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NetflixThe Netflix original film, starring Tiya Sircar as a broadcast journalist, is directed by award-winning filmmaker Kate Melville and has a significant female crew.Vaishnavi SundarAs a filmmaker, film lover and an advocate of representation of women in world cinema, I have always yearned to watch films that thwarted racial stereotypes. Though I can count such films with the fingers on one hand, I end up finding something irksome even in those. This week I watched the Netflix original film Good Sam starring Indian-American actor Tiya Sircar – directed by Kate Melville with a significant female crew – and was pleasantly surprised. Kate Melville is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter. Her debut feature Picture Day premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and won the Borsos Prize for Best Canadian Feature. After having worked extensively in television, Kate brings us the light-hearted albeit impossible plot of an ideal world that still nurtures good Samaritans.

The Bentonville Film Festival (Bff) announced final additions to their programming which includes the world premiere of the Netflix film Good Sam starring Tiya Sircar. The fest, which was co-created by Geena Davis and champions inclusion in all forms of media, has also added spotlight screenings of Gurinder Chadha’s Sundance Springsteen hit Blinded By The Light from New Line Cinema as well as Stx’s animated feature UglyDolls. Now in its fifth year, the festival kicked off May 7 and continues through May 11 in Bentonville, Ark.

Based on the book by Dete Meserve, Good Sam explores what happens when a mysterious good Samaritan (aka “Good Sam”) leaves $100,000 cash on seemingly random doorsteps. TV news reporter Kate Bradley (Sircar) sets out to discover Good Sam’s true identity and motive, turning her personal life upside down. Kate Melville directs from a script by Meserve and Teena Booth. Good Sam will screen...

Netflix has released a trailer for a new feel-good drama ‘Good Sam’. If only the person who is leaving the $100,000 dollars on people’s doorsteps where real can they make a trip over here, please?

Directed by Kate Melville from a script by Teena Booth and Dete Meserve, the film stars Tiya Sircar, Chad Connell and Marco Grazzini.

Also in trailers – It’s party time in new trailer for ‘Booksmart’

The film is launched on Netflix May 16th

Good Sam Synopsis

Tiya Sircar plays a New York City TV news reporter who regularly puts herself at risk for her stories, much to the dismay of her bosses.

She’s given a seeming puff piece about a mysterious good Samaritan, aka ‘Good Sam,’ who leaves $100,000 in cash on seemingly random doorsteps.

As she sets out to discover the true identity and motive of Good Sam, her personal life is turned upside down in the process.

Netflix has set May 16 for the premiere of Good Sam, a feature based on the mystery book series of the same name by Dete Meserve, starring Tiya Sircar. Kate Melville is directing from a script by Meserve and Teena Booth.

The film follows intrepid TV news reporter Kate Bradley (Sircar) who is assigned to uncover the identity of a mysterious Good Samaritan—Good Sam—who has been anonymously leaving $100,000 cash gifts on the doorsteps of seemingly random New Yorkers. As interest in the extraordinary gifts sweeps across the country, Kate seeks to unravel the identity of Good Sam and the powerful and unexpected reasons behind the extraordinary gifts.

Jesse Prupas of Muse Entertainment (Hallmark’s movie series Aurora Teagarden Mysteries) produces with Meserve via her Wind Dancer Films shingle.

Exclusive: Tiya Sircar, who currently recurs on NBC’s The Good Place, has been tapped as the lead in Good Sam, a Netflix feature based on the mystery book series of the same name by Dete Meserve. Kate Melville is directing from a script by Meserve and Teena Booth.

The film follows Intrepid TV news reporter Kate Bradley who is assigned to uncover the identity of a mysterious Good Samaritan—Good Sam—who has been anonymously leaving $100,000 cash gifts on the doorsteps of seemingly random New Yorkers. As interest in the extraordinary gifts sweeps across the country, Kate seeks to unravel the identity of Good Sam and the powerful and unexpected reasons behind the extraordinary gifts.

Jesse Prupas of Muse Entertainment (Hallmark’s movie series Aurora Teagarden Mysteries) is producing the pic with Meserve via her Wind Dancer Films shingle.

Sircar starred on the short-lived ABC series Alex, Inc. and...

Author Charlaine Harris, whose Sookie Stackhouse novel were the basis of HBO's "True Blood" series, is teaming with Hallmark for a new series of telemovies based on her eight-book "Aurora Teagarden" series which ran from 1990 to 2003.

Candace Cameron Bure ("Full House") is onboard to play the title character of Aurora 'Roe' Teagarden, a librarian who is also a crime buff, a lover of mystery novels and a member of the Real Murders Club who meet to analyze famous crimes and mysteries.

