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Set to premiere at the L.A. Shorts International Film Festival on Friday, July 26th, Lacktate is a darkly comedic short that "delivers a fresh, twisted take on the loneliness and vulnerability of new motherhood." Lacktate is the directorial debut of Francesca Ling and is written by Ilana Turner, and they are the subject of our latest Q&a! Continue on to hear about their experiences making the film, working with Rochelle Aytes, and more:

What led to you two teaming up for Lacktate and what was it about this story that made it an ideal project to work on?

Francesca: Ilana and my husband, Adam Scott Epstein, are often writing/producing partners, and we’ve been friends for many years. When he told Ilana that I was on the hunt for a new project, Ilana had this fun script she had written out of an exploration of some of her experiences as a mother.

Exclusive: Narrative Pictures has wrapped production on Christmas at Plumhill Manor, a rom-com set in the heart of the UK countryside.

Maria Menounos leads the cast with Brian Herzlinger directing.

Menounos stars as Margot Stone, a powerhouse modern architect from New York City with a life as organized as a blueprint.

This all changes when she is informed in the lead-up to Christmas that a great-aunt has left her a centuries-old manor home in the quaint English town of Plumhill.

Margot soon realizes that alongside its rich history, the estate is ripe and legally eligible for commercial redevelopment.

Christmas at Plumhill Manor is produced by Mark Vennis, Lucinda Rhodes Thakrar, Adam Scott Epstein and Daniel Levin, whose previous UK projects include BAFTA-winning Lion. Menounos will Executive Produce along with her We Heart Holidays production company.

Exclusive: Amazon MGM Studios has begun development on a Untitled Kenny Washington film about the triumphs and hardships of the first Black NFL player leading up to his professional debut with the Los Angeles Rams. La Monte Edwards is penning the script. Adam Scott Epstein will produce through his Comet Company banner, Cottrell B. Guidry producing through his Stay Cool Productions Banner and Evan Silverberg, Darin Friedman and Guymon Casady producing through Entertainment 360. Ryan Rottman, Nate Raabe and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers exec producing through their Awkward Handshake production company.

Washington’s story is set a year before Jackie Robinson revolutionized baseball, where his UCLA teammate, LA Rams running back Kenny Washington shattered the NFL’s color barrier, altering the course of sports history and igniting the civil rights movement. Despite overcoming five knee surgeries, Washington played three seasons in the NFL, averaging 6.1 yards per carry and...

Read More: SNL's 5 Best Digital Shorts, er, Pre-Recorded Sketches of the Season The digital short has become an integral "Saturday Night Live" centerpiece over the past decade thanks to poster child Andy Samberg, but what would such viral hits like "Housewives of Disney," "The Beygency" and "Wes Anderson Horror" be without editor Adam Epstein? You probably don't know his name or his face, but Epstein's post-production work for the NBC sketch comedy show has provided audiences with one viral sensation after the next. As part of the Nab Creative Masters Series, Epstein joined Meagan Keane, senior marketing manager at Adobe, for a lengthy discussion about his comedy roots and the "drug rush" that comes with editing for "SNL" digital shorts. Given how the shorts start production on Mondays and don't get delivered to air until around 10 minutes before broadcast, somehow the "drug rush" comparison seems...

Concerts are canceled every month for various reasons ranging from unexpected deaths, to throat polyps, to military coups. But for Bill Cosby, who has been slapped with nearly 30 allegations of rape, sexual assault and drugging, the show will go on — whether ticket holders want it to or not.

The accused comedian returned to the stage Wednesday night and will perform at three different Ontario venues this week. While some fans are still interested in hearing his jokes, others are not. Many purchased tickets months ago, before his reputation was sullied by a string of allegations, and now they’re stuck with them.

This year’s Blood List has named the 13 best genre scripts around town, and in its sixth year the annual screenplay contest is expanding its scope to include hot books, TV pilots, and young scribes ripe for signing. Taking top honors in 2014 is sci-fi thriller Bird Box from The Thing and Final Destination 5 scribe Eric Heisserer, an apocalyptic tale of a woman trying to lead her children to safety – all three blindfolded – after monsters descend on earth that turn people insane on sight. Universal set Heisserer to adapt the manuscript from Josh Malerman in 2013 for Mama helmer Andy Muschietti. Previous Blood List alumni include Black Swan, Stoker, Warm Bodies, and the upcoming Blumhouse thriller The Boy Next Door.

Like the Black List naming the top unproduced screenplays circulating around Hollywood, the genre-focused Blood List taps exec votes to determine each year’s best unmade horror, sci-fi, and thriller scripts.

I spent a half-day at Adam Epstein’s “The Cutting Edge Post-Production Tour” last week. Epstein, who is the editor for the Saturday Night Live Film Unit, has spent the past month and a half traveling the country presenting on how to be a better editor. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t stay the whole day. Unfortunately for you, the tour ended this week, so you’ve missed it too. If you can come away from an event like this with an actual tip or technique that you start using and with one piece of inspiration to improve how you work, that actually […]...

I spent a half-day at Adam Epstein’s “The Cutting Edge Post-Production Tour” last week. Epstein, who is the editor for the Saturday Night Live Film Unit, has spent the past month and a half traveling the country presenting on how to be a better editor. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t stay the whole day. Unfortunately for you, the tour ended this week, so you’ve missed it too. If you can come away from an event like this with an actual tip or technique that you start using and with one piece of inspiration to improve how you work, that actually […]...

Adam Epstein is a freelance editor. For the last five years, he’s worked with the Saturday Night Live film unit, editing parody pieces of all kinds. He’s just begun a nationwide workshop tour with “The Cutting Edge Post-Production Tour,” a day-long seminar covering techniques, theories and editing insights. We recently spoke to Epstein about editing, working on SNL and the workshop tour. Filmmaker: How did you become an editor? Epstein: In my experience, it’s never a direct path. I started out in school, working on a student-run sketch comedy show, and we were able to get our hands on some of the […]...

Adam Epstein is a freelance editor. For the last five years, he’s worked with the Saturday Night Live film unit, editing parody pieces of all kinds. He’s just begun a nationwide workshop tour with “The Cutting Edge Post-Production Tour,” a day-long seminar covering techniques, theories and editing insights. We recently spoke to Epstein about editing, working on SNL and the workshop tour. Filmmaker: How did you become an editor? Epstein: In my experience, it’s never a direct path. I started out in school, working on a student-run sketch comedy show, and we were able to get our hands on some of the […]...

BroadwayWorld has learned that the planned San Francisco 'Best of Broadway' series world premiere engagement of the musical Ever After, based on the popular 1998 Twentieth Century Fox film has been indefinitely postponed. Shorenstein Hays Nederlander Theatres, overseen by Carole Shorenstein Hays and Robert Nederlander, was set to present Ever After this April as part of their 2009 season. Ever After producer Adam Epstein (Hairspray, The Wedding Singer, Cry-Baby) said in a statement, "The previously announced production of Ever After has been moved from this season's line up as the creative team continues to develop the musical for a future production."...