the TV drama will bounce between Toronto’s basketball milieu and Haiti’s cultural mélange as it follows the transformation of a Haitian basketball player facing a life sentence for murder into to justice-seeking saboteur.

D’Oliveira and Virgo under their Conquering Lion Pictures company, The Good Karma Company’s chief content officer Virmani, and Elevation Pictures co-president Segal have signed on as executive producers on the series.

Virgo, who wrote and directed the Lamar Johnson-starring “Brother,” and Hubert Davis, director of...

As Toronto director Clement Virgo and the cast of “Brother” took the stage at the Princess of Wales Theatre on the night of Sept. 9 to soak in the hometown standing ovation after film’s world premiere, a delegation of Black producers from across Canada was settling in for a week of networking ops curated by the Black Screen Office (Bso).

This year has seen Black-led CBC and BET+ historical drama series “The Porter” (recently renewed for Season two) connect with audiences and critical kudos beyond Canada; Black talent empowerment and training organizations extend their reach; and the Bso forge platforms and alliances to strengthen and amplify its advocacy, research and funding development work.

This is not simply a moment, say the Toronto filmmakers, it’s accelerated momentum.

“When I first started out, making a film about the Black experience in Canada was fairly new, but over the last 25 years that has changed,...

The Toronto Film Festival has programmed one of its strongest Canadian feature slates in recent years — films with head-turning performances, eye-catching artistry, and global market and audience appeal, from filmmakers who are subverting stereotypes, challenging or bypassing power structures, or transforming the industry ecosystem from the grassroots on up.

“Right now in our industry, tons of high-paying service work lets people pay their bills, but the quality work is coming through the Canadian independents,” says Conquering Lions Pictures’ Damon D’Oliveira, who has produced the Canadian work of director Clement Virgo, from his 1995 Cannes-premiering feature “Rude” to the series “The Book of Negroes” to their latest, “Brother.”

The adaptation of David Chariandy’s novel tells the story of two Jamaican Canadian brothers in 1990s Scarborough. “We see this as a bookend to ‘Rude,’ which is set in the same period and is an adrenaline rush,” says D’Oliveira. “We’re returning...

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At a time when Canadian film is under fire for its lack of diversity, Clement Virgo has always been a step ahead.

Having arrived in Canada from his native Jamaica at age 11, Virgo in 1995 screened his feature directorial debut, Rude, about three characters struggling for inner city redemption in 1990s Toronto, at Cannes and the Toronto Film Festival.

Now, 27 years later, Virgo is back at TIFF with Brother, a mystery drama with three intertwining timelines about Francis and Michael, sons of Caribbean immigrants who grow up on an embattled Toronto housing complex during a summer of police violence and dashed dreams in 1991.

Based on David Chariandy’s novel Brother, Virgo explores themes of Black masculinity, family, loyalty and love through the eyes of two brothers: Michael, played by Lamar Johnson, and U.K. actor Aaron Pierre in the role of older brother and protector Francis.

Exclusive: In a competitive situation, Clement Virgo has signed with WME in advance of the TIFF world premiere of Brother, starring Lamar Johnson, Aaron Pierre and Marsha Stephanie Black. His debut feature, Rude, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard and opened the Perspectives Canada program at TIFF. His credits includes the boxing drama Poor Boy’s Game, Lie With Me and Love Come Down.

On the TV side, he directed and co-wrote the six part miniseries adaptation of Lawrence Hill’s novel The Book of Negroes. The series debuted to record-breaking numbers on the CBC in Canada and on BET in the U.S. and went on to win twelve Canadian Screen Awards and earned two U.S. Critics Choice TV Awards nominations for Best Limited Series and Best Actress in a Limited Series (Aunjanue Ellis). He also directed the pilot of the drama series Greenleaf, and...

Exhibit

Germany’s Osthaus Museum in Hagen is presenting a retrospective of American actor and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone’s decades-long oeuvre of paintings on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Stretching back more than half a century, the showcase features more than 50 paintings, including self-portraits and several works which will be shared publicly for the first time.

“That’s what I love about painting, it’s the only true communication you can have,” said Stallone in a release announcing the retrospective. “While writing can be manipulated, painting is the fastest and purest translator of the subconscious. When something is going on inside you and you hit the canvas, it’s hard to fake it. The artist on the canvas is number one for me when it comes to conveying his feelings.”