Her insight into true crime ends up putting her at the center of different crimes that happen in her community.

Teena Booth ("Cyberbully") will pen the script for the first telemovie which Bure and Harris will executive produce. It's not presently clear how many movies Hallmark is planning, or which of the books it will adapt first.

Source: The Live Feed...

Macy Gray and Ernie Hudson have both joined the cast of the Lifetime network's original movie The Grim Sleeper, which is based on the case of Los Angeles’ notorious “Grim Sleeper” serial killer. Dreama Walker will star in the film, which will be directed by Stanley M. Brooks, from a script written by Robert Nathan (Law & Order) and Teena Booth (The Drew Peterson Story). "Grim Sleeper" is the nickname for an alleged serial killer believed to be responsible for at least ten murders, since 1985. The attacker was dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" because he appears to have taken a 14-year hiatus from his crimes, from 1988 to 2002. On July 7, 2010, a suspect, Lonnie David Franklin...

Exclusive: The case of Los Angeles’ notorious “Grim Sleeper” serial killer is getting a TV movie treatment with Lifetime‘s The Grim Sleeper starring Dreama Walker (Don’t Trust The B—-) and co-starring actress-singer Macy Gray (Training Day), Ernie Hudson (Call Me Crazy), and Michael O’Neill (Dallas Buyers Club). It will be directed by Stanley M. Brooks in the veteran TV movie producer’s return to the genre. In 2010, Brooks left the TV movie business after 21 years when he filed for bankruptcy as a result of a dispute with AFTRA, WGA and DGA over residuals from the Logo series Sordid Lives. Since then, he quietly took on a new career as a director with horror indie Perfect Sisters, which is awaiting release. It is fitting that Brooks’ return to the TV movie business is via Lifetime where he was a top telefilm supplier until severing ties with the...

Exclusive: On the heels of last year’s Pregnancy Pact, Lifetime has greenlighted another original movie based on a true story involving the issue of teen pregnancy. The Pregnancy Project stars Spy Kids alumna Alexa Vega and is based on the true story of 17-year-old Washington state high-school student Gaby Rodriguez who pretended to be pregnant in an effort to explore conventional stereotypes and the treatment of pregnant teens for a senior year school project. The Pregnancy Project was written by Teena Booth who also co-wrote The Pregnancy Pact and penned the network’s Natalee Holloway films and the upcoming Drew Peterson Story. Norman Buckley (Pretty Little Liars) will direct. Barbara Lieberman and Tom Patricia executive produce. Additionally, Buckley executive produces the ABC Family pilot Bunheads, written/executive produced by Amy Sherman-Palladino. He is repped by Paradigm, which also reps Booth, and Rain Management Group.

Following Pregnancy Pact, Lifetime greenlights true story on teen pregnancy. The movie is apparently based on a true story involving the issue of teen pregnancy, reports Deadline. Alexa Vega has boarded the project which tells of Gaby Rodriguez, a seventeen-year-old who attended a Washington state high-school and made her senior school project the treatment of pregnant teenagers by pretending to be pregnant. The Pregnancy Project follows 2010's The Pregnancy Pact and is scripted by Teena Booth, co-writer of Pact. Norman Buckley (Pretty Little Liars) is set to direct while Barbara Lieberman and Tom Patricia are executive producing.

Following Pregnancy Pact, Lifetime greenlights true story on teen pregnancy. The movie is apparently based on a true story involving the issue of teen pregnancy, reports Deadline. Alexa Vega has boarded the project which tells of Gaby Rodriguez, a seventeen-year-old who attended a Washington state high-school and made her senior school project the treatment of pregnant teenagers by pretending to be pregnant. The Pregnancy Project follows 2010's The Pregnancy Pact and is scripted by Teena Booth, co-writer of Pact. Norman Buckley (Pretty Little Liars) is set to direct while Barbara Lieberman and Tom Patricia are executive producing.

Yesterday, the Canadian Academy released its list of nominees for the 26th Gemini Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy Awards.

Best Animated Program or Series

* Glenn Martin Dds

* Hot Wheels - Battle Force Five

* Jimmy Two Shoes

* Kids vs. Kat

* March of the Dinosaurs

Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series

* Anash and the Legacy of the Sun-Rock

* Degrassi: The Next Generation

* How to be Indie

* That's So Weird

* Vacation with Derek

Best Children's or Youth Non-Fiction Program Series

* Artzooka!

