News

Bestselling author Julianna Baggott has signed with WME for representation, Variety has learned exclusively.

Baggott is the author of more than two dozen books to date, both under her own name as well as various pen names like Bridget Asher. She is also the head of the production company Mildred’s Moving Picture Show, with Finneas Scott serving as head of development. Scott is also a writer and assistant producer. The company has a wide-ranging slate of projects in the works across various companies and streamers at present, including Disney+, Netflix, Paramount, and Amblin.

The short story “Backwards,” which was written by Baggott in collaboration with Scott, was sold in a six-way bidding war to Netflix with Shawn Levy attached to direct. Elsewhere, her story “Welcome to Oxhead” is in development at Paramount TV with Jessica Biel attached to produce. Her horror story “Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit” is also in development...

Actress-producers Alysia Reiner ("Orange is the New Black") and Sarah Meghan Thomas ("Backwards") launched their company Broad Street Pictures a year and a half ago in order to produce thought-provoking films that employ more women in front of and behind the camera. Their first effort, suspenseful 100-minute Wall Street drama "Equity," in which they co-star with "Breaking Bad" lead Anna Gunn, was scooped up before its Sundance debut on January 26th by Sony Pictures Classics. Their mandate was to "create content with strong roles for women," said Thomas, whose husband works in finance on Wall Street, where she was "fascinated with the women I’ve met, and curious why there were not more women in the upper echelons of these firms. I thought it was a great idea for a movie — and people love Wall Street movies." She and her friend Reiner, who she knew from the New York stage,...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to "Equity," the first female-driven Wall Street drama. The movie stars Anna Gunn ("Breaking Bad"), James Purefoy ("The Following"), Sarah Megan Thomas ("Backwards") and Alysia Reiner ("Orange is the New Black").  The film follows female investment banker Naomi Bishop as she navigates a world where big money and high-power is brutal and fierce. When a controversial Ipo threatens the delicate balance of power and confidentiality, Naomi finds herself swimming in a shark pool of politics and deception. With an aggressive prosecutor (Alysia Reiner) from her past on her heels, plus a strained relationship with her junior, Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas), Naomi is forced to reexamine her own ambitions and the cutthroat world in which she lives in, one where women have yet to break the glass ceiling.  The film is directed by Meera Menon. Broad Street Pictures' Reiner and Thomas...

There were three losers and only one winner on The Voice‘s Season 8 finale — that is, if you chose to look at the Starbucks-sponsored plastic cup as half full.

VideosAmerican Idol Champ Nick Fradiani Talks Agt Past, Thwarted Rap Covers, ‘Give and Take’ With New Boss Borchetta

If, however, like Blake, your glass had even a splash of moonshine left in it, maybe there were no losers at all.

After all, as Joshua “My Infant’s Fave Toy Is a Pair of Noise-Cancelling Headphones!” Davis, Koryn “My Ad-Libs + Pharrell’s Face = Magic” Hawthorne, Sawyer “Mortal Enemy of Men Without Hats...

James, 36, and his wife Kimberly, 31, announced on Aug. 30 that they are adding a third child to their brood, due this winter. Congratulations to the gorgeous couple!

Third time’s a charm for James Van Der Beek and his wife! Kimberly Van Der Beek is pregnant with the couple’s third baby, making a full house with their daughter Olivia, 2-years-old, and son Joshua, 17-months old. We’re overjoyed for them!

James & Kimberly Van Der Beek Having Third Child

The pair opened up about their happiness and getting into nesting mode for the third time.

The former Dawson’s Creek star expressed his joy over welcoming the third addition to his family. “I feel ridiculously blessed. I feel so much love, honestly,” James tells People.

Kimberly also took to her personal blog to announce the baby news and share her feelings on nesting. “James and I are happy to report that...

James plays Geoff, the love interest of Abi, who is determined to make the Olympic rowing team. But will she give up another shot a ther man's heart to play the sport she loves? James Van Der Beek plays yet another hunky heartthrob in his latest flick Backwards. James plays Geoff, the head of athletics at his high school, and his ex-flame Abi [Sarah Megan Thomas] comes back into town to coach the girls rowing team. But just as she is getting her love life and professional life back on track, she's offered an opportunity of a lifetime. Abi has always wanted to compete in the Olympics but she's almost 30-years-old. But finally she's given the chance to compete and now she must decide between love or the game. This movie has just been released by Phase 4 Films and we can tell you it's a definite must-see. — Chloe Melas http://www.youtube.