The Stallone retrospective opens on Dec. 4 and will be available through Feb. 20, 2022.

Director

Award-winning filmmaker Clement Virgo will helm...

The life and career of legendary cyclist Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor will receive the biopic treatment with the feature drama “Black Cyclone,” helmed by Canadian filmmaker Clement Virgo.

The film depicts the life story of the pioneering bicycle racer, best known to the world as “Major” Taylor. At the turn of the 20th century, Taylor made history when he became the world’s fastest man, as well as America’s first Black world champion, at the height of the Jim Crow era. Set in the late 1890s and early 1900s, an official description of the film notes taht “Black Cyclone” follows Taylor as he “confronted racism, both subtle and deadly, yet triumphed with sheer will, the love of a woman, and his troubled alliances with a Black trainer and a white promoter.”

Of boarding the project as its director, Virgo said, “Major Taylor was a fascinating enigma, an athlete ahead of his time.

Exclusive: Rising actors Lamar Johnson (The Hate U Give), Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad), Marsha Stephanie Blake (When They See Us) and Kiana Madeira (Fear Street Trilogy) have been set to star in feature drama Brother, which is filming in and around Toronto.

Written and directed by Clement Virgo (Greenleaf) and based on David Chariandy’s novel, Brother is set against Toronto’s early hip hop scene. The film charts the story of Francis and Michael, sons of Caribbean immigrants, who are maturing into young men during the sweltering summer of 1991. Escalating tensions set off a series of events that change the course of the brothers’ lives forever.

Producing are Virgo and Damon D’Oliveira of Conquering Lion Pictures, along with Aeschylus Poulos and Sonya Di Rienzo of Hawkeye Pictures.

The pic will be distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures. Foreign sales will be handled by Bron Releasing. Filming will run...

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There isn’t much known about Petra Small on Jupiter’s Legacy beyond the fact that her superhero alter ego is the Flare II, but thankfully we do know something about the woman who plays her, Canadian actress Tenika Davis.

She got her start as a competitor on the 2006 edition of the reality show Canada’s Next Top Model, where she came in sixth place. This opened the door for her, giving her the opportunity guest star on TV shows like The Listener, Skins, Lost Girl,and Space Janitors, but star in the Degrassi Goes Hollywood TV movie, The Book of Negroes miniseries and recurring roles on 19-2 and Mira. As she shares below, Jupiter’s Legacy will be opening up a whole new chapter for her.

Who Is The Flare II?

Name: Petra Small

Alter Ego: The Flare II

Powers And Abilities: Like her father,...

Famed casting directors Robi Reed and Tara Rubin will be honored along with The Actors Fund at the Casting Society of America’s 36th annual Artios Awards, which will be held virtually on April 15, 2021. Reed and Rubin will receive the Hoyt Bowers Award, given for excellence in casting and honoring their body of work and outstanding contributions to the casting profession. The Actors Fund will receive the Rosalie Joseph Humanitarian Award – named after the famed casting director and philanthropist.

“At the age of 15,” Reed said, “what I knew is that I wanted to be a casting director, and receiving the Hoyt Bowers Award is not only an honor, it is a testament to what can happen when you believe in yourself and find your purpose.”

Reed, whose career has spanned over 30 years and more than 70 films, has long been Hollywood’s leading casting director for Black-themed projects. Her first studio...

Hamilton will debut on Disney+ on July 3rd, the start of a long holiday weekend. The Walt Disney Company paid good money for the Broadway phenomenon, a reported $75 million for the rights to the film, which features performances by the original cast (we wrote a primer on the cast and where they are now).

If you’re healthily avoiding crowds and already had your fill of fireworks, here are 10 more movies and TV shows that explore the American Revolution from different angles.

1776 (1972)

Making the Founding Fathers sing was truly revolutionary when Sherman Edwards’s musical debuted on Broadway in 1969. The plot traced how the Second Continental Congress decided on independence; there are lots of fun character moments but really no other story. After the show won the Tony for Best Musical, Hollywood mogul Jack Warner hired most of the cast and director Peter Hunt to make a movie. Then...