* In Real Life

* Spelling Night in Canada: Canspell 2011

* Survive This

* TVOKids - Mark's Moments

Best Comedy Program or Series

* This Hour Has 22 Minutes

* Call Me Fitz

* Good Dog

* Halifax Comedy Fest 2010

* Living in Your Car

* Rick Mercer Report

Best Dramatic Mini-Series or TV Movie

* Fakers

* The Kennedys

* My Babysitter's a Vampire.

* The Pillars of the Earth

* Sleepyhead

Best Dramatic Series

* The Borgias

* Endgame

* Flashpoint

* Skins

* The Tudors...

The finalists for the 37th annual Humanitas Prize — which honors writers from both television and film whose work “explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way” — have been revealed, and several fan fave TV shows, buoyed by standout episodes, are vying for recognition.

In the 30-Minute category, How I Met Your Mother‘s Season 6 examination of death and grief will compete with Mitchell and Cameron’s first Modern Family kiss plus two Showtime standouts, while the 60-Minute category includes House’s Season 6 finale — the one from May of last year — and the Friday Night Lights series-ender (which aired on...

You would think Drew Peterson would be flattered to have Rob Lowe portray him on TV. Lawyers for the suspected wife killer have sent Lifetime a cease and desist letter asking them to shut down the TV movie currently in production, which stars Lowe as Peterson. Peterson, who is in prison awaiting trial, has been charged with the death of his third wife after the mysterious disappearance of his fourth wife. The movie, tentative titled The Drew Peterson Story aka Ladykiller, explores the two cases and any possible connections between them. It was written by Teena Booth based on the nonfiction book Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Drew Peterson by Joseph Hosey, a reporter with the Chicago area's Herald News who has followed the cases closely. In the letter, Peterson's lawyers call the book "a biased and malicious portrayal" and "a deliberate and calculated assemblage of falsehoods constituting a character assassination.

Lifetime has tapped Rob Lowe (Parks and Recreation) to star as Drew Peterson in an original movie about onetime Chicago-area police sergeant who in May 2009 was charged with the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, after authorities investigated the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) will play Stacy, who was 23 years old at the time of her October 2007 vanishing — 30 years Peterson’s junior.

According to sister site Deadline, the TV-movie — tentative titled The Drew Peterson Story aka Ladykiller, and based on the nonfiction book Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Drew Peterson — will...

Exclusive: The story of Drew Peterson, charged with the death of his third wife after the mysterious disappearance of his fourth wife, is coming to television, with Rob Lowe playing the charismatic, womanizing Chicago-area police officer. Also cast in the project is The Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco as Peterson's fourth wife, 23-year-old Stacy, who was 30 years his junior. In May 2010, after Stacy's mysterious disappearance, Peterson seemingly basked in the attention from the national media while denying any connection to Stacy's disappearance. But after following up on tips from a neighbor, authorities arrested Peterson and indicted him for the murder of his previous wife, Kathleen. Her 2004 death -- Kathleen was found drowned in an empty bathtub -- had been initially ruled an accident, but upon exhumation and second forensic examination, that was changed to homicide. Peterson is currently in prison awaiting trial. The movie, tentative titled The Drew Peterson Story aka Ladykiller,...

Filed under: TV News

Rob Lowe and Kaley Cuoco will star in 'The Drew Peterson Story,' a new Lifetime movie.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the 'Parks and Recreation' star will play Drew Peterson, a police officer charged with the death of his third wife after the disappearance of his fourth wife. 'Big Bang Theory' star Cuoco is set to star as Stacy, Peterson's fourth wife who mysteriously disappears.

The movie is based on the nonfiction book 'Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Drew Peterson,' and has a notable Lifetime movie pedigree: Judith Verno ('The Craigslist Killer,' and 'Natalee Holloway') will executive produce and Teena Booth ('Natalee Holloway') will write.

In other TV news ...

 

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Exclusive: Real-life couple Anne Heche and James Tupper are set to star in the Lifetime original movie Girl Fight, their first on-screen pairing since the ABC dramedy series Men In Trees on which they met. Inspired by the true story of Florida cheerleader Victoria Lindsay, Girl Fight recounts the harrowing story of Tori Lindsay, a 16-year-old, stellar high school student whose life spirals downward when her "friends" brutally beat her up and then upload a video of the attack onto the Internet. Heche and Tupper will play the girl's parents. David Craig (Flight 93), Linda Berman (Buffalo Dreams) and Rocky Lang (White Squall) are executive producing the movie, which was written by Benita Garvin and Teena Booth.

