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SXSW announced the rest of its 2025 film and television lineup on Wednesday, including the world premiere of Jillian Bell's directorial debut Summer Of '69. It was also announced that the festival will feature the U.S. premiere of On Swift Horses, directed by Daniel Minahan. The film stars Jacob Elordi...

PBS’ “American Masters” documentary series will tackle the life of actor, activist and author Marlee Matlin with the feature documentary “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore.”

The film will use Asl as its primary language. Along with stylized captioning and dynamic editing, it aims to push the boundaries of conventional documentaries and will bring together Deaf and hearing team members across production and post-production roles.

“The film will explore Matlin’s life as a groundbreaking performer, whose meteoric and tumultuous rise to fame started in 1987 when she became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award for her role in ‘Children of a Lesser God.’ At the age of 21, Matlin was thrust into the national spotlight, becoming for many Americans the first Deaf person they saw on TV and overnight becoming the de-facto representative of the Deaf community,” reads its log line.

It continues: “The film boasts never-before-seen home video...

Exclusive: Sad update on the plan to bring the story about the 2021 California School for the Deaf football team to the small screen; the limited series is not moving forward.

After several months in production, the project from ABC Signature and Disney Branded Television was shuttered earlier this year as part of the parent company’s massive wave of cuts.

The studio had partnered with the school and the California Department of Education to tell the story of the team’s historical undefeated season and how it earned a spot in the California State Championship game for the first time in school history. Historically a team that had never experienced anything close to a winning season, they went undefeated all the way to the state title game in their magical season.

The untitled project for Disney+ was set to star Oscar winner Troy Kotsur (Coda) as the team’s coach.

Disney+ is developing a series based on the football team from the California School for the Deaf Riverside (Csdr) with Troy Kotsur attached to play the team’s coach, Variety has learned.

ABC Signature has partnered with Csdr, their football program, and the the California Department of Education to develop the untitled series for Disney+. The show will tell the true story of the Csdr Cubs’ 2021 football season, when the team went undefeated and got all the way to the California State Championship.

The series will portray the students, teachers, and their families. The writing and production team, both in front of and behind the cameras, will include artists from the Deaf community.

Ron Shelton is attached to write and direct the pilot as well as executive produce, with Ben Shelton also set to write and executive produce. Kotsur will executive produce in addition to starring. Kevin Falls will serve as showrunner and executive producer.

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Disney+ announced Thursday a sports drama series with an impressive bench of talent attached.

Oscar-winning Coda actor Troy Kotsur is attached to star and executive produce the as-yet-untitled project which tells the true story of the 2021 Cubs Football team, where a Deaf team had an undefeated season and earned a spot in the California State Championship game for the first time in its school history. Kotsur will play the team’s coach.

Acclaimed sports drama veteran writer Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) is attached to direct the pilot, executive produce, as well as write the pilot along with Ben Shelton (Candy Jar) who will write and executive produce. Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin (Coda) will also executive produce. Kevin Falls (The West Wing) will executive produce and will serve as showrunner.

The project is being developed by ABC Signature and Disney Branded Television and...

“Coda” star and Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Troy Kotsur will star and executive produce in a Disney+ series inspired by the California School for the Deaf Riverside football team’s undefeated 2021 season.

The series not only recounts the football team’s historic run, but is a groundbreaking story about the Deaf community, both on and off the field. The untitled show will portray students, teachers and families, the challenges they face and the successes they achieve in this world. Kotsur will play the team’s head coach.

The series draws inspiration from the 2021 Csdr Cubs’ real-life undefeated football season that earned them a spot in the California State Championship game for the first time in school history. Playing mostly hearing teams, the Cubs passed and ran through their league surprising everyone but themselves. Their success captured the hearts of the entire nation leading to their captains being on the...

After a bidding war, ABC Signature has secured exclusive TV rights to the extraordinary story of the 2021 football team from the California School for the Deaf in Riverside, CA.

ABC Signature and Disney Branded Television are developing the untitled project for Disney+. Oscar winner Troy Kotsur (Coda) will play the team’s coach and executive produce the project with his Coda co-star Marlee Matlin. Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) is attached to direct the pilot and executive produce, as well as write the pilot along with Ben Shelton (Candy Jar) who will write and executive produce.

Kevin Falls will executive produce and serve as showrunner.

The studio will partner with the school and the California Department of Education to tell the story of the team’s historical undefeated season and how it earned a spot in the California State Championship game for the first time in school history.

While the awards campaign for “Coda” and its eventual Oscar wins brought substantial visibility to deaf performers and issues of accessibility (such as the need for closed captioning and American Sign Language interpreting in media), it remains uncertain whether this moment will yield a meaningful breakthrough for a sector often ignored during the ongoing conversations on representation.

In the meantime, other creators aim to capitalize on this long overdue spotlight. That’s the case of black-and-white, micro-budgeted silent dramedy “What?” from writer-director Alek Lev. After having a festival run last year, the film landed its theatrical release date — by chance or by design — on the heels of the historic victories for “Coda.”

Lev, though fluent in Asl, isn’t deaf himself, so he shares story credit with two deaf collaborators: DJ Kurs (longtime director of Los Angeles’ Deaf West theater) and the film’s star, John Maucere, who presumably informed...

Demi Lovato, who was announced this week as a performer at the Grammy Awards, will sing the National Anthem a week later as part of Super Bowl Liv pregame festivities at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Sunday, February 2, the NFL and the Fox network announced today.

The pregame show, including the National Anthem, will be broadcast live worldwide.

Lovato will join a prestigious line up of Super Bowl National Anthem performers that includes Gladys Knight, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Luke Bryan, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Joel, P!Nk, Jordin Sparks, Idina Menzel, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, and Neil Diamond.

In addition, on behalf of the National Association of the Deaf (Nad), Christine Sun Kim, internationally renowned sound artist and performer, will sign the National Anthem in American Sign Language.

The appearance, combined with the Grammy performance, marks a big return for Lovato, who has been recovering from...

Super Bowl sign language guy tells TMZ, his hands are Just Like Dolly Parton's boobs ... J. Lo's butt ... or Tom Jones' chest hair -- so valuable they need their own freakin' insurance policy ... but there's a lot more to sign language than just hands.John Maucere -- who signed "America the Beautiful" and the national anthem at the big game -- was out in L.A. yesterday with his interpreter when we asked how...