This story about Aunjanue Ellis and “The Clark Sisters” first appeared in the Limited Series & Movies issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.

Aunjanue Ellis really wanted to get the voice right, but she just couldn’t do it. In the Lifetime movie “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel,” she was playing Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, a gifted choral director and gospel musician who led her five daughters to Grammy-winning success. But try as she might, Ellis was never happy in her attempts to capture Clark’s distinctive raspy voice.

“I wanted to re-create that sound,” she said. “I would scream into a pillow, or go in the closet and scream in the closet before the director called action. I tried to injure my voice, and there are times in the movie where I do sound like her — but not as much as I wanted to.”

But Ellis, who was...

Exclusive: Actor Maxwell McCabe-Lokos will make his directorial debut with the forthcoming dark comedy Stanleyville. The pic unveiled its cast that includes Susanne Wuest, Cara Ricketts, Julian Richings, Christian Serritiello, George Tchortov and Adam Brown. The film is currently in production, shooting in Canada and Germany.

Written by McCabe-Lokos and Rob Benvie, Stanleyville is a satirical feature comedy that follows six disparate characters with nothing to lose as they face off in a bizarre competition for a slightly used habanero-orange compact sport utility vehicle.

The story follows Maria Barbizan (Wuest) who has walked away from her life – her job, her money, her feckless husband and vile teenaged daughter – her entire identity.

Joss Whedon’s new HBO series has found its principal cast members.

Whedon’s series “The Nevers” has cast Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Ann Skelly, Ben Chaplin, Pip Torrens, Zackary Momoh, Amy Manson, Nick Frost, Rochelle Neil, Eleanor Tomlinson, and Denis O’Hare. They join previously announced cast member Laura Donnelly, who will star as Amalia True.

“The Nevers,” which was ordered straight-to-series last July, is described as an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.

Breakdowns for the characters are below:

-Williams will play Lavinia Bidlow, a wealthy spinster and champion of the “Touched.” Lavinia funds the Orphanage (where Amalia and many of the Touched live) through her vast family fortune. She is stern and old-fashioned, but as strong-willed and clever as anyone she confronts.

Williams’ past TV...

Almost exactly a year after entering into a multi-year agreement to produce films and series with Netflix, former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions has unveiled its initial slate of upcoming projects. Promising a diverse mix of content, including scripted and unscripted series, documentaries and features, the announcement was made by Priya Swaminathan and Tonia Davis, co-heads of the company.

“We created Higher Ground to harness the power of storytelling,” Obama said of the inspirational projects which touch on a variety of issues including race, class, democracy, civil rights and much more. “That’s why we couldn’t be more excited about these projects.”

Speaking on behalf of Netflix, Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said, “President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and the Higher Ground team are building a company focused on storytelling that exemplifies their core values. The breadth of their initial slate across series, film,...

Canadian drama Mary Kills People is heading to the UK after British broadcaster Channel 4 acquired the thriller from eOne. The deal is a life of series agreement for the show, which originally launched on Global in Canada in 2017.

The show, which has been sold to more than 110 territories around the world, follows Dr. Mary Harris, played by Caroline Dhavernas, an overworked single mother and ER doctor, who lives a double life helping terminally ill patients with assisted deaths. She has managed to stay under the radar but her double life gets complicated and when her world starts to unravel, Mary realizes she’s going to have to fight dirty if she’s going to stay in the killing game. Jay Ryan stars as Joel, one of Mary’s terminally ill clients, but a mutual attraction blurs the lines of their doctor-patient relationship and Richard Short plays Des, Mary’s trusted partner in crime.

An indie thriller about The Cuban Five, a group of Cuban agents sent to south Florida by the Castro government to spy on exile groups in the 1990s, is in the works.

The film, The Cuban Five, will be directed by Clement Virgo, who earlier adapted the Lawrence Hill novel The Book of Negroes into a miniseries for Bet in the U.S.

Canadian indie producers Pictou Twist Pictures, Picture Plant and Conquering Lions Production have partnered with the Icaic, Cuba's film institute, to co-produce a film about the Cuban agents arrested by U.S. authorities in 1998.

They were convicted ...

An indie thriller about The Cuban Five, a group of Cuban agents sent to south Florida by the Castro government to spy on exile groups in the 1990s, is in the works.