Los Angeles, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- World renowned actress Julia Ormond (Legends of the Fall, Sabrina) headlines the Lifetime Movie Network Original Movie, The Wronged Man, an unforgettable story of one woman's 22-year quest for justice and redemption for a man wrongfully convicted of a crime that shook a small, Southern town. Based on a true story and from Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd (Terminator franchise, The Incredible Hulk), Director Tom McLoughlin (D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear) and teleplay by Teena Booth (Natalee Holloway), the film follows the unlikely friendship between paralegal Janet "Prissy" Gregory (Ormond) and falsely accused Calvin Willis (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, The 4400) as they fight to overturn his unjust sentence. The Wronged Man reunites Ormond and Ali, who both appeared in the critically acclaimed feature film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Produced by Hurd's Valhalla Motion Pictures and Sony Pictures Television, The Wronged Man will premiere Sunday,...

Lifetime Movie Network will explore the aftermath of the 2006 schoolhouse shooting in the Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pa., with "Amish Grace," an original movie starring Kimberly Williams-Paisley.

Matt Letscher and Tammy Blanchard co-star in the film based on real accounts and the book "Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy" by Donald Kraybill, Steven Nolt and David Weaver-Zercher.

On Oct. 2, 2006, a gunman walked into a Nickel Mines schoolhouse, took several girls hostage and eventually killed five of them before taking his own life. The story received national attention not only for the scope of the tragedy but also the Amish leaders' instant and unconditional forgiveness of the shooter and his widow.

Williams-Paisley will play the fictional character of Ida Graber who, devastated by her daughter's death, finds herself struggling with her community's teaching of the transcending power of forgiveness.

Letscher will play her husband, Gideon. Blanchard will play Amy,...

Thora Birch and Nancy Travis have been tapped to star in Lifetime's original movie "Pregnancy Pact."

Inspired by the true story of the boom of teen pregnancies at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts, the film centers on Sidney Bloom (Birch), an opinionated blogger who returns to her hometown to investigate the sudden spike in teenage pregnancies at her old high school, which becomes the focus of a media frenzy after it is featured in a Time magazine story that suggest the pregnancies are a result of a pact among the girls.

Sidney comes up against Lorraine Dougan (Travis), head of a local conservative-values group and mother of Sara, a pregnant 15-year-old.

Von Zerneck/Sertner is producing the film, slated to premiere next year. Robert M. Sertner and Frank von Zerneck are executive producing.

Rosemary Rodriguez will direct from a script by Pamela Davis and Teena Booth.

Lifetime has picked up the telepic "Pregnancy Pact" which was inspired by a group of teens in Massachusetts who made a 'pregnancy pact' to get pregnant at the same time. Von Zerneck-Sertner Films is behind the project. Frank Von Zerneck and Robert Sertner are serving as executive producers. Pam Davis of "House" and Teena Booth ("Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal") will be writing. Von Zerneck-Sertner serves as a regular movie supplier for the Network and producers are behind Lifetime's upcoming "The Sorority Wars" as well as "Natalee Holloway." Apparently "Pregnancy Pact" is not expected to be directly about what happened in Massachusetts.

Lifetime has picked up the telepic Pregnancy Pact according to Variety, which is inspired by the news that 17 girls at Gloucester High School apparently agreed to get pregnant at the same time -- and succeeded.

Prolific telepic producer Von Zerneck-Sertner Films is behind the project, with principals Frank Von Zerneck and Robert Sertner attached as exec producers. Pam Davis and Teena Booth are onboard to write.

This Pregnancy Pact isn't expected to be directly about what happened in Massachusetts, where at least one of the girls involved has denied that a pact actually existed.

What actually caused the baby boom has been fiercely debated -- with some blaming the lack of contraception in schools and others blaming the lack of abstinence education. Pop culture -- such as the feature Juno and the pregnancy of celeb teen Jamie Lynn Spears -- has also been targeted.

Mena Suvari and Matthew Modine will star in the Lifetime original movie Sex & Lies in Sin City, based on the true story of the death of wealthy Las Vegas casino heir Ted Binion.

The tentatively titled telefilm, from Sony Pictures Television and the Konigsberg Co., is based on the book "Murder in Sin City" by Jeff German. Binion (Modine), the heir to the Binion Horseshoe Casino fortune, was found dead in his Vegas home in 1998 by his ex-stripper girlfriend Sandy Murphy (Suvari), ultimately leading to a scandalous trial involving Murphy and her con artist boyfriend.

"Much like a trip to Vegas, this movie is a guilty pleasure," Lifetime senior vp original movies Tanya Lopez said, adding that it "captures all of the true crime story elements and the madness that surrounded Ted Binion's life."

Frank Konigsberg is executive producing the telefilm, which premieres in September. Peter Medak ("Carnivale") is directing from a script by Teena Booth.

"There is no one better than Peter Medak to tell this fascinating true story of sex, drugs and an untimely death," said Helen Verno, executive vp movies and miniseries at SPT.