News

In today’s TV news roundup, Marla Gibbs and Reggie Watts have been cast in guest roles on “One Day at a Time” and Netflix released the premiere date and teaser for “The Eddy.”

Castings

Marla Gibbs and Reggie Watts have been cast in guest roles on PopTV’s “One Day at a Time.” The two actors will both be featured in the Halloween themed episode titled, “One Halloween at a Time” as new neighbors in the building whose apartments Elena and Syd visit for trick-or-treating. Gibbs will appear as “Mrs. Jones” and Watts as “Mr. Mann.”

Dates

The third and final season of “Future Man” will premiere on Hulu on April 3. In the forthcoming installment, the motley trio messes with time one last time to clear their names after being convicted of time crimes and sentenced to death by entertainment. Created and executive produced by Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir,...

The Ice Cream Man is coming to Quibi — but it’s not the kind of ice cream man that serves Bomb Pops and soft serve. As previously reported, Universal Content Productions (Ucp) was developing a series based on Image Comics’ popular horror-fantasy series created by W. Maxwell Prince. Now, the series has found a home at the short-form streaming platform which is set to debut April 6.

Ice Cream Man is an anthology series narrated by the titular Ice Cream Man. Weaving a dark tapestry of tales from his truck, the Ice Cream Man serves up scoops of pain and suffering to the inhabitants of one suburb town for his own malevolent amusement. The new series will dive deep into the suburban American psyche with stories that are timeless yet current, relatable yet strange, equal parts terrifying and ironic, and always end with a macabre twist.

Adam & Max Reid (Sneaky Pete...

Exclusive: Turn alumna Heather Lind has been cast as the female lead opposite Chris Messina and Rj Cyler in Dark Cargo, YouTube Premium’s drama pilot from Entertainment One and Canada’s Counterfeit Pictures and Seven24 Films. Ben Stiller and Nicky Weinstock executive produce via their Red Hour Productions banner. Nick Santora is the Ep/showrunner.

Written by Adam and Max Reid and directed by Lodge Kerrigan, Dark Cargo is described as a high-octane, cliffhanger-driven neo-noir thriller set in the big-rig cab of Joe Dobbs (Messina) as he traverses the darkest nights of his life. What begins as a random encounter with a disturbed stranger (Cyler) turns into a race against time, the police and even more malevolent forces. All the while, Joe just wants to get back to his family.

Lind will play Ava. Sexy, confident and strong-willed, Ava is the wife of long-haul trucker Joe and the mother of their 5-year-old daughter.

“Birds of Prey” actor Chris Messina is set to star in the YouTube series “Dark Cargo.”

Ben Stiller and Nicky Weinstein will executive produce via their Red Hour Productions banner.

Penned by Adam and Max Reid and directed by “The Girlfriend Experience’s” Lodge Kerrigan, the series is described as a high-octane, cliffhanger-driven, neo-noir thriller set in the big rig cab of Joe Dobbs (Messina) as he traverses the darkest nights of his life. What begins as a random encounter with a disturbed stranger turns into a race against time, the police, and even more malevolent forces. Meanwhile, Joe just wants to get back to his family.

The series also stars Rj Cyler, best known for “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” and the Showtime series “I’m Dying Up Here.”

Nick Santora is attached as showrunner. Eone serves as the studio.

Messina is coming off the HBO series...

Exclusive: Chris Messina (Sharp Objects) and Rj Cyler (I’m Dying Up Here) are set as the male leads in Dark Cargo, YouTube Premium’s drama pilot from Entertainment One and Canada’s Counterfeit Pictures and SEVEN24 Films. Ben Stiller and Nicky Weinstein executive produce via their Red Hour Productions banner.

Written by Adam and Max Reid (Sneaky Pete) and directed by Lodge Kerrigan, Dark Cargo is described as a high-octane, cliffhanger-driven, neo-noir thriller set in the big rig cab of Joe Dobbs (Messina) as he traverses the darkest nights of his life. What begins as a random encounter with a disturbed stranger (Cyler) turns into a race against time, the police, and even more malevolent forces. All the while, Joe just wants to get back to his family.

Messina’s Joe Dobbs is a long-haul trucker who’s about to embark on the most treacherous ride of his life.

The Girlfriend Experience co-creator/director Lodge Kerrigan is set to direct and Scorpion creator/executive producer Nick Santora is attached as showrunner of YouTube Premium’s drama pilot Dark Cargo, from Entertainment One and Canada’s Counterfeit Pictures and SEVEN24 Films.

The project, written by Adam and Max Reid, is executive produced by Ben Stiller and Nicky Weinstock via their Red Hour Productions banner. eOne serves as the studio. Production is set to start in Alberta at the end of March.

Dark Cargo is described as a high-octane, cliffhanger-driven, neo-noir thriller set in the big rig cab of Joe Dobbs as he traverses the darkest nights of his life. What begins as a random encounter with a disturbed stranger turns into a race against time, the police, and even more malevolent forces. All the while, Joe just wants to get back to his family.

Kerrigan is co-creator, executive producer and...