The film, The Cuban Five, will be directed by Clement Virgo, who earlier adapted the Lawrence Hill novel The Book of Negroes into a miniseries for Bet in the U.S.

Canadian indie producers Pictou Twist Pictures, Picture Plant and Conquering Lions Production have partnered with the Icaic, Cuba's film institute, to co-produce a film about the Cuban agents arrested by U.S. authorities in 1998.

They were convicted ...

Canada’s Pictou Twist Pictures and Picture Plant have partnered with Cuban film institute Icaic to co-produce the definitive account of the Cuban Five — Cuban intelligence agents arrested on spying charges by U.S. authorities in 1998.

Pictou Twist producer Barrie Dunn has penned the screenplay on “The Cuban Five” (“Los Cinco”), which is based on Stephen Kimber’s non-fiction book “What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of The Cuban Five.”

“What Lies” relates how in the 1990s, Fidel Castro’s government dispatched five Cuban intelligence agents to Florida to infiltrate exiled terrorist groups targeting civilians in Miami in a bid to destabilize Castro’s regime. Instead, they were arrested and sentenced to lengthy jail terms on charges of espionage in Miami. Ironically, the leading Cuban exile militant, Luis Posada, remained free.

Kimber came upon their story while visiting Havana in 2009. His four-year investigation led him to Washington, D.C.

Toronto-based production companies Conquering Lion and Hawkeye Pictures have acquired the film and television rights to David Chariandy’s family drama “Brother,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Clement Virgo (“The Book of Negroes”) is attached to adapt the screenplay and direct the film. The novel tells the story of two brothers facing questions of masculinity, family, race and identity in a housing complex during the sweltering heat and simmering violence of the summer of 1991.

The deal was announced Thursday on the opening day of the Toronto Film Festival. “Brother” is the winner of the 2017 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, won the 2018 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and is a current finalist for the Toronto Book Award.

Virgo’s TV directing credits include “Empire,” “American Crime” and “The Wire.” He is the supervising director and executive producer with Oprah Winfrey on Own network drama series “Greenleaf.

Exclusive: Gotham-based book-to-film/TV lit agency Hotchkiss and Associates is changing its name to Hotchkiss Daily & Associates, as prolific dealmaker Sean Daily moves upward alongside founder Jody Hotchkiss.

Daily joined Hotchkiss and Associates in 2004 and has developed specialties in elevated sci-fi, horror, and fantasy, narrative nonfiction, and high-concept Ya and children’s books. His sales have included 13 Reasons Why, A Futile and Stupid Gesture and most recently the greenlighted supernatural drama Locke and Key to Netflix, Resurrection to ABC, The Book of Negroes on CBC/Bet, Sacred Lies on Facebook Watch, NOS4A2 to AMC and the recently wrapped untitled Babak Anvari thriller from Annapurna starring Armie Hammer and Zazie Beetz.

Daily said he was “extraordinarily grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had over the years at Hotchkiss and the flexibility and freedom we have to serve authors and help their books find their way to the screen. I’m...

Initiative highlights 25 established feature film and TV producers from Europe, Canada, the USA and India.

Film and TV drama co-production training and networking programme Trans-Atlantic Partners (Tap) has revealed its 2018 line-up of 25 producers from across Europe, Canada, the USA and India.

Tap, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, provides case studies of trans-Atlantic projects, market intelligence, legal advice and information on sales and distribution. The programme is directed at producers at career mid-level who have produced at least one feature film or TV series.

It includes two training modules in Berlin (June 16 – 21) and Halifax, Canada (September 10– 16), where Tap producers...

“Hell Hath No Fury!”

Taraji P. Henson absolutely slays in Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, arriving on Digital June 12 and on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On Demand June 26 from Lionsgate. Written, directed, and produced by the multi-talented Tyler Perry, Acrimony reunites Perry and Henson for the first time in nine years in this suspenseful thriller about a woman who takes revenge on her unfaithful husband. Starring in the film are Oscar®nominee Taraji P. Henson, Lyriq Bent, and Crystle Stewart (TV’s “For Better or Worse” and “Too Close to Home”), along with newcomers Ajiona Alexus and Antonio Madison.