The romantic sports dramedy Backwards, now available on DVD, tells the story of Abi Brooks (Sarah Megan Thomas), who has spent her life trying to win an Olympic rowing medal, only to be named an alternate at the age of 30. Deciding instead to quit the team and move back home, Abi gets a coaching position at her alma mater, where her old boyfriend (James Van Der Beek) is the head of athletics, and struggles to adjust to life off the race course. During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor James Van Der Beek talked about what made him want to help tell this story, being a big sports fan himself (even though he knew nothing about rowing, prior to doing Backwards), the challenge of playing a nice guy, how impressed he was with Sarah Megan Thomas (who also wrote and produced the film), and why he typically loves...

"Dawson's Creek" may be long over, but that doesn't mean you can't still get your fix of The Beek. Thanks to us, you can win an autographed poster and DVD of James Van Der Beek's new movie, "Backwards."

Dawson himself will scribble his John Hancock on a copy of the poster of "Backwards," in which he co-stars with Sarah Megan Thomas. Thomas plays Abi, an elite rower who has just failed for the second time to make the U.S. Olympic rowing team and takes a job as a high school rowing coach to lick her wounds... and spend some time with James Van Der Beek.

So don't fight the current, row on over and enter our "Backwards" giveaway. "Backwards" is available this week on DVD and On Demand.

To enter, just shoot us an email at NextMovie@MTV.com and include your name, address, birthdate and be sure...

Phase 4 Films has provided us with an exclusive clip from Backwards, which debuts on DVD and VOD December 11. Sarah Megan Thomas stars as Abi, a former rower who takes a job coaching a high school rowing team. Watch as Abi cheers on her rowers, along with her ex-boyfriend and the high school's athletic director, Geoff (James Van Der Beek).

Backwards - Exclusive Rowing

When a fiercely competitive rower fails to make the Olympic team for the second time, she reluctantly takes a high school coaching job. However, adjusting to life off the race course is not easy, when someone else is living your dream.

Backwards was released September 21st, 2012 and stars Sarah Megan Thomas, James Van Der Beek, Glenn Morshower, Margaret Colin, Wynn Everett, Alexandra Metz, David Alan Basche, Ellis Walding. The film is directed by Ben Hickernell.

Greater Manchester Film Festival

Not to be confused with the larger Manchester International Film Festival, this is the first small step in what hopes to become "the UK's premier independent film festival". There's some way to go on that, but there's still some enticing new and upcoming stuff here, like a taster of next year's Stone Roses-centric road comedy Spike Island. There are previews of new indies Girl Shaped Love Drug (a Manchester love story) and Day Of The Flowers (Eva Birthistle and dancer Carlos Acosta hit it off in Cuba). Plus film-makers present recent hits, such as Eran Creevy with last year's Shifty.

Odeon Printworks, Fri to 7 Oct

The Big Screen, London & Bristol

Possibly the most revered and comprehensively knowledgable film writer on the planet, David Thomson has always had the big picture in mind when it comes to the pictures, as evidenced by his authoritative Biographical Dictionary Of Film,...

Backwards is the latest indie buzz film to hit theaters as it tells the story of competitive rower, Abigail Brooks [Sarah Megan Thomas], a girl vying to qualify for the Olympics. But when she turns up just short of her dream, she comes to the realization she may have to start all over. So Abby gets a job training high school rowers, taking two girls in particular under her wing after running into the athletics director, her high school sweetheart (James Van Der Beek). The rest of the film details those all-too-familiar struggles we face with carving out a new path in life and accepting that change may not be so bad after all.

Check out our Q&A with the writer/producer and star, Sarah Megan Thomas!

Hi Sarah! So the Olympics were this summer. How much of a time crunch were you in to get this film out in time?

The whole process was two years,...

James Van Der Beek has been busy in the decade since the end of his seminal teen drama "Dawson's Creek"; he's played a doctor, a serial killer, an FBI agent and a kidnapper, among other roles. In a few weeks, the actor will return for a second season playing a hilariously repellent version of himself in "Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23," and, this weekend, you can see him in the feature film "Backwards."

There's no denying it now: Van Der Beek is all grown up. It might be time for us to let go of Dawson.

We spoke to Joey Potter's ex-boyfriend* about playing a high school athletic coach in "Backwards" — a far cry from playing the high school student that made him famous — and how appearing as his own d-bag alter ego is a non-stop laugh riot.

Your co-star Sarah Megan Thomas wrote "Backwards" based on aspects of her own life.