[Originally appeared in the January 2015 issue of Deadly Magazine] Think back to your worst memory of high school. If it doesn’t involve a giant bone-crushing baby, rock and roll zombies, or a Satanic guidance counselor, then you didn’t go to Crowley High, the setting for the beloved TV series Todd & The Book of Pure Evil.

Comprised of two seasons that originally aired from 2010–2012 on Canada’s Space network, Todd & The Book of Pure Evil follows Todd Smith, a heavy metal-loving high school stoner who, along with his best friend Curtis, major crush (and strongly independent) Jenny, and the brilliant Hannah, is forced to face the monsters and evil powers unleashed by The Book of Pure Evil.

The twisted tome (believed to be bound in the foreskin of Judas) can be found by the tormented, the humiliated, and the depressed—making high school its perfect home. For 26 episodes, Todd and his friends (collectively known as “the Gang”) hunt...

Todd (second from left) with the one book you should always return to the library on time.

Here at CinemaSpy we are not messing with the titular tome in the irreverent Canadian horror comedy Todd & The Book of Pure Evil. Clearly it can wield some powerful magic.

The witty, surreal and sometimes shocking show was a hit on the Canadian channel Space when the first season aired last year. Since then, it has also been impressing influential people who decide nominations for Canada’s Gemini Award. The list for 2011 were announced this week and Todd & The Book of Pure Evil hit a straight eight.

The Geminis are Canada’s equivalent of the Emmy Awards. They are determined annually by members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and other industry professionals. This year, the Gemini’s 26th, Todd & The Book of Pure Evil was named in the following categories:

Best...

Just when I began losing my recently acquired Canadian accent from watching every single episode of "Trailer Park Boys" (and both movies), FEARnet has gone and brought more madness for us to enjoy from up North!

Canadian horror/comedy "Todd & The Book of Pure Evil" is a cult hit in its homeland, and it is coming to America by way of FEARnet this August. The series is about a mystical book that grants teenagers' deepest, darkest desires but demands payback at a horrible price.

"Todd & The Book of Pure Evil" stars Alex House (Dark Oracle), Maggie Castle (Dead Mary), Melanie Leishman (Never Cry Werewolf), and Jason Mewes (Clerks). It is based on a short film from 2003 by Craig David Wallace and Max Reid.

Season Two of the cult series is in production in Manitoba, Canada, but you can catch up on the series when FEARnet HD begins airing Season One on August 2nd.

Canadian horror/comedy Todd & The Book of Pure Evil is a cult hit in its homeland, and is coming to America by way of FEARnet this August. The series is about a mystical book that grants teenagers' deepest, darkest desires, but demands payback at a horrible price. More after the jump. Todd & The Book of Pure Evil stars Alex House (Dark Oracle), Maggie Castle (Dead Mary), Melanie Leishman (Never Cry Werewolf), and Jason Mewes (Clerks). It is based on a short film from 2003 by Craig David Wallace and Max Reid. Season two of the cult series is in production in Manitoba, Canada, but you can catch up on the series right here. FEARnet HD will begin airing season one on August 2nd. Don't get FEARnet...

This fall, Canada's genre network Space will debut Todd and the Book of Pure Evil on Wednesday, September 29 at 9pm(Est) and 9:30pm(Est). You can catch the first two episodes of the horror-comedy then. Craig David Wallace created the series with co-writer Max Reid. A spin-off of Wallace's short film, the series follows a headbanger who seeks dating advice from the devil and unleashes hell on earth to get the cheerleader he loves. For more, visit the show's Facebook page .

The Harold Greenberg Fund Script Program, a financing program from the entertainment company Astral Media, unveiled twenty-four upcoming Canadian films - chosen out of ninety-nine films - that will get its financial support.

Moreover, the selection of films include Neuromancer, an adaptation of William Gibson's cyberpunk novel directed by Vincenzo Natali (Cube), and Prisoner of Tehran, from Kari Skogland (Fifty Dead Men Walking). If you're an enthusiast of literature, you'll notice the presence of the film Cockroach, which is an adaptation of a novel by award-winning author Rawi Hage.

Now, without further ado, let's have a cursory look at the films that will get funded.

Story Optioning

Bottle Rocket Hearts

Sonia Hosko, Michelle Mama and Stephanie Markowitz

Screenwriter: Zoe Whittall and Linsey Stewart

Cockroach

Films du Boulevard Inc.

Screenwriter: Arto Paragamian

The Program

Acqua Films Inc.

Screenwriter: Hal Niedzviecki

Consecrated Ground

Emotion Pictures Inc.

Screenwriter: Thom Fitzgerald

Prisoner of Tehran

Miracle Pictures Inc.

In 2003, Canada's Craig David Wallace directed a short film called Todd and the Book of Pure Evil . With co-writer Max Reid, he spun a tale of a headbanger who seeks dating advice from the devil and unleashes hell on earth to get the cheerleader he loves. Wallace is getting an opportunity to expand this short film into a television series for Canada's Space. Steve Arbuckle, who played Todd in the short, is replaced by Alex House and Frantic Films is shepherding the series. David Winning ( Stargate: Atlantis , Friday the 13th: The Series ) we're told is directing a few episodes. Shooting has begun in Winnipeg. Maggie Castle, Billy Turnbull, Melanie Leishman and Chris Leavins co-star.