In Tyler Perry’s sexy and electrifying thriller, a faithful wife (Henson) is driven over the edge when it becomes clear she has been betrayed by her devious husband.

The Tyler Perry’s Acrimony home entertainment release includes the never-before-seen “Unleashing Acrimony” featurette, which includes an exclusive...

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Chelsea Peretti is set to star as the lead of the independent comedy feature “Spinster.”

Andrea Dorfman is helming the project from an original screenplay written by Jennifer Deyell. Producers are Marc Tetreault (“Suck It Up”) from Shut Up & Colour Pictures, William Woods (“Mean Dreams”) from Woods Entertainment, Jay Dahl (“Heartbeat”) from Black Dog Films, and Bill Niven (“The Book of Negroes”) from Idlewild Films.

“Spinster,” currently filming, is financed in part by Telefilm Canada and Nova Scotia Business Inc. It’s the story of a woman who, after being unceremoniously dumped on her 39th birthday, faces her fear of becoming a pathetic, lonely spinster.

Peretti most recently starred in “Game Night” opposite Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams and completed shooting “Friendsgiving” opposite Malin Akerman and Kat Dennings. In addition to five seasons of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” as administrator Gina Linetti, she has appeared in HBO’s farewell season of “Girls,...

Nine months after Spike Lee announced a series adaptation of his landmark debut film, 1986's She's Gotta Have It, Netflix announced the show's release date and issued its debut teaser-trailer. The 10-episode project will launch on Thanksgiving, November 23rd.

Lee created, produced and directed the contemporary update of She's Gotta Have It, which marks his first TV project.

DeWanda Wise stars as Nola Darling, a late-Twenties Brooklyn artist navigating career, personal and romantic challenges. Greer Childs (Divergent's Cleo Anthony), Jamie Overstreet (The Book of Negroes' Lyriq Bent) and...

This Thanksgiving, fans of Spike Lee’s revolutionary debut film can feast on a series update of She’s Gotta Have It.

RelatedGirlboss Cancelled at Netflix After One Season

Netflix announced that She’s Gotta Have It will release on Thursday, Nov. 23, with all 10 episodes directed by Lee. The series stars DeWanda Wise (Shots Fired) as Nola Darling (played in the 1986 film by Tracy Camilla Johns), a Brooklyn-based artist struggling to define herself and divide her time amongst her friends, her job and her three lovers: cultured model Greer Childs (played by Cleo Anthony, Divergent), protective investment banker Jamie Overstreet (Lyriq Bent,...

At first glance, the exclusive trailer for Mary Kills People — as well as the title of Caroline Dhavernas’ new Lifetime drama itself — may make you think that the Hannibal alum is back on familiar, murderous ground.

After all, as the video above warns viewers, “Everywhere that Mary goes, there will be no tomorrow.”

RelatedCher Exits Lifetime’s Flint Water Crisis Movie Due to ‘Serious Family Issue’

But appearances are a bit deceiving: The upcoming series — which premieres Sunday, April 23, at 10/9c — is actually about a medical doctor (Dhavernas) who moonlights as someone providing suicide assistance to the terminally ill. The first season,...

Last year, we spoke to what appeared to be Bet’s plans to invest in more weighty, scripted, original programming, as well as it’s embracing of international co-productions like in the case of its acclaimed miniseries “The Book of Negroes.” Up next in… Continue Reading →...

Own: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today the season two premiere date for its acclaimed original drama series “Greenleaf” from Lionsgate, Emmy-nominated creator/executive producer Craig Wright (“Lost,” “Six Feet Under”) and executive producers Clement Virgo (“The Book of Negroes”) and Oprah… Continue Reading →...

Alumni on film and TV programme include producers of The Lunchbox, Bullhead and The Book Of Negroes.

Film and TV drama co-production training programme Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) has revelaed its 2016 line-up of 25 producers from across Europe, Canada, and the USA as well as India and South Africa.

Experts taking part in the scheme include producer René Bastian (Cold In July), Matthias Nitschke, senior vice president of business & legal affairs, Studiocanal, Germany, and producer Ilann Girard (Lebanon).

Tap provides case studies of successful trans-Atlantic projects, market intelligence, legal framework and information on sales and distribution. The programme is directed at producers at career mid-level who have produced at least one feature film or TV series.