When James Van Der Beek discovered he'd become an Internet punch line, he didn't go on a drinking binge, make a sex tape, or convert to Evangelical Christianity. Instead, he laughed loudest, and launched one of the most enjoyable celebrity comebacks in recent memory. Playing an outlandish version of himself on Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, Van Der Beek has competed on a fictional Dancing With the Stars, engaged in a fictional feud with James Franco, and, on the season two premiere, will contemplate a fictional Dawson's Creek reunion (with the help of actual former cast members, including Busy Phillips). That said, Van Der Beek can still pull off a romantic lead, as he does in the new indie drama Backwards, the story of a competitive rower (the refreshingly unglamorous Sarah Megan Thomas) who attempts to start over as an athletic coach, with the encouragement of her high...

You can’t go home again, but Abigail Brooks (Sarah Megan Thomas) is finding that perhaps she just might want to in Ben Hickernell‘s Backwards. Co-starring Dawson Leery himself (James Van Der Beek), Hickernell’s film (which Thomas has also written and produced) centers on Abigail, an Olympic class rower who is ticked off when she’s chosen as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team. Angry and sad, Abigail quits the team and heads home to coach the crew team at her old high school. Regressive? Did we tell you that Van Der Beek plays her old boyfriend, who is also working at their high school? Perhaps the past is worth a visit. In support of the theatrical release of Backwards, we’re giving away two (2) signed posters from the film to two (count ‘em, two!) lucky readers. The standard one-sheet poster has been signed by James Van Der Beek, Margaret Colin...

Sarah Megan Thomas recently returned to her hometown of Haverford, Pennsylvania, with a script and a camera crew in tow, to shoot her screenwriting debut Backwards, which she also produced and stars in. Thomas plays competitive rower Abi Brooks who, after she fails to win a seat on the Us Olympic boat, must steer her life in a new direction, ultimately landing a coaching job for the rowing team at her old high school. Just as in rowing, Abi has to look backwards — to old places and ex-boyfriends — in order to move forward, with her sport and her life. This inspiring story features a talented supporting cast including James Van Der Beek and Margaret Colin, and was directed by Ben Hickernell. Thomas spoke to Filmmaker about Backwards (which opens on September 21), its parallels to her own life, and moving from an actress to a multi-hyphenate.

Filmmaker: You’ve had experience with competitive rowing,...

Talk about uncomfortably good timing. Towards the tail end of the 2012 Summer Olympics when U.S.A. pride is high comes the teaser trailer for Kathryn Bigelow’s Osama bin Laden movie, Zero Dark Thirty. It’s tough to say whether or not this could be the Hurt Locker follow-up we’re all hoping for, as it’s a particularly enigmatic teaser, but curiosity is still sky high so clearly the piece gets the job done. On a far more straightforward note, and almost to a fault, comes a pair of sports-movie trailers. The James Van Der Beek-starrer Backwards is certainly the tackier of the two, but the piece gets points for ditching that obnoxiously familiar sports voiceover. Trouble with the Curve shows signs of having a degree of cheese to it, but greatly benefits from...

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Just in time to capitalize on Olympic fever comes the rowing movie starring James Van Der Beek that you had no idea you wanted (or, most likely, that you also had no idea even existed). In Backwards, Van Der Beek (Der Beek? Beek? Mr. Beek? Da Beek?) plays second fiddle to relative newcomer Sarah Megan Thomas as Abi Brooks, a world-class rower who has worked her entire life to competing (and winning) in the Olympics. Yeah, that doesn’t work out so much – booted from her team, Abi ends up back at her old high school, coaching the crew team, and kicking it with her ex (Van Der Beek, cast as the head of athletics at their alma mater). If you can’t imagine some of the conflicts that will arise in Ben Hickernell‘s film, you’ve probably never watched a movie about sports stars trying to reinvent themselves before, and...

Dada Films and its sister company, Required Viewing, have acquired U.S. theatrical distribution rights to Sarah Megan Thomas' "Backwards." The film opens on September 21, 2012. Thomas wrote, produced, and stars in the film, which also features Glenn Morshower ("24", "Transformers") and James Van Der Beek ("Dawson's Creek"). The film's subject matter is especially relevant with this year's Summer Olympics, telling the story of an Olympic hopeful, Abi (played by Thomas), who moves back home and becomes a coach after being named an alternate on the Olympic rowing team. Thomas states that her motivation for writing "Backwards", "was to create an inspirational film that shows there are lots of ways to win, even if we don't always achieve our immediate goal." While never an Olympian, Thomas was a competitive rower and athlete in her teens and twenties. Mj Peckos from Dada Films and Steven Raphael...