The two training modules take place in Munich (June 24 – 29) and Halifax, Canada (September 12– 18) where Tap producers will also participate in the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners international co-production market.

Previous alumni of the scheme include Guneet Monga (The Lunchbox), [link...

Netflix enters Versailles; BBC One drama Capitol inks deals; Roots world premiere; Walter Presents buys Spanish drama for UK; Hulu reads The Book Of Negroes; Olivier Megaton doc gets sales deal.

Fremantle inks deals for BBC One drama Capital

FremantleMedia has struck three deals for three-part drama Capital, which is produced by Kudos, part of Endemol Shine Group, for BBC One. Participant Media’s Pivot has taken Us rights, Shaw has taken Canada rights, and BBC Worldwide will air the programme in Australia and New Zealand.

Toby Jones, Rachael Stirling and Gemma Jones star in the series, which Peter Bowker adapted from John Lanchester’s novel. Matt Strevens produced, executive producers were Derek Wax and Lucy Richer.

Walter Presents takes Spanish drama Locked Up for UK

Foreign-language drama Svod brand Walter Presents, which is available in the UK exclusively on Channel 4’s All Four streaming platform, has taken rights to Globomedia’s Spanish-language women prison series...

American slavery should be an impossible subject for an ongoing TV series to handle. Done right as a standalone movie like 12 Years A Slave, or a miniseries like the iconic Roots or Bet's more recent The Book of Negroes, it can create a difficult but incredibly cathartic short-term experience. But it's a lot to ask an audience to tune in week after week, season after season, to a story of degradation and unfathomable cruelty that any kind of serious treatment of this blight on our nation's history requires. Do it properly, and you chase away viewers in a hurry. Lighten things up, and you risk diminishing the subject to the point of offensiveness. Underground, Wgn America's latest period drama (it debuts Wednesday night at 10), finds a clever solution to that problem. It's set in the pre-Civil War South, and most of its characters are slaves on a Georgia cotton plantation,...

Mad Max: Fury Road.

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Mad Max: Fury Road is leading the field in the 63rd annual Motion Picture Sound Editors' Golden Reel Awards.

George Miller's road rage epic earned three nominations, the most in the feature film categories.

The Martian, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Revenant also earned three nominations each..

The nominees represent the work of the world.s most talented sound artists and their contributions to the past year.s most outstanding feature film, television, animation and computer entertainment productions.

Mpse president, Frank Morrone said this nominees had produced an outstanding body of work encompassing motion pictures, television, documentaries, gaming and other mediums.

.Our members continue to impress with their ability to develop new techniques and find creative ways to employ sound as a means of enriching storytelling. We congratulate all of this year.s nominees for their achievements,. he said.

The Mpse Golden Reel...

On February 16, the Berlinale Co-Production Market is hosting the second edition of its exclusive “CoPro Series” event: 7 selected projects will be looking for co-production and financing partners. Among the selection, given this blog's interests, is "The Illegal" from Canadian filmmaker/producer Clement Virgo (he most recently directed "The Book of Negroes") via his Conquering Lion Pictures production house. Classified as a dystopian story, "The Illegal" will be based on author Lawrence Hill's new novel "The Illegal," which the Toronto-based Conquering Lion Pictures acquired rights to adapt last summer. By the way, Lawrence Hill...

Seven international series projects have been selected to pitch at the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market is to host the second edition of its CoPro Series event on Feb 16, featuring seven high-end TV projects that are looking for co-production and financing partners.

Among the selection are The Illegal from Canada, a dystopian story by author and director Clement Virgo (The Book Of Negroes) and the Danish miniseries Lucky Per, which will be directed by Oscar-winner Bille August (Night Train To Lisbon).

These are joined by German project The Disappearance by Hans-Christian Schmid (Home for the Weekend), Norwegian crime series Brotherhood, Dutch family drama Avrupa and Israeli newsroom-based drama Wars Inc.

One project will be presented in cooperation with series festival and co-production forum Séries Mania Paris, which is organised by Forum des Images, headed by Laurence Herszberg.

From its 2015 edition, the series DNA by author and creator Torleif Hoppe (The Killing) is invited to Berlin...

The #Tgitnaacp hashtag is coming soon to a Twitter near you.

Producer Shonda Rhimes’ powerhouse Thursday-night lineup on ABC (marketed as ‘Tgit’) scored eight nominations — not counting one for Rhimes herself as Entertainer of the Year — when the nominees for the 47th NAACP Image Awards were announced Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif.

RelatedTVLine’s 10 Best Drama Series of 2015

Fox’s Empire and ABC’s black-ish led individual series with six and five nods respectively, followed by Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse and Tgit staples Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder – all...

Game of Thrones‘ Jason Momoa is embarking on a fur-ocious new Frontier at Netflix.

The streaming giant has handed a six-episode series order to a Momoa-fronted action-adventure drama that follows the chaotic and violent struggle to control wealth and power in the North American fur trade in the late 18th century.

VideosGame of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams Dashes Jon Snow Hopes, Teases Arya’s Sightless Season 6 Plight

San Andreas helmer Brad Peyton is on board to direct. Rob Blackie (Republic of Doyle) and Peter Blackie (Majumder Manor) are the co-creators of the project, which will be told from multiple perspectives...

Own and Lionsgate are putting the final touches on megachurch drama series Greenleaf, from Craig Wright and Lionsgate TV, ahead of next month’s production start in Atlanta. They’ve confirmed Oprah Winfrey will recur in the series that takes viewers into the unscrupulous world of the powerful Greenleaf family and their sprawling megachurch, where scandalous secrets and lies are as numerous as the faithful. Clement Virgo (The Book Of Negroes) will direct the pilot…...

Keeping costs low is often a case of “backing into a number”, one producer told trinidad + Tobago film festival’s Caribbean Film Mart attendees at a co-production session on Wednesday.

Damon D’Oliveira of Canada’s Conquering Lion Pictures spoke about the slavery miniseries The Book Of Negroes (pictured) starring Aunjanue Ellis and Cuba Gooding Jr that shot in South Africa and Canada as an official co-production.

“It was about… maintaining a one-third shoot in Canada and two-thirds in South Africa,” D’Oliveira said. “When you get official co-production you determine what the split will be between the two countries and you have to stay within a few percentage points of that.”

“The big benefit [of shooting in South Africa] was the [25% local spend] tax rebate … we did a broadcaster deal, which helped with financing.”

D’Oliveira and French producer Samuel Chauvin of Promenades Films, whose Melaza is a Cuba-France-Panama comedy about a married couple struggling to survive after the closure of the town...

Last Wednesday on Canada Day, the Academy of Canadians in Sports and Entertainment - Los Angeles (Acise-la) held the inaugural 2015 Golden Maple Awards at the Sls Hotel in Los Angeles. The event was hosted by Erin Karpluk from the upcoming Riftworld Chronicles who stepped in for Lauren Ash due to a sickness.

During the event former NBA basketball player and Canadian actor Rick Fox, was honored with the 2015 Maple of Excellence for Outstanding Athlete/Actor Crossover award and Canadian CrossFit champion Lucas Parker with the 2015 Maple of Excellence for Outstanding Athlete award.

Members of Acise-la had the opportunity to vote until June 23, 2015 for the winners in the following categories:

-Best Actor in a TV series broadcasted in the U.S

The winner was: Brandon Jay McLaren - "Graceland," Us Network: USA

Other nominees were:

Adam Copeland - "Haven," Network: Syfy

Alexander Ludwig - "Vikings," Network: History Channel

Greyston Holt - "Bitten," Network: Syfy

Jonathan Keltz - "Reign," Network: CW

Lyriq Bent - "The Book of Negroes," Network: Bet

Torrance Coombs - "Reign," Network: CW

-Best Actress in a TV series broadcasted in the U.S

The winner is: Amanda Crew - "Silicon Valley," Network: HBO

Other nominees were:

Anna Silk - "Lost Girl," Us Network: Syfy

Caroline Dhavernas - "Hannibal," Network: NBC

Jessalyn Gilsig - "Vikings," Network: History Channel

Katheryn Winnick - "Vikings," Network: History Channel

Kathleen Robertson - "Murder in the First," Network: TNT

Missy Peregrym - "Rookie Blue," Network: ABC

-Newcomer of the year in a TV series broadcasted in the U.S.

The winners were: Emily Hampshire - "12 Monkeys" and "Schitt's Creek," Networks: Syfy and Pop TV and Meaghan Rath - "New Girl," Network: Fox

Other nominees were:

Brooke Wexler - "Richie Rich," Network: Netflix

Italia Ricci - "Chasing Life,"Network: ABC Family

Shailyn Pierre Dixon - "The Book of Negroes," Network: Bet...

It should come as no surprise that critically-acclaimed series such as "The Americans" and "Silicon Valley" took home top prizes at the fifth annual Critics' Choice TV Awards on Sunday night (it's right there in the name of the event, after all). But there was plenty of love for popular shows, too, proving that quality programming is becoming more widely available and amenable to audiences during this so-called golden age of television.

"The Americans" and "Silicon Valley" each claimed high honors in the best drama and comedy series categories, respectively, and their home networks were the biggest winners of the night: HBO snagged seven statuettes, while FX collected four. "Silicon Valley" was among the shows that won multiple awards, with T.J. Miller taking home the trophy for best supporting actor in a comedy.

Freshman series "Better Call Saul" and "Transparent" also walked away with two trophies apiece, while new sensation...

The fifth annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards were handed out Sunday evening at the Beverly Hilton, and HBO was the winningest network with a total of seven prizes, including three for its Olive Kitteridge miniseries.

RelatedEmmys 2015: Orange Is the New Black Must Compete as Drama

FX amassed four wins, while AMC, Amazon, Fox and Comedy Central picked up two apiece.

In addition to Olive Kitteridge, other shows scoring multiple wins were Silicon Valley, Better Call Saul and Transparent.

Among the more notable first-time winners, Empire‘s Taraji P. Henson came out on top in the drama actress race, while...

The fifth annual 2015 Critics' Choice Television Awards were handed out on Sunday night, honoring the best of the best in small screen entertainment. The award ceremony was presented by the Broadcast Television Journalist Association and hosted by "So You Think You Can Dance" Mc Cat Deeley.

HBO was the event's big victor -- the network picked up a total of seven wins. "Oliver Kitteridge" received three wins and was the most honored program of the evening. Get a complete list of winners below and find out if your faves came out on top.

Best Drama Series

The Americans" - Winner

"Empire"

"Game of Thrones"

"The Good Wife"

"Homeland"

"Justified"

"Orange Is the New Black"

Best Comedy Series

Silicon Valley" - Winner

"Broad City"

"Jane the Virgin"

"Mom"

"Transparent" "

Veep" "You're the Worst"

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Jeffrey Tambor, "Transparent" - Winner

Anthony Anderson, "Blackish"

Chris Messina, "The Mindy Project"

Johnny Galecki,...

A full round-up of all the cancelations, renewals and new series orders is coming, once the dust settles... In the meantime, I'll be sharing the highlights (see the news about Morris Chestnut just before this post). Here's another... Fresh off a critically-acclaimed starring performance in Bet's "The Book of Negroes" miniseries (now a Critics Choice nominee), Aunjanue Ellis stars in ABC's drama-thriller "Quantico," which hails from Josh Safran. "Quantico" centers on a group of young FBI recruits, who battle their way through training at the Quantico base in Virginia. As the show intercuts between their hidden pasts and their present...

It’s almost time for the Broadcast Television Journalists Association to honor the biggest and brightest stars and program at the 5th Annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards.

And on Sunday, May 31st A&E will broadcast the whole shindig live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel beginning at 7pm for the Red Carpet Special, followed by the main event at 8pm.

As far as totals, HBO has a whopping 27 nominees, while FX scored 16 nods. The top shows include “Justified,” “Olive Kitteridge,” “The Americans,” “Bessie,” “The Good Wife” and Transparent.

And the nominees are:

Best Comedy Series

Broad City (Comedy Central)

Jane the Virgin (The CW)

Mom (CBS)

Silicon Valley (HBO)

Transparent (Amazon)

Veep (HBO)

You’re the Worst (FX)

Best Actor In A Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson, Blackish (ABC)

Chris Messina, The Mindy Project (Fox)

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent (Amazon)

Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley (HBO)

Will Forte,...